deceived?"

There was a fine, scarcely perceptible satire in his manner; he
glanced at the tall oaken clock that stood in one corner of the
room--its hands pointed to eleven. "Now, Mr. Alwyn," he went on,
"I think we have talked quite enough for this evening, and my
advice is, that you retire to rest, and think over what I have
said to you. I am willing to help you if I can,--but with your
beliefs, or rather your non-beliefs, I do not hesitate to tell you
frankly that the exertion of MY internal force upon YOURS in your
present condition might be fraught with extreme danger and
suffering. You have spoken of Truth, 'the deathful Truth'; this
being, however, nothing but Truth according to the world's
opinion, which changes with every passing generation, and
therefore is not Truth at all. There is another Truth--the
everlasting Truth--the pivot of all life, which never changes; and
it is with this alone that my science deals. Were I to set you at
liberty as you desire,--were your intelligence too suddenly
awakened to the blinding awfulness of your mistaken notions of
life, death, and futurity, the result might be more overpowering
than either you or I can imagine! I have told you what I can do,--
your incredulity does not alter the fact of my capacity. I can
sever you,--that is, your Soul, which you cannot define, but which
nevertheless exists,--from your body, like a moth from its
chrysalis; but I dare not even picture to myself what scorching
flame the moth might not heedlessly fly into! You might in your
temporary state of release find that new impetus to your thoughts
you so ardently desire, or you might not,--in short, it is
impossible to form a guess as to whether your experience might be
one of supernal ecstasy or inconceivable horror." He paused a