"I shall be glad to receive thy detail, in which it will be
needful to be very particular in showing that thou couldst not
be asleep, or attacked by nightmare, or mistake a reflection of
the candle, as some sagaciously suppose. I remain,
respectfully, thy friend,
"JOSH. PROCTOR.
"_P.S._--I have about thirty witnesses to various things which
cannot be satisfactorily accounted for on any other principle
than that of spiritual agency."
Four days later Dr Drury wrote out a full account of his experience.
"Sunderland,
"13th July 1840.
"DEAR SIR,--I hereby, according to promise in my last letter,
forward you a true account of what I saw and heard at your
house, in which I was led to pass the night from various
rumours circulated by most respectable parties, particularly
from an account by my esteemed friend, Mr Davison, whose name I
mentioned to you in a former letter. Having received your
sanction to visit your mysterious dwelling, I went, on the 3rd
of July, accompanied by a friend of mine, T. Hudson. This was
not according to promise, nor in accordance with my first
intent, as I wrote you I would come alone; but I felt gratified
at your kindness in not alluding to the liberty I had taken, as
it ultimately proved for the best. I must here mention that,
not expecting you at home, I had in my pocket a brace of
pistols, determining in my mind to let one of them drop before
the miller, as if by accident, for fear he should presume to
play tricks upon me; but after my interview with you, I felt
there was no occasion for weapons, and did not load them, after
you had allowed us to inspect as minutely as we pleased every
portion of the house. I sat down on the third storey landing,
fully expecting to account for any noises that I might hear, in
a philosophical manner. This was about eleven o'clock P.M.
About ten minutes to twelve we both heard a noise, as if a
number of people were pattering with their bare feet upon the
floor; and yet, so singular was the noise, that I could not
minutely determine from whence it proceeded. A few minutes
afterwards we heard a noise, as if someone was knocking with
his knuckles among our feet; this was followed by a hollow
cough from the very room from which the apparition proceeded.
The only noise after this, was as if a person was rustling
against the wall in coming upstairs. At a quarter to one I told
my friend that, feeling a little cold, I would like to go to
bed, as we might hear the noise equally well there; he replied
he would not go to bed till daylight. I took up a note which I
had accidentally dropped and began to read it, after which I
took out my watch to ascertain the time, and found that it
wanted ten minutes to one. In taking my eyes from the watch
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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