The spirit hesitated and then agreed, "I shall do as thou wishest!" it hissed, "Who is the girl?" "Myra Maynard! Thou mayst find her through the ether, and I will let thee work out my will in thy own manner. Hegone, upon the mission!" The spirit returned to the fireplace, vanishing with a leer on the distorted semblance of features. "Now, Varney, go to find out what I'm my son Alden may be doing," directed the Master, before he disappeared within the secret room inside. Varney bowed, made the customary thumbs-up sign, and in a few minutes had emerged from the secret entrance to the council rooms, walking along the street, and pinching himself to see if he were awake, after this horrible apparition.

CHAPTER I.
The host of James.
In Dr. Payson Alden's laboratory, Mary and her mother were chatting with a young woman whom the physician introduced to them as a well-known spiritualist medium. She was a plump, amiable woman, and it seemed hard to believe that she possessed such mysterious powers. The physician had just completed tacking up the blank portiers in the corner of the room which constituted a "cabinet." It was a simple arrangement, stretched across the diagonal end of the room, of which the casket formed one side of the triangle, with the two solid brick walls making the other two. 