brown wood, a brass rail for the worshipers to put their feet on,
and an empty tumbler to concentrate the power of yearning. If
those present all wish hard enough there is sure to be a
successful reunion with the Beyond."

"But surely," said the fascinated editor, "surely not any--well,
actual MATERIALIZATION?"

"Oh, no; but the communion of souls produces quite sufficient
results. You see, so many fine spirits passed over at once,
suddenly, on that First of July, that the twentieth plane is quite
thronged with them, and they are just as eager to come back as
their friends could be to welcome them. One good yearn deserves
another, as we say. The only time when these seances fail is when
some inharmonious soul is present--some personality not completely
EN RAPPORT with the spirit of the gathering. I remember, for
instance, an occasion when a gentleman from Kentucky had most
ardently desired to get into communication with the astrals of
some mint juleps he had loved very deeply in life. Everything
seemed propitious, but though I struggled hard I simply could not
get the julep spirit to descend to our mortal plane. Finally I
made inquiry and found that one of the guests was a root-beer
manufacturer. Of course you may say that was petty jealousy on the
side of the departed, but even these vanished spirits have their
human phases."

She was silent for a moment.

"You can imagine," she said, "what a perplexity I was in when I
discovered these hitherto unsuspected powers in myself. Was I