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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Born Again, by Alfred Lawson
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Born Again
+
+Author: Alfred Lawson
+
+Release Date: October 4, 2006 [EBook #19459]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BORN AGAIN ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Jerry Kuntz as part of the Lawson's Progress
+Project, http://www.lawsonsprogress.com
+
+
+
+
+
+Born Again
+
+by Alfred Lawson
+
+DEDICATION
+
+One day, not many years ago, while walking along a street in Detroit,
+Michigan, I was stopped by a ragged and forlorn beggar, with the request
+for a few cents to buy something to eat.
+
+I gave him a dime and walking on a few paces stopped to observe his
+following movements. Contrary to my supposition that perhaps he would
+enter a saloon and buy whiskey he went as fast as his weary legs would
+carry him in a straight course toward a restaurant on the opposite side
+of the street.
+
+As he was about to enter the place his attention was attracted by a more
+pitiable wretch than himself standing outside who had but one leg, was
+partly blind, and whose nose was almost eaten off by disease.
+
+He paused for a moment and looked sympathetically at the crippled beggar
+and then started again toward the door of the restaurant, but before
+entering he stopped once more to take another look, and after a few
+moments' hesitation he deliberately turned about, handed the other
+fellow the dime and walked away without feeding himself.
+
+Of all the heroic deeds I have ever witnessed, I recollect none quite so
+grand and noble as this act, for notwithstanding this poor beggar may
+have been heir to every other weakness a human being could possibly
+contract, still he contained that spark of unselfish love for his fellow
+beings, without which no man is more than a mere brute, and for that
+reason I respectfully dedicate this work to his memory.
+
+ALFRED WILLIAM LAWSON.
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+Judging from my own experience it is my opinion that many strange and
+wonderful events have happened during the past in which man took part,
+that have never been recorded.
+
+Many reasons could be given for this, but the main causes perhaps, are
+that the participants have lacked the intelligence, education or
+literary ability to properly describe them.
+
+In these respects I must admit my own inferiority. But I feel that
+should I not promulgate an account of my own remarkable life for the
+benefit of mankind then I would betray the trust nature has confided in
+me.
+
+So I warn the exquisite literary critic and the over-polished individual
+who prefer fancy phrases to logical ideas, that this work may somewhat
+jar their delicate senses of perception.
+
+And having offered these few remarks I shall introduce myself to the
+reader. My name is John Convert. The earth is my home and country. All
+men are my kin, be they white, black, red, yellow or brown. I was born
+somewhere on the Atlantic Ocean between Liverpool and New York while my
+parents were emigrating from England to America. My mother died giving
+me birth.
+
+Whether or not it was because I first saw the light of day while in a
+state of transit that caused me afterwards to acquire a thirst for
+travel and adventure I cannot say, but true it is that during my whole
+life I have been constantly moving from place to place. Then again my
+father was a Methodist preacher and the good Lord ostensibly sent calls
+to him from every nook and corner of the United States, for as long as I
+can remember he too was continually changing abiding places. In fact, it
+seems to me now when I look back that he seldom preached twice from the
+same pulpit. Whether this was due to bad preaching or because he had the
+courage to tell the good church folk many plain truths concerning
+themselves, I know not, but I do know that in many ways my father was a
+very good man, and also a very learned man--perhaps a little too learned
+to be wise, for, like most great scholars he may have forced so much
+book stuff into his brain that he left no room for progressive thoughts
+of his own. He was, however, quite unlike many clergymen of the present
+time who apparently think and certainly act as if their main work was to
+flatter and amuse the women.
+
+My father was straightforward, honest, kind and truthful. He was
+dogmatic in his religious beliefs, combative by nature and never happier
+than when fighting the Devil in his own corner, as he expressed it.
+Furthermore, he was haughty, stubborn and egotistical, and these traits
+of character I inherited from him. But while I honestly inherited
+combativeness, stubbornness and egotism from my father, these
+characteristics became very objectionable to him when displayed by
+myself. So from my earliest childhood days there was a continual tug of
+war between us to see who would be master of the house.
+
+There was one inheritance I received from my father, however, that I
+have always felt profoundly grateful to him for, namely, a sound
+physical constitution. One of his earnest teachings, which, by the way,
+was generally ridiculed, was that parents should not bring children into
+the world unless they themselves had led temperate lives and were in
+perfect health. In this respect he lived as he preached and practiced
+temperateness in all things.
+
+As I grew up I was taught to take care of myself physically, as well as
+mentally and morally. At the age of eleven I was as large and strong as
+most boys of sixteen, and at sixteen there were few men who could outdo
+me in feats of strength and endurance. My education was limited to what
+I learned at the different public schools which I attended, and without
+exception I was always rated as the very worst boy of the whole
+institution. I do not believe that ever a day passed that I was not sent
+to the principal for refractory conduct, and in many instances I was
+suspended or expelled entirely. Fighting was my chief offence as I was
+always ready and anxious for a fistic encounter with any boy who was
+willing to battle. In short, I was a very unruly child with an
+independent spirit, who recognized the authority of nobody to give
+arbitrary commands. In consequence of these facts my father and I had
+frequent altercations and as my innate love for travel and adventure
+asserted itself I ran away from home when but eleven years old, an age
+when most children are mere babies, and started out in the world to
+paddle my own canoe.
+
+I began to earn my own living by selling newspapers on the streets of
+Chicago, and from that time on became a wanderer upon the face of the
+earth; working at various occupations and engaging in many schemes and
+pursuits in an endeavor to pay my way through life, and during the next
+eleven years I not only visited every part of the United States, but
+nearly every country in the world, during which time I experienced
+enough adventures to fill many books if put into print, but as they have
+no bearing upon this narrative I must pass them by without mention. And
+so at the age of twenty-two, being then a worthless vagabond, I was
+aboard a three-masted schooner working my way from Australia to England
+as a common sailor. That was during the year of 1881.
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+Phrenologists after studying the bumps on my head have invariably told
+me that I lacked diplomacy. This, as I understand it, simply means an
+incapability of acting the hypocrite. And it does seem under the present
+system of human existence, that he who fails to practice hypocrisy finds
+innumerable obstacles to overcome, which otherwise might be avoided. So,
+lacking in this virtue, as diplomacy is sometimes styled, led me into
+trouble with nearly everybody with whom I had any dealings. Indeed, had
+it not been for this very defect in my nature, I should not have been
+forced to pass through the most remarkable life, I think, ever
+experienced by living man. And so the ship had barely passed out of the
+harbor before I had undiplomatically aroused the enmity of all the other
+seamen, and within two weeks I was thoroughly detested by every man
+aboard from the captain to the cook. The crew was composed of an
+unusually tough set of characters who avowed from the beginning that
+they did not like Yankees and would make life insufferable for me before
+reaching the next port. Fist fights became frequent and each one of the
+sailors took a "punch at my head" at different times, only to learn that
+I enjoyed that kind of sport and retaliated in a way that laid the
+offender up for repairs afterward. The fact that in these encounters I
+always gained an easy victory over my opponents caused a more intense
+feeling of bitterness to exist than ever, and to make matters worse the
+captain's wife, who was the only woman on the ship, took sides with me
+against all the others. This apparently angered the captain, for on one
+occasion, after he had given orders to have me put in irons for breaking
+one of my shipmate's ribs, and she interceded in my behalf, he became
+furious and threatened to have me thrown overboard. This threat,
+however, only had the effect of making me more stubborn and defiant. As
+a cowboy I had fought Indians and real bad men in the western states of
+America, hunted elephants in Africa, tigers in India, and roughed it as
+a gold seeker in Australia until I had become hardened against danger
+and absolutely fearless, so that a menace against my life did not worry
+me in the least. In fact, I really enjoyed the situation and dared the
+captain to do his worst.
+
+We had been out of Sydney about four weeks, and although I did not know
+the exact latitude and longitude, I imagined we must have been a
+considerable distance to the south and east of Cape Colony. It seems to
+me now that I heard somebody say we were a little further south of the
+regular course taken by vessels sailing around the Cape. It was one of
+those pleasant nights in December, which one must experience in southern
+waters to appreciate, that I took my turn on watch in the forward part
+of the boat. It was past midnight and one of the darkest nights I have
+ever known. The sea was rather calm but a good breeze astern caused the
+ship to make good headway. I was all alone and paced back and forth from
+side to side peering out into space and darkness ahead. Occasionally, I
+would remain for several minutes leaning against one of the railings.
