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The tap by Arthur Edwards Chapman.
Mentally, I cursed the tap. If

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I had risen once to turn it
off. I had risen half a dozen

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times during the last quarter of an
hour, and still the disconcerting drip,

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drip drip continued. This was my
first night in the new flat, and

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after Missus Biggs, who came in
to do the cleaning and prepare my meals,

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had wished me good night, I
had settled down to run off a

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short article which I had promised to
deliver by morning. The words had flowed

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from my pen with scarcely an effort, and probably for this very reason,

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the incident stands out in my memory
more vividly than would otherwise have been the

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case. I recollect that I had
paused my writing to consider more deeply a

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certain point in my article. Glancing
up at the clock, I had noticed

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the hands indicating a quarter to eleven, and as I took up my pen

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afresh, I heard that drip,
drip drip of the tap in the bathroom.

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For a few minutes, I paid
no attention to the sound and continued

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writing, but presently came so loud
and insistent that I found myself counting the

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drops unconsciously, drip drip, drip, a loose washer, I said to

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myself, I'll get a plumber tomorrow. Rising, I proceeded to the bathroom

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and turned the tap off so far
as I was able. Then I went

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back to my desk, but barely
had I picked up my pen, then

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the sound recommenced. Drip, drip, drip. I tried to ignore it,

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but without success. The very quietness
of the building seemed to intensify the

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noise, until to listen to it
became painful. I must have gone at

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least four times to try and screw
the confounded thing off. And as surely

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as I returned to my chair,
believing I had fixed it, just as

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surely would that dripping begin anew.
With an exclamation of annoyance, I rose

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to my feet once more, and
then suddenly I became aware that the drip

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drip, drip was changing slowly,
gradually to a full rush of water,

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as though someone were turning on the
tap to its fullest extent. Surprise,

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I hurried to the bathroom, and
as I approached the door, I heard

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the little window blow open with a
loud bang, and a great gust of

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air enfolded me air of so icy
a coldness that I shivered involuntarily, grumbling

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at the carelessness of missus Biggs,
and leaving the window unfastened, I closed

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it hastily and made it secure,
shooting home the tiny bolt that a previous

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tenant had for some reason placed on
the bottom frame. After stopping the tap,

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which by some strange freak had turned
itself on, I closed the bathroom

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door and returned to my work with
a renewed resolve to send for the plumber

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on the morrow. It was some
time, however, before I was able

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fully to concentrate again, for I
kept breaking off to listen for that drip,

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drip, drip. I listened in
vain, for the tiresome sound was

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not renewed, and though I wrote
for at least an hour longer, I

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did not hear it again that night. Next morning, I put my resolve

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into practice, and in due course
my friend, the plumber arrived. After

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spending considerable time in the bathroom,
he came in to report to me.

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Didn't seem to be anything wrong,
sir, he assured me. But I've

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put a new washer on and it'll
be right enough now, sir, I'll

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bob in again, though, just
to see it's going proper. Apparently he

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was right, for I did not
hear the tap at all during the day.

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Once, after Missus Biggs had gone, I visited the bathroom to inspect

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the job, and was quite convinced
that the dripping would not cause me further

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inconvenience. Also, I took the
opportunity of seeing that the bathroom window was

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securely fastened, and thus satisfied,
I returned to my study. I got

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thoroughly warmed up to my work and
was totally oblivious to everything but the scratch

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of my pen as it sped across
the smooth surface of the paper. All

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else seemed wrapped in a quietness like
that of a tropical night, a quietness

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paradoxically emphasized by the multitude of familiar
sounds that, strangely enough, failed to

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impress themselves upon one's mind solely by
reason of their very insistence. The ticking

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of the clock on the wall before
me, the following of an occasional coal

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from the grate, These and other
commonplace noises served only to heighten the deadly

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stillness of my room. Then,
suddenly, as I wrote, I became

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conscious of a new sound, an
accompaniment. It seemed to the scratch of

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my pen. Drip, drip,
drip. It pierced the silence like a

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rapier pierces a heart. It forced
itself upon me so harshly that I dropped

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my pen and stuffed my fingers into
my ears to shut it out. As

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I did so, I raised my
head and found myself gazing with a feeling

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akin to fear at the clock.
It was exactly a quarter to eleven.

