Possessed Part 18

Poor Penelope! She could only gasp for breath and turn whiter still.

Accuse her dear Christopher whom she loved and honored above all men of any wrong or baseness! G.o.d in heaven! If she had done this she wanted to die.

"I--I didn't," she stammered. "I couldn't do such a thing."

But the doctor was relentless. "If what you said to me a few minutes ago is true," he went on coldly, "it will be my duty, as a major in the United States Army, to order the arrest of Captain Herrick for treason against the government."

At this startling a.s.sertion Penelope fell back as if struck down by a mortal wound, and lay still on the couch, a pitiful crumpled figure. The others gathered around her apprehensively.

"You were very harsh, sir," reproached Herrick.

"It was the best thing for you and for Mrs. Wells," answered Dr. Owen, bending over his patient, who lay there with dark-circled eyes closed, oblivious to her surroundings. "At least I have no doubt as to her sincerity, I mean as to the genuineness of this shock."

The doctor was sorely perplexed as he faced this situation. What was his duty? Here was a definite charge of extreme gravity made against a young man of unimpeachable character by the very last person in the world who would naturally make such an accusation, that is the woman who loved him. Must he a.s.sume that the patient's mind was affected? The idea that Christopher Herrick could be capable of a treasonable act was altogether preposterous, a thing that Owen rejected indignantly, yet there was the evidence of his own senses. Penelope had written those letters that were not known to anyone except Herrick and himself? And she knew what they meant. _How did she know?_ Was it possible Chris had told her?

But, even so, why had Penelope betrayed and denounced her lover?

At this moment Seraphine turned to the doctor in gentle appeal.

"Don't you see what the explanation is?" she whispered with eloquent eyes.

"It seems to be a case of dual personality," he answered.

"It's more than that, doctor."

The scientist moved impatiently, then, remembering what he had seen at Seraphine's apartment, and the recovery of his wife's jewels, he softened the skepticism of his tone.

"You think it is one of those cases you told me about of--possession?

That's absurd!"

"Why is it absurd? Doesn't the Bible speak of possession by evil spirits? Is the Bible absurd? Did not Christ cast out evil spirits?"

"I suppose so, but--times have changed."

"Not in the spirit world. Oh no!"

"Anyway, the thing is not capable of proof."

"Yes, it is, if you will not shut your mind against the evidence. Oh,"

she pleaded, "if you only had faith enough to let Dr. Leroy treat Penelope! What harm could it do? You say yourself this is a case of dual personality. Do you know how to cure that trouble? Do you?" she insisted.

"Perhaps not," he admitted, "but--that is not the only thing. It must be made clear to me how Mrs. Wells came into possession of an extremely precious secret of the war department."

The medium's face shone with an inspired light as she answered: "That is the work of an evil ent.i.ty, doctor, I know what I am saying. You _must_ let me prove it. Look at that young woman--honored by all the world."

She pointed to Penelope resting peacefully. "Think what she has done!

Think of her bravery, her kindness, her sincerity. Look at Captain Herrick--the soul of honor! You know him, doctor, I tell you it is impossible that these two are guilty of treason."

Dr. Owen could not resist the power of this appeal. He was deeply moved in spite of himself. "You say you can prove that Mrs. Wells is possessed by an evil spirit? How can you prove it?"

"Give me permission to take Penelope to Dr. Leroy's hospital for a few days--will you?" she begged. "You will see for yourself that I am right."

"See for myself? Great heavens! You don't mean to tell me that--?" the doctor stopped short before the vivid memory of those white shapes that this woman once before had so strangely evoked.

Seraphine stood silent in deep concentration, then she said slowly: "Yes, that is what I mean. I believe that G.o.d, for His great purposes, will let you _see_ this evil spirit."

CHAPTER XIII

TERROR

(_Statement by Seraphine_)

At the request of Dr. William Owen I am writing this account of what happened last night after Roberta Vallis' party. What happened during the party was terrible enough, but what came later, after the doctor and the guests had gone and we three women were alone together, Roberta and Penelope and I, was infinitely worse.

I am told to put down details of the night, as far as I can remember them, so that these may be kept in the records of the American Occult Society. There never was a clearer case of an evil spirit working destructively against a living person, although other n.o.ble souls have faced a similar ordeal, especially returned soldiers and Red Cross workers, and some have not survived it. Remember those pitiful, unaccountable suicides of our bravest and our fairest. In every case _there was a reason_!

