The Yakima herald. [volume] (North Yakima, W.T. [Wash.]) 1889-1914, 1894-03-29

| MY Knees. uuuer the table. lie then tool
my left hand across the table. grsspius Il
firmly. His other hand was on the table
and mine In my hat underneath. Dick
son stood about six feet away, watchin,
the performance intently.
The old man now shut his eyes, ans
seemed to blind his mind on some grea
effort. His hands began TO move spas
medically. his grip at times being painful
His face worked convulsively, his body
swayed, and his breath came in irregular
signing. almost sobbing periods. He wa,
under some very powerful strain, or Civ
ing an excellent imitation OF being 30
He told me to take up one OF the slips
still holding il under the table. com.
piled.
And now the symptoms Of disturb
ance under which he was laboring becsm.
more pronounced, and an intense effort
to question someoue or something became
apparent. did not feel that he was try
ing to influence me in any way. On the
contrary felt calm and critical, and wa
consciously watching him for any indica
ton OF trickery. Suddenly. with Sigh,
relapse from the tension under which he
was, he said No; there is no one there
take another
81 put the slip in my pocket, and took
another. But with the same absence OF
result. This was repeated six times; and
it was the seventh time when had taken
up slip, that he became still more vio-
lently agitated, and aspirsted, 'Ah here
There's someone herev He seemed to
listen with all bis might; and presently,
in an absent, broken kind OF way, re-
peated one OF the names had written,
=, and the only one OF the entire lot
which was that OF a dead person. did
not know myself what slip held in my
hand, and, OF course bad my doubts
whether he was right. l opened the slip
and saw that it was as he said. The
name was that of lady had known in
another land. more than twenty years
ago, who had been dead for many years.
and whose name had never spoken to a
soul in this country. l should mention
that the name was very uncommon one
one that ! don't suppose he had ever
heard. His pronunciation OF it was
slightly incorrect, but was just what he
might have heard had the name been
spoken indistinctly. Had he read it from
my mind, or as it was spelt, he would
not have made the slight error he did.
Meantime the uncsnny old mortal
went on to give me particulars OF the life
and death Of the lady She died in In
dia. He told me where. and OF what,
and gave me a message, Of which more
anon: Everything he told me was strictly
true. He seemed to find good deal OF
difficulty in maintaining the communlca-
ton with the spirit. When all was over
he came out OF his ecstasy apparently as
much exhausted as wrestler after haf
an hours tussle.
II told him that he was perfectly correct
in all that he had told me, except that he
made mistake in pronouncing the name
On my telling him what it was he said ::
Very possibly; at times / did not hear
quite distinctly, and had more difficulty
than usual in holding the communities
tion.'
II asked him II he could put me rom
sciously into communication with the
spirit he had just interviewed. He an
swered me with great earnestness that he
could. provided l was willing to make a
slight sacrifice, which he proceeded to ex.
plain.
"'You will pardon me, my young
friend he said, but you are too gross
to communicate wfgp spirits. especially
the one who has just left us. II you will
give up smoking and drin3ing, you will
recover your higher spiritual and mental
tone; and l promise you, as surely as
what told you of - 10 true, that You
shall be put in communication with her
and her world. As told you,
wishes 1t with all her heart, ard that was
her message to you. Let me implore you
not to neglect it,
81 said l would consider the matter.
at was now Dickson's turn, and no
ticed that he hung back little, and
seemed rather uneasy. He took my place,
however, and the performance was re-
peated with variations. So far as could
see everything was open and above board,
and really felt guilty and mean in har-
boring doubt Of Kubla Khan's honesty.
II am not going to tell you all that the
spirits revealed about Dickson. / don't
think it would be fair. So he needn't
look SO uneasy.
Zone edd thing must mention, howev-
er. When the seancs was over Dickson
told Kubla that he had made one bad
break. The old man, with look almost
OF pity, asked him what it was. Dickson
replied that one person whose name he
had written, and whose spirit Kubla had
called up, was not dead at all.
with gentle, but superior smile, Ku.
bla answered: you are mistaken, m,
friend, so and-so is on the other side. Re
member this day and hour Though
don't think that will be necessary, and
satisfy yourself. You can't understand
how much more utterly certain my knowl
edge is than ANYTHING you can conceiv,
Of
His absolute confidence. in the face o.
what thought was a clear exposure o.
fraud, was either the perfection OF nerve
or truth itself. The remarkable thing /,
that Dickson did write, and found tha
his friend had been dead for month.