more vital to me. I shall reread their books with new interest."

This result should have awed me, but it did not. I felt a deep interest,
of course, but no bewilderment. My mind was perfectly clear and my
senses alert to every sound, every ray of light.

At this moment the psychic again began to twist and turn as if in pain,
and at last the little voice of "Maudie" anxiously asked: "_Is Mr.
Garland going to take a train at seven o'clock?_"

This query convinced me that deep in the subconscious mind of the
psychic lay the knowledge that I had thought of catching this train, and
that a sense of my plan was disturbing her and interfering with our
experiment. To remove the uneasiness, I replied: "No, I am going to
stay; for I think 'Mr. Mitchell' has something very special in store for
me. Tell her not to think of it any more. I am in no hurry. I have no
appointment elsewhere."

To this "Maudie" replied: "_Mr. Mitchell says, 'Thank you'; he will do
the best he can for you. He says go down-stairs now and get your supper.
Leave mama just where she is. He will take care of her._"

As we had been sitting for nearly three hours in a dark close room we
welcomed this suggestion from our thoughtful guide, although it tended
to make the sitting less conclusive. As I followed my hostess down the
stairs I shared her remorseful pity of poor Mrs. Smiley, bound and
helpless in her inquisitorial seat. "Mitchell" did not ask that she be
fed, only that she be covered with a shawl to keep her warm.

"If she is doing this for her own entertainment," I said, "she has
singular tastes. If she is doing it to advance the cause of
spiritualism, she is a noble creature--though a mistaken devotee, in the
eyes of Miller."

Our hostess's uneasiness concerning the psychic made the meal a hurried
one. None of us felt very much like eating, and I could see that Fowler
was disposed to cut corners. "Well, Garland, what do you intend to do
with the facts obtained this afternoon? You have plenty of authority
behind which to shelter yourself. Why not admit the truth? So far as I
am concerned, I am willing to swear that Mrs. Smiley had no actual hand
in the movement of the cone."

To this I replied: "From one point of view, these phenomena are slight;
but considered in the light of the manifestation of a totally new force,
they are tremendous in their implication, and I must be absolutely sure
of them before I assert their truth. The most impressive f