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Chapter 16. In Which Challenger Has the Experience of His Lifetime · The Land of Mist

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Chapter sixteen of the Land of Mist. This is a LibriVox recording. All
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LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer,
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please visit LibriVox dot org. Read by Amanda Leung The Land of Myst by
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Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, in which Challenger has the experience of his lifetime.
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So now the nets were set and the pit was dug, and the hunters
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were all ready for the great quarry. But the question was whether the creature
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would allow himself to be driven in the right direction. Had Challenger been told
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that the meeting was really held in the hope of putting convincing evidence before him
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as to the truth of spirit intercourse with the aim of his eventual conversion,
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it would have roused mingled anger and derision in his breast. But the clever
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Malone, aided and abetted by Enid, still put forward the idea that his
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presence would be a protection against fraud, and that he would be able to
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point out to them how and why they had been deceived. With this thought
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in his mind, Challenger gave a contemptuous and condescending consent to the proposal that
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he should grace with his presence, a proceeding which was, in his opinion,
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more fitted to the stone cabin of a neolithic savage than to the serious
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attention of one who represented the accumulated culture and wisdom of the human race.
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Enid accompanied her father, and he also brought with him a curious companion who
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was strange both to Malone and to the rest of the company. This was
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a large, raw boned Scottish youth with a freckled face, a huge figure,
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and a taciturnity which nothing could penetrate. No question could discover where his
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interests in psychic research might lie, and the only positive thing obtained from him
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was that his name was Nicol. Malone and Maylie went together to the rendezvous
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at Holland Park, where they found awaiting them Delicia Freeman, the Reverend Charles
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Mason, Mister and Missus Ogilvie of the College, Mister Bolsover of Hammersmith,
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and Lord Roxton, who had become assiduous in his psychic studies and was rapidly
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progressing in knowledge. There were nine in all, a mixed inharmonious assembly from
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which no experienced investigator could expect great results. On entering the seance room,
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Lyndon was found seated in the arm chair, his wife beside him, and
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was introduced collectively to the company, most of whom were already his friends.
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Challenger took up the matter at once with the air of a man who will
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stand no nonsense. Is this the medium? He asked, eyeing Lyndon with
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much disfavor. Yes, has he been searched? Not yet? Who will
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search him? Two men of the company have been selected. Challenger sniffed his
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suspicions. Which men, he asked, It is suggested that you and your
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friend mister Nicholl shall do so. There is a bedroom next door. Poor
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Lindon was marched off between them, in a manner which reminded him unpleasantly of
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his prison experiences. He had been nervous before, but this ordeal and the
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overpowering presence of Challenger made him still more so. He shook his head mournfully
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at Mayley when he reappeared. I doubt we will get nothing to day.
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Maybe it would be wise to postpone the sitting said he. Maylie came round
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and patted him on the shoulder, while missus Lyndon took his hand. It's
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all right, Tom said, Maylie, remember, do you have a body
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guard of friends round you who won't see you ill used? Then Maylie spoke
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to Challenger in a sterner way than was his wont I beg you to remember,
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sir, that a medium is as delicate an instrument as any to be
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found in your laboratories. Do not abuse it. I presume that you found
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nothing compromising upon his person. No, sir, I did not, And
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as a result, he assures us that we will get nothing to day.
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He says, so because your manner has disturbed him, you must treat him
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more gently. Challenger's expression did not promise any amendment. His eyes fell upon
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Missus Lindon. I understand that this person is the medium's wife. She should
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also be searched. That is a matter of course, said the scotsman Ogilvy.
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My wife and your daughter would take her out. But I beg you,
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Professor Challenger, to be as harmonious as you can, and to remember
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that we are all as interested in the results as you are, so that
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the whole company will suffer if you should disturb the conditions. Mister Bolsover,
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the grocer rose with as much dignity as if he were presiding at his favorite
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temple. I move said he that Professor Challenger be searched. Challenger's beard bristled
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with anger, search me, what do you mean, sir? Bolsover was
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not to be intimidated. You are here not as our friend, but as
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our enemy. If you was to prove fraud, it would be a personal
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triumph for you. See Therefore, I, for one, says, as
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you should be searched. Do you mean to insinuate, sir, that I
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am capable of cheating? Trumpeted Challenger. Well, Professor, we are all
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accused of it. In turn, said Meylie, smiling. We all feel
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as indignant as you are at first, but after a time you get used
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to it. I've been called a liar, lunatic. Goodness knows what what
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does it matter? It is a monstrous proposition, said Challenger, glaring all
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round him. Well, Sir, said Ogilvy, who was a particularly pertinacious
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Scot. Of course, it is open to you to walk out of the
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room and leave us, But if you sit, you must sit under what
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we consider to be scientific conditions. It is not scientific that a man who
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is known to be bitterly hostile to the movement should sit with us in the
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dark with no check as to what he may have in his pockets. Come,
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come, cried Malone. Surely we can trust to the honor of Professor
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Challenger. That's all very well, said Bolsover. I did not observe that
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Professor Challenger trusted so very much to the honor of mister and missus Lindon.
