The Necromancers

d Mrs. Stapleton. "I t

note to give the news. It was a heavy fog outside, woolly in texture and orange in color, and the tall windows seemed opaque

s had recalled her for the present from those spiritual conversations which she had enjoyed in the autumn. It

he letter and restor

rily sensitive. I almost wish he were not so developed. Te

ura was

burbs, had developed the same kind of powers, and the end of it all had been rather a dreadful scene in Baker Street. She was now in an asylum. A friend of her

sent," went on the medium. "That, no doubt, will come later;

look

s will have to cease for the present. I wonder if you would let us com

ighten

est pleasure," she said. "B

d one across. Will you all

apleton

arest, I quite envy you. I am afr

to see for himself. Of course, for ourselves, his trance is the point; but hardly for him. He is tremendously impressed; I can see that; though he pretends not to b

sed not to come," ob

er is a convert, isn'

for a mom

was remarkable for its detachment and severe assurance; but it seemed that t

do you really think there

ced up

hat well enough. We can but take precautions.

not re

traordinarily sensitive, you know. T

axter's not like that. I do not see that he

e sure

d deprec

he said. "But if you fee

dly, and Lady Laura grabbed a

moment. Please, please come here. I only wonder

t religion; but we can leave that for the present. The point is that Mr. Baxter should, if possible, see something unmistakable. The rest can

d at the

id the mistress of the house

fternoon. Is there anyone par

again a few days ago," sugg

three and those two. That will

at, with his kindly face, his bushy, square beard, and his app

notes," asked

e necessary.... Good-day

tly for a minute or

he matter,

e was staring thoughtfully at the fire. Mrs. Stap

t-" she

ing, darling,"

ts of painted fire, bright and unpenetrating, from windows overhead; and sounds came to him through the woolly atmosphere, dulled and sonorous. It would, so to spea

a reality to him, as unexciting as Christianity to the norma

doubting-facts which required, he believed, an objective explanation, which none but the spiritualistic thesis offered.

h this process, he was well aware; he had seen often enough the moral sense vanish and the mental powers decay. But these were to him no more than the honorable wounds to which all who struggle are liable. The point for him was that here lay the one certain means of getting into touch with reality. Certainly that reality was sometimes of a disconcerting nature, and seldom of an illuminating one; he hated, as much as anyone, t

essed mediumistic powers in an unusual degree, and had begun then to take up the life as a profession. He had suffered, so far

genuine, and that the personages he seemed to come across in his mediumistic efforts were what they professed to be; that they were not hallucinatory, that they were not the products of fraud, that they were not necessaril

ed "occult powers" was very evident to him. That these powers involved a certain risk was evident too. He proposed, therefore, to take all reasonable precautions. All t

ent he must not be allowed to go into trance if it could be prevented. It was plain, he thought, that Laurie had a very strong "affinity," as he would have said, with the disembodied s

hat this sounds g

at was true so far as he knew. Intellectually, the spiritualistic theory was at present only the hypothesis that seemed the most reasonable; yet

nally it outruns it; occasionally lags behind; and the first sign of its arrival is the cessation of strain. The int

decision, and to beg him to be at Queen's Gate not later than half-past eight o'clock on the following Sunday; but it was not more tha

he would certainly keep t

returned to his rooms, and s

were not very many

n Queen's Gate, had been communicated through his lips-since that time the idea had become familiar that the veil between this world and the next was a very thin one. After all, a large number of persons in the

eart of hearts he was beginning to be aware that she had not been so entirely his twin-soul as he would still have maintained. He had reflected a little, in the meantime, upon t

hile living, and it might well be that intercourse with her in the manner proposed would be an extraordinarily sweet expe

he had not a notion where he stood. All he knew was that it had become uninteresting. True? Oh, yes, he supposed s

n must have a religion," he said to himself; and, intellectually, there was at present no other

non-Christian. And these three or four persons, moreover, believed with their whole hearts that they were in relations with the invisible world, far more evident and sensible than those claimed by any other believers on the face of the earth. And, after all, Laurie reflected, there seemed to be justice in their claim. He wou

ared his belief in it with his belief in the existence of New Zealand. Yes, if that were belief, he had it. B

place. It seemed to him as if he must have known it all his life; yet, he knew, six months ago he had hardly known more than that there were upon the face of the earth

