"That's a racket," growled Dick, unable to repress his disdain. "What's the idea of this Little Flower stuff?"
"Little Flower is the medium's control," declared Maude Garwood solemnly. "When Anita Marie enters a trance, Little Flower can take her place. She talks with the spirits, and tells what they say."
"It wouldn't suit me," objected Dick. "I'd like to see the person I'm talking to — whether it's a human being or a spook. Listen, Aunt Maude. You must use good judgment now. Promise me that you won't do anything foolish—"
Terry ended his sentence as Anita Marie entered the room, and gazed shrewdly at her visitors. Dick, rising, faced the medium.
He instinctively disliked her, and Anita Marie observed that fact. She threw a defiant, withering glance toward the young man.
Looking at his aunt's face, Dick observed an expression of total rapture. Maude Garwood seemed cheered by the very presence of Anita Marie.
The medium sat before her, and took the widow's hands. She addressed all her remarks to the believer, and Dick, watching from the side of the room, felt an increased opposition.
"All is well, dear student," declared Anita Marie, in her raspy voice. "The spirits have encouraging words for you. They're agoin' to help you, poor dear."
Dick experienced an immediate resentment. The sight of his aunt, intelligent and refined, listening to this encouragement from an ignorant, untutored woman, was more than he could stand.
"Just how are the spirits going to assist my aunt?" he demanded. Until now, Anita Marie had ignored Dick as though he had been a child. When he spoke, she glowered in his direction. Her words became defiant.