THE CAT AND THE GHOST. 99 



number of ornaments, and among the rest an image of a 

 cat, in a sitting posture. Lawrence went to the mantel- 

 piece and took this image from it, and then opened the 

 window and set the image outside upon the edge of the 

 shelf. 



" There," said he, " I am going to see if I can't frighten 

 that cat with a ghost." 



He then lighted one of the candles by means of a match, 

 and brought it near to the window, holding his ghost in 

 one hand and the candle in the other. He placed John 

 near the window, directing him to look at the cat. Then 

 he held the figure of the ghost a little behind John, and 

 over his head, and also held the candle in such a position 

 that it should shine upon the figure, and yet not shine into 

 John's eyes. The consequence was that a strong light was 

 thrown upon the paper ghost, which made the reflection 

 of it plainly visible near the place where the cat was seen 

 by direct vision. In other words, the light from the image 

 of the cat came through the glass from the outside by 

 transmission, while that from the ghost, from the inside, on 

 striking the glass, came back to the eye by reflection ; and 

 thus the two images were produced side by side on the ret- 

 ina of the eye. 



" Is that the way they do it ?" asked John. 



"Yes," said Lawrence, " that is exactly the way in prin- 

 ciple, only they do it on a much larger scale, and they con- 

 trive to conceal the means. Here, for instance, the ghost, 

 being only a paper card, is lifeless, and the cat is lifeless 

 too ; whereas the effect would be the same if they were 

 both alive, and could move, so as to increase the appear- 

 ance of reality." 



" A cat would not do for that," said John, " for cats are 

 not afraid of ghosts." 



"How do you know?" asked Lawrence. 



