,,ghosts ,i ,,have ,,seen ,,and ,,other ,,psychic ,,experiences ,,by ,,violet ,,tweedale ,,new ,,york ,,frederick ,a4 ,,stokes ,,company ,,publishers ,copyright1 #aiai1 by ,,frederick ,a4 ,,stokes ,,company ,all rights reserved ,,contents ,,chapter ,,page ,i ,,silk ,,dress ,,and ,,rumpus #a ,,ii ,,the ,,ghost ,,of ,,broughton ,,hall #ad ,,iii ,,curious ,,psychic ,,experiences #cc ,,iv ,,east ,,end ,,days ,,and ,,nights #dh ,v ,,the ,,man ,,in ,,the ,,marylebone ,,road #ff ,,vi ,,the ,,ghost ,,of ,,prince ,,charlie #gd ,,vii ,,pilgrims ,,and ,,strangers #ia ,,viii ,,some ,,strange ,,events #ih ,,ix ,,pompey ,,and ,,the ,,duchess #aad ,x ,,the ,,invisible ,,hands #abd ,,xi ,,dawns #acc ,,xii ,,peacock',s ,,feathers--,,the ,,skeleton ,,hand ,,at ,,monte ,,carlo #adf ,,xiii ,i ,,commit ,,murder #aeg ,,xiv ,,the ,,angel ,,of ,,lourdes #age ,,xv ,,the ,,wraith ,,of ,,the ,,army ,,gentleman #ahd ,,xvi ,,an ,,austrian ,,adventure #aig ,,xvii ,,across ,,the ,,threshold #baa ,,xviii ,,haunted ,,rooms #bba ,,xix ,,the ,,new ,,jeanne ,d',,arc #bda ,,xx ,,haunted ,,houses--,,castel ,a ,,mare #bea ,,xxi ,,the ,,sequel #bfc ,,xxii ,,the ,,haunted ,,lodge #bgf ,,xxiii ,,auras #bia ,,xxiv ,,adieu #cjg ,,ghosts ,i ,,have ,,seen ,,chapter ,i ,,silk ,,dress ,,and ,,rumpus ,from the terrible conditions of the present ,i have turned back to the past1 for a little joy and a great deliverance4 ,in the present one lives no longer from day to day1 but from hour to hour1 and even a fleeting memory of the joys that are no more refreshes the soul--wearied1 and fainting with a pallid anxiety that wraith-like envelops the whole being in a thrall of sadness4 ,to-day ,i heard music which ,i had known and loved in the happy1 careless long ago1 and whilst ,i was lost in a dream of half-forgotten bliss ,i smelt the fragrance of mimosa flower4 ,i cannot describe the sensations of joy that thrilled through my whole being4 ,an involuntary moving of the spirit1 an emergence into a dream world1 described by the ,greeks as ecstasy4 ,the music fashioned the invisible link1 and ,i was back again on a hillside where the mimosa grew in native abundance4 ,now1 one thinks of ,france only as a hideous battle plain1 but memory1 the true dispensator of time1 is never bound by years4 ,she keeps ever fresh1 in glowing colors1 those ideal moments that gather up the utter joys of life into one divine sheaf of memory4 ,it is not only for its great uses that we must have memory1 but for its joys4 ,it rends the gray veil shrouding present existence1 and shows us life as what it really is4 ,a phantasmagoria of wonder1 wrapped in mystery4 ,the day of miracles is not past1 it never will be past1 but if you want miracles you must have the power of seeing them4 ,i have written in this book of the miracles ,i have seen4 ,some of them any one can see1 others are reserved for the delectation of the few4 ,i have written of strange visitants from other realms1 and of that vivid illumination which at moments lays bare the hidden springs of life1 when the spirit emerges beyond the limit of human thought1 and familiar things1 beyond the horizon of life1 and touches a sphere beyond immortality4 ,it is a condition that the grave has nothing to do with1 a beholding beyond the frontiers of the soul4 ,i have written of the spiritual life1 for without this spiritual life a palace would be no wider than a tomb4 ,the vastness of the spirit world defies description4 ,it can choose its own pathways1 and any one of these long1 long roads leading to the great mysteries4 ,it is now almost universally acknowledged that psychic experiences1 of a specific nature1 occur at certain times to certain people1 that are not explicable by any known science4 ,generally1 they are experiences which point to the continuity of the human consciousness with a wider spiritual environment1 from which the normal man is shut off4 ,a few such experiences that have come to me ,i record4 ,i hope that ,i have never tried to convince others of the truth of these experiences4 ,if ,i have done so it has been unconsciously done4 ,i am absolutely persuaded that such phenomena can only become convincing when personally experienced4 ,such matters ought not to be accepted on hearsay4 ,it is mere folly for one woman to attempt to demonstrate to another the existence of the human soul4 ,the most that ,a can communicate to ,b1 of any part of her own experiences1 is so much of it as is common to the experiences of both4 ,i have proved conclusively to my own consciousness that ,i am linked up with a wider consciousness from which1 at times1 such experiences flow in4 ,i know my soul to be in touch with a greater soul1 which at moments enters into communication with me1 and opens out a vastness which it is impossible to translate into words1 and which annihilates space and time4 ,i have had my vision1 and ,i know4 ,therefore ,i am quite unmoved by criticism or ridicule4 ,i believe that what has come to me will come to all1 and there is no need to hurry the process4 ,we are simply a tiny part of a whole1 which has neither beginning nor end4 ,we live in a universe which is infinite in time and space1 which has always existed in some form1 and will go on in some form for ever4 ,the discovery of the law of the indestructibility of matter has proved this beyond a doubt4 ,at some second in time our ,universe will be dissolved into new systems1 for the life of a solar system lasts only a second in eternity1 but that need not worry us yet4 ,there is lots of time for man to realize his soul1 and all will doubtless do so at some moment in their many earth lives4 ,the classic idea is that the ,golden ,age lies in the past1 but the ,stoic doctrine of recurring cycles in the ages of the world seems to suggest that the ,golden ,age may return4 ,there are people to-day who ask1 ,is this the end of the world8 ,more probably it is the end of an age4 ,the harvest may be ripe for the sickle to be thrust in4 ,the opposition of good and evil may have reached their fullest manifestation4 ,it may be the hour in eternity for a complete readjustment of the little ant-hills we call great nations4 ,we know the rise and fall of nations to be an historical fact1 apparently based on an immutable law4 ,this recurring phenomenon cannot be explained1 though there are theories4 ,possibly the true one may be found in the failure or compliance to respond to the challenge3 ,advance to a higher spiritual plane or perish4 ,it may be that the right of continuance depends upon the answer to that challenge4 ,what brought about the decline of those mighty civilizations whose monuments of antiquity seem to mock our pride8 ,what insidious disease brought about the fall of ,rome8 ,the beauty and inspiration of ,greece was arrested by some swift decay1 and the giant temples and ,pyramids of ,egypt1 and the ,mounds of ,mesopotamia1 testify to a grandeur far surpassing ours4 ,in the world's morning time1 before the mists began to clear1 we can trace the rise and fall of a score of mighty ,empires4 ,from out their present tombs of tragic silence arise figures1 colossal sculptured figures1 with faces and forms of commanding power4 ,assyrians1 a mighty race1 leaving behind whole libraries of record1 chiseled upon indestructible pages4 ,the lost arts of three thousand years ago4 ,earlier still the earth resounded to the thunder of ,xenophon's thousands1 and the chariots of ,persia sweeping after them4 ,lying deeper still in the shroud of antiquity the ,pharaohs emerge as mighty conquerors1 and we can dimly discern in the ,empire of the ,chaldeans the movement of a gorgeous civilization1 and the majestic figures of men versed in mystic1 and1 to us1 unknown lore4 ,in ,italy1 memorials of a refined people1 who were precursors of ,roman power1 have been found1 forms of perfect grace in delicate vases and coins of gold and silver4 ,the old ,etruscan art is traced back to the ,assyrians' sculpture4 ,the snowy crown of ancient ,greece budded and bloomed in the mighty halls of ,assyria's splendor1 hundreds of years before ,christ4 ,no phantom world could furnish a mightier or more resplendent host4 ,reading of those proud and mighty civilizations brings the simple life of the ,nazarene very near to us in years1 it also shows us how quickly great splendors are sanded over by the hands of time4 ,the ,british ,museum holds the sculptured records of twenty-five hundred years4 ,whilst the flames1 kindled by the mob of ,christian monks1 from the great ,alexandrian library rose to ,heaven1 the temple fronts of the ,pharaohs1 the ,pyramids1 the ,sphinx1 loomed out of the conflagration4 ,the impotent torches of the fanatics were powerless against such imperishable records4 ,what of our records8 ,will these ancient civilizations be remembered when the fame of modern nations has vanished utterly8 ,which has the best chance of enduring in the future8 ,the paper and pasteboard of to-day1 or the monuments of stone1 to which the ,monarchs of bygone ,empires entrusted the history of their unsurpassed grandeur8 ,if thou hadst known in this thy day1 even thou1 the things which belong to thy peace6 but now they are hid from thine eyes4 ,this is the epitaph written across the tombs of all nations now crumbling into dust4 ,the things which belong to thy peace4 ,the things which never die or fade1 whose continuity is never broken1 the ,divine seeds that cannot perish1 the things which are immortal4 ,the winged soul in its aeon-long pilgrimages through eternity to home4 ,i find it easy to write to-day upon psychic subjects1 for everywhere ,i discern the dawn of what ,conan ,doyle1 in his deeply interesting book1 calls ,the new revelation4 ,to one who1 for the last forty years1 has been immersed in all branches of occult research1 the change of view that has come over the world in four years is very remarkable4 ,every one is now interested in the human soul1 and all that appertains to it4 ,the speeding up in the number of psychic experiences coming to light is enormous4 ,so often now ,i come across the last man in the world to see or hear anything who has just been accorded a startling experience1 and the rank skeptic is becoming a thing of the past4 ,whilst sitting in solitude it is interesting to let one's thoughts slip back to childhood1 and trace the present life in the mirror of the old4 ,i discover that in the immediate now there is nothing new1 but only that which has its symbol in the old4 ,i seem to get only the much clearer vision of what once was vague and cloudy1 or wholly unconsidered by the mind of youth4 ,in that garden of memory ,i can set old happenings in a new light1 and measure my slow footprints in the age-long journey behind me4 ,two facts emerge from out such musings4 ,firstly1 the journey of my soul takes a spiral path1 which at intervals brings me face to face with the old things that ,i have learned to modernize by dressing in fresh thought forms1 as new perceptions are won4 ,perceptions prophetic of the greater capacity for attainment when the ,divine ,power is permitted to unfold itself without let or hindrance4 ,secondly1 the further on the soul journeys the more solitary the road becomes4 ,one by one the old companion pilgrims drop away4 ,perhaps it is that on that long1 lone trail the traveler must be free4 ,very early in my life came the consciousness that everywhere about me1 in the infinitely above1 in the infinitely below1 permeating heart1 mind and soul1 is life--endless1 eternal4 ,on this shoreless ocean of existence1 without form or name1 the soul is afloat4 ,birth and death are the tides1 the ebb and flow of the ocean of life4 ,the human soul is but a ripple on the sea of existence1 and phenomenal life is but a flash in the eternity of eternities4 ,all the teeming lives of effort around us1 all the travail and suffering to which humanity is destined1 are ordained for the great purpose of soul evolution4 ,god sets the balance at every grave4 ,that which distinguishes every man is the vast dower of our nature1 eventually the same to all1 the passing incidents of station1 fortune1 talent1 are mere surface varieties4 ,i find in my mind the existence of something illimitably beyond mind1 doubtless a common experience4 ,i do not know what that something is1 but it is very real1 and it invariably shows me how cribbed1 cabined and confined this life really is4 ,i cannot even tell what it is that confines me4 ,i only know that there is a limitless world full of infinite possibilities all around me4 ,i seem always to have known this1 but ,i cannot grasp it4 ,true1 at rare intervals1 ,i catch a glimpse through a rift in the clouds1 then they close again4 ,at such moments ,i experience an ecstasy of heart sweet happiness1 so marvelously sweet1 so pure1 so near ,divine with its deep wordless thoughts of infinite beauty4 ,such regions are not so much impenetrable as ineffable4 ,they are glimpses gained at some great altitude1 from which ,i can look down on the mortal pageant and behold mysteries in which ,i take no part1 but by which ,i am encircled1 as an island1 by infinity4 ,such are luminous and splendid moments1 when the soul beholds the world in its real mystic beauty4 ,it is the hour of transfiguration1 in which the veil drops from the heart and the film from the eyes1 so that we see life as ,god means it to be4 ,often1 as a mere child1 when lying awake in those nights1 whose stillness have a quality of awe1 the silence would be broken by weird1 barbaric songs which wafted a sense of old1 wild adventurous life1 and in a curious quality of mystery ,i saw violet mountains sleeping in sunlight1 above a sea of amethyst4 ,childish visions1 but sacred nights4 ,very many years passed before ,i understood them4 ,on hot velvety nights in ,june a curious scent of smoke would come to me1 the measured hollow beating of bells1 and a tremulous far-away piping4 ,years after1 ,i stood alone one evening on the slopes of ,etna1 amid the pale asphodels and the desolation of tumbling lava fields1 and ,i heard the pipes of ,pan1 the reed pipe of the herd boy1 and linked the past with the present4 ,again1 passing through a region where the smoke rose from the charcoal burners' fires the scent of an ancient memory came vaporing up1 the unfamiliar scent that puzzled my childhood1 and ,i was away in a flash1 to wait for the soul to free herself and return from the world's edge4 ,i had to journey further east before ,i heard again at dawn the ring of camel bells as a caravan broke camp1 and then ,i understood the visions of my youth1 as ,i listened to the measured hollow beating1 and watched a strange medley of eastern traffic trail away across the desert4 ,sometimes1 when the nursery clock seemed to tick more loudly than usual1 ,i saw a gigantic water-wheel1 and behind it massive rocks with the hewn tombs of ancient kings1 and beyond them lay distant glamorous mountains1 white sails creeping amid warm purple isles1 set in a gulf of turquoise4 ,sometimes ,i have dreamed holy things1 and waked to find myself over-awed by the sublimity of the vision and the glory of the ,universe4 ,so many of those childish visions ,i have identified in later life1 but there is one which eludes me4 ,it is a great white road leading to the farther east1 and ,i see it drenched in white sunlight4 ,tinkling mule trains pass along it1 and ,i know now it is in some way connected with ,ida that saw ancient ,troy1 and the ,capital of ,pontus1 the seat of ,mithridates' ,court1 and the ,empire of ,trebizond4 ,some day1 who knows1 ,i may walk upon it4 ,looking back ,i can recollect nothing psychic happening to me before the age of six4 ,i can fix that date upon which ,i became actually aware of the other world4 ,it all happened through ,silk dress and ,rumpus4 ,i slept in a bed in one corner1 and my younger brother slept in another corner4 ,the room was large1 and at the top of a modern1 quite ordinary1 town house4 ,two flights of stairs ran down to the ground floor4 ,silk dress was something we were extremely interested in1 but ,i cannot recollect that we were ever in the least afraid4 ,when we first became aware of silk dress ,i do not know1 but in looking back across those many years ,i think that in the beginning we must have accepted it as something or somebody real4 ,only after several experiences did it dawn upon us that it was not real4 ,by then we had passed beyond the stage when we might have felt fear4 ,after we had gone to bed we were left quite alone in the dark1 and the nurses went down to supper4 ,the younger children slept in another room4 ,it was during such periods of silence that silk dress began its ascent4 ,just as we were dropping off to sleep one of us would murmur drowsily1 ,here comes silk dress4 ,then we lay quite still1 very wide awake again and listened intently4 ,from far down on the ground floor we heard footsteps quietly and methodically ascending1 and the rustle of a silk dress4 ,we could hear quite distinctly when it arrived at the first floor1 which was occupied by our parents1 then it passed on to the next flight of stairs leading to our floor4 ,the sound of footsteps and the rustle of the silk dress became more and more clearly audible as it drew ever nearer4 ,we could tell the second at which it passed from the last step on to the corridor which led past our half-open door4 ,then there was a thrilling moment or two1 when the tip-tap of shoes1 and the swish of silk on the linoleum was quite loud1 but the footsteps never halted4 ,they always swept past the half-closed door1 and went on into a small room beyond1 which was used for storing boxes4 ,then dead silence fell again4 ,in those days we never heard the word ghost mentioned1 yet ,i cannot recollect thinking of silk dress as anything but a visitor from the other world4 ,we talked of it freely in the household1 but probably because we expressed no fear1 no one seemed in the least interested4 ,on wakeful nights we occupied ourselves in waiting for it1 and on wet nights we could not hear it clearly because the rain pattered so loudly on a large skylight outside our door4 ,what interested us enormously was the fact that we never heard it descend again4 ,how it got down in order to mount once more was a great puzzle4 ,rumpus was quite another matter1 quite another order of manifestation4 ,rumpus always began when we were sound asleep1 and ,rumpus always wide awakened us4 ,they came at longer intervals1 about every ten days1 whilst it came on most nights4 ,during the summer mornings in the ,north1 when one could often read a book in the light of a one a4 m4 dawn1 they were very interesting1 because when their hour1 five a4 m41 arrived the room was flooded with sunshine4 ,in winter mornings1 when the room was in black darkness1 we were merely bored1 and cross at being roused1 and we simply lay still and endured them till they had quite finished4 ,but in the summer mornings we always sat up in bed and intently watched something we never saw4 ,when ,rumpus roused us brusquely from our slumbers it was by means of a demoniac pandemonium4 ,the room was in possession of them1 and they crashed1 and banged1 and tossed about the furniture in the most reckless fashion4 ,crash went the wardrobe1 bang went one chair after another1 hurtling across the room4 ,crash went wardrobe back into its place again1 clang went the fire-irons4 ,rushing collisions1 and rappings on the window-panes1 thuds on the floor1 rattlings and clatterings of crockery1 jingling of brass1 creakings and groanings of expostulation from the old sofa1 clanking of the fireguard1 a veritable tornado of noise1 enough surely to awaken the dead1 yet out of the living it only awakened--us4 ,no one else in the house ever heard it1 and our vivid descriptions were1 perhaps1 naturally attributed to nightmare4 ,we1 of course1 knew that it was nothing of the sort4 ,we were1 indeed1 very wide awake during the ten to fifteen minutes the pandemonium continued1 and our eyes were kept darting from side to side following the track of the noises1 as they grew in volume and intensity4 ,creak1 groan1 crash6 ,no mistaking the spot where that deafening sound came from4 ,that was the old mahogany wardrobe being hurled face downwards on the floor1 but whilst our eyes were riveted on its statuesque and utter immobility jingle1 clank1 from the fender1 where the fire-irons commenced to jig4 ,a wildly confused uproar over all the room1 then boom1 thud1 beneath us1 and our beds shivered convulsively1 and sent thrills of wild excitement coursing through our nerves4 ,suddenly the tumult would cease4 ,the mystery lay in the fact that we never saw anything move1 though we distinctly heard everything moving1 and could feel our beds reel beneath us4 ,i have no explanations to offer of those happenings4 ,they are very clearly fixed in my objective memory1 and when we were both grown up1 and had finally left that house my brother used often to say to me1 ,do you remember ',silk ,dress' and ',rumpus'8 ,such recollections crowd back upon me now1 with many other images of childhood4 ,no sooner do ,i recollect one than another emerges like a shining cloud from below the horizon4 ,where have they been lying hidden during all those flying years8 ,they have dwelt deep down in the eternal memory1 the heart of ,god which beats in all humanity4 ,within that heart are stored aeonic treasures4 ,they lie ever in wait to be bidden arise and cross the threshold4 ,,chapter ,,ii ,,the ,,ghost ,,of ,,broughton ,,hall ,i was about six years old when my family moved to a brand new house in ,claremont ,crescent1 that had just been erected on the outskirts of ,edinburgh4 ,there were still some green fields unbuilt upon1 and some fine old trees left standing close to us1 and those were still included in a triangular group of three grand old ,manors--,broughton ,hall1 ,powder ,hall1 and ,logie ,green4 ,all three had the reputation of being badly haunted4 ,the first named stood almost within a stone's throw of our end of the ,crescent1 and was occupied by an ancient family named ,walker1 who had held the property for generations4 ,they still existed as a very charming relic of ,scotch antiquity1 and they had always been friends of our family4 ,the house from the outside was very grim and forbidding-looking4 ,it was hidden from the eyes of the curious behind very high walls1 and was entered upon by two huge gates1 always kept closed4 ,inside1 the house was most interesting and attractive4 ,there were many closed rooms and winding staircases1 and odd steps in long1 dark corridors1 but the rooms that were lived in were beautiful of their kind4 ,there were desks with secret drawers1 wonderful pieces of ,chippendale1 tenderly cared for1 quantities of rare old china and cut glass1 and on the walls hung glorious ,romneys and ,hoppners1 which fetched huge prices at ,christie's when the household was finally broken up by death4 ,the family consisted of three sisters1 ,fanny1 ,hope1 and ,kitty1 the latter a widow1 named ,mrs4 ,chew4 ,there were two brothers1 ,adam and ,john4 ,the former lived with his sisters4 ,john was a minister1 and only paid visits4 ,there was a nephew1 the heir1 ,william ,stephens1 who also paid long visits to the ,hall4 ,though1 at the date of which ,i speak1 about #ahgj1 he must have been at least sixty1 he was always referred to as the ,laddie4 ,the three sisters occupied distinct positions in the house4 ,mrs4 ,chew acted as cook1 though servants were kept1 and she always sat in the kitchen1 only coming through to the dining-room for her meals4 ,miss ,hope was the worldly member of the family4 ,she had been to ,london ,town1 and could not be relied upon to stop at home4 ,she looked after the polishing of the furniture1 the old glass and china4 ,miss ,fanny was the lady of the family4 ,she always sat in the best parlor4 ,every one waited on her1 and she was never permitted to do anything for herself4 ,she dressed for the part in thick1 black satin1 with1 in winter1 a white silk embroidered ,chinese shawl1 and1 in summer1 old ,brussels lace4 ,across her forehead was a band of black velvet1 with a pear-shaped pearl depending between the eyebrows4 ,over her snow-white hair was flung a piece of old lace surmounting a wreath of artificial flowers4 ,her claw-like hands were covered by lace mittens and many rings4 ,i saw her constantly1 and she was always idle4 ,i never saw her read1 or sew1 or knit1 and often ,i wondered what she thought about1 as she sat there always in the same chair1 year in year out1 and with no companion but a large gray parrot4 ,true1 her surroundings were delightful4 ,from her chair near the fire she could look out on the quaint old garden1 always full of flowers1 and she could glance around her at the many beautiful objects the room contained4 ,i especially admired one ,hoppner4 ,the subject was a beautiful woman1 with a mass of powdered hair1 seated by an open window4 ,her cheek was supported in her hand1 and at her elbow was a quaint little wicker cage containing a bird4 ,i think the artist meant to suggest that both were captives4 ,though quite well in health1 ,miss ,fanny never left the house1 even to walk in the garden4 ,my father and ,i went very often to call upon those curious old people1 who were so utterly out of touch with modern life1 backward though life was then in the ,northern ,capital4 ,we arrived at all sorts of hours1 but refreshments were always produced4 ,an amazingly rich cake1 and fruity old port1 served in large quarter-pint cut-glass rummers4 ,it was not considered polite to refuse those offerings1 which were always kept in a corner cupboard1 and served by ,mrs4 ,chew1 who emerged from the kitchen1 or ,miss ,hope1 who left her housework to greet us4 ,though ,broughton ,hall was commonly reputed to be haunted1 no one seemed to know what form the ghost took4 ,i was great friends with ,mr4 ,adam1 a majestic1 clean-shaven old man1 who carried his chin very high above an enormous black silk stock1 and often ,i tried to draw him on the subject of the ghost1 but without success4 ,he took it very seriously1 and warned me that ,i wouldn't be any the better for having seen it4 ,besides1 he always concluded1 it's a family affair4 ,the sisters were even more uncommunicative4 ,my father and ,i were profoundly interested in this ghost4 ,there was something about the whole establishment that was extremely promising1 from the ghost-hunter point of view4 ,the consequence of this was that we were always on the prowl4 ,nothing discouraged us1 and we spared neither time nor trouble4 ,there is no research which requires such infinite patience as psychic research4 ,several years passed before the great moment arrived1 and when it did arrive it was all over in about four minutes4 ,my father had a way of suddenly looking up from his work and saying1 ,let's go to ,broughton ,hall4 ,i would at once rise1 and together we would pass out into the night1 without either hats or coats4 ,very eccentric1 it may be said1 but then we frankly were very eccentric4 ,we would steal away together around the ,crescent1 and down the road till we reached the great gates4 ,very softly we opened and closed them1 and keeping well in the shadow of the trees and bushes we would creep round the silent house4 ,i cannot describe the thrill of those nocturnal adventures4 ,it was all so eerie1 so full of vague1 terrifying possibilities4 ,i don't know what we expected to see1 and we were generally back again in our own house in half an hour2 but one night our patience really was rewarded4 ,it was ,november1 dry1 but wild and bitterly cold4 ,billowy white snow clouds scudding before a brisk north wind threw us alternately into light and darkness1 as they covered and uncovered the face of the full moon4 ,we had emerged from our house about half-past nine1 and had reached the back of ,broughton ,hall4 ,the house was shrouded in darkness and dead silence1 every blind was close drawn1 and the suggestion was one of utter emptiness4 ,my father and ,i were walking apart1 ,i being right under the shadow of the walls1 whilst he was in the middle of the paved court1 which had neither hedge nor walls1 but met the edge of the field running up to it4 ,suddenly ,i heard him whisper ,hush6 though we never did utter a word whilst close to the house4 ,his arm was pointing in front of him4 ,i stared ahead1 and then ,i saw1 clearly lit by the moon1 a woman who had apparently just rounded the corner of the house4 ,she was running hard1 straight towards us1 and her feet made no sound on the round cobble stones4 ,terror suddenly seized me1 and ,i darted across to my father1 and got well behind him1 seizing him firmly round the waist4 ,the woman came on1 rushing wildly4 ,she had nearly reached us1 and ,i was almost thrown over as my father faced her1 and backed to allow her to pass4 ,i peeped round him1 and saw a woman1 ghastly pale1 and distraught-looking1 clad in a white nightdress4 ,two long strands of black hair streamed out behind her1 and her bare arms were outstretched in front4 ,in a flash she had passed1 and absolutely silently1 and ,i found myself lying on the ground alone1 and my father vanishing in hot pursuit4 ,needless to say ,i very quickly picked myself up again1 and joined the chase4 ,terror lent me wings1 and in a minute or two ,i came up with him1 standing breathless by the gate4 ,vanished into thin air just as ,i reached her4 ,that's always the way4 ,you can't catch them1 he said4 ,we made a little detour before going home1 in order to discuss the great event4 ,we had no doubt that we had seen a genuine apparition4 ,we knew all the occupants of the ,hall1 and the woman had vanished in the open1 and in full flight1 just as my father had come up alongside her4 ,he cautioned me against mentioning our adventure to any one1 and ,i kept silence until years after1 when ,broughton ,hall was pulled down and its inmates were all dead4 ,before going on to our next ghostly adventure ,i will say a few words about my father1 ,robert ,chambers1 who in those days was something of a celebrity1 and a very remarkable man4 ,in appearance he was very handsome1 extremely tall and well built1 and with features that were well-nigh perfect4 ,it was the fashion in his time to wear the hair rather long1 and his was dark and very curly4 ,he always dressed well1 in the style of the country gentleman1 rather than as a town dweller4 ,in character he was extremely independent1 and was utterly indifferent to two things--money and public opinion4 ,his intellect was extraordinary1 and it was commonly said that he knew a great deal about most things1 and something about all things4 ,in ,scotland1 in those days1 it was not considered necessary to trouble about the education of girls4 ,no one ever tried to educate me1 consequently at a very early age ,i was absolutely free to devote myself entirely to my father1 and we were inseparable4 ,our intercourse was not that of father and daughter4 ,it was that of confidential friends of an equal age4 ,at that period my mother was more or less of an invalid1 and had her own attendants4 ,my father and ,i went every morning at ten o'clock to the old business house of ,w4 and ,r4 ,chambers1 in the ,high ,street of ,edinburgh1 and remained there till half-past two1 when we walked home together1 sometimes paying a call or two on the way4 ,though a mere uneducated child ,i helped him in his literary work1 and at odd hours committed to memory many poets4 ,we returned to four o'clock dinner1 the correct hour in those days1 and at six o'clock a porter arrived with my father's bag1 containing manuscripts to be read and selected for ,chambers' ,journal4 ,from six p4 m4 till midnight he worked at reading manuscript1 not typed then1 and proof correcting4 ,twice a week we went to the theater--there was only one in ,edinburgh then4 ,it was managed by a hard working couple1 ,mr4 and ,mrs4 ,howard1 who sometimes filled up a week by acting themselves4 ,i am bound to say we spent most of our time in the ,green ,room1 and ,i knew every turn and twist behind the curtain4 ,this turned out to be lucky for us4 ,one night we went to a performance given by the ,arthur ,sullivan ,company1 and about halfway through a cry of ,fire was raised4 ,great masses of burning stuff began to drop from the ceiling down into the auditorium4 ,instantly there was a panic1 and a terrible stampede1 and my father and ,i leaned forward1 protecting our heads behind the backs of the stalls in front1 whilst the mad rush climbed over us4 ,when all was clear in front of us we made our way to the back of the stage1 and escaped quite easily4 ,i looked behind me1 and ,i can see now the dense mass of struggling humanity wedged in the doorway4 ,i remained safely with ,mrs4 ,howard whilst my father ran around to the front and helped to extricate the dead4 ,the theater was burned to the ground1 but was very rapidly built up again4 ,my first literary effort must here be recorded4 ,i collaborated with ,professor ,andrew ,wilson in writing the pantomime of ,ali ,baba and the ,forty ,thieves4 ,andrew ,wilson was ,professor of ,natural ,science1 and an extremely versatile person--a passionate love of the drama was added to his many scientific attainments4 ,we wrote the dialogue together1 in one long revelry of laughter1 and ,i was responsible for the words of the songs4 ,as a literary effort ,i can only describe it as appalling4 ,the pantomime was1 however1 a great success4 ,the audacity of our utter incompetence proved highly successful1 and the critics justly described it as ,the funniest ,pantomime in ,scotland4 ,no wonder the audience laughed from start to finish4 ,my father always called at once upon any celebrity who happened to be passing through the city1 and thus ,i became acquainted with many interesting and amusing people4 ,henry ,irving was amongst the number4 ,we always called upon him on our way to business1 a little before ten4 ,if he was playing for a week we called on him every morning1 and often looked into the ,green ,room at night4 ,he and my father were great friends1 and at the hour of our visit he was always propped up in bed having breakfast4 ,i used to perch on the bed whilst the two men talked4 ,irving's nightshirt interested me 7pyjamas had not come in then74 ,it was white cambric with two enormous double frills down the front1 and quite a pierrot ruffle round his neck4 ,he was profoundly interested in the occult1 and told me that a ghost he had once seen had suggested to him a particular action of his whilst playing in ,the ,bells4 ,at the moment when he parted the curtains1 and looked wildly out1 shouting hoarsely1 ,the ,bells1 the ,bells4 ,through ,irving we came to know the ,baroness ,burdett ,coutts1 his ardent admirer4 ,she was very kind to me1 and presented me with a green silk dress1 but ,i always thought her a very melancholy woman1 even when entertaining many interesting people in her celebrated corner house in ,piccadilly1 with its white china parrot swinging in the window4 ,she was much attached to my father1 and treated him with a humble and touching deference4 ,robert ,chambers was a very keen sportsman1 who fortunately did not require much practice to keep up his game4 ,he held championships in golf and bowling4 ,he was too ardent a naturalist and ornithologist to care for shooting1 but he was an expert angler4 ,he was also a born actor and mimic1 and used to keep a ,green ,room in roars by taking off any of the profession called for1 and ,i never heard a better ventriloquist4 ,he adored music1 and played the flute well4 ,as a platform speaker he was extremely fluent and perfectly at ease4 ,his indifference to money resulted in his never having a penny in his pocket at night1 no matter how much he took with him in the morning1 and one of my tasks was to prevent his being fleeced by those who lay in wait for him4 ,he took any amount of trouble over impecunious and incompetent authors1 and constantly re-wrote their work for them in order to make it fit for publication4 ,he was a unique editor1 and his labors in the cause of charity were strenuous1 secret1 and1 ,i fear1 rather indiscriminate4 ,during this period of my life1 the head of the house1 ,william ,chambers1 was still living1 with his quaint old wife1 in the ,west ,end of ,edinburgh4 ,william1 who had survived his more versatile brother1 ,robert 7my grandfather71 was a little shriveled-up old man1 with a dry and severe manner4 ,most people were afraid of him1 few liked him1 but ,i got on with him famously4 ,i have always been extremely proud of the fact that he rose from nothing to great wealth4 ,there must be something fine in a man1 who1 as a lad1 rose at four a4 m4 to read classics to an intelligent baker1 whilst the batch of bread was being baked1 and who gladly accepted as payment a copper or a roll4 ,william and ,robert ,chambers had left their widowed mother to fend for themselves4 ,the family was at the lowest financial ebb4 ,much money had been spent on the ,french refugees who flocked into ,scotland in #ahaj1 and there was nothing to spare now4 ,we were originally ,french1 like so very many of the old ,scotch families4 ,the first of us in history is recorded as ,guillaume de la ,chaumbre1 who1 as the most prominent man in ,peebles1 signed the ,ragman ,roll in #abif4 ,my people had always lived in the dales of the ,tweed1 so very appropriately ,i married a man called ,tweedale4 ,towards the end of his life ,william ,chambers amused himself by spending many thousands on the restoration of ,st4 ,giles' ,cathedral1 an historic church which had fallen into great disrepair4 ,this was a time of great interest for me1 and ,i used to spend hours helping the workmen to gather up the thousands of human skulls that paved the church to a good depth4 ,there were tombs laid bare of many celebrated people of the long ago1 and these had to be identified1 and carefully kept intact1 until finally given a safer resting-place4 ,william ,chambers had been offered a baronetcy some years previously1 but he refused it4 ,he told me he did not consider it a dignified thing for a man of letters to bear any other honor than that accorded to brain power by a benefited world4 ,he and his brother ,robert were the pioneers of cheap and good educational literature for the laboring man1 and the avidity with which this literature1 ,chambers' ,information for the ,people1 was consumed1 appeared to be a fitting reward4 ,in those days it was an unheard-of thing for a publisher to be honored by a title4 ,now1 however1 on the eve of the re-opening of ,st4 ,giles' ,cathedral1 ,her ,majesty1 ,queen ,victoria1 commanded ,william ,chambers to accept a baronetcy4 ,the old couple were much agitated1 but had to submit1 and the ,queen announced her intention of performing the opening ceremony4 ,when the day arrived ,william ,chambers lay dead in his house1 and my father and ,i took the place of the old couple4 ,the ,queen was indisposed1 and ,lord ,aberdeen took her place4 ,after the ceremony both ,lord ,aberdeen and ,lord ,rosebery urged upon my father to take up the baronetcy1 more especially as he was his uncle's heir1 but this he utterly refused to do4 ,old ,lady ,chambers1 the widow1 discarded her title immediately and remained ,mrs4 ,chambers till the day of her death4 ,it must have been at least a month after ,william ,chambers' death that he visited me in a very vivid dream4 ,i dreamed that he was standing beside my bed1 and suddenly he bent over me and whispered in my ear1 ,i've left you all my money4 ,on waking ,i had totally forgotten the dream1 but later in the day an old servant of ours said to me1 ,i saw the wraith of your ,uncle ,william last night1 but he had nothing to say to me4 ,then my dream flashed back to me4 ,a day or two afterwards ,i said suddenly to the old family lawyer1 ,was there ever a question of ,uncle ,william leaving his money to me8 ,the dry answer was1 ,yes6 at one time there was a question of that4 ,i could never extract anything further from him on the subject4 ,though now possessed of considerable wealth my father made no difference in his mode of life1 and he continued to work just as hard as ever1 and to give away large sums of money4 ,he never wanted anything for himself1 but was always ready to give to others4 ,he had a great love of precious stones1 and always carried about little packets of diamonds1 which looked like packets of chemists' powders4 ,had ,i desired ,i could have loaded myself with jewels4 ,he never denied me anything and we continued our close companionship1 the only difference now being we took some holidays in the form of afternoons off4 ,on one of these occasions we saw our second ghost4 ,we went to pay a visit to a very old woman1 whose name ,i cannot remember4 ,she lived alone with one servant in an ancient dwelling in ,inveresk4 ,the house was a large one1 and was enclosed by very high walls1 which entirely isolated it from the busy streets that surrounded it4 ,the original old garden remained1 in all its beauty1 and the rooms were full of quaint heirlooms4 ,we were always made very welcome1 and the servant at once produced a delicious tea1 consisting of fresh baked scones1 butter made of real cream--margarine being not then invented--home-made strawberry jam1 and home-laid eggs4 ,russian eggs were not then imported4 ,i must here interpose that deliciously innocent telegram sent by an ,aberdeen merchant in the first days of the ,great ,war1 and which set all ,england and ,scotland mad to see the fur and snow-clad ,russian troops passing through to the ,front4 ,the telegram ran as follows3-- ,twenty thousand ,russians arrived4 ,the twenty thousand ,muscovites were only twenty thousand stale eggs1 but ,lord ,kitchener's order was1 ,let it stand4 ,to return to my story4 ,one glorious late spring evening we were seated at tea1 and the window was thrown wide to the perfumed garden1 where lilacs1 and wallflowers1 and lilies of the valley rioted gloriously4 ,the birds were in full song in this peaceful sanctuary1 which might have been a hundred miles away from a town4 ,my father had put his invariable question to the old woman1 ,have you seen her again8 ,sometimes the answer was ,yes1 sometimes ,no4 ,i gathered that this question referred to the old woman's dead daughter1 her only child4 ,this daughter had been violently insane for many years and had remained under her mother's protection4 ,she had died some years previously1 at the age of fifty-five1 having endured a terribly long martyrdom4 ,suddenly my father broke off the conversation4 ,my ,god6 there she is6 ,he half rose from his chair and stared through the open window4 ,i looked in the same direction4 ,a woman was strolling aimlessly along the path just outside4 ,there was a curious uncertainty about her movements4 ,she walked like a blind person1 who has neither stick nor arm to guide her4 ,strangely enough ,i never thought of connecting this woman with the ghost of the mad daughter4 ,she looked so natural1 so commonplace4 ,her hollow face was quite gray1 and her dark hair was drawn tightly back from it1 and rolled in an ugly knob behind4 ,her dress was of some dark material1 her boots were of cloth1 and her hands and arms were rolled up in a stuff apron she wore4 ,there she was1 vacantly wandering in the garden1 in the lovely spring evening1 with the blackbirds and thrushes singing their hearts out all around her1 and ,i did not comprehend why such an ordinary1 unattractive looking person should so deeply interest my father4 ,i turned round to say something to the old woman1 then ,i instantly understood4 ,she had gone down on her knees1 and had hidden herself by throwing the end of the tablecloth over her head4 ,then ,i turned my eyes back to the apparition4 ,i don't suppose she was visible for more than four minutes4 ,i remember my father uttering consoling words to the effect that she's gone1 and helping the old woman into her chair again1 when we resumed our tea and conversation1 as if nothing unusual had occurred4 ,looking back upon these incidents ,i contrast the infinite trouble we took in our hunt for ghosts1 with present-day psychical research4 ,i think of the innumerable half hours we spent at ,broughton ,hall1 and only once were we rewarded by seeing anything4 ,we visited the old woman at ,inveresk whenever we found time4 ,there was nothing in the least inspiring or interesting in her conversation1 yet to us there was an unspeakable charm about her outward circumstances4 ,there was the spiritual charm of the silent old house1 with its vibrating memories of the long departed4 ,the charm of the cloistered peace1 amidst which the woman lived and dreamed1 shut away from the world by the high walls4 ,it was a retreat in which to meditate1 and that always appealed to me4 ,a dwelling with a beautiful view has a great charm1 but it draws the thoughts always outward to the external4 ,still1 when ,i pass a quiet old homestead1 hidden away in its own flowery old garden from the eyes of the world1 it attracts me far more than the far-flung grandeur of many a stately ,english mansion4 ,only in such retreats of ancient peace can the thoughts be turned continuously inward1 to their true bourne--the temple of the living ,god4 ,i seem to have been born with an ingrained belief in the enormous virtue of renunciation4 ,self-sacrifice1 ,i am certain1 is the foundation stone upon which is built the moral progress of man4 ,i had occasion to prove this for myself at a comparatively early age4 ,my mother suddenly became much more ailing than usual1 and began to suffer a great deal of pain4 ,a consultation of doctors was called by our own family physician1 and two of the greatest surgeons in ,edinburgh arrived one morning at our house4 ,after about an hour they came into the room in which ,i awaited them4 ,their faces were very grave4 ,they informed me1 as kindly as they could1 that they had arrived at the unanimous opinion that my mother was suffering from internal cancer1 and that she might possibly live another six months4 ,our own doctor confessed that he had long suspected this1 and the two surgeons corroborated his opinion4 ,there was no doubt in their minds1 as the disease had openly declared itself4 ,i took this shock in perfect silence for a minute or two1 then ,i decided upon my first course of action4 ,i asked them in the meanwhile to keep this matter secret from every one1 even from my father4 ,to this they rather demurred1 saying that it was only right that he should know the truth1 and that he would certainly question them4 ,i then urged that our family doctor had known of this1 and had hidden his knowledge up to to-day4 ,it would be easy enough for him to go on hiding the truth for a short time longer4 ,the doctors sought to know my reason for this secrecy2 it would do no good1 the truth would have to come out4 ,i could give no reason4 ,i had no reason1 only a very strong instinct1 and ,i wanted time4 ,i asked for a fortnight1 after which ,i would myself inform my father of the nature of my mother's malady4 ,they agreed to this1 doubtless much relieved that so unpleasant a task was removed to other shoulders1 and they went away4 ,that night ,i did not sleep4 ,i had too much to think out4 ,my mother must not die4 ,i had to form some plan to save her1 if it were humanly possible4 ,she was absolutely necessary1 ,i considered1 to the younger children4 ,she would be required for some years yet4 ,my life was wholly given up to my father1 ,i had become necessary to him1 and this left me no time to mother the young ones4 ,his health was not of the best4 ,a curious tendency to hemorrhage kept him constantly weak4 ,if he had a tooth drawn bleeding would continue for days after4 ,he needed all my attention4 ,at that particular time ,i possessed something--never mind what--that meant more to me than anything else in the whole wide world4 ,it was the greatest thing ,i had in life4 ,i decided before morning that with this1 my one great possession1 ,i would strike a bargain with the ,almighty4 ,i would give ,him a fortnight to consider it4 ,i would offer ,him the greatest thing in my life in exchange for my mother's life4 ,quite conceivably ,he might refuse to consider the proposition1 in which case ,i stood to lose everything4 ,i could never again recover what ,i proposed to risk1 but ,i came to the deliberate conclusion that it was worth it4 ,the case demanded a desperate remedy4 ,having made up my mind1 ,i went about the business in the crudest and most practical manner4 ,i set aside certain odd half hours during the coming fortnight1 in which ,i would state my case4 ,i wanted ,god to have every opportunity of considering my suggestion on its simple merits4 ,i began by pointing out to ,him why it was so necessary that my mother should live1 and then ,i went on to say that ,he might be sure ,i asked nothing for myself4 ,i proposed to give in exchange for my mother's life the greatest thing ,i possessed on earth1 a thing that doubtless was of little interest to ,him1 but nevertheless meant a very great deal to me--in fact1 my all4 ,i really had nothing else of any value to offer4 ,now1 in thus addressing the ,almighty1 ,i was not acting as a primitive savage1 for ,i had considered the subject of ,deity for several years1 and had studied most of the great theologians4 ,i addressed ,him thus as a ,spirit of too supreme a potency1 of too extraneous a mentality and majesty1 to be addressed in any other terms but plain downright reasoning4 ,elaborate and propitiatory words were good enough for earthly princelets1 but ridiculous when offered up to the ,supreme ,creative ,power4 ,that was my way of looking at it1 and ,i began at once to carry out my plan4 ,there was no time to lose4 ,meanwhile1 no living soul1 save the doctors1 knew of my secret4 ,at the end of the second day my mother was free from pain4 ,at the end of the first week she was recovering rapidly4 ,the family doctor was intensely puzzled1 but still adhered to his original conviction4 ,on the eighth day ,i ceased my half-hourly reasoning with ,god4 ,i merely thanked ,him for concluding the bargain4 ,he had accepted my sacrifice1 the greatest ,i could make1 and there that matter ended4 ,i felt1 without the smallest irreverence1 that we were quits4 ,at the end of the month the two great surgeons returned1 at our own doctor's request4 ,i awaited them with perfect assurance and tranquillity4 ,when they came in to me they still looked perturbed4 ,they told me that they had examined my mother1 and found all traces of the malady had disappeared4 ,they could not account for it1 they reiterated their former diagnosis1 dwelling upon certain facts1 in very natural self-justification4 ,they expressed1 in the very kindest manner1 their deep regret for all the suffering and anxiety they must have caused me1 and said how very lucky it was that no one had been made aware of their original convictions1 save myself4 ,the case was extraordinary1 abnormal1 there was nothing more to say4 ,then they went away for the last time4 ,my father was greatly puzzled at their refusing to accept any fee1 and to the day of his death our own doctor1 whenever he found me alone1 referred to the case as the most marvelous he had ever come across4 ,my mother quite regained her health1 and died many years after from lung trouble4 ,one other great sacrifice ,i had to make a year or two after4 ,my father was entirely confined to bed with a severe attack of internal hemorrhage1 and at the same time my youngest sister was threatened with consumption4 ,she was ordered to go to the ,south of ,france immediately4 ,it was decided that ,i must go with her1 as she could not be trusted to strangers4 ,my mother1 absolutely restored to health1 would be left with my father1 who had also a good nurse valet4 ,my father and ,i bade each other farewell one early morning in ,february1 #ahhh4 ,we knew we would not meet again on earth4 ,only one other curious incident do ,i remember in connection with that town house we lived in4 ,on the night of the #bhth ,december we were all assembled in the library1 most of us were reading1 and a violent wind storm was howling round the house4 ,suddenly my father laid down the proof sheets he was correcting1 and took out his watch4 ,then he turned to us and said3 ,at this moment1 seven fifteen1 on ,sunday the #bhth of ,december1 #ahgi1 something terrible has happened4 ,i think a bridge must be down4 ,the next day we learned that the ,tay ,bridge had been blown down at that very hour1 and the train and its occupants hurled to death in the waters below4 ,,chapter ,,iii ,,curious ,,psychic ,,experiences ,after my father's death ,i began to live a much more independent life4 ,i was financially independent1 and ,i proceeded to ,london1 where ,i felt ,i would have a wider range of intellectual companionship4 ,i lived in hotels and dispensed with all chaperonage1 thus leaving myself free to join my mother on the ,riviera in the early spring months4 ,i never cared for dancing1 and always having had the companionship of people who were years older than myself1 ,i had made few girl friends4 ,my first cousin1 ,lady ,campbell1 wife of ,sir ,guy ,campbell1 ,bart41 #fjth ,rifles1 and another first cousin1 ,menie ,muriel ,dowie1 were the only two ,i really saw much of4 ,lady ,campbell was1 and is1 a very attractive woman1 possessed of great charm of manner4 ,exceedingly cultured and intelligent1 she is also an artist to her finger tips4 ,as girls we used to be fond of attending ,queen ,victoria's ,drawing-rooms4 ,a bevy of us would take lunch with us in the carriages1 and thoroughly enjoy our day out4 ,i was the last woman to kiss the hand of ,queen ,victoria at a ,drawing-room4 ,i was stopped by a ,court official just as ,i was moving forward1 and told to wait as ,her ,majesty is going to withdraw4 ,the present ,dowager ,queen ,alexandra1 as ,princess of ,wales1 then took her place4 ,on this occasion ,i heard the ,queen say1 ,let this lady pass4 ,i was then told to proceed4 ,being very tall ,i had always a certain difficulty in getting down low enough to kiss the tiny ,queen's hand4 ,after ,i had passed1 and as ,i backed out of the presence1 ,i saw ,her ,majesty being assisted out of the queer little half chair1 half stool she used4 ,she never held another ,drawing-room1 and ,i regret that1 being abroad1 ,i had not the honor of making a last curtsy to the little coffin as it passed through the streets of ,london4 ,menie ,muriel ,dowie was a brilliant bohemian1 as can be gathered by those who have read her book1 ,a ,girl in the ,carpathians4 ,i have never known any woman who was possessed of so many natural talents4 ,she is as much at home in skilled and polished diplomacy as in practical agriculture4 ,she has always been a great traveler1 yet a delicate woman4 ,only her indomitable spirit kept her going in her youth1 as it still does in her beautiful house in ,green ,street1 and her model farm in ,gloucestershire4 ,my greatest older friends were ,mrs4 ,lynn ,linton1 the novelist1 ,browning1 the poet1 ,lord ,leighton1 the painter1 and ,mrs4 ,proctor1 widow of ,barry ,cornwall1 and mother of ,adelaide ,proctor1 the poet4 ,all people old enough to be my parents4 ,i had a great admiration for ,mrs4 ,lynn ,linton's strong1 cold intellect2 it was so invigorating1 and she was so self-reliant1 an uncommon thing for a woman to be in those days4 ,we had long arguments over matters occult1 but ,i never could make the least impression upon her strong materialism4 ,i won't leave this earth even with you1 she used to protest4 ,she was a great friend and admirer of my aunt1 ,lady ,priestley1 also a woman of very fine intellect1 who devoted herself to scientific pursuits4 ,had she been a man1 or had she lived in the present day1 when woman has at last come into her own1 she would have made a very strong mark4 ,robert ,browning1 whom ,i had known for some years1 used to drop in very often to have a chat1 and ,i rejoiced in him exceedingly as a born mystic of a high order4 ,we often discussed the possibility of his work being directed from the other side1 and we argued as to whether he received inspiration from various quarters1 or whether he was the beloved of some poet of a former age1 who1 active still in the spirit world1 expressed his great thoughts through ,robert ,browning on earth4 ,so many people at that time frankly said they could not understand ,browning's poetry1 and this ,i told him was to be attributed to lack of the mystic perception4 ,now that mysticism has so enormously developed1 his work is much more comprehensive to the world4 ,i had alas6 only one year of really close friendship with him1 for he died the year after ,i came to ,london4 ,one curious thing ,browning told me4 ,he dropped in one night to see me1 after dinner at a house where ,millais1 the painter1 had been one of the guests4 ,johnnie ,millais told me an odd thing to-night1 he said4 ,he's constantly seeing figures appearing and disappearing on the face of the canvas he's working upon4 ,what sort of figures8 ,i asked4 ,browning shot out his cuff4 ,here they are4 ,i knew you'd be interested1 so ,i took them down for you4 ,better write them down for yourself1 but don't mention the subject to him or any of his family4 ,i fetched a piece of paper and copied from ,browning's cuff4 #ac4 #a4h4i4f4 ,the figures don't always come in that order1 he said1 but more often than not they do4 ,the #ac always comes up as #ac1 but he's seen #i4f4a4h4 ,what do you make of it8 ,at present nothing1 but the future may throw light upon the phenomenon1 ,i answered4 ,i never mentioned this occurrence to any one1 and1 indeed1 forgot all about it till some years after ,millais' death1 when ,i came upon my notes in an old box4 ,i then realized that the great painter had been looking upon the dates of his own death4 ,he died on ,august #acth1 #ahif4 ,one night some one1 ,i have not the least idea who1 came to me in my sleep and bade me take up pencil and paper1 and write to dictation4 ,still sound asleep ,i did as ,i was bidden4 ,i always kept writing materials by my bedside4 ,in the morning ,i remembered nothing of this till my eye fell upon some sheets of paper4 ,the writing upon them was mine1 but very big and untidy4 ,then ,i recollected the command ,i had received in the night and eagerly read what ,i had written4 ,here it is4 ,i gave ,browning a copy as he was so deeply interested-- ,a solitary cottage stood on the edge of a bleak moorland4 ,the sun sank behind the low horizon1 and left marshy pools glowing like living opals4 ,a stream of homeward flying rooks made a streak of indigo across the topaz sky where gauzy wind-riven clouds floated westward4 ,the sacred hush of eventide brooded under the calm wings of night4 ,out on the waste wandered the ,angel of ',sleep1' and the ,angel of ',death' with arms fraternally entwined1 and whilst the brotherly genii embraced each other1 night stole down with velvet footfall1 and the green stars peered forth4 ,then the ,angel of ,sleep shook from out his hands the invisible grains of slumber1 and bade the night wind waft them o'er the world4 ,and soon the child in its cradle1 the tired mother1 the aged man1 and the pain-laden woman were at peace4 ,the curfew tolled out from the distant hamlet and then was still4 ,inside the cottage a rushlight burned faintly1 indicating the poverty of the room1 and illuminating the death-like features of the boy who lay on the bed4 ,by his side1 worn out1 sat the father1 his horny hand clasped in that of his child4 ,and the two brother ,angels advanced1 hand in hand1 and peered in at the window1 and the ,angel of ,sleep said3 ',behold how gracious a thing it is1 that we can visit this humble dwelling and scatter grains of slumber around1 and send oblivion to the weary watcher4 ,i am beloved and courted by all4 ,how merciful is our vocation4' ,and silently he entered the room4 ,he kissed the eyelids of the weary watcher1 and as he did so some grains fell from out the wreath of scarlet poppies that lay like drops of blood upon his brow4 ,but the ,angel of ,death sat without1 his pallid face shrouded in the sable of his wings4 ,and he spake to the ,angel of ,sleep1 ',of a truth thou art happy and beloved4 ,the welcome guest of all1 whereas ,i am shunned1 the door is barred as against a secret foe1 and ,i am counted the enemy of the world4' ,but the ,angel of ,sleep wiped away the immortal tears from the dark and mournful eyes of his brother ,death4 ',are we not children born of the one ,father8' said he1 'and do not the good call thee friend1 and the lonely1 the homeless1 the weary laden bless thy hallowed name when they wake in ,paradise4' ,and the ,angel of ,death unfurled his sable wings and took heart4 ,and as ,lucifer the light-bringer paled in the violet ,heavens he silently entered the dwelling4 ,with his golden scythe he cut the silver cord of life1 and gathered the child to his faithful bosom4 ,the evenings ,i most enjoyed were those ,i spent in the studio of ,felix ,moscheles1 the great apostle of peace4 ,there one met all the genius and talent in ,london1 and any genius of foreign nationality who happened to be visiting ,england4 ,the cosmopolitan element always attracted me1 and ,i went to several frankly revolutionary houses1 where red ties flaunted1 and where those ,russian ,nihilists found a welcome who were constantly rushing over here to escape ,siberia4 ,through them ,i learned to understand what the real woes of ,russia were1 and to expect the present revolution as the inevitable result of brutal repression and misgovernment4 ,during one winter at ,nice ,i renewed my acquaintance with one of the most remarkable mystics of modern times1 ,marie1 ,countess of ,caithness and ,duchesse de ,pomar4 ,i had first met her in ,edinburgh in #ahgb when she was on the eve of her second marriage with ,lord ,caithness4 ,my father and mother attended her very quiet wedding4 ,now we met again many years after at her beautiful home1 the ,palais ,tiranty1 ,nice4 ,lady ,caithness was widowed for the second time1 ,lord ,caithness having died in #ahha1 and lived alone with her devoted son1 the ,duc de ,pomar4 ,she had a magnificent home in ,paris1 ,holyrood1 ,avenue ,wagram4 ,this house contained a large lecture hall filled with gilt chairs1 and hung round with fine pictures4 ,leading from this hall down a flight of marble stairs one came to a chapel or seance room1 used for direct communication with the spirit of ,mary ,stuart1 and said to have been built under the ,queen's instructions4 ,this presupposes ,queen ,mary to be still on the other side4 ,other occultists maintain that she has reincarnated again in the person of a very old ,empress1 who still lives on earth4 ,it has been often said of ,lady ,caithness that she believed herself to be the reincarnation of ,mary ,stuart4 ,during all the years ,i knew her intimately ,i never heard her even hint at such a belief1 and the fact that she believed herself to be in touch with the ,queen on the other side precludes in my opinion the possibility of her having formed such a conception4 ,what may have given rise to the suggestion was the fact that she dressed after the fashion of the ,scottish ,queen1 and was surrounded by ,mary relics4 ,also1 there is no doubt that she had a deeply sympathetic interest in the unfortunate ,queen1 and had elevated her memory into what amounted almost to a religion4 ,in the chapel there is a full length lovely portrait of ,mary1 which is so lighted and arranged that it gives the impression of a living woman4 ,leading out of the dining-room was the bedroom of ,lady ,caithness1 a sumptuous apartment4 ,the bed was a state bed1 plumes of ostrich feathers uprose at each corner4 ,at one end was a crown1 and behind the pillows was a fresco painting representing ,jacob's ,ladder1 with a multitude of angels ascending and descending4 ,often ,lady ,caithness received in bed1 as was the habit of the ,french ,queens of former days4 ,the jewels possessed by ,lady ,caithness were the most gorgeous ,i have ever seen4 ,nothing worn by crowned heads1 at the many ,english ,courts ,i have attended1 were comparable to them4 ,i can remember an ,edinburgh jeweler inviting my father and me to inspect some diamonds belonging to her that he was cleaning4 ,there was a long chain of huge diamonds reaching to the knees1 with a cross attached1 which no casual observer1 not possessing the jeweler's guarantee as we did1 would have believed to be genuine4 ,when standing receiving her guests in the beautiful salons of the ,palais ,tiranty1 clad in crimson velvet1 she looked a very wonderful figure1 for she possessed exceptional personal beauty as well4 ,as may be supposed1 a woman of such commanding presence who was known to possess a deep interest in the occult1 could secure the services of the best mediums the world over4 ,i sat with her through many seances1 successful1 barren1 and indifferent1 conducted by mediums of various nationalities4 ,i remember one conducted by a ,south ,american medium1 where the controls became very noisy and troublesome1 and threatened to do serious damage4 ,the medium could not be roused out of the trance she had fallen into1 and it had really become necessary to put an end to the performance4 ,she was a very big1 heavy woman1 and had sunk half off her chair on to the floor4 ,i suggested to ,lady ,caithness that if we could drag or carry her into another room matters might then quiet down1 but ,i added dubiously1 ,she must be a great weight4 ,lady ,caithness replied with a smile3 ,try4 ,you'll probably find her very light indeed4 ,i did try1 and this was the only time in my life that ,i had the opportunity of proving to myself how tremendously a medium loses weight whilst genuine manifestations are in progress4 ,i found it quite easy to lift this woman1 who in ordinary circumstances must have weighed at least twelve or thirteen stone4 ,sir ,william ,crookes has given to the world a very interesting account of his work in weighing mediums1 before and during materialization4 ,he always found that a great decrease in weight took place during the materializations1 proving how enormous is the drain on the strength of the medium4 ,such evidence is most valuable1 as coming from our greatest chemist4 ,on this particular night ,i had no doubt as to the genuineness of the medium4 ,had she been a fraud she would have stopped the seance at once1 on seeing how annoyed ,lady ,caithness was4 ,she had every reason to conciliate her1 and was greatly distressed to hear that her services would no longer be required4 ,the troublesome spirits followed her into the next room1 but gradually subsided as we succeeded in bringing the woman back out of her trance4 ,i used to go very often to the theater at ,nice with ,lady ,caithness4 ,she had her own box1 and often invited ,don ,carlos of ,spain1 and other distinguished personages1 to accompany her4 ,one night we went to hear the incomparable ,judic4 ,we were only a party of three1 the third being ,prince ,valori4 ,the ,prince was then a man past middle age4 ,he suggested a magnificent ruin1 retaining as he did the battered remains of great good looks1 and it was plain to see that his valet was exceedingly skillful4 ,he possessed also a ,european reputation for heiress hunting1 but to the day of his death he never succeeded in catching one1 though it was said he had pursued his quarry in all parts of the world4 ,perhaps the figure he placed upon his ancient lineage and his personal charm was too high2 perhaps he had begun his quest too late in life1 though the position of a widowed ,princess ,valori would certainly not have been without attraction4 ,i attributed his single blessedness to quite a different cause4 ,that night1 whilst my attention was fixed on the stage1 ,i became dimly aware that some one had entered our box1 but until the song was over ,i did not turn round to look who it was4 ,we always had visitors coming and going4 ,when at last ,i did glance round ,i saw nothing remarkable4 ,only a man in fancy dress seated behind ,valori1 a man whom ,i had never seen before4 ,at that period ,nice went mad during the winter season4 ,the most extravagant amusements were entered into with a wild zest1 by the very cosmopolitan society of extremely wealthy people4 ,there were fancy dress balls every night somewhere1 and no one thought it strange to see bands of revelers in fancy costume walking about the streets and thronging the cafes at all hours of the night4 ,i was not therefore astonished to see this man in fancy dress1 leaning familiarly over the back of ,prince ,valori's chair4 ,he was a very thin man1 with very long1 thin legs1 and he was dressed entirely in chocolate brown--a sort of close-fitting cowl was drawn over his head1 and his curious long1 impish face was made more weird by small1 sharply pointed ears rising on each side of his head4 ,he appeared to have got himself up to look like a satyr1 or some such mythical monstrosity4 ,he was not introduced to me at the moment1 and other people entering our box whom ,i knew1 ,i forgot about him4 ,when the box cleared before the next act ,i noticed he had gone4 ,a week or so after this ,i went to a fancy dress ball given by a ,russian friend of mine--,princess ,lina ,galitzine4 ,there was a great crowd1 and a number of ,grand ,dukes and ,grand ,duchesses1 some of whom had driven long distances from their villas and hotels in ,mentone1 ,monte ,carlo1 and ,beaulieu1 etc4 ,i soon saw ,prince ,valori making his way towards me1 dressed very magnificently1 in a ,french costume of the eighteenth century4 ,by his side moved the man in brown4 ,now that ,i saw the satyr under brilliant light he struck me at once as something peculiar4 ,his walk was alone sufficient to attract attention4 ,he strutted on tiptoes1 with a curious jerk with every step he made4 ,those who remember ,henry ,irving's peculiar walk may form some idea of the satyr's movements4 ,they were ,irving's immensely exaggerated4 ,i concluded that ,valori was bringing him up to present him to me1 but such proved not to be his intention4 ,valori shook hands1 coolly requested the young ,american to whom ,i was talking to move off and find some one to dance with1 and seated himself in the vacated chair4 ,the satyr stood by his side and said nothing4 ,i thought this very odd1 and glancing1 whenever ,i could do so unobserved1 at the silent brown figure1 ,i began to feel uneasy and shivery4 ,it was impossible1 whilst he stood there listening to all we said1 to ask ,valori who he was1 and no mention was made of him4 ,as soon as ,i could ,i escaped to talk to some one else1 and for an hour or two ,i avoided both4 ,during this time ,i asked several people who the satyr was1 but no one seemed to have noticed him in the crowd4 ,at last1 when seated at supper with the late ,james ,gordon ,bennett1 who did not usually go to balls1 but had looked in here for half an hour for some purpose of his own1 ,i found myself seated next to a very charming ,pole1 married to a ,russian1 the ,princess ,schehoffskoi4 ,i knew her to be a genuine mystic1 one of the group who first instituted spiritualism into the ,russian ,court circles4 ,i seized an opportunity1 whilst ,gordon ,bennett was occupied with some one else1 to ask her who the brown satyr was who had attached himself to ,valori4 ,she was at once absorbed in the question1 and1 lowering her voice1 she said1 ,why1 how interesting6 ,don't you know that is his ',familiar' who is constantly in attendance upon him4 ,people say they became attached whilst he was attending a ',sabbath' in the ,vosges1 and he can't get rid of it4 ,a ,sabbath6 ,i echoed blankly4 ,yes6 ,surely you have heard of a ',witch's ,sabbath4' ,they still hold them at ,lutzei1 and each person receives a ',familiar4' ,those ',sabbaths' are the most appalling orgies and hideously blasphemous4 ,the ',familiars' have names--,minette1 ,verdelet1 etc4 ,i had an ancestor who owned a ',familiar' called ,sainte ,buisson4 ,his name was de ,laski4 ,of course1 he was a ,pole1 and a ,prince of ,siradia1 and he came across ,dr4 ,dee1 the necromancer of ,queen ,elizabeth's time4 ,they seem to have entered into a sort of partnership4 ,all this the ,princess told me quite seriously1 and ,i found out later from her that ,satanism or devil worship was largely practiced in ,france4 ,it is interesting to note that the names of the ,french war mascots of the moment are all taken from the names of well-known ,familiars in occult lore4 ,then the 'satyr' attached to ,valori is not human flesh and blood2 how horrible6 ,i whispered back4 ,have many people seen him8 ,is he always there8 ,the ,princess nodded1 ,the clairvoyantes here all know about it1 and ,i myself have seen him1 not here1 but in ,paris4 ,i shall go in search of ,valori directly after supper4 ,and ,i shall go home to bed1 ,i answered4 ,the next morning ,i met ,valori1 alone1 on the ,promenade des ,anglais4 ,he turned and strolled by my side1 and ,i determined to put a straight question4 ,after a little trivial conversation ,i said1 ,by the way1 who is that brown man1 dressed like a ,satyr1 who has been with you lately8 ,i watched ,valori's face as ,i put the question1 and as ,i saw the change that came over it ,i felt very sorry and ashamed of having spoken4 ,he looked so utterly dejected and miserable4 ,you also8 he muttered1 then fell to silence4 ,i gathered that the same question had been put to him before1 and ,i hastened to reassure him4 ,don't answer4 ,my question was impertinent2 let us speak of other things1 ,i said hastily1 but he remained silent1 staring down at the ground4 ,then suddenly he said-- ,i am not the only one in the world so afflicted4 ,i did not pursue the subject4 ,his words were true4 ,that evening ,i received a large bouquet of ,russian violets1 and on a card was written the following ,french proverb3--,la reputation d'un homme est comme son ombre1 qui tantot le suit et tantot le precede2 quelquefois elle est plus longue et quelquefois plus courte que lui4 ,at that time the whole ,riviera was swarming with professional clairvoyantes1 and it soon got wind that ,prince ,valori's ,familiar was walking about with him4 ,he treated the matter almost as lightly as a distinguished ,english ,general treated his ,familiar4 ,the ,englishman1 ,general ,elliot1 who commanded the forces in ,scotland1 was a very well-known society man1 about twenty-five years ago4 ,he had a name for his ,familiar1 ,wononi1 and used actually to speak aloud with him in the middle of a dinner-party4 ,the ,general occupied a very distinguished position1 not only in his profession1 but in the social world1 and to look at he was the very last man that one would associate with matters occult4 ,in #ahie ,marie1 ,duchesse de ,pomar and ,countess of ,caithness1 died4 ,she had the right to claim burial in ,holyrood ,chapel1 and a very simple stone marks her last resting-place4 ,to her ,i owe the warmest friendship of my life1 for it was in her opera box ,i met the present ,lady ,treowen1 born a daughter of ,lord ,albert ,conynghame1 who afterwards became the first ,lord ,londesborough4 ,to the many who know and love her1 ,albertina ,treowen represents a type of perfect breeding1 alas6 fast becoming extinct in these days4 ,she has lived the reality of noblesse oblige1 has the rare gift of perfect friendship1 and combines a rare refinement of mind with strong moral courage4 ,,chapter ,,iv ,,east ,,end ,,days ,,and ,,nights ,if we had found the golden thread of meaning which gives coherence to the whole2 if we had been taught as our religion that every man and woman was receiving the strictest justice at the ,divine hands1 and that our conditions to-day were exactly those our former lives entitled us to1 how different would be our outlook on life4 ,as it is1 men have fallen away in their bitter discontent from a ,god in whose justice they have ceased to believe1 and of whose impartiality they see no sign4 ,i doubt if any religion extant has claimed such a wide diversity in its adherents as ,christianity4 ,calvin1 ,knox1 ,torquemada1 the ,archbishop of ,canterbury1 and ,kaiser ,wilhelm4 ,mr4 ,gladstone1 and ,czar ,nicolas4 ,the ,pope of ,rome1 and ,spurgeon4 ,even those nine names1 which might be multiplied indefinitely1 show us diametrically opposed readings of the same faith4 ,it would be of enormous benefit to us if we studied all the great religions1 and separated from each the obviously false from the true1 and appropriated the latter4 ,the ,bible would gain enormously in value if studied in conjunction with other sacred books written before the advent of ,christ4 ,a careful study of the ancient faiths will reveal a wonderful similarity4 ,we are beginning to break down the limitations which have been presumptuously cast around the conceptions of the ,divine teachings4 ,we begin to see that not only in ,palestine1 but in all the world1 and amongst all peoples1 ,god has been revealing ,himself to the hearts of men4 ,it is always folly for the orthodox to hold up hands in holy horror at the views of the unorthodox4 ,it is a selfish standpoint1 and makes matters no better4 ,doubt does not spring from the wish to doubt4 ,it arises solely from the play of the mind on the facts of daily life surrounding us4 ,the truth remains1 that1 unless the ,church recovers those vital doctrines that she has lost1 and which alone make life rational to the intelligent1 she will be finally abandoned when the present generation dies out4 ,we can never rest content with a faith which flatly contradicts the facts of life which surround us1 and press in on us from every side in our daily existence4 ,we hold that what we undoubtedly find in life ought to have its complement in religion4 ,the searching temper of our vast sacrifices in war are thrusting faith down to primitive bed-rock4 ,orthodoxies and heterodoxies will not matter much now4 ,what will matter will be honesty1 effectiveness1 and a rational explanation of life4 ,for nineteen hundred years we have professed the religion of what others said about ,christ4 ,now the hour is approaching when we must try the religion of what ,christ said about us and the world4 ,i was always of a very inquiring turn of mind1 and ,i had abandoned orthodoxy before ,i was twenty4 ,i had read everything ,i could lay my hands on1 and ,i emerged after a year or two1 an out-and-out agnostic1 in the popular sense of the term4 ,i had1 however1 no intention of remaining in that condition4 ,i was convinced there must be some link between ,science and ,religion1 and that a just ,god1 worthy of all worship1 was to be found1 if only ,i knew where to seek4 ,i can look back on this crude stage of my life1 and see what a nuisance ,i must have been1 with my defiant disbelief and constant questioning4 ,i became an ardent truth-seeker1 but my demands1 ,i can now realize1 grew out of my palpitating desire to reduce the world of disorder to the likeness of a supreme and beneficent ,creator4 ,if ,god be just and good1 then what is the explanation of this hideous discrepancy in human lives8 ,following on this came the question3 ,is it possible that a just ,god is going to judge us1 one and all1 on our miserable record of three score years and ten8 ,whatsoever ye soweth that shall ye reap4 ,so the criminal and the savage were to be judged by their deeds1 though1 through no fault of their own1 they were born under circumstances which precluded any glimmer of light to shine in on their darkness4 ,ah6 but ,i was told1 ,god will make it up to them hereafter4 ,of course1 ,he won't judge them as ,he will judge you4 ,this seemed to me pure nonsense4 ,i could not understand a ,god who arranged ,his creation so badly4 ,whilst in ,london ,i started out on a search for truth4 ,amongst those who accorded me interviews were ,cardinal ,newman and the late ,archdeacon ,liddon4 ,the former was exquisitely sympathetic and patient1 but he gave me no mental satisfaction4 ,i helped him for some weeks in the great dock strike1 and then we drifted apart for ever4 ,liddon listened patiently1 then told me flatly he could not solve the mysteries ,i sought to probe4 ,i also was accorded an unsatisfactory interview with ,basil ,wilberforce4 ,after a lapse of thirty years we met again1 though ,i never recalled to him the visit ,i had paid him in my youth1 being sure he must have forgotten all about it4 ,i found him enormously changed mentally4 ,he had outgrown all resemblance to his former mental self4 ,at that early period some one happened to mention to me that a certain ,madame ,blavatsky had just arrived in ,london1 bringing with her a new religion4 ,my curiosity was at once fired1 and ,i set off to call upon her4 ,i shall never forget that first interview with a much maligned woman1 whom ,i rapidly came to know intimately and love dearly4 ,she was seated in a great armchair1 with a table by her side on which lay tobacco and cigarette paper4 ,whilst she spoke her exquisite taper fingers automatically rolled cigarettes4 ,she was dressed in a loose black robe1 and on her crinkly gray hair she wore a black shawl4 ,her face was pure ,kalmuk1 and a network of fine wrinkles covered it4 ,her eyes1 large and pale green1 dominated the countenance--wonderful eyes in their arresting1 dreamy mysticism4 ,i asked her to explain her new religion1 and she answered that hers was the very oldest extant1 and formed the belief of five hundred million souls4 ,i inquired how it was that this stupendous fact had not yet touched ,christendom1 and her reply was that there had never been any interference with ,christian thought4 ,though judge of all1 ,christianity had been judged by none4 ,the rise of ,japan was a factor of immense potency1 and in time would open out a new era in the comprehension of ,east by ,west4 ,then the meaning would flash upon the churches of the words1 ,neither in this mountain nor yet at ,jerusalem4 ,i explained to her my difficulties1 which she proceeded to solve by expounding the doctrines of reincarnation and ,karma4 ,they jumped instantly to my reason4 ,i there and then found the ,just ,god1 of whom ,i had been in search4 ,from that day to this ,i have never had reason to swerve from those beliefs4 ,the older ,i grow1 the more experience ,i gather1 the more ,i read1 the more confirmed do ,i become in the belief that such provide the only rational explanation of this life1 the only natural hope in the world to come4 ,i have offered those beliefs to very many people whom ,i discovered to be on the same quest as ,i had been4 ,i have never once had them rejected by any serious truth-seeker1 and ,i have seen them passed on and on by these people to others1 forming enormous ramifications which became lost to view in the passage of time and their own magnitude4 ,in these early days there was little literature available for the student1 but the circle of clever brains which rapidly surrounded ,blavatsky set to work with a will under her guidance1 and now1 after the lapse of thirty years1 there is an enormous literature always commanding a wide sale1 and the little circle that gathered round the old lady has swollen into very many thousands4 ,what was the secret of ,helena ,petrovski ,blavatsky's instant success8 ,i have no doubt that it lay in her power to give to the ,west the ,eastern answers to those problems which the ,church has lost4 ,in her way ,blavatsky was a true missioner4 ,go forth on your journey for the weal and the welfare of all people1 out of compassion for the world and the welfare of angels and mortals1 was the command given by the ,lord ,buddha to his disciples1 and ,christ1 following the universal ideal1 five hundred years later1 commanded1 ,go ye into all the world and preach the ,gospel of the whole ,creation4 ,i began to study those1 to me1 new doctrines at once1 and ,i also took up their occult side1 no light task1 but one of absorbing interest4 ,not till then did ,i fully realize that in no one human life could that long1 long path be trodden1 in no new-born soul could be developed those divine possibilities of which ,i could catch but a fleeting illusive vision4 ,thou canst not travel in the ,path before thou hast become the ,path itself4 ,did not the ,christ warn his followers that the ,path must be trodden more or less alone8 ,forsake all and follow ,me4 ,so1 also in the ,bhagavad ,gita it is written3 ,abandoning all duties come unto me alone for shelter4 ,sorrow not1 ,i will liberate thee from thy sins4 ,the secret doctrine written by ,blavatsky proved a mine of wealth1 and ,i read the volumes through seven times in seven different keys4 ,the works of ,a4 ,p4 ,sinnett1 text books then1 and now brought up to date by expanding knowledge1 were extremely helpful4 ,for advanced students ,the ,growth of the ,soul is unsurpassed4 ,a very short time elapsed before mental food was supplied for practically every branch of mysticism and occult development1 and students flocked into headquarters from all parts of the world4 ,it is interesting to remember the two adjoining villas in ,avenue ,road1 ,st4 ,john's ,wood1 where we used to congregate to study1 and hear lectures thirty years ago1 and to look now on the stately buildings in ,tavistock ,square4 ,they are designed by the great architect ,lutyens1 whose wife1 ,lady ,emily1 is an ardent theosophist4 ,i am glad that ,i have lived to see these doctrines take firm root in the ,west1 and grow so amazingly that in all cities they are now held by vast numbers1 and even in cases where they have not been finally adopted they are acknowledged to be the only logical conclusion for those who desire to possess a rational belief4 ,i am glad that ,i can look back with love and profound gratitude to ,helena ,p4 ,blavatsky1 the woman who grafted on the ,west the wisdom of the ages4 ,i have no doubt that she is enabled to see the mighty structure raised on her small beginnings1 and doubtless she has met on the other side men and women whose debt to her is equally as great as mine4 ,blavatsky began by exploding the theory that men are born equal4 ,if this one life were all1 then this great error ought1 in common justice1 to be absolute truth1 and every man should possess common rights in the community1 and one man ought to be as good as another4 ,if every soul born to-day is a fresh creation1 who will in the course of time pass away from this life for ever1 then why is it that one is only fitted to obey1 whilst another is eminently fitted to rule8 ,one is born with a tendency to vice and crime1 another to virtue and honesty4 ,one is born a genius1 another is born to idiocy4 ,how1 she asked1 could a firm social foundation ever be built up on this utter disregard of nature8 ,how treat1 as having right to equal power1 the wise and the ignorant1 the criminal and the saint8 ,yet1 if man be born but once it would be very unjust to build on any other foundation4 ,re-incarnation implies the evolution of the soul1 and it makes the equality of man a delusion4 ,in evolution time plays the greatest part1 and through evolution humanity is climbing4 ,souls while eternal in their essence are of different ages in their individuality4 ,many of us must know people who though quite old in years are children in mind4 ,men and women who having arrived at three score years and ten are still utterly childish and inconsequent4 ,they are young souls who have had the experiences of very few earth lives4 ,again1 we all know children who seem born abnormally old4 ,infant prodigies1 musicians1 calculators1 painters who have brought over their genius from a former life4 ,i remember once meeting with a curious experience1 which is not very easy to describe4 ,it was an experience more of feeling than of seeing4 ,i was standing in ,milan ,cathedral4 ,in front of me and behind was gathered a crowd of peasants4 ,high ,mass was being celebrated1 and all the seats were occupied4 ,after a few moments ,i began to feel a curious sensation of being intently watched4 ,some penetrating influence was probing me through and through1 with a quiet but intensely powerful directness4 ,i had the sensation that my soul was being stripped bare4 ,i looked round1 but could see nothing to account for my sensation4 ,every one seemed intent on their devotions4 ,i began to wonder if some malicious old peasant was throwing over me the spell of the evil eye1 but again my feelings were not conscious of an evil intent2 it was more an absorbed speculation directed towards me4 ,some one was probing my soul1 speculating on my spiritual worth or worthlessness1 with an intensely earnest yet cold calculation4 ,just in front of me stood a peasant woman of the poorest class4 ,her back was towards me1 and over her shoulder hung a baby of not more than a year old4 ,suddenly ,i met the eyes of the child full4 ,then ,i knew4 ,as a psychological experience it was most interesting1 but it sent a little thrill of creepiness through me4 ,the baby did not withdraw its gaze1 but continued leisurely to look me through and through4 ,the eyes were large and gray1 the expression that of a contemplative savant1 with a faint dash of irony in their glance4 ,i do not pretend to be anything but what is now called psychic1 but ,i am certain that those windows of the soul1 with that age-long experience flooding out of them1 would have arrested the most material person4 ,my husband1 who is accustomed to my flights of imagination1 was very much struck by that look of maturity1 that suggestion of aeonic knowledge4 ,blavatsky taught me to look on man as an evolving entity1 in whose life career births and deaths are recurring incidents4 ,birth and death begin and end only a single chapter in the book of life4 ,she taught me that we cannot evade inexorable destiny4 ,i made my present in my past4 ,to-day ,i am making my future4 ,in proportion as ,i outwear my past1 and change my present abysmal ignorance into knowledge1 so shall ,i become free4 ,i have often heard ,blavatsky called a charlatan1 and ,i am bound to say that her impish behavior often gave grounds for this description4 ,she was foolishly intolerant of the many smart ,west ,end ladies who arrived in flocks1 demanding to see spooks1 masters1 elementals1 anything1 in fact1 in the way of phenomena4 ,madame ,blavatsky was a born conjuror4 ,her wonderful fingers were made for jugglers' tricks1 and ,i have seen her often use them for that purpose4 ,i well remember my amazement upon the first occasion on which she exhibited her occult powers1 spurious and genuine4 ,i was sitting alone with her one afternoon1 when the cards of ,jessica1 ,lady ,sykes1 the late ,duchess of ,montrose and the ,honorable ,mrs4 ,s4---- 7still living7 were brought in to her4 ,she said she would receive the ladies at once1 and they were ushered in4 ,they explained that they had heard of her new religion1 and her marvelous occult powers4 ,they hoped she would afford them a little exhibition of what she could do4 ,madame ,blavatsky had not moved out of her chair4 ,she was suavity itself1 and whilst conversing she rolled cigarettes for her visitors and invited them to smoke4 ,she concluded that they were not particularly interested in the old faith which the young ,west called new2 what they really were keen about was phenomena4 ,that was so1 responded the ladies1 and the burly ,duchess inquired if ,madame ever gave racing tips1 or lucky numbers for ,monte ,carlo8 ,madame disclaimed having any such knowledge1 but she was willing to afford them a few moments' amusement4 ,would one of the ladies suggest something she would like done8 ,lady ,sykes produced a pack of cards from her pocket1 and held them out to ,madame ,blavatsky1 who shook her head4 ,first remove the marked cards1 she said4 ,lady ,sykes laughed and replied1 ,which are they8 ,madame ,blavatsky told her1 without a second's hesitation4 ,this charmed the ladies4 ,it seemed a good beginning4 ,make that basket of tobacco jump about1 suggested one of them4 ,the next moment the basket had vanished4 ,i don't know where it went1 ,i only know it disappeared by trickery1 that the ladies looked for it everywhere1 even under ,madame ,blavatsky's ample skirts1 and that suddenly it reappeared upon its usual table4 ,a little more jugglery followed and some psychometry1 which was excellent1 then the ladies departed1 apparently well satisfied with the entertainment4 ,when ,i was once more alone with ,madame ,blavatsky1 she turned to me with a wry smile and said1 ,would you have me throw pearls before swine8 ,i asked her if all she had done was pure trickery4 ,not all1 but most of it1 she unblushingly replied1 but now ,i will give you something lovely and real4 ,for a moment or two she was silent1 covering her eyes with her hand1 then a sound caught my ear4 ,i can only describe what ,i heard as fairy music1 exquisitely dainty and original4 ,it seemed to proceed from somewhere just between the floor and the ceiling1 and it moved about to different corners of the room4 ,there was a crystal innocence in the music1 which suggested the dance of joyous children at play4 ,now ,i will give you the music of life1 said ,madame ,blavatsky4 ,for a moment or two there fell a trance-like silence4 ,the twilight was creeping into the room1 and seemed to bring with it a tingling expectancy4 ,then it seemed to me that something entered from without1 and brought with it utterly new conditions1 something incredible1 unimagined and beyond the bounds of reason4 ,some one was singing1 a distant melody was creeping nearer1 yet ,i was aware it had never been distant1 it was only becoming louder4 ,i suddenly felt afraid of myself4 ,the air about me was ringing with vibrations of weird1 unearthly music1 seemingly as much around me as it was above and behind me4 ,it had no whereabouts1 it was unlocatable4 ,as ,i listened my whole body quivered with wild elation1 and the sensation of the unforeseen4 ,there was rhythm in the music1 yet it was unlike anything ,i had ever heard before4 ,it sounded like a ,pastorale1 and it held a call to which my whole being wildly responded4 ,who was the player1 and what was his instrument8 ,he might have been a flautist1 and he played with a catching lilt1 a luxurious abandon that was an incarnation of ,nature4 ,it caught me suddenly away to green ,sicilian hills1 where the pipes of unseen players echo down the mountain sides1 as the pipes of ,pan once echoed through the rugged gorges and purple vales of ,hellas and ,thrace4 ,alluring though the music was1 and replete with the hot fever of life1 it carried with it a thrill of dread4 ,its sweetness was cloying1 its tenderness was sensuous4 ,a balmy scent crept through the room1 of wild thyme1 of herbs1 of asphodel and the muscadine of the wine press4 ,it enwrapt me like an odorous vapor4 ,the sounds began to take shape1 and gradually mold themselves into words4 ,i knew ,i was being courted with subtlety1 and urged to fly out of my house of life and join the ,saturnalia ,regna4 ,the player was speaking a language which ,i understood1 as ,i had understood no tongue before4 ,it was my true native tongue that spoke in the wild ringing lilt1 and ,i could not but give ear to its enchantments and the ecstasy of its joy4 ,my soul seemed to strain at the leash4 ,should ,i let go8 ,like a powerful opiate the allurement enfolded me1 yet from out its thrall a small insistent voice whispered ,caution6 ,where will you be led3 supposing you yield your will1 would it ever be yours again8 ,now my brain was seized with a sense of panic and weakness4 ,the music suddenly seemed replete with gay sinfulness and insolent conquest4 ,it spoke the secrets which the nature myth so often murmurs to those who live amid great silences1 of those dread mysteries of the spirit which yet invest it with such glory and wonderment4 ,with a violent reaction of fear ,i rose suddenly1 and as ,i did so the whole scene was swept from out the range of my senses4 ,i was back once more in ,blavatsky's room with the creeping twilight and the far off hoarse roar of ,london stealing in at the open window4 ,i glanced at ,madame ,blavatsky4 ,she had sunk down in her chair1 and she lay huddled up in deep trance4 ,she had floated out with the music into a sea of earthly oblivion4 ,between her fingers she held a small ,russian cross4 ,i knew that she had thrust me back to the world which still claimed me1 and ,i went quietly out of the house into the streets of ,london4 ,on another occasion when ,i was alone with ,madame ,blavatsky she suddenly broke off our conversation by lapsing into another language1 which ,i supposed to be ,hindustanee4 ,she appeared to be addressing some one else1 and on looking over my shoulder ,i saw we were no longer alone4 ,a man stood in the middle of the room4 ,i was sure he had not entered by the door1 window or chimney1 and as ,i looked at him in some astonishment1 he salaamed to ,madame ,blavatsky1 and replied to her in the same language in which she had addressed him4 ,i rose at once to leave her1 and as ,i bade her good-by she whispered to me1 ,do not mention this4 ,the man did not seem aware of my presence2 he took no notice of me as ,i left the room4 ,he was dark in color and very sad looking1 and his dress was a long1 black cloak and a soft black hat which he did not remove1 pulled well over his eyes4 ,i found out that evening that none of the general staff were aware of his arrival1 and ,i saw him no more4 ,i remember clearly the first night that ,annie ,besant came to headquarters as an interested inquirer4 ,she arrived with the socialist1 ,herbert ,burrows4 ,madame ,blavatsky told me she was destined to take a very great part in the future ,theosophical movement4 ,at that time such a thing seemed incredible1 yet it has come to pass4 ,about this period ,i went to live in the ,east ,end of ,london1 ,haggerston and ,whitechapel1 where ,i had a night shelter of my own4 ,there ,i saw into what surroundings children were born1 how they grow up1 and how their parents live and die4 ,i have seen so much of the lives of the outcast poor that ,i can feel nothing but the most passionate pity for them1 even though ,i can now look upon them as souls just beginning to climb the ladder of evolution4 ,my night shelter was for women only1 and was purposely of the roughest description4 ,the floor was bare concrete1 and round the walls were heaps of millers' sacks ,i had bought cheap1 owing to mice having eaten holes in them4 ,according to our laws the legal age at which a girl can marry is thirteen1 and ,i used to get many of these girl wives in for the night1 as their lawful husbands used to turn them out of doors4 ,i discovered that it was no uncommon practice for a man to buy one of those children from the parents for a few pence1 the parents' consent being necessary4 ,the marriage was solemnized1 and the child wife was used only as a drudge to slave for the husband and his mistress1 who was of a more suitable age to become his mate4 ,i used to be very much troubled by women in the throes of delirium tremens4 ,they would come in quite quietly when the shelter opened1 strip1 pick up a sack and get into it1 and then lie down and at once go to sleep4 ,after a few hours' dead slumber they would get up1 raving mad1 and disturb all the other sleepers4 ,the reason of this peculiar form of ,d4 ,t4 was explained to me by a doctor in the neighborhood4 ,the publicans kept a pail behind the bar1 into which was thrown the dregs of every species of liquor sold during the day4 ,this concoction was distributed cheap at closing time1 and its effects were cumulative4 ,one night ,i had a curious experience4 ,the room was unusually quiet1 and ,i had closed my eyes1 but ,i was not asleep4 ,i opened them1 and1 in the bright light of one unshaded gas jet1 ,i saw a dark figure moving4 ,its back was towards me1 and ,i instantly thought a plain clothes policeman had entered1 no unusual occurrence1 without my hearing him4 ,in these days detectives used often to escort the ,west ,end ladies on slumming expeditions1 and they usually called on me4 ,then ,i saw this figure was clad in dark robes1 and was very tall4 ,again ,i thought1 this is some old ,jew who has crept in1 and ,i was just about to rise and eject him1 when something suddenly stopped me4 ,i saw through him and beyond him4 ,i then and there realized that feeling of hair of one's head rising on one's scalp is no mere figment of speech4 ,the figure moved softly round the room1 it made no sound whatever1 and as it came to each sleeper it bent down1 as if closely scrutinizing each face4 ,it occurred to me that it was looking for some one4 ,i began to dread the moment when the search was over1 and the figure would turn its face towards me4 ,i felt that my hair had turned into the quills of a porcupine4 ,i wanted to shut my eyes1 but dared not4 ,then before that quest was over1 the figure straightened itself and turned full towards me4 ,my fears instantly fell away from me like a fallen mantle1 for though ,i knew the visitor had come from the other side1 there was something so profoundly sad in the pale weary face1 that compassion quite eclipsed fear4 ,another second and it had vanished4 ,i lived in ,whitechapel during the dread visitation of ,jack the ,ripper1 and all women at once adopted the habit of walking in the middle of the road amongst the horses and carts4 ,fortunately there were no motors in those days to add to the confusion4 ,when we came to the house or alley we wished to enter1 we made a sudden dash for it4 ,one night ,i had occasion to pass the entire night by the bedside of a dying prostitute4 ,she lived in one of four rooms1 all occupied by the same class1 and all opening into a court not larger than ten feet by ten4 ,i suppose ,i must have been very tired1 for ,i fell asleep1 and about five a4 m4 ,i woke and found ,i was alone1 the woman was dead4 ,i went out into the court1 hearing a sudden noise of excited voices1 and discovered that ,jack had been at work in the adjoining room1 only separated from mine by a match-board partition4 ,portions of the unfortunate woman were neatly arranged on a deal table4 ,i had heard absolutely nothing4 ,later on that same day ,i revisited the scene1 and found a curious contrast4 ,seeing his way to a cheap furnished lodging1 a coster had married his donah in a hurry1 and the wedding breakfast was being eaten off the blood-stained table6 ,it was in those days that ,i developed into a convinced ,suffragist4 ,i saw that until men and women came together to improve and mold our civilization1 very little improvement could be expected4 ,the son of the bondwoman is not on a level with the son of the free woman1 and we saw that the struggle must go on until we were accorded the right to govern our own lives4 ,i could always see the anti's point of view1 for1 had ,i thought only of my own position as an isolated unit1 a vote would have seemed to me a needless responsibility4 ,no social worker who has penetrated to the depths can maintain this attitude1 and so1 in company with all other women workers1 ,i entered on the crusade which has just terminated in victory4 ,much as ,i dislike militancy1 ,i am convinced that it hastened our victory by very many years1 by bringing the subject before the world4 ,also the enormous number of idle and1 formerly1 indifferent women1 who have rushed into work in answer to their country's call1 has helped our cause enormously4 ,i have invariably found that directly a woman enters the ranks of active labor1 her views1 however strongly they have been opposed to us1 at once swing round4 ,once a woman proves for herself the disabilities under which we labor1 she is at once converted4 ,to the very many women who suffered acute physical torture during the militant campaign1 our easy victory must seem passing strange4 ,,chapter ,v ,,the ,,man ,,in ,,the ,,marylebone ,,road ,it is thirty years ago since ,i became a convert to ,spiritualism4 ,at that time ,i made up my mind that ,i would attend fifty seances1 and if1 out of that number1 ,i did not come across one that ,i could be absolutely certain was genuine ,i would attend no more4 ,spiritualism1 in itself1 never interested me1 but ,i was determined to see for myself if there was really anything in it4 ,i attended twenty-nine seances before ,i happened on one that was absolutely convincing4 ,several had been almost convincing1 but a loophole for fraud had remained1 and so long as that was the case ,i persevered4 ,i went one summer morning to see an old man who lived in the ,marylebone ,road4 ,i was shown up into a sunny little room on the first floor4 ,it had neither carpet1 curtains nor window blind1 and it looked on the street4 ,the furniture consisted of a plain1 uncovered deal table in the middle of a clean planked floor1 and eight plain uncovered deal chairs were ranged round the walls4 ,the room was utterly destitute of ornament1 there was not even a clock1 and ,i was the only occupant4 ,soon the old man entered1 a very ordinary looking person1 and civilly asked what ,i wanted4 ,i said that ,i understood he was possessed of psychic powers1 and ,i would like to see an exhibition of them4 ,he smiled and answered1 ,my fee is two-and-six for a quarter of an hour4 ,choose your own phenomenon1 and ,i'll see what ,i can do4 ,i was puzzled at first1 and looked round the bare walls for inspiration4 ,there was not even a photograph or picture4 ,then suddenly ,i thought of something rather silly4 ,please make those four chairs opposite to us cross the floor and mount on to the table1 ,i said4 ,the old man drew his chair quite close to mine1 ,then give me your hand4 ,i removed my glove and did as he asked4 ,he looked1 not at the chairs1 but into my face1 and ,i at once warned him4 ,i am no good as a subject for hypnotism1 so it is useless to try4 ,he laughed and answered1 ,i am not a hypnotist1 but ,i see you have power4 ,you may as well lend me some4 ,you are young1 and ,i am old4 ,at that second my attention was distracted by a grating sound1 and ,i forgot all about my companion4 ,i saw the four chairs leave the wall and advance towards the table1 in exactly the position1 and tilted forward1 they would be in if a human hand was dragging them across the floor4 ,there appeared to be four invisible hands at the work4 ,then1 one by one1 they were neatly balanced1 one on the top of the other1 on the table4 ,when the manifestation was complete ,i remembered the old man1 and looked round at him4 ,he was watching the business1 as keenly interested as ,i was4 ,good boys6 good boys1 ,i heard him murmur4 ,how is it done8 ,i asked him4 ,he shrugged4 ,the ,petris 7spirits7 do it4 ,i don't4 ,then ask 'the ,petris' to put the chairs neatly back again4 ,the ,petris performed this feat very expeditiously1 and ,i paid two-and-sixpence and departed4 ,there was no loophole here for fraud1 not a wire1 or string1 or any human manipulation1 and ,i was not hypnotized4 ,i never have been4 ,for that sort of test ,i had seen enough4 ,shortly after ,i witnessed a materialization in broad daylight4 ,i was free to move about the room1 and stand by the medium as she lay bound and deeply entranced4 ,i was free to make any examinations ,i pleased1 whilst others present conversed with the spirit1 and ,i left the house absolutely convinced of the genuineness of that phenomenon4 ,that was the last test seance ,i attended1 and for years afterwards ,i did not interest myself in spiritualism1 nor did ,i attend many private sittings4 ,towards the close of the ,south ,african ,war ,i was ordered from the other side to begin again1 but on different lines4 ,i was ordered to be a medium4 ,a man whom ,i barely knew1 and who had passed over1 wished to communicate with his people4 ,this put me in a quandary4 ,i hardly knew his people1 and their social position was not such as could be treated unceremoniously by a casual acquaintance4 ,i had never heard that they were interested in other side subjects4 ,the very little ,i knew of them suggested quite the reverse4 ,i consulted with my husband4 ,one cannot1 ,i argued1 go up to people who are almost strangers and tell them their son wishes to communicate with them through me4 ,my husband quite saw the difficulty1 but it had always happened that when any one wished to communicate with us1 and we paid no attention1 we were given no peace till we did take heed1 and sat down with an ,ouija board to receive the message4 ,he therefore proposed that we should consult ,mr4 ,a4 ,p4 ,sinnett1 now such a well-known writer on ,occultism1 and an old friend of ours4 ,we therefore laid the matter before him4 ,his reply was uncompromising4 ,do as you are told from the other side4 ,it is not for you to question or consider the social consequences to yourselves4 ,this advice we immediately followed1 and we were met with the utmost kindness and sympathetic understanding4 ,sittings were arranged1 communication established4 ,test questions were put1 which we did not understand1 but which were satisfactory to the questioners1 and for many years the sittings continued until the other side made arrangements for a change of mediums and ,i was set free for other work4 ,i say1 set free1 because during all those years we had held ourselves entirely at the disposal of this wonderful spirit1 who communicated through me1 and it is no exaggeration to say that our daily lives1 our worldly plans1 entirely depended upon his wishes4 ,he had his own work to do1 and our earth lives were always arranged to suit his convenience4 ,about the same time as the above experience began my husband was disturbed by noises in his library1 and he came to the conclusion that some one had something to say and was determined to say it4 ,one evening1 when the disturbance prevented serious reading1 we sat down with the ,ouija board4 ,the result was as follows-- ,a spirit who purported to be a well-known soldier of fortune who had lately committed suicide1 desired to give a message4 ,this astonished us1 as we had known him only slightly1 and we wondered why he had chosen to bestow his attentions on us4 ,he said he was very unhappy because he owed a certain sum of money to a friend1 whom ,i will call ,b4 ,this money ,b4 could have refunded to him if he would communicate with a certain ,london address1 which the departed soldier gave us in full4 ,we knew ,b41 and knew that he had been a close friend of the departed4 ,we also knew that ,b4 was on the ,gold ,coast4 ,we promised1 however1 to send him the message1 and that was the last we ever heard of the soldier4 ,my husband wrote to ,b4 on the ,gold ,coast simply giving him the message and leaving it at that4 ,we were sure ,b4 was an absolute skeptic4 ,he was6 and did nothing till his return to ,england three years later1 when he applied at the address which he happened to have kept1 and received his money4 ,i first became interested in ,occultism1 not only through my own very early experiences1 but through hearing as a mere child that my grandfather1 ,robert the younger of the two well-known publishing brothers1 ,w4 and ,r4 ,chambers1 had investigated spiritualism to his entire satisfaction4 ,in those days1 about #ahfj1 scientific men did not trouble about occult subjects1 which were deemed beneath their notice4 ,science was so strictly orthodox that my grandfather published his ,vestiges of ,creation anonymously4 ,it created an enormous sensation1 and upon that book and the writings of ,lamarck1 ,darwin founded his ,origin of ,species4 ,robert ,chambers determined to go to ,america and investigate for himself the reported marvelous happenings there4 ,he had sittings with all the renowned mediums1 bringing to bear upon their phenomena the acumen of his scientific mind1 and he returned to ,europe a convinced believer4 ,he carried on regular sittings with ,mr4 and ,mrs4 ,s4 ,c4 ,hall and other intellectuals1 and with ,general ,drayson1 then a young beginner who went very far in his investigations before he died4 ,about the year #ahhe ,i happened to be staying at ,hawarden with ,mr4 and ,mrs4 ,gladstone1 and the only other guest1 outside the family party1 was the late ,canon ,malcolm ,mc,coll1 through whose instrumentality ,i became a member of the ,psychical ,society4 ,mc,coll was a most interesting personality1 a leading light on matters occult1 and a famous recounter of ghost stories4 ,he was also persona grata in the ,gladstone household1 and ,mrs4 ,gladstone often spoke to me of their deep love for him4 ,i forget now what led up to the subject1 but one night1 when we were sitting talking1 ,i told ,mr4 ,gladstone that my grandfather1 ,robert ,chambers1 had been a convinced spiritualist4 ,the ,canon at once tried to draw the ,g4,o4,m41 and to our mutual amazement his arguments in favor of the return of the disembodied soul to earth were met by concurring short ejaculations1 such as ,of course6 ,naturally6 ,why1 certainly6 ,then quite suddenly ,mr4 ,gladstone began to prove to us that the old ,biblical scribes were convinced spiritualists4 ,from his intimate knowledge of the ,bible he quoted text after text in support of his contention4 ,here ,he worked no wonders because the people were wanting in faith1 he compared to the present day medium's difficulty in working with skeptics4 ,when ,christ asked1 ,who has touched ,me8 ,much virtue has passed out of ,me1 ,he but spoke as many a modern healer speaks on feeling a failure of power4 ,try the spirits whether they be of ,god1 is what all spiritualists of to-day should practice rigorously4 ,conan ,doyle1 in his book1 ,the ,new ,revelation1 touches upon those facts1 and it was only on reading his book with profound interest that ,i remembered the impressive talk ,i had so many years ago with ,mr4 ,gladstone4 ,as ,conan ,doyle truly says1 ,the early ,christian ,church was saturated with spiritualism4 ,what1 it may be asked1 is the value to a woman of psychic experiences1 whose reality may be convincing to herself1 but never to others8 ,firstly1 there is this enormous value for me1 that certain psychic experiences ,i have had make a future existence1 after so-called death1 a certainty4 ,secondly1 other varieties of psychic phenomena have furnished me with unmistakable proof that ,i possess an immortal soul4 ,thirdly1 still other varieties of experiences have provided me with the implicit belief in a ,god1 who is in actual touch with ,humanity4 ,again1 all soul experiences1 begotten from out the supreme mystery of ,being1 show us that our real life is not contained in our present normal consciousness1 but in a vastly wider1 grander plane1 which1 as yet1 is but dimly sensed by the few4 ,those who have bathed in the light invisible can bring glory to those in gloom4 ,they visit1 but no longer live in the day4 ,their glory is in the night1 when they walk with the ,immortals1 and bear with them the golden lamps of life eternal4 ,those who have realized the powers within1 powers which not only are the pillars of infinite harmony1 but the mainspring of eternal life1 have builded on a rock which no tempest can destroy4 ',tis time ,new hopes should animate the world1 ,new light should dawn from new revealings to a race ,weighed down so long4 ,,paracelsus4 ,,chapter ,,vi ,,the ,,ghost ,,of ,,prince ,,charlie ,scotland in the autumn of the pre-war days was a very gay place4 ,the big country houses were filled with shooting parties1 and for the ,autumn ,meetings1 ,ayr races1 ,perth races1 and games1 ,the ,inverness ,gathering1 etc4 ,the dates were so arranged that one could go the round1 and thus dance through several weeks4 ,i used to go regularly to ,inverness1 and afterwards visit friends in the surrounding neighborhood4 ,one of the most delightful houses to visit was ,tarbat1 belonging to the ,countess of ,cromartie4 ,any one who has read her unique books must have come to the conclusion that ,lady ,cromartie is a mystic of no ordinary type1 but only those who know her intimately are aware how predominating in her character is this inborn mysticism4 ,i first remember the two sisters1 ,lady ,sibell and ,lady ,constance ,mackenzie1 hanging on to their father's arms as they walked about ,folkestone4 ,they were then tiny tots1 and ,i was staying with their mother1 the beautiful ,lilian1 daughter of ,lord ,macdonald of the ,isles4 ,beautiful was the only word to describe ,lord ,cromartie's wife--and ,lily seemed the most suitable name that could have been bestowed upon her4 ,she was intensely musical and interested in ghosts4 ,born the daughter of a ,highland chieftain she understood how to live the life of a great ,scottish noblewoman4 ,she was always very kind to me1 and ,i used to stay with her very often4 ,in #ahic ,lord ,cromartie died1 and his eldest daughter1 ,lady ,sibell1 became ,countess of ,cromartie in her own right--the title going in the female line4 ,as a child the young ,countess had been a great reader4 ,i remember she used often to be missing1 and found in some quiet room buried in a book4 ,to this day she has the faculty of so absorbing herself in a book that no amount of talking and noise in the room penetrates her ears4 ,lady ,constance was quite different1 devoted to out-of-door life1 and ,i shall never forget how adoring the old people on the properties were to her1 and how she loved them4 ,one sterling and unusual quality she had4 ,i never heard her say an unkind word of any one4 ,in #ahii the ,countess of ,cromartie married ,major1 now ,colonel ,blunt1 and she has three fine children1 two boys and a girl4 ,one of the most remarkable facts about her is her agelessness4 ,she never alters with the years4 ,her white delicate skin1 her girlish figure and dark glowing eyes1 always retain their look of extreme youth4 ,i have said that her mysticism must at once become apparent to the readers of her books1 but to those1 who like myself have known her from childhood1 her psychic powers have always been extraordinary4 ,i remember one autumn staying at ,tarbat with only a very few other guests1 ,i forget now who they all were4 ,it had been a dead1 still day4 ,one of those sad1 brooding days one gets so often in the north4 ,in the afternoon1 when we were out walking1 ,lady ,cromartie said suddenly to me and a ,miss ,drummond1 whom we were both very fond of1 ,there is going to be an earthquake to-night4 ,we received this piece of information as a joke1 and ,i thought nothing more of the matter till tea-time1 when a gorgeous sunset was illuminating the heavens4 ,as we were standing at the window looking out at it we were all startled by a tremendous roar1 more like a very loud peal of thunder than anything else1 yet we knew1 by the look of the sky1 that it could not have been thunder4 ,every one offered a different opinion as to what the noise could mean1 but ,lady ,cromartie calmly said1 ,the noise is in the earth1 not in the sky2 it is the forerunner of the earthquake4 ,we now began to take this earthquake business more seriously4 ,sibell ,drummond1 also very psychic1 said she knew the noise came from the interior of the earth1 and that very early that morning she had heard the same sound1 only much more distant4 ,we asked ,lady ,cromartie how she could possibly tell that an earthquake was coming4 ,such convulsions are not common enough in ,scotland to admit of lucky guesses4 ,i can tell those things of ,nature2 something in me is akin to them1 she explained4 ,it is quite certain this earthquake will come before morning4 ,as the sun went down the quiet weather changed1 and by bed-time it was blowing such a gale that we forgot all about ,lady ,cromartie's prophecy4 ,at one o'clock in the morning1 when we were all asleep1 the earthquake arrived1 and awakened us all instantly4 ,my bed rocked1 and the china clattered1 and ,i heard a big picture near my bed move out from the wall and go back again4 ,some of us got up1 but there was only the one sharp shock4 ,in the morning we heard that considerable damage had been done4 ,several houses and stables had been razed to the ground1 and some animals killed and people injured4 ,another curious incident ,i remember happening during a visit to ,tarbat4 ,at breakfast one morning ,lady ,cromartie told us that she had a very vivid dream just before daylight4 ,she dreamed that if she went into a certain room in the house she would find some jewels that had been hidden there4 ,she seemed to have been told this in her sleep by some one she did not know4 ,the room was indicated1 but not the spot where the jewels lay4 ,the present ,duke of ,argyll1 always keenly alive to psychic phenomena1 was of our party1 and he at once proposed that directly after we had finished breakfast we should all proceed to the room1 rarely used1 but formerly a business room1 and make a thorough search4 ,by the way1 ,i cannot refrain here from suggesting what a wonderful book of ,scottish ghost stories the ,duke could give us if he chose4 ,his repertoire was endless and most thrilling1 and he knew how to tell a ghost story4 ,after breakfast we adjourned to the room indicated in the dream1 and began our search4 ,the only likely place seemed a large bookcase1 full of books1 with cupboards beneath4 ,all the doors were locked and keyless4 ,a pause ensued whilst keys were fetched from the housekeeper's room1 and for a long time we could find nothing to fit the doors1 but at last we were rewarded4 ,the cupboards below were opened1 disclosing a quantity of rubbish4 ,old books1 estate maps1 fishing tackle1 every sort of thing1 but no jewels4 ,at last the ,duke1 down on his knees fumbling amongst the dust1 drew forth two tin japanned boxes4 ,he shook them1 and the thumping inside proved that