+Except for the splashing of the sea against the side of the ship, all
+was quiet. As I stood in one of my meditative moods, looking straight
+ahead, I was suddenly attracted by something which caused me to turn
+quickly and look in the opposite direction, and then I observed the
+forms of four men coming quickly toward me, but before I realized their
+object or had time to speak, they grabbed me by the arms and legs. I
+struggled furiously for several moments and freeing my hands, dealt one
+of them a vicious punch which felled him to the deck, and it seemed for
+awhile that I would shake them all off, when suddenly I received a
+terrible blow on the side of my head which partially stunned me, and
+during the instant of inactivity on my part I was raised bodily high in
+the air and plunged overboard into the waters below.
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+It was in a semi-conscious state that I struck the water head foremost,
+and it was by instinct, I suppose, that I immediately started to swim
+away from the side of the vessel.
+
+Although I was a powerful swimmer it seemed as if I should never reach
+the surface again. The sudden and unexpected plunge had caused me to go
+into the sea with my mouth open and thereby swallow a large quantity of
+salt water. When almost on the verge of strangulation, however, by a
+supreme effort I finally managed to reach the air again, more dead than
+alive. It was then some time before I regained my breath and fully
+understood what had happened. I assure the reader that it was not a very
+pleasant sensation to find myself out in the middle of the ocean without
+even the support of a life preserver and the ship sailing away in the
+distance. During my adventurous career I had faced death a score of
+times without the slightest emotion or semblance of fright, but as I
+floated about on that broad expanse of water alone I then realized for
+the first time in my life what a tiny, helpless microbe I really was.
+
+Oh, you little mortal known as man; you microscopical mixture of
+protoplasm and egotism; you atomical speck of ignorance and avarice; you
+who believe that the earth, moon, stars and all creation was
+manufactured for your special benefit; if you could only be shown your
+actual size in the universe as I was on that occasion, I think it would
+result in the eradication of some of your innate vanity and selfishness,
+thereby proving an incalculable blessing to you.
+
+And now at last I was placed in a position whereby I could feel and
+reflect upon my own littleness. I had absolutely no hope of being saved
+from a watery grave, feeling that it was only a matter of an hour or two
+before I should succumb to the inevitable and sink to the bottom of the
+sea. Still I was unwilling to give up the few bones entrusted to my care
+until finally overcome by exhaustion and so I kept afloat by lying on my
+back and exerting myself as little as possible.
+
+At length, however, my strength gave way entirely and I felt that the
+time had arrived when I must come face to face with the God whom I had
+been taught to believe in from infancy according to the Christian faith.
+Then it seemed that a million thoughts crowded themselves into my brain
+at the same time.
+
+How would He receive me? What dire judgment would He pass upon me? Had I
+ever done anything to merit His pleasure? I could not recollect one good
+deed I had ever accomplished of sufficient importance to call to His
+attention, but on the contrary I recalled a thousand bad acts I should
+not have committed. I had spent a roving, aimless existence in which I
+had done practically nothing to increase the production or knowledge of
+the world, I had lived for myself alone--a life of mere pleasure
+seeking, without ever a thought of others' rights or happiness. I
+remembered that during a hunting expedition in Africa how I had once
+shot and killed seventeen spring-bok in one day, and how I had swelled
+up with conceit to know that I had destroyed the lives of that many
+living things. True, they were not human beings, but were they not
+creatures of nature as well as myself? What right had I to take the life
+of any living thing at all, let alone for mere pleasure? What excuse
+could I now offer if tried for that cowardly offence? Would I ask God's
+forgiveness? If so, would it be any better to ask Him to forgive me just
+before I died or immediately afterward? What difference would it make?
+Then again I wondered if God would have any more respect for me if after
+committing the deed I whined and begged for mercy. Would He not consider
+that cowardly on my part? Would He not think better of me if I went
+forward bravely and said: Here I am, O God, I know I have done wrong,
+now punish me as Thou see'st fit. What would I do if I were to occupy
+the Creator's position as supreme judge in a case of that kind? Would I
+not think far more of the man who would come forward courageously and
+take the punishment he deserved than the creeping, cringing and whining
+being who begged for mercy? Would God the Creator be more unreasonable
+about the matter than I, whom He had created?
+
+I had always thanked God as well as my parents for the extraordinary
+physical strength and courage with which I was endowed, and during my
+life of trials and hardships that courage had never been shaken by man
+or beast, but now I felt that the crucial test was about to be applied.
+Would the courage the Almighty gave me weaken when about to face Him who
+had bestowed it upon me?
+
+With these and similar thoughts passing through my mind and my strength
+exhausted, I took one long breath and sank beneath the water.
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+Sinking slowly down with a feeling of drowsiness stealing away my
+senses, I was suddenly awakened by my body coming to an abrupt stop and
+resting upon some hard substance. My first impression was that I had
+collided with some huge sea-monster and was about to be devoured. So
+placing my hands and feet firmly upon it I sprang upward with all the
+force I could command in an effort to get out of its reach, but to my
+great surprise my head and half of my body shot out of the water into
+the air above and down I came again square upon my feet with a jolt that
+caused my teeth to rattle. And there I stood with my head and shoulders
+out of the water while my lungs inhaled long draughts of pure fresh air.
+I was too astonished to think and too weak to move, so I just stood
+there motionless until I had regained my equilibrium. I could never
+forget how sweet life seemed to me at that time. For a long time I
+remained standing there without giving a thought as to what I was
+resting upon, and when I did direct my attention to the question I was
+incapable of forming a satisfactory solution to the mystery. According
+to the charts there was no land in that part of the ocean. Could it be a
+whale, I wondered? The more I thought of it the more perplexed I became.
+The night was very dark and I could see nothing about me in any
+direction, so I concluded that the only thing to do was to remain
+standing just where I was until daybreak. It was a long and tedious wait
+and I suffered much from stiffness and cold, but at last dawn appeared
+and I anxiously strained my eyes, looking about in every direction. Then
+my head nearly burst with a feeling of joyousness, for within two
+hundred yards of me I discerned the outline of what appeared to be a
+hill of rocks protruding from the deep, and as the light grew brighter I
+started to wade slowly towards it. This was an extremely tiresome
+undertaking, as the bed upon which I had been resting was very rocky and
+uneven and I received many bruises before finally reaching its base. My
+limbs too were thoroughly numb and almost refused to work, but with each
+step ahead the water became shallower and my progress less arduous. As I
+went forward I thought it was by the miraculous hand of God that my life
+had been saved, for the time being at least. Then, again, it occurred to
+me, that if it was the hand of the Almighty that saved me, it must have
+been by His hand also that I was thrown overboard, for if He directed
+the one act He must have surely directed the other. So why blame the
+sailors for attempting to take my life if it was God's will that it
+should be done?
+
+Reaching the base of the rocks in a feeble condition and staggering like
+a man under the influence of liquor, I threw myself down and went to
+sleep just as the sun peeped over the horizon.
+
+Several hours later I awakened with a start to find the burning sun
+directly overhead and my body dripping with perspiration, my throat
+parched and an awful feeling of thirst within me. My tongue felt as
+though it was several inches thick and it seemed as though I would choke
+immediately for the want of something to drink. Aside from the thirst,
+however, I felt considerably refreshed and sprang to my feet with my
+usual agility.
+
+The first thing that attracted my attention as I looked about in a
+curious manner, was that this strange pile of stone which protruded from
+the sea, bore evidence of having once been a part of some mammoth
+building which had apparently been shaken down and now lay in a chaotic
+heap. Some of the stones were of tremendous size and different in shape
+and quality from any others I have ever seen. Their designs showed that
+wonderful skill must have been employed by the workmen who originally
+cut and fit them into position. The whole mass formed a sort of a ragged
+hill about one hundred feet in diameter and the highest point about
+forty feet above the sea level.
+
+In looking about, I discovered to my great delight that among the
+crevices of the rocks there were many little places which acted as
+basins to store up water from the recent rains, and I immediately took
+advantage of these conditions to quench my thirst and bathe my face and
+head. This done I began climbing up toward the top of the pile. It took
+considerable time and patience to make the ascent, as the stones were
+massed together in a most irregular and precipitous manner. Reaching the
+highest point, I eagerly scanned the surrounding horizons with the hope
+of seeing some passing ship, but nothing except sky and water met my
+gaze.
