Mr. H. now finds the mysterious agency, “electricity,” completely unchained, and under the hands of this couple Planchette becomes “very active.” Indifferent to its performances at first, he was induced to give it more serious attention by the correct answers given to a couple of questions asked in a joking manner by his wife, concerning some love affairs of his before they were married, and which were known to none present except himself and wife. Of course these answers, being in his wife’s mind when she asked the question, were supposed to be “communicated through the agency of electricity or magnetism to the two operators,” and the mystery was thus summarily disposed of. But an interest being thus for the first time aroused in Mr. H.’s mind, he proceeds to inquire a little further into the peculiarities of this new phenomenon, and proceeds as follows:
“Seeing that Planchette was so familiarly acquainted with my lady friends, I asked it point blank: ‘Where is Mary C——?’ This was a friend of my early youth and later manhood, who had always seemed to me rather a relative than an acquaintance. To my surprise it answered, ‘Nobody knows.’
I supposed I knew, because for twenty years she had lived on the Hudson River in summer, and in New York in the winter.
‘Is she happy?’ I asked. ‘Better be dead,’ was the reply.
‘Why?’ ‘Unhappy’ was written out at once.
‘What makes her unhappy?’ ‘Won’t tell.’
‘Is she in fault, or others?’ ‘Partly herself.’
I now pushed questions in all shapes, but they were evaded. At last I asked, ‘How many brothers has she?’
‘One,’ was the response. ‘That,’ said I, ‘is false;’ but not having heard from the family for several years, I asked again, ‘How many did she have?’ ‘Three.’ ‘Where are the other two?’ I continued. ‘Dead.’
‘What is the name of the living one?’ ‘John.’ I could not recollect that either of them bore this name, but afterward remembered it was that of the eldest. Now I had no means of ascertaining whether this was all true, but convinced it was not, I began to ask ridiculous and vexatious questions, when the answers showed excessive irritation, and finally it wrote ‘Devil.’ I then said: ‘Who are you?’ ‘Brother of the Devil.’