Otis Adelbert Kline

“ The word "supernatural" was, after all, only an expression invented by man in his finite ignorance, to define those things which he did not understand. Telegraphy, telephony, the phonograph, the moving picture-all would have been regarded with superstition by an age less advanced than ours. Man had only to become familiar with the laws governing them, in order to discard the word "supernatural" as applied to their manifestations.
What right, then, had I to term the phenomena, which I had just witnessed, supernatural? ”

“ Two years ago your uncle advanced a theory that materialization phenomena were produced by a substance which he termed 'psychoplasm.' After listening to his argument, I was convinced that he was right. Since then, we have attended numerous materialization seances, with the object of securing a sample of this elusive material for examination. It always disappears instantly when bright light is flashed upon it, or when the medium is startled or alarmed, and our efforts in this direction have always been fruitless. ”

“ Miss Randall was awakened by suggestion.
"We now have conclusive proof that your uncle is alive, and in a cataleptic state," said the professor.
"Is there no way to arouse him?" I asked.
"The best thing to do is to let him waken himself, as he directed us to do in the telepathic message. He is, as he says, recuperating from his illness and should not be disturbed. You are, perhaps, unaware that catalepsy, although believed by many people to be a disease, is really no disease at all. ”

“ My eye fell upon two large oak logs, which young Severs had brought for the fireplace, and I said,
"Why not weight the casket with these logs and screw the lid down? No doubt they will carry it out without opening it, and when they are well on their way we can place my uncle in your car and be out of reach before they discover the substitution."
"A capital idea," said the professor. "We will wrap the logs well so they will not rattle, and, as the casket is an especially heavy one, they will be non the wiser until it is opened at the grave." ”

“ The claws thickened into two-toed feet, like those of an ostrich. The head also looked ostrich-like, while the wings were shortened and feathered but not plumed. The bird was much larger than any ostrich or emu I have ever seen, and stalked about majestically, its head nearly touching the ceiling.
Soon it, too, stopped in the center of the room-the neck grew shorter and shorter-the feathers became fur-the wings lengthened into arms which reached below the knees, and I was face to face with a huge, gorilla-like creature. ”

“ How such a thing is possible, I cannot explain any more than I can tell you how psychoplasm is generated. The wonderful powers of the subjective entity are truly amazing. We can only deal with the facts as we find them. Statistics show that no less than one case a week of suspended animation is discovered in the United States. There are, no doubt, hundreds of other cases which are never brought to light. As a usual thing, nowadays, the doctor no sooner pronounces the patient dead than the undertaker is summoned. ”

“ Nature, according to my belief, was only another name for God, eternal mind, omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient ruler of the universe. If He were omnipotent, could anything take place contrary to His laws? ”

“ The farm work was looked after by a family named Severs—man, wife and two sons—who lived in the tenant house, perhaps a thousand feet to the rear of the owner's residence, in convenient proximity to the barn, silos and other farm buildings.
As I have said, my uncle's neighbors believed him to be comfortably well off, but I knew the place was mortgaged to the limit, so that the income from the fertile acres was practically absorbed by overhead expenses and interest.
Had my uncle been a business man in the true sense of the term, no doubt he could have been wealthy. ”

“ One of the best know powers of the subjective mind is that of telepathy, the communication of thoughts or ideas from mind to mind, without the employment of physical means. This message was apparently impressed so strongly on your subjective mind that you spoke it aloud, automatically, almost without the subjective knowledge that you were talking. Assuming that it was a telepathic message, it must necessarily have been projected by some other mind. May we not, therefore, reasonably supposed that the message came from the subjective mind of you uncle? ”

“ I asked them.
"Strange!" said Newberry.
I turned to Glitch, and noticed for the first time that his eyes were wide with fear. He shook his head and cast furtive glaces toward the casket.
"What do you think it is?" I asked.
"A vampire, maybe. A real vampire."
"What do you mean by a real vampire?"
Glitch then described how, in the folk lore of his native land, there were stories current of corpses which lived on in the grave. ”