Penelope did not go home after the party, she was in no condition to do so, but stayed at Roberta's, and I stayed with her, at least I promised to stay, for I knew she needed me. I knew that the greatest danger was still threatening her.

When the guests had gone we took off our things (Roberta let me have her little spare room on the mezzanine floor and she gave Penelope her own big bedroom with the old French furniture), then a Russian singer, a tall blond, Margaret G----, came in from the next apartment and we talked for a long time. Pen and Bobby smoke cigarettes and drank cordials; they drank in a nervous, hysterical way, as if they felt they _must_ drink, and, strangely enough, the more they drank the more intensely sober they became. _I understood this!_

Such talk! Miss Gordon had just returned to America by way of Tokio. She had been in London, Paris, Petrograd, Cairo; and, everywhere, as a result of the war, she said, she found a mad carnival of recklessness and extravagance. Everywhere the old standards of decency and honor had been set aside, greed and l.u.s.t were rampant, the whole human race seemed to be swept as with a mighty tide, by three fierce desires--for money, for pleasure, for sensuality. And G.o.d had been forgotten!

I, who know how hideously true this is, tried to show these women _why_ it is true, especially Penelope, whose eyes were burning dangerously, but they were not interested in my moralizing. "Let us eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die," mocked Margaret G----, emptying her gla.s.s, and Roberta joined her, while Penelope hesitated.

"Wait! For G.o.d's sake, wait!" I caught the poor child's arm and the wine spilled over the carpet. Never shall I forget the look in her eyes as she drew back her head and faced me. I realized that the powers of evil were striving again for the soul of Penelope Wells. Poor, tortured child!

"Why shouldn't we eat, drink and be merry?" she demanded boldly, and I was silent.

How could I explain to this dear, misguided one that, even as those rollicking words were spoken, I felt the clutch of a cold foreboding that I know only too well.

_For tomorrow we die!_

The Russian singer presently withdrew as if she were annoyed at something, saying to Roberta that she would see her later. It seems they had arranged that Roberta should pa.s.s the night in Margaret G----'s apartment so that Penelope might have the large bedroom.

It was now after two o'clock and I suggested that we all needed sleep, my thought being for Penelope; but she was aggressively awake, and Roberta, as if bent on further excitement, started a new subject that came like a challenge to me. She began innocently enough by putting her arm around Penelope, as she sat on the bedside between the draped curtains--I never saw her so beautiful--and saying sweetly: "You don't know how terribly I'm going to miss you, Pen, when you get married."

Married! That word, so full of exquisite sentiment, seemed to stir only what was evil in Penelope. Her face hardened, her eyes narrowed cynically.

"Good old Bobby! I'm not so sure that I shall marry at all. I'm a little fed up with this holy matrimony stuff. Perhaps I want my freedom just as much as you do."

For a moment I caught her steady defiant gaze, then her eyes dropped and shifted. I knew that Penelope was gone.

After this outburst the _other one_ was restrained enough for a time and did not betray herself by violent utterances. Apparently she was listening attentively to Roberta Vallis' views about life and love and the destiny of woman, these views being as extreme and selfish as the most wayward nature could demand.

I realized that the moment was critical and concentrated all my spiritual power in an appeal to Penelope, praying that G.o.d would bring her back and make her heed my words. I spoke gently of G.o.d's love for His children and said that we need fear no evil within us or about us, no dangers of any sort, if we will learn to draw to us and through us that healing and protecting love. We can do this, we must do this by establishing a love-current from G.o.d to us and from us to G.o.d, by keeping it flowing just as an electrician keeps an electrical current flowing--every day, every hour. It is not enough to pray for G.o.d's love, we must keep our spiritual connections right, exactly as an electrician keeps his electrical connections right, if we expect the current to flow. We cannot make our electric lamps burn by merely wishing them to burn, although there is a boundless ocean of electricity waiting to be drawn upon. We must know how to tap that ocean. Similarly, the power of G.o.d's infinite love will not descend upon us simply because we need it or ask for it. We must ask for it in the right way. We must establish the right love-connections. We must set the love-current flowing, and keep it flowing, _from G.o.d to us and from us back to G.o.d_; and this can be done only by confessing our sins, by cleansing our hearts of evil thoughts and desires. _Not even G.o.d Himself can make the sun shine upon those who wilfully hide in the shadows!_