r and thumb held the slate pencil.)
Presently, the slate is held near to the edge of the table, and a
tremulous motion is given to it as though the writing were then going
on.

On one occasion, when I knew he was about to use the prepared slate
(Professor Thompson will remember what I am about to relate), I
suggested that we should use a perfectly fresh pencil, so that we could
be sure that that very pencil had done the writing. I was very curious
to know how he would evade the test. The slate was held close to the
under side of the table (the new pencil debarred him from using the
double slate); when the writing was finished the slate was slapped
violently against the table, and was drawn from underneath
it--apparently with very great difficulty, and almost
perpendicularly--and the little pencil, of course, slipped off, and in
the excitement of reading the message from the 'Summer-land,' who would
think of looking for the pencil? It was so clever I wanted to applaud
him on the spot.

The other tricks, such as tossing the pencil from the slate and playing
the accordion, can be perfectly explained and repeated by Mr. Sellers.
Dr. Slade's fingers are unusually long and strong, and the accordion,
which has but four bellows-folds, can be readily manipulated with one
hand.

At our last seance I noticed what were evidently two prepared slates
resting against the support of the table behind him, where his prepared
slates usually stood. I inferred that he would like to have some
extraordinary slate writing on this occasion, and, therefore, kept a
sharp watch on these slates. Unfortunately it was too sharp, for one
second the Medium saw me looking at them. It was enough. That detected
look prevented the revelation of those elaborate Spirit messages. But
when the seance was over and he was signing the receipt for his money, I
passed round behind his chair and pushed these slates with my foot so as
to make them fall over, whereupon the writing on one of them was
distinctly revealed.

I think Dr. Pepper and Mr. Sellers will recall how the Medium instantly
pushed his chair back until it was fairly over the slates and then
snatched them up, and in the most hurried manner washed them both while
turning his back to us.

Two compasses, which we placed on the table during our seance, remained
unaffected by the Medium's presence.

During one sitting, when the Spirits conveyed the slates from the
Medium's hand under the table to t