Nonsense Novels | Page 7

every twelve months. Then until last night I heard

nothing whatever of Q for a year and a half."
I was now on the tiptoe of expectancy.
"Last night," said Annerly very quietly, "Q appeared in this room, or
rather, a phantasm or psychic manifestation of him. He seemed in great
distress, made gestures which I could not understand, and kept turning
his trouser pockets inside out. I was too spellbound to question him,
and tried in vain to divine his meaning. Presently the phantasm seized a
pencil from the table, and wrote the words, 'Two sovereigns, to-morrow
night, urgent.'"
Annerly was again silent. I sat in deep thought. "How do you interpret
the meaning which Q's phanogram meant to convey?"
"I think," he announced, "it means this. Q, who is evidently dead,
meant to visualise that fact, meant, so to speak, to deatomise the idea
that he was demonetised, and that he wanted two sovereigns to-night."
"And how," I asked, amazed at Annerly's instinctive penetration into
the mysteries of the psychic world, "how do you intend to get it to
him?"
"I intend," he announced, "to try a bold, a daring experiment, which, if
it succeeds, will bring us into immediate connection with the world of
spirits. My plan is to leave two sovereigns here upon the edge of the
table during the night. If they are gone in the morning, I shall know that
Q has contrived to de-astralise himself, and has taken the sovereigns.
The only question is, do you happen to have two sovereigns? I myself,
unfortunately, have nothing but small change about me."
Here was a piece of rare good fortune, the coincidence of which
seemed to add another link to the chain of circumstance. As it happened
I had with me the six sovereigns which I had just drawn as my week's
pay.
"Luckily," I said, "I am able to arrange that. I happen to have money
with me." And I took two sovereigns from my pocket.

Annerly was delighted at our good luck. Our preparations for the
experiment were soon made.
We placed the table in the middle of the room in such a way that there
could be no fear of contact or collision with any of the furniture. The
chairs were carefully set against the wall, and so placed that no two of
them occupied the same place as any other two, while the pictures and
ornaments about the room were left entirely undisturbed. We were
careful not to remove any of the wall-paper from the wall, nor to detach
any of the window-panes from the window. When all was ready the
two sovereigns were laid side by side upon the table, with the heads up
in such a way that the lower sides or tails were supported by only the
table itself. We then extinguished the light. I said "Good night" to
Annerly, and groped my way out into the dark, feverish with
excitement.
My readers may well imagine my state of eagerness to know the result
of the experiment. I could scarcely sleep for anxiety to know the issue.
I had, of course, every faith in the completeness of our preparations, but
was not without misgivings that the experiment might fail, as my own
mental temperament and disposition might not be of the precise kind
needed for the success of these experiments.
On this score, however, I need have had no alarm. The event showed
that my mind was a media, or if the word is better, a transparency, of
the very first order for psychic work of this character.
In the morning Annerly came rushing over to my lodgings, his face
beaming with excitement.
"Glorious, glorious," he almost shouted, "we have succeeded! The
sovereigns are gone. We are in direct monetary communication with
Q."
I need not dwell on the exquisite thrill of happiness which went through
me. All that day and all the following day, the sense that I was in
communication with Q was ever present with me.

My only hope was that an opportunity might offer for the renewal of
our inter-communication with the spirit world.
The following night my wishes were gratified. Late in the evening
Annerly called me up on the telephone.
"Come over at once to my lodgings," he said. "Q's phanogram is
communicating with us."
I hastened over, and arrived almost breathless. "Q has been here again,"
said Annerly, "and appeared in the same distress as before. A
projection of him stood in the room, and kept writing with its finger on
the table. I could distinguish the word 'sovereigns,' but nothing more."
"Do you not suppose," I said, "that Q for some reason which we cannot
fathom, wishes us to again leave two sovereigns for him?"
"By Jove!" said Annerly enthusiastically, "I believe