“Two!” murmured Ai. “I thought so.”
“If she then lives, as your science seems to insist, show me her present situation,” cried Reuel, beside himself with fears.
“I must have a special preparation for the present,” said Ai, calmly. He set about preparing a liquid mixture. When this was accomplished he washed the face of the disk with a small sponge dipped in the mixture. A film of sediment instantly formed upon it.
“When this has dried, I will scrape it off and polish the mirror, then we shall be ready for the demonstration. One picture only will come—this will remain for a number of days, after that the disk will return to its normal condition. But, see! the sediment is caked. Now to remove it and finish our test.” At last it was done, and the disk repolished. Then standing before it, Ai cried, in an earnest voice:
“Let the present appear upon the disk, if it be for the benefit of Thy human subjects!”
Ai appeared perfectly calm, but his hands shook. Reuel remained a short remove from him, awaiting his summons.
“Come, Ergamenes.”
For a few moments Reuel gazed upon the plate, his eyes brilliant with expectation, his cheeks aglow with excitement. Then he involuntarily shuddered, a half suppressed groan escaped him, and he grew ashy pale. In a trice he became entirely unnerved, and staggered back and forth like a drunken man. Greatly alarmed, and seeing he was about to fall, Ai sprang to his side and caught him. Too late. He fell to the floor in a swoon. The picture reflected by the disk was that of the ancestral home of the Livingstons. It showed the parlor of a fine old mansion; two figures stood at an open window, their faces turned to the interior. About the woman’s waist the man’s arm was twined in a loving embrace. The faces were those of Aubrey and Dianthe.
Late that night Reuel tossed upon his silken couch in distress of mind. If the disk were true, then Dianthe and Aubrey both lived and were together. He was torn by doubts, haunted by dreadful fears of he knew not what. If the story of the disk were true, never was man so deceived and duped as he had been. Then in the midst of his anger and despair came an irresistible impulse to rise from his bed. He did so, and distinctly felt the pressure of a soft hand upon his brow, and a yielding body at his side. The next instant he could have sworn that he heard the well-known tones of Dianthe in his ears, saying:
“Reuel, it is I.”