s closed, and she was motionless.

"Are you still there, Peter?" asked his father, who was not at all
pleased with the presence of Shelby. It seemed to interfere with the
continuous talk he had hitherto enjoyed at the _seances_.

"Yes, father. Is Kit there?"

"Can't you see me, Peter?"

"Not--not clearly. There's a haze in the room."

There was no haze visible to the mortals present, but Shelby went
eagerly on.

"Never mind seeing me, Peter, but do tell me this: What happened to
you?"

"When?" asked the voice, with a far-away, fading sound.

"When--when you died, you know. Oh, Peter, don't go away until you tell
us!"

"Tell you--tell you--what?"

"What killed you? How was it? Did you fall down?"

"I--I fell down, yes."

"In the snowdrifts?"

"Yes, the snow was so cold--"

"But why couldn't you get up? What happened to you? Did any attack----"

"Yes, I was attacked. Attacked by a----"

"What!"

"By a wild animal of some sort."

"Oh, Peter! What was it? Are you sure?"

"No, not sure--but attack by----"

The voice grew fainter and more incoherent, and in a moment the medium
sat up straight and shook her head.

"He was troubled," she said, "I could see him though you couldn't, and
he was sad and worried."

"What about?" asked Shelby, abruptly.

"I'm not sure, but I think because he didn't want to tell the awful
details of his death."

"What were they? Could you see them?"

"Yes," she pushed her loose hair back from her brow, as if exhausted.
"Yes, I saw it like a picture, but like a clouded, indistinct picture.
The poor chap was fighting a wild beast! Oh, it was fearful!" she shut
her eyes and shook her head violently. "That's the worst of it, I see
too clearly."

"Tell us more, then," begged Shelby. "How did Peter look?"

"Glorious, transfigured! His face was shining and his eyes sparkling."

"H'm--queer to look like that when he was so worried."

"Oh, that was before the anxious look came. It is, I fear, difficult for
you to understand the conditions. The discarnate spirit has a sort of
secondary personality, not unlike a hypnotic state, and sometimes this
is jarred by any untoward influence and develops into a delirium, and
the statements cannot then be relied on. A novice always expects a
clear, definite style of speech from a spirit communicating through a
medium. This is not always the case. And the medium must merely take
what comes and repeat it without change or addition. If,