Reddell, the vision seen by the watcher at the deathbed was that of a living woman, the patient's mother. Frances Reddell, a servant of Mrs. Pole Carew, when nursing a fellow-servant, who was dying of typhoid fever, heard a bell ring, and then " heard the door open, and looking round, saw a very stout old woman walk in. She was dressed in a nightgown and red flannel petticoat, and carried an old-fashioned brass candlestick in her hand, The petticoat had a hole rubbed in it." The vision then disappeared. The sick girl died a few hours later, and when the mother attended the funeral, Frances Reddell and Mrs. Pole Carew, to whom she had told the story, recognised in her the original of the apparition.[1]
It is difficult to explain this case except on the supposition that the dying girl's dream was somehow impressed upon the mind of the watcher by the bedside; and the possibility of a similar explanation cannot, of course, be precluded when the figure seen is that of the dead.
In the following narrative several figures are reported to have been seen, some recognised as those of the dead or the living, some unrecognised by any of those present. The case was sent to us by Mrs. H. J. Wilson, an Associate of the Society, of 12 Cheyne Court, Chelsea, London, S. W., who is intimately acquainted with all the witnesses. We are requested to print their initials only, but the full names have been given to us. Mrs. C., the
- ↑ See my Apparitions and though Transference, p. 306.