“ In the meantime the creature had reached the center of the room and stopped. A metamorphosis was now taking place before my eyes. To my surprise, I beheld, in place of a magnified amoeba, a gigantic trilobite, larger, it is true, than any specimen which has ever been found, but, nevertheless, true to form in every detail.
The trilobite, in turn, changed to a brilliantly-hued star-fish with active wriggling tentacles. The star-fish became a crab, and the crab, a porpoise swimming about in the air as if it had been water. ”

“ Sam and Joe Severs were there, and someone reclined in the large morris chair facing the fire. Mrs. Rhodes came bustling in with a steaming tea wagon.
I moved toward the fire, for I was chilled through. As I did so, I glanced toward the occupant of the morris chair, then gave a startled cry.
The man in the chair was Uncle Jim!
"Hello, Billy," he said. "How are you, my boy?"
For a moment I was speechless. "Uncle Jim!" I managed to stammer. "Is it really you, or am I dreaming again?"
Ruth squeezed my arm reassuringly. "Don't be afraid. It is really your uncle." ”

“ We are evidently so well watched that it would be impossible for anyone to go for help. Of course, they cannot harm my deceased uncle by driving a stake through the corpse, but to permit these barbarians to carry out their purpose would be to desecrate the memory of the best friend I ever had. ”

“ As far as we are able to learn, psychoplasm is produced only by, or through, living persons, and in nearly every instance it occurs only when the person acting as medium is in a state of catalepsy, or suspended animation. As most of the manifestations took place in the room where your uncle's body lay, and as he is the only one in the house likely to be in that state, I assume that your uncle's soul still inhabits his body. ”

“ There was a closed automobile waiting for him in front of the house, and he ran back to it and was driven away at high speed."
"I must dress and go downstairs at once," I said.
"You must do no such thing," replied Miss. Randall. "The doctor's orders are that you must keep perfectly quiet until your ribs heal."
I heard a swift footfall on the stairs, and a moment later the professor entered the room, very much excited.
"Two farmers," he said, "poked shotguns in my face and searched me on the public highway. That's what just happened to me!" ”

“ I know that there are few men who will not rush to the rescue of a woman in distress and I asked her to call for help in order to divert the mob from the grave. She thought of the bat idea herself, and I must say it worked most excellently.
"While everyone was gone, Joe and Sam, who had stationed themselves nearby, came and helped me remove your uncle from the casket. As we did so, I noticed signs of returning consciousness, brought about in some measure, no doubt, by the rude jolting of the casket. Then the boys carried him to the house, while I replaced the lid. ”

“ Owing to the fact that at least one member of nearly every family in this community has been smitten with peculiar malady, in some instances fatal, since the death of James Braddock, and in view of the undeniable evidence that the corpse of the aforesaid had become a vampire, proven by certain things which you, in company with two respected and veracious neighbors witnessed, an indignation meeting was held today, attended by more than one hundred residents, for the purpose of discussing ways and means of combating this terrible menace to the community. ”

“ My better judgment, however, soon convinced me that there could not be such a thing as a vampire, and, even if there were, a man whose character had been so noble as that of my deceased uncle would most certainly never resort to such hideous and revolting practices. ”

“ In my hand I carried a huge knotted club, and my sole article of clothing seemed to be a tiger skin, girded about my waist and falling half way to my knees.
A queer-looking creature, half rhinoceros, half horse, ran across my pathway. Following closely behind it, in hot pursuit was a huge reptilian monster, in outline something like a kangaroo, in size larger than the largest elephant. Its monstrous serpentlike head towered more than twenty-five feet in the air as it suddenly stopped and stood erect on its hind feet and tail, apparently giving up the chase. ”

“ The only true vampire bat is found in South America, although there is a type of frugivorous bat slightly resembling it, which inhabits the southeast coast of Asia and Maylayan Archipelago, and is sometimes erroneously called a vampire or spectre bat. You have described in detail a creature greatly resembling the true vampire bat, but it is probable that what you saw was no bat at all. ”

