The Lock and Key Library: The Most Interesting Stories of All Nations: Real Life
Science
The Lock and Key Library: The Most Interesting Stories of All Nations: Real Life
Detective and mystery stories; Fiction; Parapsychology
He now directed me to place them in a hat, and to hold the hat
under the table, take out the billets one at a time, and throw them
on the table top. This I did while he stood with his right arm
extended toward the table and about one foot above it. After I had
thrown a few billets on the table, as I threw the next one, I heard
three loud distinct raps. He said, "There, that's the one that is
dead. Open it and see if I am right, but do not let me see it.
Fold it up again and place it in your pocket." I opened the
billet. I did not know what the name would be, as I had mixed them
under the table; yet I had a feeling that it was correct. I opened
it and sure enough the name was "Cora Holt." I refolded it,
placing it in my pocket. I must confess that I felt a momentary
creepy feeling pass over me, as my emotions were wrought up to such
a pitch by the intense manner in which I had watched all the
details of the experiment. I informed him that he was right, but
did not tell him the name. He now took my hand in his, and leading
me into the parlor, had me state to the company what had just
occurred. Now placing his hand on my head, he said: "I will
endeavor to give you the name." Closing his eyes, his body
trembled or shuddered with a kind of paroxysm, and apparently with
a great effort he pronounced the name "Cora Holt." This effort
seemed to greatly exhaust him, and coming out of his temporary
trance he begged us to excuse him, saying that there were opposing
spirits present and he could do no more that night; that he had
done all for us that lay within his power. He now took his leave.
This was all very impressive to me at the time, except the raps.
It was only afterwards that I thought out the explanation, which I
will give farther on. As to the raps, they had the sound as of a
pencil tapping loudly on a thin strip of wood, or a ruler, and not
the sound of tapping on a table. I had previously known of the
mechanical and electrical rappers, supplied by certain conjuring
depots, and worn on the person of the medium, or attached to a
table. My impression was at the time that possibly he had a rapper
in the sleeve of the arm extended over the table, and by directing
the attention to the table the sound would appear to come from
there. As I was sitting right against the table, I will say that
the sound did not appear to me to come from the table, but more
nearly from his person.
Referring again to the test given my father, the medium first
announced his prices, which he would accept if satisfactory. This
was agreed to and paid. He then had my father write names on paper
in a manner similar to the way I have described, except he did not
request my father to write a dead person's name; instead, he
requested him to write, among other names, his mother's maiden
name, his wife's maiden name, his father's name, also the names of
certain members of his family and of some of his friends, some of
whom should be dead. This my father did.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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