Page:The achievements of Luther Trant - Balmer and MacHarg - 1910.djvu/132

108 to prejudice her evidence against Mrs. Eldredge, Mrs. Murray could not herself have believed that Mrs. Eldredge had taken the boy away. So, since the Murrays were making no search, they must have soon found out where the boy was and were satisfied that he was safe and that they could produce him, after they had finished ruining Mrs. Eldredge.

"Therefore I was in a position to appreciate Mrs. Murray's ridiculous letter when it came, with its painfully misspelled demand for an absurdly small ransom that would not be refused for a moment, as the object of the letter was only to make the final move in the case against Mrs. Eldredge and enable them to return the boy. So far, it is clear?" Trant checked his rapid explanation.

Still Eldredge stared at the set, defiant features of his mother-in-law; and made no reply.

"I appreciated thoroughly that I must prove all this," Trant then shot on rapidly. "You, Mr. Eldredge, discovered that Miss Hendricks' description of the woman tallied precisely with the published description of the St. Louis kidnaper, without appreciating that the description was in her mind. With her high suggestibility she substituted it for the woman she actually saw as unconsciously—and as honestly—as she substituted Mrs. Murray's suggestions for her own observations.

"But perhaps you can appreciate it now. You saw how I showed her the word 'Armenia' and spoke of the United States to lead her mind to substitute 'America' to prove how easily her mind substituted acts, motions and everything at Mrs. Murray's