Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1903-01-01

because such a prepOSterOuSly reckless
rabbit would have been shot long ago
Yet | wasted my powder, and, having
done So set the creature up again in
the same place, and every mothers
son that came that way exercised his
craftsmanship so long as there was
anything to shoot at. And next day, in
a different spot, but equally conspicu-
Gus, the joker played the game once
more | remember that for long time
afterward all the boys were ashamed
to be seen going into that piece of
woods with a gun.
1t took Hackett and me about a year
to discover that genuine psychics are
not found in the edge of the woods be-
side the beaten path; that it is hard to
find them even when one knows where
they are, for they lie low, and, like the
rabbits, they initiate the natural color
of the surroundings.
You may accept this as q general
rule: When your fellow man takes you
by the button of your coat and leads
you into Il corner to tell you of n pro-
phetic dream or mysterious psychic
message. he does nc believe the story
himself. Perhaps he may be trying to
believe it, but no one has to try to be-
leve in q real experience of that kind
after he has had it. He knows. And
the chances are good that he will not
talk of it to his closest intimate 1t is
ever the element of doubt that leads to
talking.
Our hobby gave to Hackett and me
an excuse for study. an aim in travel
and an opportunity of meeting cultivat-
ed men and women. AS it was an
elected hobby and not the result Of
congenital mental distortion, we rode
it calmly and were never mistaken for
cranks except by cranks. 1t is true
that some of our earlier experiences
were more or less absurd, but we were
saved from serious error by the busi-
ness mans faculty of turning from the
impracticablc to the practical. When
we encountered an impostOr, we
promptly charged him up to profit and
loss" and passed on to the next item.
1t was while engaged in Il fruitless
though not unintereSting investigation
in Boston that we came quite by acci-
dent upon the most important informa-
ton. We made the acquaintance OF a
young physician named Harold Whit
ing, who was then and is today one of
the most honest minded men in the
world | believe that Whiting would
not lie even to himself, and there are
few of whom so much can be said. He
was amusing himself with experiments
in the matter of peculiar capacities and
knowledge exhibited by persons in the
hypnotic state, but confessed that he
had found nc facts upon which con-
clusions of any Importance could be
based.
We discovered that his thought had
been turned into this channel by re-
markable occurrence which he had wit
messed, but we had considerable diff
Guilty in persuading him to say any
thing more upon the subject 1t ap-
peared that lie was under some sort of
pledge in the matter.
There is friend of mine, now in
New York said he, who received a
psychic message from his brother, who
was then upon the other side Of the
world. This thing happened under cir
cumstances which make doubt impos-
sible. ] was present when the message
was received. | know the story in all
its details, but | cannot give you the
facts nor tell you the mans name be
cause gave him my word that | would
not disclose them"
Perceiving our disappointment, he
expressed sincere regret, and by way or
atonement he gave us the name of
young woman in New Haven whom it
might be worth our while to see.
Il received a letter about her some
time ago from an instructor in psychol-
ogy at Yale, an old friend of mine"
said he. MY friend and several other
of the faculty are investigat-
ing the case, and they regard it as gen
uine and important. The girls name is
Dorothy Vaughn. She is an orphan
and lives with her aunt, Mrs. Eustis,
who has had certain occult experiences
herself, as | am told"
He gave us the address of Mrs. Eus-
tis and the name of his friend. His
reference to the fact that unusual pow
ers appeared both in the aunt and the
niece led to a general discussion of the
restriction of such powers and their
persistence in families. No one who
has given the subject any study can
doubt that these traits are handed
down from generation to generation.
Often a vague family tradition leads
bG ok to the true psychic whose powers.
weakened by admixture with a COM
mon strain, reappear to flicker uncer-
tainly in the present day.
Hackett seemed to find much mate
rial for thought in this conversation.
He did not contribute largely to 1t, be
ing a man of slow mind and of few
words, but some days later, while we
were on the way to New Haven, he
suddenly emerged from a reverie to
say:
81 wonder what would happen if two
of them should marry?
When | had found out what he was
talking about | agreed with him that
the experiment would be very inter
esting if there were any way Of max
ing it. Hackett suggested that we
should go forward into the smoking
car, and when we were there and he
had smoked q part of long cigar he
said:
IL don't see why there isn't"
replied with the argument that two
persons of opposite sexes, possessing
powers now commonly called occult,
must be naturally antipathetic, so that
marriage between them could not be
brought about, for, if this were not so,
the whole human race would have be-
come "psychics' long ago. The clair
yoyant power, not to go further In the
matter, is an obvious and great ad
vantage and would certainly have been
utilized by evolution to the extent of
crOwding from the earth all other kinds
Of men unless nature had set up some
sort Of barrier, and where should we