Page:The Naturalisation of the Supernatural.pdf/376

356 Mr. Carter Bligh writes:

"4th Jun. 1898.

"I must apologise for delay in replying to your note. . . . I have much pleasure in being able to state that Mr. Fred Lane on the morning of the 16th ult. at rehearsal at the Adelphi Theatre told me among others in a jocular and chaffing way (not believing in it for an instant) how he probably would be called upon to play 'Captain Thomas' that night as he had dreamt that something serious had happened to Terriss. I forget now, and therefore do not attempt to repeat, the exact words Mr. Lane used as to the reason (in the dream) why Mr. Terriss would not appear that night, but I have a distinct recollection of him saying that he (Terriss) could not do so, because of his having dreamt that something had happened. It was all passed over very lightly in the same spirit in which it was given, i. e., in the spirit of unbelieving banter."

Mr. Creagh Henry, another member of the company, wrote on the 20th January to say that on the morning of the 16th December he heard Mr. Lane relate a dream in which he had seen Mr. Terriss "upon the landing where he died, surrounded by several people who were supporting him in what appeared to be a fit."

It seems here that the dream-vision presented a fairly accurate and detailed picture of the event. The dream was not of a common type, and it is difficult to dismiss it as merely a chance-coincidence. But neither in this case nor in the one related by Mrs. McAlpine is it necessary to suppose that for the seer the veil of the future was momentarily lifted.

The lines of telepathic influence, as we have had