TEN
THE DAILY JOURNAL, SALEM, OREGON, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 1903
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A Thanksgiving
ml I ?.- J.
uiiort
HAD not Intended to call upon Dr.
rrfl
! ,, . .1 , , . , . L I
my destination, If Indeed I bad
Jg any, being ono of my clubs, but
It began to rain suddenly, and,
5elng without an umbrella, I wcl
conied thu llglit In tho doctor's study
ws I chanced to pass bis bouse. When
I was ushered Into his cozy little den
1 was rather surprised to Hud tho doc
tor sitting in n largo Turkish chair and
amzlng Into a bright log tiro which
Jblnzcd most Invitingly In tho big chlra
oaoy place. I say I was surprised, bo
catiso this was the first tlmu I bad ever
tfound him nlono without a great lentil
cr covered tome of somo kind in his
Qiand
"My dear doctor," said I, "why so
iponslvo? You look as though your
.best patient bad Just died your best
paying patient, I mean, for, of course,
doctors nro not expected to mourn
over every death."
"Your guess is n good one," replied
tho doctor quietly. "A very good pa
tient of initio died an hour ago a very
ood patient, a very good friend."
"Indoedl I nra very sorry to hear
It," said I, putting off my bantering
lone. "Wns thcro anything special
aibout his caso? Your diagnosis was
correct, of course?"
"I am pondering over his case, and I
4ini not suro about my diagnosis."
"You don't mean that you havo mado
nny mistake?"
"Perhaps, but not as you mean It.
My friend wits troubled with nnglna
-pectoris and had suffered n long time.
I know that ho could not llvo long, nnd
-so did he. IIo had no fear of death,
nnd consequently I was perfectly frank
with him from tho outset, Ills death
tonight wuh oven sooner than wo had
4tutlclpatcd, but of course In such cases
tho exact duration of life cannot bo
(prognosticated."
"How, thou, was there n mistake In
your diagnosis?" I was puzzled.
"I did not say that thcro was. I do
not ktiow, nnd that Is tho trouble."
"Explain, please."
"My friend was n spiritualist. On nil
'other subjects bo was certainly ns ra
tional us any man. Indeed ho was ed
ucated far beyond tho average of even
rollcgo bred men. 'still ho believed In
nplrllM believed tbut tho dead return
to this world, I mean."
"There nro lots of such people In tho
world," said I. "Hut what about your
mistake In the diagnosis?" I was thus
persistent because I had come to be
lli) vo tho doctor Infallible as a dlnguos
.tlclnii. "Oh, (hut was but n llguro of
"Bpoech," ho replied, smiling. "I alluded
to my genernl opinion of tho man. 1 1
thought as you do-that ho was a mild
sort of monomaniac simply because ho
held to his spiritualistic views."
"Cause enough," said I. "Surely no
anno man could believe that spirits
walk the earth."
"That has been my view ulso. Still
Just before his death tonight ho
broached tills subject. Uu declared
that he would yet convince me and
that he would do It by returning to
visit mo after death."
"Ah, so that Is ltl You were looking
Into the tiro Just now mid waiting for
your friend's ghost to appear. Well,
well! You astonish me." I laughed
aloud. "Come, come, doctor. I am glad
I dropped In to cheer you up. I tell
you what: ghosts, thoy say, do not get
out much before 12, and It Is not yet l.
If you'll mix mo u punch I'll stuy with
you till the witching hour and stand
by you in your encounter with tho
epector."
"IIo did not say that ho would eotno
tonight," said the doctor, with a smile,
taking my dialling good imturedly.
"Well, I Imagine not. Ho was smart
enough not to fix tho hour, not know
ing what engagements might be watt
ing for blm after ho had 'passed over,'
oh? I think that's the Hugo, Is It not?
Hut, I say, did this friend of yours be
lieve In ghosts theoretically ur pravtl
oallyT Did lit) Just prove the thing to
himself by the Scriptures ur philosophy
or something of that sort, or bad he
ever seen a real live ghost? A real II vu
ghost Is nit tier good, eh?"
"Ho claimed to havo won a groat
many umterlnlUod spirits."
