"Almost immediately there was a decided movement of the slate--or so it seemed to me. A power seemed to wake on the slate, not through the psychic"s hand, but independent of it. I heard plainly the scratching of a pencil, at the same time that the psychic"s left hand and both of her feet were in full view, and at the same time that her hand was outspread, apparently motionless, upon the under side of the slate. In a few moments the scratching paused, and the psychic, with an embarra.s.sed smile, said: "They don"t know how to spell the middle name.""
"That is to say, _she_ was the one who could not spell the name," said Miller.
"That"s what I thought at the time, but I helped her out, and a moment later a decided tapping on the top of the table announced the completion of the task.
"As she slowly drew the slate out from under the table I was alert to see what had happened. The gla.s.s remained in the middle of the slate as before, with the water undiminished, and under the gla.s.s and confining itself to the circle of the stem were the words:
WILLIAM DEAN HOWELLS
written as though acknowledging the barrier of the gla.s.s where its edge rested upon the slate."
"Wonderful!" exclaimed Mrs. Miller.
"Are you sure the writing was there as she drew the slate out?" queried Miller.
"Yes, I saw the writing as she was removing the goblet; and while with her left hand she drew a little circle around the outer edge of the stem I read the words. Now to say that the psychic wrote this with her finger-nail on the bottom of the slate and then turned the slate over is to me absurd. The gla.s.s of water prevented that. And yet she did it in some occult way. The transaction remains unexplained to me. I am perfectly sure she willed it, but _how_ she caused the writing--the physical change--is quite another problem. Zollner (I believe it was) secured the print of feet on the inside of a closed slate, and reasoned that only on the theory of a fourth dimension could such phenomena be explained. That reminds me of a sitting I once had with a young man wherein, to utterly confound us, the invisible hands removed his undershirt while his coat-sleeves were nailed to the chair."
"Oh, come now, you don"t expect us to believe a miracle like that, even on your serious statement?" remarked Miller.
"I certainly do not," I responded, readily. "I wouldn"t believe it on any one"s statement. That is the discouraging thing about this whole business; you can"t convince any one by any amount of evidence. A man will stand out against Zollner, Crookes, Lodge, and Myers, discounting all the rest of the great investigators, and then crumple up like a caterpillar at the first touch of The Invisible Hand when it comes to him directly. This same young man gave me the most convincing demonstrations of materialized forms I have ever seen. In his own little home, under the simplest conditions, he commanded forth from a little bedroom a figure which was unmistakably not a mechanism. A lamp was burning in the room, and the young fellow was perfectly visible at the same moment as the phantom which stood and bowed three times."
"What did it look like?"
"It looked like a man"s figure swathed in some white drapery. I could not see the face, but it was certainly not a "dummy." But come, let us see what the forces can do for us here to-night. I think we will need "Annie Laurie" to clear the air of debate."
Mrs. Miller began the song, and we all joined in softly.
"Our newspaper is a trusty watch-dog," remarked Miller, significantly.
As he spoke the psychic began to toss and writhe and moan pitifully. Her suffering mounted to a paroxysm at last; then silence fell for a minute or two--absolute stillness; and in this hush the table took life, rose, and slid away toward us as if shoved by a powerful hand.
"So far as my hearing goes, the psychic does not move," I said. "Barring the light, this is a very good demonstration of movement without control. Every movement of the table our way removes it farther from the reach of the psychic."
"I hear nothing from the paper," confessed Miller, "and yet the table is certainly moving."
"I can believe this, because I have proved these movements without contact. In this case Mrs. Smiley cannot reach the table with her knees and her feet secured by tape nailed to the bookcase. You cannot believe she has gotten out of her skin. The newspaper is still on guard, and has uttered no alarm."
"It is very perplexing," Miller admitted; "but anything can happen in the dark."
"I admit it is very easy to deceive our senses, but the silk thread is not to be fooled."
Three times the table was urged in the same direction, each paroxysm of suffering, of moaning, of struggle, on the part of the psychic, being followed a few seconds later by absolute silence. It was in these moments of profound sepulchral hush that the heavy table lurched along the floor. It was a strange and startling fact.
"Why are you doing this?" I asked of the forces. "As a test?"
"_Yes_," the raps replied.
"How do you account for it, Miller?" I asked, with challenge in my voice. "My conviction is that we are confronting a case of telekinesis--not as convincing as Flammarion"s, but still inexplicable.
If that table has moved an inch, it is the same as if it had moved a foot. You should feel rewarded."
Miller did not reply; and even as he pondered the megaphone, which had been standing on the top of the table, began to rock on its base, and a pencil which lay beside it was fumbled as if by a rat or a kitten. In our state of strained expectancy this sound was very startling indeed.
"What about that, Miller?" I asked, in a tone of exultation. "Who"s doing that? Last time you suspected Howard, now here you must suspect the psychic. The movement of that pencil is of enormous significance.
How can she possibly reach and handle that cone?"
"She can"t, unless she has freed her hands," he admitted. "Let us touch hands." I gave him my left hand, and sitting thus, with all hands accounted for, we entered into communication with the "spirit" that was busy in the centre of the table.
"Are you present, "Wilbur"?"
_Tap, tap, tap._
"Are you moving the table?"
_Tap, tap, tap._
"To get it out of reach of the psychic?"
_Tap, tap, tap._
Suddenly, with a loud bang, something heavy fell upon the table.
Releasing the hands of my fellow-investigators, I felt about for this object and found that a book had been brought and thrown upon the table.
A shower of others followed, till twenty-four were piled about the cone.
They came whizzing with power, yet with such precision that no head was touched and the cone remained undisturbed. It was as if some roguish poltergeist had suddenly developed in the room.
"Miller, I find this exciting!" said I, after silver fell upon the table. "Suppose we ask "Wilbur" to fetch some small object whose position you know."
Mrs. Miller then said: "There is a box of candy on a shelf back of Mrs.
Smiley. It is quite out of her reach. Can you bring that to me, "Wilbur"?"
_Tap, tap, tap!_ was the decided answer, and almost immediately the box was placed on the top of the table and shoved along toward Mrs. Miller.
"That"s a good demonstration," I remarked, and "Wilbur" drummed a sharp tattoo of satisfaction.
At my request he then wrote his name on a pad while Miller waited and listened, his mind too busy with surmise to permit of speech. (He told me afterward that he was perfectly sure the psychic had wrenched free of her tacks and he was wondering how she would contrive to put herself back again.)
Finally I asked: "Are you still with us, "Wilbur"?"
The force tapped smartly on the tin.
"Now, just to show you that the psychic is not doing this, can"t you hold up a book between me and the light? I want to see your hand."
Instantly, and to my profound amazement, a book rose in the air, and I could see _two hands_ in silhouette plainly and vigorously thumbing the volume, which was held about three feet above the table, and to the psychic"s left.
"Miller," I said, excitedly, "I see hands!"
"I do not," he answered; "but I hear a rustling."
Swift on the trail, I called out: "Now, show me your empty hand, "Wilbur." I want to see how big it is." A moment later I exclaimed, in profound excitement: "I can see a _large_ hand against the window, and, strangest part of all, the spread fingers are pointing _toward_ Mrs.