onary. Dr. Funk supposed the coin had been returned a
long time ago, but upon looking the matter up found it in a drawer of a
safe, among some old papers, exactly as Mr. Rakestraw maintained.

When Mr. Beecher appeared to him in person, so far as he could
determine, Dr. Funk asked him several direct questions, to which the
replies, he admits, were somewhat sublime. Although Dr. Funk has found
the long-lost coin--which, by the way, is said to be worth $2,500--he is
not certain to whom it should be returned, now that Professor West is
dead and his collection of coins sold. Should the "widow's mite" go to
Professor West's heirs or to the purchaser of the collection? is a
question which has as yet remained unanswered.

"That is a matter I am leaving to be determined by the Society for
Psychical Research and Mrs. Piper, who ought to be able to learn from
the spirit world what disposition Professor West wishes to have made of
the coin," said Dr. Funk. It is at any rate a matter that does not
appear to concern the spirit of Mr. Beecher.

MR. BEECHER APPEASED

"When what seemed to be Mr. Beecher's embodied spirit appeared to me,"
Dr. Funk said, "I asked that very question. He smiled and replied that
it was not a matter that concerned him especially, and that the whole
thing was in the nature of a test, to prove to me that there actually
are spirits, and that it is possible to have communication with them
when all the conditions are favorable. He remarked that he was glad the
old coin had been found, but seemed to consider the disposition of it a
matter of minor importance. He told me he was glad I was taking interest
in the subject, as he believed it would result in good for the world,
and then, excusing himself on the ground that he had an engagement which
it was necessary for him to keep, the apparition disappeared."

Dr. Funk borrowed the coin from Professor West's collection, as a
lighter colored one he already had was of doubtful authenticity. Both
coins were sent to the government expert in Philadelphia and the lighter
one was declared to be the genuine one. By the spirits it is now
declared, however, that a mistake was made and that the darker one
belonging to Professor West has the greater value.

"I found both the light and the dark one in the drawer," said Dr. Funk,
"and remembered distinctly that it was the darker of the two which I had
borrowed from Professor West. I went to the next seance, and when
Rakestr