"The deuce ho did! Why, then, look
hurt. How Is It, If ho wus so Intimate
with ghosts-on visiting terms, ns It
were how wus It that he never Intro
duced you to uno of his eolostlnl visit
urs?"
"Ho did onco."
"What's that?" I hardly thought I
could havo heard aright.
"Would you like mo to tell you of my
fxporlonoe?" asked the doctor. Of
rout- 1 accepted, hut before- ho begun
the story ho wont to his cupboard utid
brought forwurd the Ingredients with
whloh to brow a punch of hi own con
coction, of which ha knew that I wns
very fond.
Tho Incident occurred only tut No
vember," began the doctor. "Just be
fore Thanksgiving day I received a lot
tor from my friend Insisting that I
ahould go out to his house In tho coun
try. It Is a place not fifty miles from
Now York, but I shall not toll you ex
Matly where because wall, for reasons.
Ho had only beon there himself for a
few weeks, but was enchanted with his
uw twine, which was In a sort of park
one of those private parks containing
HUtuber of residences. lie was vary
urgent about my going and explained
Uut If I would only giro him the time J
Ottolengtii
from Thanksgiving to tho next Monday
morning he would uiidertako to dispel
my doubts as to materialization. In
short, ho promised to show me a spirit
returned to earth. And ho added rath
er mysteriously, 'The character of this
manifestation Is such that even you
will not charge fraud.' I had been
working pretty hard, and the tomptn
tlon wus great to linvo a few days In
the country. Strango to say, tho hopo
of seeing my friend's ghost repelled
rather than attracted me. I was satis
fied that there was trickery of some
kind and felt reasonably certain that I
should discover tho truth. I was oqual-
jy 8Uro tnftt my friuna wns honest, and
I was loath to be n party to his dis
comfiture when I should linvo bIiowii
up his ghost In Its true colors.
"I reached the station nbout noon
on Thnuksglvlng day. My friend met
mc- nnd took great delight In showing
mo over his new Home. Tho family,
of course, were cordial, ns I had long
been on closely Intimate tenns with
them In fact, I called bis wlfo and
two girls by their nnmes. Tho wife,
Margaret, wns ono of those hero wor-
alilmioa Iiah litial.n.t.l lt,t,i 1tft ltn-i
i OIM"'tn, nut uuniJMiji. uuuift kuv ,i.u.
sue saw everything as lie saw it ana,
of course, was as firmly fixed in spir
itualistic theories ns he. The eldest
daughter, Stephanie, wns college bred,
a Vassar graduate, and not only be
lieved In spiritualism, but could prove
It, or thought she could, mathematical
ly, logically, psychologically and phil
osophically. She was tho pride of her
father nnd his mainstay In an argu
ment. Tho other girl, Fanny, wns my
favorite, nnd If she believed In ghosts
I nin sure It was only because of her
environment. She had no fixed Ideas of
her own. Then there was tho youngest
child, Charlie, the Satan of tho family,
a boy of fifteen. This young rascal
openly avowed a firm belief In ghosts
within earshot of bis pirrents; but,
while vouching for the ueeuraey of his
father's many tales of visiting spec
ters, not Infrequently Chnrllo would
slyly wink ono oyent me. Hero I mny
as well say frankly that I associated
my friend's latest ghost with Charlie.
I expected ,Uiat, should I discover the
secret strings which moved tho specter,
I would likewise find that Charlie
was pulling them. In this connection
1 was destined to meet my first mysti
fication. "To my surprise, my friend said
nothing about the ghostly visitation
from the moment of my arrival up to
the time when I was shown to my
room to make my toilet for dinner. I
attributed this to his lunate courtesy
. . , . . . '
I I til ItilhlMllI lllllllllkltltlk t Ilk fttfllllklttl
. ii-riit- it -,u uui f tuv i ww diiuii t iiio
theories, or. us 1 had often culled It,
his fad. While I was washing there
was u light nip on my door, mid Char
lie walked In.
" 'Say, doctor, said he, getting at his
topic without delay, 'I suppose dad's
i told you about our spook, nnd you've
come up to see her, haven t you V
"'Yes,' I replied. 'But I did not
know it wns a feuiulo. Havo you seen
her yourself?' I thought 1 might us
well pump tho youngster nt once.
