“The stranger showing me the sign—­written plainer than I have ever seen it—­in the palm of his hand, I at once consented, and I had no sooner done so than he vanished.  I knew then that I had been speaking to an Elemental—­a spirit of my native mountains.”

“My nerves are not in a condition to stand much.  Is there anything very alarming in this astral business?” Kelson asked.

“It depends on what you call alarming,” the Indian said coldly.  “I shouldn’t be alarmed.”

“Don’t be a fool, Matt,” Hamar interposed.  “I never saw such a frightened idiot in my life.  You ought to be ashamed of yourself.  Think of what there is at stake.”

“Think of Lilian Rosenberg,” Curtis whispered, “and be comforted.”

Karaver took them upstairs into a dimly lighted attic.  In the centre of the carpetless floor was a tripod, around which the three were told to sit.  Karaver then proceeded to pour into an iron vessel a mixture composed of:  1/2 oz. of hemlock, 3/4 oz. of henbane, 2 oz. of opium, 1 oz. of mandrake roots, 2 oz. of poppy seeds, 1/2 oz. of assafoetida, and 1/4 oz. of saffron.

“Are these preparations absolutely necessary?” Kelson asked.

“Absolutely,” Karaver said.  “English clairvoyants will, doubtless, tell you they are not necessary.  It is their custom, with a few slipshod instructions, to lead you to suppose that getting on the Astral Plane is mere child’s play.  It is not!  It is extremely difficult and can only be done, in the first place, through the guidance of a skilled Oriental occultist.”

He then took a sword, and with it making the sign of a triangle in the air, afterwards scratched a triangle on the floor, over which, in red chalk, he superscribed a tree, an eye, and a hand.  Then he heated the mixture in the iron vessel over an oil stove.  As soon as fumes arose from it, he placed it on the tripod, crying, “Great Spirits of the mountains, rivers and bowels of the earth, invest me with the heavy seal, in order that I may conduct these three seekers after knowledge to the realms of thy eternal phantoms.”

Immediately after this oration Karaver, dipping a twig of hazel in the fumigation, waved it north, south, east and west crying “Give me authority!  Give me Ka-ta-la-derany;” and then kneeling down in front of the brazier, in a droning voice repeated these words: 

    “Green phantom figures of the air,
    A ready welcome see that you prepare. 
    Black phantom figures from the earth,
    Of friendly salutations see there is no dearth. 
    Red phantom figures of the furious fire,
    For kindly greeting change your usual ire. 
    Grey, grizzly googies from the woods and dells,
    To gentle whisperings change your harrowing yells. 
    Flagae, Devas, Mara Rupas,[19] hie to the Plane, the Astral Plane,
    And to these three poor fools, explain, explain
    The secrets that they wish to learn, to learn!”