table. They both screamed, and then Jane fainted dead away. The family
rushed into the room as before, and were so frightened that they did not
know what to do. There lay the bed clothes in the corner, Esther all
swollen up, Jane in a dead faint, and perhaps really dead for all they
knew, for by the glare of the lamp, which Dan held in his hand, she
looked more dead than alive. Olive was the first to come to her senses.
Taking up the bed clothes, she placed them over her sisters. Just as she
had done so, off they flew again to the same corner of the room. In less
time than it takes to count three, the pillow flew from under Esther's
head and struck John Teed in the face. He immediately left the room,
saying that he had had enough. He could not be induced to return and sit
on the edge of the bed with the others, who in that way managed to keep
the clothes in their place. Jane had by this time recovered from her
swoon. William Cox went down to the kitchen for a bucket of water to
bathe Esther's head, which was aching terribly. Just as he got to the
door of the room again with the bucket of water, a succession of reports
were heard, which seemed to come from the bed where Esther lay. They
were so very loud that the whole room shook, and Esther, who had a
moment before been swollen up, commenced to assume her natural
appearance, and in a few minutes fell into a pleasant sleep. As
everything seemed now to be all right again, everybody went back to bed.

In the morning Esther and Jane were both very weak, particularly Esther.
She, however, got up when her sister did, and lay down on the sofa in
the parlor. At breakfast they all agreed that a doctor had better be
called in. So in the afternoon Dan left the factory early and went to
see Dr. Caritte. The doctor laughed when Dan told him what had occurred.
He said he would call in the evening and remain until one in the morning
if necessary, but did not hesitate to say that what Dan had told him was
all nonsense, remarking that he knew no such tomfoolery would occur