+
+Seating myself upon the topmost rock, I became buried in the depths of
+meditation, and as I sat perched up there alone without even a glimpse
+of a sea-fowl for companionship I felt as if I was the only living thing
+extant; in fact, I actually imagined myself as being the center and
+objective point of the universe. God in His great wisdom had flung me
+there for some purpose or other and was watching my movements to the
+exclusion of everything else, so I thought. Aye, even the warmth from
+the rays of the sun had been arranged for my special benefit. How big a
+little faith will make one feel sometimes.
+
+For several hours I remained in one position, musing over my strange
+situation and wondering what the final outcome would be. At last, after
+the sun had gone down and darkness began to encircle me, I decided to
+look about and find a suitable place to lie down and sleep for the
+night. So I began to climb from rock to rock until I had reached the
+opposite side of the jagged plateau, when suddenly one of the great
+stones wobbled, I lost my balance and slid down an incline into a sort
+of a pit. Then my feet struck something which momentarily stopped my
+unexpected descent, but it proved to be a mere shell, and crashing
+through it I landed with a violent jolt about ten feet further below.
+Although somewhat stunned and a trifle confused by the suddenness of the
+fall, I quickly regained my equanimity and looking upward I saw a small
+hole which my body had passed through, the shaggy rocks above, the dark
+sky and a few stars, but the strangest thing of all was, that the grotto
+into which I had fallen was as light as day.
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+After all I had passed through during the preceding twenty-four hours,
+then to be suddenly cast from the outer darkness into a hole as light as
+if illuminated by the mid-day sun was a revelation that caused me to
+seriously doubt my own senses. But having spent a life of travel and
+adventure in which I had faced many unexpected dangers and inexplicable
+sights, I soon regained my normal presence of mind and began to look
+around with considerable interest. I was now fully convinced that the
+great pile of stone which I had so strangely reached had at one time
+formed a gigantic structure moulded together by human ingenuity.
+
+The enclosure I found myself within might have been a hallway of the
+edifice, but it was hard to positively distinguish it as such, for the
+building in falling had placed things in an almost unrecognizable
+condition. Some of the great stones from above had passed through the
+ceiling and floor, while others had become wedged together before
+reaching the surface, thus forming a very ragged and peculiar aperture.
+
+In places where there were no obstructions I noticed a beautiful white
+marble floor, while here and there a fragment of the walls showed that
+the art of decorating had at one time reached a degree of proficiency
+quite unapproachable by our modern artists. The space I found myself in
+was too irregular in its outlines to form an adequate idea of what it
+might have been used for. In some places I had to stoop to pass along,
+while in others I was forced to climb over great blocks of stone.
+
+After being in this passage about half an hour making an inspection of
+the premises, I discovered a small opening which led into another
+apartment. It appeared that a great door had separated the two rooms,
+but had apparently become broken with the fall of the building and left
+a space barely wide enough for my body to pass through. So in I went. Or
+out I went, I was not quite sure which, for after squeezing through the
+doorway a scene presented itself to my astonished gaze that I must
+confess my inability to properly describe.
+
+The view before me was a mammoth park with its variety of trees, flowers
+and shrubbery of every possible description.
+
+Straight ahead in the distance and plainly discernible was a running
+brook which flowed along in a devious course and emptied into a lake far
+beyond. And there, in all its majesty was the sun just sinking behind
+the horizon, its brilliant radiance forming the most beautiful effects
+of colorization upon the distant clouds it has ever been my good fortune
+to behold.
+
+I stood in motionless reverence for several minutes as my mind expanded
+with wonder at the magnificent panorama, while my nostrils inhaled a
+most delicious fragrance from the innumerable plants which seemed to put
+new life into my enervated body.
+
+What strange phenomena is this, I soliloquized? On the outside of the
+earth the sun had gone down and darkness prevailed, while down here, in
+under its crust I found it blazing away in all its splendor. In fact it
+seemed that an entirely new world had suddenly been thrown in front of
+me. Was I really alive or had I passed into some other world, was the
+next question to enter my mind. I remembered that I had fallen a
+considerable distance into this strange place and was somewhat stunned
+in the tumble. Perhaps, thought I, my body is still lying somewhere
+among the rocks above while this is only my spirit wandering about in a
+fanciful manner. But no, looking downward I plainly saw my massive frame
+dressed in sailor's clothes just as I had left the ship and I was
+positive of being alive, awake, and in my right senses. And the wonders
+multiplied. Looking to the right of the entrance, a short distance away,
+I observed a marble platform elevated about two feet from the ground, in
+the midst of huge flower-beds and shaded by large trees, upon which sat
+a number of men, silent and motionless, with various musical instruments
+in their hands as if they had just finished playing and were taking a
+short rest. These instruments were of an entirely different pattern from
+any I had ever seen. And the men! Oh, if I only had the power to show
+them to my fellow beings as I saw them. What an imposing, noble looking
+lot they were. They were all about the same size and not one of them
+could have been less than eight feet in height. In looking at them
+closely, I noticed that they possessed most magnificent physiques. They
+were neither fat nor lean and their well-groomed bodies showed plainly
+that no horse or piece of machinery ever received better care or
+attention. While they appeared to be from thirty to forty years in ages,
+not one of them wore a mustache, beard or any other shaggy decoration of
+the face. Their foreheads were broad and massive and extended to the
+center of their splendidly shaped craniums. Extraordinary intelligence,
+kindness and gentleness showed forth from every feature of their
+handsome countenances. Judging from their well-proportioned frames, each
+one looked powerful enough to battle single handed with an elephant.
+Judging from their faces not one of them would have hurt a flea. Each
+man appeared to be buried in the depth of thought--serious thought--
+notwithstanding every physiognomy plainly showed that the utmost
+happiness and contentment existed within each, and good will between all
+of them. The skin of their faces, hands and feet was as white as snow,
+transparent, and backed by a beautiful pink. At first sight I thought
+they were the gods. Uniformly clothed in closely fitting garments from
+the ankles to the neck, their superb forms showed complete symmetrical
+perfection. The hue of their raiment was indescribable for I had never
+seen the like before. In fact the colors actually appeared to change
+before my steady gaze. Their feet were bare, very shapely, and the toes
+of greater length than ordinarily.
+
+As I stood rooted to the ground and viewed them with intense admiration,
+I wondered why they did not speak or take notice of my presence. But
+finally in order to attract their attention I shouted, hello. My voice
+sounded rather harsh and peculiar on this occasion, and was more like
+the bray of an ass than anything else, but they made no motion as if
+they heard me, or were aware of my existence. Walking over to the
+nearest one, I reached up and touched him on the shoulder. Then I sprang
+back in amazement, for instead of giving any sign of recognition he
+merely placed his instrument in position, as did all the others, and
+with slow, graceful movements began to play. The first strains of music,
+although distinct and supernaturally grand, seemed to be miles away but
+gradually increased in sound as if coming nearer and nearer. At the same
+time I observed that the musicians, who were not only using both hands
+in the manipulation of their instruments but with graceful dexterity
+their feet as well, were becoming enthusiastic and appeared to throw
+their very lives and souls into the work. If at first while inactive
+they appeared to be extraordinarily intellectual beings, now in action
+they looked divine. Their eyes blazed like miniature suns shooting forth
+sparks of a thousand different hues. It seemed as if the very music
+itself came from the expression of their faces. And on, on, on, came the
+intoxicating strains, increasing in volume and excellence until I
+imagined that all heaven had broken loose in one great effort to charm
+my feeble senses, and then with a thunderous climax it ceased instantly,
+the musicians smiled and bowed pleasantly to one another, and then
+resumed their former attitudes.
+
+No mortal's pen could describe my ecstasy while listening to the music
+produced by this body of--I must say heavenly creatures. There was
+something strange and analogous about it, too, that seemed to recall a
+mysterious dream or vision I had once passed through. Whether it was
+caused by the music or the kindly expressions of love for one another on
+the faces of the players I know not, but nevertheless great tears
+spontaneously rolled down my cheeks, the first I ever recollect having
+shed, and at the conclusion of the piece I remained transfixed to the
+spot for several minutes in deep cogitation.
+
+Once more, however, my inquiring nature aroused me and I walked over
+toward the leader. His face was turned slightly in another direction, so
+I decided to step up on the platform, get squarely in front of him and
+look straight into his eyes. So with a light movement I sprang for the
+rostrum. But instead of reaching it my foot and head struck--not the
+platform but solid wall, and a second later I found myself in a heap on
+the ground. Then I started to think. Next I began to feel and finally a
+broad grin overspread my face, for the scene before me was not real
+after all, but a wonderful painting on the interior of the building.
