Page:The Naturalisation of the Supernatural.pdf/363

This seems the simplest explanation of a remarkable incident reported to the Society by Sir Harry and Lady Vane. Lady Vane had lost a notebook, and had had the whole house searched for it. Some weeks later meeting Lady Mabel Howard, who has received many veridical messages through automatic writing, Lady Vane asked her to find out where the book was. Lady Mabel's pencil wrote that the book would be found in a locked cupboard in the bookcase, at the tapestry end of the room, and after a further close search the book was actually found in the place indicated concealed in a scrapbook. This particular cupboard had already been searched on more than one occasion.^[1]

There are, however, a few cases reported of dreams picturing the scene of a burglary, or other event, in which it is difficult, with any plausibility, to invoke human agency. The following case will serve to illustrate the point.

No. 73. From Miss Busk.^[2]

"16 Montague Place, W., 1884.

"I dreamt that I was walking in a wood in my father's place in Kent, in a spot well-known to me, where there was sand under the firs; I stumbled over some objects, which proved to be heads, left protruding, of some ducks buried in the sand. The idea impressed me as so comical that I fortunately mentioned it at breakfast next morning, and one of two persons remember that I did so. Only an hour later it happened that the old bailiff of the place came up for some instructions unexpectedly, and as he was leaving he said he must tell us a strange thing that had happened. There had

1. Proceedings, S. P. R., vol. xi., p. 395.
2. Phantasms of the Living, vol. i., p. 369.