trouble to learn it have been able to deceive a credulous public."

Voltaire's eyes flashed fire. All the malignity and cruelty that could
be expressed in a human face I thought I saw expressed in his. And yet
he wore his old fascinating smile; he never lost his seeming
self-possession.

"I must deny Mr. Blake's statement," he said; "and, further, I would
defy him to find or produce such a code of questions as he mentions."

I immediately left the room, and soon afterwards returned with a book by
a renowned thought-reader, wherein he explained what, to so many, has
appeared marvellous. I pointed out how, according to his system, by
asking a question, the first word of which should begin with a certain
letter, a particular thing should be indicated, and all that would be
needed was that the performers should be perfectly conversant with the
system.

The company quickly saw the truth of what I was saying, and for the
time, at any rate, Mr. Voltaire's marvellous knowledge was held at a
discount. "But does Mr. Blake mean to insinuate that Mr. Kaffar and
myself have learnt such a code as this?" said Voltaire at length.

"I insinuate nothing," I replied. "I am simply showing how your
performance can be done by those possessing no knowledge of the occult
sciences."

"But does Mr. Blake decline to believe that we know nothing of the
mysterious--that we have not dived into subjects of which the ordinary
mind can know nothing?" said Kaffar.