"Yes, yes," he said. "But there's another point. What about that fear I had when I tried to—to awaken?"
There passed over the medium's face a shade of gravity. It was no more than a shade, but it was there. He reached out rather quickly for his pipe which he had laid aside, and blew through it carefully before answering.
"That?" he said, with what seemed to the boy an affected carelessness. "That? Oh, that's a common experience. Don't think about that too much, Mr. Baxter. It's never very healthy—"
"I am sorry," said Laurie deliberately. "But I must ask you to tell me what you think. I must know what I'm doing."
The medium filled his pipe again. Twice he began to speak, and checked himself; and in the long silence Laurie felt his fears gather upon him tenfold.
"Please tell me at once, Mr. Vincent," he said. "Unless I know everything that is to be known, I will not go another step along this road. I really mean that."
The medium paused in his pipe-filling.
"And what if I do tell you?" he said in his slow virile voice. "Are you sure you will not be turned back?"
"If it is a well-known danger, and can be avoided with prudence, I certainly shall not turn back."
"Very well, Mr. Baxter, I will take you at your word.... Have you ever heard the phrase, 'The Watcher on the Threshold'?"