rcle is
betraying us, we are having as good a demonstration as we could expect,
barring the absence of light. Be watchful. 'Wilbur,' we're trusting to
you now. Let's see what you can do."
As I spoke, the horn, with a ringing scrape, left the carpet, and a
moment later bumped down upon Mrs. Quigg's head. "Oh!" she shrieked, "it
hit me!"
Almost immediately a breathy chuckle came from the horn: "_Ha, ha! That
shook you up a little, I reckon._"
The other women were frozen with horror. "Don't let it touch me,"
pleaded Miss Brush.
And Mrs. Quigg, much shaken, called out: "Frank Howard, are you doing
this?"
He was highly indignant. "Certainly not. Are you not holding one hand
and Miss Brush the other? I am in-no-cent; I swear it!"
I commented on their dialogue severely. "See how you all treat an event
that is wonderful enough to convulse the National Academy of Science. I
do not believe the psychic's hands have moved an inch, and yet, unless
some one of you is false to his trust, the miraculous has happened--Are
you there, 'Wilbur?'" I queried of the mystic presence.
The cone swung toward me, and "Wilbur" answered: "_I am, old horse._"
"Well, Wilbur, there are two bigoted scientific people here to-night,
and I want you to put them to everlasting rout."
"_I'll do it, don't you worry_," replied the voice, and the cone dropped
with a bang on the table, again making everybody jump.
"_That brought the goose-flesh_!" remarked "Wilbur," with humorous
satisfaction.
I took a malicious delight in the mystification of my fellows. "Go down
and shake up young Howard at the foot of the table," I suggested. "He
is a little in the conjuring line himself."
Almost instantly Howard cried out: "The blooming thing is touching me on
the ear!"
"Observe," called I, in the tone of a man exhibiting some kind of
trained animal, "the cone is now at least six feet from the psychic's
utmost reach. How do you account for that, Miller?"
"The boy lied," said Miller, curtly.
Howard was offended. "I'll take that out of you, old chap, when we meet
in the street. I am telling the square-toed truth. I am not doing a
thing but hold two very scared ladies' hands."
"Oh, come now!" I interposed. "If we are to be so 'tarnal suspicious of
one another, we might just as well give up the sitting. If each of us
must be padlocked, proof of any phenomenon is impossible."
A firmer hand now seemed to grasp the cone, and a deep whisper that
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