Throughout the séance Penny had remained firm in her conviction that the medium had resorted to trickery to produce his startling effects. Although she could not be sure, she thought that several times he had slipped from his chair to enter the conveniently placed cabinet. She also believed that the only way he could have materialized the ghost was by donning luminous robes.
"I'll end his little game once and for all," she thought.
Deliberately she waited until the ghostly figure floated close to her own chair. Then with a sudden upward spring, she snatched at it.
Greatly to her chagrin, her hand encountered nothing solid. With the speed of lightning, the figure streaked toward the cabinet behind Al Gepper's chair and was seen no more.
Arising, the medium switched on the room lights. His face was white with anger.
"I warned you to make no move," he said harshly to Penny. "You deliberately disobeyed me."
"Oh, Penny, why did you do it?" wailed Mrs. Weems. "I was so eager to get another message from Cousin David."
"His Spirit has been frightened away," announced the medium. "It will be impossible ever to recall him. For that matter, I shall never again conduct a séance with this young person present. She is a disturbing element."
"Oh, Penny, you've ruined everything," said Mrs. Weems accusingly. "Why do you act so outrageously?"
Penny started to speak and then changed her mind. Mrs. Weems, the seamstress and her husband, all were gazing at her with deep reproach. She realized that there was nothing she could say which would make them understand.
She arose and walked to the easel. The painting of Cousin David remained clearly visible. She touched it and then glanced at her finger which bore a streak of red.
Penny stared at her finger a moment. Lifting her eyes she met the triumphant gaze of Al Gepper.
"Not even a skillful artist could have painted a picture so quickly," he said with a smirk. "Only a spirit would have the ability. You are dumbfounded, my little one?"
"No, just plain dumb," answered Penny. "I salute you, Mr. Gepper."
Without waiting for Mrs. Weems, she turned and went from the house.
"Now how _did_ he do it?" she muttered. "I saw everything and yet I am more in the dark than ever. But I am sure of one thing. Unless I work fast, Al Gepper is almost certain to obtain Mrs. Weems' inheritance."