'Twixt two worlds : a narrative of the life and work of William Eglinton

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Tivixt Tzvo Worlds.
the room, or in total darkness—on the table with the gas turned off, in a closed box, in
the space between two slates, or between the leaves of a closed book—always in positions
and conditions where writing or drawing seems to us impossible, and in a space of time to
be counted in seconds rather than minutes— an elaborate drawing and letter of more than a
page being produced in certainly less than two minutes, and I believe less than one.
Fig. 5 is an imperfect representation of a pencil drawing made upon a blank card, the
roughly torn-off corner of which was in my pocket. It was done in a small room of my
house, used as a seance room. The door was locked, and the key in my pocket. The
four or five persons present, including the medium, were members of my family. The card
was laid upon the centre of the table with a lead pencil. 1 turned off the gas, and we all
sat holding hands in silence, hearing the rapid ticks of the pencil upon the card for
perhaps half a minute. Then came three distinct raps, the signal for a light. I turned on
the gas, and found the drawing on the card, which I at once identified by the torn-off
Fig. 5.—A Direct Drawing.
corner in my pocket. It is very certain that no mortal hand could have done it in the dark,
nor in the time occupied in its production. The sound of the pencil upon the card was like
that of very rapid machinery.
Then four lines of German verse, signed "Goethe," were produced under somewhat
different conditions. It was in the same room, and upon a blank card, selected from a
number lying on the table, a corner being torn off to identify the card, which was dropped
into a small empty work-box, about 10" x 6" x 3", with a bit of lead pencil. We
sat in the full light, with my hands upon the cover of the box. I was then asked by the
medium, sitting opposite me at the table, with his hands held by two ladies, what I wished
to have written on the card. I said, "We have had writing in English, Latin, Greek,
French, Italian ; I should like something in German." In a moment I heard the sound of
writing—that is, of a pencil on hard paper, inside the little box under my hands. Then
three little raps. I opened the box, and found the card, with four boldly written lines, and
the name of the great poet. I am ashamed to confess that I only know German by sight.