“They are both coming home and will be here before evening,� he said with an air of assurance.
The three women exchanged glances. Was this but talk, or did he have the power of unveiling the future as well as the past? Or did he clairvoyantly see Nathan and Mark directing their course thither-ward?
“You speak with conviction, Professor,� Lissa at length replied. “Have you received intelligence from the absent ones which is not known to us?�
“That which I see, ye cannot now perceive,� the man said sententiously. “Yet the time is coming when you as well shall have the power to lift the veil which hides the dreaded unknown and learn the mysteries which are only revealed to those who are willing to seek in the right manner and submit themselves to the spirit influences which surround them. You can never know, Mrs. Clyne, the peace you will experience when you have ceased to resist and rebel against the gentle influences which seek only to promote your happiness and well-being. There is one angelic form now hovering about you and anxiously striving to win recognition from those so near and dear to her when on earth.�
“Can you tell her name,� questioned Lissa, as the man, with his eye fixed upon the opposite wall, paused and seemed wrapped in thought.
“It is a woman, young and beautiful. She must be a near relative. Her name is E-l-s-i-e—Elsie.�
Alice looked at her mother with awe-shaded eyes. Whence did this man’s knowledge come? It was certainly remarkable. He could not have known Elsie.
Further speculation or conversation was arrested by the sound of a horse’s feet outside the door, and in a moment the handsome, smiling face of Mark Cramer appeared. His curling, yellow hair hung in womanish profusion to his powerful shoulders, over which a large soft hat rested becomingly. His hunting costume of gray, with belt and pistols, spoke of his wild, free life; and his clear blue eyes, florid complexion, and Herculean frame made a magnificent picture of manly strength and perfection, as for a brief time he stood framed in the open doorway against the back-ground of the setting sun.
A moment later, and Alice, with a little cry of welcome, sprang to greet him. The Professor aroused himself from his semi-trance, and Mrs. Clyne and Lissa were extending their hands and expressing surprise at his coming.
“How did you chance to come home so much earlier than you expected?� Alice asked radiantly, when the greetings were over and they were seated. “We did not look for you for a fortnight.