“Mrs. Burchell began by saying, ‘Royalty! An important person—a King! He is standing in a room in his palace. He is dark; stout body and long neck. With him is a lady, the Queen—brunette. And there,’pointing to a corner of the room, ‘I see a child.’ Then, becoming very excited, the medium exclaimed, ‘Terrible! Terrible! It is all bloody. I cannot bear to look. Oh, it is terrible! I cannot bear it. I see a very dark man rushing into the chamber. He tries to kill the King. The lady implores them to spare him. Oh—’ and with a cry of horror Mrs. Burchell suddenly flung herself upon her knees in such a way that Mr. Stead thought she would fall and stretched out his hand to save her. She did not fall, however, but with clasped hands the medium continued in a voice of agonized entreaty:
“‘They are killing him. Oh, save him, save him! The Queen falls on her knees and implores them to save her life—they will not listen. Oh, what tumult! what bloodshed! How terrible—they kill him; she pleads in vain. Now they fling her on one side and stab her with a dagger, and—Oh, oh!’—and then Mrs. Burchell, exhausted with emotion, was falling over on her side on the floor when Mr. Stead got her up and put her on her seat.
“When Mrs. Burchell fell on her knees, Mrs. Brenchley sprang up, saying, ‘Yes, yes, I get it in the air. They are killing him; I see it.’
“‘And I also,’ said Mrs. Manks clasping hands with Mrs. Brenchley, and both following her (probably Mrs. Burchell’s) distracted cries and utterances with cries of, ‘Yes, yes! We see it; she is quite right.’
“Mrs. Burchell, in her agitation, dropped the envelope on the floor. Mrs. Brenchley picked it up and, holding it, continued to describe the scene in an agitation only a little less than Mrs. Burchell’s, exclaiming, ‘Oh, the blood—how horrible! Look, how dark it becomes; see—the soldiers are coming upon us—shooting down all they meet—’
“‘What are they like?’ asked someone.
“‘They seem to me like Russian uniforms; but it is dark and I cannot see clearly....’
“‘Now the King is dead!’ she (Mrs. Brenchley) cried. ‘But, oh, what confusion! What bloodshed!’
“All these ejaculatory comments were rapidly uttered as Mrs. Burchell was being helped to her seat and not much notice was taken of them at the time. Mrs. Brenchley, however, declares that she has a lively recollection of what she saw and what she said.
“Mr. Stead turned an inquiring gaze to Mr. L——, who had given him the envelope....