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+Putting my hand against the surface and walking along I discovered that
+this great scene which appeared to stretch away into the distance for
+several miles, including the trees, brook, lake, sun, clouds, sky, and
+everything else, was painted on the wall, ceiling and floor, of a
+circular room. The ceiling was arranged in the shape of a dome, while
+the floor made a concave connection with the wall. The whole apartment
+could not have been over fifty feet in diameter. The entire room was
+covered by one painting, and so well had the work been done that the
+only way I could discern the difference between the real and artistic
+scene was by extending my hands in front of me and feeling my way along.
+
+But what about the music? Surely I heard it, and without doubt the
+skilled musicians had performed their work right before my eyes. And the
+sun, the light, and the fragrance from the flowers, what about these?
+While in a state of perplexity at not being able to understand these
+mysterious things, my eyes fell upon something which I had not noticed
+previously, at the same time causing me to give a sudden start as if
+pierced by an electric shock.
+
+To the left of the door through which I had entered and lying in a
+reclining position upon a bed of flowers, similar in shape to a modern
+sofa, was the most beautiful object, I think, ever created--a woman. And
+such a woman. Oh, ignorant humanity, why do you not breed all women like
+that one? Although nearly twenty-three years have passed since then,
+still the vision of her is as fresh upon my mind now as at that moment
+when my eyes first beheld her. And as I think of her now I am unable to
+repress the tears from filling my eyes, strong man that I am.
+
+Dressed in a tight-fitting costume like those worn by the men, with the
+addition of a net-like drapery of light material entwined about her, and
+lying in a comfortable position partly on one side, with her lovely head
+resting upon one arm, her shapely body and limbs posed gracefully and
+her eyes closed in slumber, she impressed me as being the queen of the
+universe.
+
+This is the most beautiful part of the whole picture, thought I, taking
+a few steps forward. What artist's imagination could ever have created
+such a sublime and realistic work? As I stood in reverent contemplation
+of her my admiration was unbounded. It seemed as if my feelings would
+burst within me. My first love for woman was then and there confirmed
+for all time. I decided I would stay and spend the rest of my days right
+there, silently attesting my everlasting devotion to that divine
+likeness of ideality. Had I not discovered that the whole thing was a
+work of art, I should have felt positive that she was really alive and
+merely lay there in peaceful repose. Then a sudden thought passed
+through my mind which gradually expanded into an irresistible desire; I
+would press my lips to hers and thereby seal my love forevermore.
+
+Trembling like a timid school-boy I advanced closer. How lovely she
+appeared. How real. Bending forward and putting my head in juxtaposition
+to hers it seemed as if I actually heard her heart beat. It may have
+been my own. With my face flushed and feeling that perhaps I might be
+taking an unfair advantage of one who would not appreciate my caress, I
+tenderly touched her lips with mine. For another moment of such
+indescribable ecstasy I would gladly pass through all the imaginary
+tortures of the infernal regions. But it ended there.
+
+No sooner had our lips come together than I became aware of the fact
+that the adorable object before me was real and not artificial as
+supposed. As if by magic her mouth twitched slightly and her whole frame
+quivered perceptibly; then she opened her eyes and finally with a most
+graceful spring she landed squarely upon her feet directly in front of
+me. I jumped backward in utter amazement. And there we stood face to
+face staring into each other's eyes. I then noticed that she was about
+seven feet in height and although not lean still there was not an ounce
+of superfluous flesh on her serpent-like figure. Like the men, she too
+was bare footed, and her hair, a dark silky texture, was short and very
+artistically arranged. Her snow white face, transparent with pink, was
+the acme of loveliness, with an expression of gentleness, purity and
+modesty plainly stamped upon every feature. Her dazzling eyes sparkled
+with the brilliancy of huge diamonds. Evidently she was as much
+astonished as myself at the strange course of events. Although she did
+not speak still I received an impression from her as if put into so many
+words which plainly said: "John, am I dreaming or what awful experiment
+have you attempted to transform yourself into such a hideous creature?"
+I tried to speak but my first effort nearly choked me. Then in a voice
+which seemed to be unusually coarse I finally blurted out: "My dear
+lady, will you kindly tell me who or what you are?" These words seemed
+to puzzle her more than ever and after hurriedly glancing about the room
+she looked me over carefully from head to foot. Speaking once more I
+said, "Madame, can you understand my language?" Then I received another
+strange but unmistakable impression which replied: "I can understand
+your thoughts but not your babble." "Are you able," she continued
+telepathically, "to give an explanation of this extraordinary
+metamorphosis?" "The only information I can offer," answered I, "will be
+cheerfully given. My name is John Convert, late seaman aboard the
+schooner Brawl, bound from Sydney to London. Last night I was thrown
+overboard by my shipmates and after floating about the deep for several
+hours I landed upon this pile of ruins surrounded by the sea. In making
+an investigation of the exterior I lost my foothold, fell into a crevice
+and breaking through a thin crust I landed in the outer passageway which
+finally led me into this room. I must confess that everything here is as
+inexplicable to me as I appear to you." As I spoke she seemed to be
+laboring under intense mental excitement and tears came to her eyes.
+
+"I understand it all now," she made known to me in her mysterious way,
+"the experiment failed."
+
+"What experiment was that?" questioned I in surprise.
+
+Looking me straight in the eye as though trying to impress upon my mind
+the importance of her communication, she answered, "the attempt of man
+to change the course of the earth in space."
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+"And so you inform me that there is nothing left of beautiful Sageland
+but a heap of ruins surrounded by the sea," mused the lovely--the idea
+struck me to name her Arletta--"tell me what happened to the rest of my
+people."
+
+"Not knowing anything about the matter it is impossible for me to answer
+that question," replied I; "and although I have traveled through nearly
+every country on earth still no such people as you or the magnificent
+objects represented in that picture have ever come to my attention
+before. In fact I have never read of such a race or even heard of a
+country by the name of Sageland."
+
+At this remark she turned abruptly and walked--or rather flew, so easy
+and graceful were her movements--over to a portion of the wall and
+looked long and earnestly into a peculiar instrument, then returning she
+said: (without the use of words) "according to my chronometer, more than
+four thousand two hundred and thirty years have elapsed since the awful
+catastrophe."
+
+"Four thousand, two hundred and thirty years!" ejaculated I, "great
+heavens, that must have been about the time of the flood." "What flood?"
+inquired she.
+
+Then I proceeded to tell her how in those days the people of the world
+being so wicked that God during a terrible fit of anger made it rain for
+forty days and forty nights, causing the destruction of every living
+thing on earth except one Noah, his family and a male and female of
+every animal, bird and insect, who were saved by being taken aboard of a
+huge ark built for the purpose by Noah. And then after every living
+thing not aboard the boat was destroyed, how the waves receded, Noah and
+his flock were safely landed upon a mountain peak, and God put a bow
+into the sky as a pledge that he would never do such a thing again.
+Arletta appeared somewhat amused at my recital of the story and at its
+conclusion merely remarked: "Noah evidently had more good sense than his
+god." Then she added: "As to the rainbow, that was seen by the
+inhabitants of the earth millions of years before Noah's time."
+
+"So the world has retrogressed during the past four thousand years,"
+mused she sadly.
+
+"Retrogressed! No indeed, the world has made great progress and has now
+reached a wonderful state of civilization," answered I, proudly.
+
+Motioning me to an opposite position she majestically seated herself
+upon the couch and after seriously looking at me for some time she
+finally said: "This is one of nature's most extraordinary proceedings
+and there are many things I wish to talk with you about, but before
+going into the details of this matter I am anxious to get a view of the
+world as it exists now. You have observed that unlike the lower animals,
+in which rank unfortunately you belong at the present time"--here I
+interrupted her by bursting forth into loud laughter, not because I
+enjoyed being called an animal myself but at the thought of how some of
+my civilized friends would feel if informed that they were lower
+animals. My intervention, however, not disturbing her in the least, she
+resumed: "In our nomenclature your species was known as the Apeman, and
+represented in the chain of evolution the link between the Ape and Man.
+Our scientists placed the Apeman within the ranks of the lower animals
+for reasons I shall make clear later. But to continue, you have observed
+that unlike yourself I have been conversing with you without the use of
+the voice but with the mind, the most effectual agent of communication
+and one of the senses the Apeman has not cultivated. Now I shall show
+you how to see without eyes.
