Page:The Strange Case of Miss Annie Spragg (1928).djvu/320

 or suggestive advances. It was a kind of madness with her; Aunt Henrietta always believed that men were making improper remarks in her presence or staring at her or attempting flirtations. It was true, said Gertrude Winnery, that the seeress had been pinched once in the museum of Pompeii by a guide who had seen her only from the rear. There had been a tremendous and most embarrassing scene until her honor was vindicated by the arrest of the terrified little man, who discovered abruptly that he had pinched a tornado. Yes, thought Mrs. Winnery, she was a little mad on the subject of her attractions.

On their return Mr. Winnery took for his study the room which the seeress had called her boudoir, and there he installed four large crates of confused notes, copyings and false starts which represented Miracles and Other Natural Phenomena. In this room he spent morning after morning struggling to bring order out of chaos while Mrs. Winnery occupied herself with the delights of keeping house for herself, instead of someone else. But his heart seemed to fail him and the combative interest which had once animated the colossal work appeared to have suffered a decline. At length, in despair, as if he had been a writer of detective mysteries, who must somehow bring the story to a close, he made a summary of the facts and information for and against the miraculous element in the case of Miss Annie Spragg. It included all the information he had been able to collect both in Brinoë and Winnebago Falls. It seemed the only way to end the whole muddle. 