“We will start at once if you please,” said Al Gepper brusquely. “I have another engagement tonight. However, before the séance is undertaken I must ask that each of you pay the required fee, five dollars.”
The money was paid, and the three persons seated themselves at the table. Gepper switched off the lights.
The séance began in much the same manner as the one Penny had attended. The medium called upon the spirit of a woman named Flora to appear.
“Now concentrate hard—everyone,” he instructed. “Flora, where are you? Can you not show yourself that we may know it is truly your spirit which communicates with us?”
From the cabinet, so close to Al Gepper that she could have touched his hand, Penny was able to see his every move. Yet so swift was his next action, that she barely discerned it.
Taking a wet sponge from his pocket he wiped it across the painting previously prepared. The picture immediately became visible to the audience as Gepper focused his flashlight on the canvas.
“That wasn’t the way he made Mrs. Weems’ picture appear,” thought Penny. “The fellow must have a great repertoire of tricks!”
The séance had become so interesting that she no longer thought of escape. Nevertheless, she came to a sudden realization of her precarious position as she heard the medium say that he would next endeavor to persuade the Spirit of Flora to take actual shape. With a shock it dawned upon her that in another moment the man would enter the cabinet to make use of the luminous gauze robe and other paraphernalia.
Knowing that she could not hide from him, Penny decided upon a bold break for freedom. Dropping the ghostly robe over her face and shoulders, she pulled aside the dark curtain and flitted into the room.
Her dramatic entrance brought gasps of astonishment from the persons who sat at the circular table. The medium, as dumbfounded as his audience muttered: “What the dickens!” and pushed back his chair, his legs rasping on the floor.