they were not empty4 ,the trouble was they also were locked and keyless4 ,again there was a scramble to fit keys4 ,we were all on the tiptoe of excited expectation4 ,at last both boxes were opened1 and there lay the jewels4 ,fine1 old-fashioned pieces that had lain there1 who knows for how long1 and probably had belonged to ,lady ,cromartie's grandmother1 the ,countess ,duchess #crd ,duchess of ,sutherland4 ,still another reminiscence of beautiful ,tarbat4 ,lady ,cromartie asked me to join a shooting party she and ,major ,blunt were giving1 to meet ,prince ,arthur of ,connaught4 ,i arrived one evening in wild winter weather4 ,there had been a heavy snowstorm1 and the sky looked as if there was considerably more to come4 ,i found all the other guests had already arrived1 and we were a very merry party4 ,it was ,prince ,arthur's first shoot in the far ,north1 and his first experience of what ,scotland could provide in the way of autumn weather1 and he was glad to avail himself of a thick woolen sweater of mine1 which ,i was proud to present to him4 ,he was perfectly charming to us all1 and there was1 owing to his simplicity1 no sense of stiffness introduced into our party4 ,that evening1 after dinner1 he was strolling round the room1 looking at the pictures1 and he paused opposite a framed letter1 written by ,prince ,charles ,edward during the '#de to the ,lord ,cromartie of that time1 who was his earnest supporter4 ,why6 exclaimed ,prince ,arthur1 that letter is written by ',the ,pretender1' isn't it8 ,there was no answer4 ,a thrill of horror ran through the breasts of the ardent ,jacobites present4 ,dead silence reigned4 ,then ,i could stand it no longer4 ,please1 sir1 ,i said1 we all call him ,prince ,charles ,edward ,stuart4 ,prince ,arthur turned round laughingly4 ,i beg his pardon and all of yours1 he exclaimed in the most charming manner1 and the hearts of all the outraged ,jacobites warmed to him at once4 ,i was just about to creep into bed1 very late that night1 and very tired after my long1 cold journey in a desperately sluggish train1 when ,lady ,cromartie peeped in at my door4 ,her wonderful dark eyes were ablaze1 and ,i knew at once she had something psychic to tell me4 ,her eyes looked like nothing else in the world but her eyes1 when she is on the track of a ghost1 or one of her other side experiences4 ,i have just seen ,prince ,charles ,edward1 she announced4 ,i took her firmly by the arm4 ,prince ,charles ,edward means a very great deal to me1 and ,i don't let anything pass me by that concerns his beloved memory4 ,tell me quick4 ,where did you see him8 ,i asked4 ,i was just going to get into bed when ,i saw him standing looking at me1 at the far end of the room4 ,he was smiling1 and as ,i stared back at him he slowly crossed the floor1 his smiling face always turned to me1 and vanished through the wall1 was ,lady ,cromartie's answer4 ,then ,i told her of a certain feeling ,i had experienced earlier in the evening4 ,at the moment when our ,jacobite hearts were stung to deep1 though fleeting resentment1 we had formed a thought form1 powerful enough to reach the spirit of ,bonny ,prince ,charlie on the other side4 ,our spirits had called on him1 and he had heard and responded4 ,why not8 ,if we believe in the immortality of the soul1 the soul of ,prince ,charles ,edward surely lives4 ,where8 ,on the ,astral plane1 where the souls of all must go to divest themselves of the lower passions of earth1 and the veil between the ,physical plane and the ,astral plane is wearing very thin in these days4 ,for many of us there are rents through which we are permitted to see the old friends who are not lost but gone before1 and who await us in a sphere where we in turn will await the coming of those who follow after4 ,indeed1 the time does not now seem to be so far distant when so-called death will be pushed one stage further back1 and the transference of the soul from earth to the ,astral plane will no longer be treated as severance4 ,what then will be termed the severance we now call death8 ,it will be the passing of the cleansed soul from the ,astral plane to the ,heaven world1 for a period of blissful rest before the life urge compels the reincarnating ego to take on once more the veil of flesh1 in a transient human world4 ,i doubt if it is possible for an ,english person to comprehend what it means to be a ,jacobite4 ,one is born a ,jacobite or one is not4 ,i was born a ,jacobite1 and ,i never lose my passionate love and regret for the sufferings and sorrows of ,prince ,charles ,edward4 ,no female figure in the past attracts me so much as does ,flora ,mac,donald4 ,had ,i lived during the '#de ,i would have worn the white cockade1 and parted with my last shift for the love of ,bonny ,prince ,charlie4 ,all very ridiculous1 many may say1 but there it is4 ,that is what it means to be born a ,jacobite4 ,my grandfather was an ardent ,jacobite1 and consorted largely with old ,jacobite families4 ,the ,sobieski ,stuarts often made their home with him4 ,grand looking men of striking physique and good looks4 ,robert ,chambers used to tell a story of the ghost ,piper of ,fingask2 the property of a fine old ,jacobite1 ,sir ,peter ,murray ,threipland4 ,the baronetcy is now extinct4 ,one night1 whilst my grandfather was visiting ,sir ,peter1 they were sitting at supper in the old dining-hall4 ,the two old sisters of ,sir ,peter1 ,eliza and ,jessie1 were present4 ,suddenly the faint strain of the pipes was heard in the distance1 surely no uncommon sound in ,scotland1 where every ,laird has his own piper to play round the dining-table1 yet a sudden silence fell upon the little party of four4 ,all ears were listening intently1 and straining eyes were blank to all but the evidence of hearing4 ,the noise grew louder1 the piper seemed to be mounting the stone staircase1 yet his brogues made no sound as he ascended4 ,sir ,peter dropped his head down into his arms folded upon the table4 ,he sought to hide the fear in his old eyes4 ,the women sat as if chiseled out of granite1 gray to the lips4 ,the piper of ,fingask had come for one of them4 ,which8 ,now the piper of death was drawing very near1 the skirl of his pipes had nearly reached the door4 ,in another moment1 with a full blast of triumph that beat about their ears as it surged into the hall1 he had passed1 and had begun his ascent to the ramparts4 ,the skirl was dying away into a wail4 ,miss ,eliza spoke3 ,he's come for you1 ,jessie4 ,there was no response4 ,the piper of ,fingask was playing a ,last ,lament now1 as he swung round the ramparts4 ,true enough he had come for ,miss ,jessie1 and very shortly after she obeyed the call4 ,to this day there are men and women who never forget to offer up their passionate regret for ,prince ,charles before they sleep4 ,i know of one old ,scottish house where his memory is an ever-present1 ever-living thing4 ,the shadowy old room is consecrated to him4 ,on the walls hang portraits of him1 and trophies of the '#ae and the '#de stand round in glass cases4 ,on one table lies a worn1 white cockade1 yellow with age1 and a lock of fair hair clasped by a band of blackened pearls4 ,in a tall slender glass there is always1 in summer-time1 a single white rose4 ,above is the portrait of the idol of the present house1 who gave in the past of their all in life and treasure1 for the cause they hold so sacred1 so dear4 ,i cannot look upon that gay1 careless1 handsome face without the tears rising to my eyes4 ,his eyes smile into mine4 ,involuntarily ,i bend before him4 ,what was the power in you1 ,prince ,charles ,edward ,stuart1 that drew from countless women and men that wild unswerving devotion8 ,which made light of terrible hardships1 which followed you faithfully through glen and corrie8 ,what is that power which you still exert over those to whom your name is but a memory1 but who still1 when they think on you or look upon your pictured face1 cry silently in their hearts for the lost ,house of ,stuart8 ,oh6 waes me for ,prince ,charlie6 ,one must be ,scotch to understand that the ,union did nothing to unite ,england and ,scotland4 ,to the ,scottish plowman the ,englishman is still a foreigner1 whom he dislikes4 ,scotch and ,english servants do not work well in the same house4 ,to us1 ,mary ,queen of ,scots lived only the other day4 ,when the ,house of ,stuart passed from us our history ended4 ,our old houses are full of ghosts1 the atmosphere is saturated with the tragic history of the past1 the very skies seem to brood in melancholy over the soil1 where so many wild bloody scenes were enacted4 ,to the ,psychic1 ,scotland is a land not yet emerged from the dour savagery of the past4 ,once1 on visiting an historic old castle1 my host pointed out to me a group of seven old trees standing close to the entrance4 ,seven skeletons lie there1 he said4 ,my grandfather went after a neighboring clan who had raided his cattle4 ,he brought back seven men with halters round their necks and strung them up to those trees4 ,holes were dug beneath1 and they all dropped into them by degrees1 and then the earth was shoveled over them again4 ,what will become of all those grand old places in the future8 ,they are so costly to maintain4 ,i think of all those lying around our own ,aberdeenshire home2 ,fyvie ,castle1 a great stately pile1 beautiful to look upon always1 but more especially so when the red fires of a winter sunset blaze upon its many windows1 and turn to rose the mantling snow on battlements and towers1 whilst all around is wrapped in a garment of spotless white3 ,house of ,monymusk1 ,craigston ,castle1 ,craigievar4 ,i have just mentioned a few1 all have their ghosts1 and some have a curse upon them4 ,a friend of ours came to see us1 not very long ago1 and told us of a horrible experience he had been through recently4 ,he had been visiting a great house in the ,north1 noted in ,scottish history4 ,the new ,laird had only entered into possession during the last few years1 on the death of a near relative1 who had died from excessive drinking1 the ,scotchman's curse4 ,our friend had heard that this dead ,laird walked1 but he had not met any one who had actually seen his ghost4 ,after spending a pleasant evening with his host1 and going through many reminiscences of his former visits to the house1 and to the late ,laird1 who in spite of his fatal propensities had been a gallant gentleman and a great sportsman1 our friend retired to bed4 ,the room he slept in was a large one1 and the bed faced the door1 and a washstand stood on one side of it4 ,he remembered the room1 having slept in it on former occasions4 ,he was roused in the night by some one rather noisily fumbling at the handle of his door1 which was not locked4 ,he sat up in bed and called out1 ,who is it8 ,there was a full moon riding in a clear1 frosty sky1 and the room was only in semi-darkness4 ,he stared at the door1 which at that moment burst open1 and standing in the aperture was a man1 the dead ,laird4 ,outside1 was a long corridor with several windows1 through which the moonlight poured4 ,against this silvery background stood the huge figure of the late ,laird4 ,he leaned forward1 supporting himself by holding with both hands to the framework of the door1 and with a glowering1 half-drunken stare his eyes were fixed on the startled occupant of the bed4 ,a panic seized our friend1 who felt that if that menacing figure advanced into the room he would go mad4 ,there was only one door1 and no other means of escape1 and very stealthily he slid to the opposite side of the bed1 and reaching out1 seized the water-bottle on his washstand4 ,this action did not pass unnoticed by his terrible visitor4 ,suddenly relaxing his hold on the doorposts1 he dropped down on his knees1 and began rapidly crawling on all fours towards the bed1 his inflamed eyes blazing with anger4 ,our friend did not wait for his arrival4 ,with a blood-curdling yell he hurled the water-bottle full at his old friend1 and leaping from the other side of the bed tore to the door and fled down the passage1 as if pursued by a pack of devils4 ,hardly knowing what he did1 he battered with his hands on the door of the room he knew to be occupied by his host and hostess1 shouting out at the same time a call for assistance4 ,then he heard the voice of the wife saying to the husband1 ,it's ,charlie4 ,open the door4 ,i believe he's seen poor ,angus4 ,he had indeed seen poor ,angus1 and for the last time1 he assured us4 ,old friendship could not stand the test of so horrible an apparition4 ,the room was empty when he returned to it with his host4 ,angus had gone back again to the land of the shadows1 and only the scattered fragments of the water-bottle remained as a souvenir of his visit4 ,several servants had seen ,angus1 and it was difficult to keep the house staffed4 ,one old housemaid1 who had been in the family many years1 had seen him frequently1 and had even ventured to remonstrate with her former master1 bidding him go back to his shroud and sleep peacefully in his grave like a respectable man1 but apparently to no purpose4 ,angus preferred to walk and to terrify all to whom he had the power to show himself4 ,speaking of the ,duke of ,argyll has reminded me of some curious occurrences in connection with ,lord ,colin ,campbell4 ,at one time of my life1 soon after my father's death1 ,i saw a good deal of him4 ,he was then studying law and intended later to practice in ,india4 ,this plan he carried out1 and in ,india he died1 the result of a chill4 ,lord ,colin was a very interesting man1 a keen geologist and something of an artist4 ,there were few subjects he was not interested in1 and though somewhat shy of the subject1 he had a decided aptitude for ghosts4 ,one day in ,london he brought to my house a small gold cross fixed to a slab of gray marble1 and asked me if ,i would keep it for him4 ,he explained that it was an exact reproduction of the old stone cross of ,inverary4 ,he was then living in ,argyll ,lodge1 ,campden ,hill1 and ,i said ,i should have thought there was room enough for it there4 ,i could not understand why he brought it to me4 ,he looked uneasy and said he wished to get rid of it out of the house4 ,when pressed to say why1 he confessed that there was something uncanny about it4 ,he thought it made him see things1 and he added1 ,garry hates it4 ,garry was a fine1 sable collie1 devoted to his master and he to it4 ,garry had the misfortune to break his leg1 and this caused ,lord ,colin acute distress4 ,the leg was set1 and the dog lay in a large clothes basket1 and eventually got well4 ,garry was just recovering when ,lord ,colin brought me the cross4 ,he became more expansive in a few moments1 and said that he had seen a figure bending over the cross1 as if to examine it4 ,the figure had a hood1 and he thought it must be the ghost of a monk4 ,he had seen this many times1 and ,garry often growled1 and his hair bristled at the very moment when his master caught sight of the apparition4 ,anything that distressed the dog must be removed1 and knowing how interested ,i was in ghosts he had brought the cross to me4 ,of course ,i was delighted to have a chance of witnessing psychic phenomena of any kind1 but alas1 though ,i kept the cross for years1 and only sent it lately to the present ,duke1 ,i never saw anything in connection with it4 ,i did1 however1 see something interesting in connection with ,lord ,colin4 ,one hot ,june evening1 in ,london1 ,i was sitting alone by the open window4 ,the day had been very exhausting2 it was one of those hot spells that come so often before regular summer sets in1 and ,i was glad to rest quietly and do nothing4 ,the street was wonderfully quiet at that hour1 nine o'clock1 when all the world of fashion was dining1 and the daylight was strong enough to read by1 had ,i so desired4 ,suddenly my attention was attracted by a slight noise behind me1 and glancing round at the open door ,i saw that ,lord ,colin and his dog had just entered the room1 as was their habit1 unannounced4 ,in his hand he carried a huge bunch of white and mauve lilac blossoms4 ,i had not expected him that evening1 but ,i was very pleased to see him1 and exclaimed1 ,why1 ,colin1 what a glorious bouquet6 ,i can smell it already4 ,he was smiling as he and his dog moved up the long room towards me1 but he said nothing4 ,i had risen and held out my hand1 but when about halfway across the floor both he and the dog vanished entirely and quite suddenly4 ,i shall never forget my utter amazement and consternation4 ,i could not disbelieve the evidence of my own senses1 for ,i was absolutely certain ,i could still smell the lilac1 and ,i had no doubt whatever that ,i had seen ,lord ,colin and his dog4 ,i sat down again and fell to considering the extraordinary circumstance4 ,i was perfectly well and normal1 ,i had not been thinking of ,lord ,colin1 and yet in the midst of other thoughts a sound had attracted my attention1 and looking round ,i had seen him enter with his dog4 ,for the space of quite two minutes both had been visible4 ,i got up again and timed the whole affair by my wrist watch4 ,the room ,i sat in was very long4 ,i was at one end1 and the door at the other4 ,it took me just one minute to walk leisurely forward over the ground they had covered1 before they vanished from my sight4 ,i sat down again and began to wonder if ,lord ,colin was ill1 or was he dead1 and why was he carrying lilacs8 ',phones were uncommon things in those days2 ,i had no means of communication with ,argyll ,lodge4 ,for an hour ,i sat considering the wonderful vividness of my curious experience4 ,the daylight had faded into a close1 soft twilight1 but ,i wanted no artificial light4 ,then just as ten o'clock was striking ,i heard a voice in the hall below2 a voice ,i was sure was ,lord ,colin's1 and he was answered by one of my servants4 ,steps sounded on the stairs1 and in another moment in he walked with ,garry1 and in his hand he carried a big bunch of white and mauve lilacs4 ,i stood staring at him in the dim twilight4 ,was this the real man and dog at last8 ,i know it's awfully late to pay a call1 but ,i thought you would like some lilac1 he exclaimed2 it's so lovely in our garden just now1 and he held out the flowers4 ,i took them and bade him be seated4 ,garry came to me and rested his nose on my lap4 ,for a moment ,i could not speak4 ,aren't you well8 asked ,colin4 ,then ,i recovered myself1 but ,i did not tell him what had happened only an hour before4 ,as we talked ,i discovered that he had intended to come at nine o'clock1 and was just starting when a relative arrived and detained him4 ,on another occasion he told me of a curious dream he had as a boy4 ,queen ,victoria came to ,inverary to pay a visit to the ,duke and ,duchess of ,argyll1 ,lord ,colin's parents1 and it was arranged that the young sons of the house should act as pages to ,her ,majesty4 ,the night of the day on which the ,queen arrived1 ,colin dreamed that some one whom he did not know came to him and said1 ,to-morrow the ,queen will give you twenty shillings4 ,when the boy wakened up in the morning he remembered this dream1 and all day long he was on the outlook for its fulfillment4 ,the hours passed1 but though he was often in her presence and kept as close to her as he dared1 the ,queen never produced her purse4 ,just before reentering the house towards evening1 she suddenly turned to ,john ,brown1 her constant attendant1 and said something which ,colin did not catch4 ,what was his joy on perceiving that surly henchman extract from a shabby old purse a filthy ,scotch one pound note1 which he handed to ,her ,majesty4 ,my little ,colin1 here is a present for you1 said the ,queen1 and making his best bow the boy accepted the gift4 ,his dream had come true4 ,john ,brown was the terror of all the great nobles whom the ,queen was pleased to visit4 ,her ,majesty took him everywhere with her1 and he was her closest attendant4 ,born of the humblest ,scotch parents on the ,estate of ,balmoral1 he died in the position of a potentate in a royal residence4 ,his manners were terribly rough and objectionable1 and his behavior to the gentlemen with whom he constantly came into contact was insulting to the last degree4 ,he had one invariable habit4 ,when the ,queen paid a visit naturally her honored host was in waiting to hand her out of her carriage4 ,brown contrived to nip down from his perch at the back of the carriage1 just at a certain moment1 and with a violent push thrust aside the prince1 duke or peer who sought to do honor to the ,sovereign4 ,some of the gentlemen about the ,court paid him very liberally1 not for civility1 but simply to desist from his habitual insults1 and it has been said that ,disraeli discovered some method of conciliation1 but ,brown took an absolute pleasure in insulting all who had occasion to approach ,her ,majesty4 ,latterly he drank very heavily1 and when he died1 to the unutterable relief of all and sundry he bequeathed all his savings and possessions1 even the watch he wore1 to ,her ,majesty4 ,his many poor relatives living in cottages on the estate never saw a penny of his money1 nor so much as a button from his doublet4 ,,chapter ,,vii ,,pilgrims ,,and ,,strangers ,we are all of us1 in this world1 strangers and pilgrims1 and to each human being1 in turn1 and in varied ways1 comes the knowledge1 ,a stranger with ,thee and a sojourner as all my ,fathers were4 ,like ships that pass in the night we exchange signals with one another1 and pass on our different ways through the ocean of life4 ,i think it is the sea that most clearly brings home to me the transitory nature of our pilgrimage4 ,leaning over the side of a ship in mid ocean1 and watching a trail of smoke from another ship on the horizon1 ,i am always impelled to wonder about its human cargo4 ,who and what are they1 and for what distant shores are they bound8 ,again one sweeps the far horizons only to find them empty of aught but a vast tumbling expanse of waters4 ,then1 without warning1 we are wrapped in a dense blanket of fog4 ,the sirens sound insistently1 and are at once answered by ships on every side4 ,it is startling to find there are many so near1 but utterly invisible4 ,in a few minutes we have emerged again into distance and clear skies1 and again there is nothing that meets the eye but the empty watery expanse4 ,looking back on my life ,i can recall many meetings with fellow pilgrims that apparently were purely accidental1 yet they left their mark upon my life4 ,meetings such as those1 when two souls thrown together by the force of circumstances1 in quiet far-away places2 or in the marts of the world1 become in a few short hours like old and tried friends4 ,how often have ,i heard it said1 even after one short hour1 ,i feel as if ,i had known you all my life4 ,such ,i look upon as epochs in my pilgrimage1 milestones and guiding stars on my life's road4 ,yet the limitations of such epochs are obvious enough4 ,time on earth is circumscribed1 still there is subconsciously the instant recognition of two kindred souls who hear and remember1 who instinctively know that once1 perchance many times before1 they have landed together on the shores of time1 from the storm-tossed bark of life4 ,it seems strange that those chance meetings should have no continuity4 ,i remember one such meeting in the ,east1 and how utterly by chance it seemed to come about4 ,it lasted for three days1 yet after three hours ,i knew more of my fellow pilgrim and he of me than we would have known of each other in three months at home4 ,we were both quite alone1 but ,i remember his recalling the pre-,buddha words written a thousand years before the coming of the ,christ3 ,thou shalt not separate thy ,being from ,being1 and the rest1 but merge the ocean in the drop1 the drop within the ocean4 ,so shalt thou be in full accord with all that lives1 bear love to men as though they were thy brother pupils1 disciples of one teacher1 the sons of one sweet mother4 ,when we bade each other good-by and ,i boarded my ship we told each other we would meet again1 but instinctively we knew we never should4 ,i have forgotten his name1 but all else ,i can remember very clearly1 and the wonderful comradeship two souls1 drifting together for a second in time1 can give each other4 ,he gave me the sufi mysticism of ,omar ,khayyam1 and ,i can still see the ,english face burnt dark with eastern suns1 under the snowy turban1 and the brilliant parrot swinging on a palm bough above his head4 ,i can still hear the low grave voice reciting the quatrains of ,persia's astronomer poet1 written a thousand years ago4 ,they fitted in with our surroundings3-- ,there was a door to which ,i found no key4 ,there was a veil past which ,i could not see6 ,some little talk awhile of ,me and ,thee ,there seemed1 and then no more of ,me and ,thee4 ,i suppose we all have many such recollections in our lives1 and it is impossible 7for me7 to believe them to be a mere matter of chance1 for1 always on parting1 ,i have been conscious that ,i have received some lasting good1 or it has mercifully chanced that ,i have been able to help a stranger and pilgrim on a difficult way4 ,again1 ,i remember another interesting meeting4 ,a woman was sitting alone on a bench in the outskirts of ,cairo1 and her worn face was turned to the dying fires of sunset4 ,she was very shabby and poor looking1 and obviously she was a ,european4 ,in my casual glance ,i caught something familiar1 and after going on some paces ,i felt a compelling force bidding me return4 ,i sat down beside her and at once spoke to her4 ,i knew who she was when she turned her face to me1 and the hideous contrast of her past and her present appalled me4 ,she does not know to-day that ,i am aware of her real identity4 ,she is in ,england1 and all now is well with her4 ,one can always1 as the pre-,buddhist taught us1 ,point out the way however dim and lost amongst the ,host1 as does the evening star to those who tread their path in darkness4 ,again1 it is strange to tell why unknown pilgrims should leave their mark upon us for all earthly time1 pilgrims to whom one has never spoken1 and of whom one knows nothing4 ,when ,i was quite a child ,i passed every day through a very quiet and well-to-do street of dwelling-houses4 ,at a window behind two flower-pots1 sat a woman whom ,i supposed to be sewing1 though her hands were hidden from view4 ,i can see her as clearly now as ,i saw her then1 over forty years ago in the northern capital4 ,the pale1 tragic profile1 the down-drooped eyelids1 the meekly-banded hair4 ,i used to wonder about her constantly4 ,she possessed me1 and interested me at that time more than anything else in my life4 ,even to this day she comes unbidden into my mind at frequent intervals4 ,again from my bedroom window in ,belgrade ,i used to watch another woman4 ,she came out on her balcony twice a day1 always at the same hours4 ,she put her hands on the rails1 and turned her dark1 southern face up to the skies1 and there she would stand for an hour1 gazing fixedly above4 ,i never once saw her eyes drop to the busy street below1 and once a prisoner1 dragging his heavy chains behind him1 paused and looked up and cried out to her for bread4 ,she appeared not to hear him1 her rigid attitude never relaxed4 ,it is the thoughts of such pilgrims1 as one conjectures them to be1 that form the interest1 or perhaps it really is something more1 a far-off kinship1 stretching invisible threads down through the ages4 ,with both those women ,i had a feeling of kinship4 ,i had picked them out of the world's crowd1 because of some silent influence they exerted over me1 the lingering power of some far back1 forgotten touch1 which had once drawn us together4 ,i know that in my life ,i had met those that ,i have loved long since and lost awhile4 ,for me there was purpose in those stars that shine through my life1 as looking back they show me where ,i had arrived at the moment of their uprising1 and their rays pierce the penumbra shadows wherein the soul lies hid4 ,each star showed me the lees in the cup of destiny1 brought to me a new revelation of soul1 and elucidated for me something of the mystery of life4 ,again1 surely there is ,divine purpose in those islets of friendship which jewel-like stud the gray vesture of ordinary existence4 ,they are close1 warm1 and utterly sincere1 often for many long years1 then they are suddenly sundered by the inrush of some invading force which cuts them off in their full bloom4 ,sometimes the ,master ,death bids them pass on1 sometimes the break comes by some utterly trivial1 yet inexorable fiat of human destiny4 ,in the clash of human interests it must needs be that pain must come to some4 ,life cannot be all serenity and peace to the pilgrims who toil upon its stormy way1 its via dolorosa4 ,such crises teach us the just attitude that should prevail in all such trials and circumstances4 ,amiel says1 ,there is one wrong man is not bound to punish1 that of which he himself is the victim4 ,such a wrong is to be healed1 not avenged4 ,for hate there is but one antidote--love4 ,the art of forgetfulness is not yet a science1 but to forget the evil one has but to remember the good4 ,love knows neither saint nor sinner1 for she seeks in every heart the hidden gem of good4 ,she thinks no ill1 because she knows the trials of each one are penalty enough for deeds already done4 ,neither in the case of ,death's intervention1 nor in the case of human misunderstanding should there be sorrow for lost friendships1 though there must inevitably be regret4 ,love brings with it suffering1 for all who love suffer with those they love4 ,unkindness and injustices are hard to bear1 and the loss of those we love is a bitter pain1 but those whose hearts are great enough still find others on whom to lavish love4 ,are there not many who need it1 and are there not great rewards for those who have love to spare4 ,to be required1 to be appealed to1 and turned to as a help and refuge4 ,such are the prizes for those whose hearts are always alight with love1 who from one flame can kindle many4 ,when death looses the silver cord1 and souls seem torn asunder for ever more1 there will be sadness of spirit4 ,when a break comes1 perhaps through third-party treachery1 there may come the sense of eternal severance1 but is it eternal8 ,i doubt it4 ,more probably there lies before us an existence of clearer judgment and understanding1 of vaster possibilities1 in which we shall know1 even as also we are known4 ,though now we see each other through a glass darkly1 a day will come when we shall no longer see in part1 but face to face4 ,when faith1 hope and love shall be reunited1 and we shall realize that the greatest of these three is love1 which suffereth long1 and is kind and thinketh no evil4 ,again1 there are these loves in one's life1 some fleeting1 some lasting1 that are too sacred to write of1 and of which one never speaks4 ,the joys and sorrows they brought1 the prose or poesy of our intercourse are graven deep on the heart4 ,whether it be they still walk by our side1 or have gone west to rest after labor1 we must learn to say with the pre-,buddhists of old time3 ,do not grieve for the living or the dead4 ,never did ,i not exist for you444 nor will any one of us ever hereafter cease to be4 ,such sacramental hours sanctify the variety of our lot1 combine the pathos of love and death1 and stretch through the corridors of memory into the hush and shadow of the haunted past2 where all the mystery of such hours seem gathered for inspiration4 ,there linger the symbols of our sojourn here4 ,how potent1 yet how fragmentary they are6 ,the scent of a flower1 the long embrace1 the hand held out in vain1 the flash of recognition1 the chime of the clock which altered the course of the pilgrimage4 ,the meek hands folded on the still breast4 ,such symbols abide with us like the image of a ,divine form1 some echo of immortal music1 some lingering word of angels4 ,their cadences come ever back to us from infinite distances1 ghostly chords and evanescent4 ,harmonies which come and go too fitfully for apprehension4 ,,chapter ,,viii ,,some ,,strange ,,events ,after my marriage my husband and ,i passed some time in the ,united ,states and ,canada2 we then returned to ,england and took a place in ,cambridgeshire4 ,we were both very fond of racing1 and attended all the meetings at ,newmarket4 ,one day ,i drove by appointment to the house of a neighbor who had asked me to meet ,miss ,catherine ,bates1 author of that interesting book1 ,seen and ,unseen4 ,just before ,i started my husband1 half in fun1 and knowing ,miss ,bates to be a psychic1 said1 ,ask her what horse is going to win the ,cambridgeshire4 ,i promised to put the question and drove off4 ,i had a most interesting visit1 but ,i totally forgot to ask ,miss ,bates for the winner of the coming race4 ,it was not until ,i was seated in the victoria1 exchanging a few parting words with the two ladies standing in the doorway to bid me good-by1 that ,i suddenly recollected my husband's request4 ,as the horses were starting ,i called out to ,miss ,bates-- ,tell me what's going to win ',the ,cambridgeshire8' ,the answer was prompt and clear3 ,marco to win1 ---- for a place4 7,i regret ,i cannot remember the name of the second horse47 ,as ,i drove away ,i waved my thanks1 and directly ,i got home ,i told my husband--,marco to win1 ---- for a place4 ,he was much interested in this tip from so well-known a psychic1 and of course we backed ,marco to win and ---- for a place for all we were worth4 ,i wish ,i could remember the odds4 ,i only know that they were long4 ,the event duly came off1 and ,i wrote to ,miss ,bates thanking her for the good turn she had done us4 ,her reply astounded me4 ,she began by saying she had not heard me put any question to her regarding the winner of the ,cambridgeshire1 and went on to say that she knew nothing about racing1 and knew none of the horses' names1 therefore it was impossible that she could have given me the tip4 ,her hostess cared nothing for racing1 and was as ignorant as she was upon the subject1 but she did remember hearing me call out to ,miss ,bates1 ,what's going to win the ,cambridgeshire8 ,i then questioned our coachman and footman4 ,both distinctly remembered my calling out the question1 and both1 keen on racing1 listened for the reply1 but they heard none4 ,where did that answer come from8 ,i cannot tell4 ,was some spirit interested in racing hovering near8 ,did he contrive to drop the tip into my mind1 open at that moment and eager to catch the response8 ,a year after the event ,i have recounted above1 ,i was resting one afternoon in the summer-time4 ,i had been ill1 and was not yet strong enough to lead an ordinary life1 and ,i was lying on a sofa in a top floor room4 ,the room immediately beneath me was the drawing-room1 and the weather being hot all the windows were wide open4 ,the house we inhabited was quite isolated in its own park1 and the village was about half a mile distant4 ,my husband was from home1 and ,i was alone in that particular part of the house1 the servants' quarters being at the back1 and shut off from the rest4 ,out of the absolute quiet suddenly came the sound of music4 ,some one was playing my piano in the drawing-room below4 ,this1 in itself1 caused me irritation1 but no surprise4 ,i was not well enough to entertain callers at tea1 due in half an hour1 and ,i had given orders that ,i would see no one1 but it had happened before that the musical neighbors had called1 and whilst waiting for me had sat down to the piano4 ,i was too annoyed to hasten downstairs4 ,i lay waiting for the butler to come to me and inform me why my orders had been disobeyed4 ,meanwhile ,i listened to the music1 and wondered greatly who the brilliant pianist could be4 ,i did not recognize the music1 but it sounded quite modern1 and requiring a great amount of technique4 ,the player was1 however1 a most brilliant performer1 who had acquired considerable skill4 ,evidently a professional1 ,i thought1 and wondered all the more who it could possibly be4 ,still there were no signs of the ascending butler1 and time continued to pass4 ,i began to feel obstinate1 and determined to remain where ,i was1 until ,i was correctly informed of the caller's identity4 ,the music steadily continued1 every note borne to my ears as clearly as if ,i had been in the room with the performer4 ,very wonderful music1 but soulless1 ,i concluded1 and though my curiosity was growing every moment my obstinacy prevailed1 and ,i remained where ,i was4 ,at last1 after quite twenty minutes1 the music suddenly stopped2 it broke off in the middle of a movement4 ,i rose at once1 and went downstairs feeling very cross4 ,i pushed open the drawing-room door and entered4 ,it was absolutely empty1 but the piano1 which had not been opened for several weeks1 was open now4 ,i went to the window which commanded the avenue2 not a soul was in sight4 ,then ,i rang the bell1 and when the butler entered the following dialogue took place3---- ,who was the caller who has just been8 ,there have been no callers to-day1 madam4 ,but surely you heard the piano being played8 ,we heard a lot of music1 but we thought it was you playing1 madam4 ,then you all heard it8 ,all of us in the hall heard it1 madam4 ,i left it at that4 ,suddenly it came to me that ,i had better not push my inquiries further4 ,until that second it had never occurred to me that the performer might be a disembodied spirit4 ,the butler did not leave the matter alone1 but made every inquiry at the ,lodge1 and also of the out-door servants1 but nothing came of it4 ,no one had seen a stranger1 and the silver was intact4 ,my maid told me some time afterwards that the household had shaken down to the conviction that ,i had really been the performer1 and that my recent illness had caused me to forget the fact4 ,i let this conviction remain unshaken1 but ,i marveled at the lack of musical discrimination my household displayed4 ,the disparity between my strumming and the brilliant execution of my spirit guest was so vast that ,i could not even feel flattered by their mistake4 ,a year or two after we took a cottage on the ,thames1 and there1 during our summer visits1 ,i had an uncomfortable time4 ,there was something wrong with the sideboard end of the dining-room4 ,for a long time ,i could not make out what it was4 ,my attention was constantly being attracted to the spot4 ,if ,i passed the door ,i thought instantly of the sideboard4 ,in plain language1 ,i was constantly being invited1 by some invisible person1 to come in and have a drink4 ,if ,i was putting anything away in the sideboard the suggestion was always very strong4 ,on the outside stood a tantalus of spirits and soda water1 ready to refresh any calling boating men4 ,inside the cupboards were wine decanters4 ,i always resisted the suggestion1 ,i suppose because ,i did not happen to want anything to drink--for years ,i have been a total abstainer1 and at the time ,i certainly did not realize the menace of those suggestions4 ,now and again ,i caught sight of a small oblong gray cloud hovering in front of the sideboard but it was not till many months afterwards that ,i saw something much more definite4 ,the gray shadow had become the clearly defined shade of a small woman4 ,she hovered about the spot in a wavering1 undecided manner4 ,it was apparent that she was seeking something4 ,one day1 in a flash1 ,i recognized the truth1 the suggestion came from her4 ,she was inviting me to drink with her4 ,my husband and ,i set to work to find out who this unfortunate woman had been when she dwelt on earth4 ,we discovered a very sad story4 ,she had been a celebrity of the half world1 and ,i had actually seen her in the flesh4 ,she had traveled to ,monte ,carlo one winter in the next sleeping compartment to ours1 and she had lived for some years in our riverside cottage4 ,latterly she had fallen an incurable victim to drinking1 and had died of it4 ,poor little soul2 my heart went out to her in deepest pity1 but ,i was glad to leave the cottage forever1 when in #ahih we went to live at my husband's place1 ,balquholly1 ,aberdeenshire4 ,some people1 perhaps once in their lives1 become sensitive enough to recognize a visitor from the ,astral plane4 ,if the occasion is not repeated they believe themselves to have been victims of hallucinations4 ,others find themselves seeing and hearing1 with increasing frequency1 something to which those around them are blind and deaf4 ,they realize1 in fact1 that they are in touch with the ,astral plane1 the region lying next to our world of dense matter1 and often some ,astral entity on the lowest levels of that plane is continuously striving to work through their mediumship4 ,the world is very far from realizing this danger4 ,what are those entities working for8 ,the man or woman who has led a decently pure life on earth will have no attraction to the lowest levels1 contiguous with earth1 of the ,astral plane1 and will1 at so-called death1 pass swiftly through it4 ,but1 alas6 the vast majority have by no means freed themselves from all lower desires before passing over1 and it takes a considerable time before the evil forces generated on earth work themselves out on the other side4 ,the length of man's detention on the lower level will depend entirely on the earthly life he has lived1 and the quality of the desires he has indulged in4 ,the desires of a drunkard1 a debaucher1 are as strong after death as before4 ,the present ,bishop of ,london made that very clear in one of his ,easter addresses1 but the subject finds it impossible1 without a physical body1 to gratify his lusts4 ,occasionally it can be done in a vicarious manner1 when he is able to seize on a like minded person and obsess him or her1 or when he finds a medium who consciously or unconsciously panders to his desires4 ,for this reason ,i hold it to be imperative for safety's sake1 that every genuine medium should be a total abstainer4 ,how often one is asked the question3 ,what is a medium8 ,it is a difficult question to answer in a few words4 ,i should put it thus---- ,a medium is one whose principles1 physical1 mental1 spiritual1 are so loosely bound together that an ,astral entity can draw from him without difficulty the matter it requires for manifestation4 ,the very essence of mediumship is the ready separability of the principles4 ,in the case of the poor little woman ,i have mentioned1 she was fortunate enough not to meet with 7in me7 a sensitive1 through whom her passion could be vicariously gratified4 ,such unfulfilled desires gradually burn themselves out1 and the suffering caused in the process no doubt goes to work off evil ,karma generated in the past life4 ,it is the soul that desires1 the body is but the tool to grasp the desire1 and after death old lusts crowd upon the departed4 ,thirsty with no throat2 sensual with no body to grip the foul desire1 soon it is learned that the worst evils and the hardest to undo have been woven out of the mind4 ,here is another story or two relating to one of the most puzzling mysteries in ghost lore--the phenomena of temporary hauntings4 ,why do ghosts suddenly take possession of a house with which1 in their incarnate days1 they have had no connection8 ,such ghosts differ from those only seen once4 ,they take up their abode in a dwelling which has absolutely no traditions of haunting4 ,they will be seen and heard on many occasions1 for a few months1 possibly for a few years4 ,they will then suddenly depart1 and be seen or heard no more4 ,such apparitions cannot readily be traced to any defunct friend or member of the family4 ,they have no known connection with the house in which they appear1 and no one can form the faintest conception why they should suddenly elect to walk within those four walls1 which hitherto have been normal and free from other side visitors4 ,a case of this description happened to my youngest brother1 who1 before he bought his present country house1 lived in a detached1 new building1 not far from the ,dean ,bridge1 in ,edinburgh4 ,he had occupied this house for some years previous to his experience1 and had neither heard nor seen anything of a spooky nature4 ,the manifestation only lasted for a few weeks4 ,nothing in the form of a ghost was seen1 but much was heard4 ,i will give the story in my brother's own words3 ,on a certain evening1 a year or two ago1 ,i went out after dinner to visit some friends1 and returned home about half-past eleven4 ,not feeling inclined to go to bed1 ,i took up a book and sat down to read for half an hour4 ,about a quarter-past midnight ,i suddenly became aware that stealthy footsteps were coming upstairs4 ,looking at my watch ,i thought it very strange that any of the maids should be still up at such a late hour4 ,the door was well ajar1 and ,i arose from my chair1 listening intently1 as ,i crossed the room4 ,the footsteps were now quite distinct1 and ,i knew at once they were not those of any woman4 ,they were the stealthy footsteps of a man1 and naturally ,i at once concluded that he was a burglar4 ,i calculated swiftly that he would either enter the room in which ,i stood1 or he would go on and up the next flight of stairs to the bedrooms4 ,in any case1 he had to be faced and caught4 ,i realized that1 and ,i much regretted ,i had nothing at hand which would help me1 should he prove to be armed4 ,there was1 however1 no time for further thought4 ,every second brought him nearer1 and taking up a position just behind the door1 ,i waited till he arrived on the landing1 and until he came to the spot when he must either turn in1 or go on upstairs4 ,the moment came1 almost at once4 ,with a sudden bound ,i sprang out to close with him4 ,lo6 and behold6 nothing was to be seen6 ,nothing was now to be heard1 except the ticking of a clock4 ,i stood still and absolutely astounded4 ,the footsteps had been no trick of imagination1 ,i was very sure of that4 ,had ,i not heard them stealthily beginning the ascent of the stairs1 and grow louder the nearer they approached me8 ,i mopped my brow4 ,would any self-respecting burglar have come on1 and up a lighted staircase1 and along a landing towards a room which he must have known was still occupied1 as the light shone through the half-open door8 ,are burglars ever as rash as that8 ,then ,i reminded myself that as there was no burglar in the case my speculations were mere waste of time4 ,i put out the lights1 and went to bed in a very uncomfortable frame of mind4 ,the next day1 when ,i returned home from business1 my housekeeper informed me that a strange man had been walking about the house4 ,she had not seen him1 though she had looked for him--that was the curious part of it1 but she had heard him quite distinctly1 several times1 and she didn't like it one little bit4 ,not that she was frightened6 ,oh6 dear no1 but it was uncanny1 and she thought she had better tell me4 ,i thanked her and assured her that there was nothing to fear4 ,the house was quite new1 and uncanny things never happen in new houses4 ,i advised her not to mention the subject to any one but me1 and told her that ,i was not going out again that evening4 ,after dinner ,i settled down in my room1 to wait for the footsteps ,i instinctively felt sure would return4 ,i kept the lights burning on stairs and landing1 and set the door half open1 placing my chair in such a position that ,i could see any one who passed outside the room on the landing4 ,this time ,i did not think of arming myself4 ,i had come to the firm conclusion that the sounds came from no person living in the flesh4 ,as no house adjoined mine ,i had no 'next door' on which to lay the blame for the disturbance4 ,sure enough1 about an hour earlier this time1 the unknown1 unseen visitor began his ascent of my staircase4 ,i cannot describe my feelings during those moments of waiting for 'it' to pass4 ,i can only say they were intensely unpleasant1 and ,i hope ,i may never again have to confess myself to be a wretched coward4 ,a burglar would at that moment have appeared to me in the guise of a dear friend4 ,however1 the thing had to be faced1 there was no one else that ,i could put onto the job1 and so ,i simply sat still and waited1 with my eyes fixed on the landing outside4 ,the steps came on1 distinct enough1 and growing nearer and louder4 ,they arrived on the landing1 they reached my door1 they passed1 and proceeded to mount the next flight of steps to the bedrooms4 ,i had seen absolutely nothing4 ,i rose and walked out on to the landing1 and looked up at the brightly lit staircase4 ,i could mark1 by the sound1 the progress made by those invisible feet4 ,they passed on to the bedroom floor1 and with heartfelt gratitude ,i heard them enter1 not mine1 but an empty room4 ,i heard nothing more that night4 ,presumably the ghost remained quietly in his comfortable quarters4 ,the next day came more complaints from the housekeeper4 ,the 'strange man' not only promenaded the house at intervals1 but he had the impertinence to ring several bells4 ,i wondered if a whisky and soda left casually on his dressing-table would appease his thirst for summoning the servants in this irritating fashion4 ,for some days after this we were left in peace1 and ,i began to hope that 'it' had betaken itself to the house of some other chap1 but no such luck6 ,one evening ,i was in the dining-room decanting some wine before dinner4 ,it was just seven o'clock1 when ,i heard 'its' footsteps again4 ,this time they were coming downstairs4 ,i went to the door and looked out4 ,there was no one to be seen4 ,i reentered the dining-room and shut 'it' out4 ,i suppose 'it' had been having a rest in the bedroom4 ,i trusted 'it' meant to have a night out4 ,a moment or two later ,i heard a click near the fireplace1 and looking towards the spot whence this sound came1 ,i saw the handle of the bell being pulled back4 ,in another second the bell rang4 ,when the maid answered it ,i was ready for her4 ',oh6 don't you know what that is8' ,i inquired with mild sarcasm4 ',only mice crossing the wires4 ,nothing to be frightened of in that1 is there8' ,i stuck to this all through the weeks that followed4 ,the maids ceased to answer the bells1 and went early to bed in a bunch4 ,they no longer required rooms to themselves4 ,in a few months the trouble stopped as suddenly as it had begun4 ',it' had evidently found other quarters more to 'its' liking4 ,the mice were equally obliging4 ,they ceased running across the wires4 ,what theory will explain this species of haunting which is quite common8 ,may it not be that this disembodied entity attached itself to my brother whilst he was out1 and like a lost dog followed him home8 ,there must be countless entities wandering about all over this globe1 seeking an abiding-place for their restless souls4 ,people who find themselves as bereft of friends on the other side of death1 as they were in earth life4 ,those who have friends here have doubtless friends there4 ,in old days we used to think of a post-mortem abode as somewhere in the skies4 ,some even mentioned a receiving station in the bowels of the earth4 ,now ,i find that the majority of educated people have come to regard so-called death as merely a change of consciousness1 and the immediate post-mortem sphere of our activities to be a region interpenetrating this earth4 99 99 99 99 99 ,a county neighbor of ours in ,aberdeenshire told me of a very tantalizing experience he had a very few years ago of temporary haunting4 ,this was a case of seeing1 not hearing4 ,the time was late autumn1 and his family had gone south for the winter1 leaving him alone for a week or two to finish up the shooting4 ,one night1 immediately after he had dined1 he ran upstairs to his bedroom to fetch something4 ,on coming out of his room again1 what was his astonishment to see1 walking in front of him1 a tall young lady1 very smartly dressed in the height of the prevailing fashion4 ,she wore black satin1 cut very low and without sleeves1 and she moved very quietly along the passage1 and proceeded to go downstairs4 ,she never turned her elaborately coiffed head1 and he could not see her face4 ,he followed1 too speechless with amazement to address her4 ,who on earth could she be8 ,where was she going8 ,nine o'clock at night2 only two old servants in the house6 ,in the depth of the country1 and nine miles away from anywhere6 ,and this charming young lady who so unexpectedly had made her appearance to brighten his solitude6 ,what a surprising adventure6 ,the situation was piquant to say the least of it4 ,he followed immediately behind the attractive vision4 ,he even wondered what room he would have prepared for her4 ,so absolutely real did she look1 that not for a second did he doubt she was ordinary flesh and blood4 ,when describing her afterwards to me he said1 ,i can assure you ,i saw the actual white flesh of her bare arms and shoulders4 ,i was close behind her4 ,the lady moved composedly on1 walking with supple grace and perfect self-possession4 ,she was not in the least hurried or flustered4 ,she reached the bottom of the stairs1 and he had a momentary fear that she would make for the front door1 where surely a ,rolls ,royce would be awaiting her4 ,not so6 ,she walked straight into the dining-room4 ,he followed4 ,as he entered the door she had gained the opposite end of the room1 where the sideboard stood4 ,for a second she stood still1 turned and glanced round at him with an enchanting smile of delicate raillery4 ,then she deliberately walked through the sideboard and wall beyond1 and was lost to sight4 ,the beholder of this ghost had never seen anything of the sort before1 and was1 if anything1 a disbeliever in psychic phenomena4 ,he is a perfectly healthy1 normal country gentleman1 whose principal hobby is sport1 and who prefers a country life out of doors to the life of an intellectual student4 ,needless to say the occurrence puzzled him beyond measure4 ,he could not place the lady1 and was certain that he had never seen her before4 ,her dress proclaimed her to be absolutely modern4 ,though in roundabout ways he tried to find out if any woman1 answering to her description1 was visiting at the time in any of the neighboring country houses1 he failed entirely to get any result4 ,being rather shy of the chaff he knew would be indulged in at his expense1 he mentioned the incident to no one4 ,he took careful notes of date1 time1 and other particulars1 and kept a strict watch1 but the lady appeared no more during his stay1 and before ,christmas he went south to rejoin his family4 ,he did not forget the experience4 ,when the following autumn came round he found himself again in the ,north1 under exactly similar circumstances4 ,eagerly he anticipated the anniversary of his first ghost4 ,he was waiting for her on the landing outside his bedroom door1 and suddenly she sprang into sight from nowhere4 ,to-night he had determined to lay hold of her1 but he calculated without his ghost4 ,she sped downstairs1 this time as if she was well aware that he was in pursuit4 ,they gained the dining-room almost neck to neck1 and this time she made no pause before slipping through the wall4 ,she simply looked back at him over her shoulder1 and smiled at him enchantingly1 provokingly4 ,then he found himself alone4 ,the following year was blank4 ,she came no more4 ,why did she come to that house1 with which1 it is certain1 she had no connection8 ,why did she only appear twice1 and both times on the same date8 ,such are the questions one asks in vain1 but such fugitive visions suggest the whisperings of a voice which calls out in the wilderness1 and leads through life's enigmas to the final awakening4 ,there are visions of beauty to which we are blind1 and joyous harmonies we do not hear4 ,there are depths of feeling we have not plumbed1 and heights we have not aspired to1 yet ,i am sure if we but place ourselves in a simple attitude of receptiveness1 we will draw nearer to the glory of the unseen1 and ,nature's finer forces will draw nearer to us4 ,,chapter ,,ix ,,pompey ,,and ,,the ,,duchess ,have animals souls8 ,i unhesitatingly answer ,yes4 ,if my dog has not a soul then neither have ,i--my dreams of immortality are merely a delusion4 ,i base my belief upon the ,god-like qualities found in animals--the highest quality of all1 love1 pure1 and unadulterated by self-seeking4 ,the oldest scriptures of the world tell us that when wild animals die their life flows back into a group soul1 a mass1 as it were1 of undifferentiated life essence4 ,as the animal becomes domesticated1 as a dog or cat learns to live with man1 shares in his joys and sorrows1 to be his constant companion1 then it advances rapidly in evolution4 ,it is developing human qualities1 and in due time will no more return to merge in the group soul1 but be born into the human family4 ,a lowly human family it is true1 a primitive savage to begin with1 but that animal has passed one of the most important milestones on the long1 lone trail4 ,it will never more return to the world in the form of the beast1 henceforth it will commence its slow ascent from the most elementary human body to the exalted heights of a god4 ,they tell us in the ,east3 ,first a stone1 then a plant1 then an animal1 then a man1 and finally a ,god4 ,this is how the wisdom of the ,east understands ,divine evolution4 ,cases where the ghosts of animals have been seen are becoming quite common4 ,before describing the astral apparitions of some of our animals1 ,i will recall a very interesting case which was investigated in recent years at ,ballechin1 ,perthshire4 ,the accounts of the ,ballechin hauntings are contained in a big volume1 but at present ,i am only concerned in the four-footed ghosts that were seen4 ,the trouble began upon the death of the eccentric owner1 old ,major ,stewart1 in #ahgf4 ,he had frequently stated his intention of haunting the place after his death1 and1 furthermore1 had asserted his determination to walk in the form of one of his many dogs1 a favorite black spaniel4 ,the family1 anxious1 as they thought1 to be on the safe side1 had all the pack1 numbering fourteen1 destroyed at the death of their master1 but this wholesale slaughter of the innocents proved of no avail4 ,the first intimation of its futility was immediately apparent4 ,the wife of the old ,major's nephew and heir was seated one day adding up accounts in the dead man's study1 when the room was suddenly invaded by the old doggy smell1 and an unseen dog pushed distinctly up against her4 ,many other unpleasant incidents followed after1 but the really great happenings did not begin till #ahif1 when a shooting tenant1 after a week or two1 was compelled to quit the house1 and forfeit the considerable rent he had paid in advance4 ,the above fact came to the notice of that inveterate ghost-hunter1 the late ,marquis of ,bute1 and he1 and several other members of the ,psychical ,society1 hired the house1 and went into residence4 ,the ,times of ,june1 #ahig1 contains elaborate details of the various experiences and the names of the investigators4 ,the phenomena they describe are very startling1 but perhaps the most unnerving specter was the frequent appearance of a black spaniel1 which was seen by numerous persons4 ,one member of the party had brought a black spaniel of his own4 ,he saw it run across the room1 when at that moment the real dog--his own--entered and began to fraternize with the ghost dog4 ,two ladies occupying the same bedroom had a curious experience4 ,a pet dog on the end of the bed began to whine1 and looking to where its eyes were fixed they saw1 not the black spaniel1 but two black paws on the table by the bed4 ,various other sorts of dogs were seen by many people4 ,the black spaniel by no means had the monopoly1 and dogs1 purposely brought by the investigators to aid them in their elucidation of the mystery1 made friends or exhibited mistrust of the pack of ghost dogs haunting both house and grounds4 ,twice in my life ,i have seen the wraith of our own dogs1 ,pompey and ,triff4 ,pompey was a big brindled bulldog of terrifying aspect and angelic nature4 ,my husband and ,i adored him1 and his death caused us great grief4 ,indeed1 the whole household mourned him long and deeply4 ,one day1 about ten days after his death1 ,i suddenly caught sight of him walking in front of me down the avenue4 ,on the spur of the moment ,i called him by name1 then he vanished4 ,i mentioned this occurrence to my maid1 who at once told me the kitchenmaid had seen him in exactly the same place4 ,when alive on earth ,pompey had a habit of stealing into a guest's room when the early tea was brought up4 ,he would lie in wait in a dark corner and then attempt to enter behind the maid or valet4 ,when the door was shut again he would emerge from his hiding-place1 and attempt to leap on the bed4 ,he was exceedingly gentle and affectionate1 but externally he was so forbidding that his offers of friendship were not always accepted1 and he was a great weight4 ,one day a ,mrs4 ,shelton came to stay with us1 and the next morning asked to have her room changed1 because ,pompey had kept walking round her bed all night1 and she had not been able to sleep4 ,she was sure it was ,pompey1 because she recognized his peculiar1 heavy1 slithering movements4 ,some time after this ,millicent1 ,duchess of ,sutherland1 came to pay us a visit4 ,she had been very overworked1 and needed a complete rest4 ,she brought with her a maid and a small ,french bulldog1 and she and the maid occupied a suite of three rooms1 two bedrooms and a bathroom1 shut off from the rest of the house by a heavy swing door4 ,the ,french bulldog was accustomed to sleep in the maid's room4 ,we had no dog left of our own4 ,the beautiful ,duchess went to bed about half-past ten2 she was very tired and ought to have slept well1 but she didn't4 ,in the night she was awakened by what she took to be her own bulldog prowling round her bed1 yet its footsteps sounded strangely heavy4 ,she knew nothing about ,pompey's ghostly visits2 we had been careful not to mention them4 ,when she came downstairs the next morning she told us what a disturbed night she had passed through4 ,she was awakened soon after midnight by the restless movements of a bulldog round her bed4 ,she did not doubt it was her own dog1 that owing to the forgetfulness of her maid had been left asleep under her bed4 ,she called it1 and at the same time switched on the light1 but could see no signs of any dog at all4 ,rather puzzled1 but concluding that she must have been mistaken1 she composed herself to sleep once more4 ,before very long the noise began again4 ,a bulldog with its heavy1 slouching tread was moving about round her bed4 ,this time the ,duchess got up1 and made a thorough search of her room1 but could see nothing in the shape of any animal4 ,yet so convinced was she that a dog had been in the room1 that she determined to look into her maid's room to see if her own dog was there4 ,she opened her maid's door1 which was shut1 and went into the room4 ,the woman was asleep1 and on the bed at her feet slept the ,french bulldog4 ,there was nothing to be done but to go back to her own bed once more1 and try to sleep in spite of the disturbances4 ,this was the story the ,duchess told us1 and added to me1 ,if he comes again to-night ,i shall come along to your room and rouse you4 ,it did not come again4 ,the peculiarity of ,pompey's visits was that they only occurred once to each stranger1 though he came several times to me1 as was but natural4 ,we honored his memory by raising to him a large granite headstone1 on which was inscribed-- ,soft lies the turf on one who finds his rest1 ,here1 on our common ,mother's ample breast1 ,unstained by meanness1 avarice and pride1 ,he never flattered and he never lied4 ,no gluttonous excess his slumbers broke1 ,no burning alcohol1 no stifling smoke4 ,he ne'er intrigued a rival to displace1 ,he ran1 but never betted on a race4 ,content with harmless sports and moderate food1 ,boundless in love1 and faith and gratitude4 ,happy the man1 if there be any such1 ,of whom his epitaph can say as much4 ,on this spot are deposited the remains of one who possessed beauty without vanity1 strength without insolence1 courage without ferocity1 and all the virtues of man without his vices4 ,this praise1 which would be unmeaning flattery if inscribed over human ashes1 is but a just tribute to the memory of ',pompey' a dog4 ,born #ahia4 ,died #aijb4 ,our next dog1 ,triff1 was a very handsome sable collie4 ,of course1 we became devoted to him1 and when he also passed away we felt very desolate without him4 ,for a long time ,i never could feel that he had left me4 ,though ,i could not see him1 ,i used to speak to him1 just as if ,i could see the dear presence ,i so strongly felt4 ,it was hard that ,i never could catch a glimpse of him1 because others did4 ,the butler saw him many times1 and my maid caught sight of him twice4 ,one often reads in ghost books of abnormal animal-like creatures being seen by psychics1 but it is rare to meet with living individuals who can testify to such personal experiences4 ,i remember ,lilian1 ,countess of ,cromartie1 telling me of a strange incident that once happened to her4 ,she was walking alone one bright summer morning in ,windsor ,great ,park4 ,suddenly she saw an amazing looking creature loping slowly towards her4 ,it resembled an enormous hare4 ,that is to say1 its legs and head were those of a hare1 but its size was that of a goat1 and its horned head was half-goat1 half-hare4 ,this creature1 loping without any fear1 and with a hare's movement straight towards her1 caused her to pause4 ,she stood still and breathlessly waited its approach4 ,it passed quite close to her1 and as it did so she struck at it with her parasol4 ,instantly it disappeared4 ,princess ,frederica of ,hanover1 always intensely interested in psychic phenomena1 and herself no tyro in psychic knowledge1 told me many years ago that she had seen several different sorts of abnormal animals1 quite unknown to this earth1 and under circumstances which left no doubt as to their actual existence4 ,many years ago there was much talk amongst a certain set of an experience that had come to a foreign ,grand ,duchess and her husband1 who spent much of their time in ,england4 ,this couple were traveling in the wilds of ,greece1 and one night they wandered out together on to a bare mountain side4 ,sitting down to rest they were enjoying the beauty and utter loneliness of the moonlit scene1 when they suddenly heard the galloping of many horses' hoofs approaching them4 ,this astonished them greatly1 as they were in so wild and unfrequented a part of the country4 ,there was no road near them1 and it seemed strange to hear horses galloping so fast on such rough ground at night1 even though there was a moon4 ,husband and wife stood up immediately in order to show themselves4 ,the sound suggested a headlong rush1 and they feared that in another second a whole regiment might ride over them4 ,they had not long to wait4 ,a troop of creatures1 half-men1 half-horses1 tore past them1 helter-skelter4 ,fleet and sure-footed they thundered by1 and they brought with them the most wonderful sense of joy and exhilaration4 ,neither the ,grand ,duchess nor her husband felt the smallest fear2 on the contrary1 both were seized by a wild elation1 a desire to be one of that splendid legion4 ,the thundering of their hoofs spread over the hills1 and died away into the distance4 ,on returning to their camp the husband and wife found an uproar4 ,something had gone wrong with the ,greek servants1 who were shivering with terror1 and struggling with equally terrified horses to prevent a stampede4 ,all that could be learned from the ,greeks was that they had heard something1 something known of and greatly feared4 ,i happened to hear the ,grand ,duchess tell of her weird experience1 and ,i have often wondered in later years if ,algernon ,blackwood had also heard the story1 and founded upon it his fascinating book1 ,the ,centaur4 ,there were several people in the room whilst the ,grand ,duchess was unfolding1 in the most impressive manner1 this strange event4 ,amongst them was the first ,lady ,henry ,grosvenor1 born ,miss ,erskine ,wemyss of ,wemyss ,castle4 ,she told us that when a child of seven years old1 she had passed through some minutes of such absolute terror1 that as long as she lived she would never forget the experience4 ,with another child1 and a nurse in attendance1 she was playing one summer morning out of doors4 ,after a little while the nurse rose from her seat amongst the heather1 and wandered away a short distance1 out of sight but not out of hearing4 ,a few moments after the two little girls heard some bushes behind them rustling1 and a huge creature1 half-goat1 half-man1 emerged and leisurely crossing the road in front of them plunged into the woods beyond and was lost to sight4 ,both children were thrown into a paroxysm of terror1 and screamed loudly4 ,the nurse ran back to them1 and when told what was the matter scolded them for their foolish fancies4 ,no such animal existed1 such as they described1 an animal much bigger than a goat1 that walked upright1 and had but two legs1 and two hoofs1 that was covered with shaggy brown hair from the waist downward1 and had the smooth skin of a man from the waist upward6 ,the nurse bade them come home at once1 and as they gained the road ,miss ,wemyss pointed down into the dust4 ,clearly defined was the track of a two-hoofed creature that had crossed at that spot4 ,the nurse stared for a moment or two1 then with one accord they all ran4 ,she never took her charges near that spot again4 ,lady ,henry said that the memory of that experience was so firmly grafted on her mind that she could always recall with perfect clarity the exact appearance of this appalling creature4 ,in after years1 when grown up1 she realized from pictures that what she had seen was a ,faun or ,satyr4 ,such pictures or statues always sent a thrill of horror through her4 ,she attributed this apparition to the fact that she and her companion were playing close to the site of a ,roman camp1 and the road was an old ,roman road4 ,she went on to say that the ,grand ,duchess had given her courage to tell this incredible story4 ,it was as absolutely real to her as was the passing of the ,centaurs to the ,grand ,duchess4 ,the whole scene stood out in brilliant light as a picture before her1 whenever she thought of it1 which she very often did4 ,she never mentioned it to any one1 as she felt that no one would believe her4 ,she could always smell again the scent of summer1 and the odor of pine trees1 and hear the trickling of water from a tiny stream4 ,she could always see a wide1 white road1 ribbon-like stretching away to the horizon4 ,then1 suddenly1 she and her young companion stood face to face with a presence1 a hideous1 unspeakable shape1 that was neither man nor beast4 ,she believed that there was a real world beyond the glamour and vision of our ordinary senses1 and sometimes this veil was lifted for a few seconds4 ,she believed that much of the tradition of mythical creatures represented solid fact1 and that it was possible there were failures of creation still extant4 ,again1 might there not be races fallen out of evolution1 but retaining as a survival certain powers that to us appear miraculous4 ,a very gifted being was ,miminie ,erskine ,wemyss1 who married ,lord ,henry ,grosvenor4 ,one of my earliest memories is the thrill her beauty gave me when first ,i saw her1 as she walked into church1 a silver prayer-book1 slung on a silver chain1 depending from her arm4 ,,chapter ,x ,,the ,,invisible ,,hands ,all through my life there have come to me moments never to be forgotten4 ,often the incidents that so deeply impressed me were utterly trivial in themselves1 still they were sacramental1 inasmuch as they proved to me1 absolutely and conclusively1 the immortality of the soul1 and the power possessed by the soul after so-called death to concern itself with terrestrial happenings4 ,such moments are sacramental1 in the sense that ,nature is sacramental1 in its showing forth of ,god's glory1 and the manifestation of ,his handiwork4 99 99 99 99 99 ,i was sitting near the library window1 reading1 in the fading light of a quiet ,november afternoon4 ,it was one of those utterly still1 mournful days1 with a gray1 brooding sky1 save where1 in the west1 a pale primrose sunset was bathing the horizon in light4 ,i was reading ,man and the ,universe1 by ,sir ,oliver ,lodge1 and had arrived at page #acg1 which ends ,chapter ,,vi4 ,in those days1 the year was #aijh1 ,i always tried to arrange at least one week of perfect quiet for the study of a new book which ,i had just ordered4 ,i would calculate on which day the post would bring it to my country home1 and ,i would arrange my life accordingly4 ,this may sound rather ridiculous1 but the truth is that a book like ,man and the ,universe is such a pure intellectual treat to me1 that ,i like to gloat over it1 to taste it slowly1 and imbibe it gradually4 ,i try to spin out the joy of it as long as possible by reading slowly1 and thinking over the problems presented4 ,at last ,i put the book down on a table by my side4 ,i was in no hurry4 ,it lay on its back1 open1 the pages uppermost2 just where ,i had stopped reading4 ,i fell to wondering on the words ,i had just read4 ,a reformer must not be in haste4 ,the kingdom cometh not by observation1 but by secret working as of leaven4 ,nor must he advocate any compromise repugnant to an enlightened conscience4 ,bigotry must die1 but it must die a natural1 not a violent death4 ,would that the leaders in ,church and ,state had always been able to receive an impatient enthusiast in the spirit of the lines-- ,dreamer of dreams6 no taunt is in our sadness1 ,what e'er our fears our hearts are with your cause1 ,god's mills grind slow2 and thoughtless haste were madness1 ,to gain ,heaven's ends we dare not break ,heaven's laws4 ,i must have sat thinking for quite ten minutes when my attention was suddenly attracted by a sound4 ,the sound of paper leaves being rustled4 ,the room was so dead still that the faintest sound would have called my attention1 but this sound was by no means faint4 ,i turned my head and looked at the book ,i had been reading1 because1 from it1 unmistakably the noise proceeded4 ,i beheld a most enthralling phenomenon4 ,unseen hands were turning over the pages4 ,a thrill of intense excitement ran through me1 and ,i stared at the book in breathless interest4 ,the hands seemed to be searching for some particular passage4 ,the number of the page upon which the passage was printed was not1 apparently1 known to the searcher4 ,i will try to describe what actually happened4 ,several leaves of the book were turned over rather rapidly1 each leaf making the usual sound which accompanies such an ordinary physical action4 ,then1 as if fearing that the passage required had been overlooked or passed by1 several leaves were turned back again4 ,this manifestation continued for at least ten minutes1 and ,i could see nothing but the pages of the book being turned quite methodically1 as by a human hand4 ,at moments there was rather a long pause in the search1 and at the first pause ,i thought the demonstration might be over1 but once again the invisible entity resumed the search1 and ,i found myself saying1 ,he found something there that interested him4 ,that is why he stopped4 ,for no reason ,i can give ,i felt certain my visitor was a male spirit4 ,on the second pause in the search occurring ,i had no doubt that again he had found something that interested him4 ,the whole manifestation was very leisurely and wonderfully human4 ,as ,i sat watching the book being manipulated by unseen fingers1 every smallest action suggested design4 ,one could not doubt as to what was taking place4 ,at length there came a pause longer than usual4 ,the book lay flat on its back wide open4 ,there was now no quiver of the leaves4 ,the invisible entity had found what he wanted and gone4 ,i curbed my curiosity for five minutes more1 then feeling convinced that ,i was again alone ,i stretched out my hand1 took the book and1 rising1 carried it close to the window4 ,there was still enough light to read by1 and the leaves were open at pages #agb-agc4 ,i had only read as far as page #acg4 ,i scanned them eagerly1 and at once discovered that a mark had been made on the margin of page #agb4 ,a long cross had been placed against a paragraph4 ,the mark was such as might have been made by a sharp finger-nail4 ,the words marked were-- ,i want to make the distinct assertion that a really existing thing never perishes1 but only changes its form4 ,to-day the mark is as clearly visible on the page as on the day it was made4 ,i can form no conjecture as to who the entity was1 but he certainly knew the contents of the book4 ,no one watching the search could doubt that1 or that he was desirous of impressing upon the readers of the book a certain fact stated therein1 which must have previously attracted his attention4 ,in the year #aijj we took a house for the winter months in the ,west ,end of ,london4 ,it was a small house though joined on either side by great mansions1 and once upon a time it had actually been a farmhouse standing amid smiling fields4 ,it retained many relics of its ancient origin in fine oak paneling and quaint nooks and corners1 and had been for many of its latter years the town residence of a man whose type had practically died out1 the perfect type of our old ,english aristocracy4 ,the bedroom ,i occupied was exceedingly comfortable and warm4 ,the bed1 placed against the wall1 was exactly opposite to the fireplace1 so that lying on my right side ,i looked straight at the fire and could see the whole room4 ,i was constantly on the alert1 as ,i knew how full of history such a house must be1 but for several weeks ,i neither saw nor heard anything in the least unusual4 ,one night1 quite unexpectedly1 a change occurred4 ,i no longer had the room to myself4 ,a stranger occupied it with me4 ,it was a cold1 snowy night1 and ,i was lying in bed facing the fire and courting sleep1 when ,i heard a sudden noise which was totally different to the sounds made by the dying fire4 ,take a large sheet of stiff writing paper in your hand and crush it up between your fingers and you will hear the sound ,i heard4 ,quite a loud and distinct noise if you happen to be in a very quiet room1 at an hour when all the household has retired to bed4 ,naturally1 ,i instantly opened my eyes and looked out into the room1 which was lit brightly enough by the fire to make all the objects it contained quite distinct4 ,an armchair was drawn up close to the fire2 half an hour before ,i had been seated in it warming my toes before getting into bed2 now it was again filled4 ,in it sat a man turned sideways towards me4 ,he was lying back with his legs stretched straight out in front of him towards the fire4 ,one of his arms hung over the arm of the chair1 and in his clenched hand was a large piece of paper or parchment4 ,his finely cut profile was clearly outlined1 he was clean shaven1 and he stared into the fire1 his chin sunk in a high black stock4 ,his hair was powdered and tied behind by a large black bow1 and he wore bright blue cloth knee breeches1 white stockings1 silver buckled shoes1 and many gold buttons on his blue coat4 ,i did not take in all those details at once2 ,i had ample leisure to do so later4 ,for1 ,i suppose1 a full two minutes1 ,i stared very hard at him1 and lay very still1 knowing full well ,i was looking at a ghost4 ,then very cautiously ,i drew the bedclothes over my head1 and shut out the startling vision4 ,i was invaded by wild panic4 ,i have never been one of those timid women who are frightened by their own shadows4 ,i require to be face to face with a tangible danger before ,i put faith in its existence1 yet1 ,i confess that at that moment ,i knew what actual fear meant4 ,my heart beat thickly1 then seemed to stop1 and ,i was instantly bathed in cold perspiration4 ,i knew that the servants were all in bed two flights of stairs below me1 and my husband was out of ,london1 so no calling for help was any use4 ,i therefore forced a sort of spurious desperate courage1 and began to be angry with myself for being thus afraid when no cause for fear existed4 ,i treated myself to a scornful lecture4 ,you who profess to know all about ghosts1 you who have actually seen several ghosts1 you coward to quail before this one6 ,don't you know perfectly well that he won't hurt you1 that he has a perfect right to sit in that chair1 and that it is your duty to speak to him should he show any desire for conversation8 ,i am so terribly alone1 pleaded my other self in feeble self-defense4 ,well1 what of it8 ,if the whole household was in the room what could they do8 ,you are not a child4 ,uncover your head and look the specter boldly in the face4 ,the stillness and hush of deep night1 at the hour when sleepers slumber soundest1 was upon the house4 ,the traffic of ,london was muffled in a heavy fall of snow4 ,i could hear nothing but the feeble crackling of the expiring fire in the grate1 but gradually ,i rallied my courage and faculties and peeped stealthily out4 ,there sat that dark form between me and the fire2 there he lay in an attitude of moody carelessness1 watching the cooling embers as they faded from scarlet to pink1 from pink to yellow1 and then fell tinkling into heaps of white ashes4 ,no statue was ever stiller4 ,he did not move in the least1 but sat more like an effigy of a man carved out of stone than a creature of flesh and blood4 ,i closed my eyes and re-opened them1 to test the fact whether ,i was awake or asleep and dreaming4 ,no1 ,i was broad wake and the room was still fairly well lit1 and there sat the phantom before the fire1 the proud1 well-set head with its powdered curls distinctly visible in the red glow of the firelight4 ,i should think an hour must have passed thus1 whilst ,i gazed at the figure before me1 taking in every detail4 ,there was no indication that he knew or cared for my presence4 ,the figure sat like a stone4 ,i came to the conclusion that the phantom was about thirty years of age1 and a sailor who had lived in the days of ,nelson1 judging by his clothes and the pictures ,i had seen4 ,i noticed particularly his hand clenched on the paper4 ,a white hand1 with strong cruel-looking fingers4 ,there is so much character in hands4 ,the face may be drilled into a mere mask1 but hands tell tales of their owners4 ,i could imagine the hand that had crushed the paper closing murderously on the throat of an adversary1 or gripped hard on the hilt of a dagger4 ,there were moments when the awful inertia of the figure began to play havoc with my nerves1 when ,i would have given anything to make that impassive form move from out its dreary attitude of sullen brooding2 anything to cause the profile of the face1 with all its gloom and pride1 to turn and front me1 so that ,i might know the worst4 ,but the figure never turned1 never stirred1 but sat with stately head bowed under a weight of thought4 ,now and again a little flame would spurt up and glitter on his shoe buckles1 his brass buttons1 but the fire was dying now1 and gradually the figure became more and more indistinct4 ,then ,i slept4 ,i had been feeling drowsy for some time1 and fought against it4 ,i had violently resisted sleep1 feeling a great repugnance to losing consciousness whilst the specter still sat there1 but the blank force of sleep at length overpowered me4 ,when ,i awoke the cold gray morning light was stealing feebly in through the window4 ,the chair was empty4 ,the figure was gone4 ,the next night ,i went to bed full of courage1 but ,i was left alone4 ,if the sailor returned it was not until after ,i had gone to sleep4 ,a week later he came back4 ,one moment the chair was empty1 the next moment with one wild heart throb ,i opened my eyes at the sound of crackling paper1 and the chair was filled4 ,there he sat in his brooding sullen attitude and continued so to sit till slumber vanquished me4 ,after that ,i saw him at constant intervals4 ,by this time ,i had entirely rid myself of all fear4 ,i did not even desire to change my room which would have been very inconvenient1 and ,i dreaded alarming the household and being left alone to conduct the domestic duties4 ,but though no longer afraid those constant visits began to get on my nerves1 and ,i consulted a ,catholic friend who was always sympathetic to the occult side of life4 ,she said at once that this spirit should be exorcised and set free from the bondage of earth1 and that she had an old friend1 a ,franciscan monk1 who was known to be a powerful exorcist4 ,she offered to arrange the matter1 and ,i gladly accepted her suggestion4 ,it was on an early spring afternoon that ,father ,reginald ,buckler came to the house4 ,in his white habit1 sandaled feet and shorn crown1 he looked an incongruous figure in that fashionable locality already beginning its social entertainments in view of the season's approach4 ,he was a charming1 courteous old man1 who took his mission very seriously4 ,after a few words of explanation we mounted to the bedroom floor4 ,there were four doors opening on to the little landing1 and without asking which of the doors led to the haunted chamber1 he turned the handle of the right one and entered4 ,still he put no question1 but at once proceeded with the ,service of ,exorcism4 ,sprinkling the four corners of the room with ,holy ,water1 he bade me kneel down in the middle4 ,then he raised his ,crucifix and offered up prayers for the repose of the earth-bound soul1 that he might be loosed and set free4 ,for five weeks longer we remained in the house1 but ,i never saw the sailor again4 ,,chapter ,,xi ,,dawns ,we have been given many wonderful dawns this winter1 and ,i have used them eagerly as a cleansing of the war-weary mind and distracted soul4 ,in such ethereal apparitional dawns one walks with the ,eternal1 and all temporal things fade away4 ,those pale silver daybreaks have a rapture of their own1 they suggest a fresh creation straight from the looms of ,god4 ,when the hours of day have drawn on the flaming sunset1 that exquisitely serene emotion of virgin tranquillity will have passed away1 and the horizon will be lurid and grand beneath a grave frowning sadness gathered from the scenes of earth they have brooded over4 ,such dawns beckon imperiously to the pilgrim1 to leave the shelter of the roof-tree1 and come forth to walk with the immortals whilst the ,morning ,star1 the light-bringer1 still shines1 a white gold radiance in the heavens1 and the distance is still dissolved in veils of pearl and opal4 ,such daybreaks always rouse in me the urge for wider thought1 for the broad day of the mind4 ,out of the limitless beyond comes the certain knowledge of a something unimagined1 lying just outside human thought4 ,i am sure there is so much not yet imagined1 something more than mere existence4 ,there is a wine of happiness in tranquil daybreak1 and an aloofness from life that urges one to seek for that which is beyond comprehension4 ,the draught exalts the soul1 and quickens it with unquenchable fire1 until the world falls away1 far from one1 as day wells out of still darkness4 ,only at such moments do we reach the true horizon4 ,again1 there is an amnesty in such dawns1 a glory of release from the house of bondage4 ,in the great silences1 life1 as we know it1 is remote1 and the immensity is a magic that draws the soul1 fusing it in a strange passion1 so that whatever fulfillment our existence holds is summed in that hour of solitude4 ,a pale wash of translucent gold is thrown across land and sea4 ,on the far horizon a ship is set in relief1 against a core of crimson flame which heralds the sun4 ,a dove coos softly1 and on a bare branch a thrush thrills in waves of sound1 seeking in the universal ether to reproduce its divine instinct in other feathered hearts that are attuned to its melody4 ,such joys as these are transitory1 and never wholly possessed4 ,they pass the enclosures of life1 and bring one nearer to the beating heart of truth4 ,the agonizing fear of losing hold on them is1 in itself1 the cause of their dispersal4 ,it is the same at rare moments of semi-consciousness1 when one has actually laid hold of a genuine astral experience--and knows it4 ,then comes the frantic endeavor to hold on--to pin the moment fast and tight1 till the whole vision is absorbed4 ,the soul seems to hold its breath6 ,how often1 with bitter disappointment ,i have rushed reluctantly into full waking consciousness--and only half the story told4 ,fragmentary though such moments are their potency is such that they endure through time4 ,thank ,god1 that whilst the wedlock of body and soul still holds undissolved there is scope for such joys4 ,they are uncommunicable1 and may not be shared with others at will1 and they tell the soul that she is not of creation and cannot be contained by law4 ,at such hours she learns the truth1 that she passes for a brief span into the limited1 from out the limitless whence she came4 ,at such sacramental hours one can pray the prayer of ,socrates1 offered up by the banks of the ,illissus3 ,o ,beloved ,god of the forests and flocks and all ye ,divinities of this place1 grant me to become beautiful in the inner man1 and that whatever outward things ,i have may be at peace with those within4 ,may ,i deem the wise man rich1 and may ,i have so much wealth1 and so much only1 as a good man can manage to enjoy4 ,do we need anything else1 ,phaedrus8 ,for myself ,i have prayed enough4 99 99 99 99 99 ,how many people now recall fragments of former lives6 ,ask the next man you meet if he has any recollections of former existences1 and be sure he will not eye you askance as a fugitive from ,bedlam4 ,he may smile and shake his head1 and regret to say he isn't psychic1 but he won't ask you what on earth you mean4 ,this is how we have progressed towards truth in the last thirty years4 ,the truth of reincarnation is being quietly accepted by the ,west and is now openly preached from many pulpits4 ,if ,god is love1 who could reconcile with any comprehensive idea of justice and law in the world the lives and experiences of common humanity8 ,how reconcile the births taking place in one single day in their vast diversity1 by the hell for the criminal1 born1 nurtured and killed in crime1 who never had a chance1 and ,heaven for the happily born1 who need never have a temptation8 ,what is the ,divine ,law lying behind this seeming hideous injustice8 ,undoubtedly the continuous evolution of the soul in bodies of matter4 ,men are looking now to the scheme of organic evolution to provide the field for spiritual evolution4 ,they are finding it in the depths of their own consciousness4 ,i chanced upon one of those fragments of a past life1 those islets in eternity in a strange way4 ,i was paying a visit to a stranger in ,cambridgeshire1 and whilst awaiting her entry ,i walked round the room looking at some lovely water-colored sketches that hung upon the walls4 ,when their owner entered1 and after a few minutes' conversation1 ,i said1 ,how beautiful those ,sicilian scenes are6 ,she looked pleased and answered3 ,i'm so glad you recognize them4 ,i painted them4 ,when were you last in ,sicily8 ,i had never at that time been in ,sicily4 ,i told her so1 but ,i could not tell a stranger that suddenly there had dawned upon me a keen recollection of the country ,i had certainly been in1 though not in this life4 ,the paintings1 of course1 dealt with a restricted field1 but as ,i looked at them one by one ,i saw mentally a wide landscape in which each picture formed but a tiny spot4 ,one ,i remember was a painting of a wonderfully perfect temple1 which occupied the whole space of the picture4 ,as ,i looked at it ,i saw wide rolling plains1 and a wide expanse of blue sea4 ,this ,i later recognized in ,girgenti4 ,a month or two afterwards my husband and ,i went to ,sicily for the winter1 and1 as ,i had expected1 the island was perfectly familiar to me4 ,i knew exactly round which bend of the hill ,i should find a temple1 but ,syracuse was really my spiritual home4 ,it was there that ,i had played out one of my many life dramas1 and many incidents returned to me as ,i wandered over the hills1 and gathered maiden-hair ferns in the twilight of the empty tombs4 ,once ,i opened my eyes on ,stromboli1 one of the ,a,eolian or ,lipari ,isles4 ,instantly ,i felt a passion of love for it1 an intuition of spiritual delight which is utterly irreducible to terms4 ,i have looked upon it since1 and always with an adoration impossible to paint with pen or pencil4 ,i have for weeks anticipated the moment when ,i should see it again4 ,it means something to me far beyond what the eye can see1 the tongue relate1 and it is this something lying betwixt rhapsody and lament which draws me by a tenuous chain of thought right back into the womb of time1 where buried memory stirs in its long sleep4 ,stromboli1 so the ancient poets tell us1 was the home of the fiery god1 ,vulcan4 ,that explains much to me1 but it unfolds a secret none may learn4 ,it was in a flaming dawn that ,i first saw ,stromboli rising from amid the numerous isles surrounding it4 ,from its cone shot a great plume of smoke1 like a giant ostrich feather1 silver tinted4 ,in its ethereal loveliness it seemed to float in the void1 half of earth1 half of heaven4 ,neither bondage of words1 nor the cold scrutiny of reason can impinge upon a scene which draws the soul away upon a celestial pilgrimage4 ,free and elate1 she passes beyond the frontiers of life1 and like the echoes of the sea when a shell is held to the ear1 she hears the pulse of earth beat far away in unfathomable distance4 ,the marvel of the uncreated consumes her in a trance of unincarnate passion4 ,those who have once adventured on such pilgrimages are never quite the same again4 ,they become children of the ,divine unrest4 ,they have experienced a moment in which earth and flesh dissolve1 in which law is not1 in which creeds and covenants find no place1 and the hold upon common life with its moving mirages is blotted out4 ,time and space are annulled1 the aeon and the second are one4 ,the soul unswathed1 has risen from the tomb where the life urge has laid it1 and is aglow with the transcendental fires of eternal being4 ,in after days the soul learns to set barriers against such visitants4 ,one must not look upon the other side of the moon too often1 for fear one is drawn away from home and kindred4 ,the time is not yet1 but it will surely come4 ,one other curious happening ,i must relate4 ,years ago1 one autumn when ,i was in the far north there came a magnificent visitation of falling stars and many aerolites dropped to earth4 ,the display was predicted1 and ,i was on the lookout4 ,it came in a rain of gold and seemingly from all points of the compass4 ,for hours ,i watched a sight far more marvelous than anything ,i had anticipated4 ,when at last ,i reluctantly went to bed ,i had a strange dream or1 rather1 astral experience4 ,i was a ,hungarian gipsy1 the head or queen of an enormous clan4 ,i heard wild ,hungarian music1 and saw enormous crowds of my people gathered round me4 ,they were very savage and picturesque1 and a ceremony was proceeding4 ,on the ground1 and in the center of a great ring of people1 stood a large bowl filled with blood4 ,i stood in front of it and watched the swearing in of new adherents to my clan1 by means of the blood covenant4 ,the blood that filled the bowl had been drawn from the veins of my people1 and the new adherents were each required to drink from it and swear their allegiance4 ,only one thing troubled me all through what seemed a long ceremony4 ,my feet caused me pain1 and ,i was aware that they were bare1 as were the feet of all my people4 ,so vivid was the dream that ,i could visualize my whole life as ,i lived it on the plains of ,hungary1 and the scenery surrounding me was lit up by a glorious sunset4 ,there were hundreds of horses grazing loose1 as far as the eye could reach1 and flocks of enormous white geese1 amid which great storks strutted4 ,suddenly ,i awoke with the acute pain in my feet uppermost in my mind4 ,i found myself clad only in my nightgown1 walking bare-footed on the rough gravel paths of the garden1 whence ,i had watched the stellar display4 ,i had been walking in my sleep1 and the sudden unaccustomed stony hardness of the path under my bare feet had awakened in me the recollection of a past life1 in which ,i had lived1 a wild nomad in southern ,hungary4 ,this is the one and only occasion in my life in which ,i have known somnambulism4 ,luckily my memory did not fail me on waking and1 some time after1 when ,i was able to revisit the scenes of that long ago pilgrimage ,i was quite familiar with my surroundings4 ,buda ,pest and the lands lying southward were then my home1 a roving home and tent life of infinite variety4 ,thus the dead of vanished years are disguised in the present living4 ,i have no doubt that many people who have not had the interesting experience of remembering one or more of their former incarnations have been able through some trivial incident to recollect happenings long vanished from their memory4 ,sometimes the scent of a flower1 the glimpse of a scene1 a chance word or expression will vividly recall some episode lying hidden for many years in the subconsciousness4 ,again it will be pulled over the threshold from past to present1 from the storehouse of the eternal memory into the everyday working consciousness or mind4 ,this is not a book for scientists4 ,i will therefore go into no elaborate metaphysics1 but will sketch as simply as ,i can what ,i mean by subconsciousness4 ,i use the term for the region or zone within us which stores up the residues of past thoughts and experiences4 ,scientists tell us there are three realms of mind1 the super-conscious1 the conscious1 the subconscious4 ,the conscious mind is what we commonly use4 ,it belongs purely to the objective world1 and its instruments are the five senses4 ,the subconscious mind is the storehouse for experiences on the human plane of man's long past4 ,the super-consciousness is independent of the five senses4 ,it is a faculty of perception closely akin to the ,one force in the ,universe1 which is inseparably related to all created things4 ,it possesses the attributes of ,infinity1 is indestructible1 immortal1 undying4 ,we may forget a fact for many years1 then suddenly we remember it4 ,i believe it has come back to us again across the threshold from the subconscious region to our consciousness or mind which is open to everyday observation4 ,i have become convinced1 by personal experience1 of the existence in us of this region below the threshold of our ordinary conscious life4 ,when ,i was young there were many problems ,i wished to solve1 and in this effort human aid often failed me4 ,my plan was to sleep on a problem1 ardently desiring before dropping off that an answer might be accorded me4 ,i suppose this desire was of the nature of prayer1 though addressed to no ,deity4 ,almost invariably the solution was clear and unmistakable to me in the morning4 ,i lost this great advantage at the age of twenty-one1 but even now ,i can sometimes get at a solution by leaving the question severely alone1 after turning it well over in my mind4 ,the solution will suddenly pop up1 often weeks after ,i have tried to get at it1 and when it comes there1 it arrives apropos of nothing1 so to speak4 ,it simply dawns in the thick of quite other subjects1 which happen at the moment to occupy my mind4 ,though ,i can no more demonstrate to others the existence of the subconsciousness than ,i can prove the existence of the immortal soul1 ,i have got sufficient proof to satisfy myself1 and ,i believe the same knowledge is open to many of us4 ,within our being are sympathetic chords that can vibrate to all the symphonies of ,nature4 ,there are visions of beauty and depths of feeling which may be seen and felt1 if heart and mind are open to the higher influences4 ,the finer forces of ,nature1 and her immutable laws1 are ready to draw nigh to us if we desire to welcome them1 and are eager to place ourselves in harmony with the ,infinite ,source of being4 ,we are in the keeping of the best and highest1 and whatever things are pure1 whatsoever things are beautiful1 whatsoever things are true and high and holy will gravitate towards us in proportion to the degree we desire them4 ,the mysterious gift of existence is in itself a beckoning ideal1 and a foregleam of the final awakening that will surely be ours4 ,now what does the subconsciousness contain8 ,firstly1 ,i believe it to be permeated by ,deity1 and the ,divine indwelling4 ,it is the seat of ,genius4 ,i believe a genius to be one who is capable of drawing from the contents of his subconsciousness that which outwardly appears as a creation4 ,it is said that genius creates and talent copies4 ,i believe that a man becomes great when he represents the results of countless lives in his individuality1 and each life is an arc of the infinite life of the ,universe4 ,the man with aeons of experience behind him is infinitely more en rapport with his subconsciousness than those younger1 more immature souls who have as yet experienced few earth lives and who constitute the bulk of humanity4 ,the eternal mind finds its home in the subconsciousness1 by which ,i mean that nothing is really forgotten by man4 ,this lapse of memory is the passing of the subject from the ordinary mind into the subconsciousness1 whence it may later be recovered again4 ,the memory of all our former incarnations ,i believe to lie hidden in the subconsciousness4 ,it is from this region or zone that one gets sudden uprushes of memory1 and such uprushes are induced by stumbling on a chance link between the two zones of consciousness4 ,some chance incident1 such as the presence of my bare feet upon the rough gravel1 touches a correspondence on the other side of the threshold1 and lays bare old scenes to the observation of the ordinary mind4 ,it is noteworthy that the matter contained in this up-rushing is recognized first1 and the means which brought about the uprush is recognized secondly4 ,i believe there is a vital communication between consciousness and subconsciousness which could be enormously developed and utilized by practice4 ,the age in which we live has produced the most marvelous triumphs of mind over matter4 ,access to the subconsciousness is becoming commoner and simpler4 ,we have broken in and harnessed material forces in a manner undreamt of fifty years ago4 ,yet there is an alas6 a fact which detracts from all our legitimate pride in our achievement--the base uses to which our triumphs have been put4 ,the whole of our inventive power has been turned against the life that gave it birth4 ,the parents are being consumed by their own offspring4444 ,matter evolved out of spirit has threatened destruction to the latter4 ,the threshold between our ordinary consciousness and the region of subconsciousness seems to me like a bridge which is rarely used1 and which separates the country known from the country unknown4 ,i live in the country known1 but if ,i can touch a button at my end ,i can get a response instantaneously transmitted from the country unknown4 ,the trouble is to find the button4 ,at present ,i only press it at long intervals and by the merest chance4 ,still it is something of an achievement to have convinced one's self that such a region actually does exist4 ,i believe this subconsciousness of ours is in direct contact with the ,great ,creative ,power4 ,it is ,god that worketh in man1 and its vital communications are hidden in the infinite eternity4 ,says a ,sufi ideal3 ,to abide in ,god after passing away is the work of the perfect man1 who not only journeys to ,god--passes from plurality to unity--but in and with ,god--continuing in the unitive state he returns with ,god 7his subconscious self7 to the phenomenal world from which he sets out1 and manifests unity in plurality4 ,though at present1 to all outward seeming1 the evolution of the beast is consummated1 there is a something that flatly contradicts this apparent certainty4 ,that something is man's subconsciousness1 and the ,divinity it enshrouds1 and which fiercely and irrevocably is set against the bestiality into which he is plunged4 ,war has never been so universally hated as it now is4 ,it is in this vital fact1 which cannot be too strongly emphasized1 that our future hope lies4 ,i believe this vital fact to be so strong that entire regeneration is a certainty4 ,where hitherto this force has lain dormant or been dispersed1 disunited and weak in spiritual utterance1 it is now a collective force concentrated in millions of lives4 ,all over the earth it is now gathered en masse1 and that stupendous aggregate1 vivified1 sharpened1 and intensely accentuated by untold suffering will revolutionize all former weak and fatalistic acquiescence in the inevitability of war4 ,millions of men have descended into hell1 they are there now1 but they will arise again from amongst the dead1 and ascend one day into the ,heaven of peace1 and thence they will judge the quick and the dead by a new standard4 ,the standard of the ,god within1 whose voice has been heard at last from out the din of battle4 ,it is the same ,god who has said to the ,east3-- ,have perseverance as one who dost forever more endure4 ,thy shadows 7physical bodies7 live and vanish1 that which is in thee shall live forever1 that which in thee knows is not of fleeting life1 it is the man that was1 that is1 that will be1 for whom the hour shall never strike4 ,to-day we all use1 in some cases automatically1 the powers and aptitudes developed in us in the long and painful evolution of the physical form4 ,as evolution proceeds we will gain a vastly greater control over the subconsciousness1 and in aeons to come in the flight of the alone to the alone union will be achieved4 ,the two will be merged in one4 ,the ,lord ,buddha has said that to enter ,nirvana is to become fully conscious of our fundamental oneness with the universal life4 ,i and my ,father are one4 ,christ's sense of oneness with the ,father was essentially ,nirvanic4 ,we have not yet accustomed ourselves to think of evolution in any terms but the material1 as a power inherent in matter1 ,darwin's physical evolution stood for pure materialism4 ,bergson now carries us a step farther4 ,he introduces us to a spiritual principle4 ,his creative evolution is a spiritual activity seeking freedom of expression in matter4 ,darwin's struggle for existence is by ,bergson transmuted into life1 expressing itself through material forms1 and life and matter are in constant conflict4 ,again he points out that the spiritual principle1 life1 has not had it all its own way4 ,it has experienced checks1 but in two modes of activity it has succeeded1 in instinct and intelligence4 ,thus he draws for us the grandiose upward sweep of a ,divine activity4 ,curbed1 it is true1 by the crust of matter1 but finding ever higher capacities1 and higher expression towards that ultimate reality which is creative life and to me is union with that higher self lying in the subconsciousness of all men4 ,,chapter ,,xii ,,peacock',s ,,feathers--,,the ,,skeleton ,,hand ,,at ,,monte ,,carlo ,a sea voyage once provided me with a wonderfully lucky experience1 inasmuch as it saved me from an extremely bad accident4 ,i was returning quite alone from the ,east in a ship crammed full of women and children1 most of them soldiers' wives and families going home to escape the hot weather4 ,many of them were attended by ayahs4 ,two days out we ran into a raging storm1 and everything was battened down4 ,owing to the weather1 and the excessive crowding1 the conditions below soon became very unpleasant1 and ,i asked the captain if ,i might take possession of the ladies' summer drawing-room on the upper deck and close to the bridge4 ,seeing that it would not be used by any one else for some time to come he kindly agreed1 and ,i at once settled myself in my eyrie with a few books1 and prepared for some days of solitude4 ,but as the storm did not abate the suffering women and children below claimed my attention4 ,they were confined in an atmosphere which was appalling1 they were all terribly ill and utterly helpless4 ,the mothers were unable to attend to their children1 most of whom were infants1 and the ayahs suffered horribly4 ,having no cabins they lay groaning on the floors of the corridors1 drenched with water as the ship was awash from stem to stern1 and tossed hither and thither as she rolled heavily4 ,it was never easy to descend from my perch aloft1 but the sufferers had to be aided1 and day after day ,i never knew a dry moment till ,i lay down at night4 ,so far the summer drawing-room remained fairly water-tight in spite of being swept continually by heavy seas1 but the noise of the elements was absolutely deafening1 and when the captain called upon me we had to shout in each other's ears4 ,with his connivance ,i got a shelter rigged up on what appeared to be the only dry spot on board4 ,it was about twelve feet square and walled in with sailcloth1 and there the sailors helped to carry a number of tiny children4 ,they were to remain there during the best hours of the day1 until their mothers and nurses were capable of attending to them once more4 ,i took charge at first and found my task no light one4 ,the babies did not seem to appreciate my blandishments4 ,they cried persistently1 but luckily their voices were drowned in the roaring of the wind4 ,at last a cabin boy chanced to look in1 and at once sized up the situation4 ,he signaled to me that he knew of something that would ease the tension and then he disappeared4 ,in five minutes he was back brandishing a large bunch of peacock's feathers4 ,these he shook in the face of each infant in turn1 at the same time making the most hideous grimaces at them4 ,it was an anxious moment for me1 but luckily the effect was electrical4 ,the babies suddenly forgot to yell1 they stiffly maintained their equilibrium and stared in a sort of indignant amazement4 ,then1 gradually1 as the boy kept going round the circle repeating the process1 smiles and dimples began to appear1 and in five minutes more the whole creche was laughing4 ,i applied for permission to annex that boy2 he was indeed a treasure1 and the joy in the peacock's feathers never palled4 ,his gutta-percha face had an infinite variety of expression1 which he could instantly turn on to suit all occasions4 ,it was a fascinating sight to see him going round the group feeding each baby out of the same bottle1 one of the old-fashioned horrors with a long indiarubber tube and teat4 ,those infants who had contemptuously rejected all my offers of nourishment now sat expectantly agape waiting their turn4 ,the scene always reminded me of the artificial feeding of fowls1 by the man who goes round the pens squirting liquid down each gaping throat4 ,when we landed at ,marseilles there was a wonderful parting between the babies and the cabin boy4 ,they clung to him to the last1 and howled dismally when they were carried off by their haggard mothers4 ,one night1 during the height of the storm ,i was asleep on the fixed red velvet seat running round the walls of the summer drawing-room4 ,i lay just under a porthole1 to which was attached a rope4 ,the other end of the rope was tied round my arm to prevent my being thrown to the floor by the rolling of the ship4 ,at five o'clock in the morning ,i was suddenly awakened by hearing my husband's voice shouting in my ear4 7,my husband not being on board1 but in our home in the ,north of ,scotland47 ,sit up6 ,sit up6 shouted his voice commandingly4 ,considerably startled ,i threw myself into a sitting position1 and as ,i did so a gigantic wave shattered the porthole1 and the heavy fragments of glass fell on to the pillow where a second before my face had lain4 ,of course1 the water poured in and over me in volumes1 and stopped my wrist watch at five a4 m41 but ,i had got used to salt water1 and in a few minutes the weary captain had waded in1 and was disentangling me from my rope and congratulating me on my lucky escape4 ,i told him how it was that ,i had escaped1 and he was not in the least skeptical4 ,on the contrary1 he said that he had known some curious things happen in his time1 for which there was no accounting2 but he always kept a black cat on board4 ,had the safety of his ship not claimed his whole attention ,i believe he would have told me some of his experiences1 but when1 at last1 the weather abated he was too much in need of rest to be bothered by any one4 ,my husband had no knowledge of the service he had rendered me4 ,at five a4 m4 that morning he was asleep at home1 and had no premonition of danger1 or any recollection on waking of the role his astral counterpart had undoubtedly played4 ,what is this astral counterpart of man8 ,his soul and spirit dwells in a shroud of flesh1 and the feat of getting out of that shroud of flesh at will is the aim of all occultists4 ,it is to the astral world they go1 soul and spirit encased in the astral sheath we term the astral body4 ,during sleep1 or in trance1 when the normal physical senses are in abeyance1 when the body is unconscious in sleep1 the mind continues to act in the realm corresponding to the suggestions given when awake4 ,the world at large is open to the highly developed man1 and he will sometimes bring back from his astral plane expeditions memories of what he has seen and heard4 ,in deep slumber the physical body in healthful repose remains where it has lain down to rest1 but the man's higher principles1 the astral body encasing the soul and spirit1 is invariably withdrawn1 and in underdeveloped persons hovers in the immediate neighborhood4 ,in such cases the higher principles1 the astral body1 soul and spirit of ,st4 ,paul's ,gospel1 are not sufficiently developed to roam1 and remain near the physical body in a brooding sleep4 ,all cultured persons in the present day have their astral senses fairly well developed1 and have the power during sleep to go where they will1 but as yet few have the power to retain the memory of it when returning to the body4 ,in some cases the astral man during sleep is specially attracted to some one point1 and he invariably travels towards it2 in other cases he will drift aimlessly about on the astral currents1 meeting with experience of all sorts and with people in a similar condition whom he knows4 ,is there anything very extraordinary in all this1 and is not the condition of deep unconscious sleep a demonstration in itself that the physical consciousness has departed elsewhere8 ,as it is no longer functioning on the ,physical plane clearly it has found another realm in which it can temporarily exercise its activities4 ,my husband once had a rather interesting experience of his own1 on the ,astral plane4 ,he was in bed and asleep on the ,physical plane1 and he believes that the time must have been between eleven p4 m4 and twelve a4 m4 ,he simply became aware that he was functioning consciously on the ,astral plane1 and was intensely interested4 ,he found himself in a strange house of medium size1 and he was floating at the top of a flight of stairs leading to an ordinary entrance hall below4 ,at the foot of the stairs hung a lighted lamp1 and below the lamp stood a man and woman1 who were apparently exchanging a word or two before bidding each other good-night4 ,my husband instantly conceived the idea of testing and proving his belief1 that he was consciously afloat on the ,astral plane4 ,if this belief was true1 then he ought to be able to pass through the couple standing below1 without their being in the least aware of his presence4 ,in a flash he was downstairs1 and his belief stood the test4 ,his imponderable astral body passed without feeling or shock through two ponderable bodies of flesh and blood1 and he was out on the other side4 ,the excitement of the adventure awakened him1 and he brought back to the ,physical plane a clear recollection of all that had happened4 ,when one thinks of it1 the possible presence of total strangers in one's house is rather alarming4 ,luckily for us such wanderers rarely bring back to waking consciousness the memory of their nocturnal escapades4 ,when we are more advanced in other side knowledge we will doubtless refrain from intruding upon the privacy of our neighbors' dwellings1 and confine our attentions to realms which are free to all4 ,it is curious how constantly one hears of the ghosts of priests and monks being seen4 ,i have not met any one yet who has encountered the wraith of an ,anglican parson1 or a ,nonconformist preacher4 ,i wonder why8 ,i presume the latter do sometimes walk4 ,once upon a time1 when we were in ,rome1 my husband and ,i went to keep an appointment with ,monsignor ,stonor1 who was a great celebrity1 and an extremely handsome and charming man4 ,we were being shown upstairs by a servant1 and the hour was eleven o'clock on a sunny spring day4 ,i was walking first1 my husband following1 and at the top of the stairs1 coming slowly downward1 was an old priest carrying a huge portfolio1 under which he seemed to be staggering4 ,he passed the servant1 and as he neared me ,i noticed that the cassock which he wore was torn in great rents in several places4 ,his gray hair hung on his shoulders1 though his crown was shaven1 and his face was the color of old ivory4 ,i moved slightly to give him and his burden room to pass1 and as he did so our eyes met4 ,his were very strange4 ,they were exactly like points of live flame4 ,something about his whole presence struck me as so weird that ,i turned involuntarily and looked back4 ,as ,i did so1 ,i saw my husband walk straight through him4 ,my husband saw nothing4 ,then ,i knew and understood4 ,i did not mention this incident to ,monsignor ,stonor1 but some time after ,i met his sister1 ,viscountess ,clifden1 at ,monte ,carlo4 ,she was an intimate friend of mine1 and one day when an opportunity offered ,i told her the little story1 and asked her if she had ever met with anything of the sort herself4 ,she replied that personally1 she had not1 but she had heard that several people encountered at different times the old priest in her brother's rooms1 though he himself had seen nothing of this apparition4 ,lady ,clifden enjoyed nothing more than a little flutter at the tables4 ,she never missed a single day during her long sojourns at ,monte ,carlo4 ,every one knows that the ,anglican church-goers in the ,principality hurry from church to gaming rooms in order to stake on the numbers of the hymns4 ,lady ,clifden used also to hurry from ,mass with any numbers she had caught up1 and she considered ,sunday her lucky day4 ,suddenly her luck changed4 ,she told me that on the previous ,sunday she had just pulled off a nice little coup1 and was about to grasp it1 when1 to her horror she saw a skeleton hand stretched forth4 ,before she could collect her scattered senses the skeleton hand had raked in her gold4 ,where that gold had gone to worried and puzzled her dreadfully4 ,so it did me6 ,i never heard the last of it4 ,she could not get over her loss4 ,it was no use suggesting that the hand had belonged to one of the emaciated harpies who prey upon the unwary4 ,lady ,clifden knew all about them1 and was a match for the whole gang1 had they attacked her4 ,she insisted that the hand that had grasped her gold had neither skin nor flesh upon it1 and that she had seen the two bare arm bones from wrist to elbow4 ,we compromised on the suggestion of a third party that it must have been the devil himself1 and that the heat he is supposed to engender had melted the gold entirely away4 ,monte ,carlo is a very interesting place for the clairvoyant to be in1 more especially if her vision extends to seeing auras4 ,perhaps nowhere on earth are the basest human passions more swiftly and violently aroused1 and several times1 when some tragedy was being enacted1 or some enormous coup was being brought off1 ,i have been unable to see details1 because they were hidden within a dense envelop of dark crimson clouds4 ,in the rooms a crowd collects swiftly1 and from a hundred human auras1 all gathered in one compact mass1 stream forth emanations of the basest description4 ,cupidity1 envy1 revenge1 lust of the vilest1 despair1 ruin1 death4 ,i remember being met one night by a friend in the ,attrium who was very excited4 ,hurry up1 she cried1 the double ,duchess has broken the bank and is still playing4 ,i went into the gambling rooms1 and looked for the table at which the ,duchess of ,devonshire was staking4 ,i knew she would attract a big crowd if she was winning4 ,i found the table easily enough1 not because it was surrounded by a crowd of people1 but because it was hidden by a dark and dense crimson fog4 ,with patience ,i got through this fog1 and watched the handsome ,duchess of ,devonshire1 formerly ,duchess of ,manchester1 and born a ,hanoverian1 playing with a great quantity of gold1 and a pile of thousand franc notes4 ,by bending low down1 almost level with the table1 ,i found ,i got completely out of the fog1 and could see clearly underneath it4 ,one night there was a rush outside1 and a huge ring formed