During his stay in the house, Esther often went into a state
very similar to the mesmeric sleep, during which she talked with people
invisible to all present; among others, her dead mother. On coming out
of this strange state she always said she had been to heaven among the
angels.
On several occasions, Bob, the head ghost, tormented her so at night
that it was with difficulty she could remain in bed. On one particular
occasion the author was called up by Dan at midnight so that he might
behold for himself what was going on. After dressing, he went into
Esther's room, and was horrified by the sight which met his gaze. There,
upon the bed, lay the poor, unhappy girl swollen to an enormous size,
her body moving about the bed as if Beelzebub himself were in her, while
between her gasps for breath she exclaimed in agonizing sobs: "Oh, my
God, I wish I were dead! I wish I were dead!"
"Oh, don't say that, Esther," plead Olive, "don't say that."
"Now, Mr. Hubbell," said Jane to the author, "you see how much she
suffers."
"Yes, I see," said Hubbell, "but let us endeavor to hold her, so that
this fiend cannot move her about the bed, and then, perhaps, she will
not suffer so much.
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