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We have cause to be careful, said Ogilvy. I can assure you that
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there are frauds practicing on mediums, just as there are frauds practiced by mediums.
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I could give you plenty of examples. No, sir, you will
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have to be searched. It won't take a minute, said Lord Roxton.
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What I mean, Young Malone here and I could give you once over in
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no time. Quite so, come on, said and so Challenger, like
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a red eyed bull with dilating nostrils, was led from the room. A
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few minutes later, all preliminaries being completed, they were seated in their circle
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and the seance had begun. But already the conditions had been destroyed. Those
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meticulous researchers who insist upon tying up a medium until the poor creature resembles a
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foul trust for roasting, or who glare their suspicions at him before the lights
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are lowered, do not realize that they are like people who add moisture to
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gunpowder and then expect to explode it. They ruin their own results, and
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then, when those results do not occur, imagine that their own astuteness,
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rather than their own lack of understanding, has been the cause. Hence it
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is that at humble gatherings all over the land, in an atmosphere of sympathy
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and of reverence, there are such happenings as the cold man of science is
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never privileged to see. All the sitters felt churned up by the preliminary altercation,
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but how much more did it mean to the sensitive center of it all?
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To him? The room was filled with conflicting rushes and eddies of psychic
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power, whirling this way or that, and as difficult for him to navigate
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as the rapids below Niagara. He groaned in his despair. Everything was mixed
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and confused. He was beginning as usual with his clairvoyance, but names buzzed
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in his etheric ears without sequence or order. The word John seemed to predominate,
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so he said, so did John mean anything to anyone. A cavernous
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laugh from Challenger was the only reply. Then he had the surname of Chapman.
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Yes, Maylie had lost a friend named Chapman, but it was years
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ago, and there seemed no reason for his presence. Nor could he furnish
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his Christian name Budworth. No, no one would own to a friend named
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Budworth. Definite messages came across, but they seemed to have no reference to
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the present company. Everything was going amiss, and Malone's spirits sank to zero.
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Challenger sniffed so loudly that Ogilvy remonstrated, you make matters worse, sir,
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when you show your feelings, said he. I can assure you that
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in ten years of constant experience, I have never known the medium so far
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out, and I attribute it entirely to your own conduct. Quite so,
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said Challenger with satisfaction. I am afraid it is no use, Tom,
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said missus Lindon, how are you feeling now? Dare do you wish to
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stop? But Lyndon, under all his gentle exterior, was a fighter.
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He had in another form those same qualities which had brought his brother within an
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ace of the Lonsdale belt. No, I think maybe it is only the
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mental part that is confused. If I am in trance, I'll get past
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that. The physicals may be better anyhow, I'll try. The lights were
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turned lower until they were a mere crimson glitter. The curtain of the cabinet
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was drawn outside it on one side, dimly outlined to his audience. Tom
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Lindon, breathing stertoniously in his trance, lay back in a wooden arm chair.
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His wife kept watch and ward at the other side of the cabinet.
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But nothing happened. Quarter of an hour passed, then another quarter of an
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hour. The company was patient, but Challenger had begun to fidget in his
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seat. Everything seemed to have gone cold and dead. Not only was nothing
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happening, but somehow all expectation of anything happening seemed to have passed away.
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It's no use, cried Meylie. At last, I fear not, said
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Malone. The medium stirred and groaned he was waking up. Challenger gave an
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ostentatious yawn. Is this not a waste of time? He asked. Missus
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Lindon was passing her hand over the medium's head and brow. His eyes had
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opened any results, he asked. It's no use, Tom, we shall
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have to postpone. I think so too, said Maylie. It is a
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great strain upon him under these adverse conditions, remarked Ogilvy, looking angrily at
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Challenger. I should think so, said the latter, with a complacent smile.
