"Table-turning," whispered the two ladies. There was a general laugh. "Oh dear!" sighed Eva, disappointed. "A trick, a joke, an evening's amusement. No, I want something that will fill my life for at least a month." "Table-turning," repeated Mrs. Rantzow. "Listen to me," said Mrs. Doorn de Bruijn. "The other day, for a joke, we tried making a gipsy-table turn. We all promised not to cheat. The table ... moved, spelt out words, tapping them out by the alphabet." "But was there no cheating?" asked the doctor, Eldersma and Van Helderen. "You'll have to trust us," declared the two ladies, in self-defence. "All right," said Eva. "We've finished dinner. Let's have some table-turning." "We must all promise not to cheat," said Mrs. Rantzow. "I can see that my husband will be ... antipathetic. But Ida ... a great medium." They rose. "Must we have the lights out?" asked Eva. "No," said Mrs. Doorn de Bruijn. "An ordinary gipsy-table?" "A three-legged wooden table." "The eight of us?" "No, we must begin by choosing: for instance, yourself, Eva, Ida, Van Helderen, and Mrs. Rantzow. The doctor's antipathetic; so is Eldersma. De Bruijn and I will relieve you." "Fire away, then!" said Eva. "A new diversion for Labuwangi society. And no cheating...." "We must give one another our word of honour, as friends, not to cheat." "Done!" they all said. The doctor sniggered. Eldersma shrugged his shoulders. A boy brought a gipsy-table. They sat round the little wooden table and placed their fingers on it lightly, looking at one another expectantly and suspiciously. Mrs. Rantzow was solemn, Eva amused, Ida sombre, Van Helderen smilingly indifferent. Suddenly a strained expression came over Ida's beautiful half-caste face. The table quivered.... They exchanged frightened glances; the doctor sniggered. Then slowly, the table tilted one of its three legs and carefully put it down again. "Did anybody move?" asked Eva. They all shook their heads. Ida had turned pale. "I feel a trembling in my fingers," she murmured. The table once more tilted its leg, described an angry, grating semicircle over the marble floor and put its leg down with a violent stamp. They looked at one another in surprise. Ida sat as though bereft of life, staring, with fingers outspread, ecstatically. And the table tilted its leg for the third time. It was certainly very curious. Eva doubted for a moment whether Mrs. Rantzow was lifting the table, but, when she questioned her with a glance, the German doctor's wife shook her head and Eva saw that she was playing fair. They once more promised absolute honesty. And, when they were now certain of one another, in full confidence, it was most curious how the table continued to describe angry, grating semicircles, tilting one leg and tapping on the marble floor. "Is there a spirit present, revealing itself?" asked Mrs. Rantzow, with a glance at the leg of the table. The table tapped once: "Yes."