So he had sat, the thoughts at first racing through his brain, then,
as time went on, moving more and more slowly, with his own brain
becoming ever more passive, until at last he had been compelled to
make a little effort against the drowsiness that had begun to envelop
him. He had had to do this altogether three or four times, and had
even begun to wonder whether he should be able to resist much longer,
when a sudden trembling of the table had awakened him, alert and
conscious in a moment, and he had sat with every faculty violently
attentive to what should follow.
That trembling was a curious sensation beneath his hands. At first it
was no more than might be caused by the passing of a heavy van in the
street; only there was no van. But it had increased, with spasms and
recoils, till it resembled a continuous shudder as of a living rigid
body. It began also to tilt slightly this way and that.
Now all this, Laurie knew well, meant nothing at all--or rather, it
need not. And when the movement passed again through all the reverse
motions, sinking at last into complete stillness, he was conscious of
disappointment. A moment later, however, as he glanced up again at the
medium in the cabinet, he drew his breath sharply, and Mr.
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