“‘Are you not Mr. Wright?’
“Instantly I pulled myself together and acknowledged that I was the individual. I invited her to be seated.
“As far as I could remember, Mr. Carter, I had never seen the woman before in all my life.
“‘You are Mr. Peter Wright?’ she asked again, as soon as she was seated, and she placed considerable emphasis upon ‘Peter,’ looking me straight in the eyes with such intensity as if she were endeavoring to read my most secret thoughts.
“‘My name is Peter Wright,’ I said, and I commenced to experience a creeping sensation all over me.
“Never before had I been in such a position.
“It may have been my imagination, but I thought that she was making an effort to exert some influence over me.
“Well, that is neither here nor there. It is a waste of time for me to go into details about my feelings——”
“Go on,” Carter interrupted, “tell your story your own way, and do not make any attempt to abridge it. I am deeply interested.”
“Let me see—oh, yes. As I said, I thought she was trying to hypnotize me.