46. CHAPTER XLVI.
FROM VALPARAISO.
“Well, Mr. Gray,” said Regina, the evening
after the trial, “I hope you won't make fun of
the spirits any more.”
“The spirits are demonstrating their right to
respectful treatment,” he replied. “I have just
now received a letter from Valparaiso.”
“From Valparaiso!—from Mliss?”
“Not exactly from Mliss, but Mliss is there
It is simply wonderful! The man who think
he knows anything is a fool.”
“That's a very important discovery to make,”
replied Regina, demurely. “But tell me about
the letter. May I read it?”
“The letter, I regret to say, is slightly profane.
It was not intended for a lady to read.”
“But who is it from?”
“It is signed `A Friend.' I suspect it is from
O'Neil.”
“Let me see it; I'll skip the hard words.”
“If you'll promise to skip the bard words,
you may read it. Anticipating this desire, I
have drawn my pencil through the expressions
you would not know the meaning of.”
Mr. Gray produced a letter, which Regina
eagerly read, forgetting, I am afraid, to skip the
words marked to be omitted.
In full the letter was as follows:
Mr. Gray:—If you care a damn for Mliss, come and
take care of her. The devil has got her, and his name
is Wade.
“Wade!” replied Regina—“that is the
name—”.
“The name that we spoke of the other evening.
When man's reason fails, be falls back on
woman's intuition. What shall I do?”
Regina's handsome countenance assumed a grave
expression.
“Can't you send some one?” she said. “This Colonel
Wade is a desperate character.”
“Is not that a sufficient reason why I should go
myself?”
Regina's handsome countenance assumed a still
more grave expression.
“Come,” said Mr. Gray, “your perception has been
clearer than mine all through this business. Tell me
what you think I ought to do. The Panama steamer
sails to-morrow at eleven o'clock. It will connect at
the Isthmus with the British steamer for Valparaiso.
In twenty-five days I can be in that city.”
“And this letter has been twenty-five days coming.
It is dated June 18.”
“Yes; if I go to-morrow two months will have
elapsed after the writing of that letter before I can
reach Valparaiso. There is no time to lose.”
“Let us put our spiritual telegraph into operation,”
said Regna; “it may tell us if they are still in Valparaiso.”
Mr. Gray smiled.
“You are still a skeptic?” she asked.
“I confess I am. I confess, too, that I am bewildered.
I have always followed the dictates of my reason,
and now my reason is opposed to something it
cannot comprehend. I yield, but am not convinced.
Lissy lives—of that this letter gives ample proof. Did
the intelligence that converses with us through Mrs.
Rhodes know that she lived or make a happy gness?”
“It has made two happy guesses.” said Regina.
“It said that James Smith would arrive, and James
Smith did arrive. It said that Mliss was in Valparalso
and Mliss is in Valparaiso.”
“You are right. Let us put our spiritual telegraph
in operation.”
They proceeded without delay to the residence of
Mrs. Rhodes.
After the usual preparation Mr. Shaw announced
himself in the usual manner.
He congratulated Mr. Gray upon the result of the
trial, and cautioned him to be on his guard against
new combinations on the part of Mrs. Smith. He
then said:
“What do you think of your letter from Valparaiso?”
“Do you know that I have received a letter from
Valparaiso?”
“I was present you and Regie were discussing its
contents.”
“Can you tell me the contents of the letter?”
The medium read from the table the letter, word for
word, as it has been given to the reader.
“This is very remarkable,” said Mr. Gray. “No
one but Miss Shaw and myself are acquainted with
the contents of this letter.”
“It is remarkable from your standpoint of view,
but not from ours. I will offer a further proof of the
fact that I was present when you gave the letter to
Regie, by stating the object of your visit here this
evening.”
“Please do so.”
“You wish to consult Mr. Smith and myself as to
the advisability of proceeding to Valparaiso.”
“You are right,” said Mr. Gray; “what do you advise?”
“It is not necessary for you to go in person. An
agent can be selected who will accomplish all you
could, and you will be needed here.”
“Is Mr. Smith of the same opinion?”
“He is. I will let Mr. Smith speak for himself.”
There was the usual wait of two or three minutes,
and then the medium resumed:
“Since you were here, Mr. Gray, I have succeeded
in approaching my daughter. I can see that her mind
is tranquil. I do not know what villainy Colonel
Wade may have in view, but so far he has not excited
her apprehensions. She has had no cause to distrust
him. She will embrace the first opportunity to return
to San Franciso. Send a discreet and intelligent
man with a letter to assure her that he comes from
yourself, and all will be well.”
“I have already made preparations to send an
agent,” replied Mr. Gray, “but was in doubt about
going myself.”
“We don't think it necessary, you will be needed
here.”
Leaving Mr. Gray and Regina to indulge in an
hour's conversation with Mr. and Mrs. Rhodes, and
afterwards to indulge in a long, confidential talk on
the way home, I embrace this opportunity to address
a word to the reader. The workings of the spiritual
telegraph are so little understood, that many will regard
the revelations here recorded as wild, fanciful,
and utterly unfounded in fact. This conclusion,
however, would be erroneous. While the writer does
not claim that these revelations took place precisely in
the order described, he assures the reader that the
communications here recorded furnish a parallel to
those of which he has been an eye and ear witness. In
no respect have these communications been more extraordinary
in character or conclusive in development
than communications which have been received
through different mediums by scores of persons now
residing in this city. The case of Mliss, as far as she
has been traced in her forced wanderings by spiritual
agencies, has its precise parallel in real life. We have
only taken the liberty of substituting a girl in the
place of a man, who was believed by his friends to be
dead, but who was reported through this unknown
and mysterious agency, which, for convenience sake,
we termed the spiritual telegraph, to be living in a
foreign land. Subsequent developments proved the
spiritual telegraph to be correct. In other instances,
where I have introduced spiritual agency, or an agency
claiming to be spiritual. I have confined myself
closely to the construction of cases parallel to those
that have come under my personal observation. The
use of this agency in works of fiction, while kept in
strict accordance with actual developments, is as
legitimate as the use of the ordinary telegraph.