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For an instant, I stared,
and a cold shiver ran down my spine.

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Was it merely coincidence or was there
something uncanny about the tap? A

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quarter to eleven? Slowly, fearfully, I turned my head toward the door,

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half expecting to see some awful apparition
come gliding through. Then I laughed

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somewhat nervously, I must admit at
my childish dread, and got sharply to

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my feet. Hang it all My
nerves were all on edge. I was

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working too hard. A rest would
do me good. Drip drip, drip.

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Nothing strange about that. Surely,
I thought I would have it out

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with my friend the plumber all the
same. Meanwhile, I must try and

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check the dripping. As I entered
the bathroom, the tap, seeming to

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protest against my interference, began to
drip faster, and I reached out my

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hand to stop it. Then I
felt a peculiar, stinging, burning sensation

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of intense cold across the backs of
my hands, as though someone were passing

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a piece of ice over them,
and the knob of the tap began slowly

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to unscrew itself. It was weird
uncanny. I cannot adequately describe it.

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I tried to resist that unseen force, but was powerless against it. Nor

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could I withdraw my hands from the
tap. They were numb with that fake

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coldness, and pressed on by invisible
fingers against the metal, while the screw

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slowly turned round and round before my
very eyes, and the drip drip became

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a swift dribble. And then an
awful, nameless error took possession of me.

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I strove to flee, but could
not. I turned my head away,

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but some strange power impelled me to
return my gaze to the tap that

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kept on slowly turning, turning.
My heart beat madly against my ribs.

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I was hot and cold. Alternately, I think I went mad and struggled

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wildly to escape that horrible influence.
Then, as the screw reached its limit

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and the water gushed forth, the
little window suddenly was flung open, and

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an icy blast met me and sent
me staggering back against the wall. For

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a few minutes I leaned there,
striving to steady my racked nerves and collect

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my scattered wits. But now all
was still and quiet, save for the

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rushing of the water. Mechanically,
I crossed to the basin and turned the

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tap off, afterward closing and fastening
the window. Now I was able to

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think more calmly, and endeavored to
probe the mystery of this strange happening.

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But try as I would, I
could not explain it. I had always

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been a skeptic where spiritualism was concerned, and yet the next day passed quite

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as usual, And though on several
occasions I entered the bathroom, there was

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no indication of anything out of the
ordinary about the place. The tap was

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behaving just as any self respecting tap
should. During the evening I received a

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visit from an old college chum Rolph
Greatrix. In the old days we had

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fought many a wordy battle on matters
relating to psychic research. For Greatrix was

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a keen student of the subject,
whereas I, as I have intimated,

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was openly a scoffer. Remembering thus, I took the opportunity of telling him

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of my experience of the previous night. When I had finished my tale,

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Greatrix was silent for a space.
Then he turned and looked at me queerly,

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and said, rather irrelevantly, I
thought, do you remember the Goldstone

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murder which created such a sensation some
six months ago? I said, I

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had a slight recollection of the affair. A certain theatrical manager of the name

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of Goldstone had murdered his wife in
a fit of jealousy. Wasn't it yes,

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Greatrix agreed slowly, Well, the
crime was committed in this flat.

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Now it was my turn to stare
curiously in this flat, I repeated,

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taking out my cigarette case and offering
it to him. Great Tricks nodded.

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Let me refresh your memory a little, he said, lighting up. This

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Goldstone was known to be insanely jealous
of his young wife. It was said

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that he suspected her of being unduly
interested in a certain actor who was then

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playing lead in Goldstone's company. Well, one night, a Sunday, it

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was Goldstone was returning to his flat
when he passed the actor in the street.

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Immediately, Goldstone's jealousy was aroused in
his mind. There was but one

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explanation. His wife had taken advantage
of his absence to receive her lover.

