her mother go, but the next face that presented itself astonished her
quite as much, for she recognized it as that of Captain Gordon, a
gentleman whom she had known intimately and for a length of time. I had
never seen Captain Gordon in the flesh, but I had heard of him, and knew
he had died from a sudden accident. All I saw was the head of a
good-looking, fair, young man, and not feeling any personal interest in
his appearance, I occupied the time during which my friend conversed
with him about olden days, by minutely examining the working of the
muscles of his throat, which undeniably stretched when his head moved.
As I was doing so, he leaned forward, and I saw a dark stain, which
looked like a clot of blood, on his fair hair, on the left side of the
forehead.
"Annie! what did Captain Gordon die of?" I asked. "He fell from a
railway carriage," she replied, "and struck his head upon the line." I
then pointed out to her the blood upon his hair. Several other faces
appeared, which we could not recognize. At last came one of a gentleman,
apparently moulded like a bust in plaster of Paris. He had a kind of
smoking cap upon the head, curly hair, and a beard, but from being
perfectly colorless, he looked so unlike nature, that I could not trace
a resemblance to any friend of mine, though he kept on bowing in my
direction, to indicate that I knew, or had known him. I examined this
face again and again in vain. Nothing in it struck me as familiar, until
the mouth broke into a grave, amused smile at my perplexity. In a moment
I recognized it as that of my dear old friend, John Powles, whose
history I shall relate _in extenso_ further on. I exclaimed "Powles,"
and sprang towards it, but with my hasty action the figure disappeared.
I was terribly vexed at my imprudence, for this was the friend of all
others I desired to see, and sat there, hoping and praying the spirit
would return, but it did not. Annie Thomas' mother and friend both came
back several times; indeed, Annie recalled Captain Gordon so often, that
on his last appearance the power was so exhausted, his face looked like
a faded sketch in water-colors, but "Powles" had vanished altogether.
The last face we saw that night was that of a little girl, and only her
eyes and nose were visible, the rest of her head and face being
enveloped in some white flimsy material like muslin. Mrs. Holmes asked
her for whom she came, and she intimated that it was for me. I said she
must be mistaken, and that I had known no one in life like her. The
medium questioned her very closely, and tried to put her "out of court,"
as it were. Still, the child persisted that she came for me. Mrs. Holmes
said to me, "Cannot you remember _anyone_ of that age connected with you
in the spirit world? No cousin, nor niece, nor sister, nor the child of
a friend?" I tried to remember, but I could not, and answered, "No! no
child of that age." She then addressed the little spirit. "You have made
a mistake.
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