lingly consented to place
her hands on a small table, in the company of her friend and her
husband, who, on the contrary, exhibited great zeal, and had faith in
their chances of success. The first experiments were disappointing.
Ester, who found them tedious, would have liked to discontinue the
attempts, but one evening, after twenty minutes of waiting, the little
table tipped to one side, lifted a leg in the air, righted itself, and
then tipped again, to Ester's great chagrin, but to the great joy of
Luisa and the professor. The next night five minutes sufficed to make
the table move. The professor taught them the alphabet, and then tried
to summon a spirit. The table responded, knocking with its leg upon the
floor according to the alphabet that had been arranged. The spirit
evoked gave its name: Van Helmont. Ester was frightened and trembled
like a leaf; the professor was trembling also, but with excitement. He
wished to tell Van Helmont that he had his works in his library, but
Luisa besought him to inquire where Maria was. Van Helmont answered:
"Near!" Then Ester rose, as pale as a ghost, protesting that she would
not continue, and neither Luisa's tears nor entreaties could move her.
It was sinful, sinful! Ester's religious sense was not deep, but she had
a wholesome fear of hell and the devil. For some time it had been
impossible to resume the seances--she had a horror of them, and her
husband did not venture to oppose her wishes. It was Luisa who, by dint
of prayers and entreaties, at last obtained a compromise. The seances
were resumed, but Ester took no part in them.

She did not even wish to know what took place. Only, whenever her
husband seemed worried or preoccupied, she would throw out an uneasy
allusion to the secret dealings in the study. Then he would be troubled,
and offer to desist, but Ester had not the courage to face Luisa. For
she had discovered indirectly that Luisa really believed she held
communication with the child's spirit. Once she had said: "I shall not
come to-morrow night because Maria does not wish it." At another time
she had said: "I am going up to Looch because Maria wants a flower from
her grandmother's grave." To Ester it seemed incredible that a head so
clear and strong could be thus deluded. At the same time she realised
the extreme difficulty of convincing her by gentle means, and all the
cruelty of using harsh measures with her.

The professor lit a candle and went upstairs to