We have always been very poor, and it has
been very, very hard for us to get a living. Father is a man of
education, and had tried many things before we came to this, but nothing
succeeded. We grew poorer and poorer, and when this business came in our
way he had to take up with it or send us to the almshouse. It is not an
honest business, at least as we conducted it; but, oh, Paul! none of you
that are rich understand that to a very poor man the duty of supporting
his family seems sometimes as if it were the only duty in the world.
"Well, when mother came to visit Miss Ludington, and saw that picture
which is so much like me, and so little, mother says, like what Miss
Ludington ever was, and when she found out about your belief in the
immortality of past selves, the idea first came to her of deceiving you.
"That story of mother's going to Cincinnati was a lie, to prevent your
suspecting that she had anything to do with the business. Mrs. Rhinehart
is an imaginary person. At first, the idea was only to get you interested
in the seances, for the profit of the fees; but when they saw how
entirely deceived you were by my resemblance to the picture, the scheme
of getting me into this house occurred to them.
Pages:
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189