THE Institut Métapsychique was an imposing¹ stone building in the Avenue Wagram with a door like a baronial castle. Here it was that the three friends presented themselves late in the evening. A footman showed them into a reception-room where they were presently welcomed by Dr. Maupuis in person. The famous authority on psychic² science was a short broad man with a large head, a clean-shaven face, and an expression in which worldly wisdom and kindly³ altruism⁴ were blended. His conversation was in French with Mailey and Roxton, who both spoke⁵ the language well, but he had to fall back upon broken English with Malone, who could only utter still more broken French in reply. He expressed his pleasure at their visit, as only a graceful⁶ Frenchman can, said a few words as to the wonderful qualities of Panbek, the Galician medium, and finally led the way downstairs to the room in which the experiments were to be conducted. His air of vivid intelligence and penetrating⁷ sagacity had already shown the strangers how preposterous⁸ were those theories which tried to explain away his wonderful results by the supposition that he was a man who was the easy victim of impostors.

 

Descending⁹ a winding¹⁰ stair they found themselves in a large chamber¹¹ which looked at first glance like a chemical laboratory, for shelves full of bottles, retorts, test-tubes, scales and other

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