An account

In August last, I was sleeping in the room with my sister. I think it was the third night after our father's death, and he was lying in a room below. I was aroused out of my sleep with a feeling as if some person had entered the room, and come as far as the foot of the bed when I awoke. I am particularly nervous at all times, of course after the recent event more so than usual ; yet when I awoke, I did not feel the slightest fear, and only wished I could see the time, as I instantly thought I should hear of something having happened at that moment — the more so as our step-mother, we knew, was in a veiy precarious state. My sister awoke at the same time, and on my telling her of my sensations she told me she had felt the same, although she is not in the least of a nervous temperament. In reply to a question whether such an impression was unique in her experience, Mrs. Welch says : — . - <> T never experienced the same feelings before, that I can recollect. c^r i-^--^-'-^-^— ■ (316) In May, 1851, I and my husband, the late E. M. Ward, R.A., / , , ^ ^ had a curious experience which we were at a loss to account for, though it , /'/ .^^^ became a subject of frequent conversation, and every effort was made to ' ; find for it a fitting and rational explanation. We were living at No. 33, Harewood Square. It was in the month ^'^''^* of May, and my husband and I had been to a quiet gathering of friends in the neighbourhood ; we returned about 1 2 o'clock, letting ourselves in, for the servants were in bed, and went straight to our bedroom. Having passed such a quiet, unexciting evening, there was nothing much to talk about, and my husband was quickly in bed and asleep. I very soon followed him, and was just getting into bed, having put out my candle, with my face towards the door, when, much to my surprise, I saw, as though suspended a little distance from the top of the door, a strange, flickering flame ; it was about six inches high, and four inches across the widest part, pear-shaped, and of a blueish lilac tint. I was considerably startled and must have been much agitated, for my husband (as he informed me afterwards) was roused by the sound of my fast beating heart. In reply to his inquiries, I drew his attention to the strange flame which I still saw suspended from the door frame, and whilst we were both wonderingly speculating as to what it could be, it was joined by another flame, similar in every respect, but smaller. Greater still was our surprise when we observed these two mysterious little lights s