Clue of the Silken Ladder Part 21

"Then please think more quietly. I must warn you that this seance cannot be successful unless each person present concentrates, entering into the occasion with the deepest of sincerity."

"I a.s.sure you, I am as sincere as yourself," Penny responded gravely.

Mr. Hodges deposited his gold watch on the table. His wife offered a pin and Mrs. Weems a plain band ring. Penny parted with a handkerchief.

After everyone was seated about the table, Al Gepper played several phonograph records, all the while exhorting the Spirits to appear.

Taking Mrs. Weems' ring from the tray before him, he pressed it to his forehead. A convulsive shudder wracked his body.

"Someone comes to me--" he mumbled. "Someone comes, giving the name of David--David Swester."

"My cousin," breathed Mrs. Weems in awe.

"He is tall and dark with a scar over his left eye," resumed the medium.

"I see him plainly now."

"That _is_ David!" cried the housekeeper, leaning forward in her eagerness.

"David, have you a message for us?" the medium intoned.

There was a long silence, during which the man could be seen writhing and twisting in the semi-darkness. Then his voice began again:

"David has a message for a person called Maud."

"I am Maud," said Mrs. Weems tremulously. "Oh, what does he say?"

"That he is well and happy in the Spirit World, but he is worried about Maud."

"Worried about me? Why?"

The medium again seemed to undergo physical suffering, but presently the message "came through," although not in an entirely clear form.

"David's voice has faded. I am not certain, but it has something to do with six thousand dollars."

"The exact amount he left to me!" Mrs. Weems murmured.

"David is afraid that you will not have the wisdom to invest the money wisely. He warns you that the present place where you have it deposited is not safe. He will tell you what to do with it. Now the voice is fading again. David has gone."

With another convulsive shudder, Al Gepper straightened from the position into which he had slumped. Resuming his normal tone he said:

"That is all. The connection with Cousin David has been broken."

"Can't we contact him again?" Mrs. Weems asked in disappointment.

"Not today. Possibly tomorrow at this same hour."

"Couldn't you call up another Spirit by using my pin or Pa's watch?" Mrs.

Hodges suggested wistfully.

Al Gepper raised one of the window blinds. "I am very, very tired," he said. "This seance was particularly exhausting due to the presence of someone antagonistic. Tomorrow if conditions are right, I hope actually to materialize Cousin David. The poor soul is trying so hard to get a message through to the one he calls Maud."

"You mean I'll be able to see him?" the housekeeper asked incredulously.

"I hope and believe so. I must rest now. After a seance I should refresh myself with sleep."

"Of course," agreed Mrs. Hodges. "We are selfish to overtax you."

Recovering their trinkets, the elderly couple and Mrs. Weems went from the room. Penny was the last to leave.

"Well, sister?" inquired the medium in a low voice. "Were you convinced, or do you still think that you can show up Al Gepper?"

"I think," said Penny softly, "that you are a very clever man. But clever as you are, one of your well-trained ghosts may yet lead you to the city jail!"

CHAPTER 13 _COUSIN DAVID'S GHOST_

When Penny reached the lower floor she found Mrs. Weems and the Hodges excitedly discussing the seance. The seamstress and her husband emphatically declared that they had given the medium no information regarding either the housekeeper or the deceased Cousin David.

"Then there can be only one explanation," Mrs. Weems said. "We were truly in communication with a departed spirit."

"Don't you agree, Penny?" inquired Mrs. Hodges.

"I am afraid I can't," she replied.

"The test was a fair one," Mrs. Weems insisted. "Mr. Gepper couldn't have described Cousin David so accurately if he hadn't actually seen him as he materialized from the spirit world."

"Al Gepper could have obtained much of his information from persons in Riverview," Penny responded.

"About me, perhaps," the housekeeper conceded. "But not about Cousin David. Why, I doubt if anyone save myself knew he had a scar over his eye. He received it in an automobile accident twelve or thirteen years ago."

"Just think!" murmured Mrs. Hodges. "Tomorrow you may actually be able to see your departed cousin!"

In vain Penny argued that Al Gepper was a trickster. She was unable to offer the slightest evidence to support her contention while, on the other hand, the Hodges reminded her that the medium had never asked one penny for his services.

From the cottage Penny went directly to the _Star_ office, feeling certain that her father would have returned there from his trip. Nor was she mistaken. Gaining admittance to the private office, she wasted no words in relating everything which had transpired during his absence. Her father's attention was flattering.

"Penny, you actually saw all this?" he questioned when she had finished.

"Oh, yes! At the Celestial Temple Louise was with me, too. We thought you might take up the matter with the police."

"That's exactly what I will do," decided Mr. Parker. "I've turned the matter over in my mind for several days. The _Star_ will take the initiative in driving these mediums, character readers and the like out of Riverview!"

"Oh, Dad, I was hoping you'd say that!"

Mr. Parker pressed a desk buzzer. Summoning DeWitt, he told of his plan to launch an active campaign.