me I said, "Brave! may I try if your hair is a wig?" He nodded and said,
"Pull--pull!" which I did, and found that it undoubtedly grew on his
head. Then he took my finger and drew it across his face several times
to show he was not painted. I had no flowers to present him with, so I
said, "Come here, Brave, and I'll give you something for your squaw,"
and when he approached near enough I kissed him. He chuckled, and his
eyes sparkled with mischief as he ran chatting in his native dialect
behind the curtains. In another minute he dashed out again, and coming
up to me ejaculated, "No--give--squaw!" and rushed back. Mr. Abrow
laughed heartily at this incident, and so did all the sitters, the
former declaring I had entirely captivated the "Brave." Presently the
cabinet curtains were shaken, and after a pause they parted slowly, and
the figure of an Indian squaw crept out. Anything more malignant and
vicious than her look I have seldom seen. Mr. Abrow asked her _who_ she
wanted and _what_ she wanted, but she would not speak. She stood there
silent, but scowling at me from beneath the tangles of her long black
hair. At last Mr. Abrow said to her, "If you don't want to speak to
anyone in the circle you must go away, as you are only preventing other
spirits from coming." The squaw backed behind the curtains again rather
sulkily, but the next time the "Brave" appeared she came with him, and
_never_ did he come again in my presence but what his "squaw" stood at
the curtains and watched his actions. Mrs. Abrow told me that the
"Brave" had been in the habit of manifesting at their _séances_ for
years, but that they had never seen the "squaw" until that evening.
Indeed, I don't think they were very grateful to me for having by my
rashness eliminated this new feature in their evening's entertainment,
for the "squaw" proved to be a very earthly and undeveloped spirit, and
subsequently gave them some trouble, as they could not drive her away
when they wanted to do so. Towards the close of the evening Mr. Abrow
said, "There is a spirit here now who is very anxious to show himself,
but it is the first time he has ever attempted to fully materialize, and
he is not at all certain of success. He tells me there is a lady in the
circle who has newly arrived in America, and that this lady years ago
sang a song by his dying bed in India. If she will step up to the
cabinet now and sing that song again he will try and shew himself to
her."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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