The Coming of the Fairies

The series of incidents set forth in this little volume represent / either the most elaborate and ingenious hoax ever played upon the / public, or else they constitute an event in human history which may / in the future appear to have been epoch-making in its character. It / is hard for the mind to grasp what the ultimate results may be if we / have actually proved the existence upon the surface of this planet / of a population which may be as numerous as the human race, which / pursues its own strange life in its own strange way, and which is / only separated from ourselves by some difference of vibrations. We / see objects within the limits which make up our colour spectrum, with / infinite vibrations, unused by us, on either side of them. If we could / conceive a race of beings which were constructed in material which / threw out shorter or longer vibrations, they would be invisible unless / we could tune ourselves up or tone them down. It is exactly that power / of tuning up and adapting itself to other vibrations which constitutes / a clairvoyant, and there is nothing scientifically impossible, so / far as I can see, in some people seeing that which is invisible to / others. If the objects are indeed there, and if the inventive power / of the human brain is turned upon the problem, it is likely that some / sort of psychic spectacles, inconceivable to us at the moment, will / be invented, and that we shall all be able to adapt ourselves to the / new conditions. If high-tension electricity can be converted by a / mechanical contrivance into a lower tension, keyed to other uses, then / it is hard to see why something analogous might not occur with the / vibrations of ether and the waves of light.

This, however, is mere speculation and leads me to the fact that early / in May 1920 I heard, in conversation with my friend Mr. Gow, the Editor / of _Light_, that alleged photographs of fairies had been taken. He had / not actually seen them, but he referred me to Miss Scatcherd, a lady / for whose knowledge and judgment I had considerable respect. I got into / touch with her and found that she also had not seen the photographs, / but she had a friend, Miss Gardner, who had actually done so. On May 13 / Miss Scatcherd wrote to me saying that she was getting on the trail, / and including an extract from a letter of Miss Gardner, which ran as / follows. I am quoting actual documents in this early stage, for I think / there are many who would like a complete inside view of all that led up / to so remarkable an episode. Alluding to her brother Mr. Gardner, she / says: