Chapter 19
The Spirit of Madame BlavatskyAt the hour appointed by the Czar I
presented myself at the Winter Palace to assist at the spiritualist
experiments of M. Auguste.
I shall not attempt to describe the impression left by the weird
scene in the Princess Y——’s oratory.
To those who do not know the Slav temperament, with its strange
mixture of sensuality and devotion, of barbarous cruelty and
over-civilized cunning, seldom far removed from the brink of
insanity, the incident I have recorded will appear incredible. I
have narrated it, simply because I have undertaken to narrate
everything bearing on the business in which I was engaged. I am
well aware that truth is stranger than fiction, and I should have
little difficulty, if I were so disposed, in framing a story, full
of
