The heroine of E. Bellamy's story "Miss Ludington's Sister" (1884), a once beautiful girl who, as a result of illness and a chain of misfortunes, turned into a pitiful wreck. At the same time, L. keeps her portrait of her youth and is confident that the girl depicted in it continues to exist somewhere in another world, far from her ill-fated life. Scammers who allegedly know how to materialize imaginary objects decide to take advantage of this obsession. They successfully “materialize” a certain girl who has a certain external resemblance to the portrait, but “sister” L. turns out to be an overly conscientious person and reveals to her the entire technology of deception.