"'Huve I seen her?' snld he. 'Well.
I guess yes. Say, doctor, I can trust
you, can't I?'
" 'Why, cortnluly, said I. It seemed
thnt my dlscoverlos wore to bo all too
easy. But I wan mistaken.
" 'Well,' continued Charlie, 'you must
know then thnt 1 never took any stock
lu dad's ghosts that Is, not In any of
tho othors. Of course I've seen a lot of
them, mid then, again, there's been a lot
more thnt dad said he saw, but I didn't
see, though I'vo agreed with him, bo
causo well, Just to inako him happy.
A boy must do that, eh, doctor?'
'"You sly young rascal!' thought I,
but I merely answered with a uod, and
be went en:
'"You see, all thu other ghosts and
ghostessos were Just common every
day sort of MHolt. things with sheets
round them, and the most generally
came In the dark, when there was lit
tie chance to tell much about their
looks. They might he been the me
diums, you know, nt least miiiiv of
them. But It's different with this ghost
we've got now. She's a beauty, and
there doesn't mm any chance fur a
humbug about It.'
"'Why uotV I asked, wondering
whether the hunibugger.v were not go
ing on at the very moment.
" 'Well, lu Ihe first place. It's such u
little bit of a ghost. She must havo
died when she was not more than sev
en or eight years old. I should think.
Anyway, she's only so high.' Indicating
wttb his hand held above the tloor.
'You would hardly exct a mtdlum to
make up for a little oae like that. now.
would you? ItV easier to believe In the
ghost uotlou.'
" 'A grown person could hardly make
up for small a ghost. I must admit,'
said I 'But Ikw do you know It la not
a ehlM who does this tricky
" 'Wnat child, doctor? 1 knew all the
youngsters that live around bore, and.
anyhow, why should a kid ojght years
old wait up till 12 or I o'clock every
night Just to take a walk through our
hall and make bolkvo she's a ghost?
A kid might do that once, but not ev
ery night for wore than a month. No, I
guess we'vo got a real spook thta time.
You wait till you see her. I didn't be
lieve in It myself, you know, but this
-spook knocks me. Well, I've got to
dress, to, bo goodby.
"I descended to tho dining room in a
most thoughtful mood. The subject
of ghosts or materialization camo up
but onco during tho dinner, and tlicn
In a most incidental way. Ono of the
guests, nn elderly man, speaking to
Margaret, said:
" 'Did you know when, you took this
house that it is supposed to be haunt
ed? I hope you havo never been trou
bled by the ghost.'
" 'No, wo have had no troubla what
ever with any ghost,' said Margaret,
end then she added, 'May I have an
other ice brought for you?'
'This indicated to mc at once that
my friends, because of their sensitive
ness to criticism, had carefully con
cealed their spiritualistic beliefs. Con
sequently It would appear to bo a most
singular coincidence that any of their
new neighbors should linvo Inaugurat
ed a practical Joke and should have so
persistently kept it up as to havo tho
spurious specter appear for bo many
nights consecutively. I began to find
myself wishing for the moment when
I might see the visitation with my own
eyes and Judge for myself. It wns aft
er 11 o'clock when all tho guests bad
departed and I found myself alone
with my friends, and now the' subject
which seemed to have been sd long
tabooed wns at onco broached.
"The hour approaches, doctor,' said
my friend, 'when wo mny expect our
visitor. Do not Imagine that I mean
midnight. I hope you credit mc with
more Intelligence than to suppose I
countcnnncc the fanciful notion that
tho dead leave their shrouds nt the
stroko of 12 nnd return to their graves
nt cock crow.'
" 'I hopo so,' said I, with n smile.
" 'Nevertheless It Is true that our
little friend has never come before 12.
That, of course. Is a mere coincidence.
Sometimes It may bo within half an
hour after the great town clock chimes
tho hour, and, ngnln, she lias been ns!
iniunniortvra.ouocK.
-jo you mean iinu sue comes every
night and that you wnlt up to see her?'
