HPB-SB-1-25: Difference between revisions

Several times Richard’s voice could be distinctly heard singing in concert with the circle, Mrs. Holmes singing at the same time in concert with us. At the fourth séance of the series, soon after the light was extinguished, Richard went up to Miss Emily Wood and said, “Your boy wants you, why don’t you go to him?” We then beard the little son of Mr. Wood, two years old, crying up-stairs. Richard then said, “Bring him down here.” Miss Wood did as requested, but was some minutes in doing so. Until she returned to the room, the manifestations ceased. As soon as she was seated, with the child in her lap, the sounds of the musical instruments were resumed, and floated around the room with unusual vigor. While this was going on. Miss Wood exclaimed, “He has gone; they have taken the child.” Not knowing what had occurred or what to do, we, waited in breathless suspense and apprehension for the child’s safety. Not a sound could be heard to denote the whereabouts of the child. It was only when Mrs. Wood was about to light the lamp, and nearly a minute had elapsed, when Richard laid the child in her lap, saying, “Mrs. Wood, take your child.” The little fellow then, for the first time, gave a few low sobs, as if relieved from a dread of injury. Mrs. Wood sat upon the opposite side of the room, fully twelve feet from her daughter. Whether the child was borne directly from one to the other, was led across the floor, or was floated around the room, it was impossible to tell, as all was silent while this was taking place, and the position of the child was undiscoverable in the total darkness, until laid in his mother’s lap. Had the medium or any one in physical form walked across the floor, the rustling of their dress must have been heard, and the floor of the room felt to vibrate, as it did when any one of the circle moved across it. Why the child should not have expressed its alarm, by crying, while away from his sister and mother, and only did so after he reached his mother, is not the least singular incident of that occurrence. It is due to the parents of the child to say that he was accustomed to sitting in similar circles, and showed as much interest in them as the older members of the family did. The child frequently during that séance appeared to see the spirit forms present, when none of us could see anything, and not being able to talk intelligibly, would say, “See!” “see!” as one or another spirit would manifest to us by sounds.

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