"
He deliberately detached himself from his mood of keen expectation, and
ardently resolved to anticipate nothing. And at this moment the table
began to shift along the carpet, to twist under their hands, to rap, to
tremble, and to pulsate, as if breath had entered into it. Like some live
animal it stirred beneath their pressing fingers.
"It is beginning," Julian whispered.
"Animal magnetism," Valentine murmured.
"Yes, of course," Julian replied. "Shall I ask--"
"Hush!" Valentine interrupted.
Julian was silent.
For some time the table continued its stereotyped performances. Then
it tremblingly ceased, and stood, mere dead furniture of every day, wood
on which lay the four hands made deliberately limp. A long period of
unpopulated silence ensued, and through that silence, very gradually,
came again to Valentine a growing sense of anxiety. At first he fought
against it as most men, perhaps out of self-respect, fight against the
entrance of fear into their souls. Then he yielded to it, and let it
crawl over him, as the sea crawls over flat sands. And the sea left no
inch of sand uncovered. Every cranny of Valentine's soul was flooded.
There was no part of it which did not shudder with apprehension.
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