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Oh, I seem to remember that, I interrupted. It was proved afterwards

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that the actor had just left some
friends further up the street, and whose

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company he had been all the evening. Wasn't that it? Yes, you're

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right, Greatrick said, But Goldstone
didn't know that. All he thought of

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was the supposed faithlessness of his wife. His previous suspicions seemed to be more

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than justified, and he entered the
flat with murder in his heart. His

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wife was just retiring and had gone
into the bathroom for a glass of water,

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which she was in the habit of
taking last thing at night. She

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had just turned on the tap marked
this well, and was reaching for the

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glass when Goldstone burst in upon her. Greatrix paused and gazed into the fireplace.

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That would be some time, just
before eleven, he said, reflectively,

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Just before eleven, I shot the
question suddenly, that's the time the

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tap starts to drip. My friend
nodded his head slowly and continued. She

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hadn't time to fill the glass before
Goldstone had her by the throat. You

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know the rest A policeman heard her
scream and forced an entry, but it

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was too late. He finished speaking
and bent to poke the dying fire into

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a last despairing flame. I gazed
at him half doubtfully, Then you think,

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I began? I believe, he
said deliberately, that the spirit of

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the dead woman is seeking to complete
the action which the mind conceived but the

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body was unable to carry out.
You mean that the thought uppermost in the

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woman's mind when death overtook her was
to obtain a glass of water, and

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that the spirit will not rest in
peace until this thought becomes translated into action,

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Yes, he said, and then
stopped short, listening intently. I

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had heard the sound also, and
knew that the hour had come. Glancing

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quickly at the clock, I saw
that it was a quarter to eleven,

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and as the drip, drip drip
slowly became louder, I felt something of

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that fear of the previous night.
Returning. Greatrix rose sharply and flung his

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half consumed cigarette into the fireplace,
a strange, far off look in his

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eyes. Come, he said quietly, and I followed him, not without

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some misgivings, to the bathroom.
As he pushed open the door, my

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eyes instinctively sought out the tap,
and I saw that it was slowly turning,

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turning for an instant. Friend watched
in silence. Then suddenly he crossed

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to the basin, and taking a
glass from the shelf above, held it

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under the tap, which now was
running swiftly. Wonderingly, I watched him,

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shivering a little as I felt an
icy wave passed by me. But

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great Tricks did not appear to notice
anything, And placing the glass, now

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full, on the basin, he
came quickly to my side. Watch,

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he said simply. Together we gazed
at that glass of water, and then,

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with a shock, I realized that
it was moving slowly, almost imperceptibly.

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At first it began to float upward, as though raised by an invisible

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hand. Fascinated, horrified, I
watched the upward course, and I think

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I would have rushed forward had not
my companion held me back with a warning

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arm higher the glass went, and
that invisible hand began to tilt it so

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that it seemed as if the contents
must be spilled to the floor. No

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drop fell, however, Instead I
saw the water slowly disappearing, vanishing into

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the air, until the last drop
was gone. I felt my head throbbing,

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my heart began to raise. I
could stand it no longer, and

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with a cry, I flung aside
my friend's restraining hand and darted wildly forward.

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With a loud crash, the window
burst open, and as I fell

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back before the fierceness of that inrush
of air, the glass freed from the

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invisible power, tumbled to the floor, where it shattered into a hundred fragments.

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With an effort, I combed myself
and turned to Greatrix, who was

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still standing with his back against the
wall, a vacant look in his eyes

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and a faint smile of an understanding
and relief on his lips. What what

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was it? I stammered? What
does it mean? Quietly he answered,

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as he turned toward me. It
means that the unexpressed thought has become an

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actuality. The spirit will trouble you
no more. My friend, the plumber

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came as he had promised, to
see how his job had gone on well,

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sir, he said, I dare
bet as how that tap ain't dripping

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now, eh? I smiled thoughtfully, No, I replied slowly. It

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doesn't drip now, I thought.
Is how I'd fix it? He exclaimed

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with professional pride. What I don't
know about tap? Saint worth wasting breath

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on end of the tap,