CHAPTER XII
THE ACCOUNTS OF BELIEVERS
One is repeatedly faced with a story of the marvellous and invited to explain it away or believe in the supernatural. My favourite way of dealing with such a proposition is to borrow a pack of cards, invite the story-teller to take a card, and, without letting me see it, to think of it whilst holding my hand. After a silent pause I name the card and may be told, 'of course that's a trick', and on assuring my friends that the spirits have told me the name of the card I am called a scoffer; somehow a pack of cards is not spiritual enough.
Some stories are hard to explain without full evidence, and here is one of them: A friend assured me that in Raymond was an account of how one of Sir Oliver Lodge's family went to London to visit a medium, and how after she had started some others of the family met in Birmingham, and, calling up the spirit of Raymond, asked him to say 'Honolulu' at the London séance. Sure enough at the London séance held on the same day 'Honolulu' came into the spirit talk. This account is substantially correct (see pp. 271 et seq.) and the incident is inexplicable so far; Sir Oliver Lodge says of the episode:—
'1. It establishes a reality about the home sittings.
2. It so entirely eliminates anything of the nature of collusion, conscious or unconscious.
3. The whole circumstances of the test make it an exceedingly good one.'
Then, after suggesting Telepathy as an explanation, he writes: 'I venture to say there is no normal explanation, since in my judgement chance is out of the question.'
If the information had stopped at this no explanation on natural lines would be possible, but so painfully honest is Sir Oliver that in the same book he supplies full material for such an explanation. At a London séance on December 20th, 1915, with the same medium there occurs the following:—
(Question): 'What used he to sing?'
(Answer): 'Hello-Hullolo, sounds like Hullulu-Hullulo, something about "Hottentot," but he is going back a long way he thinks.'
On April 11th, 1916, a song of Raymond's is found with the words written in pencil:—