SLOWLY TUB
"'Wo do now. At first wo did uot
realize that hor visits wore to be so
regular, and sevoral times we retired
without soolug her. One night, how
ever, I happened to got up ngulu, nnd,
coming through tho hull, 1 met the
dear ono Just departing. Since then
we havo always awaited her coming
and linvo nevor been disappointed."
" 'You moan that you form a circle
aud sit In tho usual way?'
"'Not at all. This is uot a seance.
That Is tho wonderful part of it. Thore
Is no medium connected with this. The
spirit, though a young one, must have
great power to bo thus able to mani
fest unaided.'
'"Am I to understand that this man
ifestation, us you call it, has been been
by all of your
'"By nil of us, and, moreover, she
comes right Into this room, where all
tho lights nre burning, a thing hereto
fore supposed to Ik Impossible. Thus,
you see, we have nil bad ample oppor
tunity to see her.'
" 'Have you over spokon to this vis
itor?' " 'Many times, but thus far we have
beon unable to obtain any reply. Ah)
there go the midnight chimes.'
"Wo listened to the beautiful bells,
which sounded loudly lu the stillness
of thu night, till the lust pen I had dhnl
away. Then It was Stephanie who
ipeke:
"'Doctor,' said she. yeu are a skep
tic, are you not?
" 'No,' said I. with a smile. 'Let me
rather claim to bo an ngnostle.'
"Very good. After tonight you will
bo a believer. But you have uot heard
Fanny sing lately. Her voice has
greatly Improved. Kutipy, will you
sing something?'
"Tho girls moved over to the piano.
I noted that Charlie was near tho door
leading Into the hall and that he was
Intently gating out into the dimly
lighted passage. Was he brewing mis
chief? I went over to him and. taking
him by the aria, said:
"'Never mind the spoJf. Charlie
She'll come whon she la ready Come
over and hear your sister sing' He
looked up at me most quhmlcally. and
then, after a moment, be laughed soft-
iy and beckoned me to lower my bead
that lio might whisper, whereupon he
said, so low that the others could not
hear.
" 'I'm on. You think I'm working
the ghost, but you're off. Walt till you
see her. I tell you. she's tho real thing.
I'll stick to you close to show I'm hon
est In this.'
"And ho did. From thnt moment he
was never more Ihun three feet nwny
roin me, so thnt nny connection that
.le might huve hud with the apparition
evidently did not require liji persona)
Attention. Funny snug two or three
melodies most charmingly, and then
Middenly 1 felt n tug nt my coat nnd
turned to see Charlie pointing towarc1
the door, through which what up
pea red to be n little girl entered. Tin
others had not yet uotlced the nppnri
tlnn. and It came so suddenly and t
silently that for tin instant 1 wnk
stunned I use the word advisedly.
"Slowly my mind teemed to grusj
the Idea thut here was a veritable re
turned spirit, and such n dainty. Iieau
tlful little apparition! A childish face
ns devoid of de'-olt as one might 111)
nglne an angel's. A lovely face, too
peeping out from u wealth of golden
locks, which In the lamplight shone n1
n hnlo. It was Impossible to gaze upon
hls apparition and harbor the least
suspicion of fraud.. She came Into the
room slowly, stepping carefully, until
she stood In the -center. Then she turn
ed nnd glided toward the bay window
By this time we were nil watching
At (he window, she stooped to her
knees, put her two hands together, nnd
her little lips moved as In prayer. So
she knelt u few minutes, nnd then,
rising slowly! she retraced her steps
nnd, passing out Into the ball, disap
peared. "As soon us she hud gone I looked
silently nt my friends, bnrdly knowing
what to say. Stephanie broko tho si-
Cnce.
'"Well, doctor.' snld she. 'what do
you think?'
.- tlllnk i wouIll nko t0 g0 to bc(1
KYKS Ol'UNKD.
at once,' said I, not during to discuss
the subject without having tlmo to
think it over."
"Well, that was certainly n wonder
ful oxporlence, doctor," said I, Inter
rupting the nnrrntlve. "But, of course,
It wns somo kind of n trick."
