Dr. Caritte, who continued to be one of the daily callers at the cottage, would have a theory one day that would seem to account for the manifestations he had witnessed, and the next day something wonderful would occur and upset his latest theory completely, so that he finally gave up in despair and became simply a passive spectator.  Things went on in this way until December, when Esther was taken ill with diphtheria, and confined to her bed for about two weeks, during which time the manifestations ceased entirely.  After she had recovered from her illness, she went to Sackville, N.B., to visit her other married sister, Mrs. John Snowden, remaining at her house for about two weeks.  While there she was entirely free from the manifestations.

On returning to Dan’s cottage the most startling part of the case was developed.  One night while in bed with her sister Jane in another room, her room having been changed to see if that would put a stop to the affair, she told her sister that she could hear a voice saying to her that the house was to be set on fire that night by a ghost.  The voice also said that it had once lived on the earth, but had been dead for some years.  The members of the household were called in at once, and told what had been said.  They only laughed and remarked that no such thing as that could take place, because there were no ghosts.  Dr. Clay had said it was all electricity.  “And,” added Dan, “electricity can’t set the house on fire unless it comes from a cloud in the form of lightning.”  As they were talking the matter over, to the amazement of all present, a lighted match fell from the ceiling to the bed, and would have set it on fire had not Jane put it out instantly.  During the next ten minutes, eight or ten lighted matches fell on the bed and about the room, but were all extinguished before any harm could be done.  In the course of the night the loud knockings commenced.  The family could now all converse with the invisible power in this way.  It would knock once for a negative answer, and three times for an answer in the affirmative, giving two knocks when in doubt about a reply.  Dan asked if the house would be set on fire, and the reply was three loud knocks on the floor, meaning yes; and a fire was started about five minutes afterwards.  The ghost took a dress belonging to Esther that was hanging on a nail in the wall near the door, rolled it up, and, before any of the persons in the room could remove it from under the bed, where the ghost had placed it before their very eyes, it was all in a blaze.  It was extinguished, however, without being much injured by the fire.  The next morning all was consternation in the cottage.  Dan and Olive were afraid that the ghost would start a fire in some inaccessible place and burn the house down.  They were both convinced that it really was a ghost, “for” said Olive, “nothing but the devil or a ghost with evil designs, could do so terrible a thing as start a fire in a cottage at the dead of night.”