THE SELLING OF SPELLS

The period of stage four promised to be one of such a lucrative nature, that the trio set to work to profit by it at once.  They bribed medical men to procure for them the mumia of people suffering from every kind of disease; of criminal lunatics; of idiots and epileptics; they obtained, by bribery also, the blood and hair of the most abandoned men and women—­rakes, thieves, murderers.  They bottled and labelled, and arranged and catalogued, the mumia, in a laboratory designed for the purpose; and, when all their preparations were complete, advertised—­

    SPELLS FOR SALE

    THE MODERN SORCERY COMPANY LTD.
    offer for sale every variety of spells—­love
    charms, sleep charms, etc.

In order to carry out the principal conditions of the compact, namely, to do harm, they made pseudo-love charms as follows:—­

They procured the hair of a girl whom they knew to be an incorrigible, and, at the same time, heartless flirt; and, in the manner described (and related in the last chapter) made a magnes microcosmi of it.  When ready for use, i.e. after it had been in immediate contact with the girl’s flesh, so as to get it fully charged, they had portions of it set in rings, lockets and pendants.  And the purchaser of any one of these trinkets had only to persuade the object of his (or her) affection to wear it, and his (or her) love would at once be reciprocated.

Had the magnes microcosmi been charged with real, deep-rooted love, the effect on the wearer would have been highly satisfactory, but charged as it was with the effervescent and fleeting fancy of a flirt, the effect on whoever wore it could not be more disastrous.  The sentiments of the hopeful purchaser would be reciprocated for a time, which would probably lead to marriage—­after which the affection his adored had professed would suddenly decrease, and before the honeymoon was over, would have vanished altogether.

During the week following the announcement of the sale of these spells, over a thousand were sold, the applicants being mostly shop girls, typists, clerks and servants; in the second week the sales rose to three thousand, and every succeeding week showed a still greater increase.

In charging the magnes microcosmi, the motive of the purchaser had always to be taken into account.  If the love charm were wanted by a woman—­a housekeeper may be, who desired some rich old man to fall in love with her, in order that she might come into his property; or by a woman—­a companion probably—­who, having wormed herself into the confidence of some eccentric old lady, was anxious that that lady should leave her all her money—­Hamar took care that the magnes microcosmi should be charged with a lasting infatuation; and the sale of this love spell—­the spell that was sought solely that the purchaser might inherit property to which he (or she) had no claim—­far exceeded the sale of any other spell.  Indeed, it was extraordinary how many people—­people one would never have suspected—­desired spells that would do other people harm.