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But Lindon was to be beaten. The conditions are bad, said he.
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The vibrations are all wrong. But I'll try inside the cabinet. It
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concentrates the force. Well, it's the last chance, said Maylie. We
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may as well try it. The armchair was lifted inside the cloth tent,
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and the medium followed, drawing the curtain behind him. It condenses the ectoplasmic
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emanations, Ogilvie explained. No doubt, said Challenger. At the same time,
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in the interest of truth, I must point out that the disappearance of
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the medium is most regrettable. For goodness's sake, don't start wrangling again,
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cried Meylie with impatience. Let us get some results, and then it will
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be time enough to discuss their value again. There was a weary weight.
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Then came some hollow groanings from inside the cabinet. The spiritualists sat up expectantly.
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That's ectoplasm, said Ogilvie. It always causes pain on emission. The
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words were hardly out of his mouth when the curtains were torn open with sudden
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violence and a rattling of all the rings. In the dark aperture, there
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was outlined a vague white figure. It advanced slowly and with hesitation, into
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the center of the room. In the red tinted gloom, all definite outline
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was lost, and it appeared simply as a moving white patch in the darkness.
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With the deliberation which suggested fear. It came step by step until it
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was opposite the professor. Now, he bellowed in his stentorian voice. There
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was a shout, a scream, a crash, I've got him, roared.
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Someone. Turn up the lights, yelled another. Be careful, you
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may kill the medium, cried a third. The circle was broken. Challenger
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rushed to the switch and put on all the lights. The place was so
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flooded with radiance that it was some seconds before the bewildered and half blinded spectators
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could see the details. When they had recovered their sight and their balance.
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The spectacle was a deplorable one for the majority of the company. Tom Lindon,
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looking white, dazed and ill, was seated upon the ground. Over
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him stood the huge young Scotsman who had borne him to earth, while Missus
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Lyndon, kneeling beside her husband, was glaring up at his assailant. There
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was silence as the company surveyed the scene. It was broken by Professor Challenger.
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Well, gentlemen, I presume that there is no more to be said.
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Your medium has been exposed as he deserved to be. You can see
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now the nature of your ghosts. I must think mister Nicholl, who I
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may remark is the famous football player of that name, for the prompt way
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in which he has carried out his instructions, I collared him, Leo,
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said, the tall youth. He was easy. You did it very effectively.
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You have done public service by helping to expose a heartless cheat. I
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need not say that a prosecution will follow, but maylie now intervened with such
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authority that Challenger was forced to listen. Your mistake is not unnatural, sir,
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though the course which you adopted in your ignorance is one which might well
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have been fatal to the medium. My ignorance indeed if you speak like that,
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I warn you that I would look upon you not as dupes, but
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as accomplices. One moment, Professor Challenger, I would ask you one direct
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question, and I ask for an equally direct reply. Was not the figure
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which we all saw before this painful episode? A white figure? Yes?
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It was. You see now that the medium is entirely dressed in black.
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Where is the white garment? It is immaterial to me where it is no
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doubt. His wife and himself are prepared for all eventualities. They have their
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own means of secreting the sheet or whatever it may have been. These details
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can be explained in the police court. Examine now, search the room for
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anything white. I know nothing of the room. I can only use my
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common sense. The man is exposed, masquerading as a spirit into what corner
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or crevice he has thrust his disguise as a matter of small all importance.
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On the contrary, it is a vital matter. What you have seen has
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not been an imposture, but has been a very real psychic phenomenon. Challenger
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laughed, Yes, sir, a very real phenomenon. You have seen a
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transfiguration, which is the half way state of materialization, you will kindly realize
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that the spirit guides who conduct such affairs care nothing for your doubts and suspicions.
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They set themselves to get certain results, and if they are prevented by
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the infirmities of the circle from getting them one way, they get them in
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another, without consulting your prejudice or convenience. In this case being unable owing
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to the evil conditions which you have yourself created to build up an ectoplasmic form,
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they wrapped the unconscious medium in an ectoplasmic covering and sent him forth from
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the cabinet. He is as innocent of imposture as you are. I swear
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to God, said Lindon that from the time I entered the cabinet until I
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found myself upon the floor, I knew nothing. He staggered to his feet
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and was shaking all over in his agitation, so that he could not hold
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the glass of water which his wife had brought him. Challenger shrugged his shoulders.
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Your excuses, he said, only open up fresh abysses of credulity.
