Here we see the medium giving to the credulous believer just what he wants, and the believer reaching out to accept the trivial guess as a spirit revelation. But the remoteness of the event (even at the time the account was written) allowed of prophecies far more to the point than any modern medium's, though, as often happens nowadays, their fulfilment was described by the same writer that reported them. In one respect we have degenerated since the days of Saul; the Witch of En-dor was not hailed as an instrument of divine power destined to provide a new driving force for religion. CHAPTER XII THE ACCOUNTS OF BELIEVERS One is repeatedly faced with a story of the marvellous and invited to explain it away or believe in the supernatural. My favourite way of dealing with such a proposition is to borrow a pack of cards, invite the story-teller to take a card, and, without letting me see it, to think of it whilst holding my hand. After a silent pause I name the card and may be told, 'of course that's a trick', and on assuring my friends that the spirits have told me the name of the card I am called a scoffer; somehow a pack of cards is not spiritual enough. Some stories are hard to explain without full evidence, and here is one of them: A friend assured me that in _Raymond_ was an account of how one of Sir Oliver Lodge's family went to London to visit a medium, and how after she had started some others of the family met in Birmingham, and, calling up the spirit of Raymond, asked him to say 'Honolulu' at the London seance. Sure enough at the London seance held on the same day 'Honolulu' came into the spirit talk. This account is substantially correct (see pp. 271 _et seq._) and the incident is inexplicable so far; Sir Oliver Lodge says of the episode:-- '1. It establishes a reality about the home sittings. 2. It so entirely eliminates anything of the nature of collusion, conscious or unconscious. 3. The whole circumstances of the test make it an exceedingly good one.' Then, after suggesting Telepathy as an explanation, he writes: 'I venture to say there is no normal explanation, since in my judgement chance is out of the question.' If the information had stopped at this no explanation on natural lines would be possible, but so painfully honest is Sir Oliver that in the same book he supplies full material for such an explanation. At a London seance on December 20th, 1915, with the same medium there occurs the following:-- (Question): 'What used he to sing?' (Answer): 'Hello-Hullolo, sounds like Hullulu-Hullulo, something about "Hottentot," but he is going back a long way he thinks.' On April 11th, 1916, a song of Raymond's is found with the words written in pencil:-- 'Any little flower from a tulip to a rose If you'll be Mrs. John James Brown Of Hon-o-lu-la-lu-la town.'