David Elginbrod by George MacDonald

Author:George MacDonald
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: RosettaBooks
Published: 2018-09-15T00:00:00+00:00

— Twenty-Nine —

Materialism and True Spiritualism

God wisheth none should wreck on a strange shelf:

To Him man's dearer than to himself.

BEN JONSON.—The Forest:

To Sir Robert Wroth.

At breakfast the following morning, the influences of the past day on the family were evident. There was a good deal of excitement, alternated with listlessness. The moral atmosphere seemed unhealthy. Hugh was careful enough of Harry to try to divert the conversation entirely, knowing that it could have an injurious effect on him, and he took him away as soon as breakfast was over.

In the afternoon, Funkelstein called to inquire after the ladies. Mr. Arnold, who had a full allowance of curiosity—its amount being frequently in an inverse ratio to that of higher intellectual gifts—begged him to spend the rest of the day with them. He implored him, however, to utter not a word of what had passed the day before until after Harry had retired for the night.

Renewed conversations that evening led to renewed experiments in the library. Hugh refused to have anything more to do with the plate writing. He dreaded its influences, for he still attributed the vision of Margaret to an affectation of his brain.

But the plate did not seem to work satisfactorily with anyone else. Keeping his sway over the others, Funkelstein took recourse in a more vulgar method—that of expectant solicitation of those noises whereby the prisoners in the aërial vaults are supposed capable of communicating with those in this earthly cell. Certainly, raps were heard from some quarter or another, and when the lights were extinguished, and the crescent moon only allowed to shine in the room, some commotion was discernible amongst the furniture. Several light articles flew about. A pen-wiper alighted on Euphra's lap, and a sofa-pillow gently disarranged Mrs. Elton's cap. Most of the artillery, however, was directed against Lady Emily. It was she who saw, in a faint stream of moonlight, a female arm uplifted towards her, from under a table, with a threatening motion. It was bare to the elbow, and draped above. It showed first a clenched fist, and next an open hand, palm outwards, making a repellent gesture. Then the back of the hand was turned, and it motioned her away. But at this moment, one of the doors opened, and a dark figure passed through the room towards the opposite door. Everything that could be called ghostly, ceased instantaneously. The arm vanished. The company breathed more freely.

Lady Emily, who had been on the point of hysterics, recovered herself slowly but by no means entirely. Mr. Arnold proceeded to light the candles, saying in a righteous tone:

“I think we have had enough of this nonsense.”

When the candles were lighted, there was no one to be seen in the room besides themselves. Several, Hugh amongst them, had observed the figure, but all had taken it for part of the illusive phantasmagoria. Hugh would have concluded it a variety of his vision of the former night, but others had seen it as well.

There was no renewal of the experiments.

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