: "Are you
there, 'Mitchell'?"

Tap, tap, tap--"_Yes._"

"Are we sitting right?"

Tap, tap, tap--"_Yes_," answered the force, in a grave and deliberate
way.

"As to these raps," I remarked, "they are easily simulated, but they
have been absolutely proven by several of our best investigators. They
have been obtained on a sheet of paper held in the air, on pencils, on a
strip of cloth, on an open umbrella--under every possible condition.
Maxwell secured them by pinching his own ear or by squeezing the arm of
his neighbor. I have heard them on a man's shirt-front. They are the
first manifestations of intelligent spirit power, and may be regarded in
the light of established fact."

"I wouldn't be hasty about admitting even that," remarked Miller. "In
the dark--or in the light--these obscure sounds may seem very ghostly,
and yet be due to purely physical causes."

We sat in silence for a few moments, and at last I asked: "Is any spirit
present?"

Almost immediately a childish voice came from the direction of the
psychic, apparently issuing from her lips. "_Mr. Mitchell would like to
have you tie the threads to the legs of the table._"

"Are you 'Maud?'" I asked.

"_Yes, I am Maudie_," she answered. "_Mr. Mitchell wants to try some
experiment. He wishes you to tie the threads to the legs of the table._"

I confess I didn't like the looks of this, but as a compromise measure I
was willing to grant it. "If you don't object, Miller, we will do as the
guides desire."

He hesitated. "It weakens our test. I don't understand the reason for
the demand."

"I suggest we yield the point for the present. Perhaps 'they' will
permit us to resume the thread a little later. I have found that by
apparently meeting the forces half-way at the beginning we often get
concessions later which will be of greater value than the tests we have
ourselves devised."

Accordingly, I tied my end of the silk twist to the table leg at a
distance of about twenty-six inches from the utmost reach of the
psychic's hands. Miller did the same with his end. We then resumed our
seats, and waited for over an hour.

During this time the psychic was absolutely silent and apparently in
deep trance, and I was beginning to feel both disappointed and
chagrined. Miller's tone was a bit irritating. I knew exactly what was
in his mind. "I've fixed her now," he was exultantly saying to himself.
"She can't do a thing; even her request to have the threads tied