"I understand. I was intending to marry another woman, the one you spoke of just now, but something prevented."
"That must be it. My guide tells me that something dreadful happened, and it was what you might call hushed up and you separated from her."
"It was not my fault."
"I get a little child, too"—Mr. Payson grew still more absorbed. The medium noticed his instant reaction in eyes, mouth and hands. On the strength of that evidence, she took the risk of saying:
"The child was the lady's with the white hair."
"What about it?" demanded Mr. Payson.
"I see the child standing by a lady who grew gray very young, you understand. And now they're both gone. Was you ever interested in Sacramento or somewhere east of here?"
"Stockton?" he asked. "I lived there for a while."
"That's it. I see a river, and steamboats coming in, and there's the child again."
"A boy or a girl?"