+
+"Mind sight is an occult force which was exercised to great advantage by
+my people. This force eliminates both distance and obstruction and
+exposes to view the object sought even if it is located on the opposite
+side of the globe. Any mind, if sufficiently strong, can contract
+distance and bring any mundane scene within its range while penetrating
+solid matter as if it did not exist at all. So by utilizing this power,
+which I possess to a considerable degree, it is my intention to make a
+hurried survey of the earth's surface in order to obtain an exact idea
+of present conditions. Furthermore, by the subtle concentration of our
+mind forces together I shall convey to your inner vision the actual
+scenes witnessed by myself, and you shall act as my mental consort on a
+trip around the world."
+
+After the many wonderful things I had already seen it was my opinion
+that there was nothing impossible for this beautiful woman to perform,
+so I mildly informed her that I was at her service, and ready for the
+journey to begin.
+
+"Well then," said she, "before starting I wish to warn you that no
+matter what you see, hear or feel on this trip you must not disturb our
+observation with your primitive babble, apish laughter or by trying to
+offer any comments whatsoever."
+
+At this remark I was brought to a realization of the fact that Arletta,
+whom I so ardently loved, aye even worshipped, was treating me in about
+the same manner as I would have treated a pet monkey had I been teaching
+it some new tricks. She evidently regarded my smiles and feelings for
+her with about the same consideration as I should have given to those of
+some grinning female baboon had it been trying to make love to me. Her
+last thoughts, therefore, aroused my sensitive nature, and a violent
+outburst of temper was the result. I did not mind being called an Apeman
+so much, but hated the idea of being treated like one, so working myself
+into a passion I severely censured her, and with much bluster and many
+gestures endeavored to impress upon her mind how much superior I was to
+what she had imagined. It was some time before my anger abated, and then
+I noticed that she appeared quite unmoved by my wrath but sat looking
+calmly and alternately at me and one of the figures in the picture,
+while her face bore an expression of sadness and pity. Then I felt
+ashamed to think of what a lack of self-control I had exhibited, and
+humbly begged her pardon.
+
+"But now," said Arletta, and I fancied that she called me John, "your
+soul is at present running the machinery of a very inferior mind and
+body which plainly shows all the cruel passions and idiotic ideas of the
+Apeman. This has happened through no fault of your own but is the result
+of circumstances over which you had no control so that you are not
+responsible for your present condition. I now say however that you have
+been chosen by nature for a great and glorious work and from this time
+forward you must make use of your reasoning faculties for reasonable
+purposes and cast aside all the animal passions, silly ideas and
+antiquated superstitions which you have inherited from the ignorant of
+ages, and begin afresh. Before starting on our journey perhaps it would
+be well for us to take some refreshments in order that our minds may
+remain strong and clear during the trip. We take our nourishment in a
+different way from you cannibals," said Arletta, as she went to one of
+the artificial flower gardens, began inhaling and motioned me to do
+likewise. "But we are not cannibals," I mildly remonstrated, "we do not
+kill and eat human beings." "Do you not kill and eat the flesh of other
+living things?" inquired she. "Yes," replied I, "our diet consists of
+the flesh of birds, fish and cattle which God with great wisdom created
+for that purpose." "Did he? Then you must worship a cannibal god, for it
+is but a very short step between eating the flesh of your own species
+and that of others. That is one reason why our scientists ranked the
+Apeman with the lower animals. But come, inhale this perfume and see if
+it is not far more refreshing and less disgusting than to fill your
+stomach with roasted flesh."
+
+At her suggestion I stationed myself near the flower bed which contained
+a large variety of the most beautiful plants I had ever seen. She
+touched several of them lightly and immediately the air was saturated
+with a most delicious fragrance caused, no doubt, by an automatic
+arrangement concealed within each flower. I stood like one in a most
+delightful dream inhaling the invigorating fumes, and with each
+succeeding breath my body became stronger and my mind brighter until I
+thought I should surely die from the effects of exuberant joy, when my
+attention was attracted by Arletta, who said: "Come, you greedy little
+pig, don't you know when you have had enough?" Then she added, "but I
+forgot that among your species greediness is considered a virtue."
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+"Greediness considered a virtue among my species." Surely I must have
+misunderstood her, thought I, once more seating myself, preparatory to
+beginning my mental journey with Arletta. And I was glad to know that
+she would shortly view our civilization as it existed, feeling positive
+that she would then change her ideas regarding my species being lower
+animals. I felt that it was my own fault because she harbored such an
+opinion and that I was to blame for being such a poor representative of
+my race for her to judge by.
+
+"Now, let's be off," said she, "as I feel that my time will be short
+with you and we had better make the best of it while it lasts." "Time
+short with you." Those words gave me more pain than if a sword had been
+thrust through my body. "By all the gods of eternity, I would not care
+to live ten minutes if anything happened to that heavenly being,"
+thought I, gazing at her with rapturous feelings of tenderness. "Call me
+a lower animal, a hideous creature or a greedy pig, and treat me like
+one if you will, but do not leave me. Stay and let me be your slave
+forever." Those were my sincere thoughts. She understood them, but made
+no response.
+
+Settling back in a comfortable position with my eyes fastened upon
+Arletta in loving adoration, the scene changed instantly and I found
+myself once more upon the rocks in the middle of the sea. The sun was
+just rising in the east and another day was begun. Then our meteoric
+flight commenced, and quicker than it takes to relate I was high up
+among the clouds and peering down at a familiar landscape. I recognized
+the location at once as the district occupied by and surrounding Cape
+Town, South Africa.
+
+I had been there before. But how peculiar everything appeared now as I
+looked down from above. I could plainly discern the harbor and great
+tableland in the scene before me, although apparently shrunk in size,
+but the city itself resembled a little toy village, while the largest
+ships in the harbor reminded me of the tiny boats I used to construct
+when a child and float about in the bath-tub. But where, oh where, was
+the greatest of all exalted things--that for which the entire universe
+and all that it contains therein was constructed--mighty man? He could
+not be seen. In fact he was as completely invisible as the pestilential
+germ on the back of a sick flea. "If I only had a microscope," thought
+I, "perhaps I could see him." Then I began to descend, until finally I
+discovered innumerable little creepers moving about in all directions.
+They were men. At first sight they looked to be about the size of ants,
+but as I got closer to the earth they increased in bulk until they
+appeared to be at least three inches in height, and then their
+importance became noticeable. As they moved about in great numbers and I
+came into close proximity with them, I observed that the actions of some
+was apparently sensible but that the doings of the most of them was
+positively ridiculous. For instance, here was one set of creatures
+diligently toiling to produce something and getting nothing, while here
+was a set of idlers doing absolutely nothing but receiving everything.
+The real producer of all the necessities and luxuries of life was
+actually giving nine-tenths of the fruits of his labor to a class of
+loafers and schemers who took it as a divine right, and then begrudged
+him the one-tenth he received of his own production. I observed that for
+every one of these producers there were ten non-producers who spent
+their time and efforts devising the best ways and means to confiscate
+that which had been produced. It seemed strange that the producer would
+allow this state of affairs to exist; but he did, and seemed quite
+elated sometimes to think that the non-producer would permit him to live
+at all. I noticed that most of the non-producers were fat and bloated
+from being over-fed and from guzzling prepared liquors, and that they
+were clothed with the finest materials the producer could contribute,
+while the producers themselves were lean and hungry looking objects, and
+were dressed in rags. I had seen these same things many times before
+without giving them any consideration, but now for the first time, I
+felt that there was something wrong with the people of the world. It
+seemed to me now that the entire system of human endeavor had been
+started wrong and was running along upside down. But what was the cause
+of this curious state of affairs? One word alone explained it all--
+Selfishness. And then there came to me a sentence, the imprint of which
+has never been effaced from my memory, viz: "Selfishness is the root of
+all evil; eradicate selfishness from all human beings and the earth win
+be heaven."
+
+Oh, dear reader, go over those few words again, and again; ten times;
+fifty times; one hundred times if necessary to thoroughly impress their
+full meaning upon your intellect. Study them; practice them; teach them;
+sing them to all the world. Take them for your everlasting motto and you
+will have no need for all the stupid theories ever created by man.
+"Eradicate selfishness from all human beings and the earth will be
+heaven."