"You would not have thought so had
you boon prosout. There were several
exceedingly strange features of this
matter which occurred to mo during
the sleepless hours which I passed. I
say sleepless for my conviction of the
fact that thore nro no ghosts had been
sadly shattered by what I Wd scon,
nnd I struggled to regain my mental
equilibrium. In a sonso I still believed
there could be no such thliigs as ghosts,
but there was a disturbing doubt en
gendered by thut dainty little being,
ghost or whatever bIh might have
been. The angelic face, the prayerful
attitude, made It Impossible to thluk
she was nllve and playing a trick.
Never ouee did she tuko uote of the
persons prosout. It did not seom possi
ble that one so young could play such
a part night after night and norer
show couselousuess of the presence of
thoso whom she was trying to deceive.
Unllko traditional ghosts, on the other
hand, she wns fully dressed In a dainty
white muslin, tricked out with tiny
pink ribbon bowa-a most unghostly
costume.
Tired out at last, r must have slept,
for I awoke suddenly In the morning
an hour past my usual time for arising
and was dHxed at my strange sur
roundings, the sun streaming In
through the window making me aware
of the latenees of the hour. In the
breakfast room I found the family as
soniblcd and was painfully aware of
the fact that I was expected to either
explain the mystery of the apparition
or oh?e to admit myself converted to
their views. Still for somo time the
subject was not brought up. Charlie at
last being nuable to keep still any
longer.
Doctor.' sakl lie. 'what do you
think of the little ghost lady?
" The whole affair seems quite mys
terious to me.' said I. 'I am afraid I
ate too much Thanksgiving dinner to
to a competent wltnes.'
said Stepliay',
a Thanksgiving
;host, or,
rather, a ghost resulting
trom too much Thanksgiving dinner?'
"The girl's tone irritated mo, already
innoycd as I was because I had no ex
planation of what I had seen ready to
jffer. So I said testily:
" I certainly would like to see tho
ipparltlon again when I had eaten less,
llthough, of course, Margaret, I added,
turning to my hostess, 'tho dinner was
beyond nil doubt the best I have ever
jutcn. But too full n stomach makes
the mind slow.'
" 'Then you doubt the genuineness of
ihe manifestation?' my friend asked.
" 'I certainly do not doubt you, my
friend,' I hastily replied, 'bul,I cannot
under the circumstances S3 quickly
give up my own views. In spite of tho
Warning that she wns to come, tho lit
tle lady rather took mo by surprise,
gnd I was hardly In the Condition to
ronslder what I snw from a scientific
standpoint.'
"Ah! But science said Stephanie,
'can but support tho theory of spirit
ualism. Thcro aro thrco great entitles
In the universe, each imperishable in
Itself matter, forco nnd spirit. Sci
ence must recognize this trinity nnd
that all forms are but tho union of the
three In varying proportions. Tho
highest form tunti Is the highest sim
ply because of the prepoudcrnnco of
the spirit which Is In tho combination.
This preponderance Is so great that
whereas tho destruction of any other
form, such as a mineral, resolves tho
components into sepnrato particles,
which, by attraction, rush back Into
tho parent source nnd nre lost, in man
the spiritual portion Is great enough to
resist tills attraction after denth nnd
to continue ns a separate entity. By
appropriating to itself n portion of tho
superabundant matter and forco which
is everywhere In ether, It is posslblo
for this spirit to appear to mortals as
a re-cmbodlcd being.'
"This glib Vnssar collcgo girl's ex
planation of spiritualism made me Ioso
my temper, uud I replied, with little
ceurtesy:
" 'And when these aplrlts re-embody
I suppose it is quite unturul that they
should find clothes mid dress them
selves before appearing to us poor
mortals. Tho little girl last night had
on u party dress, with ribbon bows on
It. Why did she bother about all that7
Why do not spirits como without cloth
lug?' " 'I do not kuow,' replied Stephnnlo,
without losing her self control for n
moment. 'I do not pretend to know ev
erything. The spirits think It well to
conform to curthly customs, I suppose,
or, perhaps, It is merely the result of
pust habits while in tho flesh.'
"My friend suw that I wus In an ill
humor mid hastened to smooth the
troubled atmosphere.
" 'Doctor,' said ho, 'you said Just now
that you were not In n condition Inst
night to investigate the manifestation
In n scientific manner. Nothing would
please us till better than to huve you
test this mutter sclcntlflcnlly If you
cnn.'