“ He laid my uncle gently on the floor and faced the men.
"Gentlemen," he said, "may I ask the reason for this sudden and unwarranted intrusion in a peaceful home?"
"Ve are going to bury dot vampire corpse wit a stake t'rough its heart. Dot's vot," replied Glitch.
"What would you do if I were to tell you that this man is not dead, but alive?" asked the professor.
"Alive or dead, he's gonna be buried tonight," said a burly ruffian, stepping up to my uncle. "One o' you guys help me get this in the coffin."
A tall, lean farmer stepped up and leaned his gun against the casket. ”

“ I thought, "having one's ribs broken is not such an unpleasant experience."
Then her father, entered—and my thoughts were turned into new channels.
"Doctor Rush has made a thorough examination," he said, "and can find absolutely no sign of decomposition on your uncle's body. He frankly admits that he is puzzled by this condition, and that it is a case entirely outside his previous experience. He states that, from the condition of the corpse, he would have been led to believe that death took place only a few hours ago." ”

“ One is by burning the corpse of the offender, the other is by burial with a stake driven through the heart. We have decided on the latter as the more simple and easily carried out.
"You are therefore directed to convey the corpse to the pine grove which is situated a half mile back from the road on your uncle's farm, where you will find a grave ready dug, and six men who will see that the body is properly interred. You have until eight o'clock his evening to carry out these instructions.
"To refuse to do as directed will avail you nothing. ”

“ Miss Randall called that the room was ready. The professor and I carefully lifted my uncle from the casket and were about to take him from the room, when a gruff voice commanded:
"Schtop!"
A dozen masked men, armed indiscriminately with shotguns, rifles and revolvers, were standing in the hall. We could hear the stamping of many more on the porch. I recognized the voice and figure of the leader of those of Glitch.
"Back in der coffin," he said, pointing a double-barreled shotgun at me. "Poot him back, or I blow your tam head off." ”

“ Joe Severs, older son of my uncle's tenant, stepped out and came running toward me.
"Glitch's wife died this morning," he panted, "and he swears Mr. Braddock is a vampire and sucked her blood."
"What rot!" I replied. "Nobody believes him, of course?"
"I ain't so sure of that," said Joe. "Some of the farmers are takin' it mighty serious. One of the Langdon boys, first farm north of here, was took sick this mornin'. Doctor don't know what's the matter of him. Folks say it looks mighty queer." ”

“ I can see him. He is flying around us in a circle now. Don't you see him flying there?" and she described an arc with her hand. "You men have guns. Shoot him. Drive him away."
Glitch spoke, "It's der vampire again. Ve'll put a schtop to dis business right now. Come one, men."
We started back to the grove. I was nonplussed—mystified. Perhaps there was such a thing as a vampire, after all. But no, that could not be. She was only the victim of overwrought nerves.
Once more we stood beside the grave. Two men were screwing down the coffin lid. The three with the stake and sledges stood ready. ”

“ You may take cold."
"Oh I feel quite comfortable enough." I said. Newberry stirred the logs in the fireplace to a blaze, and we moved our chairs close to the flickering circle of warmth. The dim light was still burning in the corner of the room, and Glitch was snoring on the davenport.
"Funny thing," said Newberry, "the instructions your uncle left." ”

“ Newberry," she said. "My husband is dreadfully ill, and asked me to tell you that he cannot come to sit up with you tonight."
I thanked the lady, offered my condolences, and tendered my sincere wishes for her husband's speedy recovery. This done, I wrote a note of sympathy to Mr. Glitch, and dispatched Joe with it.
Here, indeed, was a pretty situation. Glitch's wife dead, Newberry seriously ill, and the whole countryside, frightened by this impossible vampire story! I knew it would be useless to ask any of the other neighbors to keep watch with me. ”