"I am afraid it says very little for our education," I replied.

"Some clever fellow has invented a clever system for asking and answering questions, and those who have taken the trouble to learn it have been able to deceive a credulous public." Voltaire's eyes flashed fire.

All the malignity and cruelty that could be expressed in a human face I thought I saw expressed in his.

And yet he wore his old fascinating smile; he never lost his seeming self-possession.
"I must deny Mr.Blake's statement," he said; "and, further, I would defy him to find or produce such a code of questions as he mentions." I immediately left the room, and soon afterwards returned with a book by a renowned thought-reader, wherein he explained what, to so many, has appeared marvellous.

I pointed out how, according to his system, by asking a question, the first word of which should begin with a certain letter, a particular thing should be indicated, and all that would be needed was that the performers should be perfectly conversant with the system.
The company quickly saw the truth of what I was saying, and for the time, at any rate, Mr.Voltaire's marvellous knowledge was held at a discount.