The advantage
he had got over me was lost in the rapture of his gaze; and he seemed to
be charmed by the apparition, for he began to move slowly forward, still
pointing his finger, and without apparently drawing a breath. Though a
little taken by surprise for the instant, it was not easy for me to give
up my practical wisdom, which, as a matter of course, pointed to a
trick.
"You do see it, then?" said he.
"Surely," said I. "There is no mistake it is the figure of the ten of
diamonds, probably stuck upon a turnip lantern."
"I did not ask you for a banter," he replied angrily. "I can draw my own
conclusions. All I wanted was to satisfy myself that I was free from a
monomaniacal illusion. We cannot both be mad; besides, you're a sceptic,
and the testimony of a sceptic's eyes is better than the sneer of his
tongue."
Still he proceeded, I following, and the apparition retreating. "I told
you to remember what Edith said," he continued, as he still pointed his
finger; "and I fancy you can never forget that before you. The two
things are wide apart."
"And so are the two ends of a rope with which a man hangs himself," said
I.
"It is gone!" cried my friend, without noticing my remark. "It has
receded into that infinite from whence it was commissioned to earth to
strike its lightning upon the eye of a falling, erring, miserable
mortal.
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