Verrian jumped to his question. "Do you mean that we ought to send her
the proofs of the story?"

"No," the editor faltered, but even in this decision he did not deny the
author his sympathy. "You've touched bottom in that story, Verrian. You
may go higher, but you can never go deeper."

Verrian flushed a little. "Oh, thank you!"

"I'm not surprised the girl wants to know how you manage your problem
--such a girl, standing in the shadow of the other world, which is always
eclipsing this, and seeing how you've caught its awful outline."

Verrian made a grateful murmur at the praise. "That is what my mother
felt. Then you have no doubt of the good faith--"

"No," the editor returned, with the same quantity, if not the same
quality, of reluctance as before. "You see, it would be too daring."

"Then why not let her have the proofs?"

"The thing is so unprecedented--"

"Our doing it needn't form a precedent."

"No."

"And if you've no doubt of its being a true case--"