+
+And now I observed that great numbers of these little men were being
+unloaded from the various ships in the harbor, and upon landing started
+immediately in a northerly direction. I understood the reason. Gold had
+been discovered in the Transvaal, and thousands upon thousands were
+coming from every quarter of the globe in anticipation of getting some
+of this metal. And what is there about gold that caused people to go
+such vast distances and bear many hardships and even risk their lives in
+desperate efforts to obtain it? Is there more real value to gold than
+other metals? Not at all. There is no more intrinsic value to gold than
+brass, but centuries ago, a semi-savage glutton discovered that he could
+not eat all the swine he could raise nor legally steal all his
+contemporaries could breed, so he originated a plan whereby he could
+secure for himself what others had produced through the agency of a
+financial system in which gold could be used as a medium of exchange. He
+found that he could get other and less crafty savages to go and dig the
+gold for him in return for swine. He also found that the breeders would
+exchange swine for gold. So he started by giving the diggers one swine
+for ten ounces of gold and the breeders one ounce of gold for ten swine.
+This transaction he called business. This system of business has been
+handed down from generation to generation until it has become a part of
+man's very nature. He knows very little of anything else. Gold being the
+financial medium of business he is taught to crave it in his infancy and
+as he grows older gold becomes his idol--his God. In order to gain
+possession of gold or its equivalent man forgets his soul and sells his
+honor. He is willing to crush the weak, cheat, steal or even murder his
+fellow beings to obtain it. And no matter whether he has little or much
+of it he considers any person insane who dare suggest the abolition of
+the financial system which permits individual accumulation and breeds
+selfishness and crime.
+
+With a change of mind, I landed thousands of miles further north into
+the interior of uncivilized Africa, the home of wild beasts. Here
+something occurred which caused me to think that after all, perhaps
+Arletta was right in classing my species with the lower animals. Under
+ordinary conditions I should not have given the incident a second
+thought, but now my mind being directly connected with hers, I was, no
+doubt, impressed in the same manner as she while viewing these things.
+
+A party of English gentlemen were on a hunting expedition. They appeared
+to be intelligent beings of aristocratic birth. Men whom the average
+individual would take as examples to emulate. But here they were in
+Africa, thousands of miles from home, with the sole purpose of killing
+something for pleasure. A short distance away was a family of lions; a
+male, female and several cubs. The lion and lioness lay close together,
+apparently casting loving glances at one another and enjoying the antics
+of the little ones who were playing together nearby. Occasionally the
+little ones would run over and kiss their elders in a most affectionate
+way, which seemed to greatly please the parents. Never have I seen a
+family of human beings display so much real affection toward each others
+as this family of lions. But alas, their happiness was at an end. Man's
+appetite for killing must be appeased. One of the hunters had caught
+sight of the happy little family, and slinking behind a tree before his
+presence became known to the lions he signaled to his comrades, who
+sneaked forward from tree to tree until they were within easy range of
+their prey. Then fixing their rifles and taking deliberate aim at the
+unsuspecting victims, and without giving them any chance to defend
+themselves or little ones, these so-called brave and civilized hunters
+pulled the triggers and the happy old lion and the lioness
+simultaneously expired, pierced by a dozen bullets. And what became of
+the little ones? The sight was too pitiable to describe. After the
+effects of the first fright, caused by the noise of the shots, had
+passed, they instinctively rushed to their parents for protection. Oh,
+the anguish depicted upon the faces of these little things when they
+discovered that their loving progenitors were no more. Their looks and
+moans were heartrending. But there were others made happy. A sudden
+shout of joyousness burst forth from the throats of a dozen civilized
+men who eagerly rushed from behind their fortresses to view the work of
+destruction. They had displayed fine marksmanship and were greatly
+pleased. Good shooting, said one of the brave fellows. Splendid,
+exclaimed another. But what shall we do with the cubs? asked the third.
+Better finish them also, remarked a fourth, as I am very fond of cub
+meat, and would like nothing better than a broiled steak from one of
+their little carcasses. After a few minutes' parley a decision was
+reached that it would be uncivilized to allow the little ones to wander
+about the jungle alone for fear that they might become the prey for
+other wild animals, so they killed them also; and filled their stomachs
+with them. And after they were through, a flock of vultures descended
+and finished the work. Men and vultures are somewhat alike in this
+respect; they both eat the flesh of carcasses. But a good word can be
+said for the vultures, however; they never kill.
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+It is not my intention to give a full descriptive account of my peculiar
+journey around the world with Arletta, nor to recount the many strange
+things witnessed. Suffice it to mention that we visited nearly every
+country on the globe through the power of mind sight, and I was enabled
+to see any terrestrial occurrence as well as if having been on the spot
+in person. In fact, being under the direct influence of Arletta's
+perception, conditions appeared much more comprehensive to me than ever
+before and I felt like some great judge looking down upon the earth and
+its inhabitants with an impartial eye. And somehow these inhabitants did
+not seem to impress me as being in such a high state of intelligence as
+I had formerly been led to believe they were. Everywhere human beings
+were fighting and snarling amongst themselves like ferocious beasts.
+Their universal law granted the right of the strong to victimize the
+weak either through the power of physical or mental force. In fact it
+was considered a divine right for men of superior intellects to receive
+more of the fruits of the earth than those of smaller mental capacity.
+One-half of the world was over-fed while the other half was under-fed.
+Aside from a slight difference in political and religious theories, the
+characteristics of all the peoples of the world were the same; the
+predominant features being greed, vanity, egotism, intemperance,
+gluttony, fraud, theft, bribery, deceit, brutality, murder, superstition
+and filth. Even America, the much boasted land of the free, the country
+which God in his infinite wisdom had taken from the bad English and
+given to the good Americans, contained people with these traits, and the
+so-called great men of this country appeared like a lot of silly little
+pigmies engaged in an eternal quarrel over a few trinkets. Few of them
+could see further than their own noses unless it was to see something
+that would increase their own selfish desires. Equality, of which these
+people boasted so much, existed merely in their imaginations. The actual
+meaning of equality, as the Americans understood it, was that the
+physical and mental gladiators and weaklings alike were put into one
+great prize ring and given an opportunity to fight for their lives and
+nature's gifts. Those who were capable of battering down and trampling
+upon their adversaries were legally entitled to all the luxuries the
+earth provided and more than they could use, but those who were
+unfortunate enough to have been born weaklings and were unfit to cope
+successfully with the huge monsters in the ring, were crushed in the
+struggle.
+
+Fraud was the slogan of the government officials and nearly all of them
+practiced it, from the highest to the lowest functionary. Money was the
+power behind the curtain and he who had the largest bank account was
+catered to like an over-grown hog surrounded by a lot of suckling pigs.
+"God helps those who help themselves" was their accepted motto. In other
+words, God helps the strong and not the weak. If the Creator gives any
+of His attention to the innumerable bickerings of these earthly microbes
+He must feel greatly flattered by having this splendid motto thrust upon
+Him, for according to it, one was supposed to go to the assistance of
+the man who could swim, while he who could not, must be left to drown.
+
+A certain so-called great American, one Mr. Moundbuilder by name,
+expressed great faith in this doctrine. By employing thousands of his
+fellow men to do the hard work while he sat in an easy chair and
+confiscated the difference between what they earned and what he paid
+them, he accumulated several hundred million dollars for his own use.
+About the time he was ready to die he learned to his great sorrow that
+it was necessary to leave all this wealth behind. So he decided to
+bequeath it to only those who were sufficiently strong and willing to
+continue his policy of crushing the weak and incidentally erect some
+monuments to his own memory. After much consideration as to how the
+strong would derive the most benefit from his ill-gotten goods, he
+concluded that the weak-minded and sickly creatures who were bred from
+the system he abetted and the over-worked and under-fed laborer would
+have no opportunity to read books, so he established hundreds of
+Moundbuilder libraries and Moundbuilder universities in all parts of the
+world. To those who were already strong enough to reach a position where
+they could enter a university and did not really need his aid, the idea
+was a grand one, as it would help to increase their strength, thereby
+making it much easier for them to confiscate what the weaklings could
+produce in the future. Thus the plan to make the strong stronger, the
+weak weaker, and Moundbuilder immortal, would be perpetuated. But the
+cherished hopes of Mr. Moundbuilder in this respect will never be
+realized, for the day is not far distant when earthly mortals will be
+able to reason and then he will be recognized simply as a vain-glorious
+old humbug.
