CHRISTMAS NIGHT--THE FORGING OF THE CHAIN "You have more than redeemed your promise, Voltaire," said Tom Temple, after a silence that was almost painful.

"Certainly there is enough romance and mystery in your story to satisfy any one.

What do you think of it, Justin ?"--turning to me.
"Mr.Voltaire used the word 'imagination' in his story," I replied, "and I think it would describe it very well.

Still, it does not account for much after one has read Dumas' _Memoirs of a Physician_." "Am I to understand that you doubt the truth of my words ?" asked Voltaire sharply.
"I think your story is all it appears to be," I replied.
Honestly, however, I did not believe in one word of it.

On the very face of it, it was absurd.