n tears and in absolute despair, and wrote to tell him
of my conviction. Allowing for difference of time between Quetta and
Oxford, my mental telegram reached me in the same hour that my brother,
whilst on the march, and only thirty miles beyond Quetta, was suddenly
struck down in his tent by the paralysis which kept him confined to his
chair--a helpless sufferer--for twenty-eight years.

Perhaps, now that I know so much more of mental currents, I might have
received a more definite message as regards the true _nature_ of the
calamity. It could not have been more marked, nor more definite as
regards the _fact_ of it.

My condition of hopeless misery obliged me to put off all engagements
that day, and I did nothing but fret and lament over him, with the
exception of writing the one letter mentioned, in which I told him of my
strange and sad experience.

In time, of course, the first sharp impression passed, and soon a cheery
letter arrived from him, written, of course, before the fatal day. My
experience in Oxford occurred on the morning of 4th December 1878. It
was well on in January 1879 before the corroboration arrived, in a
letter written to us by a stranger. Communication was delayed not only
by the war, but also by the fact that my poor brother was lying at the
time deprived of both movement and speech, and could only spell out
later, by the alphabet, the address of his people at home.

CHAPTER II

INVESTIGATIONS IN AMERICA, 1885-1886

An interval of seven years occurs between the events recorded in the
last chapter and my first visit to America, which took place in the
autumn of 1885.

During these years no abnormal experiences came to me, nor had I the
smallest wish for any.

The table turnings with Morton Freer were a thing of the past, and were
looked back upon by me in the light of a childish amusement rather than
anything else. Quite other interests had come into my life, specially as
regards literature and music; and I never gave a thought to spooks or
spiritualism, nor did I really know anything about the latter subject.
It is true that on one occasion a curate at Great Marlow had spoken to
me about Mr S. C. Hall and his researches, and I think he must have
given me an introduction to the dear old man, for I remember going to
see him "with a lady friend" (he made a great point of this, somewhat to
my amusement), and finding a charming old man with silver locks, a fine
head, and a nice whit