to do anything for her. We passed some children playing in the street as we came here in the car—bonny, bright little things, but in such rags and dirt. Why is it that those, whose mothers can do so little for them, should be so splendid and Mona, for whom we would do anything, should be—as she is?”

The poor woman’s eyes filled with tears, and neither Dr. Taverner nor I could reply.

“I will take her down to my nursing home and keep her under observation for a time, if you wish,” said Dr. Taverner. “If the brain is at fault, I can do nothing; but if it is the mind itself that has failed to develop, I might attempt the cure. These deficiency cases are so inaccessible—it is like ringing up in the telephone when the subscriber will not answer. If one could attract her attention, something might be done; the crux of the matter lies in the establishment of communications.”

When they had gone, I turned to Dr. Taverner and said: “What hope have you in dealing with a case like that?”

“I can not tell you just yet,” he replied; “I shall have to find out what her previous incarnations have been. I invariably find that congenital troubles originate in a former life. Then I shall have to work out her horoscope and see whether the conditions are ripe for the paying off of whatever debt she may have incurred in a previous life. Do you still think I am a queer sort of charlatan, or are you beginning to get used to my ways?”

“I have long ceased to be astonished at anything,” I replied. “I should accept the devil, horns, hoofs and tail, if you undertook to prescribe for him.”

Dr. Taverner chuckled.

“With regard to our present case, I am of the opinion that we shall find the law of reincarnation is the one we shall have to look to. Now tell me this, Rhodes—supposing reincarnation is not a fact, supposing this life is the beginning and end of our existence and at its conclusion we proceed to flames or harps according to the use we have made of it, how do you account for Mona Cailey’s condition? What did she do in the few hours between her birth and the onset of her disease to bring down such a judgment on herself? And at the end of her life, can she justly be said to have deserved Hell or earned Heaven?”