it, the conflict and the excitement were over. Certainly this made very few demands. Christianity said that those were bl

rie sat and

m tranquilly without a touch of that terror t

t he knew it was true-these presences were about him

loom, at the door half-open into his bedroom. All was quiet here, shut off from the hum of Fleet Street; circumstances were propitious. Why was he not frightened...? Why, what

ooked, like the kindling of a fire, there ro

he wh

as no movem

e would sleep a little. He beat out his pipe, cro

I

usness gathers itself inwards from hands and feet and limbs, like a dog curling himself up for rest; yet retains itself in continuous being, and is able to regard its own comfort. All this he r

from that which is usual-from that country of grotesque fancy and jumbled thoughts, of thin

m was as

he room contained. He directed his attention-for it was this, rather than sight, through which he perceived-to the piano, the chiffonier, the chairs, the two doors, the curtained windows; and finally, with scarcel

light was no more an interruption to the action of that steady medium through which he perceived than the movement of summer clouds across the full sunlight. It was at that moment tha

s with the whole vision, he perceived that he was behind all the slow processes of the world, by which this is added to that, and a conclusion drawn; by which ligh

pied for him one interminable instant. Neither did he remember afterwards the order in which

e to exercise his attention. It seemed a marvelously simple point, this-that space was little more than an illusion; that it was, after all, nothing else but a translation into rather coarse terms of what may be called "differences." "Here" and "There" were but relative

odding in her chair; he directed his attention to Maggie, and perceived her passing across the landing toward the head of the stairs with a candle in her hand. It was this sight that brought him to a further discovery, to the effect that time also was of very nearly no importance either; for he perceived that by bending his attention u

ew figures kneeled-all seen beyond the movements of light and shadow in this clear invisible radiance that was to his perception as common light to common eyes. The world of which he had had

the return; an

n in th

or two, interested and pleased, the face sunk a little on the hand, the feet lightly crossed on the fender. He looked at his own profile, the straight n

im to enter the body, and with the i

ent world which he had contemplated just now. Yet self-consciousness for a while remained; he still had the power of perceiving

m an emotion so fierce and overwhelming that he recoiled in terror back

oom, and turning in half-simulated terror finds the door fast against him, or is aware of a mal

ing his hands, to get back to the warmth and safety of bed; yet there stood before him a Presence, or at the least an Emotion of some kind, so hostile, so terrible, that he dared not penetrate

n became i

od ... God..

s vacated; the swift rush asserted

p abruptly i

He had come in an hour before, had written half a doz

w them. For the rest, all was commonplace enough; a mahogany knee-hold table, a couple of easy chairs, much worn, and a long, extremely comfortable sofa standing b

pipe slowly, yaw

ric bell in the lobby outside, and, wondering at the interruption a

n, come in; I'm del

rd, went straight up to the

ing at this time. You told me to come and see y

thought the other; an air of having come in s

elled him gent

ttle whisky, and then I shall be delight

rnal air in the other's manner that was difficult to resist. He lit his

"What are those things, Mr. Vincent?" He no

turned on th

few rather elementary

on a small black polished wo

rystal-gazing? Well,

at cry

s. Price three shil

letting the shining g

s is-" h

ed affair, its sails lined with looking-glass, on the little

t's

oo

n, and released it. Instantly the sails began to revolve, noiseless and swift, producing the effect of

at

But it's useful sometimes. The hypnotic subject just stares at that steadily.

chanism and pushe

?" asked Laurie, look

A

able on three wheeled legs, perhaps four or five inches across. Through the center ran a pencil perpendicularly

lanchette," sa

or automat

ther

is fingers lightly upon that, and there'

curiously. Then with a su

aid. "Thank

haven't come about that kind of thing. Will

began slowly to fill his pipe again, with his strong c

id the medium again, stil

hrew him

's absurdly childish; but I'm a lit

necessaril

d tonight-in my ch

el

aurie

oked tranquilly, putting what seemed to Laurie quite unimportan

Laurie; "and I want you to

lation through his pipe, e

of your temperament, Mr. Baxter-and mine.... You tell me that it was p

an fancy-more, I mean,

bjective. It was a

u m

hing, always present more or less. Well, of course, I agree with you; though I do not agree with you altogether as to the geography and-and other details of that world. But you believe, I take it, that this world is continua