+
+Another celebrated American who was classed among the great men of the
+day was a certain Mr. Porkpacker. This individual conducted an
+establishment where thousands of animals, bred for the purpose, were
+slaughtered daily. He had accumulated millions of blood-stained dollars
+in this way, and was generally conceded to be a man of great business
+ability. He was pointed out to the rising generation as one of the most
+successful men in the country whose example should be followed. Just
+pause a moment and think of it. Here was a man who directed a business
+where thousands of living things were murdered daily, set forth as a
+good example to follow just because he had secured millions of dollars
+by the operation. Oh, ye mortals! Man considers the wolf a blood-thirsty
+beast because he kills and eats the flesh of human beings for
+subsistence. What kind of a bestial monster would the wolf consider man
+if it saw him in his slaughter-house killing thousands of innocent beef,
+sheep and hogs daily? Or what would it think of civilized man if it saw
+him shooting myriads of tame and harmless pigeons for amusement, or
+broiling lobsters alive to satisfy his gormandizing desires? Perhaps the
+wolf would set man below its grade, if interrogated upon the subject.
+But tyrannical man, intoxicated by his own egotism and clinging to an
+elastic religion which allows him to act as he pleases, feels that his
+god created all these things for his special benefit. If the wolf could
+be questioned about the matter, it too might claim that its god
+permitted the killing and eating of man. Mr. Porkpacker was considered
+both great and good by his fellow beings, for each year he gave
+thousands of dollars for the erection and maintenance of the church and
+likewise contributed largely toward his pastor's salary. Would it be
+good policy then for the pastor to believe that it was wrong to kill
+sheep, when one of the large contributors was earning money in that
+business? No, no. So the church upheld the slaughter-houses and proved
+by the scriptures that they were simply doing what the savages had done
+thousands of years previously according to divine right.
+
+Once I listened to my father preach a sermon on the beautiful innocence
+and purity of the lamb. For an hour he spoke feelingly of the many
+virtues contained by this gentle little creature and after he was
+through he immediately went home and filled his stomach with roasted
+lamb for dinner. Good Christians are anxious to know when the time will
+arrive that the lion and lamb will lie down together in peace and
+harmony. Possibly the lamb would like to know if the time will ever come
+when its carcass will not be utilized to appease the voracious appetite
+of the Christian.
+
+In looking over the so-called great business men and financial swindlers
+of America they certainly presented a motley collection of physical and
+mental monstrosities. They spent so much of their time in the mad rush
+for dollars and how to spend them, that physical and mental improvement
+received very little attention. Their brains became stagnant for the
+want of proper training and their bodies were allowed to rot and become
+useless for the need of exercise. Some were so fat they could not walk,
+while others were too lean to stand. A great many of them used either
+canes or crutches as an aid to hobble along or vehicles to convey them
+from place to place. Nearly all were cripples, more or less; rheumatism,
+gout, paralysis and numerous other ailments being the cause of their
+helplessness. Few of them seemed able to understand that all these
+infirmities were directly caused by the want of proper exercise and from
+the gluttonous habit of overloading their stomachs with foods of many
+kinds and meat especially. Apparently it was beyond their comprehension
+that nature commanded them to improve their physiques for the benefit of
+coming generations. Men who professed to be athletes when they were past
+the age of thirty were considered childish, while the exponents of
+physical culture were generally looked upon as cranks. Eating, drinking
+and smoking were adapted as the best modes of recreation, while fishing
+and shooting pigeons, quail, squirrels and other harmless living things
+were regarded as good, healthy amusements. Of all the brutal methods of
+diversion ever adopted by man, fishing is perhaps the most cruel. If the
+reader does not think so, just stop for a moment and imagine yourself
+being hooked to a great line by the mouth and your body being drawn far
+up into space and into another atmosphere, there to strangle slowly to
+death. You would not like it, would you? Then why should the fish be
+treated so? Do you not suppose that the fish have feelings like
+yourself? Oh, if all my fellowmen could only have taken that trip around
+the world with Arletta and seen things as I saw them, cruelty in all its
+various forms would be a thing of the past. That trip and my subsequent
+experience with her proved to be the best education I could have
+received from any source. It taught me the real meaning of the word
+kindness, without which, not only toward human beings, but toward all
+living things, man will never rise above the savage state.
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+We were just twenty-four hours making our journey around the world, when
+suddenly I found myself once more gazing into the beautiful eyes of
+Arletta. While she bestowed a kindly look of sympathy toward me, her
+features plainly showed that her gentle nature had received an awful
+shock from the terrible and degrading sights we had witnessed. And there
+was much reason why this pure and lovable woman should be shocked at
+what we had seen, for even I, a worthless and hardened vagabond, had
+become thoroughly disgusted with my own species.
+
+"And what do you think of your highly civilized people now?" she
+inquired sadly. "They are a race of tail-less monkeys and filthy beasts
+with myself included," responded I, with vehemence, and then I began a
+tirade of abuse against the entire human family.
+
+"Stop," exclaimed Arletta, "you must not allow malice to enter your mind
+against any living creature, no matter how beastly or brutal it may be.
+Hatred will not make the world better; it needs love. No living being is
+responsible for what it is any more than you or I are accountable for
+being in existence. But while each individual inherits the good or bad
+instincts of its predecessor, still it has the power to make better or
+worse its own condition. Love will not only make better your own
+condition, but that of your fellow beings as well. Do not expect to find
+in others that which you do not possess yourself. It is your duty to set
+a good example, not wait for others to accomplish what you have not done
+yourself. So begin right now with love. Cast away all unkind thoughts
+and never allow another to enter your mind, no matter what the
+provocation might be. I admit that the Apeman of today is no better, in
+fact, in many respects is much inferior to the Apeman who lived over
+four thousand years ago, but that is because he took the wrong road in
+trying to reach real manhood. He is still on the wrong path, but must be
+turned about and started in the right direction. He must be taught that
+Heaven is here on earth, if he will only make it so. But the earth will
+never be a paradise, so long as he allows a grain of selfishness to
+remain in his system. In yonder picture you can see what real men were
+like. Study their countenances carefully and see if you can read that
+any one of them ever committed a selfish act or even permitted an unkind
+thought to enter his mind, for if he had, you could plainly read it from
+his features, the face being the mirror of our thoughts and actions, and
+no matter what we do or what we think from the time we are born until we
+die, every act and thought is indelibly stamped upon our faces and can
+never be erased until the material of which we are composed has
+disintegrated and reentered the great chemical basin from which all
+living things receive their matter and energy. And it is to be hoped
+that with each turn of the chemical wheel the succeeding generation will
+be re-moulded on a better scale, until the Apeman and all lower animals
+have passed through a successful course of evolution and finally emerge
+into real manhood--the highest type of earthly beings. This goal is but
+a few steps and within the power of the Apeman to reach, but he must
+take his steps in the right direction. A whole nation of those
+magnificent beings you see in the picture, once existed in real life.
+Their ancestors were Apemen who were started in the right path, and
+after persistently sticking to the upward march of unselfish progress
+for many generations, ultimately reached the class of men you see before
+you; giants, physically, mentally and morally." And here she paused and
+looked long and affectionately at those wonderful figures in the
+painting. Then a feeling of intense jealousy suddenly crept into my
+brain, and I thought I would surely go mad under its terrible pressure.
+Arletta was in love with one of those real men, while she held merely a
+compassionate feeling for me.
+
+I, the Apeman, standing six feet two inches in height and weighing over
+two hundred pounds avoirdupois, heretofore regarded as a marvel in
+physical development, now, in the presence of these eight-foot giants,
+felt like a shrunken pigmy. Formerly it was generally conceded that I
+was a rather handsome fellow. This woman thought I was hideous.
+Previously, I had felt proud of my nicely curled heavy black mustache,
+now I thought it made me look like a monkey. The splendid features of
+the real men were not disfigured by a hair or blemish of any kind, while
+their skin was as soft and smooth as that of a new born child. During my
+trip around the world, I had observed that the more man's body was
+covered by hair, the more ape-like he appeared, especially when
+decorating his face with it, and I was certain that my appearance was
+just as ludicrous in the eyes of Arletta as those I had seen. Therefore
+my admiration for the stately objects portrayed in the picture was
+beginning to turn into hatred. I inwardly wished they were alive that I
+might have an opportunity to combat with one or all of them in order to
+show Arletta that I possessed the courage to fight until death for her
+love. While lost in the midst of such reflections Arletta turned her
+gaze upon me fixedly and said: "What barbaric thoughts have you
+permitted to enter your mind now?" "I was wishing," replied I rather
+sullenly, "that the man you love in that picture was alive, that I might
+have the chance to demonstrate my worth in a fight to secure your favor;
+perhaps, then, you would discover that I had some good qualities."
