A comparison of dates revealed the fact that on the evening when that
troublesome second installment was transmitted, my husband had smoked
some heavy imported tobacco that had been given to him by a friend he
had met that afternoon. The circumstance had passed from the minds of
all of us. Indeed, it had never impressed us in the least, and it had
not occurred to any of us that our unseen visitor still retained the
sense of smell, or that he could distinguish between two brands of
tobacco. He had given evidence of both sight and hearing, had told us
frequently that he was tired, at the end of a long evening's work, and
had made other incidental revelations of his environment and condition:
but his reference to the pipe was more significant than any of them.
Early in August, when our second story was nearing completion, the
transmission began with this curious bit, which none of us understood
for a long time:
"Emily, I think that when we finish this story we will do a pastoral of
Missouri. There appear high lights and shadows, purple and dark, and
the misty pink of dawnings that make world-weary ones have surcease."
Not until "Jap Herron" was more than half finished did we realize that
it was the Missouri pastoral. There was one other veiled reference to
that story which must not be omitted. We had planned a trip to New
York, for some time in October or early November, although we had never
discussed it while at the board. One evening Mark terminated his
dictation abruptly, and said:
"Emily, I think well of your plan." I asked what plan he referred to.
"New York. I will go, too. I will try to convince them that I am not
done working. I am rejuvenated and want to finish my work. When I was
in New York last I had a very beautiful dream. I did not understand it
then. It meant that my days were numbered, and gave me the picture of
an angel bringing a book from heaven to earth, and on its cover was
blazoned this: MARK TWAIN'S COMPLIMENTS. Ask them what they think
about that. I was so tired--so tired that I could not rest. A cool
hand seemed to soothe my weariness away and I slept, and, sleeping,
dreamed."
When I found that passage in the early part of our record, I wondered
if "Jap Herron" might be the book sent to earth with Mark Twain's
compliments. I asked him about it, one evening when our regular
dictation had been finished. The reply was a slow journey of the
planchette to the word, "Yes," followed by the rapidly spelled words,
"But old Mark isn't done talking yet."
We assumed that he had something further to say to us, and when I asked
him what he wanted to talk about, he gave this tantalizing reply:
"Curious? Wait and see." Then, after a pause, "I shall have other
work for my office force."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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