Page:In defense of Harriet Shelley, and other essays.djvu/137

 MENTAL TELEGRAPHY

sible, no doubt, but I am persuaded that the solution of this hoary mystery lies not there, but in the fact that some far-off stranger has been telegraphing his thoughts and sensations into your consciousness, and that he stopped because some counter-current or other obstruction intruded and broke the line of communication. Perhaps they seem repetitions to you because they are repetitions, got at second hand from the other man. Possibly Mr. Brown, the &quot;mind-reader,&quot; reads other people s minds, possibly he does not; but I know of a surety that I have read another man s mind, and therefore I do not see why Mr. Brown shouldn t do the like also.

I wrote the foregoing about three years ago, in Heidelberg, and laid the manuscript aside, purposing to add to it instances of mind-telegraphing from time to time as they should fall under my experience. Meantime the &quot;crossing&quot; of letters has been so frequent as to become monotonous. However, I have managed to get something useful out of this hint; for now, when I get tired of waiting upon a man whom I very much wish to hear from, I sit down and compel him to write, whether he wants to or not ; that is to say, I sit down and write him, and then tear my letter up, satisfied that my act has forced him to write me at the same moment. I do not need to mail my letter the writing it is the only essential thing.

Of course I have grown superstitious about this letter-crossing business this was natural. We stayed awhile in Venice after leaving Heidelberg.

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