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My own duty is obvious, and it will be done to the uttermost.
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Whatever you have to say will no doubt receive such consideration as it deserves from
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the magistrate. Then Professor Challenger turned to go, as one who has triumphantly
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accomplished that for which he came, come, Enid said he, and now
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occurred a development so sudden, so unexpected, so dramatic, that no one
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present will ever cease to have it in vivid memory. No answer was returned
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to Challenger's call. Everyone had risen to their feet. Only Enid remained in
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her chair. She sat with her head on one shoulder, her eyes closed,
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her hair partly loosened, a model for a sculptor. She is asleep,
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said Challenger. Wake up, Enid, I am going. There was
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no response from the girl. Maylie was bending over her. Hush, don't
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disturb her. She's in a trance. Challenger rushed forward. What have you
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done? Your infernal hanky panky has frightened her. She has fainted. Maylie
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raised her eyelid. No, no, her eyes are turned up. She
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is in a trance. Your daughter, sir, is a powerful medium,
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a medium you are raving. Wake up, girl, wake up, for
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God's sake. Leave her. You may regret it all your life if you
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don't. It is not safe to break abruptly. Into the mediumistic trance.
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Challenger stood in bewilderment. For once his presence of mind had deserted him.
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Was it possible that his child stood on the edge of some mysterious precipice and
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that he might push her over? How shall I do? He asked,
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helplessly. Have no fear, all will be well. Sit down, Sit
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down, all of you. Ah, she is about to speak. The
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girl had stirred. She had sat straight in her chair, her lips trembled.
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One hand was outstretched for him, she cried, pointing to Challenger.
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He must not hurt my meddie. It is a message for him. There
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was breathless silence among the persons who had gathered round the girl who speaks asked
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meaylie, Victor speaks Victor, he shall not hurt my Meddi. I have
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a message for him. Yes, yes, what is the message? His
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wife is here. Yes, She says that she has been once before,
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that she came through this girl. It was after she was buried. She
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knock, and he hear her knocking, but not understand. Does this mean
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anything to you, Professor Challenger. His great eyebrows were bunched over his suspicious,
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questioning eyes and He glared like a beast at bay, from one to
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the other of the faces round him. There was a trick, a vile
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trick. They had suborned his own daughter. It was damnable. He would
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expose them, every one. No, he had no questions to ask.
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He could see through it all. She had been won over. He could
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not have believed it of her, And yet it must be so. She
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was doing it for Malone's sake. A woman would do anything for a man
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she loved. Yes, it was damnable. Far from being softened, he
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was more vindictive than ever. His furious face, his broken words expressed his
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convictions again. The girl's arms shot out, pointing in front of her.
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Another message to whom to him? The man who wanted to hurt my Meddi,
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He must not hurt my Metti. A man here. Two men wish
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to give him a message. Yes, Victor, let us have it.
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First man's name is? The girl's head slanted and her ear was upturned as
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if listening. Yes, yes, I have it. It is all all
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Aldridge. Does that mean anything to you? Challenger staggered. A look of
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absolute wonder had come upon his face. Who is the second man? He
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asked? Where yes, that is it. Where Challenger sat down. Suddenly
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he passed his hand over his brow. He was deadly pale. His face
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was clammy with sweat. Do you know them? I knew two men of
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those names. They have messages for you, said the girl. Challenger seemed
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to brace himself for a blow. Well, what is it too private not
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speak? All these people here? We shall wait outside, said maylie,
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Come friends, let the professor have his message. They moved towards the door,
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leaving the man seated in front of his daughter. An unwonted nervousness suddenly
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seemed to seize him. Malone, stay with me. The door closed and
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the three were left together. What is the message? It is about a
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powder? Yes, yes, a gray powder. Yes. The message that
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men want to say is you did not kill us? Ask them? Ask
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them? Ah, how how did they die? His voice was broken and
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his great frame was quivering with his emotion. They died disease? What disease?
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Knew, knew what that pneumonia? Challengers sank back in his chair with
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an immense sigh of relief. My god, he cried, wiping his brow.
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Then call in the others, malone. They had waited on the landing,
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and now stream into the room. Challenger had risen to meet them.
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His first words were to Tom Lindon. He spoke like a shaken man whose
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pride for the instant was broken. As to you, sir, I do
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not presume to judge you. A thing has occurred to me which is so
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strange and also so certain, since my own trained senses have attested it,
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that I am not prepared to deny any explanation which has been offered of your
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previous conduct. I beg to withdraw any injurious expressions I may have used.
