He could not keep back a derisive shout. "Vanderbilt! Well, and you
believe 'the great commodore' comes to our little hole of a home to
advise us? Oh, mother, that's too ridiculous."
"My son," she began with some asperity, "we've been all over that ground
before. You don't realize how you hurt, how you dishonor me when you
doubt me and laugh at me."
He felt the pain in her voice and began an apology. "I don't mean to
laugh at you, mother. But you must remember that I have been a student
for four years in the atmosphere of a great university, and all this
business--I've got to be honest with you--it's all raving madness to me.
You certainly must stop advising in business matters. Mr. Carew to-night
intended to give you warning."
"I know he did," she quietly responded.
"He meant to be kind. He meant to say that you were liable at any moment
to be held accountable for advice that went wrong. He told me that the
courts were full of cases where mediums had led people into willing
their property away, or where they had juggled with somebody else's
fortunes. He told me of having convicted one woman of this and of having
sent her to jail."
"But have I prospered from these advices?" she asked, indignantly. "Can
any one accuse me of getting rich out of my 'work'? Please consider
that."
"That does puzzle me. I can't see why 'they' help others and leave us
with a bare living. And, most important of all, why do 'they' permit you
to be hounded this way? Why didn't 'they' warn you? Why don't 'they'
help me?"
She sighed submissively. "Of course they have their own reasons. In good
time all will be revealed to us. They are wiser than we, for all the
past and all the future are unrolled before their eyes."
This reply silenced him. Small and gentle as she was, Victor realized
that she could resist with the strength of iron when it came to an
assault upon her faith.
Above the knob of their own door they found a folded newspaper, and this
Victor seized with misgiving. "I wonder what is coming next?" he said.
She paled with a definite premonition of trouble. "Open it at once," she
commanded.
He was as eager as she, for he, too, foresaw some new attack upon their
peace. Lighting the gas, he opened the paper with trembling hands. On
the first page was his own photograph and the story of his leaving
college to defend his mother. Everything, even to the parting with
Frenson, was set down, luridly, side by side with the report of a
celebrated murder trial.
At sight of this new indignity his sense of youth and weakness came back
upon him and, crumpling up the paper, he flung it upon the floor in
impotent rage.
"That ends the fight here," he said. "How can I go about this town
seeking work to-morrow? Everybody will know my story, and, what's more,
here is your address given in full. Don't you see that makes it
impossible for either of us to remain here another day?"
For the first time in her life the indomitable little psychic quailed
before the persistent malice of her foes. The splintered altar of her
faith lying in a disordered heap upon the floor symbolized the
estrangement which she felt between her invisible guides, her son, and
herself. Her maternal anxiety had developed swiftly in these few hours
of blissful companionship, and the world of wealth and comfort--for her
boy's sake--had become suddenly of enormous importance to her. She
wished him to be a happy man, and this desire weakened her abstract
sense of duty to the race. She spoke aloud in a tone of entreaty,
addressing herself to the intangible essences about her. "Father, are
you here? Speak to me, help me, I need you."
Victor turned upon her with darkened brow. "Oh, for God's sake, stop
that! I don't want any advice from the air."