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Haggard, H. Rider (Henry Rider), 1856-1925

"She"

At six o'clock we, together with Job,
waited on Ayesha, who set to work to terrify our poor servant still
further by showing him pictures on the pool of water in the font-like
vessel. She learnt from me that he was one of seventeen children, and
then bid him think of all his brothers and sisters, or as many of them
as he could, gathered together in his father's cottage. Then she told
him to look in the water, and there, reflected from its stilly surface,
was that dead scene of many years gone by, as it was recalled to our
retainer's brain. Some of the faces were clear enough, but some were
mere blurs and splotches, or with one feature grossly exaggerated; the
fact being that, in these instances, Job had been unable to recall
the exact appearances of the individuals, or remembered them only by a
peculiarity of his tribe, and the water could only reflect what he saw
with his mind's eye. For it must be remembered that _She's_ power in
this matter was strictly limited; she could apparently, except in very
rare instances, only photograph upon the water what was actually in the
mind of some one present, and then only by his will.


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