“I acknowledge that I was frightened by what I fancied I saw,” said Hal, “but I’ve put that aside. I’m no longer alarmed in the least. I now believe beyond question that I was deluded by a hallucination conjured before my mental vision by my own unwitting efforts. I was in precisely the proper psychological condition to deceive myself into believing that I saw something which did not exist. We had been talking of supernatural things. This, following the unfortunate tragedy which we lately witnessed, was enough to place us all in a mental condition that made us peculiarly susceptible to a certain delusion.
“We were speaking of ghosts. We had fancied while walking on the street that something was following us, although we could discover nothing when we looked round. I assure you that I was sincere when I stated a willingness to conjure up the spirit of Dick Merriwell. At that moment I longed for the ability to bring his ghost before me. I even fancied it as appearing. With this powerful fancy overcoming me, I lifted my eyes and looked toward yonder panel. The lights were turned off at that moment. As they came on dimly my overwrought fancy made me believe I beheld the pale and ghostly face of Merriwell peering in upon us. It was nothing in the world but a hallucination.”
“That might be true were it not for the fact that Lynch and myself beheld the same white, ghostly face,” said Ditson. “I’d like to think you have hit on the real explanation of the affair, Du Boise, but I can’t accept it. Had you been the only one to see that apparition, your explanation would be received by us both; but how can you account for the fact that we also saw what you believed you saw—and we saw it at precisely the same time.”
“Telepathy,” said Du Boise, nodding his head. “Mental transmission of thought. Did I not cry out that I saw it as I pointed toward the panel?”
“You did.”
“I thought so. Being thus firmly convinced that I really beheld such an apparition, I transferred the conviction to both of you, and you, too, were deluded into believing you saw it.”
Again Dunc shook his head.
“That’s too much for me to accept,” he said. “It’s barely possible such a thing might have happened between two persons, but when three individuals are involved, it’s wholly beyond acceptance.”
Harold shrugged his shoulders and sipped a little more of the cool absinthe.
“Of course I cannot compel you to accept my explanation,” he said, “but I am certain you will come to it in time. At present you are both overcome by unreasoning fears. As time passes and you are not again visited by such an apparition you will gradually be forced to confess that my explanation of this strange phenomenon is the only one that can be given. You still remain frightened, both of you. Lynch looks ten years older than he did three hours ago. Your nerves are quivering in your bodies. Look—look at my hand, it’s steady as a rock.”