ISBN: 9781153682381

Excerpt: ...accident or illusory suggestion would have force to bring it to the surface. I wish I knew what you were driving at, said Rulledge. You remember Ormond, don''t you? … More...

Excerpt: ...accident or illusory suggestion would have force to bring it to the surface. I wish I knew what you were driving at, said Rulledge. You remember Ormond, don''t you? asked Wanhope, turning suddenly to me. Perfectly, I said. I-he isn''t living, is he? No; he died two years ago. I thought so, I said, with the relief that one feels in not having put a fellow-creature out of life, even conditionally. You knew Mrs. Ormond, too, I believe, the psychologist pursued. I owned that I used to go to the Ormonds'' house. Then you know what a type she was, I suppose, he turned to the others, and as they''re both dead it''s no contravention of the club etiquette against talking of women, to speak of her. I can''t very well give the instance-the sign-that Rulledge is seeking without speaking of her, unless I use a great deal of circumlocution. We all urged him to go on, and he went on. I had the facts I''m going to give, from Mrs. Ormond. You know that the Ormonds left New York a couple of years ago? He happened to look at Minver as he spoke, and Minver answered: No; I must confess that I didn''t even know they had left the planet. Wanhope ignored his irrelevant ignorance. They went to live provisionally at a place up the Housatonic road, somewhere-perhaps Canaan; but it doesn''t matter. Ormond had been suffering some time with an obscure affection of the heart- Oh, come now! said Rulledge. You''re not going to spring anything so pat as heart-disease on us? Acton is all ears, said Minver, nodding toward me. He hears the weird note afar. The psychologist smiled. I''m afraid you''re not interested. I''m not much interested myself in these unrelated instances. Oh, no! Don''t! Do go on! the different entreaties came, and after a little time taken to recover his lost equanimity, Wanhope went on: I don''t know whether you knew that Ormond had rather a peculiar dread of death. We none of us could affirm that we did, and again Wanhope... William Dean Howells, Books, Fiction and Literature, Fiction, Questionable Shapes Books>Fiction and Literature>Fiction <

ISBN: 9781153682381

The incident was of a dignity which the supernatural has by no means always had, and which has been more than ever lacking in it since the manifestations of professional spiritualism bega… More...

The incident was of a dignity which the supernatural has by no means always had, and which has been more than ever lacking in it since the manifestations of professional spiritualism began to vulgarize it. Hewson appreciated this as soon as he realized that he had been confronted with an apparition. He had been very little agitated at the moment, and it was not till later, when the conflict between sense and reason concerning the fact itself arose, that he was aware of any perturbation. Even The incident was of a dignity which the supernatural has by no means always had, and which has been more than ever lacking in it since the manifestations of professional spiritualism began to vulgarize it. Hewson appreciated this as soon as he realized that he had been confronted with an apparition. He had been very little agitated at the moment, and it was not till later, when the conflict between sense and reason concerning the fact itself arose, that he was aware of any perturbation. Even then, amidst the tumult of his whirling emotions he had a sort of central calm, in which he noted the particulars of the occurrence with distinctness and precision. He had always supposed that if anything of the sort happened to him he would be greatly frightened, but he had not been at all frightened, so far as he could make out. His hair had not risen, or his cheek felt a chill; his heart had not lost or gained a beat in its pulsation; and his prime conclusion was that if the Mysteries had chosen him an agent in approaching the material world they had not made a mistake. Books, Fiction~~General, Questionable-Shapes~~William-Dean-Howells, 999999999, Questionable Shapes, William Dean Howells, 1153682389, General Books LLC, , , , , General Books LLC<

ISBN: 9781153682381

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