Therewasnodoubtthathedidnotexchangeenvelopesandthatheburneditbeforemyveryeyes。Henowtooktheashesandemptiedthemintothebowlofwateronthesidetable。Alittleblueflameappearedonthesurfaceofthewaterafterthatforamoment，andthendisappeared。
Henowbroughtfromadraweranumberofslates——abouteightortensmallslateswithpaddededges。Theywerethesmallestsizeofslates，Ishouldjudge；andwiththemhebroughtanotherslate，atriflelarger，probablytwoinchesbothlongerandwider。Herequestedmetoexaminethoroughlyortocleanthemalltomyownsatisfaction，andtostackthesmallonesonthetable，oneontopoftheother；andwhenallwerethusplaced，toplacethelargeslateontopofthestack。
WhileIwasdoingthishecalledtohisattendantforadrinkofwater，andincidentallysteppedintothehalltoreceiveit，sothathismenialwouldnotprofanethissanctuarywithhispresence。
Returningtothetablehetookaseatoppositemeandplacedoneofmyhandsandoneofhisontopoftheslates。Induetimehetookuptheslatesandwefoundnothing。Hereplacedthem，andwaitedforafewmoments；thenseemingdissatisfiedwithconditions，hetookupthetopslateinhislefthandandwithhisrighthandbeganwritingamessageforme。Hedidthislikemediumsdoautomaticwriting，witheyeshalfclosed；andwhilewritinghispersonwasconvulsedafewtimes。Hethenopenedhiseyesandreadaloudwhathehadwritten，askingmeifitansweredmyquestion。I
repliedthatitdidnot，asitwasentirelyforeigntothesubject。