"Llko un Inspiration nn Idea crossed
my mind, and without hesitation I an
swered: "'I will agree to try a scientific ex
periment tonight If you will permit It
without Interference.'
" I would iwt like to mnko so rash a
promlso without knowing whnt you
purpose.'
" 'Let mo explain, then. I have been
ns much Interested In hypnotism ns you
Lhnvo been In spiritualism. You know
enough of thut to recognize the fact
that hypnotism is an Influence over the
mind rather than over tho body. Any
effects upon tho body ure operations
through the mind, To make my mean
ing plainer, you would consider It folly
wero I to undertake to hypnotize n
dead body?'
" 'I should thluk you Insane.'
" 'And rightly. But'- I hosltnted to
make my proposition, thinking thnt It
would bo unwelcome. 'But would It be
Insanity to endonvor to hypnotize u
disembodied spirit?' The result wns
quite astonishing to me.
" 'I see whnt you moan to do!' cried
Stephnnlo enthusiastically. 'It Is a
grand experiment. You will try to
hypnottzo tho spirit which nppoars
here. Agrco to tho doctor's proposal,
father. It will bo a great scientific
acblovenicnt.'
"'Why, certainly, I agree," said my
friend, with equal enthusiasm. 'I can
lmagino groat results. If tho disem
bodied spirit could bo hypnotized, It
might bo compelled to reveal whnt up
to now all materialized spirits have de
clined to tell.
"Thnt day was a I6ug ono for us nil,
for every ono Impatiently nwalted tho
hour for the experiment, nnd I may nt
once como to that. This time I wns
not takon by surprise, but saw-tho ap
parition when she first camo Into the
room. I was not so much nstonlshed
as on the night before, yet I must con
foss that for a moment I was tompted
to nbandon my experiment For one In
stant I folt that It would bo sacri
legious to interfere with what, after
nil. might be suporuatural. What If It
were a spirit"? I could not positively
know to the contrary. Suppose my
hypnotic experiment should succeed,
ami that some great secret of the mil
verse should by this means be reveal
oil. Was I prepared to ondure the con
sequences, to suffer the displeasure of
my Maker? Thus, with all our vaunted
faith In scientific knowledge, our firm
est beliefs may be shaken In a moment,
for. after all. belief Is not knowledge.
"I waited till the pantomimic pray
er was over nnd the little girl was
walking toward the doer: then I Inter
oepted her path ami steod perfectly
still until site came quite close to me.
She did not appear to uottee me until
she had come close enough so that her
outstretched little band touched we.
Then she stopped ami stood still. I
gently took her hand, whispering. 'Be
not afraid.'
"As I touched her she started and
" 'Oh. you mean,'
that this was only
tromblcd violently,' but as I spoke i)J '
as quickly becamo quiet I recognUAj
at onco that my experiment waii i
succeed nnd eo proceeded with regain..,
ed confidence.
"Sleep, Bald I. 'Sleep deeply. Jior
deeply still.' I touched her eyes light
ly with tho tips of my fingers, andtbtii
closed. 'Do ns I bid you,' I contiautdj
'Come; follow me. I walked acrou
tho room, and tho girl followed, ate
phnnlo uttered a cry of astonishment '
mingled with pleasure, but at a sin
from me she becamo silent again. Ths'
girl sat down in a chair, and I stood in
front of her.
"'You nro asleep,'. I snld. 'You are
asleep, but you aro awuke. You see
mo. Open your eyes and look at me 1
closely.' Slowly tho eyes opened, and
tho little ono gazed nt mc. 'So. hm
nt mo well. Will you know mc ngalnj
Speak! Answer! You can speak.'
"I fancied I could hear tho heart
beats of those in tho room as they,
waited breathlessly for their ghost to
speak. At first tho girl merely looked
long nnd enrncstly Into my fnce, but
presently mo nps ircmDicu, nnd I nti
that there was an effort to speak.
"'Speak! Answer!' I said again
moro commnndlngly. 'You see me
Will you nlwnys know me again?'
" 'Yes.'
"She spoke. It was but ono word, but
to my auditors n hypnotized material.
ized spirit hnd been compelled to speak.
