"As for you, Paul, mother had no scruples. She said that I was a good
girl, and any man was lucky to get me. I was not sure of that, but I knew
that any girl would be fortunate whom you loved. She had a dress cut for
me in the exact pattern of that in the picture--a very old-fashioned
pattern, but very becoming to me--and all was ready. You know the rest.
"I forgot to say that the reason the dress all fell to pieces the day
after I came here was that it had been treated with a chemical
preparation, which had completely rotted the texture of the cloth. Indeed
I had trouble to keep it together that first night. Father saw to this
part. He understands chemistry, and indeed, everything else except how to
make a living.
"There was no trap-door in the floor in Tenth Street, but the whole
ceiling of the cabinet was a trap-door, the edges hidden by the breadth
of the boards forming the partition which enclosed it. It rose on oiled
hinges, with a pulley and a counter-weight, at a touch of a finger, and
the person who was to appear, unless it was a part that the medium
herself could take, descended in an instant by letting down a short light
ladder, wrapped in cloth, so as to make no sound.
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