"Of course I'm not."
"Then you shall look into the crystal and try to see what I saw. I
will not tell you. You shall try to see for yourself. You may succeed,
if I help you. Now, try to free your mind from every thought, and look
earnestly. Look!"
I drew the globe towards me from under her fingers.
"Rum!" I murmured to myself.
Then I strenuously fixed my eyes on the glinting depths of the
crystal, full of strange, shooting fires; but I could see nothing
whatever.
"No go!" I said. "You'll have to tell me what you saw."
"Patience. There is time yet. Look again. Take my hand in your right
hand."
I obeyed, and we sat together in the tense silence. After a few
minutes, the crystal darkened and then slowly cleared. I trembled with
an uneasy anticipation.
"You see something," she breathed sorrowfully in my ear.
"Not yet, not yet," I whispered. "But it is coming. Yes, I see
myself, and--and--a woman--a very pretty woman. I am clasping her
hand."
"Don't you recognize the woman?" Again Emmeline's voice vibrated like
a lamentation in my ear. I did recognize the woman, and the sweat
stood on my brow.
"It is Rosetta Rosa!"
"And what else do you see?" my questioner pursued remorselessly.
"I see a figure behind us," I stammered, "but what figure I cannot
make out. It is threatening me. It is threatening me! It is a horrible
thing. It will kill me! Ah--!"
I jumped up with a nervous movement. The crystal, left to itself,
rolled off the table to the floor, and fell with a thud unbroken on
the soft carpet. And I could hear the intake of Emmeline's breath.
At that moment the double portière was pulled apart, and some one
stood there in the red light from the Japanese lantern.
"Is Mr. Foster here? I want him to come with me," said a voice. And it
was the voice of Rosa.
Just behind her was Sullivan.
"I expected you'd be here," laughed Sullivan.