“Undoubtedly there is such a thing as a spirit world. If all the mediums but one were dishonest, and that one produced the results that couldn't be explained away by psychology, then we must admit the existence of another world.
“But reason tells us that there is nothing but reality; that if there were a spirit world it must be just as real, just as substantial as our own. Moreover—somewhere, somehow, here must be a definite point of contact!
“That was approximately my theory. Of course I had no idea how close I had come to a great truth. To some extent it was pure guesswork.
“Then, one day Budge Kennedy brought me the blue stone. He told me its history, and he maintained that it was lighter than air, which of course I disbelieved until I took it out of the ring and saw for myself.
“I went at once to the house at 288 Chatterton Place. There I found an old lady who had lived in the house for some time. I asked to see the cellar where the stone had been unearthed. Understand, I had no idea of the great discovery I was about to make; I merely wanted to see. And I found something almost as impossible as the blue stone itself-a green one, heavier than any known mineral, answering to no known classification but of an entirely new element. It was no larger than a pea, but of incredible weight.
“Coming upstairs I found the old lady a bit perturbed. I had told her my name; she had recognised me as well.
“'Come with me,' she said.
“With that she opened a door. She was very old and very uncertain; yet she was scarcely afraid.
“'In there,” she said, and pointed through the door.
“I entered an ordinary room, furnished as a parlour. There was a sofa, a table, a few chairs; little else.