cation with Mrs. Oliver Cullen; can you obtain it for them now?"
The medium did not move; nor did her lips make reply; all about the room people lifted in their seats or stood up; there was a flutter of whispers; these ceased while every one watched to see what Lucas Cullen would do against the stranger who had commanded him; and there was silence again.
"I am here," slowly said a controlled, vibrant voice. "I am Agnes Cullen; I—"
Barney gazed into the face of Lucas Cullen who stared at him with eyes widened, with jaw dropped; the dim, pink light upon his skin lost a tint as the blood went from Lucas Cullen's face; and Barney knew that he had recognized the voice. Now that Barney heard the voice in its full power and energy, he knew that any one who once had heard it would never forget. All about were others who had known Agnes Cullen and now knew the tones speaking in the dark, still room; these, like Lucas Cullen, had believed her dead; and in this place, and at this moment of amazement, they received the voice as not embodied but as from a spirit.
"Direct voice!" some one gasped in awe; and others whispered it. "We're hearing a direct voice!—That's her voice!—I knew her!"
Bennet Cullen had recognized it and dropped down into his seat, astounded; his mother knew the voice; and Jaccard; most certainly of all, Lucas Cullen continued in the conviction that one dead was speaking. He knew why Agnes Cullen, though dead, should break all bonds to speak; he knew that the one who had just called for her was her son; and at this moment if the dead could possibly return, she would. And whatever any one dead could do, he credited Agnes Cullen,
