Seen and Unseen

cord of psychic experiences, I must "beg

at the time, gave strict orders that none of the servants should give me a hint of his being dangerously ill. These instructions were carefully carried out, and yet I dreamed three nights running-the three nights preceding his decease-that he was dead. I was entirely devoted to my father, who had been father and mother to me in one, and these dreams no doubt broke the terrible shock of his death to me. How well I remember, that cold, dreary February morning, being hastily d

asters, etc., I can, however, recall many a time when suddenly everything around me became unreal and I alone seemed to have any true existence; and even that was for the time merged in a rather unpleasant dream,

most young people. It would be interesting to

at we should now call a very good sensitive. It was with him that I sat at my first "table," more as a matter of amusement than anything else, and certainly young Morton Freer treated the "spirits" in the most cavalier fashion. They did not seem to resent this, and he co

it as an amusing experience without caring to inquire whether the energy involved had been generated on this side the veil or on the other side. We could certainly not have moved such weights under ordinary circumstances, even by putting forth all our combined strength, and we could on

now and then, shake it at us half in fun, and yet a good deal in earnest, and

c laws; and probably this was our salvation, for I can remember no terrible or

rence Oliphant-namely, that when he saw people sitting down in a casual, irresponsible way to "get messages thro

the guest of various hospitable naval and military men, who had shown him round the Washington Arsenal, West Point Academy, and so forth. My kind old host had begged him to take us on his way back t

" he said, turning to the younger man. I knew this was

gested what he considered a "real test," where

from English furlough, and yet at the end of that time he suddenly disappeared, without rhyme or reason, and I have neither seen nor heard of h

me spelling

ose up at R

ny real test came. Fortunately, too, it is wildly wrong-neither the letter befo

er good-naturedly. "Let us go on all the s

fashion. The name in true Hindoostanee was Rám Dín-but Europeans spelt it Rham Deen-and so my brother himself had entirely forgotten when the A w

at is the real Hindoostanee spelling, too.

the bottom out of his scept

re would be reduced to explaining that the Hindoostanee spelling was la

(unless we stretch it to include a possible impact of all thoughts, at all times and from al

to a sensitive young girl. This awakened in me an affection which, I am thankful to say, still exists between us. This lady was considerably under thirty years old at the time, but t

upon not only as the most desirable, but as

, I said, with trembling eagerness: "Morton, do ask if Carrie will ever be married," for t

I trusted fervently that a Hungarian or Polish name might be given after the

ver heard of a Polish or Hungarian name of the kind, and I remember saying petula

ally good bit of evidence by

us see what is

ded the name was finished, or there was some confusion in getting the next

me." This was instantly answered by "Freshwater," an

e, who lived at Freshwater, and the incid

with the five despised letters, and he was a widower, and had been living in his own house at Fre

iving as Lady Constance Marsham. The Reverend David Dale Stewart and his wife (he was Vicar of Maidstone, and I made my home with them for some years after leaving school) were friends of hers, and she sometimes came to see them in a friendly way in the morning. On one of these occasions, when Lady Constance

ery stupid thing the other day-I never did such a thing b

Lord and Lady Hastings were dining quietly one evening together, two

n to dinner. Soup and fish had already been discussed, when a carriage was heard driving up to the door, and they natur

hey could not arrive till much later, but that we are qui

e given, flung it open-but no carriage, no horses were

d of the Hastings family dies, Lady Romney fainted dead away, very much to her own surprise and mortific

uckinghamshire. Soon after my arrival I happened to mention the story, and was much laughed at as a "superstitious little creature, to thin

's husband had reached the second long column in The Times before any of us remembered my story, which had been treated with so much contempt. It suddenly flashed across my mi

nd I see another incident befo

s in Oxford. My brother of the Rám Dín incident was once more in India, and had been Military Secretary

iment for active service; but at the time of my experience it was impos

e, as all good soldiers do. Moreover, I had just read a charming letter which Sir Robert Egerton had

p one morning with the gloomiest and most miserable forebodings about this special brother. Nothing of the kind h

unreasonable terror by pointing out, truly enough, that he could not possibly be within the zone of danger at that time. I could onl

a and Oxford, my mental telegram reached me in the same hour that my brother, whilst on the march, and only thirty miles beyond Quetta,

ved a more definite message as regards the true nature of the calamity. It c

and I did nothing but fret and lament over him, with the exception of writing

rning of 4th December 1878. It was well on in January 1879 before the corroboration arrived, in a letter written to us by a stranger. Communication was delayed not only by the war, b