You may fmagluo their Interest in what
I should say or do next
"You know how you camo herer
said I.
" 'Yes.' ;
"'You can como ngnln?' 1
" 'Yes.'
" 'You will come again If I wish? '
" "Yes.
'" 'Then listen. Listen and remember.
Remember nnd do. Come ngnln. Come
tomorrow. When the clock chimes 12 t
come again. But come at the chimin:)
of 1110 bell In the daytime not In thefj
night. You nro not nrruiu or the Hghtr
" 'No." J
"Then you will come?' This time
thcro wns no nnswer I touched the
eyelids again, and they drooped and
closed. 'So. Sleep,' suld I. 'Sleep deep
ly. Now you nre asleep. Listen! LI
ten nnd obey! Come tomorrow when
tho clock chimes 12 lu the daytime.
Como nt thut hour and In the daytime.
Como! Now, nnswer. Will you come?"
" 'Yes.'
"Thnt will do. Now turn whence
you came.' Immedlutely anil swiftly
she turned nnd glided uwny out of our
sight. I whs nt once surrounded b
my friends, congratulated on my sac
cess nnd nt the same tlmo criticised
because I had not asked more Impor
tant questions. In answer to tuli I
declared that we should treat this spir
it as wo would any hypnotic subject.
At the first experiment too much should
not be expected. Monosyllables ffere
all that wo had been able to obtain by -way
of speech, but wo had charged
this spirit to appear to us lu broad
daylight. A hypnotized living person
would obey such un Injunction. It
would bo n greut achievement to com
pel n ghost to do so. To this they
agreed mid went off to bed satisfied
that tho experiment promised to be &
great success.
"At the noon hour on the next day
we wore nil nssembled, Impatient for
tho denouement. The town clock bad
scarcely chimed before our llttlo maid
en appeared. She camo Into the room
with apparent nervousness nnd glanced
timidly nbout. Finally her eyes rested
on me, aud Instantly sho ran lightly
to me. Jumped Into my lap and cried.
" 'I kuow you. You told me to come,
uud so I cuine.'
"Just thou nuothcr person entered
the room, u young woman In tho gurt
of n trained nurse.
" 'I urn so glud I hnvo found you.
Itosle.' suld sho, taking the child oS
my knee. 'What mado you run awayf
'Tho mystery was solved. Wo wert
dealing not with n ghost, but with t
child who wns mi luvulld because of
norvous dlsoaso from which sho ut
fered. Sho was a llttlo somnambulist
During the previous year she and ber
parents had lived in the house now oc
cupied by my frionds, nnd it had been
her nightly bnblt to come into the
room whero wo hnd seen her and to
kneel at her niothor's sldo to say her
prayers. One night thero had bceu
pnrty, and whllo dressed In tho pretty
llttlo frock In which sho had visited
us she had suffered from her first seU
ure. To indicate to you bow deep an
Impression upon tho mind may be, I
have no doubt that it was because on
that night, being takon away from tb
room while 111. she hud uot, as usual
said her prayers; thnt during her som
uumbullstlc walks she dressed herself
in hor pnrty frock ngnln nnd came over
to say hor prayers. This is espcdallj
plausible because about the same tinw
tho mother hud beon tnkeu ill and for
some months hnd bean In a sanitarium,
so that ufter that party night the llt
tlo one hnd nevor knelt nt her motuer
sldo."
"But why did she come only '
ulghtr' I asked.
"In the first place. It was ouly at
night that sue could evado the vlgl
anco of hor nurse, and. what Is cqaalto"
Important. It would be only at nigW
that the Idea of saying her prayers
would recur to hor mind. You note
that wbon sho came In the daytime. Ib
obodlouee to hypnotic suggestion her
nurse was close behind her."
"What did your friends say when
thoy found that their ghost was ali'r'
"Just what all spiritualists say whea
a 'manifestation' Is exposed-that tl
explanation covers only that one la
stance and that they have had other
experienced that loave their fatth un
shaken." "Well, doctor." said I. "my experi
ence with spirits leaves say fi,u "
shaken In those of your mixing nePTj
your good health, and may the spi
of your departed friend come not b
to trouble you. Pleasant dreams aoa
good night"
I