"He knows much about the unseen, Douglas."
"I should not be surprised to learn that what he does know is of the worst, Alice," said Douglas dryly. "There is something evil about that man. I have only met him twice and each time I was uncomfortable in his presence. He is like a snake, a toad—a—a—oh, any noxious animal. And to think that he wanted to marry you. I never heard of such insolence."
"He means well," said Alice soothingly.
"I doubt it. Anything he means is to his own advantage. I shouldn't be at all surprised to learn that he was a Brother of the Shadow, since he knows about unseen things."
"A Brother of the Shadow?"
"So Eberstein tells me Black Magicians are called."
"But are there really such men?"
"Yes. There are White Magicians and Black. They both have acquired super-physical powers the same in essence, acting differently when used differently. Good men use them to help: bad men use them to hurt. Just like dynamite, you know, dear. You can use it for a good purpose to blow up rocks blocking a harbour, or for a bad one to destroy life. But the thing itself and the action of the thing are the same. How did you see these fairies?"
"Nature-spirits," insisted Alice quickly. "Oh, one day when I was on the moor Don Pablo came along. He told me about them and I did not believe in such things. Then he took my hand, saying I was clairvoyant. In some way his touch or some power which he poured into me opened"—Alice was puzzled how the experience could be explained—"opened a third eye, as it might be. I don't know exactly how to put it, but in some way I saw——"
"Saw what?"