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By Root 1102 0

as their case is stated, and any statements they make are necessarily defenses of their position. The straightforward account, as presented by the main proponents, is in almost all respects a very convincing one. By the time my reader has reached the end of the initial presentation, the question will arise, How can he possibly refute these facts? and one must admit that the query is expected. I hasten to add that the matter must be judged without prejudice. I promise to rescue the reader eventually and provide adequate rebuttal. Now, side by side with the "experts," we will visit with two young girls who produced one of the most famous and enduring hoaxes ever perpetrated upon our species.

World War I is over, and England is recovering its wits after sacrificing the flower of its young manhood to the struggle. It is 1920, and spiritualism is in its heyday. Everywhere, hands are pressed to tables in darkened rooms in the hope that some rap or creak will signal the return of a loved one from beyond the grave. In America, the great conjurer Harry Houdini is touring the theater and lecture circuits debunking the claims of the spirit mediums, while his friend in England, Arthur Conan Doyle, is similarly engaged—in opposition to him. Doyle, convinced of many irrationalities, has taken up the cause of spiritualism and become one of its leading lights.

Doyle has been knighted for his contribution to literature. Probably there is no person better known in England or more widely respected. His alliance with the spiritists has been a great boost to their cause, and they regularly summon shades for him to witness. He has declared the evidence for survival after death to be "overwhelming," and he will believe it to be so until his last breath. He is in good company. Sir Oliver Lodge and William Crookes, prominent scientists of the age whose contributions to science are undeniable, also have declared themselves believers and are quoted to this day as authorities on the subject.

Frances and the fairies ("photo number one"). Kodak Museum, U.K.

In May 1920 Sir Arthur has heard from a friend that actual photographs have been taken of fairies and gnomes. He has investigated and has been put in touch with Edward L. Gardner. An advocate of theosophy, a mystical philosophy that accepts such beings as real, Gardner firmly believes in such matters. Upon being informed of the evidence in a letter from Gardner's sister—for whom Doyle has "considerable respect"—Sir Arthur writes that her letter "filled me with hopes." He employs Gardner to investigate the matter for him, and Gardner's first reports to Doyle assure him that the girls are undoubtedly honest, coming from a family of tradesmen and down-to-earth people incapable of guile.

Elsie and the gnome ("photo number two"). Kodak Museum, U.K.

Doyle is sent copies of two photographs—known as photo number one and photo number two—that are said to have been taken in July and September 1917, respectively. The first shows Frances Griffiths, age ten, in the company of four fairies, three of them winged and the other playing pipes. It is said to have been taken by her cousin, Elsie Wright, sixteen years old, who is in turn represented in photo number two, snapped by Frances, seated on the lawn playing with a gnome.

Technical details are given to Doyle. The camera employed was a Midg, which used Imperial Rapid glass plates rather than flexible film. Exposure was second, and both days were sunny and bright. Mr. Wright, Elsie's father, had loaded one plate into the camera and given it to Elsie after much cajoling by the cousins. The two girls had been saying that they often played with fairies in Cottingley Glen, near their home. They took away the camera and returned within a half hour begging that the plate be developed. This was done some days later, and the result was the first picture. Two months later the girls produced the picture of the gnome with the same camera.

Sir Arthur is enthusiastic. He puts Gardner to work on the case, having been assured that he is "a solid