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Tom Lindon was a true Christian in his character, his forgiveness was instant,
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and sincere, I cannot doubt that my daughter has some strange power which bears
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out much which you, mister maylie, have told me. I was justified
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in my scientific skepticism, but you have today offered me some incontrovertible evidence.
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We all go through the same experience, Professor, We doubt, and then
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in turn we are doubted. I I can hardly conceive that my word will
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be doubted upon such a point, said Challenger, with dignity. I can
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truly say that I have had information to night which no living person upon this
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earth was in a position to give. So much is beyond all question.
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The young lady is better, said missus Lindon. Enid was sitting up and
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staring round her with bewildered eyes. What has happened? Father, I seem
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to have been asleep. All right, dear, we will talk of that
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later. Come home with me now I have much to think over. Perhaps
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you will come back with us. Malone, I feel that I owe you
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some explanation. When Professor Challenger reached his flat, he gave austin orders that
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he was on no account to be disturbed, and he led the way into
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his library, where he sat in his big arm chair, with Malone upon
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his left and his daughter upon his right. He had stretched out his great
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paw and enclosed Enid's small hand. My dear, he said, after a
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long silence, I cannot doubt that you are possessed of a strange power,
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for it has been shown to me to night with a fullness and a clearness
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which is final. Since you have it, I cannot deny that others may
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have it also, And the general idea of mediumship has entered within my conceptions
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of what is possible I will not discuss the question, for my thoughts are
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still confused upon the subject, and I will need to thrash out the thing
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with you, young Malone, and with your friends before I can get a
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more definite idea. I will only say that my mind has received a shock,
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and that a new avenue of knowledge seems to have opened before me.
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We shall be very proud, indeed, said Malone, if we can help
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you, Challenger gave a wrse smile. Yes, I have no doubt that
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a headline in your paper conversion of Professor Challenger would be a triumph. I
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warn you that I have not got so far. We certainly would do nothing
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premature, and your opinions may remain entirely private. I have never lacked the
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moral courage to proclaim my opinions when they are formed, but the time has
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not yet come. However, I have received two messages to night, and
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I can only ascribe to them an extra corporeal origin. I take it for
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granted, Enid, that you are indeed insensible. I assure you, father,
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that I knew nothing quite so You've always been incapable of deceit. First,
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there came a message from your mother. She assured me she had indeed
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produced those sounds which I heard, and of which I have told you.
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It is clear now that you with the medium, and that you were not
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in sleep but in trance. It is incredible, inconceivable, grotesquely wonderful.
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But it would seem to be true. Books used almost those very words,
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said Malone. He wrote that it was all perfectly impossible and absolutely true.
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I owe him an apology. Perhaps I owe a good many people an apology.
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None will ever be asked for, said Malone. These people are not
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made that way. It is the second case which I would explain. The
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professor fidgeted uneasily in his chair. It is a matter of great privacy,
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one to which I have never eluded, and which no one on earth could
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have known. Since you heard so much, you may as well hear all.
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It happened when I was a young physician, and it is not too
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much to say that it cast a cloud over my life, cloud which has
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only been raised tonight. Others may try to explain what has occurred by telepathy,
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by subconscious mind action, but what they will I cannot doubt. It
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is impossible to doubt that a message has come to me from the dead.
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There was a new drug under discussion at that time. It is useless to
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enter into details which you would be incapable of appreciating. Suffice it that it
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was of the Detura family, which supplies deadly poisons as well as powerful medicines.
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I had received one of the earliest specimens, and I desired my name
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to be associated with the first exploration of its properties. I gave it to
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two men where an Aldridge. I gave it in what I thought was a
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safe dose. They were patients, you understand, in my ward in a
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public hospital. Both were found dead in the morning. I had given it
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secretly. None knew of it. There was no scandal, for they were
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both very ill and their death seemed natural. But in my own heart I
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had fears. I believed I had killed them. It has always been a
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dark background to my life. You heard yourselves to night that it was from
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the disease and not from the drug, that they died. Poor Dad,
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whispered Enid, patting the great hersuit hand. Poor Dad, what you must
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have suffered. Challenger was too proud a man to stand pity, even from
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his own daughter. He pulled away his hand. I worked for science he
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said, science must take risks. I do not know that I am to
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blame. And yet, and yet my heart is very light to night.
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End of chapter sixteen.