xt, and we receptively await it.
You see, unless you hold your hands still purposely, the board is bound
to move. Naturally it goes to the words you have in mind, and unless you
purposely check it, the message is bound to come. If it is something I
know and you don't, the board starts off, and as the words form, you
don't stop them nor do I, yet we don't really force them, it's more as
if we thought on the board. This is proved, to my mind, by the fact that
if either party knows the answer, it always comes; if neither knows it,
you can't get it. Usually the message is something that can't be
verified anyway, and often the message is untrue. But people notice and
remember the few times the truth is told, and quickly forget the other
times. In no case are they messages from the dead. It is not Peter's
spirit talking to us at all. It is merely our minds, subconsciously or
not, that impel involuntary muscular action in the slightest degree, and
our eagerness to get a certain word or phrase, brings it about.
Tradition and habit ascribe the messages to the dead, and the universal
desire to get such communications is responsible for the belief that
they are such. Now, here's proof. Whenever I have asked the Board who
killed Gilbert it has responded with the name of the person whom my
companion thought guilty. I have no idea who is the criminal, neither, I
take it, has Zizi; consequently, as we are both open-minded and waiting
for the answer, we get nothing."

"Right," and Zizi nodded her head. "People fool themselves into
believing they get information from Ouija. But, if they were honest,
they would have to admit that never has it told a truth that was not
known to at least one person present. Of course, I except coincidences,
which must happen occasionally."

"But," objected Julie, "then why will it work so much better when Carly
has her hands on?"

"Just because I'm impassive," Carlotta said, "and sit quietly while the
other one gets the message she wants. Without effort the message desired
comes, merely because nobody stops it."

"Then," said Julie, "none of the help we get from Ouija means anything
at all?"

"No, and it isn't help," said Zizi.

CHAPTER XIII

"Labrador Luck"

Kit Shelby's play was a wonderful success. Though a motion picture, it
was one of the finest ever produced, and no expense had been spared to
make it the sensation of the season. It was called "Labrador Luck."

The Crane family att