“Behold this ruin, ’tis a skull
       Once of etherial spirit full—­”
    “Par quel ordre du Ciel, que je ne puis compendre
       Vous dis-je plus que je ne dois?”

Here is evidently ‘a spirit of no common rate,’ of whom we might well desire further acquaintance, albeit at the cost of losing golden-haired, black-eyed Sister Belle.  But why should we talk of ‘loss?’ If, as Banquo says, ‘there’s husbandry in Heaven,’ why should we not in the ‘Summer-land’ find one and the same skull, with frugal economy, given to two owners?

Desirous of submitting the mother-wit of this Medium to the test of stitched envelopes, I wrote the following:—­’Is Marie St. Clair pleased in having her skull carefully treasured here in my Library?  Does it gratify her, as a Spirit, that it is mounted on black marble?  Does she ever hover over it?’

This was placed in an envelope, gummed, and sealed with five seals in the ordinary, easy-going way, and marked No. 1.

The very same questions were repeated on another piece of paper and put in an envelope, which was stitched securely with silk, the stitches passing through both the envelope and the paper, and carefully concealed under the sealing wax.  This was marked No. 2, and in the note accompanying these two envelopes, the Medium was requested to sit with No. 1 first.  The Test was the same as that to which Dr. Mansfield had been subjected, and to which he had succumbed.

The mail soon returned both envelopes, with this note:—­’The reply comes to us in the affirmative to both envelopes.  There is quite a communication for you from same Spirit Friend.’

A close examination of the edges of the envelopes soon revealed the edge at which they had been opened and closed again.  That edge has been preserved intact for future verification, if required, and the envelopes were opened by cutting the other edges.  The seals had not been removed; as, in fact, there was no need of removing them.  The paper containing the questions had not been extracted from No. 2; it still remained firmly stitched to the front of the envelope.  Yet the Medium had evidently read it.  Her words are ’the reply comes in the affirmative to both envelopes,’ which is a good, fair answer.  I was puzzled, it must be confessed.  Suddenly it occurred to me to try how far one could look into the contents of the paper, supposing the end of the envelope to be open.  I tried it, and lo! enough can be easily read to make out that No. 2 is a repetition of No. 1.  The needle had missed taking up all the folds of the paper!