"Can you perceive anyone besides us, professor?" asked Riche in an awed whisper.
"Yes," replied Delapine.
"The stranger at my fireside cannot see
The forms, nor hear the sounds I hear,
He but perceives what Is; while unto me
All that Has Been is visible and clear.
"Do you suppose for a moment," he continued, "that we are able to be in touch with everything that goes on around us, when all our knowledge of the outside world is obtained through the five kinds of vibrations which reach our senses? I assure you there are a thousand varieties of vibrations of which we are entirely unconscious, but they can be perceived by the soul when it is freed from its earthly environment. Now I will try whether I have the power to move matter by my will. All of you keep your hands lightly touching the table, and do not on any account break the circuit. Each one of you must endeavour to be perfectly convinced of my power."
For a few moments nothing happened, then gradually each one felt a tremor run through his fingers, and the table began to heave up and down first on one side and then on the other.
"The table seems to be alive," said Renée alarmed. "It moves in spite of all my efforts to keep it still."
"Yes," said Marcel, "I have been pressing down with all my might, but it is of no use. Look, look, it is rising up."
Slowly, but none the less surely, the table rose bodily, until at last the members of the circle were compelled to stand up in order to keep their hands still resting on it, as ordered by Delapine.
"Press, press with all your might," cried Delapine loudly, "and see if you can overcome my will."