"Yes indeed. Quite.
"He was sitting in his chair," resumed the shopkeeper, "concentrating on being inside a certain wooden paper-cutter, moving it about, when, quite suddenly, he felt himself pass out of his body and walk about on the table. Then came, as he later explained, a kind of tug, as if someone were pulling him by the shoulders, and he was again in his body, in the chair. The paper-cutter was several inches from the spot where he had placed it.
"The next night he tried with a book, but with no success; but on the following evening, he concentrated on a Malacca stick, taking possession of it with his ego and forcing it to stand upright and pirouette about the room."
"Do you ask us to believe that?" demanded Paul.
"Precisely, sir. I saw that with my own eyes," affirmed the dealer. "And if I may continue
"The professor deduced that objects of wood were more susceptible to projection than others, and to these he confined his experiments. He worked next on a wooden stool, then a chair, and so on, controlling larger and larger objects as his powers increased, until finally he resolved to animate this very table which I sold you the other day.
"The legs of that table exercised an extraordinary fascination over him. I distinctly remember what he said when he came to my shop one day and saw the table for the first time.
"'My word, Ibbetson,' he exclaimed, 'what a wonderful piece! You must let me take it to my study. If I can but succeed in projecting myself into it, beware! For I shall certainly be a tiger! Ah, but those lovely paws!' he sighed affectionately.
"He seemed so infatuated," continued the shopkeeper, "that I finally consented. And then, noticing how haggard he looked, and how his eyes glistened, I suggested that he'd been overdoing it, and that his study of spiritualism was doing him no good at all.
- But he laughed, scoffed at my fears, and sent for the table, arranging for a stance the following night.
"Four of us were present: Percival, two other friends, and I. Shortly after midnight, Percival declared he would project himself. We watched him as he concentrated"
Here the dealer shuddered, then continued: "He sat hunched forward, half crouching in his seat, almost like a beast about to spring. His eyes, fixed staringly on the table, were unseeing and glassy. Then, after an interminable pause, his lips began to quiver, and he muttered, as nearly as we could understand, 'I'm on the way . . . I'm coming as quickly as possible . . . I can't come any faster . . . Ah! . . .'
"He snarled, thumped the table furiously, yelled like some monstrous cat.
"My friends looked at me significantly; and I knew by their expressions that we agreed in our belief that Percival was mad. But before we could take any action, his eyes closed, the expression of unspeakable beastliness died out of his face, and he relapsed into a trance. I was still looking at him when my attention was abruptly called to the table. It began to throb, and on placing my ear close to it, I could distinctly hear something pulsing: it sounded exactly like the irregular beating of a heart. Then a jarring noise, and the table lunged forward, bounding and whirling furiously, leaping in one direction and another. A sudden lurch brought it violently against the professor’s chair, throwing him to the floor. The motion of the table
(Continued, on page 288)
