this matter far too suggestible. It would be dangerous for him, and his observations would be worthless to
me. Second, if he knew of my own experience, he would without doubt refuse to let me out of his sight.
Third, either of these contingencies would defeat my own purpose, which was to interview Madame
Mandilip entirely alone-with the exception of McCann to keep watch outside the shop.
What would come of that meeting I could not forecast. But, obviously, it was the only way to retain my
self-respect. To admit that what had occurred was witchcraft, sorcery, supernatural-was to surrender to
superstition. Nothing can be supernatural. If anything exists, it must exist in obedience to natural laws.
Material bodies must obey material laws. We may not know those laws-but they exist nevertheless. If
Madame Mandilip possessed knowledge of an unknown science, it behooved me as an exemplar of
known science, to find out what I could about the other. Especially as I had recently responded so