open. When she had first caught sight of Mr Hither she had
made an urgent, beckoning gesture. Now she said, ''Such a wonderful text! So
inspiring!''
She lifted her hand, and her pamphlet sprang shut. I saw its title—it was Odic
Power.
The shelves before me, I saw now, were filled with books bearing such titles;
and yet, when I drew one or two of them forth, the advice they gave seemed of the
very plainest—such as, ''On Chairs'', which cautioned against the influences which
gathered in stuffed or cushioned chairs used promiscuously by many persons, and
advised spirit-mediums to seat themselves on cane-bottomed or wooden-seated
chairs only.— When I read this I had to turn my head, for fear that Mr Hither
would look and catch me smiling. Then I left the book-shelves, and wandered
towards the rack of newspapers, and at last I turned my eyes to the pictures on
the wall above it. These were of ''Spirits Manifested Through the Mediumship of
Mrs Murray, October 1873'', and showed a lady looking placid in a chair beside a
photographer''s palm while, behind her, loomed three misty white-robed figures—
''Sancho'', ''Annabel'' and ''Kip'', said the label on the frame. They were more
comical even than the books, and I thought suddenly and painfully, Oh, how I wish
Pa might have seen these!
As I thought it I felt a movement at my elbow, and I started. It was Mr