It so happened that the circumstances of fate allowed me to follow my
own bent in the choice of a profession. From my earliest youth the
weird, the mysterious had an irresistible fascination for me. Having
private means, I resolved to follow my unique inclinations, and I am now
well known to all my friends as a professional exposer of ghosts, and
one who can clear away the mysteries of most haunted houses. Up to the
present I have never had cause to regret my choice, but at the same time
I cannot too strongly advise any one who thinks of following my example
to hesitate before engaging himself in tasks that entail time, expense,
thankless labour, often ridicule, and not seldom great personal danger.
To explain, by the application of science, phenomena attributed to
spiritual agencies has been the work of my life. I have, naturally, gone
through strange difficulties in accomplishing my mission. I propose in
these pages to relate the histories of certain queer events, enveloped
at first in mystery, and apparently dark with portent, but,
nevertheless, when grappled with in the true spirit of science, capable
of explanation.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
I