to watch a scrap taking place between two celebrated members of la haute cocotterie de ,paris4 ,they were fighting with formidable hatpins1 and ,i understood that the prey they fought over was ,leopold1 ,king of the ,belgians4 ,i ran with the crowd1 the gambling rooms emptied in a twinkling1 for the combat took place in the ,casino ,square4 ,i squeezed through the excited mob till ,i got behind the backers of both parties1 who were holding the ring and defying the police4 ,it was a wonderful sight to witness the combined play of flaming red auras1 shot through with vivid flashes like lightning1 and blazing jewels4 ,the duel ended with a few scratches1 much tearing of gorgeous raiment and disheveled hair4 ,how interesting it was to the mystic to feel the psychology of that crowd1 and see the thin veneer of civilization stripped off1 leaving nothing but the human tiger and ape4 ,both ladies were eventually led off the arena by the police1 not1 be it understood1 to the police-station1 but to their own sumptuous apartments4 ,all the time they shrieked and chattered like infuriated macaws1 and between the shrieks they administered resounding smacks upon the cheeks of their patient escort4 ,monte ,carlo was a wonderful place in those days1 in which to study human nature at its best and worst4 ,in latter years it has become meretricious and shabby1 and the old magnificence is seen no more4 ,fifteen to twenty years ago all that was greatest in ,europe1 ,asia1 and the ,americas1 congregated there1 and crowned heads mingled freely with the scum of the earth4 ,constant habitues were the ,duchess of ,devonshire1 and her son1 ,lord ,charles ,montague2 the ,duchess of ,montrose1 known to the ring at ,newmarket as ,bobs1 and always the personification1 to listen to and look at1 of a ,thames bargee4 ,leopold of ,belgium1 ,ferdinand of ,bulgaria1 ,grand ,dukes of ,russia1 potentates from ,india1 all hobnobbing together and gambling heavily4 ,i often wonder now what has befallen those brilliant stars of the half-world firmament4 ,emmeline d',alencon with her bobbed hair1 and her passionate love of animals and birds4 ,the demure ,jeanne ,ray1 who came out every morning to her garden gate1 and distributed food to the crowd of paupers and cripples4 ,i have seen peasants kiss the hem of her dress as she walked on an afternoon along the ,promenade des ,anglais4 ,the beautiful1 soulless ,merode1 the fierce1 stately ,otero1 and many others who thought nothing of wearing fifty to a hundred thousand pounds' worth of jewels on one evening4 ,where are they now8 ,if living they are old6 ,old6 a word more dreaded by their class than death4 ,,chapter ,,xiii ,i ,,commit ,,murder ,i will now relate a very unpleasant experience that befell me thirty years ago1 but which has by no means exhausted itself in the passage of years4 ,it still1 at long intervals1 recurs to me as vividly as when first ,i passed through the painful hours of its unfoldment4 ,it was the month of ,july1 and ,i was making a tour by road through a portion of ,scotland1 driving my own horse4 ,i was accompanied by a groom and a maid4 ,one evening we arrived at a well-known inn on ,deeside1 where ,i had arranged to pass a couple of nights4 ,i found my room ready for me1 an ordinary hotel bedroom1 and after supper ,i retired very early to bed1 feeling very sleepy after a long day in the open air4 ,towards morning ,i had a vision4 ,i was a woman who had committed the crime of murder2 and ,i went in hourly terror of discovery and arrest1 as the police were actively in search of the criminal4 ,up to the present ,i had succeeded in evading them1 and no shadow of suspicion had yet fallen upon me1 but ,i lived in constant haunting dread that sooner or later some chance clue would direct their attention to me1 and ,i should be arrested and brought up for trial4 ,i had no clue in the vision as to how the murder had been committed4 ,my victim was a man1 and a sensation1 vague and cloudy1 suggested that a quick poison was the mode of destruction ,i used1 but ,i never gathered why ,i murdered him1 or what relation1 if any1 he was to me4 ,the vision was confined to my miserable sensations of fear of detection1 and the trouble was that ,i seemed utterly powerless to keep away from the scene of my crime1 a large mansion in the ,west ,end of ,london4 ,not only did ,i haunt the outside of the house1 but ,i had several times contrived to penetrate into the interior without being discovered1 the house having stood empty since the crime4 ,it was a dark1 foggy night when ,i determined again to effect an entrance1 and ,i listened intently in the street before darting up to the front door and fitting my key in the lock4 ,there was not a sound1 and ,i found myself in the interior with the door softly closed behind me4 ,i carried a candle1 which ,i was about to light1 when ,i saw that the large hall was not in its usual darkness4 ,a dim light burned in a pendant globe1 and looking round ,i perceived abundant evidences that the house was again occupied4 ,several pairs of men's gloves were neatly folded on the hall table1 and a man's silk hat was neatly covered with a cloth4 ,there was not the faintest sound to be heard in the house1 and the hour was between eleven and midnight4 ,very softly ,i crept up the wide staircase4 ,my heart was beating tumultuously1 and ,i was in an agony of apprehension4 ,on the first corridor ,i entered the room where ,i had concealed the body of the man ,i had murdered4 ,i had dragged it there and hidden it in a great dress wardrobe4 ,i opened the wardrobe door and found the interior had been filled with women's clothes1 they were swathed in linen sheets4 ,amongst them ,i began to search with both hands1 but1 of course1 found no signs of the body1 which had long since been removed4 ,however1 in some unaccountable way the action of searching seemed to comfort me1 and soon ,i turned to retrace my steps and gain the street once more4 ,at that second ,i heard some one approaching1 and quick as thought ,i slipped into the wardrobe and pulled the door close4 ,some one entered the room and then left it again4 ,in a few more moments the house was again silent as the grave1 and ,i began to creep downstairs very softly4 ,when halfway down1 at a bend which brought me in full view of the hall and the front door in the background1 ,i stopped short at a sound4 ,some one was about to enter1 some one was fumbling with a latch key at the other side of that door4 ,another moment and that some one would enter and ,i would be discovered4 ,there was but one chance4 ,whoever it was might not come upstairs4 ,he or she might strike off to the left of the hall1 where a corridor ran to that end of the house4 ,i cannot attempt to describe my agonizing terror of suspense1 yet ,i did not lose my presence of mind4 ,instantaneously ,i decided what to do1 should the one about to enter elect to come straight upstairs4 ,i hastily lit my candle1 carefully shading it with my hand1 and crouching low ,i peered through the banisters1 towards the front door4 ,it opened1 and a man entered1 middle-aged1 well dressed1 a gentleman1 and an utter stranger to me4 ,he closed the door and turned the key1 but drew no bolts4 ,then he threw off a heavy coat1 and placed his hat and gloves on the table4 ,my heart beat to suffocation1 as ,i waited to see which way he would go4 ,he was whistling softly to himself and1 turning1 began to walk across the hall1 heading for the stairs4 ,then the moment for action came4 ,i knew now ,i should have to pass him in order to make my escape4 ,i threw myself into the tragic pose of a somnambulist4 ,i wore a long floating cloak1 and ,i knew my face was white as death1 and my eyes wide with sheer terror4 ,with both hands1 one of which held the lighted candle1 outstretched gropingly1 with distraught gaze fixed in wild vacancy1 ,i slipped silently down the few remaining steps and sped noiselessly in my soft shoes straight across the hall towards him4 ,though ,i never turned my eyes upon him ,i was aware that he had stopped dead short1 and was staring at me in startled amazement4 ,then fear suddenly invaded him1 ,i could feel it4 ,he fell back as if to let me pass1 as ,i glided silently nearer to him and to the door4 ,he was backing away from me now1 then in another instant1 he had turned and fled along the corridor4 ,one more moment and ,i was safely outside1 on the pavement4 ,i woke up to a brilliant summer morning pouring in at my open window1 but ,i was in no mood to enjoy its loveliness4 ,i was bathed in cold perspiration1 ,i was shivering with pure unadulterated fear4 ,i was prostrate with the violent revulsion of feeling1 from acute dread of discovery to partial immunity on gaining the street and escaping from the house4 ,the vividness of every detail was crystal clear1 and attended by all the violent emotions such an adventure and escape would naturally arouse in me1 had they happened in the world of realities4 ,it was hours before ,i could shake off the horror of the vision1 and ,i left the hotel that day4 ,nothing would induce me ever to pass another night under that roof4 ,i had no recurrence of the vision till three months after1 then it came again1 with all its attendant horrors1 when ,i was asleep in my own bed at home4 ,this was succeeded at long intervals by a vision of my condition of mind as an undiscovered criminal1 always evading detection1 but without the vision of my return to the scene of the crime4 ,during the last thirty years ,i have had recurrences of the complete and partial vision1 but at long intervals4 ,a few years ago ,i happened to be standing with my host in an enormous stone hall1 in one of the greatest houses in ,england4 ,we were discussing the house1 and its uncomfortable vastness4 ,there were suites of apartments in outlying parts where whole families might hide for days if housemaids were careless4 ,to reach the dining and drawing-rooms from the bedrooms1 if one was tired1 was a real weariness4 ,we were looking up at the great gallery1 running round the hall4 ,it was reached by four wide flights of stairs at different corners1 and it was full of all sorts of recesses1 and massive pieces of old furniture and screens4 ,on the spur of the moment ,i said to my host1 ,wouldn't it be uncanny if we were to see a strange face looking down on us8 ,to my surprise1 he answered3 ,oh6 that has often happened4 ,i've often seen strangers looking down4 ,at one time ,i took them to be inquisitive members of my own household1 whom ,i didn't know by sight1 and one day ,i complained about it1 to the housekeeper4 ,she looked very much disturbed and told me she had seen the same thing herself4 ,the house is opened on certain days to the public1 and she was half inclined to think one of the visitors had escaped from the crowd1 and hidden herself for several days1 as it was not on a public day that the figure was seen4 ,is it always the same figure8 ,i asked4 ,oh1 no1 replied my host4 ,always a different one1 and always some one quite ordinary and modern looking4 ,the strictest orders are given that none of the servants' friends are to be allowed in this part of the house1 and the housekeeper has always been with us and is thoroughly trustworthy4 ,the fact remains an unsolved mystery4 ,the housekeeper was a very agreeable old woman of the real1 old-fashioned type4 ,very rustling in the evening1 in a rich silk gown1 and wearing some fine piece of jewelry presented to her by one or other of the crowned heads who had visited the famous house4 ,i had asked her before ,i left about these mysterious appearances1 and she had no explanation to offer4 ,she had ascertained beyond a shadow of a doubt1 that they had nothing to do with the household4 ,they were always just ordinary looking men and women1 such as one meets in the streets every day4 ,sometimes they seem to have hats on1 sometimes their heads appear uncovered1 she explained4 ,this fits in with a belief ,i have always held that we constantly rub shoulders with the disembodied1 without being in the least aware of it4 ,as the ,bishop of ,london once said3 ,we will find ourselves exactly the same persons ten minutes after death as we were ten minutes before death4 ,there are many occasions when we cannot express feeling in intellectual terms owing to the poverty of language4 ,one's life not being a matter of intellectual perception1 but a conscious experience1 little of it can be made known4 ,the mystic life is really incommunicable4 ,we regard the ,universe through the lens of five very imperfect senses1 conscious all the time that there are certainly many more mediums for the expression of consciousness4 ,perception is a manifestation of consciousness1 and varies enormously in individuals1 ranging often above and beneath the normal4 ,undoubtedly perception can be enormously extended by practice1 not only in seeing material objects1 but in approaching the borderland of other worlds4 ,the sight of the ,psychic or ,medium is not so much vision as a consciousness of the thoughts and feelings of others4 ,it is a sensation rather than a process of thinking1 sensation not as we commonly accept the term1 but sensation through which mental objects are realized with as great a clarity of vision as physical objects are seen with the naked eye4 ,this intuitive vision is near akin to ordinary physical vision1 inasmuch as the object seen has a real concrete existence4 ,the ,psychic feels vibrations and absorbs them4 ,my explanation of my vision in the ,highland inn is that the actual criminal had slept the night before in the room ,i occupied1 and happening to be mediumistic ,i at once began to absorb the vibrations1 and became steeped in all the circumstances1 environment1 and conditions thrown off by the criminal in connection with the crime4 ,the vibrations were intensely strong1 and still fresh and concentrated4 ,i absorbed them so fully that still at times they steal back across the threshold of my subconsciousness1 the vehicle which registers and retains all impressions4 ,during sleep1 when one is off guard1 the gate is often ajar1 and old memories and incidents steal through1 and range at will through the ordinary consciousness4 ,in daily1 normal existence the mind is merely a whirlpool1 but undoubtedly the criminal would concentrate mentally on every detail of her crime4 ,there would be a focalization of her mind2 a concentration of her whole mental faculties upon this one single subject1 and when the mental force is reduced from its normal1 dissipated condition into coherency1 its power is unlimited4 ,it is possible to catch a physical disease by sleeping in an infected bed4 ,it is quite as easy to catch a mental disease by the same means4 ,many emotions are highly contagious1 notably fear4 ,all are invisible to human sight1 and there is rarely any warning4 ,a ,psychic may sense something unpleasant before infection is established4 ,in fact1 this often happens to quite normal individuals4 ,something in the atmosphere of a place conveys a warning1 is unpleasant or uncongenial and it is avoided4 ,if a warning was conveyed to me in the ,highland inn ,i was too tired to heed it4 ,at one time in my life ,i saw a great deal of two intimate and charming friends1 ,lord and ,lady ,wynford4 ,alas6 both have now passed over4 ,lady ,wynford was born ,caroline ,baillie of ,dochfour1 and owing to her ,scotch blood1 and her relationship with many of our great ,scotch families1 she was profoundly interested in ghosts4 ,lord ,wynford1 on the contrary1 had an absolute horror of the subject1 and always left the room whilst it was under discussion4 ,though very dissimilar1 husband and wife were the best of friends4 ,she was very handsome and a brilliant woman of the world4 ,he was shy1 retiring1 and deeply religious4 ,a perfect example of a true gentleman of the old school1 and an aristocrat to his finger-tips4 ,i was devoted to them both1 and they were very kind to me in giving me their warm friendship1 though at the time of which ,i write ,i was only a girl of about twenty years old4 ,at that period the great topic of conversation amongst ghost-hunters was ,glamis ,castle1 the most celebrated of all haunted houses4 ,no ghost book is ever considered complete without reference to this celebrated ,castle1 and the story usually narrated is1 that in the secret room some abnormal horror lived1 and that the heir1 ,lord ,glamis1 and the factor1 had to be told of its existence by the ,earl of ,strathmore in person4 ,this information was of so terrible a nature that it changed not only the lives of those two men1 but even their personal appearance4 ,they grew aged and haggard in a single night4 ,this story was readily discussed in old days by members of the ,strathmore family1 who were just as keen as outsiders were to probe the mystery4 ,to-day it is universally believed that the monstrosity is at last laid to rest1 and that though other ghosts still walk the ,castle1 the worst has departed forever4 ,i went one afternoon to see the ,wynfords in the hotel in which they stayed whilst in ,scotland1 and found ,lady ,reay with them4 ,she was a wonderful woman in her way1 and preserved her youth up till very late in life4 ,lord ,wynford was not present1 and ,lady ,wynford at once greeted me by exclaiming1 ,we are going to stay at ,glamis next week1 and ,lady ,reay has been there and seen a ghost4 ,but not the ghost1 admitted ,lady ,reay4 ,then what did you see8 ,i inquired4 ,she then told the following story1 which has a sequel3-- ,i had been in the ,castle for three nights and much to my satisfaction seen absolutely nothing4 ,we were a very cheery party1 and every one was frightfully thrilled and nervously expectant1 but we were very careful not to breathe the word 'ghost' before our host and hostess4 ,on the fourth night ,i was awakened by a moaning sound in my room1 and ,i opened my eyes4 ,the room was in total darkness1 but ,i saw something very bright near the door4 ,i shut my eyes instantly1 and pulled the bedclothes over my head in a paroxysm of fear4 ,i longed to light my candles1 but didn't dare1 and the moaning continued1 and ,i thought ,i should go quite mad4 ,at last ,i ventured to peep out again4 ,i saw a woman dressed exactly like ,mary ,tudor1 in her pictures1 and she was wandering round the walls1 flinging herself against them1 like a bird against the bars of a cage1 and beating her hands upon the walls1 and all the time she moaned horribly4 ,i'm sure she was the ghost of a mad woman4 ,her face and form were lit up exactly like a picture thrown upon a magic lantern screen1 and every detail of her dress was clearly defined4 ,luckily she never looked at me1 or ,i should have screamed1 and ,i thought of ,lord and ,lady ,i4 sleeping in the next room to mine1 and wondered how ,i could reach them4 ,i was really too terrified to move1 and the ghost kept more or less to that part of the room where the door was situated4 ,i must have lain there awake for two or three hours1 sometimes with my head buried under the clothes1 sometimes peeping out1 when at last the moaning suddenly stopped4 ,i opened my eyes4 ,thank ,god1 ,i was alone4 ,the ghost had departed4 ,i lay with wide open eyes till daybreak4 ,then the first thing ,i did was to run to the mirror to see if my hair had turned white4 ,mercifully it hadn't1 but ,i looked an awful wreck4 ,i told just a few people what ,i had seen1 and contrived to get a wire sent me before lunch4 ,early in the afternoon ,i was on the way to ,edinburgh4 ,such was the story ,lady ,reay related4 ,thirteen years later ,captain ,eric ,streatfield1 who was a nephew of ,lord ,strathmore1 and an intimate friend of my husband1 told me exactly the same story4 ,he was a boy of six at the time1 when the lady of ,tudor days appeared moaning in his room1 and he said he would never forget the misery of the night he passed4 ,he was very much interested in hearing that ,lady ,reay had gone through the same experience4 ,he told me another extraordinary story4 ,whilst1 as a school boy1 he was visiting at ,glamis ,castle with his parents1 he noticed that they began to behave in rather a peculiar manner4 ,they were often consulting alone with one another1 and constantly scanning the sky from their bedroom window1 which adjoined his4 ,for two or three days this sort of thing went on1 and he caught queer fragments of conversation whispered between them1 such as1 ,it doesn't always happen4 ,we might be spared this year1 the power must die out some day4 ,at last one evening his father called him into his room1 where his mother stood by the open window4 ,in his hand his father held an open watch4 ,his mother bade him look out1 and tell them what sort of night it was4 ,he replied that it was fine1 and still and cold1 and the stars were beginning to appear4 ,his father then said1 ,we want you to take particular note of the weather1 for in another moment you may witness a remarkable change4 ,probably you will see a furious tempest4 ,eric could not make head or tail of this4 ,he wondered if his parents had gone mad1 but glancing at his mother he noticed that she looked strangely pale and anxious4 ,then the storm burst1 with such terrific suddenness and fury that it terrified him4 ,a howling tempest1 accompanied by blinding lightning and deafening thunder1 rushed down upon them from an absolutely clear sky4 ,his mother knelt down by the bed1 and he thought that she was praying4 ,when ,eric asked for an explanation he was told that when he was grown up one would be given him4 ,unfortunately the moment never came4 ,an aunt had told him that the storm was peculiarly to do with ,glamis1 and was something that could not be explained4 ,lord and ,lady ,wynford paid their visit to ,glamis1 and ,i looked forward eagerly to their return in a week's time4 ,i went to see them the day after their arrival back again1 and was met by ,lady ,wynford alone4 ,before ,i could question her she began to speak of the visit4 ,i don't want you even to mention the word ,glamis to ,wynford1 she said very gravely4 ,he's had a great shock1 and he's in a very queer state of mind4 ,she paused1 and ,i ventured to ask1 ,but what sort of shock8 ,then she gave me the following account3-- ,wynford and ,i occupied adjoining bedrooms4 ,we were having a delightful time4 ,glorious weather1 and a lot of very pleasant people4 ,i really forgot all about there being any ghost4 ,we were out all day1 and very sleepy at night1 and ,i never heard or saw a thing that was unusual4 ,two nights before we left something happened to ,wynford4 ,he came into my room and awakened me at seven o'clock in the morning4 ,he was fully dressed1 and he looked dreadfully upset and serious4 ,he said he had something to tell me1 and he wished to get it over1 and then he would try not to think of it any more4 ,i was certain then that he had seen or heard something terrible1 and ,i waited with the greatest impatience for him to continue4 ,he seemed confronted with some great difficulty1 but after a long pause he said-- ',you know that ,i have always disbelieved in the supernatural4 ,i have never believed that ,god would permit such things to come to pass as ,i have heard lightly described4 ,i was wrong4 ,such awful experiences are possible4 ,i know it to my own cost1 and ,i pray ,god ,i may never pass such a night again as that which ,i have just come through4 ,i have not slept for a moment4 ,i feel ,i must tell you this1 in fact1 it is necessary that ,i tell you1 because ,i am going to extract a promise from you4 ,a promise that you will never mention in my hearing the name of this house1 or the terrible subject with which its name is connected4' ,i was speechless for a few minutes with perplexed amazement4 ,i had never heard ,wynford speak like that1 nor had ,i ever seen him so terribly upset4 ',but1' ,i said at last1 'aren't you going to tell me what has so unnerved you8' ,he began pacing up and down the room4 ',good ,god1 no1' he exclaimed1 ',i couldn't even begin to tell you4 ,i have no words that would have any meaning or expression4 ,don't you understand1 there is no language to convey such happenings from one to the other4 ,they are seen1 felt1 heard6 ,they cannot be uttered4 ,there are some things on earth ,i know of now1 that may not be related to the spoken word4 ,perhaps between a man and his ,god1 but not even between you and me4' ,we were silent again for some minutes1 during which he continued to pace the room1 his head drooped on his breast4 ,i was really seriously alarmed4 ,i even feared for his reason1 and ,i couldn't form the smallest conjecture as to what had been the nature of his experiences4 ,i was quite convinced of one thing4 ,what he had seen was no ordinary ghost1 like ,lady ,reay's ,tudor ,lady4 ,she might have amazed him1 but it required something much more terrible and awe-inspiring to have reduced him to such a condition of mental misery and desolation4 ,i wanted to comfort him1 to sympathize with him1 but something about him held me at arm's length4 ,it was his soul that was suffering1 and with his soul a man must wrestle alone4 ,i felt that his deep religious convictions of a lifetime had been violently dislocated1 for all ,i knew shattered entirely1 and ,i felt profound compassion for him4 ,i may have had doubts1 on many points4 ,i confess to being a worldly skeptic1 but ,wynford's faith has always been so pure and childlike1 and ,i have striven never to jar him on religious subjects4 ,now ,i feel as if somehow1 everything that he has ever had has been taken away from him4 ,at last ,i said1 ',don't you think we had better leave to-day8 ,we can easily make some excuse4' ,he stopped and looked straight at me1 so strangely4 ',no1 ,i can't leave to-day4 ,i must stay another night here4 ,there is something ,i must do4 ,now will you give me your promise never to mention this subject to me again8 ,we may not be alone together again to-day4 ,i want to get it over4 ,promise4' ,i gave him my promise at once4 ,i dared not have opposed him4 ,i was horribly frightened4 ,he went out of the room at once1 and ,i lay thinking and shivering with dread4 ',what was it he had to do8 ,why could we not leave to-day8' ,it was all so mysterious4 ,well6 the day passed in an ordinary manner1 and if ,wynford was more grave than usual ,i don't think any one noticed it4 ,then came the night ,i so dreaded4 ,of course ,i didn't sleep at first1 ,i was too anxious1 and ,i heard him come up to his room half an hour after ,i did4 ,the door between our rooms was closed1 and ,i lay awake listening intently4 ,i heard him moving about2 ,i supposed he was undressing1 and his man never sits up for him4 ,then after a time there were occasional creaks which ,i knew came from an armchair1 and ,i knew that he had not gone to bed4 ,i suppose ,i must have fallen asleep1 because the next thing ,i was aware of was ,wynford's voice4 ,he was speaking to some one1 and seemed to be in the middle of a conversation4 ,when he ceased speaking ,i strained my ears to catch a reply4 ,i could hear no words1 only his voice4 ,then a reply did come1 and it simply froze the blood in my body1 and ,i felt bathed in ice1 and had to put my finger between my teeth1 they chattered so horribly4 ,the reply was a hoarse whisper1 a sort of rasping1 grating undertone1 that was not so much a whisper as an inability to speak in any other voice4 ,there was something almost inhuman in those harsh1 vibrating1 yet husky words1 spoken too low for me to catch4 ,i knew at once that no guest1 no member of the family1 spoke like that1 and ,i could not conceive that it could be a servant4 ,what could ,wynford have to say to any servant of ,lord ,strathmore8 ,a clock somewhere in the ,castle struck three4 ,no2 ,i was certain that the presence with him1 whatever else it might be1 was no human being dwelling under the roof of ,glamis4 ,at times they seemed to hold an argument2 sometimes ,wynford's voice was sharp and decisive1 at other times it was utterly weary and despondent4 ,i dreaded what the effect might be upon him of this awful night1 but ,i could do nothing but lie shivering in bed1 and pray for the morning4 ,how long it went on for ,i can't say1 but the conviction came to me suddenly that ,wynford had begun to pray4 ,his voice was raised1 and now and again ,i fancied ,i could hear words4 ,the rasping whisper came now only in short1 sharp interjections or expostulations1 ,i don't know which4 ,the even flow of ,wynford's words went quietly on1 and ,i began to be certain that he was praying for the being who spoke with that terrible whisper4 ,it occurred to me that he might even be trying to exorcise some unclean spirit4 ,at last a silence fell4 ,wynford stopped praying1 and ,i hoped that the terrible interview was at an end4 ,then it began again1 and for quite an hour the prayers went on1 with long periods of silence in between4 ,i heard no more of the terrible1 husky whisper4 ,i fell asleep again and did not awake till my maid brought me early tea4 ,no sooner had she gone than ,wynford entered1 fully dressed4 ,though he looked desperately tired and wan1 he seemed quite composed1 and as if some weight had been removed from off him4 ,he said he was going for a stroll before breakfast1 and1 of course1 ,i remembered my promise and put no questions4 ,i have come to the conclusion that a hundred people may stay any length of time at ,glamis and see or hear nothing4 ,the hundred and first may receive such a shock to the nervous system that he never really recovers from it4 ,such was the mysterious story that ,lady ,wynford unfolded4 ,i saw her husband the next day1 but beyond being graver than usual in his manner ,i detected no difference in him4 ,he never referred1 even in the most indirect way1 to his visit1 but he must have inferred by my silence that ,i had been warned not to mention the subject4 ,many others must1 however1 have done so1 for every one1 who at that period passed a night under ,glamis ,castle roof1 was eagerly questioned by friends and acquaintances on their return4 ,the only occasion on which ,i visited ,glamis was on the night of a ball1 given in honor of the ,crown ,prince of ,sweden4 ,the curiosity of the guests was held in check by servants being stationed at certain doors1 and entrances to corridors and staircases1 to inform rude explorers that they could not pass4 ,it is hard to believe that such a course of action was necessary1 but ,i personally watched little parties being turned back towards the ballroom and sitting-out-rooms1 showing that intense curiosity may even prove stronger than good breeding4 ,what ,wynford saw that night will never be known1 but one fact remains4 ,it left so deep an impression upon him that he was never the same man again4 ,he became graver and more wrapped up in his own thoughts month by month1 and the change that ended in his death his wife attributed to those nights passed in ,glamis ,castle4 ,,chapter ,,xiv ,,the ,,angel ,,of ,,lourdes ,one lovely summer evening ,i was standing in a hotel bedroom1 washing my hands4 ,i was in ,lourdes1 and ,i was pondering upon a certain long flight of stone steps that ,i could see quite clearly from my window4 ,at the top of the steps1 which were cut in the face of the wooded hillside1 stood a great ,calvary1 and from dawn till darkness pilgrims made the hard ascent upon their knees4 ,the stones were worn and grooved by the stream of human beings making their painful way to the foot of the ,cross4 ,the atmosphere of ,lourdes is very impressive to the ,psychic4 ,one breathes the concentrated essence of prayer4 ,no one goes there who is not on prayer intent1 and in the public streets1 gardens and churches one comes across kneeling figures lost in ,divine contemplation4 ,no one heeds them2 all are on a like mission1 and sometimes men and women stand for hours with outstretched arms4 ,human crosses1 oblivious to all1 lost in a mystic rapture which takes count of neither time nor place4 ,i turned my head towards the window4 ,the sun had just set behind the mountains1 and the sky was illuminated by a rosy afterglow4 ,down in the valley the shadows were beginning to lengthen1 but ,i could still see the ,calvary on the hillside1 and the dark human stream slowly moving up the stony way1 the ,via ,dolorosa of the ,cross4 ,at that moment the sense of a presence swung into my field of consciousness1 and contracted my vague faculties to focus4 ,something moving in the sky above caught my eye4 ,how shall ,i describe the sight8 ,i saw an angel floating above the mountains4 ,the figure1 wingless1 yet floating in erect grace1 was of great size1 and wrapped entirely in cloudy gray4 ,the head was bare and slightly bent1 as if looking down on earth4 ,the movements were smooth and gliding1 as a feather floats in the wind4 ,the distance was too great--,i judged about a quarter of a mile--for me to distinguish the features1 but owing to its great size the figure was clearly visible and deeply inspiring4 ,it was a vision on which none could look intently without feeling the weight of a mighty awe4 ,it gathered up the wandering emotions of the heart1 and all a lifetime's ideals of beauty1 grandeur1 sublimity1 in one serene presentation4 ,the vision floated on majestically1 across the valley and the little town with its praying multitudes4 ,in about three minutes ,it had passed1 and was lost in the pearly mists of the gathering night4 ,and whilst the vision lasted ,i was acutely conscious of that innumerable concourse of kneeling forms below1 all struggling upwards to the ,cross4 ,it seems to me that the devout1 of other faiths than that of ,rome1 lose much by not taking advantage of ,lourdes4 ,for many years1 thousands of pilgrims from all corners of the earth have bent their steps towards the shrine1 and poured out their souls in a passion of supplication4 ,this tremendous concentration of faith1 love and fervent adoration1 often ecstatic thanksgiving for answered prayer1 must find an echo in the ,heaven ,world to which they are sent4 ,it is so easy at ,lourdes to feel that the ,throne of ,grace has been actually reached1 because one can sense the pathway1 the ladder made by human love1 praise and faith1 down which1 ,i doubt not1 the ,angels of ,god are always passing4 ,it is easier to concentrate the mind in a place where religious thought has been poured out for many years1 because one insensibly becomes calmed1 and tranquilized1 and aided by the atmosphere thousands of others have created4 ,at ,lourdes there is nothing to attract the scoffer1 and thousands of hearts filled with reverence and devotion reenforce each year the already powerful vibrations1 and leave the place the better and richer for their presence4 ,how few people realize that they have never seen themselves8 ,how many can tell what they really look like8 ,a very1 very few can1 and ,i am amongst the number4 ,i wakened one morning in summer1 and opened my eyes on my sunlit bedroom at home4 ,instantly ,i saw something which thrilled me with vivid interest4 ,i saw myself6 ,i was emerging out of a corner of the room1 and composedly approaching the bed4 ,there was no doubt as to recognition4 ,i knew instantly ,i was looking on my own face for the first time1 and it was something of a shock to discover that ,i was more or less of a stranger to myself4 ,i saw how false a looking-glass can be4 ,i had not begun to know myself4 ,with absorbed interest ,i stared very hard1 in my intense desire to imprint on my memory my own image4 ,i approached the bed1 and as ,i did so1 ,i seemed to shrink1 fade1 and waver4 ,then suddenly ,i vanished--into my recumbent body4 ,for a few minutes afterwards ,i was too concerned with my physical condition to ponder on the vision of my real self4 ,i was tossing violently in the bed1 in an inner distraughtness which was most disturbing4 ,then1 as my nervous system began to calm down1 ,i strove to imprint on my memory the recollection of what ,i really looked like4 ,my face1 even in the wonder of those few moments in which ,i had seen it1 expressed emotions ,i had never seemed to know4 ,nothing was as ,i had believed it to be4 ,all the traits that went to form my character needed readjusting1 and all seemed curiously imperfect4 ,i could not remember how ,i was clothed1 though ,i had seen myself from head to foot4 ,i suppose ,i was too engrossed in studying my face to think of my body4 ,the vision left me with a blank sense of utter disillusionment and failure4 ,nothing in me was finished or complete4 ,my expression suggested a character which was horribly crude1 imperfect and rudimentary4 ,looking at myself afterwards in the mirror1 ,i came to the conclusion that it lied1 or that in waking life ,i wear a mask4 ,it is salutary to behold one's spiritual portrait1 a thing not visible to the mind alone but to the physical sight4 ,in a flash comes the knowledge that dwelling in us are forces1 not yet grasped by mortal mind1 that cry for recognition4 ,there have been moments in all lives1 ,i believe1 when a glimpse is caught of the ,olympian heights to which it is possible to rise4 ,glimpses1 alas6 of the evanescent thing we know ourselves in truth to be4 ,sometimes1 on the ,astral plane1 it happens that friends meet under strange circumstances1 and one figures largely in the doings of another4 ,the memory of those nocturnal adventures is brought through and clearly recollected in the morning4 ,one such occurrence ,i will relate1 and it is peculiar and unusual4 ,an old friend of ours1 a man who has devoted his life to the development of his spiritual faculties 7not to be confused with the development of mediumship and phenomena71 had a series of dreams in which he appeared to be two people4 ,he himself was the same tall1 slender man he is in daily life1 but in this psychic experience a much smaller man moved always on his left side1 and somehow seemed to symbolize his waking personality4 ,the central figure in one of these unusual experiences was a young man who was unknown to our friend1 and who had died abroad4 ,his body had been embalmed and brought home for burial1 and our friend had been shown photographs of him1 and had also communicated with him through automatic writing4 ,this much was imprinted on his physical memory4 ,now1 whilst lying asleep one night1 the spiritual counterpart of our friend became aware that the body of the young man was exposed and could be seen4 ,his companion1 or other self1 the shorter man who moved by his side1 shrank back with horror from such a suggestion1 just as our friend would instinctively have done in waking consciousness1 but he himself was determined to see the body1 and went straight through a door facing him1 into a room where it was lying on a low table4 ,now comes the moment when ,i began to figure in this experience4 ,i was standing on the opposite side of the table1 making vigorous passes over the young man's body1 which appeared to be fashioned out of pinkish clay4 ,the trunk and legs looked as though ,i had roughly modeled them with my hands4 ,the head was more highly finished4 ,it was sharp and distinct in outline1 and our friend recognized it instantly as being a representation of the young man whose portraits he had seen4 ,he stared at the face with great interest1 and taking up a cloth1 gently wiped the cheek where a fleck of foam lay4 ,this action seemed to vivify the body1 for it began to mutter and murmur indistinctly4 ,apparently it was alive1 and not dead4 ,our friend relates that this discovery gave him such a shock that he lost the thread of memory which he was bringing back to his physical body on the bed4 ,the next moment he woke up4 ,my recollection1 a perfectly clear one1 of these happenings1 was that he simply vanished from the scene1 leaving me alone with the body1 which ,i continued to manipulate4 ,afterwards1 through automatic writing1 our friend was told by the departed young man1 that this astral vision signified the collecting of etheric matter to fashion a body in which he could function on etheric planes4 ,on another occasion our friend had the experience of walking about on the other side with the young man1 who was dressed in an ordinary tweed suit1 and being taken by him to various acquaintances1 to whom he was introduced4 ,with the exception of the above experience1 he believes that this was the first time he had ever seen him4 ,the interesting point of both experiences is1 that both ,i and our friend brought back on waking1 a clear and similar recollection of the episode in which we were jointly concerned4 ,this friend of ours is a disciple of ,the ,flaming ,heart1 called by ,catholics ,the ,sacred ,heart4 ,he writes to me thus3-- ,i see now more clearly than before that the ,christ self within uses its powers as a whole1 just as the personal man uses intellect1 will1 and feeling1 all three being energized by love1 which is the element of interest in the several activities4 ,so the self of love works out and manifests as-- ,love and ,life ,beauty4 ,love and ,power ,goodness4 ,love and ,knowledge ,wisdom4 ,the ,love element saves us from wrong living1 wrong doing or wrong thinking4 ,so we go from strength to strength1 by yielding the lower self to the transmuting power of the ,higher4 ,it was long before ,i came to understand the full significance of the ,flaming ,heart4 ,it was plain to see what its realization meant to our friend4 ,he radiates an extraordinary serenity of mind1 an atmosphere of strength and peace1 a calm in the midst of storm which apparently nothing can shake4 ,pre-eminently1 when in his presence1 one is conscious of a commanding power which will only be used for exalted purposes4 ,this clear subjection of the lower self1 to the transmuting power of the ,higher self1 has worked such marvels in him that one longs to grasp the secret of his success4 ,a few years passed1 and still the heart of the mystery eluded me4 ,this year1 #aiah1 it came to me in a flash4 ,the experience ,i am about to relate may have happened to many others4 ,to me1 it was a tremendous revelation4 ,i was kneeling one morning in front of the ,altar1 at ,early ,celebration4 ,i have always felt1 through the ,eucharist1 the possibility of great spiritual development1 and often there comes to me at such moments1 a mystical response to the inner mysteries of the ,sacrament4 ,i have never looked for supernatural happenings1 hallucinations1 or psychic excitements1 but my spiritual instincts are always alive and craving satisfaction4 ,this they have never before received in any really lasting degree4 ,now came a new ,divine illumination4 ,two clergymen were officiating at the celebration4 ,i had just received the bread from the one1 and had raised my head and hands to receive the cup from the other1 when suddenly ,i went quite blind4 ,the vicar1 who was moving towards me1 was blotted out4 ,i stared at a black veil utterly impenetrable1 and ,i was aware of a tremendous internal dislocation4 ,my heart beat tumultuously1 and felt as if thrust out of place4 ,then my sight was restored4 ,i saw before me1 not the man1 bearing in his hands the chalice1 but a flaming heart of fire1 from which radiated out living1 scintillating streams of golden light4 ,they filled the background with their quivering radiance1 and ,i was conscious of shrinking back1 and bowing my head as the supernal vision approached me and enveloped me in ,its aura4 ,the cup had been transmuted by ,divine alchemy into the ,flaming ,heart of love's sacrifice1 and ,i was given to taste of the living waters of ,life4 ,for a few minutes ,i was quite unconscious of where ,i was4 ,i had been1 indeed1 caught up into the seventh ,heaven4 ,i know now that ,i acted mechanically1 and to outward semblance ,i behaved in the orthodox manner1 but when ,i raised my head again the vicar had passed on and the vision had vanished4 ,nothing had happened to distract the attention of others4 ,i returned to my seat conscious that ,i had been taught the meaning and marvelous significance of the ,flaming ,heart4 ,i understood the words of the great mystic1 ,st4 ,john4 ,in him was life2 and the life was the light of men4 ,and the light shineth in the darkness2 and the darkness overcame it not4 ,there was the true light1 even the light which lighteth every man1 coming into the world4 ,i know that the ,flaming ,heart of ,divinity dwells in the breasts of all humanity1 that the soul is no empty shell1 but the shrine of the ,divine ,presence1 and that ,presence is the ,guide and ,light of ,life4 ,i have seen revealed the inner mystery of the sacramental life4 ,through a rift in the veil of the material1 the hidden life of eternity was symbolized for me in the ,flaming ,heart1 the true ,eucharistic ,mystery4 ,,chapter ,,xv ,,the ,,wraith ,,of ,,the ,,army ,,gentleman ,to some people life is an unspeakable tragedy2 to others it is a mere farce4 ,to all it is a profound mystery4 ,what am ,i8 ,where have ,i come from8 ,where am ,i going8 ,what is this mysterious ego that thinks and acts8 ,from ,darwin we learn that the human body has taken a million years to evolve its present form4 ,is it logical to suppose that there is no scheme of evolution for the immortal soul1 in which it can preserve its individuality through the ages8 ,the mills of ,god grind slowly1 and what is seventy or eighty years in eternity1 in which we develop the highest and most complex organism we can conceive of--the ,soul8 ,five hundred and thirty-five years ,b4 ,c4 ,pythagoras was teaching the reincarnation of the immortal soul in his celebrated school4 ,plato1 ,socrates1 ,aristotle1 ,philo1 ,virgil1 ,cicero1 ,euclid1 the ,egyptians and the ,hindoos taught the same doctrine4 ,in the days of ,christ the transmigration of souls was an accepted belief1 and in #bej ,a4 ,d4 ,origen1 the greatest of the ,christian ,fathers1 was still teaching the same doctrine4 ,justin ,martyr recognized the presence of the ,logos in ,jesus1 and ,socrates and ,clement of ,alexandria affirmed that the same philosophy had brought the ,greeks to ,christ4 ,to this day it remains the belief of three-fourths of the human race4 ,in our country1 though a rapidly growing faith1 ,buddhism fails to command the attention it otherwise would1 for two reasons4 ,firstly1 we have never been a religious-minded people1 and are now very much less so than formerly4 ,what are loosely termed religious subjects interest a very few1 and bore intensely the great majority4 ,out of our forty-four million souls1 a mere handful are interested in a future life4 ,the rest prefer not to take the problem into consideration1 though they are ready to accept a small dose of conventional religion1 ready-made and pre-digested4 ,secondly1 faith in the transmigration of souls in a succession of physical bodies only becomes an urgent mental necessity1 a vitally necessary explanation of life's inequalities1 to those who mix with the outcast poor4 ,such persons are again comparatively few1 and1 to those of them who think1 life without reincarnation is simply an incomprehensible and chaotic puzzle4 ,once the faith is grasped that life between birth and death is only a tiny fragment of the aeons allotted to us1 in which to develop spiritually1 divine harmony2 love and justice reappear4 ,only thus can one see light4 ,but if the tardy growth of this all-sufficient illumination is slow to take root1 it must be remembered that to the ordinary1 well-to-do person it makes no appeal4 ,am ,i my brother's keeper8 is generally answered in the negative1 and the hypocritical rejoinder1 covering a mountain of selfishness1 that it is an impertinence to pry into the lives of the poor1 is the facile excuse for sitting at ease and cozening the conscience into the belief that the poor are ,god's affair4 ,even the devout and pious1 who may feel deep compassion for the sorrow of the destitute1 have no spur to prick their mental apathy1 unless they mix freely and constantly with the poor and oppressed4 ,only then will come the perplexed question3 ,where can ,i see in all this overwhelming misery the ,divine hand of love and justice8 ,the ,christ who established his ,brotherhood with us1 by proclaiming ,god the ,universal ,father1 told us that ,before ,abraham was1 ,i am1 and ,i suppose that most people1 who accept anything1 accept the pre-existence of ,christ4 ,yet how few of us can remember anything of our own past lives1 and how merciful it is that we cannot4 ,how utterly overwhelming such memory would be6 ,the future is as carefully hidden from us as the past1 yet our previous lives have been by no means unfruitful4 ,the experiences we have gathered in the past years of this life are nearly all forgotten1 yet our development has gone on1 and the records are stored in the subconsciousness1 sometimes to be pulled across the threshold and displayed in a complete panorama before the dying eyes4 ,the statements to this effect made by those who have been resuscitated when at the point of death by drowning1 are too numerous to be discarded as mere fables4 ,undoubtedly we all contain the germs of sin at birth1 but few educated people now accept the statements that we are born sinful because our parents sinned1 or because of the moral delinquencies of those of ,eden4 ,certainly we all bear the consequences of others' sins1 but the cruel injustice of a ,god who deliberately punishes present humanity for the sins of past humanity is too revolting a conception of the ,creator to gain acceptance to-day4 ,this very fact shows that we have advanced spiritually4 ,so base a conception of the ,almighty is violently repugnant to serious thinkers4 ,the intuitive consciousness of man postulates the over-ruling spirit as a power representing perfect justice and love1 and the innate instinct to believe that we ourselves are in some mysterious way akin to this ,divine ,ideal keeps ever alive the belief in our ,divine origin4 ,what is the grand apotheosis of each human life8 ,the ,christ spirit2 a scheme of regenerative redemption1 simple1 natural1 yet superlatively grand4 ,if one asks whether the orbs in space take precedence of personal will and intelligence1 or personal will and intelligence take precedence of the orbs in space1 one has only to ask whether builders or buildings have priority4 ,do pictures originate the artist8 do books originate the author8 ,if one begins to study with a belief in spirit as power and cause1 one can account for all things1 but to start with matter as a foundation is to fail absolutely to account for either matter or spirit4 ,in some infinite womb the vital ,heavens1 the visible ,universe must have existed before time was4 ,we see all elements have their affinities1 all stars their course1 all atoms their polarity4 ,we see the wheel of ,ezekiel symbolizing the whole scheme and fabric of ,nature4 ,heaven works not only with stupendous immensities but with small minorities4 ,atoms of unutterable minuteness are streaming into the unseen atmosphere every second from the souls and bodies of the human race4 ,when the soul seeks1 aspires after ,god1 the most vital of all atoms go forth with the breath1 as light from the sun to the earth4 ,surely we and our angel kindred inhabit one house of which the most distant provinces are in touch with the center of all4 ,heaven and earth are bridged by the spirit ladder of love1 and the soul can inbreathe the spirit of ,god as the body inbreathes oxygen4 ,the contemplative mind beholds every day the passage of things invisible into sight1 the transfer of the seen into the unseen1 and all is natural4 ,the life throb of the palpable world is a pulsation going forth every instant from the eternal energy1 drawing out by an ethereal medium from the invisible and intangible1 that which is visible and tangible4 ,i will speak now of the passage of a thing invisible into sight4 ,how1 to me1 it became so ,i cannot tell4 ,i don't know4 ,one summer evening my husband and ,i were occupying two communicating bedrooms in a ,london hotel1 contiguous with one of the great railway stations4 ,we had to make an early start in the morning1 and had come there to be near our train4 ,i awakened in the early morning hours4 ,the gray dawn was just beginning to show through the bars of the ,venetian blinds lowered before the two windows4 ,those bars had not been adjusted1 and they also admitted a rather bright light from a street lamp4 ,i judged it to be somewhere about four o'clock1 but ,i did not look at my watch4 ,i was too pre-occupied in looking at something else4 ,my bare arm was stretched outside the coverlet1 and ,i was aware that what had awakened me was a cold wind blowing on my skin4 ,the furniture of the room was dimly outlined1 and at first ,i vaguely threw my half-open eyes around without perceiving anything unusual1 but gradually my senses1 shaking off their drowsiness1 became aware of movement between the bed and the window4 ,something tall and gray was wavering like a pillar of smoke betwixt me and the struggling daylight4 ,i closed my eyes again with a creepy feeling1 a disinclination to look again1 but my bare arm1 which still lay outside the coverlet1 received another intimation that roused me to keen alertness4 ,a chill wind was blowing over my skin4 ,i drew in my arm hastily1 and opened my eyes4 ,that tall gray something had approached much nearer to me1 and now ,i could distinguish with perfect clearness the figure of a man1 but such a wavering1 fluid form that one moment seemed on the point of dissolving into thin air1 and the next moment gathering itself together again in clear cut outline4 ,for what seemed to me a long time ,i stared at the gray apparition4 ,i felt a cold fear1 a rigid horror creep over me1 and but for the recollection of my husband's nearness1 and the open door between us1 ,i might have fainted from pure terror4 ,i thought of calling to him1 but something sinister in that wavering shadow made me desist4 ,at times the form came quite close to the bed1 but ,i could never see the face clearly2 it was vague and undetermined in outline1 in fact1 not completely materialized4 ,not for a second did that wavering movement cease1 that floating1 shimmering motion 'twixt bed and window1 of what ,i knew to be the ghost of a man4 ,how long this unpleasant state of things continued ,i do not know4 ,i was perfectly well aware that a ghost should be addressed in sympathetic terms1 should be asked if any human help can be rendered1 but at the time it never once occurred to me to speak4 ,gradually1 as ,i watched that retreating then advancing form1 at moments opaque1 then almost transparent1 ,i lost consciousness and fell asleep again4 ,i was awakened a few hours later by a loud knocking at my door4 ,i slid instantly out of bed1 turned the key1 and was confronted by the chambermaid1 bringing my early tea4 ,who was the man who killed himself in this room8 ,luckily1 the woman did not drop the tray1 as ,i hurled at her this abrupt question4 ,she set the tea down on a table and turned to me a scared face1 as she answered by another question3 ,how ever did you find out that8 ,never mind how ,i found out4 ,please answer me4 ,i won't get you into trouble1 ,i said firmly4 ,it was an army gentleman4 ,he shot himself here the night before last4 ,that's all ,i know1 was her subdued answer4 ,poor army gentleman6 ,so you were revisiting the scene of your last tragedy1 or had you ever left that confined space between four walls which witnessed the supreme mental agony of the suicide8 ,what had prompted me to put that sudden question to the chambermaid8 ,i could not tell4 ,in the moment of waking1 slipping out of bed and opening the door1 no recollection had come to me of my earlier experience1 but betwixt that experience and my abrupt waking at her knock knowledge must have been somehow afforded me of the tragedy4 ,i knew a man had done himself to death in that room shortly before ,i occupied it4 ,a day or two afterwards ,i read an account of the inquest held upon the body4 ,a rankling sense of unjust treatment had preyed upon his brain4 ,suicide whilst of unsound mind was the verdict4 ,poor army gentleman1 ,i fear ,i could have been of little service to you1 even if ,i had opened up some form of communication between myself and your disembodied soul6 ,when one remembers how many persons occupy even one room in a hotel in twelve months1 it seems natural that psychic phenomena should be common to such houses4 ,undoubtedly many tragedies must be enacted in every hotel within a comparatively short space of time1 and one may1 in utter unconsciousness1 occupy a bedroom in which1 but the night before1 murder or suicide has taken place4 ,some years ago1 ,i had occasion to pass a night in one of the big ,west ,end hotels of ,london4 ,it was very full1 and ,i had to be content with a very indifferent room on the main entrance floor1 and looking to the back4 ,the window had iron bars in front of it1 through which one could slip one's head1 but not one's shoulders4 ,the reason for the bars was obvious4 ,a wide mews ran on a level with this floor of the house1 and failing this obstruction any one could have stepped with perfect ease from the pavement into the room4 ,thrusting my head through the bars ,i could see from end to end of the mews4 ,on the left there was no exit1 on the right was a narrow lane running down the side of the hotel1 and leading into the main thoroughfare4 ,the mews seemed very quiet1 clean and respectable1 and for one night only ,i decided that the room would do4 ,i was very tired after passing two nights in a train1 and went early to bed and fell asleep at once4 ,i ascertained afterwards that ,i had been sleeping for five hours1 when ,i was suddenly awakened by a loud noise of scuffling feet1 accompanied by a gurgling choking sound1 as if some one was struggling to find utterance1 to gain breath4 ,to be awakened by a noise out of a sound sleep is always a startling1 uncomfortable experience4 ,if the astral body has been wandering far afield1 it has to return to the physical body in far too great a hurry for comfort4 ,there is always more or less of a dislocating jar under such circumstances4 ,the startled sensation is greatly accentuated when1 in place of waking to dead silence1 one awakens to unaccountable and very unpleasant sounds4 ,i lay perfectly still1 with every nerve tingling1 and every muscle taut1 and listened intently4 ,the noise came from the window which was shut1 and my heart began to beat more thickly with a dread and terror which had neither form nor shape4 ,slowly ,i remembered the mews outside1 and felt instantly thankful that because of its proximity ,i had shut the window1 instead of sleeping with it wide open1 as is my custom4 ,was murder taking place out there8 ,what was that hideous1 choking sound1 that surged in with guttural gasps from out the darkness1 and which suggested nothing so much as a frenzied struggle of loathing and agonized fear8 ,i lay shuddering and quaking as with the grip of ague4 ,my imagination instantly constructed the scene so vividly suggested by the nature of the sounds4 ,a man's hands were on the throat of a woman1 and he was deliberately strangling the life out of her struggling body4 ,i was sick with unspeakable agonies of dread1 and for quite five minutes ,i could not summon force or motion to my limbs4 ,if some unfortunate was being done to death it was clearly my duty to run to the window and give the alarm by shrieking murder1 but now ,i began to wonder if that awful struggle was taking place outside or just inside my room4 ,though the mews was well lit my blind was drawn down1 and the room was in darkness1 except for a faint reflection shining in from a street lamp4 ,i had only to stretch out my hand in order to switch on a light above my bed1 but a paralysis of fear held me4 ,that noise of infinite pain1 of frantic1 dying agony1 those convulsive1 ghastly groans and scuffling of feet1 and wrestling1 writhing bodies1 were spell-binding beyond the power of human conception1 and the most awe-inspiring fantasy4 ,i tried to reason with myself1 but the horror scattered all reasoning1 yet a sense of duty1 of natural humanity1 and anger with my own fears1 kept tugging at me4 ,it seemed as if the sounds were losing force1 were beginning to die out4 ,i was lying still in abject terror1 whilst a fellow-creature was being deliberately done to death4 ,a blind fury with myself1 and the murderer1 suddenly superseded fear4 ,without turning on the light ,i jumped out of bed1 and knocking up against the furniture in my haste1 ,i dashed towards the faint light coming in from the street4 ,in another moment ,i had thrust aside the blind1 and thrown the window wide4 ,i know ,i shouted out something2 ,i have no idea what4 ,i thrust my head out between the iron bars1 and looked to right and left4 ,i could see absolutely nothing4 ,the street was quite empty1 and so well lit that ,i could see from end to end of it4 ,i drew in my head1 and stood there silently1 and quivering still with excitement1 as one does when awakened with the broken fragments of an evil dream4 ,then1 suddenly1 a sensation of bristling fear took possession of me once more1 unreasoning and unreasonable fear1 clutching at my heart with a grip of ice4 ,the noise had not ceased1 it continued more faintly1 and it came from a corner of my room to the right of the window4 ,murder had been done in the room in which ,i now stood1 and was being re-enacted now4 ,the certainty rushed on me with the force of a whirlwind4 ,i was dimly conscious of human voices in the mews1 of a window being thrown open4 ,my cry had awakened other sleepers4 ,i left my window open1 and let the blind fall before it4 ,then ,i crept softly across to the opposite side of the room1 whence the dying sound proceeded4 ,the victim was almost dead4 ,i could hear nothing but a gasping1 rattling sigh1 and then silence4 ,the silence of death4 ,i was roused from my trance of horror by the measured tread of a policeman outside4 ,i heard him speaking with others1 then1 seeing nothing to account for the disturbance in the mews1 he went away again1 and ,i fell asleep from utter mental exhaustion4 ,when ,i awoke the sun was in the room1 and ,i looked towards the corner where the tragedy of the darkness had been enacted4 ,how peaceful and innocent the room now looked1 in the light of a cheerful summer morning1 and how thankful ,i was to know that ,i would be far away from it in a very few hours4 ,yet another hotel story comes to me as ,i write4 ,my sister and her husband came to ,torquay to spend a couple of nights and took rooms in one of the principal hotels4 ,they had not announced their arrival beforehand1 and the manageress took them upstairs to see several vacant rooms4 ,there was one not shown to them1 but the door was wide open1 and my sister seeing that it was unoccupied walked in1 and said she preferred it to any of the others1 because of its particular view4 ,for some unknown reason the manageress was greatly against their taking it2 she raised every sort of objection1 but my sister was firm1 and finally the luggage was carried up and she began to unpack1 whilst her husband went down to order tea4 ,after a few minutes1 and whilst she was on her knees beside the trunk1 she heard some one moving in the room behind her1 but she could see nothing4 ,it occurred to her1 however1 that some tragedy might have taken place in that particular room1 which would explain the reluctance of the manageress to let them hire it4 ,not being of a nervous disposition1 my sister thought no more of the matter1 and went downstairs to join her husband4 ,that night she was awakened by something1 she never knew what1 but on opening her eyes she saw a rather disturbing vision4 ,close to the door stood the figure of a man1 looking straight towards her4 ,his figure was brilliantly luminous1 and stood out clearly and distinctly in the darkness of the room4 ,she awakened her husband1 who sat up in bed and stared back at the figure4 ,he saw it as clearly and distinctly as his wife saw it1 and for some considerable time they watched it1 until it gradually faded out4 ,what is so sad is that they did not address this ghost4 ,they had every opportunity1 for at the same hour the same figure appeared the next night4 ,it never tried to approach them3 it simply stood there quietly for about an hour1 and then vanished4 ,probably it was the wraith of a suicide4 ,the fact remains that very few people do address the ghosts they see4 ,even if they are not afraid1 it never seems to occur to seers that to speak to the disembodied might be a very kind and helpful thing to do4 ,on their return home my brother-in-law told this story to some friends at his ,club1 and a stranger who was present said that he was aware there was a haunted room in that ,torquay hotel1 for he knew some one else who had seen it4 ,,chapter ,,xvi ,,an ,,austrian ,,adventure ,only once did ,i ever see an elemental of the terrifying type1 and ,i have no desire to repeat the experience4 ,several years ago ,i was traveling alone on my way to ,bohemia4 ,with me1 in the railway carriage1 ,i had an aluminum traveler's typewriter1 enclosed in1 and fastened down to a leather case4 ,i had also a large leather dispatch box1 containing several chapters of a new novel ,i was writing1 and which ,i meant to finish whilst abroad4 ,at the last moment1 just as ,i was starting on my journey1 a friend had given me a small ,russian ikon1 and ,i had put that in the box with my writing materials4 ,on reaching the frontier into ,austria1 ,i got out with the other travelers1 carrying the typewriter in my hand to ensure its safety4 ,a porter brought along the dispatch box1 and the luggage from the van to the ,custom ,house4 ,i had nothing to declare and said so1 but when the officials came to look at the typewriter and the contents of the dispatch box1 their civil attitude changed1 and ,i was curtly told that ,i would have to remain behind1 in order that a more thorough examination might be made4 ,there was little use in expostulating1 no one took the smallest notice of any explanations ,i made1 and ,i had the unhappy fate to behold all my fellow travelers stream out onto the platform1 and make for the waiting train1 and the growing conviction that they would proceed on their journey without me4 ,when alone with the officials ,i had the field to myself1 and ,i explained that ,i was a ,british subject1 and a ,british novelist1 but they merely looked at me with the same blend of incredulity my fellow countrymen so often favor me with1 when they accidentally discover that ,i am synonymous with the writer1 ,violet ,tweedale4 ,how well ,i know the look and the words accompanying it3 ,are you ,violet ,tweedale1 the novelist8 ,well6 who'd have thought it8 ,i never would have guessed4 ,their expression says plainly enough1 ,you don't look capable of writing out a laundry bill1 far less a novel4 ,seeing that my statements made no impression upon the ,customs officials1 ,i resigned myself to an unknown fate1 and in a few moments1 looking through the open door1 ,i had the misery of seeing my train glide out of the station1 leaving me behind4 ,an animated conversation now began which occupied at least ten minutes1 and my typewriter and dispatch box were subjected to a most rigid scrutiny4 ,i kept on imploring the officials not to break the typewriter1 but they paid no heed1 and at last1 after playing about with it for some time1 they requested me to give them an exhibition of its powers4 ,alas6 it was too late4 ,the machine was thoroughly upset with the rough fingering it had been subjected to1 and ,i could not get it to work4 ,i saw that this fact was set down as another black mark of suspicion against me1 and they then began another long discussion upon the ikon4 ,i began to be so bored and tired that ,i sat down on my trunk1 lit a cigarette1 and attempted to preserve a certain amount of outward calm1 whilst mentally ,i raged furiously within4 ,i noticed that a messenger had been sent out of the room1 but could not catch the object of his errand4 ,when all chattering and gesticulating together1 they abandoned ordinary ,german1 and fell into a dialect of their own which ,i could not understand4 ,in a few moments the messenger returned with two more officials1 and a waiter from the station restaurant4 ,the waiter was given a chapter of my novel--each chapter had an ordinary exercise book to itself--and told to translate my ,english into ,german4 ,i presume he honestly tried to do his best1 but the translation bore no resemblance to the original4 ,even the officials soon wearied of the fumbled nonsense1 and the waiter was sent away4 ,then the head official informed me that ,i might continue my journey by the next train1 but ,i must consider myself under arrest1 till further information concerning my business and identity was obtained4 ,he informed me1 finally1 that ,i was a ,russian spy4 ,i retaliated by informing him that ,i was a ,british subject4 ,that my husband was at that moment in ,bavaria1 and directly ,i could communicate with him he would obtain my release through our ,embassy at ,vienna4 ,never did ,i regret anything more than my own stupidity in having left my much-vised passport behind me in ,england4 ,the typewriter was then closed down1 tied with string and heavily sealed4 ,i was ordered to carry it myself1 and place it in the very center of an empty luggage wagon4 ,as ,i complied it flashed upon me that they had never seen a typewriter before1 and suspected it to be a sort of infernal machine4 ,my dispatch box disappeared altogether1 and ,i got into a first-class carriage1 accompanied by two very smart attendants4 ,they wore cocked hats1 much gold braid1 and many gold buttons1 and they each carried a sword and a revolver1 with which to shoot me1 ,i presume1 if ,i tried to run away4 ,we three were not alone in the carriage4 ,in a corner sat a dark man with a small black mustache1 and smoking a very long cigar4 ,he was neatly dressed in a long dust coat1 and on his smooth black hair he wore a brown ,homburg hat4 ,in one dark eye was a single monocle1 through which he regarded me with a mild surprise4 ,i saw at once that if ,i was to be burdened with the constant society of my two officials for several days1 the only thing to do was to make friends with them4 ,the circumstances had not arisen through any fault of theirs1 and they had to obey the orders of their superiors4 ,both were men who looked between the age of thirty to forty1 and they had quite pleasant faces4 ,i began by offering them cigarettes from my case--no ,customs officials object to enough tobacco being carried to last out a journey--and they accepted my civility with profuse thanks4 ,the man in the corner still regarded us from time to time with interest1 and when we had finished our cigarettes he leaned forward and most politely offered us each a big cigar4 ,the voice of this person so amazed me that in refusing with thanks1 and saying ,i never smoked cigars1 ,i looked very closely at him4 ,the voice was that of a cultured gentlewoman1 and that was exactly what this person turned out to be4 ,not a man1 but a woman dressed exactly to resemble a man4 ,when she stood up ,i saw that she wore a divided skirt1 and by the manner in which my guards addressed her when they accepted her cigars1 ,i knew that she was some great personage4 ,later on ,i discovered that she was a member of the ,imperial ,house of ,austria4 ,she spoke ,english perfectly1 and ,i explained my position1 which seemed to amuse her immensely4 ,we found that we had mutual friends1 and we were chattering most amicably when ,i reached my destination4 ,evidently a wire had preceded us1 for other officials were waiting on the platform to take possession of the typewriter1 and ,i said good-by to it1 as ,i thought1 forever4 ,the amazement of the hotel manager may be imagined when he saw me arrive under escort4 ,though ,i had engaged my rooms he had never seen me before1 and ,i was secretly uneasy lest he should refuse to take me in under the circumstances1 but my attendants appeared to possess unlimited authority4 ,i was shown into a good bedroom at the very end of the corridor4 ,the manager spoke perfect ,english1 and ,i explained my position from my point of view4 ,he was quite civil1 but ,i thought rather non-committal4 ,he evidently did not like the situation1 but at that moment ,i had a stroke of luck4 ,there entered the head waiter1 carrying the usual paper of identification which one always fills in abroad4 ,his face was quite familiar to me4 ,i never forget a face1 but ,i cannot always fit a name to it4 ,where had ,i seen this man before8 ,then in a flash ,i remembered4 ,it was in ,egypt4 ,when ,i had filled the paper1 both men remaining in the room1 ,i recalled myself to his memory1 and the occasions when he had waited upon some members of our royal family1 to whose table ,i had been bidden4 ,these occasions had been of comparatively recent happening1 and though possibly not being quite sure in his recollection of me1 he remembered our royal family perfectly1 and several little personal incidents that had occurred whilst we were all in the same hotel4 ,for instance1 there had been a very brilliant ball given at the hotel1 and the royalties had looked on for several hours1 and included me in their circle4 ,this man had been specially detailed to wait upon the circle1 all the evening4 ,this conversation produced a great effect upon the manager1 who volunteered to make matters as easy as he could for me1 till the ,embassy moved4 ,the officials would sit by the door1 and not at my table during meals1 and they would be accommodated with chairs in the corridor by the top of the staircase1 instead of outside my bedroom door4 ,he regretted that they would closely follow me whenever ,i went out1 but doubtless ,i would communicate with my husband at once1 and the mistake would soon be corrected4 ,after ,i had had some tea1 ,i began to feel quite light-hearted1 and ,i unpacked and wrote to my husband in ,bavaria4 ,that night when ,i went to bed ,i locked my door securely1 and composed myself to sleep after a tiring and disturbing day4 ,i had been in a railway sleeper all the night before1 and though ,i sleep like a top in a train1 ,i am always unusually sleepy on the following night in bed4 ,it was summer-time1 and very hot weather1 and my blinds were drawn up and the window thrown wide open4 ,no houses faced me2 ,i looked out on a big public garden4 ,i was soon fast asleep1 but was awakened again by some noise in the room4 ,i lay still for a little1 listening intently1 all the unpleasant incidents of the past day rushing back upon me4 ,the noise was not continuous1 but now and again came the sound of something soft1 dragging about the floor4 ,the room was fairly light1 with the glow of a waning moon1 and ,i judged the hour to be between two and three o'clock4 ,at last ,i determined to ascertain what produced this curious sound4 ,i had an electric light over my bed1 and ,i sat up and suddenly switched it on4 ,then ,i realized with horror that ,i was in the presence of something ,i had never encountered before1 but had often read and heard of4 ,an elemental of a malignant type1 and of grotesque form4 ,just for an instant ,i saw nothing but what looked like an enormous pillow1 but suddenly out of this grayish-green pillow emerged a head of frog-like shape1 and two bright yellow eyes were fixed on mine4 ,i suppose ,i was too terrified even to remember what my sensations were4 ,a sort of paralysis of fear and horror held me spellbound4 ,there it squatted1 thrusting out its misshapen head1 its yellow eyes regarding me fixedly4 ,i have no idea how long it remained there1 or how long we continued to gaze at one another1 but ,i gradually became aware that it was receding from view4 ,it grew smaller and smaller1 and dimmer and more indistinct1 till at length it vanished altogether4 ,elliott ,o',donnell mentions in one of his books having seen such creatures1 and of having had a number of such cases reported to him1 but generally as the forerunners of illness4 ,to such phantasms he has given the name of ,morbas1 and he believes that certain apparitions are symbolical of certain diseases if not the actual creators of the bacilli from which these diseases arise4 ,this seems to me to be a reasonable explanation of such phenomena1 but in my case there was no disease in question4 ,i was perfectly well at the time1 and remained so4 ,it is possible1 however1 that a sick person might have occupied my room the night before4 ,one never knows in hotels1 and ,i had not then read ,o',donnell's explanation and made no inquiries4 ,many of the experiences related in his deeply interesting books are no doubt regarded as fiction1 but ,i know that they are cases common to very many psychics4 ,for some time ,i lay awake1 fearful of a recurrence of the horrible phenomenon1 but gradually sleep overcame me1 and ,i did not wake again till seven o'clock on a lovely summer morning4 ,that day ,i took two long walks1 closely followed by my escort4 ,they walked immediately behind me1 and often we stopped to converse1 or to sit down to rest and smoke a cigarette together4 ,they told me all their family history1 and about their wives and children1 and really they made themselves as agreeable as they possibly could4 ,in the afternoon we climbed up the mountains to one of the many cafes1 and had chocolate and cakes1 which they thoroughly enjoyed4 ,when ,i finally went back to the hotel for the night they complained of being tired1 and hoped ,i would not walk so far on the morrow4 ,their idea of enjoyment was the usual foreign custom of taking a seat outside a street cafe1 and sitting there hour after hour idly watching the passers-by1 smoking endless cigarettes and drinking beer4 ,that night ,i prepared myself for a recurrence of the abnormal phenomenon ,i had witnessed1 and gathered up all my courage1 and decided to attack it with the ,sacred command4 ,for a long time ,i lay awake1 but nothing happened1 and finally ,i fell asleep4 ,i awoke to pandemonium4 ,my room was in a hub-bub of high-pitched noise4 ,screams of glee and frolic1 shouts of thin laughter1 and pattering feet with little thuds interspersed4 ,the sounds were all pitched in an unknown key4 ,they can best be described as ordinary sounds intensely rarefied1 and pitched in so high a treble that they had run out of the scale altogether4 ,it was a much darker night1 and very hot4 ,thunder clouds hung over the town1 and now and again there was a gleam of lightning and a mutter of distant thunder4 ,i peeped over the edge of the bed1 but could see nothing4 ,the noises continued with unabated merriment4 ,a hundred creatures of sorts apparently were playing round me4 ,summoning all my courage ,i sat up and switched on the light4 ,what ,i saw must read like pure nonsense to the majority1 but nevertheless ,i mean to record facts as they happened to me4 ,about a dozen small forms1 half-man1 half-animal1 were playing leap-frog round the room4 ,they were about three feet in height1 some slightly smaller1 and though their bodies1 legs and feet were human1 their heads resembled apes4 ,i forgot all about being afraid1 they were so amazingly grotesque1 and they were so thoroughly happy4 ,one would go down on all fours1 and the creatures immediately behind him would leap his back1 and so on down the chain1 and all the while they kept up that shrill1 high-pitched note of intense enjoyment4 ,i have come to the conclusion that it was the light that finally put an end to their revels4 ,they took no heed of me1 but gradually their energies flagged1 they faded and became blurred in outline2 one by one they simply went out like sparks until not one was left4 ,though ,i occupied that room for a month ,i was never disturbed again4 ,perfect quiet reigned for the rest of my stay4 ,at the end of five days a police official came to call upon me1 and informed me that my identity had been perfectly established by the ,british ,embassy at ,vienna1 and that my escort was now withdrawn4 ,he also begged to return my typewriter1 rendered utterly useless ,i discovered1 to my great dismay1 and the dispatch box arrived intact the next morning4 ,i have no explanation to offer of the phenomena ,i have described4 ,they belong to the many unsolved mysteries that constantly surround us4 ,it will be said that my mind was in an excited and abnormal condition owing to my adventures in the ,customs ,house1 and that ,i probably imagined the scene instead of really seeing the creatures ,i have described4 ,i agree that probably my mental faculties1 for the time being1 were possibly abnormal1 but ,i hold that when the consciousness is in an abnormal condition it is naturally much easier to see the abnormal4 ,at ordinary times the veil of the flesh seems denser1 and the consciousness much less acute4 ,the question seems to me to hang more on the query--do such creatures actually exist1 than on the argument did ,i1 or did ,i not see them8 ,there are creatures living in the physical world quite as horrible to look upon as the astral entities ,i saw4 ,the octopus and some apes1 for instance4 ,innumerable people of unimpeachable veracity have testified to seeing grotesque and hideous creatures1 which can only be placed in the category of astral denizens1 and in that category ,i place the phenomena ,i certainly witnessed on two successive nights4 ,the following story has been given to me by a barrister who kindly allows me to give his name3 ,e4 ,f4 ,,williams1 ,b4,a4 ,trinity ,college1 ,cambridge4 ,it is clear that ,needle ,jim was murdered by the proprietor1 ,corbett of the ,tally ,ho1 and that his wraith haunted the spot4 ,horses appear to be as sensitive as dogs are to apparitions1 and there are several instances on record where horses have been the means of bringing murder to light4 ,it is a difficult matter1 indeed1 to be asked to write a ghost story if you do not believe in ghosts2 however1 ,i will endeavor to relate the nearest approach to one which has come within my knowledge4 ,the winter of the year #ahdi was an exceptionally severe one1 very heavy falls of snow and deep drifts in many places1 especially in the neighborhood of ,worcester1 near which the scene of my story lies4 ,it was1 in those days1 the custom of packmen as they were called1 to travel around the country with various assortments of goods--calling at the various farmhouses and cottages offering their wares for sale2 some would have cutlery1 some laces and ribbons1 but the packman with whom we are concerned carried pins1 needles1 and such like1 hailing from ,redditch1 where they are manufactured4 ,he used to go his round four times a year1 and was known by the name of ,needle ,jim4 ,about the beginning of ,january1 in spite of the snow1 ,jim left ,worcester for ,upper ,onslow1 ,clayton and ,broadway1 with a view of going to ,cleobury ,mortimer1 ,wyn ,forest1 and back to ,redditch4 ,apparently he was seen at ,onslow and ,clayton1 but after that1 there was no further trace of him4 ,now at the village of ,broadway1 there is a little cider house called the ,tally ,ho1 and a few cottages4 ,the road is narrow1 with three very sharp corners1 protected only from a very steep dingle by an ill-kept1 low1 out-of-repair hedge--very dangerous on a dark night4 ,the old proprietor of the inn1 named ,corbett1 lived there with his old wife1 and was in the poorest of circumstances1 the customers at the inn not being very numerous4 ,nothing more was heard of ,needle ,jim4 ,now opposite the ,tally ,ho1 on the far bank of the dingle1 was a piece of ground facing the south1 and old ,corbett thought it would make an excellent cherry orchard4 ,so the hitherto impecunious ,corbett bought a portion1 and when he had bought it he fenced it round1 and from the opposite side it looked exactly the shape of a coffin1 and the coffin piece it is called to this day4 ,at the time of which ,i am writing1 if was permissible after a man had been hung1 for his relatives to take the body away home for burial4 ,one day1 two men arrived at the ,tally ,ho1 with such a body fastened across the back of a horse2 tying up the horse they went into the inn for some refreshment1 shortly to be called out by a woman who said the horse1 burden and all1 had jumped over the hedge into the dingle and was lying at the bottom4 ,they hurried down and there found the horse with his neck broken and his ghastly burden under him4 ,it was a curious fact that after the disappearance of ,needle ,jim1 horses approaching this corner broke into heavy sweats and showed great signs of fear1 and a number of people preferred to travel by the longer route1 via the ,hundred ,horse4 ,some years ago some alterations were being made to the front of an old hotel in a little country town about five miles from the scenes depicted above1 and on raising the large flagstone of the bottom step1 there was discovered the skeleton of a man with his skull smashed4 ,the old folks declared it must be the body of the missing packman2 anyhow1 after the discovery1 the spirit or ghost seems to have departed from the precincts of the ,tally ,ho4 ,now ,i am not a believer in ghosts or their allies1 but when ,i was a small boy ,i went on my pony accompanied by two servants1 who were taking a parcel to a house next door to the ,tally ,ho1 and whilst they were inside the house1 all at once the pony snorted and started full gallop for home as hard as he could go2 we parted company going down a steep hill1 and ,i have often thought it was a good thing for me we did1 for if he had bolted into his stable 7which he did do7 ,i should probably have had my head smashed1 as the doorway was very low4 ,still1 ,i do not believe in ghosts1 ,i think it is more convenient not to6 ,,chapter ,,xvii ,,across ,,the ,,threshold ,once upon a time ,i had an interesting experience showing how often one may be in the presence of the disembodied without being in the least aware of the fact4 ,it was a bright1 cold day in ,october1 with a biting wind and brilliant sunshine4 ,about midday ,i was walking up a long avenue leading to a great house4 ,on either side of me1 for a mile or so1 lay flat1 open grass country1 pasturages full of grazing cattle4 ,the trees bordering the avenue stood at about thirty feet apart2 they were gigantic beeches of considerable age4 ,their silvery trunks of wide girth were smooth and straight1 and in no way impeded the view on all sides4 ,the avenue was wide and straight and bordered by grass out of which the trees sprang4 ,as ,i turned in at the lodge gate ,i noticed1 without any particular interest1 a woman walking in front of me1 but in a very few moments ,i began to pay more attention to her obvious peculiarities4 ,she was about twenty-five to thirty feet ahead of me1 moving in the same direction1 and the view ,i had of her back began to puzzle me4 ,on that decidedly chilly morning she wore a white muslin dress1 a material never used out of doors even in summer in that northern clime4 ,over her shoulders floated something mauve and flimsy1 and on her head was what looked like an old-fashioned poke-bonnet4 ,her back looked young1 and yet she was a creature of a bygone century1 and knowing every one within a twenty-mile radius of where ,i walked ,i speculated as to who she could possibly be4 ,perhaps what puzzled me most was how she had managed to avoid the attention of the village children1 who would at once have been alive to the novelty of her whole appearance4 ,i looked forward to hearing all about her at the big house1 and as seemed highly probable1 meeting her face to face and obtaining an introduction to her4 ,then it suddenly occurred to me to overtake her and pass her2 we were both walking very slowly4 ,i at once quickened my steps1 but somehow ,i never seemed to gain on her4 ,even this did not rouse in me the faintest suspicion of being in the presence of a disembodied soul1 it merely sharpened my curiosity and urged me to greater efforts4 ,i moved from the road to the grass which ,i calculated would deaden the sound of my footsteps1 then ,i began to run4 ,still no success6 ,the lady never turned her head to right or left1 but was clearly aware of my pursuit1 for apparently without the least effort she kept her distance from me4 ,at the moment when ,i was feeling rather baffled and very much puzzled ,i caught sight of my friend1 ,n41 in the distance coming to meet me4 ,ah6 ,i thought1 as ,i at once slowed down to draw breath1 she will have to pass her and she'll tell me what her face is like4 ,i kept eyes and attention closely fixed on the two figures as they drew nearer and nearer to one another4 ,now the stranger appeared to be exactly at an equal distance between us1 when1 lo6 she simply vanished as utterly and entirely as the electric light one switches off in a room4 ,one second there she was1 perfectly and clearly visible1 the next second1 there she was not4 ,i looked foolishly around1 though ,i knew that neither to right or left was there any hiding-place1 moreover my eyes had been fully upon her when she vanished1 flicked out-- ,how well ,i remember ,n4 running up to me and without any greeting1 we both simultaneously burst out-- ,did you see her8 ,n4 told me that the inside of the poke-bonnet was empty4 ,the lady had no face4 ,of course we gazed around and searched behind the boles of the trees1 but we were both aware how foolish any such proceeding was1 for we had both been staring hard at her when she disappeared4 ,there was a bygone tragedy connected with that part of the avenue1 but on discussing the matter with the owner of the great house we all had to come reluctantly to the conclusion that the woman we had seen had no connection with that story4 ,a former ,lady ,dalrymple had been murdered by one of her servants in the avenue about a hundred years previously1 but the portraits of the deceased and the lady we had seen bore not the smallest resemblance4 ,it was said that ,lady ,dalrymple walked--a tall1 massive figure clad in a dark1 heavy cloak sprinkled with snow4 ,she had been done to death one ,january night in a snowstorm which had hidden her remains for several days4 ,the apparition we had seen was that of a very slender girl or young woman4 ,the interesting fact that ,i wish to emphasize is that had this young drama in muslin turned aside1 slipped through the light fence1 and struck off across the fields it would never have occurred to either ,n4 or me that she was not physical4 ,we would have speculated as to who she was1 but out of common civility we would not have followed her4 ,we would have made casual inquiries as to who she was1 simply out of curiosity aroused by her peculiar attire1 and then the trifling incident would have been forgotten4 ,that sudden vanishing has rooted the experience firmly in my mind1 and ,i have long since become convinced that the little story ,i have just told is an extremely common one4 ,i believe such disembodied spirits are constantly with us1 and that many of us see them1 pass them in the streets1 stand beside them in crowds1 and accept them perfectly naturally as physical entities in no way different from what we are ourselves4 ,many people believe that our faculties have a limit beyond which we cannot go1 but this is certainly not so1 as it is now proved that some people have the ,x-ray sight by nature and can see far more than others4 ,this faculty has nothing to do with keenness of sight1 it is a question of sight which is able to respond to different series of vibrations4 ,undoubtedly there are many entities about us who do not reflect rays of light that we can see1 yet who may reflect those other rays of rates of vibration which can be photographed4 ,it is extremely difficult for the average person to grasp the reality of that which we cannot see with our physical eyes1 and to realize how very partial our sight is1 yet science continually demonstrates to us worlds of teeming life of whose very existence we should be ignorant so far as our senses are concerned4 ,what ought clearly to be grasped is the fact that we are not separated from the so-called dead1 save by the limitation of our consciences4 ,we have not lost those gone before1 we have only lost the power to see them1 and very occasionally that power is restored to us1 by what means we know not4 ,all visible things are the result of invisible causes1 and doubtless those denizens of the subtler worlds come amongst us with a distinct purpose in view4 ,sometimes that purpose can be traced to remorse1 revenge1 a quest1 a strong attraction to the scene of a crime1 but in many other cases no object can be discerned4 ,the condition of the observer is constantly found to be absolutely normal4 ,the mental conditions of both myself and ,n4 were1 as far as we could tell1 quite normal4 ,our mental activity was no greater1 no more vivid or more accurate than usual1 yet we both saw an object that was beyond normal sense and rational vision4 ,the fact that so often there is no connecting link between the apparition and his or her surroundings induces me to believe that we are everywhere surrounded by the denizens of the other world1 and on rare occasions we catch a glimpse of them4 ,here is another utterly trivial story which emphasizes the above suggestion4 ,i was lunching with my husband in a house built within the last fifty years4 ,the only former occupants were known to us4 ,we were discussing a letter ,i had that morning received and ,i said3 ,i'll go and fetch it for you to read4 ,i rose and left the dining-room1 and pushed open the half-closed door of the adjoining drawing-room4 ,what was my astonishment to behold standing in the middle of the floor a tall1 dark man1 a total stranger4 ,he stood exactly between the door and a large bow window1 through which poured a flood of sunshine1 and ,i paused involuntarily and stared at him4 ,not that there was anything the least peculiar about him1 and1 indeed1 his air of great respectability instantly banished the flashing thought of ,burglar4 ,the stranger returned my stare with perfect composure1 and in a second or two during which we regarded each other ,i had time to observe his appearance4 ,he was well dressed1 all in black1 with a modern1 black broadcloth frockcoat buttoned close4 ,he was very tall and strongly built1 his face was sallow and heavy featured1 and he wore a short1 black beard4 ,i bowed and addressed him3 ,i'm sorry6 ,i didn't know any one was waiting4 ,do you wish to see me or my husband8 ,i said politely4 ,the man made no reply1 but at once began to glide1 not walk1 towards a closed glass door leading to a conservatory on the left4 ,his eyes never left mine4 ,without opening the door he passed through it and vanished4 ,then ,i realized and darted after him1 throwing open the door and staring beyond4 ,nothing6 ,nothing physical could have passed through a glass door without shattering it1 and that is all there is to this story4 ,the man had no connection with us nor1 so far as we could learn1 with the former occupants of the house4 ,a very old friend of mine1 ,mrs4 ,sinclair1 wife of the late ,sir ,tollemache ,sinclair's second son1 told me of an experience she and her mother once had when visiting a cousin1 ,major ,fetherston ,dilke1 of ,maxstoke ,castle1 ,warwickshire4 ,the ,castle is ancient and surrounded by a moat1 and within the moat lies a tennis court4 ,in order to reach their rooms on the ground floor1 ,mrs4 ,sinclair and her mother had to pass through a great stone hall filled with fine old oak and armor4 ,beyond that their way lay through the remains of an old chapel1 which once had been extensively damaged by fire4 ,one evening after playing tennis till rather late1 ,mrs4 ,sinclair and her mother hastened indoors to change for dinner4 ,as they passed through the chapel ,mrs4 ,sinclair saw her mother suddenly shrink back against the wall2 at the same time she exclaimed1 ,oh1 ,may1 stand aside and let that person pass4 ,mrs4 ,sinclair looked round1 but could see no one4 ,again her mother cried out insistently3 ,oh1 do let her pass4 ,but no one is here1 ,mrs4 ,sinclair assured her4 ,then seeing that her mother looked terrified she took her by the arm and hurried her to their rooms4 ,when the door was shut ,mrs4 ,sinclair tried to soothe her mother's agitation1 and asked her what she had seen1 and why she was so disturbed4 ,her mother replied3 ,there was a young woman in the corner who was trying hard to escape observation1 and the sight of her gave me the most uncomfortable feeling4 ,she was not a maidservant1 and wore no cap4 ,she was dressed in a mauve print gown with a violet sprig upon it4 ,she might have been a needle-woman4 ,mrs4 ,sinclair calmed her mother as well as she could1 and they went down to dinner together4 ,during the meal what was her horror to hear her mother say to their host1 ,oh1 ,william1 ,i feel sure there are ghosts in the ,castle4 ,i've seen one to-night4 ,there was a most uncomfortable silence after this1 and ,major ,fetherston ,dilke looked terribly agitated4 ,after dinner1 when the ladies were alone in the drawing-room1 ,mrs4 ,dilke asked ,mrs4 ,sinclair what they had seen1 and on being told she explained that before a death in the family a certain housekeeper1 who had been murdered1 always haunted the chapel1 and in consequence of this warning always coming true her husband was exceedingly nervous of this apparition4 ,nothing more was said upon the subject during ,mrs4 ,sinclair's stay1 but before the end of the year ,major ,fetherston ,dilke lay dead4 ,such warnings are very common1 and very hard to understand4 ,they suggest that the apparition knows of the approaching death of a certain person1 and that it has the power to make itself visible to certain persons1 at certain times4 ,why this warning should be given is a baffling mystery4 ,again1 why did not ,mrs4 ,sinclair see this ghost when her mother so plainly saw it8 ,the fact is that all sorts of most unlikely persons see apparitions1 even the rankest unbeliever and the most matter-of-fact individual1 and they generally see them at most unexpected moments4 ,i remember one day walking along a country road1 and seeing a dog-cart in the distance coming towards me4 ,as it drew nearer ,i saw that it contained 7the late7 ,lord ,wemyss1 and on recognizing me he drew up and jumped down4 ,i've got a confession to make to you1 he said4 ,i wouldn't tell any one else for the world4 ,i'd have the life chaffed out of me4 ,i've actually seen a ghost4 ,i'm not in the least surprised4 ,why shouldn't you see a ghost8 ,i retorted4 ,well6 ,i never believed in them1 and ,i didn't think ,i was the sort of man who'd ever see one4 ,now1 if it had been ,arthur ,balfour there would have been nothing in it4 ,he's a member of the ,psychical ,society1 and all that sort of thing4 ,but being a member of the ,psychical ,society does not predispose one to see ghosts1 ,i expostulated1 but ,lord ,wemyss remained very puzzled4 ,he told me that when about half a mile from his own front door at ,gosford1 ,east ,lothian1 he saw a man walking in front of him in the same direction1 going towards the house4 ,in a vague sort of way he wondered for a moment where this man had suddenly sprung from1 as he had not noticed him before1 but there was nothing unusual in his appearance to arouse curiosity4 ,he was a stranger and looked like a foreman in his ,sunday clothes4 ,lord ,wemyss walked on1 always keeping about ten yards between himself and the stranger4 ,at a certain point he fully expected he would strike off by a path leading to the servants' and tradesmen's entrance1 but rather to his surprise1 the man did no such thing4 ,he pursued an undeviating course towards the main entrance1 and on observing this ,lord ,wemyss became more interested1 and looked at him more closely4 ,still there was something remarkable to be observed1 and concluding that the man1 being a stranger1 did not know of any other entrance1 he quickened his steps in order to come up with him4 ,in this he failed--the man kept his distance1 and just as he reached the door he vanished from sight4 ,i tried hard to persuade ,lord ,wemyss to tell this story to ,mr4 ,balfour1 who was so intimate a friend1 but ,i believe he never did so4 ,the interest lies in the long time1 during a half-mile walk1 in which the ghost was under observation1 also in the fact that until the man disappeared on the doorstep ,lord ,wemyss had never suspected that the stranger was other than ordinary flesh and blood4 ,so many people have confided their ghost stories to me1 and swore me to secrecy1 that ,i am convinced such experiences are very common1 and only remain hidden either from fear of being laughed at or from being thought to suffer from hallucinations4 ,,chapter ,,xviii ,,haunted ,,rooms ,how is it that one can feel a room is haunted8 ,what is it that gives one the strong impression that there is something unpleasant about a certain room1 a something that sets it apart1 as a place to be avoided8 ,the mind operates with the senses4 ,it receives impressions through the air as sound1 or through the ether as sight1 and so forth4 ,through the various senses we catch the vibrations of consciousness belonging to our environment1 near or far4 ,psychically developed persons possess an increase of sensibility which enables them to see1 hear1 and feel more acutely than most people4 ,wherever some great mental disturbance has taken place1 wherever overwhelming sorrow1 hatred1 pain1 terror1 or any kind of violent passion has been felt1 an impression of a very marked character has been imprinted on the astral light4 ,so strong is this impression that often persons possessing but the first glimmer of the psychic faculty are deeply impressed by it4 ,but a slight temporary increase of sensibility would enable them to visualize the whole scene4 ,that such impressions should be imprinted on the astral light is no more wonderful than ordinary photography1 or the impression of the human voice upon the cylinders of a gramophone4 ,to me1 a haunted room is always full of shadows4 ,that is how ,i see it4 ,that is one of several ways by which ,i distinguish it from other rooms4 ,other people do not always see these shadows1 and the room may actually be flooded with sunshine when ,i enter it for the first time4 ,this makes no difference to what ,i see4 ,the shadows are there1 despite the sunshine4 ,there are long-drawn-out shadows1 which seem to take their rise in the corners of the room1 and creep across the floor4 ,they are not motionless1 but in constant vibration and re-formation1 like smoke drifts4 ,such shadows are not of a uniform gray1 but tinged by dull colors1 dark red1 sulphur yellow1 muddy brown4 ,in a haunted room there is always a shadow above one's head4 ,a hovering cloud between the ceiling and midway to the floor4 ,then there are the sensations ,i feel when entering a haunted room4 ,little shivers run through me1 and what ,i take to be nervous excitation sets all my spine jangling1 and the tiny nerve threads quivering4 ,the sensation of icy cold water trickling down my back is most unpleasant4 ,at times a profound melancholy falls upon me1 often blended with a poignant compassion for some one1 ,i know not whom4 ,at other times a sensation of violent repulsion invades my being1 which has actually1 in some cases1 produced physical sickness4 ,again1 there is the helpless feeling1 and that is the hardest to bear of all such psychic disturbances4 ,the feeling that something is about to occur in that room which ,i will be powerless to ward off4 ,what can one do when paying a visit if one is ushered into a bedroom by one's hostess which one instantly knows to be unhealthful8 ,i cannot find a better word to describe many a haunted room4 ,this experience has several times happened to me1 and unless ,i know my hostess very well1 ,i am obliged to sleep in this unhealthful atmosphere4 ,on one occasion ,i was invited to dine and sleep with some old friends1 who had taken on lease an old castle in the neighborhood of ,st4 ,andrews1 where ,i happened to be staying4 ,they had only been in residence for a month or two1 an old brother and an old sister1 whom ,i had known all my life4 ,in spite of this long friendship they were not the sort of people to whom ,i could have said1 ,would you mind giving me another room8 ,the one you have selected for me is haunted1 and if ,i remain in it ,i will have no sleep4 ,i shall not even dare to try to sleep1 but shall have to keep awake all night to ward off the evil4 ,they would have been both shocked and indignant at such a suggestion1 and probably have concluded that ,i had gone stark staring mad4 ,i had accepted a seat in a carriage belonging to some friends in ,st4 ,andrews1 who were also going to the castle to dine1 but who were returning to sleep in their own homes in the town4 ,it was twilight when we drove up the long avenue1 and caught a first glimpse of the exterior4 ,a typical old ,scotch castle1 very large1 with high-peaked roofs and pepper-box turrets1 and all built of gray stone4 ,about an hour before dinner ,i was conducted to my room4 ,my evening dress was already spread upon the bed1 and the housemaid was arranging my toilet articles on the dressing-table4 ,i think you will be comfortable here1 my dear1 said my kind hostess1 and ,i thanked her with a sinking heart as she went away4 ,as the housemaid prepared to follow her ,i said1 ,am ,i the only person sleeping on this floor8 ,she answered1 ,you are the only one in this wing1 miss4 ,it is a very large house1 ,i suppose8 ,twenty-six bedrooms1 answered the housemaid1 but we've shut up most of them4 ,this one has such a good view that ,miss ,young thought it ought to be used4 ,with that she went away1 and ,i looked round4 ,six lighted candles and a big wood fire seemed only to accentuate the profound gloom and depression of the large1 irregular room4 ,the very first thing ,i did was to throw a towel over the face of the mirror on the dressing-table4 ,then ,i investigated every nook and corner4 ,there was a powdering closet formed in a pepper-box turret4 ,the carpet of the room stopped short at its door1 and inside the boards looked loose and uneven4 ,i fetched a candle and soon discovered that the floorboards lifted up quite easily1 and beneath them was a black yawning hole1 an oubliette1 through which wretched prisoners were cast in days not so long ago4 ,i replaced the boards1 telling myself that in the morning ,i would have a look at the outside of this black shaft4 ,it probably ended1 as most of such places did end in the old ,scotch castles1 in a big dungeon underground4 ,inside my big room there were sloping ceilings1 and great beams1 and an enormous fireplace had been bricked up to suit more modern requirements4 ,there were two doors1 the one ,i had entered by and another which was locked and keyless4 ,the window1 with the view1 was hidden by heavy red curtains1 and the atmosphere was musty and dank1 like that of a vault4 ,as ,i stared around me ,i could not help thinking what an unfortunate thing it is to be born without any imagination4 ,any one possessed of a spark of that quality would have hesitated before putting a young guest into so gloomy a chamber1 the only room occupied in that wing4 ,no sleep possible here1 ,i told myself grimly1 as ,i began to dress4 ,then ,i set myself to feel after what was really wrong with the room4 ,supposing ,i did fall asleep1 what would happen8 ,would some one come and try to strangle me in the night8 ,that had actually happened to many people4 ,would ,i suddenly awake to the fact that some one unseen was pulling off the bedclothes8 ,that was also a trick common to ghostly visitants4 ,gradually ,i gathered impressions1 very unpleasant ones4 ,i became positively certain that ,i was being watched intently4 ,some one1 present in the room1 though unseen by me1 was watching my every movement4 ,that some one violently resented my occupation of the room1 was intensely hostile1 and meant to make things nasty for me later on that night4 ,wherever ,i moved ,i felt that malignant eyes followed me1 and ,i kept glancing over my shoulder at every crack of the furniture1 and the scratching of a mouse in the wainscot4 ,it was in the stretches of dead silence that the presence became most imminent1 most menacing1 and ,i had a strong instinct to set my back against the wall and face right out into the room4 ,again ,i was confronted by the mirror problem4 ,i had become certain that it must remain covered4 ,if ,i looked into its surface ,i knew ,i would see something horrible4 ,something kept whispering to me1 ,never mind how you look1 never mind if your bodice is all awry1 or your skirt all askew1 or your hair all bulging out on one side4 ,don't uncover the mirror if you value your sanity4 ,what there is to be seen can only become visible in the mirror4 ,don't worry after explanations1 or why this should or how it could be4 ,do as ,i tell you4 ,keep the mirror covered and when you come up to bed keep your back to the wall4 ,dressing was a very rapid process that night1 and when completed1 so far as circumstances would allow1 ,i found ,i still had twenty minutes to wait until the dinner gong would ring4 ,i sat down with my back against the wall1 and surveyed the depressing apartment with a gloomy anticipation4 ,where was that stealthy watcher1 whose baleful eyes ,i felt were fixed upon me8 ,i could see nothing4 ,i could only feel acutely that ,i was not alone1 and that ,i was in for an awful night4 ,oh6 to get away1 and leave that malignant unseen watcher in undisputed possession of his dismal abode6 ,i was quite certain of the gender6 ,then a chance of deliverance flashed over me4 ,i could return after dinner to ,st4 ,andrews with the friends who had brought me4 ,but ,i had accepted the invitation to stay the night4 ,what possible excuse could ,i make for cutting short my visit8 ,in this case the truth was no use2 in fact1 worse than useless4 ,not only would my host and hostess utterly fail to understand what ,i was talking about1 but they would be exceedingly indignant1 and look upon me as absolutely insane4 ,as falsehood had to be resorted to1 ,i surely could invent some plausible excuse that would hurt no one's feelings1 but the only excuse ,i could think of was illness4 ,i must tell my hostess that ,i feared ,i was in for an illness of some sort1 and the wisest thing to do was to drive back to ,st4 ,andrews and be laid up in my own bed4 ,the most hospitable person would rather not have a sick guest under her roof4 ,the excuse ,i proposed to make seemed to me to be the one most likely to be accepted without much fuss4 ,i did not determine upon this plan without a certain amount of wavering4 ,after all1 ,i told myself1 it is only for one night1 and what can this entity do but give you a very creepy and disturbed night4 ,you will have to sit up against the wall1 and defend yourself by the power of the ,cross1 bidding it begone1 in the ,name of the ,father1 the ,son1 and the ,holy ,ghost4 ,this you may have to do many times1 but the night won't last forever1 and you had best try to make the best of things1 and not risk offending old friends4 ,it did seem hard that ,i dared not tell the truth4 ,had the entity been in the flesh how easy it would have been4 ,who has not1 at some time or another in her life1 found herself unwittingly to be an unwelcome guest1 and made to feel if you don't go away at once you will regret it8 ,sometimes one comes across persons who for some private reason dread being overlooked1 or who love their hermitage so dearly that they refuse to be amiable1 to even the most swiftly passing guest4 ,old people are often like that1 every one knows1 or has known1 of such people in the flesh4 ,yet how few believe that such unpleasant traits persist just as strongly after so-called death1 as before4 ,what should suddenly change a man's whole disposition the moment he shuffles off this mortal coil8 ,i felt ,i was now in the presence of one who dreaded being overlooked1 and who sought to get rid of me by every device in his power4 ,whilst thinking thus my mind was irrevocably made up for me4 ,my attention was suddenly drawn towards a soft stealthy noise4 ,padded footsteps4 ,something had come near1 and was creeping warily round in front of me4 ,i felt the eyes upon me4 ,i was being regarded more closely4 ,what was about to follow8 ,i leapt to my feet1 and raising my arm made the sign of the ,cross4 ,i bid you begone1 in the ,name of the ,father1 the ,son1 and the ,holy ,ghost4 ,there was a moment's pause of utter silence4 ,the atmosphere struck suddenly chill as ice4 ,a curious sensation of emptiness crept over the room4 ,i was alone1 but for how long would ,i remain alone8 ,i hurried downstairs and tried to play my part1 and during the course of the evening ,i told my falsehoods as naturally as ,i could4 ,at half-past ten ,i drove off to ,st4 ,andrews with a light heart1 and an utter indifference to the consequences4 ,i believe that my falsehoods did not1 however1 go down1 for ,i never was asked again to that house4 ,perhaps it was as well1 for ,i certainly never would have set foot in it again1 and ,i had sacrificed the truth quite sufficiently upon this one occasion4 ,i had no difficulty in finding out what sort of reputation the castle bore4 ,every one agreed that it was haunted4 ,i asked one elderly woman who had lived all her life in ,st4 ,andrews1 and who knew the whole country intimately1 what she thought of ,s4 ,castle4 ,horrible1 haunted old place4 ,i can't think how the ,youngs could have taken it1 she replied4 ,but what sort of ghosts haunt it8 ,i asked4 ,old ,sir ,james and his son4 ,they were in league with the ,devil1 and the son1 another ,james1 used to murder people and throw them down into the dungeon4 ,he was beheaded in the reign of ,charles the ,first4 ,have you known any one who has ever seen anything8 ,i persisted4 ,no1 but my father remembered as a young man seeing a pile of human bones being removed from the dungeon1 and buried in the churchyard4 ,the late people lived to be very old1 and always kept ,sir ,james' wing shut up4 ,now the place has changed hands1 and probably the ,youngs will never be disturbed4 ,they are installed in the most modern part of the house1 and won't need to use the haunted wing4 ,it must not be supposed that all haunted houses or rooms are unpleasant to live in4 ,people in the flesh are either pleasant or unpleasant1 disturbing or tranquil to live with1 and so it is with their astral counterparts4 ,when they elect to haunt the scenes of their old activities some ghosts are so inoffensive that they can be lived with under the most tranquil conditions4 ,one autumn we took a shooting lodge in the far ,north of ,scotland1 and though ,i recognized at once that it was frequented by an entity from the other side1 ,i experienced no uneasy feelings whatever4 ,we had not been in residence longer than three hours before this ghost put in an appearance4 ,we were in a lively confusion of unpacking and settling down4 ,several large trunks had been carried upstairs1 and set down on a wide corridor on to which the bedrooms opened4 ,i was on my knees unpacking one of those trunks1 our dog ,pompey was seated beside me superintending matters1 and my maid was standing at my side waiting to carry various articles into the different rooms4 ,the hour was midday1 and the early autumn sunshine flooded the house4 ,suddenly ,pompey growled1 and turned towards the staircase1 with all his hair bristling4 ,i also looked round and saw a tall1 quite ordinary man mounting the staircase4 ,i thought nothing of this1 supposing him to be the factor whom we expected1 and ,i rose to my feet at once4 ,he came on along the corridor straight towards us1 and looking directly at us1 but when within about ten feet from where we stood he suddenly vanished4 ,i heard my maid give a sharp exclamation1 and at the same instant ,pompey made a furious dash at the spot1 and growling angrily began to pursue something invisible to us1 down the stairs4 ,i followed as quickly as ,i could4 ,i feared ,pompey would be lost if he ran out into the deer forest surrounding us on all sides4 ,i caught him at the deer fence1 edging the vegetable garden1 and induced him with some difficulty to return to the house4 ,my maid and ,i compared notes4 ,what ,i had seen accorded exactly with what she had seen4 ,she soon got over her uncomfortable experience1 and though ,i never saw this entity again1 ,i often felt him near me4 ,he was1 however1 of so colorless a personality1 that he never proved in the least disturbing to any one in the house4 ,at the time of which ,i write the ,astral ,plane was not so generally recognized as an actual residential quarter as it is now4 ,in these days a halfway house for the soul was not considered necessary for ,protestants4 ,they either went direct to heaven or hell1 according to their manner of life on earth4 ,the ,catholics alone had their ,purgatory1 to which the departed souls repaired1 there to slough off the passions of earth and fit themselves for higher realms4 ,purgatory and the ,astral ,plane mean the same thing now to the vast majority of thinkers4 ,a halfway house for the soul4 ,a condition of consciousness interpenetrating this earth1 which may actually be visited under certain conditions by those still possessing a physical body1 an abode so contiguous to this world as to make the words of the ,poet literally true-- ,all houses wherein men have lived and died are haunted houses4 ,in these days ,i used to get severely chaffed on the subject of the ,astral ,plane4 ,frivolous young things would say to me1 ,hello6 been on the ,astral ,plane lately8 ,one day ,i was undergoing a certain amount of good-natured chaff from a number of young people at ,dunrobin ,castle4 ,i defended my beliefs vigorously1 and at last the present ,lady ,londonderry1 then ,miss ,chaplin1 the ,duke's niece1 challenged me to pick out the haunted room in the ,castle4 ,i had never at that time been in any part of the building save in one bedroom1 and the public rooms4 ,i at once took up the challenge1 and the ,duke remarked that ,i had my work cut out for me1 as several of the rooms had a reputation for being haunted4 ,i replied that ,i would undertake to pick out a room where life was still actively carried on by those who had suffered something terrible on that spot in the past1 and who were now denizens of the ,astral ,plane4 ,a small crowd of us then started1 led by ,miss ,chaplin1 and we went from room to room4 ,she opened the door and remained with the others on the threshold4 ,i walked into each room alone and gathered impressions4 ,in several of the rooms ,i felt the presence of astral entities1 but nothing of a strong or unpleasant nature4 ,at last we came to a room occupied by a maid1 sitting alone1 sewing1 and ,i felt instantly that my quest was at an end4 ,there was a sharp atmosphere of anguish that was quite unmistakable2 some ghastly tragedy had taken place within those four walls1 but ,i said nothing before the sewing woman4 ,i felt drawn towards the window1 the trouble was centered there4 ,if ,i remember rightly1 the room was high up1 and overlooking1 not the sea1 but a paved courtyard4 ,i walked back to the others with my finger on my lip1 and ,miss ,chaplin closed the door behind me4 ,we need not go any further2 that is the haunted room1 ,i said1 in a low voice that could not reach the woman inside4 ,you're right4 ,you've found it1 was the answer4 ,i heard the story when we went downstairs1 but ,i can only recollect that it had to do with a ,lady ,sutherland1 who had been brutally flung out of the window4 ,i will now relate a curious incident of haunting by elementals1 and it will be seen that such hauntings may quite easily appear to the ordinary observer as an abnormal occurrence to which no clue can be given4 ,what is an elemental8 ,it is only when the mystic has advanced in her studies that she discovers how manifold evolution is1 and how small a part humanity really fills in the economy of nature4 ,when the microscope is used myriads of germs of life1 unsuspected by us1 are revealed2 even so the invisible planes connected with this earth contain myriads of forms of life1 of whose existence most of us are unconscious4 ,when we read of a good or bad elemental it must always be either an artificial entity1 or one of the many varieties of nature spirits that is meant4 ,i will deal now with a case of the artificial variety4 ,such elementals are formed out of the elemental essence lying behind the mineral kingdom4 ,it is the monadic essence1 or material used in creation1 or it may be called the outpouring of ,divine force into matter4 ,this elemental essence is marvelously sensitive to human thought1 however fleeting4 ,it responds instantly to the vibrations set up consciously or unconsciously by human will or desire4 ,the influence of thought can mold a living force1 good or evil1 into an existence1 evanescent or lasting4 ,such shapes possess a certain appropriateness to the character of the desire which calls them into existence1 though they generally possess distortions1 either unpleasant or terrifying4 ,persons who play with1 or use for some malign purpose1 ,black ,magic1 generally have a swarm of such semi-intelligent entities surrounding them1 and professional ,black ,magicians can call artificial elementals of great power into existence1 and use them for their fell designs4 ,as a rule1 however1 the enormous inchoate mass of entities1 known as elementals1 are beings of human