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303
The Book of Dreams and Ghosts
·
Andrew Lang
82
THE
RESTRAINING
HAND
"About
twenty
years
ago,"
writes
Mrs.
Elliot,
"I
received
some
letters
by
post,
one
of
which
contained
15
pounds
in
bank
notes.
After
reading
the
letters
I
went
into
the
kitchen
with
them
in
my
hands.
I
was
alone
at
the
time.
.
.
.
Having
done
with
the
letters,
I
made
an
effort
to
throw
them
into
the
fire,
when
I
distinctly
felt
my
hand
arrested
in
the
act.
It
was
as
though
another
hand
were
gently
laid
upon
my
own,
pressing
it
back.
Much
surprised,
I
looked
at
my
hand
and
then
saw
it
contained,
not
the
letters
I
had
intended
to
destroy,
but
the
bank
notes,
and
that
the
letters
were
in
the
other
hand.
I
was
so
surprised
that
I
called
out,
'Who's
here?'"
{80a}
Nobody
will
call
this
"the
touch
of
a
vanished
hand".
Part
of
Mrs.
Elliot's
mind
knew
what
she
was
about,
and
started
an
unreal
but
veracious
feeling
to
warn
her.
We
shall
come
to
plenty
of
Hands
not
so
readily
disposed
of.
Next
to
touch,
the
sense
most
apt
to
be
deceived
is
hearing.
Every
one
who
has
listened
anxiously
for
an
approaching
carriage,
has
often
heard
it
come
before
it
came.
In
the
summer
of
1896
the
writer,
with
a
lady
and
another
companion,
were
standing
on
the
veranda
at
the
back
of
a
house
in
Dumfriesshire,
waiting
for
a
cab
to
take
one
of
them
to
the
station.
They
heard
a
cab
arrive
and
draw
up,
went
round
to
the
front
of
the
house,
saw
the
servant
open
the
door
and
bring
out
the
luggage,
but
wheeled
vehicle
there
was
none
in
sound
or
sight.
Yet
all
four
persons
had
heard
it,
probably
by
dint
of
expectation.
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