e so," sa

, a réchauffée, of our own thoughts, in which little things that we have experienced reappear in a hopeless sort of confusion. It is the kind of dream that we forget altogether, generally, five minutes after

t under

f the subliminal consc

N

dium s

instincts, intuitions, and all the rest, are generated. Well, in ordinary dreams, when we are asleep, it is this part that is active. The pot boils, so to speak, all by itself, uncontrolled by reason. A madman is a man in whom this part is supreme in his wakin

es

ium hes

pens rather easily. It was through that door that you went, I think, in what

es

ince your experience is exactly that of so

uncomfortably

," he said sharply. "You

a dream in the ordinary sense.

t I was

the ordinary workaday faculties-was lulled; and your subjective self-call it what you like-but it is your real self, t

y. But there was a touch of

I saw-the limitations of space, and so fo

our theology hint at

no idea of what his theo

people-have such an exper

dium s

er not? It is a matter of temperament. You see you've begun to develop th

interru

another point. What about that fea

han a shade, but it was there. He reached out rather quickly for his pip

elessness. "That? Oh, that's a common experience. Don't thin

. "But I must ask you to tell me what

o speak, and checked himself; and in the long sile

ss I know everything that is to be known, I will not

aused in his

d in his slow virile voice. "Are yo

nd can be avoided with prudence,

at your word.... Have you ever heard the

shook h

"At least I d

call the Fear you spoke of.... No; don't interru

the matches, and took one out. Laurie wa

but within here was that quiet retired silence which the boy had not

t his pipe an

g at all. One of these facts is that the door between this life and the other is guarded by a certain being of whom we know really nothing at all, except that his presence causes the most appalling fear in those who experience it. He is set there-God only kno

ee

at that appalling terror that now and then shows itself, even in people who do not fear death itself, who are perfectly res

He told himself that he di

d he is evi

hrugged his

id. "From one point of view, certai

what's the

m smiled

re certain the more we investigate, and that is that our point of view is not the only one, nor even the principal one. Christianit

is attention once

s in dange

We are alway

if I hadn

in short, if you hadn't succeeded in

re fell a

se startling theories had their effect. It was practically impossible for the boy to sit here, still nervous from his experience, and hear, unmoved, this apparently reasonable and connected acc

ce this kind of thing again, I should recommend you not to pray. Just exercise your ow

u m

ally an imaginative concession to weakness. Take the sh

tude. He uncrossed his

on. I assure you that you have no conception of your own powers. I must say that I hope you will take the strong line.

ked out keenly for an instan

said Laurie; "

got

raordinarily plausible. But I'm even now not quite sure whether I'm not going ma

harply at the elder

es

er a pencil that lay

isputing-er-your point of view, nor your sincerity. B

en't had

, you know, it all seems to me as if you sudden

, surely

tely ordinary. If you can do all these things-spirits and all the res

wouldn't you ask yet

n't k

u think you'd b

shook h

a fool,

l," said the medium, sud

ment. Then he hand

ese the medium, without moving from his chair, lifted off and set on the floor beside him, leaving the woven-grass surface

t," said the man peremptorily. "Wait! You're perfectl

ainly

ok out of the window, poke

fied," sai

en kindly watc

the little wooden cylinder lying, like any other pencil, on the top of the table

ependent of them. Once and again he glanced round at the ordinary-looking room, the curtained windows, the dull furniture; and the second time he looked back at the pencil he was almost certain that some movement had just taken place with it. He resolutely fixed his eyes upon it, bending every faculty

is head impatiently, as if for silence

was no longer the p

point, forming with itself an acute angle with the plane of the table in an entirely impossible position; then, once more rising higher, swung on its point in a quarter circle,

ed back, drawin

nd smiled at the be

" began t

tling, isn't it? and indeed it's not as

od Lord,

ut how do you know yo

s that he had done so. The medium pu

te a quantity of comments to make on that. First, it does

n if

oo; and there's the pencil on the

zed-both acted upon by self-sugge

e was

speaking of. It only shows-if it really happened, as I say-that the mind has extraordi

you do it?"

to show off. People are con

t was that the tiny incident of the pencil affected him so profoundly. Vaguely, only, he perceived that it was all connected somehow with the o

up again

his hand, "I'm knocked over. I can't imagine why.

Baxter," said the