thought creation1 created in no malicious spirit1 but more often the result of curiosity1 and tampering with a very dangerous power1 as yet little understood4 ,the amateur magician on passing over to the other side by no means loses his taste for the grotesque and abnormal1 and often continues to play pranks on those left behind1 by means of the dangerous powers he has acquired whilst on earth4 ,i was visiting some old friends in the ,south of ,england4 ,some years before they had succeeded to a fine inheritance1 and it was the first time that ,i had stayed with them in that house4 ,i did not experience any uncomfortable sensations in the bedroom appointed to me4 ,it was early summer-time when there is but a short spell of darkness1 and ,i was on such intimate terms with my hostess1 herself a psychic1 that ,i had only to say ,i disliked the atmosphere of my bedroom1 to have it changed4 ,the former mistress of the house had been a very remarkable woman whom ,i had known intimately4 ,she was brilliantly clever and accomplished1 and charming to talk to1 but unfortunately she took a vivid interest in occultism of the wrong sort--in ,black ,magic4 ,anything to do with spells1 witchcraft1 elementals1 incantations1 attracted her enormously1 and she had a very considerable knowledge of the subject4 ,i have no doubt she could have worked a great deal of mischief had she been so inclined1 but luckily her designs were more impish than malign4 ,i often warned her that there was undoubted danger in such researches1 and that she was certain to attract about her elementals of a most undesirable kind1 but my warnings went unheeded1 and to the time of her death her interest in the dark subject never flagged4 ,she had not died in the house ,i had come to stay in1 but it occurred to me as ,i dressed for dinner that ,i was in her old bedroom4 ,this suggestion came to me suddenly1 and to the accompaniment of a sound4 ,a sound more felt than heard1 a sound known to the spirit rather than to the ear2 a tiptoe silence hovering on the brink of sound's threshold4 ,my surroundings gave a very pleasant impression4 ,a glorious sunset was flooding the west4 ,my room was full of golden light1 and the window was flung wide to the warm summer air4 ,there was nothing to be recorded either ghostly or uncanny1 yet something was present which made me uncomfortable4 ,strange thoughts1 bizarre fancies1 found lodgment in my mind1 and ,i stood rigid1 listening intently4 ,the room was full of secrets4 ,they seemed suddenly to creep forth and whisper together4 ,there it was again6 that soft echo of a sound which was like no other sound4 ,an eerie1 uncanny sensation crept down my spine1 a strange1 undefinable feeling of uncertainty1 not yet amounting to fear4 ,i moved towards the corner of the room1 whence the sound proceeded1 and as ,i approached1 out of that corner dropped down a huge gray moth1 a second dropped down after it1 and both lay with outstretched wings on the white coverlet of the bed4 ,now ,i have always had a peculiar antipathy to moths1 the big furry sort4 ,i can handle a spider1 and bear with a black beetle1 but with big woolly moths ,i cannot live happily4 ,i saw one once under a microscope1 and it was covered with horrid looking parasites4 ,i am aware that other creatures are similarly afflicted1 but this microscopic vision accentuated my horror of all big moths4 ,they seem to me repulsive1 sinister1 and uncanny creatures4 ,the curious thing is that though ,i dislike them they adore me1 and ,i always know that if there is one in my parish it will find me out4 ,on this occasion ,i felt a very natural desire to laugh at myself4 ,of course1 the creatures had at once discovered me1 and this was all that had resulted from my uncomfortable sensations4 ,a feeling of scorn swept over me4 ,two moths had rustled softly4 ,could anything be more banal1 more commonplace8 ,i flung a towel over them1 and finished dressing4 ,then ,i rang for the housemaid4 ,when she came ,i told her she must accomplish the destruction of the occupants of my bed4 ,i could see no moths flying about outside1 but nevertheless the window must be kept closed till ,i opened it again in the dark1 before getting into bed4 ,she told me that she was always particular to close the windows before bringing in a light1 as the bats were a nuisance4 ,i assured her that ,i had no objection to a room full of bats1 but ,i could not sleep in a room full of moths4 ,she promised to look about the room whilst it was still light1 and destroy any she found4 ,i closed the window myself and went down to dinner4 ,we were but three women present2 my hostess1 myself1 and a friend of ours1 and we spent a delightful evening together talking of old times4 ,that night1 before beginning to undress1 ,i blew out my candle1 and throwing up the window ,i stood looking forth upon enchantment4 ,it was still light1 with a luster that filled all space1 and it seemed wicked to shut out such beauty4 ,westward the stars were pale1 but southward one great dull red star shone low down on the horizon4 ,the owls were haunting the gardens with their banshee notes4 ,it was a night for the revelation of the fairy folk1 elves and pixies1 fauns and dryads1 elfins1 nymphs and satyrs4 ,a night when she tells her secrets to her lovers in the psalmody of nature1 when the spirits of earth1 fire1 air1 and water utter softly to human souls1 if they will but incline the ear to hearken to the message4 ,if ,i want a definition of ,god ,i shall go1 not to the bell and the book1 but to a starlit1 fragrant garden1 where ,i can look long and deep into the passion of ,creation's eyes4 ,i will be as the old gray poet who wrote-- ,i am he that walks with the tender and growing night1 ,i call the earth and sea1 half hid by the night4 ,press close magnetic1 nourishing night1 ,night of the ,south wind1 night of the large1 few stars4 ,across the hushed magic came silver sweet the strokes of eleven from the village church1 and the spell was broken4 ,i closed the window1 lit my candles1 and prepared for bed4 ,just before extinguishing my lights1 and re-opening the window1 ,i carried a candle to the side of the bed with a box of matches4 ,what was my horror on discovering that the turned-down bed and both pillows were liberally strewn with enormous gray moths4 ,the sight was extraordinary1 ,i literally could not believe my eyes4 ,i stood there staring1 and mechanically counting them4 ,twenty--thirty4 ,i turned back to the dressing-table with the candle still in my hand4 ,what was ,i to do8 ,if ,i had the courage to destroy them1 what sort of condition would the bed be in after8 ,i am writing of actual facts1 and without the least exaggeration4 ,the smallest of those moths must have been quite an inch long in their fat gray bodies1 and quite three inches long across the wings4 ,i thought ,i knew most moths by sight and name1 but ,i had never seen any like these before4 ,what depressed me most was the fact that moths are attracted by candle-light4 ,i had been burning four candles for quite twenty minutes1 and not a moth had forsaken the bed for the flame4 ,i was positively certain that they had not flown in whilst ,i stood in the dark of the open window4 ,they were far too big and numerous to have escaped observation4 ,what was ,i to do8 ,i could not use that bed1 and ,i now felt a strong repulsion for the room4 ,i regretted deeply that the household must all be in bed1 because ,i knew that no description ,i could give would convey anything like actuality1 and the truth was certain to appear wild exaggeration4 ,i made up my mind at once4 ,i knew there were several unoccupied rooms on either side of me1 and taking my lighted candle ,i placed it1 still lit1 in a basin on the marble-topped washstand4 ,it should remain lit all night1 and in the morning ,i would come to search for victims4 ,the other candles ,i extinguished1 all but one to take with me1 and leaving the window still shut ,i softly left the room4 ,i entered the next bedroom and approached the bed4 ,of course1 there were no sheets1 but the white dust sheet covering the blankets was spotless--there was not a moth to be seen anywhere4 ,blowing out my candle ,i opened the window1 and getting into bed between the blankets ,i was soon fast asleep4 ,i awakened to glorious sunshine1 and looked at my wrist watch1 which ,i had placed beside my bed4 ,six o'clock and a lovely warm summer morning4 ,i jumped out of bed1 full of curiosity regarding my visitors of over-night1 and returned to my own room4 ,not a trace of a moth to be seen anywhere4 ,the candle had burnt itself out1 no singed wings or blackened bodies lay near4 ,the window was shut4 ,i threw it wide1 and then ,i went round the room shaking curtains1 looking behind pictures1 and climbing on a chair ,i examined the top of the wardrobe4 ,not the faintest signs of the great gray drove of the night before4 ,where could they all have vanished to8 ,i gave it up1 and got into my own bed1 to await the advent of my early tea4 ,i hated having to tell the housemaid that ,i had been driven into another room1 but ,i knew she would find out the fact for herself4 ,she was obviously incredulous1 and assured me she had thoroughly searched the room1 and seen but two winged creatures2 those she had removed from the bed4 ,i had seen for myself when coming to bed that the window had remained shut4 ,she had often seen one or two brown moths in the rooms at night1 but she owned that never before had she seen huge gray ones4 ,the matter was left at that1 and during the day ,i told my hostess of my adventure1 and she at once ordered the room ,i had slept in to be prepared for me1 in case ,i might encounter the same difficulties again4 ,i dressed for dinner in the moth-room1 without catching sight of one4 ,when bedtime came we three women all entered the room together4 ,on approaching the bed1 and looking down on it1 no one spoke for a moment4 ,then my fellow guest exclaimed3 ,well1 ,i must say that if ,i had not seen this with my own eyes ,i never would have believed it4 ,the bed was liberally sprinkled with large gray moths4 ,my hostess shivered4 ,come away1 and let us shut the door4 ,it's too horrible1 she said4 ,during the remainder of my visit ,i was perfectly comfortable in my new room1 and the curious fact must be stated that after ,i had left the moth-room the moths forsook it too4 ,i could discern a pitying incredulity in the housemaid's attitude towards me afterwards4 ,she had seen but two1 and she did not believe in the drove4 ,my hostess and friend who had witnessed the phenomenon at once agreed that there was something more in it than an entomological curiosity4 ,i would have given much for the opinion of a naturalist4 ,what1 ,i wonder1 would he have made of that fat1 gray flock sprinkling the bed8 ,what species of moth would he have declared them to be8 ,i have searched in many books since and never found anything the least resembling them1 and ,i retain my original1 firm belief that they were nothing more or less than a flock of elementals1 sent forth as a practical joke by a practiced magician on the other side4 ,,chapter ,,xix ,,the ,,new ,,jeanne ,d',,arc ,before writing on the above subject1 which is proving to-day of absorbing interest to a very large number of people1 ,protestant as well as ,catholic1 ,i will point out a curious fact that is occultly connected with it4 ,at certain periods in our normal life1 certain subjects lying quite outside our earthly experience begin quite suddenly to be talked of and written upon4 ,no one knows why1 no one1 outside occultism1 can even form a conjecture why such subjects should suddenly obsess the brains of a considerable number of persons1 why they should crop up in the most unexpected places1 or why they should form the foundations of a considerable mass of literature4 ,it would appear as if they were floating in the air at some particular time1 and masses of people catch them up like germs1 and carry them about until their power is exhausted4 ,i will give an instance4 ,in the years just before the war ,the ,great ,god ,pan drifted across our mental horizon and was at once drawn into our aura4 ,no one knows anything about ,the ,great ,god ,pan4 ,he is supposed to belong to mythology1 but novelists of distinction at once began to write upon him1 not one after the other1 but simultaneously4 ,i read at least three thrilling novels in which he figured largely1 and ,i myself was impelled to write a novel upon the same subject4 ,i began the book knowing nothing of the god1 beyond what ,i could gather from the ,london ,library1 and ,frazer's ,golden ,bough1 but as ,i proceeded ,i was conscious of new information drifting in from without1 and on finishing the book ,i found that other authors had been at work on the same subject4 ,the ,great ,god ,pan appeared on the stage1 and a popular actress sang a song about him4 ,one heard his name mentioned constantly in society1 and hideous stories were told of him in ,bohemian art circles4 ,he was the bugbear of the seance room1 journalists mentioned him in quite serious articles1 and ,i once heard his name spoken from a pulpit4 ,the bare fact of this seemingly inconsequent disease 7for it almost amounted to a disease with us7 drifting into our stolid ,british atmosphere was not curious to the occultist1 who is aware that at certain times1 certain subjects are flooded in on us from the other side by those who have our welfare at heart4 ,i never heard any explanation of why ,pan should have come here to play quite an important part in our mental lives1 or why he should have obsessed so many of us for about a couple of years4 ,the more one discovered about him the less one liked him1 but psychics are led to believe that there are many schemes of evolution hovering about us1 and interpenetrating our own1 though not visible to our normal consciousness4 ,it may therefore be that ,the ,great ,god ,pan did actually come into our atmosphere1 and thus his individuality impressed itself upon those whose minds were plastic to such impressions4 ,possibly he arrived on this earth much as an aerolite arrives1 drawn out of his own orbit by the superior attraction of this globe4 ,the ,great ,god ,pan was1 what might be termed1 the forerunner of the devil's reincarnation4 ,the belief in a personal devil was rapidly dying out amongst us1 in spite of ,the ,sorrows of ,satan1 and the belief in ,the ,prince of this ,world so insisted upon throughout the ,old and ,new ,testaments4 ,there is no more engrossing subject for the occultist to indulge in than gathering together every verse in the ,bible dealing with ,the ,evil ,one1 and trying1 with the aid of ancient traditions1 to piece a coherent story together4 ,when one gets a certain distance in the study one comes to the conclusion that there is a great deal more in it than meets the eye4 ,it is a vast subject1 and ,i think the most profoundly occult mystery extant and undeciphered4 ,the devil now occupies a prominent position in the collective thought of the nation4 ,an enormous number of people believe now in his existence1 who would have scorned the bare idea before #aiaf4 ,it was in that year that he began to loom large in the beliefs of quite materially minded people1 and his advent into actual1 active existence at once complicated matters terribly4 ,said a well-known writer to me1 ,i think there is something in it4 ,it's very tiresome4 ,i was just beginning to settle down in my beliefs1 now ,i'm all upset again by this conception of a personal adversary to the ,supreme ,ruler4 ,in the early weeks of #aiag a new impression drifted in on us4 ,some angel came down and stirred the pool of the world1 and left with us ,the ,sacred ,heart4 ,the ,sacred ,heart was the forerunner of ,the ,new ,jeanne d',arc1 ,claire ,ferchaud4 ,there is nothing that has more astonished the ,catholic world than hearing ,the ,sacred ,heart talked of by ,protestants1 and actually adopted by them as a sacred symbol4 ,hitherto it has been exclusively a part of ,catholic worship4 ,there was such a demand for the little metal ,sacred ,heart images 7a figure of the ,christ1 with hands outstretched and a flaming heart at ,his breast71 that can be carried about in the pocket1 that they were not to be bought in ,england1 and were hard to procure abroad4 ,enormous numbers had been sent to the front by persons belonging to all denominations1 who treasured one of their own at home4 ,very suddenly ,the ,sacred ,heart became an object of veneration amongst thousands to whom ,roman ,catholicism was anathema4 ,then came the demand from ,france that ,the ,sacred ,heart should be placed above the tricolor4 ,i had not heard of ,claire ,ferchaud before the beginning of #aiah1 though her ,divine ,mission began about six years previously4 ,occultists began to speak of her amongst themselves as one who would yet save ,france4 ,this hope was never lost sight of in the country's darkest hours4 ,now there is a steadily growing demand amongst the educated ,british public to learn all that can be known about this girl who has been called ,the ,new ,joan of ,arc4 ,in #aiaf she was summoned to appear before an ,ecclesiastical ,commission at ,poitiers in the same room in which ,the ,maid of ,orleans was interrogated1 before being placed at the head of the ,army of deliverance4 ,both ,claire ,ferchaud and her communications were subjected to the strictest scrutiny4 ,the result was entirely in her favor4 ,her writings were examined by ,father ,vaudrious1 ,d4,d41 ,m4,s4,d41 who declared them inspired1 and equal to those of ,st4 ,catherine of ,sienna and ,st4 ,teresa4 ,finally they were taken to ,rome1 and submitted to a commission appointed by the ,holy ,see4 ,the result being that she was ordered to continue her mission4 ,the writings deal with devotion to ,the ,sacred ,heart and the dignity of priesthood4 ,one is irresistibly reminded of the opening scenes at ,lourdes1 whilst ,bernadette ,soubirons was alive1 in #aheh4 ,again1 one cannot but recall a certain similarity betwixt certain events in the life of the ,maid of ,orleans and the events taking place now in the life of ,claire ,ferchaud4 ,claire is a girl twenty-two years old1 the daughter of a peasant proprietor in the village of ,ranfillieres1 a mile from ,lublande1 ,deux ,sevres ,dept41 ,france4 ,her parents are alive1 and she has two sisters and three brothers4 ,the father and one brother fought during the war1 another brother was a prisoner1 and the youngest assists on the farm4 ,one of the sisters works on the farm1 and the eldest sister is a religieuse at the community of ,la ,sagesse4 ,claire was tending her father's flocks when the first great revelation came to her nine years ago2 then she was but thirteen years old4 ,she had crept into a thicket to read1 and suddenly the ,divine ,master appeared to her and bade her lay down her book4 ,he told her she had been chosen for a ,divine ,mission1 and that ,he would guide and instruct her4 ,he showed her ,the ,sacred ,heart covered with wounds4 ,on recounting her vision to her priest1 she was treated with coldness and disbelief1 and on her telling him two years later that ,our ,lord daily appeared to her in ,holy ,communion she was treated still more coldly4 ,until he himself received a sign he maintained an attitude of utter disbelief4 ,what happened soon after whilst he was celebrating ,holy ,mass1 entirely convinced him4 ,at that particular part of the ,canon when the priest divides the ,sacred ,species he saw blood issue from the ,sacred ,host4 ,nor was this all4 ,a week afterwards he observed ,claire ,ferchaud in a trance in his own church1 and he saw her using a handkerchief as if wiping some object in front of her1 which he could not see4 ,blood stains appeared on the handkerchief1 and increased as she repeated the action4 ,filled with amazement he sought later for an explanation1 and she told him4 ,our ,lord appeared before me suffering greatly because of the terrible sins of the world1 and ,he asked me to do for ,him what ,veronica did on the road to ,calvary4 ,to wipe away the bloody sweat that trickled down ,his face4 ,i saw the ,sacred ,heart1 riddled with wounds1 and the deepest wound of all was inflicted by ,france1 the eldest daughter of the ,church1 on whom ,he had lavished so deep a love4 ,once before ,he appeared to me walking upon ears of corn which ,he crushed to powder4 ,the priest after hearing this explanation took the handkerchief to the bishop1 who listened to the wonderful story with sympathetic attention4 ,he examined the blood-stained handkerchief minutely1 and sent for a nun4 ,if1 he said1 the stains are what they are represented to be they cannot be washed out4 ,the bishop put the matter to the test1 and watched the nun endeavoring to remove the stains4 ,it was all in vain1 and the bishop standing by his own test declared the mission of ,claire ,ferchaud to be ,divine4 ,every night1 between eleven and twelve o'clock1 ,claire beholds apparitions1 and receives the sacred teaching that was promised1 and it was in #aiaf that she was ordered to ,poitiers to undergo cross-examination4 ,unfortunately the further development of ,claire ,ferchaud's mission cannot yet be communicated to the world1 but in time it will be1 and very startling and wonderful it will seem4 ,meanwhile she encountered very strong opposition4 ,with considerable difficulty the ,deputy of ,vendee arranged a meeting between ,claire and ,m4 ,poincare4 ,claire implored him to permit the emblem of the ,sacred ,heart to be placed on the ,standards of ,france1 as the one condition of success4 ,unfortunately ,m4 ,poincare had to refuse1 owing to political reasons1 though as proof of her mission she disclosed an incident only known to him which happened after the victory of the ,marne4 ,the same adverse influence operated at her interview with ,m4 ,clemenceau4 ,this appointment was arranged by the ,archbishop of ,rheims1 ,cardinal ,lucon4 ,the ,archbishop implored ,m4 ,clemenceau to fix a day of public intercession for ,france4 ,this also the ,prime ,minister of ,france had reluctantly to refuse4 ,it is openly stated that before the later ,french successes the emblem of the ,sacred ,heart was secretly sewn upon the flags of ,france1 and it is also affirmed that ,general ,foch is a devoted lover of the ,sacred ,heart1 and bears its emblem with him wherever he goes4 ,great changes have come about in the village where ,claire ,ferchaud dwells4 ,formerly a sleepy1 neglected little place1 it is now converted into a scene of the greatest activity4 ,from all parts of ,france the pilgrims come--some on foot1 having walked many miles1 some in motors and horse-driven vehicles4 ,hundreds of soldiers find their way there1 and it is estimated that from fifteen to twenty thousand people pass through ,lublande in a month4 ,with the consent of her bishop1 ,claire ,ferchaud has formed a small community of nine1 and is now established in a temporary convent adjacent to her parish church at ,lublande4 ,it is believed that her ,divine ,mission will be accomplished in #aibb1 and that she will then be released from earthly life4 ,claire has predicted a stormy period for ,france after peace has been signed4 ,according to her prophecy there will be violent unrest until rulers arise who possess firm religious convictions4 ,at the beginning of the war she affirmed that the ,french ,army would never prosper until the troops were commanded by a true son of the ,church4 ,this affirmation she claimed to receive from a ,divine source4 ,when ,marechal ,foch took over the supreme command she was satisfied that victory1 so far as the ,french arms were concerned1 was assured4 ,as all the world knows1 and as all may learn who read ,hyndman's life of his old friend ,clemenceau1 the ,prime ,minister of ,france1 like the majority of his colleagues1 is frankly atheistical4 ,claire ,ferchaud claims to have received the ,divine intimation that until this condition of mind is superseded by a public acknowledgment of a supreme divine power1 a supreme arbiter over the destinies of the world1 the affairs of ,france can never prosper4 ,she predicts that in #aibb rulers will arise who will bow before a ,power superior to their own human energies4 ,the first part of her prophecy has come true4 ,a man of ,god won his way to the front1 and saved ,france and the ,allies at the darkest hour of their tribulation4 ,the supreme command was vested in a man of profound religious convictions1 who carried his beliefs and observances openly into the arena of war4 ,i translate the words written lately to me by one who has served under ,ferdinand ,foch4 ,they throw a brilliant light upon a great soul4 ,i can see him now1 alone and unattended1 at an hour when the ,church of ,cassel was deserted1 praying and seeking comfort in the great sorrow1 of which he never spoke4 ,he had lost his only son1 and one of his daughters was widowed4 ,in spite of his indomitable energy there was about him an air of profound melancholy and sadness4 ,at certain moments his eyes seemed to say1 ',i approach the twilight of my life in the consciousness of being a good servant who will repose in the peace of ,god4 ,my faith in life eternal1 in a good ,god1 has sustained me in my hardest hours4 ,prayer has illumined my soul4 ,see to it1 you young men of ,france1 who are without a great ideal1 without any conception of the spiritual side of life1 there can be nothing for you but discouragement and feebleness4 ,we demand of you great sacrifices to the end4 ,accept those sacrifices as ,i accept mine1 who believe that spirit must prevail over matter4' ,,chapter ,,xx ,,haunted ,,houses--,,castel ,a ,,mare ,i have never yet met any one who was not interested in haunted houses4 ,even the most blatant skeptic always wants to hear all about it1 though he has predetermined to treat the story with his habitual scoffing incredulity4 ,of all the departments of psychical research none commands more general interest than a spooky house1 and there are few people who cannot name a dwelling which has acquired the reputation for being haunted by denizens of the other world4 ,of course1 any house that falls into serious disrepair1 and remains unoccupied for some long period1 any dwelling whose owner permits decay to proceed unchecked1 and dilapidation to run its course1 at once suggests the thought to the beholder1 what a haunted looking old place1 and rumor1 in such cases1 quickly supplies all the old phenomena1 even though tradition be totally absent4 ,tramps are always on the lookout for such shelters1 and their damped-down fires catch the eye of some scared rustic who happens to be passing in the dark4 ,rats and the winds of heaven play hide-and-seek through the deserted rooms and corridors1 and owls find sanctuary in the surrounding gardens4 ,their cries1 varying from the exultant shriek to the mournful wail1 add a weird suggestiveness to the abiding melancholy of such abandoned habitations4 ,there is so much talk nowadays of hauntings and ghosts1 that it seems strange we should know so very little about them4 ,i have never heard a really convincing explanation of why ghosts should haunt certain houses1 and ,i have no explanation of my own to offer4 ,if ghosts could be commanded1 if one could be sure of witnessing certain phenomena that have been elaborately described to one1 then there might be the ghost of a chance of advantageous investigation4 ,no such opportunities seem to be afforded the investigator4 ,he may watch for months and see nothing1 yet the elusive wraith may turn up before several witnesses on the very night after he has abandoned his quest out of sheer boredom and discouragement4 ,some seven years ago1 whilst wintering in ,torquay1 ,i heard a great deal of gossip about a villa on the ,warberries1 which was reputed to be badly haunted4 ,for the last forty to fifty years nobody1 it was said1 had been able to live in it for any length of time4 ,several people asserted that they had heard screams coming from it as they passed along the high road1 and no occupant had ever been able to keep a door shut or even locked4 ,the house is at present being pulled down1 therefore ,i commit no indiscretion in describing the phenomena connected with it4 ,castel a ,mare is situated in what house agents would describe as a highly residential quarter4 ,it is surrounded by numerous villas1 inhabited by people who are all very well to do1 and who make ,torquay their permanent home4 ,the majority of these villas lie right back from the road1 and are hidden in their own luxuriant gardens1 but the haunted house is one of several whose back premises open straight on to the road4 ,no dwelling could have looked more commonplace or uninteresting4 ,it was built in the form of a high box1 three storied4 ,it was hideous and inartistic in the extreme1 but along its frontage looking towards the sea and hidden from the road1 there ran a wide balcony on to which the second floor rooms opened1 and from there the view over the garden was charming4 ,when ,i first went to look at it1 dilapidation had set in4 ,jackdaws and starlings were busy in the chimneys1 the paint was peeling off the walls1 and most of the windows were broken4 ,year after year those windows were mended1 but they never remained intact for more than a week1 and during the war there has been no attempt at renewal4 ,even the agents' boards1 ,to be let or sold dropped one by one from their stems1 as if in sheer weariness of so fruitless an announcement4 ,it was not long before ,i obtained the loan of the keys1 and proceeded to take the atmosphere4 ,it was decidedly unhealthful1 ,i concluded1 though ,i neither heard nor saw anything unusual during the hour ,i spent alone in quietly wandering through the deserted rooms4 ,i found no trace of tramps1 and all the closed windows were thickly cobwebbed inside1 an important fact to notice in psychic research4 ,i fixed upon the bathroom and one other small room1 as the foci of the trouble1 and left the house with no other strong impression than that my movements had been closely watched1 by some one unseen by me4 ,it was no uncommon sight in pre-war days to see several smart motor cars drawn up at the gate4 ,frivolous parties of explorers in search of a thrill drove in from the surrounding neighborhood1 and romped gayly through the house and out again1 and ,i discovered that several of those visitors had distinctly felt that they were being followed about and watched4 ,my husband and ,i were naturally much interested in this haunted dwelling1 so accessible1 and so near to our own house4 ,we determined that if we could make friends with the owner we would do a little investigation on our own4 ,numerous people1 on the plea that the house might suit them as a residence1 got the loan of the keys1 and spent an hour or two inside the place1 wandering about the house and garden1 but the owner was getting tired of this rush of spurious house-hunters4 ,he was beginning to ask for bona fides1 so we determined honestly to state our purpose4 ,the proprietor was an old builder who owned several other houses4 ,he received me very civilly1 even gratefully4 ,he would willingly give us the keys for as long a period as we required them4 ,castel a ,mare brought him extreme bad luck2 he longed to be rid of it1 and he added that after our investigations1 if my husband could give the house a clean bill of health it would be of enormous benefit to him1 in enabling him to let or sell it4 ,he did not seem very hopeful1 but stated it to be his opinion that the hauntings were all nonsense1 and that the screams people heard were the cries of some peacocks that lived in a property not far off4 ,this sounded very reasonable1 and ,i promised him that if we could honestly state that the house was perfectly unhealthful1 we would permit our conclusions to be made public4 ,my husband and ,i decided that the hour one p4 m4 till two p4 m4 would be the quietest and least conspicuous time in which to investigate4 ,doubtless the night would have been better still1 but it would have created too much excitement in the neighborhood1 and callers to see how we were bearing up would have defeated our object4 ,between one and two all ,torquay would be lunching1 and we could easily slip in unobserved1 and we would require neither lights nor warm comforts4 ,we started at once1 my husband keeping the keys1 and making himself responsible for the doors4 ,though the window-panes were badly broken there were no openings large enough to admit a small child1 and1 as ,i have said1 the network of cobwebs within was evidence that no human being entered the house by the windows4 ,the front door lock was in good order1 and so were most of the other locks in the house4 ,we shut ourselves in1 and after a thorough examination of the premises we mounted to the first floor4 ,three rooms opened on to it1 belonging to the principal bedroom--a smaller room and a bathroom opening out of the big bedroom4 ,my husband closed all the doors1 and we sat down on the lower steps of the bare staircase leading to the floor above4 ,that day we drew an absolute blank1 and at two o'clock we closed every door in the house1 and just inside the front door we made a careless looking arrangement of twigs1 dead leaves1 pieces of straw and dust1 which could not fail to betray the passing of human feet1 should anybody possess a duplicate key to the front door and enter by that means4 ,the second day we found our twig and straw arrangements intact1 but not a single door was shut1 all were thrown defiantly wide4 ,this seemed rather promising and we went upstairs to our seat on the steps1 and carefully reclosing the doors immediately in front of us1 sat down to await events4 ,quite half an hour must have passed when suddenly a click made us both look up4 ,the handle of the door1 but a couple of yards distant from me1 leading into the small room1 was turning1 and the door quietly opened wide enough to admit the passing of a human being4 ,it was a bright sunny day1 and one could see the brass knob turning round quite distinctly4 ,we saw no form of any sort1 and the door remained half open4 ,for perhaps a couple of moments we awaited developments1 then our attention was suddenly switched off the door by the sound of hurrying footsteps running along the bare boards on the corridor above us4 ,my husband rushed up and searched each empty room1 but neither saw anything nor heard anything more4 ,before leaving the house we shut all doors1 and locked all that would lock4 ,such was the meager extent of our second day's investigations4 ,on the third day the doors were all found wide flung4 ,no door opened before our eyes as on our former visit1 but a brushing sound was heard ascending the stairs1 as if from some one pressing close against the wall4 ,for about a fortnight nothing happened beyond what ,i have recounted1 but ,i was strongly conscious that we were being watched4 ,the most unhealthful spots were the bathroom1 a servants' room entered by a staircase leading from the kitchen1 and the stable1 a small building immediately to the right of the house4 ,the bathroom was in great disrepair1 long strips of paper hung from the walls1 and an air of profound depression pervaded it4 ,obviously it had once been merely a large cupboard1 and it had a window admitting light from a passage behind it4 ,we had never once failed to find every door which we had closed thrown wide on our return1 and one day we locked the bathroom1 and removing the key we looked about for some spot in which to secrete it4 ,on that floor was nothing large enough to hide even so small an object as a key1 so we took it downstairs to the dining-room4 ,in a corner lay a rag of linoleum about six inches square1 under this we placed the bathroom key and left the house4 ,that afternoon a house agent called and asked for the loan of the keys4 ,he told us that a brave widow1 who knew the history of the house1 thought it might suit her to live in1 and he proposed to take her over it and point out its charms4 ,he would return the keys to us directly afterwards4 ,i took advantage of this occasion to say to the agent that probably the screams some people had heard proceeded from the peacocks in the neighborhood4 ,he shook his head and answered1 ,we hoped that might prove to be the case1 but we have ascertained that it is not so4 ,he seemed despondent about the place1 even though what we had to tell him was as yet nothing very formidable or exciting4 ,what we did not tell him was that we had locked up the bathroom1 and hidden the key4 ,we left him to discover that fact for himself4 ,he returned with the keys in about an hour1 and ,i asked him what the widow thought of ,castel a ,mare4 ,she thinks something might be made of it4 ,the cheapness attracts her1 he answered4 ,but it will need so much doing to it1 ,i demurred4 ,what did she think of the bathroom8 ,she said it only needed cleaning and repapering4 ,the bath itself she found in good enough condition4 ,so the bathroom door was open1 in spite of our having locked it and hidden the key6 ,after the agent had gone we went to the house4 ,every door stood wide4 ,the bathroom key was still in its hiding-place1 and the door open4 ,we replaced the key4 ,the ghosts laughed to scorn such securities as locks and keys4 ,for a month or two we pursued our investigations1 then we returned the keys to the owner4 ,though we had seen and heard so little it was impossible to give the house a clean bill of health1 and the old builder was much cast down4 ,a few days afterwards we received a letter from him offering us the house as a free gift4 ,it would pay him to be rid of the ground rent1 and the place was as useless to him as to any one else4 ,we thanked him and refused the gift4 ,about this period ,i was lucky enough to get into touch with a former tenant of ,castel a ,mare1 and this lady most kindly gave me many details of her residence there4 ,about thirty years ago she occupied it with her father and mother1 and they were the last family to live in it for any length of time1 and for many years it has remained empty4 ,soon after their arrival this family discovered that there was something very much amiss with their new residence4 ,the house1 the garden1 and the stable were decidedly uncanny1 but it was some time before they would admit1 even to themselves1 that the strange happenings were of a supernatural order4 ,the phenomena fell under three headings3 a piercing scream heard continually1 at any hour and during all seasons2 continuous steps running along corridors1 and up and down stairs2 constant lockings of doors by unseen hands4 ,the scream was decidedly the most unnerving of the various phenomena4 ,the family lived in constant dread of it4 ,sometimes it came from the garden1 sometimes from inside the house4 ,one morning whilst they sat at breakfast1 they were violently startled by this horrible sound coming from the inner hall1 just outside the room in which they sat4 ,it took but a moment to throw open the door1 but1 as usual1 there was nothing to be seen4 ,on another occasion the family doctor had just arrived at the front door1 and was about to ring1 when he was startled by the scream coming from inside the house4 ,this doctor still lives in the neighborhood1 and is one of many people who can bear witness to the fact4 ,the footsteps of unseen people kept the family pretty busy4 ,they were always running to the doors to see who was hurrying past1 and up and down stairs4 ,very soon the drawing-room became extremely uncomfortable1 and practically uninhabitable4 ,it was always full of unseen people moving about4 ,the lady of the house never felt herself alone1 and when she found herself locked into her own room1 the behavior of her astral guests seemed to her to have become intolerable4 ,the master of the house no more escaped these attentions than did the rest of the inhabitants1 and finally all keys had to be removed from all doors4 ,one night some guests1 after getting into bed1 heard some one open the door of their room and enter4 ,astonishment kept them silent1 and in a minute or two their visitor quietly withdrew and closed the door again4 ,they concluded that it must have been their hostess1 and that thinking they were asleep she had not spoken1 yet still they thought the incident very strange4 ,the next morning they discovered that no member of the household had entered their room4 ,on another occasion a lady who had come to help nurse a sick sister saw1 one night1 a strange woman dressed in black velvet walk downstairs4 ,animals fared badly at ,castel a ,mare4 ,a large dog belonging to the family was often found cowering and growling in abject fear of something visible to it1 but not to the human inhabitants1 and the harness horse showed such an invincible objection to its stable1 that it could only be got in by backing4 ,later on ,i was told that a member of the ,psychical ,society had visited ,castel a ,mare1 and had pronounced the garden to be more haunted than the house4 ,it is interesting to note how absolutely untenable badly haunted houses become4 ,no matter how skeptical1 how resolutely material the tenants may be1 the phenomena wear them down to a humble surrender at last4 ,after all1 what can people do but quit a residence which is constantly showing incontrovertible evidence that it is possessed by numerous unseen entities that defy analysis8 ,every one is interested in getting rid of this weird disturbance1 but how to do it8 ,the skeptic is resolute in unmasking the fraud1 but finds himself balked by intangibility4 ,he hears the scream at his door1 and rushes to arrest the miscreant1 but sees no one to grapple with4 ,domestic difficulties become acute4 ,no warning is given1 no wages asked4 ,the servants decamp1 too scared to care for anything but putting distance between themselves and the nameless dread4 ,visitors begin to fight shy of the house4 ,they have heard the screams4 ,month after month the master of the house1 thinking of his rent1 and his reputation for sanity1 and what the loss of both would mean to him1 clings to skepticism as his only hope and refuge4 ,he is not going to be driven forth by any such stuff and nonsense as ghosts6 ,why6 there are no such things6 ,seen things8 heard things8 ,well1 yes1 he has1 but1 of course1 there must be some rational explanation4 ,a man who has fought for king and country is not going to be defeated and put to flight by a pack of silly women's stories4 ,he will soon get to the bottom of the whole affair1 then woe betide the practical joker6 ,when alone he racks his brains in vain4 ,he is furious with himself for having heard the scream1 and tells himself he must be going dotty4 ,he is puzzled1 baffled1 irritated1 but more determined than ever to stick it out4 ,who can the joker be who is demoralizing his household1 who has even dared to lock him into his own room8 ,he thinks of his wife and family1 and of their shattered nerves2 he thinks of his terrified servants1 and of his dog1 which can no longer be persuaded to enter the house4 ,he feels he must look elsewhere for the disturber of his peace4 ,but where8 ,he keeps careful watch unknown 7as he thinks7 to his family4 ,the steps approach him1 pass close to him1 then die away in the distance1 leaving him fuming1 impotent4 ,he finds it necessary to wipe his brow1 which enrages him still more4 ,at dead of night he watches on the staircase1 with all lights full on4 ,silence1 utter silence6 ,absolutely nothing to be seen or heard4 ,he thinks of going to bed4 ,he always said the whole thing was tommy rot4 ,the deathly silence is suddenly rent by a piercing scream at his very elbow1 and he leaps to his feet1 growling out an oath below his breath4 ,he looks wildly round on every side of him4 ,nothing6 ,something strange is happening to his head4 ,he passes his hand over his hair4 ,it seems to be creeping along his scalp1 and he thinks of the quills of a porcupine4 ,what the devil is he to do8 ,go to bed1 answers inclination1 you're doing no good here4 ,yes6 ,go to bed2 that's the sensible thing to do4 ,the next morning every one asks him if he heard it4 ,he acknowledges to himself that his temper is becoming vile4 ,the day comes when he is left alone with his family4 ,the staff has fled and he feels rather broken4 ,at last he gives in1 and agrees to seek another home1 but it is not to the ghosts he gives in1 but to the nervous fancies of a pack of silly women4 ,he feels wonderfully light-hearted1 however1 now that his mind is made up1 and a glow of magnanimity pervades him4 ,if you do a thing at all do it well and at once1 he tells himself1 and promptly hires another house in another neighborhood4 ,when questioned by his men friends he laughs4 ,the man in the street might understand certain things that he could tell1 but the man in the club1 never6 ,all tommy rot1 my dear chap1 but my wife got nervous1 and the servants6 ,you know what they are4 ,scared by the scratch of a mouse4 ,for the women's sake ,i thought it best to quit4 ,you know what women are1 when they once get an idea into their heads6 ,,chapter ,,xxi ,,the ,,sequel ,in #aiag a friend rang me up and asked me if ,i would form one of a party of investigation at ,castel a ,mare4 ,the services of a medium had been secured1 and a soldier on leave1 who was deeply immersed in psychic research1 was in high hopes of getting some genuine results4 ,i accepted the invitation because a certain incident had once more roused my curiosity in the haunted house4 ,during our investigations ,i had been disappointed at not hearing the much-talked-of scream1 the more so after learning from the former tenants how very often they had heard it4 ,when ,i did at last hear it ,i was walking past the house on a very hot summer morning1 about eleven o'clock4 ,i was not thinking of the house1 and had just passed it on my way home1 when a piercing scream arrested my attention4 ,i wheeled round instantly2 there was not a doubt as to where the scream came from1 but unfortunately1 though there were people on the road1 there was no one near enough to bear witness4 ,the scream appeared to come from some one in abject terror1 and would have arrested the attention of any one who happened to be passing4 ,i mean that had no haunted house stood there1 had the scream proceeded from any other villa1 ,i am sure that any passer-by would have halted wonderingly1 and awaited further developments4 ,castel a ,mare lay in absolute silence1 under the blazing sunshine1 and in a minute or two ,i walked on4 ,i could now understand what it must have meant to live in that house1 in constant dread of that weird and hideous sound resounding through the rooms or garden4 ,this incident made me eager to join my friend's party1 and on reaching the house ,i found a small crowd assembled4 ,the medium1 myself1 and four other women4 ,the soldier1 and an elderly and burly builder belonging to the neighborhood1 who was interested in psychic research4 ,eight persons in all4 ,as there was no chair or furniture of any description in the house1 we carried in a small empty box from a rubbish heap outside1 and followed the medium through the rooms4 ,she elected to remain in the large bedroom1 on the first floor1 out of which opened the bathroom1 and she sat down on the box and leaned her back against the wall1 whilst we lounged about the room and awaited events4 ,it was a sunny summer afternoon1 and the many broken panes of glass throughout the house admitted plenty of air4 ,after some minutes it was plain to see that the medium had fallen into a trance4 ,her eyes were closed1 and she lay back as if in sound sleep4 ,time passed1 nothing happened1 we were all rather silent1 as ,i had warned the party that though we were in a room at the side of the house farthest from the road1 our voices could plainly be heard by passers-by1 and we wanted no interference4 ,just as we were all beginning to feel rather bored and tired of standing1 the medium sprang to her feet with surprising agility1 pouring out a volume of violent language4 ,her voice had taken on the deep growling tones of an infuriated man1 who advanced menacingly towards those of us who were nearest to him4 ,in harsh1 threatening voice he demanded to know what right we had to intrude on his privacy4 ,there was a general scattering of the scared party before this unlooked-for attack1 and the soldier gave it as his opinion that the medium was now controlled by the spirit of a very violent male entity4 ,i had no doubt upon the point4 ,then commenced so very unpleasant a scene that ,i had no doubt also of the medium's genuineness4 ,no charlatan1 dependent upon fraudulent mediumship for her daily bread1 would have made herself so intensely obnoxious as did this frail little woman4 ,i found myself saying1 ,never again4 ,this isn't good enough4 ,the entity that controlled her possessed superhuman strength4 ,his voice was like the bellow of a bull1 as he told us to be gone1 or he would throw us out himself1 and his language was shocking4 ,i had warned the medium on entering the house that we must be as quiet as possible1 or we would have the police walking in on us4 ,now ,i expected any moment to see a policeman1 or some male stranger arrive on the scene1 and demand to know what was the matter4 ,the majority of our party were keeping at a safe distance1 but suddenly the control rushed full tilt at the soldier1 who had stood his ground1 and attacking him with a tigerish fury drew blood at once4 ,the big builder and ,i rushed forward to his aid4 ,the rest of the party forsook us and fled1 pell-mell1 out of the house and into the garden4 ,glancing through a window1 near which we fought1 ,i saw below a row of scared faces staring up in awed wonder4 ,the scene being enacted was really amazing4 ,this frail little creature threw us off like feathers1 and drove us foot by foot before her1 always heading us off the bathroom4 ,we tried to stand our ground1 and dodge her furious lunges1 but she was too much for us4 ,after a desperate scuffle1 which lasted quite seven or eight minutes1 and resulted in much torn clothing1 she drove us out of the room and on to the landing4 ,then suddenly1 without warning1 the entity seemed to evacuate the body he had controlled1 and the medium went down with a crash and lay at our feet1 just a little crumpled disheveled heap4 ,for some considerable time ,i thought that she was dead4 ,her lips were blue1 and ,i could feel no pulse4 ,we had neither water nor brandy with which to revive her1 and we decided to carry her down into the garden and see what fresh air would do4 ,though villas stood all round us1 the foliage of the trees gave us absolute privacy1 and we laid her flat on the lawn4 ,there1 after about ten minutes1 she gradually regained her consciousness1 and seemingly none the worse for her experiences she sat up and asked what had happened4 ,we did not give her the truth in its entirety1 and contrived to account for the blood-stained soldier and the torn clothing1 without unduly shocking and distressing her4 ,we then dispersed2 the medium walking off as if nothing whatever had occurred to deplete her strength4 ,some days after this the soldier begged for another experiment with the medium4 ,he had no doubts as to her genuineness1 and he was sure that if we tried again we would get further developments4 ,she was willing to try again1 and so was the builder1 but with one exception the rest of the party refused to have anything more to do with the unpleasant affair1 and the one exception stipulated to remain in the garden4 ,she very wisely remarked that if she came into the house there was no knowing what entity might not attach itself to her1 and return home with her1 and she was not going to risk it4 ,of course this real danger always had to be counted upon in such investigations1 but as the men of the party desired a woman to accompany the medium1 ,i consented1 and we entered the house once more1 a reduced party of four4 ,after the medium had remained entranced for some minutes1 the same male entity again controlled her4 ,the same violence1 the same attacks began once more1 but this time we were better prepared to defend ourselves4 ,the soldier and the stalwart builder warded off the attacks1 and tried conciliatory expostulations1 but all to no purpose4 ,then the soldier1 who seemed to have considerable experience in such matters1 tried a system of exorcising1 sternly bidding the malignant entity depart4 ,there ensued a very curious spiritual conflict between the exorcist and the entity1 in which sometimes it seemed as if one1 then the other1 was about to triumph4 ,those wavering moments were useful in giving us breathing space from the assaults1 and at length having failed1 as we desired1 to get into the bathroom1 we drove him back against the wall at the far end of the room4 ,finally the exorcist triumphed1 and the medium collapsed on the floor1 as the strength of the control left her4 ,for a few moments we allowed the crumpled up little heap to remain where she lay1 whilst we mopped our brows and regained our breath4 ,the soldier had brought a flask of brandy which we proposed to administer to the unconscious medium1 but quite suddenly a new development began4 ,she raised her head1 and still crouching on the floor with closed eyes she began to cry bitterly4 ,wailing1 and moaning1 and uttering inarticulate words1 she had become the picture of absolute woe4 ,another entity has got hold of her1 announced the soldier4 ,it certainly appeared to be so4 ,all signs of violence had gone4 ,the medium had become a heart-broken woman4 ,we raised her to her feet1 her condition was pitiable1 but her words became more coherent4 ,poor master6 ,on the bed4 ,help him6 ,help him6 she moaned1 and pointed to one side of the room4 ,again and again she indicated1 by clenching her hands on her throat1 that death by strangulation was the culmination of some terrible tragedy that had been enacted in that room4 ,she wandered1 in a desolate manner1 about the floor1 wringing her hands1 the tears pouring down her cheeks1 whilst she pointed to the bed1 then towards the bathroom with shuddering horror4 ,suddenly we were startled out of our compassionate sympathy by a piercing scream1 and my thoughts flew instantly to the experiences of the former tenants1 and what ,i myself had heard in passing on that ,june morning of the former year4 ,the medium had turned at bay1 and began a frantic encounter with some entity unseen by us4 ,wildly she wrestled and fought1 as if for her life1 whilst she emitted piercing shrieks for help4 ,we rushed to the rescue1 dragging her away from her invisible assailant1 but a disembodied fighter has a considerable pull over a fighter in the flesh1 who possesses something tangible that can be seized4 ,i placed the medium behind me1 with her back to the wall1 but though ,i pressed her close she continued to fight1 and ,i had to defend myself as well as defend her4 ,her assailant was undoubtedly the first terrible entity which had controlled her4 ,at intervals she gasped out1 ,terrible doctor--will kill me--he's killed master--help6 help6 ,gradually she ceased to fight4 ,the soldier was exorcising with all his force1 and was gaining power2 finally he triumphed1 inasmuch as he banished the terrible doctor4 ,the medium was1 however1 still under the control of the broken-hearted entity1 and began again to wander about the room4 ,we extracted from her further details4 ,an approximate date of the tragedy4 ,her master's name1 that he was mentally deficient when the murder took place4 ,she was a maidservant in the house1 and after witnessing the crime she appeared to have shared her master's fate1 though by what means we could not determine4 ,the doctor was a resident physician of foreign origin4 ,at last we induced her to enter the bathroom1 which she seemed to dread1 and there she fell to lamenting over the dead body of her master1 which had lain hidden there when the room was used as a large cupboard4 ,it was a very painful scene1 which was ended abruptly by her falling down insensible4 ,she had collapsed in an awkward corner1 but at last we lifted her out1 and carried her downstairs to the garden4 ,when ,i tried to revive her with brandy ,i found that her teeth were tightly clenched4 ,i then tried artificial respiration1 as ,i could feel no pulse4 ,gradually she came back to life1 quietly1 calmly1 and in total ignorance of what had occurred4 ,the most amazing thing was that she showed no signs whatever of exhaustion or mental fatigue4 ,we were all dead beat1 but not so the fragile-looking little medium1 though externally she looked terribly disheveled and draggled4 ,this was the last time ,i set foot in the haunted house1 which is now being demolished1 but ,i still had to experience more of its odd phenomena4 ,the date and names the medium had given us were later on verified by means of a record of villa residents1 which for many years had been kept in the town of ,torquay4 ,there is no one left now who has any interest in verifying a tragic story supposed to have been enacted about fifty years ago4 ,it must be left in the realms of psychic research1 by which means it was dragged to light4 ,certain it is that no such murder came to the knowledge of those who were alive then1 and live still in ,torquay4 ,if there is any truth in the story it falls under the category of undiscovered crimes4 ,the murderer was able somehow to hide his iniquities1 and escape suspicion and punishment4 ,i do not know if it is intended to build another house on the same site4 ,i hope not1 for it is very probable that a new residence would share the fate of the old4 ,bricks and mortar are no impediment to the free passage of the disembodied1 and there is no reason why they should not elect to manifest for an indefinite period of time4 ,there can be no doubt that the scream was an actual fact4 ,there are so many people living who heard it1 and are willing to testify to the horror of it4 ,amongst those living people are former tenants1 who for long bore the nervous strain of its constant recurrence4 ,there remains one other weird incident in connection with ,castel a ,mare which ,i will now try to describe4 ,in the winter of #aiag ,i was engaged in war work which took me out at night4 ,like every other coast town ,torquay was plunged at sunset into deepest darkness1 save when the moon defied the authorities4 ,the road leading from the nearest tramcar to our house was not lit at all1 and one had to stumble along as best one could1 even electric torches being forbidden4 ,i was returning home one very dark1 still night about a quarter past ten1 and being very tired ,i was walking very slowly4 ,owing to the inky darkness ,i thought it best to walk in the middle of the road1 in order to avoid the inequalities in the footpath at each garden entrance to the villas4 ,at that hour there was no traffic1 and not a soul about4 ,suddenly my steps were arrested by a loud knocking on a window-pane1 and ,i collected my thoughts and tried to take my bearings4 ,the sound came from the left1 where two or three villas stand close to the road4 ,all ,i could distinguish was a denser blot of black against the dense surroundings1 but by making certain calculations ,i recognized that ,i stood outside ,castel a ,mare4 ,the knocking on the pane lasted only a moment or two1 and was insistent and peremptory4 ,i jumped to the instant conclusion that some one was having a lark inside1 and was trying to get a rise out of me4 ,i was too tired to be bothered1 and moved on again with a strong inclination towards my own warm bed1 when the knocking rang out more peremptory than ever4 ,it seemed to say ,stop6 don't go on4 ,i have something to say to you4 ,involuntarily ,i stood still again1 and wished that some human being would pass along the road4 ,i really would not have cared who it was1 policeman1 soldier1 maidservant4 ,i would have laid hold of them and said1 ,do you hear that knocking8 ,it comes from the haunted house4 ,alas6 no one did come4 ,the night lay like an inky pall all about me1 silent as the grave1 save for that commanding order to stop which was rapped upon a window-pane whenever ,i attempted to move on4 ,though the being who thus sought to detain me could not possibly distinguish who ,i was1 or whether my gender was male or female1 he could certainly hear my footsteps as ,i walked1 and the cool inconsequence of his behavior began to nettle me4 ,i was about to move resolutely on when ,i heard something else4 ,this time something really thrilling6 ,peal after peal of light laughter1 accompanied by flying feet4 ,but such laughter6 ,thin1 high treble laughter1 right away up and out of the scale1 and apparently proceeding from many persons4 ,such flying feet6 racing1 pattering1 rushing feet1 light as those of the trained athlete4 ,i stood enthralled with wonder1 for in the pitch-black darkness of that house surely no human feet could avoid disaster4 ,they were rushing up and down that steep1 bare wooden staircase that ,i knew so well1 and the laughter and the swift-winged feet sounded now from the ground floor1 then could be clearly traced ascending1 till they reached the third and last floor4 ,tearing along the empty corridors1 they began the breakneck descent again to the bottom1 a pell-mell1 wild rush of demented demons chasing each other4 ,that is what it sounded like4 ,i must have stood there for quite ten minutes1 longing intensely for some one to share in my experiences1 but ,torquay had gone to bed1 and ,i felt it was time for me to do likewise4 ,what could ,i make of the affair8 ,nothing6 ,rats8 ,rats don't laugh4 ,human beings having a rag and trying to scare the neighborhood8 ,no human being could have run up and down that staircase in such profound darkness4 ,it would have been a case of crawling up with a firm hand on the banister rail4 ,i gave up trying to think and turned resolutely away4 ,as ,i did so the knocking began again upon the window-pane4 ,do stop2 oh6 don't go away4 ,stop6 stop6 it seemed to call after me insistently as ,i quickened my footsteps and gradually outdistanced the imperious demand4 ,what explanation have ,i to offer8 ,none6 ,the hallucinations of a tired woman8 ,that may do for the general public1 but not for me4 ,you see1 ,i was the person who heard it4 ,there are many haunted houses that are quite habitable1 such as ,hampton ,court ,palace1 etc4 ,where the apparition keeps strictly to an anniversary1 or where the phenomena are mild and inoffensive1 their presence can be endured with a certain amount of equanimity4 ,the point really lies in this4 ,are the ghosts who haunt a dwelling indifferent to1 or hostile to1 the presence of their companions in the flesh8 ,if the situation is according to the latter1 then the ghosts will certainly score4 ,they will rid themselves of the human inhabitants by a wearing-down nerve pressure1 which cannot be fought against with any chance of success4 ,if the ghosts are shy or indifferent1 wrapped up in their own concerns and containing themselves in a world of their own1 then there is no reason why the incarnate and discarnate should not live peacefully together4 ,to-day1 ,february #bgth1 #aiai1 ,i read the following in the ,morning ,post3-- ,haunted or disturbed properties4 ,a lady who has deeply studied this subject and possesses unusual powers will find out the history of the trouble and undertake to remedy it4 ,houses with persistent bad luck can often be freed from the influence4 ,strictest confidence4 ,social references asked and offered4 ,what would our grandparents have thought of this means of turning an honest penny8 ,i have no doubt the lady possessing the unusual powers will be employed1 and in many cases she will be successful4 ,in the majority of cases ,i venture to say that she will fail1 simply because the majority of cases are too elusive to be dealt with by human means4 ,how would this lady treat the ,castel a ,mare scream8 ,how would she deal with the next story ,i am going to relate8 ,it is a simple matter to compile a book of thrilling ghost stories if direct evidence is not given1 if names of persons and places are suppressed4 ,i claim that my stories have a special interest and value1 because ,i have tried to restrict them to such as can be attested to by living persons1 closely related to me either by friendship or by family ties4 ,in a very few instances ,i have been obliged for obvious reasons to suppress the names of houses and hotels4 ,in these cases ,i am ready personally to supply full information to genuine students of the occult1 if they are willing to approach me privately4 ,,chapter ,,xxii ,,the ,,haunted ,,lodge ,a considerable number of people are alive who can testify to the truth of the facts ,i now narrate4 ,i regret that ,i have not been able to investigate this case personally1 but ,i hope to do so before very long4 ,in the spring of #aija1 my sister and her husband1 ,major ,stewart1 rented an old shooting lodge in ,argyllshire4 ,the place was charmingly situated1 the shooting and fishing excellent1 and the scenery around was noted for its romantic beauty4 ,though the main portion of the house was old1 a new wing had been added for the sleeping accommodation of servants1 and this arrangement shut them off at night from the ancient part of the dwelling4 ,the original kitchen still remained in use4 ,the servants had been sent on in advance to prepare the lodge1 and when ,major and ,mrs4 ,stewart arrived they were at once confronted with the information that the place bore a very evil reputation4 ,the villagers had not hesitated to prime the maids with all sorts of creepy stories1 eminently calculated to cause their precipitate departure4 ,luckily for the master and mistress the maids had been with them for some years1 and were neither of a timid age nor disposition1 so the household settled comfortably down1 in those long spring and summer days1 which in the north means practically no darkness4 ,my sister had banished the alleged hauntings from her mind1 and probably the maids had done likewise1 for all was going quietly and well1 when suddenly1 after a week's residence1 there came a rude reminder4 ,major and ,mrs4 ,stewart were both awakened one night by unmistakable sounds of very noisy burglars1 who appeared to have broken into the house through the kitchen quarters4 ,the major lit a candle1 and looked at his watch4 ,it was just on midnight4 ,what puzzled them both was the noise the intruders made4 ,burglars naturally tread softly and stealthily1 but these men stamped about in heavy boots1 and were engaged in throwing about heavy articles4 ,there seemed to be quite a number of accomplices involved in the enterprise1 and they displayed an amazing indifference to detection4 ,my sister and her husband decided that events could not be left to take their course4 ,this matter must be looked into4 ,the major armed himself with a loaded revolver4 ,my sister armed herself with a lighted candle and a box of matches1 and together they crept softly downstairs on their way to the kitchen4 ,all this time the noises continued4 ,stamping of heavy feet1 crashing down of heavy weights1 but on the way downstairs a first glimmering that the supernatural came into this affair began to dawn upon my sister4 ,she became aware that an invisible presence was following them4 ,the noises continued as they cautiously and silently crept towards the kitchen4 ,as they reached the door1 suddenly utter silence fell4 ,inside nothing was disarranged4 ,there were no signs of burglars1 everything was as usual4 ,considerably mystified ,major and ,mrs4 ,stewart returned to bed1 and were not disturbed again that night4 ,the next day1 about four o'clock in the afternoon1 the same sounds began again4 ,this time the noise was easily located in one of the unused bedrooms on the top floor of the house4 ,heavily shod men were tramping about the floor overhead1 throwing down heavy boxes and making a considerable disturbance4 ,major and ,mrs4 ,stewart ascended on tiptoe1 and when outside the closed door listened intently4 ,there was no mistake this time4 ,nothing could sound more human than the activity going on inside that room4 ,half a dozen men at least were in possession of it1 and those men had to be confronted4 ,luckily they had no means of escape4 ,this time they really would be caught4 ,after a few minutes of silent listening the major1 whose hand was on the knob1 threw open the door and bounded into the room4 ,instant silence--nothing--not even the whisk of a defiant rat's tail6 ,the husband and wife sat down and stared at one another in utter bewilderment4 ,the bright spring daylight seemed to mock them as it flooded every chink and cranny4 ,shortly after this occurrence three guests came to stay1 two women and a man4 ,they were given bedrooms on the top floor1 but the room whence the disturbance had come was left severely alone4 ,the household1 with one accord1 welcomed their advent as a pleasant distraction1 and it was unanimously agreed that they should be kept in absolute ignorance of what had taken place4 ,the next morning the three guests all had the same story to tell1 of having had no sleep4 ,heavily booted men kept passing their doors1 and heavy articles were flung about in adjacent rooms4 ,they had spent a night of terror4 ,no one had possessed sufficient courage to look out into the corridor1 along which the men were passing1 and they had kept lights burning in their rooms till full daybreak4 ,they refused to sleep again upon that floor4 ,my sister moved them down to the second floor1 on which she herself slept1 and a thorough investigation of the house1 outside and inside1 was made4 ,no conclusion was come to4 ,the noises continued on the following night1 but being overhead1 and more distant1 they were more endurable4 ,a second male guest now arrived1 and the assembled household waited in breathless interest to see how the ghosts would affect him4 ,nothing whatever was told to him1 and he was lodged in a bedroom immediately underneath the noisy one4 ,the next morning1 after all had passed a disturbed night1 it was found that some of the noises had proceeded from the new guest4 ,he had carried some of his blankets out into the garden and had slept there4 ,he remained on1 but refused to sleep in the house1 and a tent was rigged up for him outside4 ,he stated that the disturbances were too much for his nerves1 though he had no idea what they were4 ,his behavior1 on the first night1 in retiring to the garden1 was meant as a strong protest against such treatment of a tired guest4 ,his temper had got the upper hand of him1 after fruitless efforts to sleep1 and1 finally1 he had tramped downstairs with an armful of blankets1 anticipating many apologies next morning from host and hostess1 and a peaceful night to follow4 ,the following day a new maid arrived4 ,she slept in the old part of the house1 and shortly afterwards asked my sister if the house was haunted1 as she had been kept awake by heavy people running past her door with naked feet4 ,by this time it was only the influence of the staid old servants which prevented the younger ones from taking flight4 ,my sister and her husband were not alarmed1 they were profoundly interested4 ,the summer passed on1 and there were days and weeks when nothing was heard1 then quite suddenly the disturbances would begin again4 ,as the noises sounded so very human it was extremely difficult to believe that they really did not proceed from incarnate beings1 and my sister told me that time after time1 as she listened1 she would say to herself1 ,now1 beyond a shadow of doubt there are men in that room4 ,she would creep upstairs1 listen for some time with her hand on the door-knob--then suddenly throw it open--to find nothing4 ,she never wearied of trying to surprise those invisible men4 ,at times when her husband was away from home1 she would spend the entire night in an obstinate attempt to solve the mystery4 ,when she had no guests1 and the servants were asleep in their new wing1 she would awake to the noise4 ,taking her candle she would mount on bare1 silent feet to the floor above1 and listen at the door1 often for half an hour at a time4 ,she had no fear1 but intense curiosity4 ,it was easy to trace what was going on in the room4 ,men were packing1 moving heavy boxes1 throwing down heavy articles1 walking about the floor with ponderous tread4 ,first they would be at one end of the room1 then move on to the other4 ,sometimes they approached so near the door behind which she stood1 that she expected to see it open1 and to be confronted by several burly ruffians4 ,she would rush suddenly in1 candle in hand1 only to be received in sudden1 utter silence4 ,not even the scurry of a scared mouse4 ,after half an hour of patient waiting within the room1 she would leave it1 close the door1 and sit down on the staircase4 ,in a few moments the disturbance was again in full swing4 ,were ,i writing an account of these hauntings for the ,psychical ,society ,i should go into the most minute details2 suffice it here to say1 that during all this time every sort of investigation had been carried out by practical men and women1 who had personally heard the disturbances1 and who were keenly interested in the phenomena4 ,rats were1 of course1 the first natural suggestion1 but no one put forth this theory after having once1 with their own ears1 heard the disturbances4 ,no one could advance any rational conclusion4 ,the whole affair was baffling in the extreme4 ,it would have been simple enough to leave the place and forfeit the rent1 but my sister and her husband loved the sport and the beauty of the surroundings1 and were determined to remain1 unless anything worse developed4 ,no one ever saw anything unpleasant1 or even suggestive of the supernatural1 and the whole household had become more or less indifferent to the noises4 ,they brought no harm to anybody1 and might be safely ignored4 ,mrs4 ,stewart had four ,pomeranian dogs which did not produce a calming effect upon their human companions4 ,they were constantly seeing things1 bristling and showing every sign of terror4 ,into the noisy room they refused to go1 and they objected to being left a moment alone4 ,they slept in my sister's bedroom4 ,one night she was alone in the old house4 ,major ,stewart had gone on business to ,edinburgh1 and the servants had retired to bed in their own wing4 ,mrs4 ,stewart was sitting in the smoking-room1 reading an interesting novel by the light of a lamp4 ,a good fire burned1 and the four ,poms were asleep on the hearth-rug4 ,the door was slightly ajar1 and outside it ran a short corridor4 ,suddenly1 at its far end a terrible noise arose4 ,a very different noise to anything that had been heard before1 and one so blood-curdling that ,mrs4 ,stewart at last knew the meaning of mortal fear4 ,two men were fighting desperately1 swaying and wrestling1 and snarling fiercely like two tigers locked in deathly combat4 ,she glanced at the dogs4 ,they were sitting up1 staring with terrified eyes at the door1 their bodies quivering1 their little fangs showing4 ,then--with a bound--they were off1 tearing for dear life along the corridor towards the stairs4 ,it was a situation that demanded considerable nerve4 ,impossible to sit there alone in the dead of night1 and listen to that hideous din1 but a few yards from the door4 ,she must follow the dogs as swiftly as she dared4 ,she took up the lamp and moved stealthily to the door4 ,the corridor was in complete darkness1 and in that darkness the two men fought desperately1 and below their breath they raved1 groaned1 blasphemed1 incoherently4 ,one long drawn out babel of breathless discord4 ,in an overwhelming rush of terror ,mrs4 ,stewart made a dash for the stairs1 but while still in the corridor she heard flying feet approaching her from the end she was trying to reach4 ,she shrank back against the wall1 the flying feet passed in a wild tempestuous rush1 and as they did so the lamp was struck violently out of her hand1 and she was left in complete darkness4 ,she reached her bedroom and locked the door1 then she lighted the candles and looked for the dogs4 ,she found them huddled together in abject terror under her bed4 ,the next day my sister called upon the lady who owned the place1 and recounting her experiences asked to be told the origin of the hauntings4 ,she was told the following story3-- ,many years previously a farmer1 who was a widower1 lived in the lodge with an only son1 who was grown up4 ,the old farmer married again1 a pretty young girl1 and the son fell in love with his stepmother4 ,a quarrel ensued1 and a desperate conflict1 in which the father stabbed his son to death4 ,the ,stewarts did not leave the haunted lodge till some long time after the events ,i have narrated2 in fact1 my sister inhabited it after her husband died1 during a stay in the ,south of ,england4 ,it is difficult to form any conjecture as to the actual cause of the disturbances4 ,how do ghosts contrive to make such a noise8 ,the common answer would be1 ,they were astral noises heard clairaudiently4 ,but was every one in the house clairaudient8 ,it is possible1 but most unlikely4 ,when the noises began every one under that roof heard them1 and continued to hear them till they ceased4 ,the lodge is still to let1 so perhaps the mystery may yet be unraveled4 ,will a member of the ,psychical ,society not try his luck8 ,the rent is low1 the sport1 of more than one kind1 is excellent4 ,in the course of time my widowed sister married again1 and her second husband has given me a curious and gruesome story of an experience which came to him whilst he was still a bachelor4 ,i will give it in his own words3-- ,about fourteen years ago ,i retired from the ,london ,stock ,exchange1 and owing to ill health ,i was advised by my doctor to take a long sea voyage4 ,this advice ,i followed1 and much benefited by rest and sea air ,i returned to ,london1 after an absence of nine months4 ,always having lived an active life ,i could not contemplate settling down in utter idleness1 and ,i consulted my solicitor on the subject of work4 ,he told me that a client of his had just bought a flourishing and well-known mill in ,north ,wales4 ,he proposed to run it for a time alone1 and then turn it into a company or syndicate1 as he had not sufficient capital of his own to ensure its ultimate success4 ,in due time1 my solicitor gave me a letter of introduction to this man1 and ,i went to stay at his house close to the mill1 which he had just bought4 ,it was a rambling old place1 which in the good old days had been a coaching inn4 ,owing to bad management the landlord had failed1 and for many years it had stood empty and 'to let4' ,it was a queer idea1 ,i thought1 to turn a coaching inn into a private residence1 more especially as ,i soon heard that it had a very evil reputation4 ,though ,i made many inquiries in the neighborhood ,i could never get anything more definite than that there was some evil influence in the house4 ,every one who lived in it came to a bad or violent end4 ,i concluded that its proximity to his work caused the mill owner to purchase it1 and ,i thought no more of the matter4 ,if ,i was favorably impressed1 my intention was to put a certain amount of capital into the concern and learn the trade1 but after staying for a few days with the mill owner1 ,i came to the conclusion that ,i would have nothing to do with so odd a person4 ,he was of medium height and very thin1 with rather straggling hair turning gray1 and a sallow1 hollow-cheeked face4 ,he had a curious habit of glancing suddenly behind him1 as if some one had just tapped him on the shoulder1 and several other little traits bespoke an extreme nervousness of disposition4 ,one night ,i entered a room where he happened to be1 and discovered him staring at himself in a mirror4 ,i suppose ,i exhibited some surprise1 for he wheeled round on me and cried1 ',well6 how do you think ,i am looking8' ,had ,i answered truthfully ,i should have said1 ',stark1 staring mad4' ,his face was ghastly pale1 and his eyes were blazing4 ,i made some careless reply1 and shortly afterwards left the house to play a game of billiards with some acquaintances ,i had made4 ,there ,i was given some interesting information4 ,the mill owner was a declared bankrupt4 ,i returned to the house at ten o'clock1 and at once retired to bed1 without again seeing my unfortunate host4 ,the next morning ,i was awakened at half-past seven by my hostess knocking at my door1 and inquiring if ,i had seen anything of her husband4 ,i replied that ,i had seen nothing of him1 but if she was anxious ,i would dress quickly and have a look round for him4 ,this offer she accepted with gratitude4 ,the station was not far distant1 and she suggested that he might have taken the train to ,manchester4 ,would ,i go and make inquiries8 ,i was soon on the way1 and interviewed a porter1 who informed me he had seen the mill owner about an hour ago1 not on the platform1 but staring at the rails4 ,the man had watched him1 thinking his behavior suspicious1 and remembering the evil reputation of his dwelling1 but after a while he had turned away1 and was last seen walking rapidly off in the direction of his own home4 ,i went back and reported what ,i had heard1 and the very anxious wife suggested that ,i should snatch a hasty breakfast and then make inquiries at a farm a mile off1 which was also their property4 ,this ,i readily consented to do4 ,i was extremely sorry for the poor woman1 and though she did not make a confidant of me1 ,i could see she was consumed with anxiety4 ,my errand was quite fruitless1 nothing was known of the master1 no one had seen him1 and back ,i went to the mill house1 feeling by this time that probably the wife had every cause for her anxiety4 ,i saw nothing of her when ,i entered4 ,i looked into every room on the ground floor1 and was just going to ring for a servant1 when ,i fancied ,i heard a faint cry4 ,i went out into the hall and listened intently4 ,the voice was calling from somewhere below the ground1 and ,i thought at once of the huge cellars ,i had been shown1 where once the good old ale had been brewed and stored4 ,i ran to the door which led to the cellars2 it was open1 and then ,i clearly heard a woman's voice crying1 ',oh6 bring a knife6 bring a knife quickly6' ,i darted back into the dining-room and caught up the first knife ,i could find1 a ham carver1 then hastened to the door and began descending the dark stairs4 ,the cellars were fairly well lighted by two grated windows1 and a horrible sight met my eyes4 ,there stood the wife1 bending under the weight of her husband1 who was suspended by a rope round his neck from the great beam overhead4 ,one glance at the hideously distorted face1 the glazed eyes protruding from their sockets1 the gaping mouth and swollen tongue1 told me the worst4 ,hastily ,i severed the rope1 and the wife and her dead husband sank to the ground together4 ,there was little to be done4 ,we laid the corpse flat on the stone floor1 and ,i persuaded her to leave it and come upstairs with me1 and wait for the arrival of the doctor and police4 ,this she consented to do4 ,she was very quiet and composed1 a curious apathy of indifference possessed her1 and ,i would far rather have seen her in floods of natural tears4 ,by evening the house had fallen into a dead silence4 ,the doctor had pronounced life to be extinct1 and the corpse had been carried up to an unused bedroom immediately over the smoking-room4 ,the police found that the mill owner had committed suicide by hanging4 ,he had jumped off a stone slab1 after having adjusted the rope to the beam and his own throat4 ,with the exception of an old nurse who was devoted to her mistress1 the servants all departed in a body1 and the house was left brooding under a weight of intolerable depression4 ,i did not blame the servants4 ,as a matter of fact1 there was nothing ,i would have liked better than to quit the mill house there and then1 and never set foot in it again1 but ,i had the desolate widow to consider4 ,i could not leave her alone1 whilst there was still the smallest possibility of my being of use4 ,added to this ,i had the queerest feeling that she required protection1 though from what ,i would have been at a loss to say4 ,another feeling1 which ,i combated violently1 was a sensation of being mocked and jeered at by some unseen entity4 ,i was being urged to get out of the house1 to recognize my own impotence1 to mind my own business1 and when ,i metaphorically replied1 ',get thee behind me1 ,satan1' ,i could have sworn ,i heard a sly laugh4 ,of course ,i told myself all this was but the result of a shock to the nerves1 and ,i was not going to pay any attention to it1 so despite my intense longing to run out of the house ,i settled down with the daily paper1 a cigarette1 and a novel in the smoking-room1 and resolutely turned my thoughts away from the tragedy4 ,the widow1 and her old nurse1 who had promised me not to leave her mistress for a moment1 had retired together for the night1 so ,i felt satisfied1 so far as they were concerned4 ,i suppose ,i must have dozed off1 for ,i was suddenly roused broad awake by footsteps overhead1 in the room where the corpse lay4 ,i sat up straight and listened intently4 ,were my nerves playing tricks with me8 ,no2 certainly not4 ,there was no mistaking that sound for hallucination4 ,it was perfectly clear and distinct4 ,a man was walking about overhead1 and the only man save myself within these walls had hanged himself by the neck until he was dead4 ,there it was--the sound4 ,a man's footsteps pacing slowly up and down the floor of the bedroom above1 from end to end1 backwards and forwards4 ,i considered what ,i had better do4 ,i was sure the widow and the old nurse were in the bedroom1 quite at the other end of the house4 ,probably they were both asleep4 ,i hoped so4 ,what had ,i better do--nothing8 ,yet this inaction irked me4 ,my curiosity was intense4 ,the supernatural had never occupied much of my thoughts1 but now it began to do so4 ,those steps must proceed from the supernatural4 ,there was no other explanation4 ,i was the only live man in the house4 ,at last ,i could stand it no longer4 ,i jumped up and proceeded upstairs4 ,the lights had been left to me to extinguish2 they were still on1 and ,i saw at once that the door of the bedroom was open4 ,i entered the room1 lit the gas and searched every corner4 ,no living thing was present4 ,the dead man lay in rigid lines beneath a sheet4 ,i left the room again in darkness1 and carefully closing the door ,i went softly along to the widow's room1 and knocked very gently4 ,the old nurse came to the door4 ,she told me her mistress was asleep1 and that the doctor had given her a sleeping draught4 ,neither of them had left the room since they entered it to go to bed1 more than an hour ago4 ,i went downstairs again and took up the newspaper1 but almost immediately the footsteps began once more overhead1 in the room where the dead man lay4 ,the sound was soft and stealthy at first1 then it grew louder4 ,the same footsteps moving about the floor1 up and down1 up and down4 ,i am not ashamed to say that ,i felt a cold sweat break out all over me4 ,i could not stand that sound any longer4 ,i made up my mind to go to bed4 ,i removed my shoes and turned out the light4 ,as ,i did so ,i could have sworn ,i heard a sly1 low laugh behind me4 ,i crept upstairs4 ,the door of that horrible room was again open4 ,with a shaking hand ,i closed it1 and hurried to my bedroom1 locking the door at once4 ,the next day ,i told my experiences to one of the acquaintances ,i had made1 and he volunteered to come in and keep me company until the funeral was over4 ,i gladly accepted his offer4 ,i did not hear the footsteps again4 ,i conclude because the widow was sitting with us on the following nights1 and the ghost had no desire to terrify her4 ,,chapter ,,xxiii ,,auras ,i was born with the power to see auras1 and ,i had attained to quite a grown-up age before ,i discovered that every one could not see them4 ,what is an aura8 ,you will see them glittering round the heads of saints1 and of ,the ,christ in church windows4 ,you will see them painted round the head of the ,blessed ,virgin1 round the head of the ,infant she holds1 but1 indeed1 auras are the property of all1 however humble and lowly4 ,nothing that has life1 be the spark ever so faint1 is without its astral counterpart1 its tenuous surrounding atmosphere4 ,science has demonstrated this4 ,auras have now been photographed4 ,habitual seeing of human auras has made me no more or less observant of them than ,i am of the human face4 ,if ,i am asked by any one to say what her aura looks like1 ,i do so to the best of my ability1 but at that complacent moment it is a very tame affair1 much like the aura that any one may see surrounding a lighted candle4 ,a medley of prismatic hues1 no color predominating4 ,where auras become really interesting is in a room full of people4 ,i look down to the far end of the room where a group is seated talking4 ,i cannot hear what they are saying1 but ,i can tell at once whether the conversation is harmonious or otherwise4 ,often there will be one member of the group whose aura is very disturbed4 ,it will emit flashes of brilliant red as he talks vehemently4 ,the aura of the man he is addressing has turned a sulky1 leaden gray4 ,a woman who is sitting listening has an aura of intense boredom4 ,the colors are all there1 but they have become faded1 and the extreme tips droop dejectedly1 like so many wilted blades of grass4 ,the biggest aura ,i ever saw was that of the late ,mr4 ,sexton1 a great orator whom ,i once heard in the ,house of ,commons4 ,some people have mean1 tight little auras1 others have great spreading haloes of brilliant light4 ,i met with a very unusual aura quite lately4 ,a young woman1 ,miss ,l41 came to tea with me1 a charming1 cultured woman1 whose profession it is to keep a large girls' school4 ,she is much interested in occult matters1 and we got upon the subject of a rather wonderful case of spiritualism of which she knows the details--the medium being a young girl whom ,i will call ,elsie4 ,whilst ,i was talking to ,miss ,l4 ,i could not help observing something very peculiar in her aura2 it was all lopsided4 ,in place of being a complete circle around her head1 it had a huge bulge out to the left4 ,i had never before seen an aura like that1 and it interested me greatly4 ,just before leaving she mentioned auras1 and asked me what hers was like4 ,i told her honestly that it was peculiar1 lopsided1 and bulging on one side4 ,she laughed and said she knew that1 because ,elsie always chaffed her about it1 saying1 ,you wear your halo all awry4 ,this was very interesting confirmation of my power to see auras correctly4 ,i don't know ,elsie1 ,i don't even know her name1 which has been kept a secret1 but we evidently see ,miss ,l4's aura in exactly the same peculiar form4 ,the other day ,i was sitting reading by the window1 and as ,i moved in my chair ,i caught sight1 with the tail of my eye1 of something bright at the other end of the room4 ,a patch of light about a foot deep1 and two feet long was coming from behind the edge of a tall screen that hid a door4 ,i rose and walked out of the room4 ,behind the screen was a maid1 whom ,i had not heard enter the open door4 ,she was busy over some quiet work1 and it was her aura that ,i had seen1 though she herself was hidden from view4 ,once before in my life my attention has been drawn to the aura of one whom ,i could not at the moment see in the flesh4 ,i happened to be passing a glove shop in the south of ,france1 and as ,i strolled slowly past the door a blaze of yellow gold inside the shop caught my eye1 and attracted my attention4 ,i paused at once and looked through the open door4 ,this great golden aura belonged to the ,empress ,elizabeth of ,austria1 who was standing at the counter4 ,her back was turned towards me1 and ,i stood for a minute watching this aura of a woman whose restless imagination1 and passionate love for the bitter wine of liberty1 brought her finally to an absolutely fitting death4 ,i believe she would have chosen this death before all others1 for at heart she was a born anarchist4 ,she fell painlessly by the dagger of anarchism4 ,one effect of being able to see auras is that they fix certain incidents firmly in the mind4 ,i remember one such incident very clearly4 ,i was staying at ,hawarden with the ,gladstones whilst the ,irish troubles of '#hb were at their height4 ,one afternoon we were all assembled on the lawn having tea2 ,mr4 ,gladstone was standing rather apart1 his hands full of papers1 which had just been brought to him4 ,i saw him unfold what looked like a large poster1 glance at it1 then suddenly he dashed it to the ground and stamped viciously upon it4 ,i heard him give vent to some exclamations of intense anger1 but had ,i heard nothing ,i could not have failed to know he was desperately annoyed over something1 for he was suddenly wrapped in a brilliant crimson cloud1 through which sharp flashes like lightning darted hither and thither4 ,he was seeing red4 ,i remember ,mrs4 ,gladstone murmuring something about posters being torn down in ,ireland1 but ,i was too thrilled over her husband's aura to pay much heed to what she said4 ,i shall never forget that scene1 and the practical disappearance of ,mr4 ,gladstone in the enveloping folds of a great red cloud4 ,in a minute or two he emerged1 and resumed his habitual aura1 which extended to about two and a half feet beyond his head1 and was largely tinged with purple4 ,at ,hawarden ,church on ,sunday1 whilst he read the lessons1 ,i watched his aura with much interest1 because it changed so continuously1 and ,i discovered that this change arose out of his absorption in what he read4 ,only one little example can ,i remember to illustrate what ,i mean4 ,and the heart of ,pharaoh was hardened and he would not let the people go4 ,in reading those words aloud ,mr4 ,gladstone's aura deepened to red1 and ,i saw he was very indignant with ,pharaoh's behavior4 ,during the sermon he sat facing us in our pew1 and in a chair just beneath the pulpit1 and ,i could tell by watching his aura just how he felt about the discourse4 ,later on1 just after the tragic murders by the ,fenians in ,phoenix ,park of ,lord ,frederick ,cavendish and ,mr4 ,bourke1 ,i received a note from ,mrs4 ,gladstone1 asking me to go to breakfast with them in their ,london house in ,buckingham ,gate4 ,when ,i arrived the first person ,i saw was ,lady ,frederick ,cavendish1 calm and composed1 and bearing her loss with quiet stoicism1 but the atmosphere of the house was very different from that of ,hawarden4 ,a gloom was over all1 and for the first time ,i noticed that ,mr4 ,gladstone's aura was depressed and tired4 ,its vigorous vibrations had considerably slowed down1 like a jet of flame that had been turned low1 and the extremities drooped dejectedly4 ,though crimson red is the color of anger1 there is a beautiful soft rose which is the color of love4 ,the green-eyed monster of jealousy history has handed down to us from the ancient seers1 also the jaundiced appearance of envy4 ,a gloomy1 grumbling person has a very leaden gray atmosphere1 and one who has a fit of the blues shows he is off color in his dull1 muddy blue aura4 ,but there is a beautiful sky-blue to be seen in the auras of many artists and scientists4 ,very material1 earthly people have generally a deep1 dull orange tinge in their astral envelope1 and there is a glorious golden yellow surrounding the heads of the spiritually joyful and highly intellectual4 ,purple is the color of power1 greatness4 ,children have an aura of crystal whiteness1 which develops color after the age of seven4 ,i remember the aura of ,frederic ,myers very well4 ,a large and intensely spiritual halo4 ,he is the only man ,i can remember in those days--about '#ib-'if--;as having an aura within an aura1 though this phenomenon is now becoming more marked4 ,a rainbow was about his head1 those words explain exactly what ,i mean4 ,about a foot above his head circled a pure rainbow1 and this beautiful decoration looked as if it were superimposed upon the original aura1 which streamed out far above it4 ,i have only as yet1 in these later years1 seen this rainbow above the heads of two people3 one alive1 ,miss ,maud ,roydon1 one alas6 gone west--the incomparable ,elsie ,inglis4 ,i conclude it means a degree of self-sacrificing spirituality1 which as yet has been attained to by very few4 ,indeed1 ,i would venture further1 and assert that it stands for a certain initiation conferred upon the beloved by the ,masters of ,wisdom4 ,king ,edward was blessed by a very fine aura of constantly changing colors4 ,i remember once noticing this in the most unspiritual of environments1 and whilst the ,king was still ,prince of ,wales4 ,we were on ,newmarket ,heath1 and ,his ,majesty came up to me and said1 ,i hear you are married4 ,after a few minutes of friendly conversation1 which had taken an amusingly domestic turn1 he said to me1 ,now1 how much has your husband got a year8 ,there was nothing in the question but the most friendly interest2 still1 it will naturally seem strange that he should have possessed the faintest curiosity as to the financial situation of so humble a member of his people4 ,whilst he put the question1 and waited for the answer1 his whole aura and atmosphere deepened and intensified4 ,he was actually interested in my answer1 and this ,i have always believed was the fundamental reason of his great popularity4 ,the power he possessed of throwing himself heart and soul into the trivial1 as into the great things of life4 ,he was intensely human1 with a genuine fund of sympathy for the ordinary affairs of life4 ,he liked to know the domestic conditions of those whom he honored with his friendship1 and the first time ,i ever spoke to him1 at a dance given by the ,rothschilds in ,piccadilly1 ,i saw at once that the natural human simplicities of life absorbed him absolutely whilst under discussion4 ,though a man who would not tolerate a liberty1 the easiest way to get on with him when alone1 was to confide in him any personal difficulty1 and to forget who he was1 always providing that one had the good breeding to remember instantly that he was the king when speaking to him in public4 ,the most occult day 7to use the popular expression7 ,i ever spent was the #bfth ,june1 #aijb1 the day of the postponed ,coronation4 ,i shall never forget that warm summer day of stupendous gloom1 and oppressive darkness4 ,there was something more than meteorology in that leaden pall that hid the skies1 and enveloped the whole of ,london4 ,even the densest materialists were uneasy1 startled and inquiring1 for putting aside that mighty aura of sorrow and gloom rising up to heaven from the hearts of millions1 there was1 as it were1 the response of heaven herself4 ,that dark and mournful response ,nature assumed1 when wrapping herself in a shroud of leaden darkness she brooded over the city1 like the pall of death itself4 ,that day the mystic walked in a dream1 enmeshed in the warp of great occult happenings being woven out in the loom of ,karmic fatality4 ,it was impossible to settle down to doing anything4 ,one just sat about1 living every moment intensely4 ,once1 when presenting a girl at ,court1 during the present reign1 ,i noticed what a very striking aura ,john ,burns possesses4 ,this girl naturally wished to see all she could1 so we went to the ,palace very early1 and found a seat in the ,throne ,room1 close to where the ,king and ,queen would sit later on4 ,in a short time celebrities began to stroll into the royal circles1 divided from us by a cord4 ,first came the present ,lord ,grey of ,falloden1 and then came ,mr4 ,john ,burns1 resplendent in dark blue knee breeches and gold-embroidered coat4 ,he moved about quite familiarly inside the holy of holies1 speaking first to one1 then another of the gathering little crowd4 ,being so close to him ,i observed him with unusual interest4 ,his aura is very large1 and what ,i can only describe as massive1 and already it was tinged by the gray veil of disappointment4 ,i have seen him several times since1 and the veil has become more opaque4 ,what interested me so profoundly in him that night were the contrasts ,i knew to exist in his life1 and which must have profoundly influenced his outlook on human existence4 ,one afternoon ,i was walking alone up ,piccadilly4 ,there had been rumors of coming riots1 but no one in the ,west ,end gave any credence to such silly stories1 and the streets were full of the usual gay throng1 intent on amusement4 ,suddenly1 as ,i walked along1 a youth on a bicycle dashed past the pavement1 shouting something ,i could not catch4 ,more men on bicycles followed4 ,the promenaders began to sit up and take notice4 ,carriage horses were being smartly whipped up1 and women began to scurry nervously4 ,then it seemed to me ,i could hear something above the roar of the ordinary traffic1 a hoarse prolonged shout4 ,servants now appeared on doorsteps1 and looked about anxiously for non-existent policemen1 others began closing outside shutters before windows4 ,just as ,i reached the ,naval and ,military ,club ,i saw that the servants had come out1 and were about to close both great gates--,in and ,out4 ,one of these men pointed up the street and advised me at once to seek cover1 and ,i saw in the dim distance what looked like a mighty crowd advancing4 ,in a second ,i had darted through the gates1 and was safely inside before they closed upon the approaching mob4 ,i have only a very confused memory of what happened after4 ,of kindly attentions from the members4 ,of women's shrieks as their carriages were stopped1 and their valuables taken from them4 ,of the deafening roar of furious male voices1 crashings of glass windows1 howls of savage exultation1 as a hosier's shop close by fell victim to the rioters1 the clatter of hoofs from terrified horses4 ,i could see nothing1 but the battering upon the club gates added tenfold to the terrifying din4 ,the members withdrew1 taking me with them1 to the house1 and prepared to hold it against the furious mob1 should the gates give way4 ,such wild moments are not easily forgotten1 and why ,i looked upon ,john ,burns that night at ,court with such a peculiar interest was because he led that riot1 and suffered imprisonment for so doing4 ,looking upon him in ,court dress1 in the royal enclosure1 on intimate terms with the great of the world1 though perhaps not the great of the earth1 knowing him to hold high office in the government1 ,i marked the change4 ,then throwing back my mind to those poignant hours in the past1 which he had created1 ,i felt that nothing is too extraordinary to belong to the careers of some men2 they live through several lives in one4 ,their ,karma is so crowded with stirring events1 in the working out of the past1 in the makings of the future1 that nothing human can be any longer strange to them4 ,the auras of such men are naturally great1 because such contrasts of light and shade only come in the lives of men possessed of great and lofty ideals4 ,for some years little has been heard of the former idol of ,battersea4 ,he is facing west now1 though a ray or two of dawning light may still touch him in the near future4 ,that wild idealism which comes to men who keep their eyes fixed upon a dawn so long in coming1 fades out behind the veil of disillusion1 as the days come not1 and the years draw nigh with no pleasure in them4 ,man's ingratitude to man is one of the cruelest tests imposed upon the soul of idealism4 ,the soul that can bear it without a tinge of cynicism has risen to mighty heights4 ,such grandeur of soul was possessed by ,elsie ,inglis4 ,so impregnated was she with pure love of humanity1 that when her own country virtually turned its back upon her1 this irreparable disgrace1 brought upon themselves by her own people1 cast no shadow upon her soul4 ,in the years before the war ,i often noted her lovely aura as ,i sat amongst an audience1 and watched her on a platform fighting woman's battle4 ,after the war broke out ,i only saw her once1 by the merest chance4 ,it was then ,i marked that a rainbow was now about her head1 and ,i knew at once that tremendous events were in store for her1 though the ,british ,government had refused her services4 ,ah6 the poor little cramped mind of ,england's officialism6 yet has not this very poverty of imagination1 this iron-bound worship of worn-out tradition1 brought to birth an internationalism which could never have been ours without it8 ,it drove forth hundreds1 thousands of ardent souls1 to other lands4 ,rejected by their own1 they clasped the pierced hands of strangers1 and laid down their own incomparably gallant lives at the foot of a cross1 whereon hung those who had at length become their brothers through a commune of agony4 ,elsie ,inglis received no honor or decoration from the people1 or the ,great of ,england4 ,only the body1 worn very thin in the service of humanity1 was at last honored in death4 ,knowing the woman1 and the stuff she was made of1 one can only feel intensely this was all as it should have been4 ,to offer ,elsie ,inglis a medal would have been a sacrilege4 ,hands off such souls as hers1 is the cry one's every instinct rings forth to the bauble worshipers of this world4 ,besides1 and this is a very great besides1 those who go with a rainbow about their heads are not destined for earthly honors4 ,they have taken the great step1 they have received the great ,initiation1 a jewel in the blazing crown of eternity1 and for them no more are the laurel wreaths that perish4 ,in justice to those throned on high on earth1 the above should be remembered4 ,if it is with ,elsie ,inglis1 as ,i fully believe1 she would have understood that for her ,god and ,mammon were eternally divorced1 and any attempt at worldly recognition would have been frustrated by ,the ,lords of ,eternal ,light and ,wisdom1 whose chosen disciple she had become4 ,the psychology of the people is a very interesting and curious study1 to the aura seer4 ,the analysis of the collective mind awaits some great writer who will give us a book of absorbing interest4 ,those who can see auras have a great advantage1 if they are public speakers4 ,during the period of my life1 when ,i had a great deal of political platform work1 ,i was always very sensitive to my audiences1 because ,i could see how they were taking my remarks4 ,i have always found big audiences of the people very colorless in the main4 ,flashes of bright color would be apparent all over the hall1 but there was no sustained glow4 ,whilst sitting on some one else's platform1 often that of a great orator1 ,i have marked exactly the same phenomenon4 ,the soul of the people is still young and childlike4 ,it has the indifference of extreme youth1 the forgetfulness and ingratitude of extreme youth4 ,i look back upon the fall of ,parnell and ,dilke1 great minds whose earthly careers were destroyed by the people4 ,all the world knows why4 ,to-day ,i look on the perpetrators of the ,gallipoli and ,mesopotamia tragedies1 and ,i see they have all gone up higher in the esteem of the people4 ,they have risen in the world1 and are looked upon as ripe for even higher office4 ,the poor human brain reels before such anomalies4 ,i was in ,london when the ,gallipoli reports were given to the public4 ,they shook me to the very foundation of my being4 ,i think they were given out towards the end of the week1 because ,i remember saying to myself1 on ,sunday morning the ,british working man and woman will read all this abomination of desolation and crime in their ,sunday paper4 ,purposely ,i strolled about the ,london parks in the lovely afternoon of that ,sunday4 ,crowds were there1 reading1 courting1 sleeping4 ,i went home realizing that no one cared4 ,the collective aura of the people was as serene and indifferent as ever4 ,i have come to think more kindly of our people's pathetic indifference1 because ,i am sure it is the indifference of very young souls1 who have passed through but few incarnations1 and know not what they do4 ,i see them exploited by the politicians1 given a rag doll to amuse themselves with1 anything will do1 from the big loaf to the ,kayzer1 and sent to the polls hugging their golliwog1 but ,i doubt the returning troops being so easily amused and deluded4 ,the state of the ,universe is the expression of man's desire1 and man is really the builder of his own body1 that house not made with hands1 though in his youthful ignorance he attributes both to an over-ruling intelligence1 whom he alternately blesses and curses4 ,when men learn that they must work with1 and not against the mental laws1 they will no longer ask why ,god permits the world to be so full of misery4 ,they will cease to erect a scapegoat1 because they will have learned that they are the makers of their own misery or happiness4 ,many people seem to think that the power to see auras must be very useful in helping one to distinguish between friends and foes1 but such is not really the case4 ,auras exemplify individual character1 not individual predilections1 and some of my friends being very bad characters1 indeed1 have shocking auras4 ,i had one great friend who1 at the beginning of our acquaintance1 spent much of his time in prison1 which was really a blessing for his ill-used wife4 ,his aura was literally in tatters1 just a little irregular circle of rags and patches4 ,i had just succeeded in making him sober1 by insisting constantly and most seriously that he was a cut above the public-house1 and much too superior a man to mix with such degraded companions1 when the war broke out4 ,he went to the front1 and on his first return to ,blighty1 badly gassed1 he came at once to see me4 ,i really felt a sort of personal pride in him1 and an actual sense of personal possession in his enormously grown aura4 ,it was clear evidence of his sprouting soul4 ,he went back to ,france1 but was wounded and again gassed1 and this time his return was final1 as he was of no further use4 ,for a few months he did odd jobs with great difficulty1 then1 finally1 he succumbed to pneumonia4 ,i was very proud indeed of his aura as ,i sat beside his bed1 his hand in mine4 ,there was real love in my heart for him that day4 ,here1 indeed1 was an infant soul that had begun to develop on the right road1 and the tattered aura of rags and patches had become a neatly trimmed little halo round his poor tired head4 ,so he went west1 and his broken body1 wrapped in the ,british flag1 went to a soldier's grave1 and a firing party gave him the ,last ,post4 ,his wife returned home to find that her neighbors1 anxious to celebrate the occasion1 had brought their best china and had arranged a tea-party4 ,as we sat down1 she turned to me and said3 ,well1 thank ,god1 my man's been buried like a gentleman4 ,when ,i came to think it over ,i arrived at the conclusion that the worst character in the slums had not done so badly with his life1 after all4 ,he had died like a gentleman4 ,the ,british ,flag is a strange case of transubstantiation4 ,at first1 just so many pieces of common material sold across a counter4 ,fashioned into the emblem of our ,nation it becomes a sacred symbol1 taken kneeling like a sacrament1 which indeed it has become4 ,what better shroud could any man ask for8 ,i am sorry that ,i have had no opportunity of seeing ,president ,wilson's aura1 the man who has turned his face towards a heavenly ideal1 and is scattering the seed amongst all the nations4 ,when a man sets out on such a long radiant path1 he will carry visibly in the daylight an illuminated brow4 ,he has brought to us the vision without which the people perish4 ,the life of the heart has always meant much more to me than the life of the head4 ,the rebel by nature can only be held by love1 and ,i have been blest by twenty-eight years of perfect union with one who has given me love for love1 faith for faith1 and complete intellectual understanding4 ,my life has also been wonderfully gifted by staunchest friends1 who have loved me through sunshine and storm1 and who still clasp hands with me across continents and seas4 ,i suppose ,i must have enemies4 ,they say every one has1 but they have never made me aware of their enmity1 perhaps because there is no room in a very full heart to receive aught but love4 ,if ,i were to single apart one outstanding feature in my life1 it would be the wonderful kindness and friendship that has been given to me4 ,ah6 how easy that makes it to write lovingly of others4 ,behind all this lies the master passion of the born mystic for liberation4 ,the constant ache and urge for real freedom1 and power to be victorious over all circumstances4 ,at home in all scenes1 restful in all fortunes4 ,there is the urge of the soul for universality of contact with all humanity1 independent of race1 color or creed4 ,the urge of the spirit to smash the confines which pinion it down to earth4 ,i think it is really the urge of reincarnating life still clinging to me4 ,the knowledge that my immortal soul must return to the ,house of ,bondage1 until perfection is reached1 and there is the going out no more from the ,father's ,house1 from a freedom which has become supreme4 ,,chapter ,,xxiv ,,adieu ,to-day there are many1 an ever-swelling number1 who behold with joy the gates ajar1 who standing in the twilight catch momentary glimpses of dawn upon the horizon of time1 who know by personal experience that they have come into touch with a region where vast schemes are conceived1 and universal laws of boundless magnitude connected with the soul's eternal pilgrimage are carried out4 ,again1 there are others1 timid1 shrinking souls to whom1 by a mere chance combination of circumstances1 a glimpse has been shown which is none too welcome4 ,such affrighted ones drop the eyelids from the startling vision4 ,they will have none of it1 and they are free to accept or reject1 go on1 or stand still4 ,others1 again1 have actually been born with that super-normal sight which can discern the workings behind the drop scene shrouding the stupendous drama of cosmic government4 ,i have long been conscious that the veil has worn very thin between myself and another world lying around me4 ,as the years draw swiftly on1 and every second thrown back into eternity brings me nearer to blessed deliverance ,i find the rents in the veil grow more numerous4 ,they bring single shining moments1 which reveal the spirit of life1 its motives and consecration4 ,through the driving storm wrack there will come quite suddenly a brilliant heavenly glimpse4 ,it never lasts long1 but long enough to show me reality4 ,something of the vastness of cosmos and the pathetic minuteness of this earth1 just a speck of star dust in the palm of ,god1 an atom of world stuff swinging in boundless space4 ,something of the reality of those shining ones who guide the progression of natural order1 embodiments of resistless energy and of stateliest imperial mien4 ,glimpses that show to me what was in the mind of the great ,christian ,mystic when he wrote of a mighty angel3 ,a rainbow was upon his head1 and his face was as it were the sun1 and his feet as pillars of fire4 ,behind such visions extend vast ranges of being1 quite outside my ken1 yet1 nevertheless1 speaking to me of things1 for the expression of which no words have yet been coined4 ,infinitely greater than anything that can be said4 ,significant in meaning beyond expression1 and far transcending imagination4 ,such glimpses show to me lives that as compared with ours1 are as ours to the tiniest insect afloat for an hour on the breath of the south wind4 ,lives which ordain the fateful hour when the rise and fall of empires1 the destruction of nations1 and the clash of worlds1 and their cosmic significance in world history shall begin or end4 ,where things life promised but never gave come to full fruition4 ,other glimpses and echoes from the ,great ,beyond bring to me the answer to a problem1 a few notes and a new melody1 a new energy of hope and love1 an inspiration from the ,great ,brotherhood1 whose lowliest disciple ,i am1 whose work to establish the ,brotherhood1 the true affinity of humanity upon earth ,i hold most dear1 most high4 ,in the present dark hour all the world is drinking of one chalice1 its wine the life outpoured for others4 ,all humanity is partaking of one bread1 a body which has most truly and literally being given to be broken4 ,death has left many songs unsung1 a myriad graves are filled1 youth is blighted in the bud1 in this white winter men call death1 and its cup is pressed close to the lips of love4 ,many are the hopes that lie folded away in the quiet cemetery of the heart1 where we lay flowers of tender reminiscence4 ,yet1 this sacrament of fellowship which is eclipsed in the awful impoverishment of human life will one day be swelled by the return of the young1 fallen on the ,field of ,honor1 glorified and purified for their ,god-appointed work in evolution4 ,perhaps ,i have gone a few steps farther than most people into the mysterious beyond1 come nearer reading the great riddle1 for the creature who is not afraid of thought and worldly condemnation1 who is not afraid of solitude or ridicule1 will soon come near the truth1 will quickly catch the incommunicable thrill of advancing destinies4 ,she will cease to live under the despotism of days1 the tyranny of years4 ,she will know that the swiftest touch cannot put a finger on the present1 and that there is but one recorder of time1 the great star clock of the sky4 ,the symbol of life is the ,circle1 not the ,straight line1 and each of us lives over again the story of humanity1 as in the shadow of pre-natal gloom we repeat the physical evolution of the race4 ,the increase of knowledge but widens the horizon of the unknown promised land1 to which we are moving onward and upward throughout the ages4 ,however far the mind travels there is always deep down in the soul stores of information awaiting transference to the surface of consciousness4 ,rich mines of knowledge are there awaiting the day when they will be uncovered1 waiting in patience the day when some ,divine ,adventurer will search for them and bring them to light4 ,however great its aspirations the soul but looks out upon an illimitable horizon1 and sees the human pilgrimage as a long ,emmaeus walk1 with hearts burning by the way4 ,always must there be mystery in life1 because life is spiritual1 not material4 ,the presence of mystery in life is the presence of ,god1 and the infinity of ,god shows that mystery must always exist4 ,such glimpses beyond the veil are all transfiguring4 ,they exalt the heart in a single flash to a glow point1 and show the soul of the ,universe in the incandescent crucible of the eternal4 ,in a deeply beshadowed time such visions tell us all that we need know1 and it is this3 ,god is with us and in us4 ,though obscure for the moment ,his transcendence stands outside the change and flux of time1 and ,his awful sovereignty sways irresistibly the tides of human circumstances4 ,hours must come when the pen falls from the nerveless fingers1 the task is left undone1 when the weary cry goes up1 ,there is nothing we can do6 ,we have been doing for so many thousand years1 the years which the locusts hath eaten4 ,what have we achieved8 ,when such hours come1 as come they must1 is there nothing to fall back upon but this awful confession of failure1 this haunting undertone of all our mortal life that many ages have not hushed8 ,surely1 yes6 ,there is always for the mystic the unmeasured immensity of soul land to explore1 that ,great ,beyond and within which is infinite1 eternal1 and of which we are all a part4 ,ah6 but it may be said1 all are not mystics1 to which ,i would reply1 all who desire can be mystics4 ,for what1 after all1 is a mystic1 but one who enters into possession of the inner life8 ,one who becomes fully aware of her self-consciousness1 and who gains thereby new faculties and enlightenment4 ,it places her in touch with that supreme reality which some call ,god and some ,the ,great ,creative ,power4 ,the mystic knows that power is to be found within through identification and submergence with the ,primordial ,force which constitutes the ocean of life4 ,she can always pass the sky and clouds of earth1 and enter the great1 deep1 real world outside4 ,it is always possible to her to seek a fairer world where the only things that matter are the eternal verities1 which should be taken kneeling1 like a sacrament4 ,love and life which is ,beauty4 ,love and power which is ,goodness4 ,love and knowledge which is ,wisdom4 ,the ,road of the ,flaming ,sacred ,heart is strewn with insight1 kindness and sympathy1 which gives eyes to the blind1 ears to the deaf1 and a voice to the dumb6 ,it is paved with love that serves the humble and defends the disinherited4 ,bravely it walks the ,via ,dolorosa1 and it ,beareth all things1 believeth all things1 hopeth all things1 its reward to know the love of ,god1 unutterable even to them that know4 ,the ,mystic can face the future without fear1 for the power has been given her to take her soul1 and like a carrier dove1 loose it into space1 to speed away into the fathomless1 the everlasting1 the voiceless deep whose silence is the ,welcome ,home of ,god4