+
+"And do you suppose if I saw you fighting like a savage bulldog that I
+would admire those brutish tendencies in your nature?" inquired she. "Do
+you think that the animal instincts of fighting and killing are good
+qualities to possess? Has your trip around the world borne no good
+results? You have observed that your own species, like other savage
+beasts, quarrel, fight, maim and kill each other through selfish
+motives, and you have condemned them for it; now you would continue to
+do the very same thing yourself and think that I would consider it
+courageous. According to one of our primitive laws, the courageous man
+was he who feared no one and caused no one to fear him. These men of the
+picture were the bravest of the brave, and still if one of them were
+alive today he would not fight with you, no matter how much you might
+ill use him, for he would know that it required more real strength to
+take abuse than to give it. He would suffer more pain if he hurt you
+than if you injured him. And still he could have crushed you with
+greater ease than a cat can a mouse, if he were cowardly enough to do
+it. That is the real courage of unselfishness--the kind your species
+cannot understand. Your fellow beings applaud cowardice which they
+mistake for strength of character. They seem unable to comprehend that
+it requires far more courage to suffer pain than to inflict it upon
+others. They have inherited their erroneous ideas from the wild beasts
+who preceded them, and at the present time few of them know any better.
+But they must be taught differently and the teachers must set the
+examples, not merely offer advice. The different countries of the world
+today support large armies of licensed murderers who are commonly called
+soldiers. They are sent to the battle-fields to slaughter each other for
+selfish purposes. The strongest side is naturally victorious, and after
+killing as many of their adversaries as possible, return home to receive
+the applause and admiration of their countrymen. They are considered
+heroic because they were successful in slaying their weaker opponents.
+Your society worships these human butchers and the more lives one of
+them has destroyed the bigger the monument is erected in his honor. How
+many of these butchers would have the courage to take an insult from a
+weaker party without resenting it? It requires great bravery for the
+strong to refrain from taking advantage of the weak; it demands real
+heroism for the strong to equally share the results of their labors with
+the feeble. For the strong are doubly blessed in having strength while
+the weak are unfortunate and need sympathy."
+
+"Would it not be courageous for one person to die for the love of
+another?" inquired I.
+
+"That would depend altogether upon the circumstances," replied Arletta.
+"It would require far more courage to sacrifice your life for one you
+did not love as there would then be no selfish motive behind it. As I
+understand your feelings, you love me and imagine that you would not
+care to live without me."
+
+"Yes," said I fervently, "I shall take my own life sooner than leave
+you."
+
+"That is not courage at all, it is simply cowardice," answered she.
+"Through your own selfishness in trying to obtain something beyond your
+reach, you lack the strength to live without it. It takes far more
+courage to live when you want to die than to die when you want to live.
+Unselfishness is the very highest type of courageousness and one must
+live for the good he may do the world instead of his own personal
+aggrandizement. Thousands of our noble men sacrificed their lives yearly
+for the good of the world. Our laws permitted a certain number of them
+to leave their heavenly country periodically to go among the Apemen, and
+try and teach these barbarians the meaning of unselfish love. They never
+returned. They fully realized before starting on these missionary trips,
+that they were depriving themselves of all the luxuries the earth
+provided for a life of hardship and suffering; a life of insults and all
+the cruel tortures the ferocious Apemen could inflict upon them. But it
+pleased them to know that they possessed the courage to withstand all
+the insults heaped upon them, while trying to alleviate the conditions
+of others. Unlike your present missionaries they did not go into
+different countries backed up by loaded guns ready to annihilate all who
+did not believe their doctrines. If you hit a man on the head with a
+club and then tell him that you love him he will not believe you. They
+understood that to teach the Apemen to love one another they must set
+themselves up as examples, not with mere words, but by unselfish and
+courageous acts. They also knew that they had no divine right to enter
+another country and force upon the inhabitants their laws and customs.
+They merely went to teach their methods and in trying to do good for
+others were willing to accept insults in return for their kindness in
+order to prove their sincerity of purpose.
+
+"At first, these good men were looked upon as gods by the Apemen who
+wished to worship them as such, and had they been vain-glorious like the
+Apeman himself, they would have allowed this false idea to exist. But
+no, there was not a grain of vanity or selfishness in their systems.
+They had not left their homes and friends to be worshiped, but had gone
+away to show the Apeman how he might reach real manhood, if he would but
+follow their instructions. They taught the eradication of selfishness
+from all living beings and the abolition of the system of individual
+accumulation, practiced then and now by all of your species. Of course
+when the rich and religious rulers of the different tribes and nations
+learned that these men were teaching that all living beings should have
+an equal chance in life, and that the weak should enjoy the same
+comforts as the strong, and that their divine right laws were unjust,
+they became wroth and ordered our men to be put to death by the most
+cruel methods. Some were burned at the stake; others were buried alive;
+several were put into dungeons and their bodies allowed to rot; many
+were cast into fiery furnaces, while a number of them were thrown into
+dens containing lions and tigers. All these tortures and innumerable
+others, did these brave men suffer that they might impress upon the
+Apeman the real meaning of courage and unselfishness. And through the
+power of mind sight we used to see these heroic volunteers unflinchingly
+suffer these indignities for the cause of righteousness, notwithstanding
+we had the power to annihilate the entire Apeman species, if we had so
+desired. Our chemists could have turned on currents of poisonous air and
+asphyxiated whole nations of them at once; our electricians could have
+sent an electric shock around the earth that would have left a path of
+destruction a thousand miles in width; our scientists could have
+concentrated the full force of the sun's rays upon any particular city
+they might choose and burn it up instantly; but they did not. We had the
+power to destroy, but the courage of forbearance. The highest honor our
+nation could bestow upon a man was to allow him to leave his heavenly
+country and become a martyr to his own unselfishness in trying to uplift
+the Apeman species. And had it not been for the unfortunate catastrophe
+which I shall explain to you later, our plans would have succeeded and
+the earth today would have been heaven with no such creature in
+existence as the Apeman."
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+"Next to selfishness, religion has been the greatest drawback towards
+progress the Apeman has had to contend with in all ages," continued
+Arletta.
+
+"Religion is the outgrowth of ignorance and the Apeman, just starting up
+the ladder of human knowledge, adopted it as an explanation of things of
+which he knew nothing. All religions were created by the Apeman; and
+wherein lies the difference between the god built of stone or from the
+imagination? In constructing the numberless religions, the Apeman
+invariably made them to suit his own habits and customs. He built his
+gods to please his own fancy and gave his own ideas as those of his
+deities. His own knowledge is likewise the extent of the wisdom
+contained by his gods, whom lie manufactured to be twisted and turned in
+any direction and made to answer any purpose he might see fit. No one
+religion is any worse than all the rest. They are all founded on
+ignorance, superstition and selfishness. To believe in any of these
+petty religions is to cast insults upon the real Creator of the
+universe, for a god created by the Apeman must naturally be a very
+inferior being. Each devout worshiper can point out the errors and
+absurdities of every other religion excepting his own. He is capable of
+utilizing his reasoning powers until directed against himself, and
+narrowed down to a few words he feels that he is all right but everybody
+else is all wrong. Of the several hundred religions now extant, would it
+not be more reasonable to suppose that they were all wrong than to
+believe they were all right? Take your own religion for instance; you
+are worshiping a most unnatural god. In fact your Bible puts him in the
+position of a vain-glorious tyrant. According to the Bible an Apeman can
+be no worse than his god no matter how bad he may be. The main reason
+why. the Apeman believes in religion is because he is an inveterate
+coward and fears some dire punishment if he investigates the matter. But
+believe me, if the Creator gave you the power to reason, he certainly
+will not condemn you for making use of your reasoning faculties in not
+accepting opinions which appear untenable. So let us look into this
+matter from an impartial point of view. In the first place the offer of
+rewards for doing good, which is the foundation of all religions is
+wrong, for it carries selfishness right to the very gates of the
+imaginary heavens. Goodness is very shallow indeed if it cannot exist
+without rewards being offered for it. I shall enumerate a few things
+your god was supposed to have said or allowed, according to the Bible,
+which would make no Apeman living, any worse in his moral conduct.
+
+"Enmity.--'And I will put enmity between thee and the woman.' Gen. iii,
+15.
+
+"Unkindness.--'Unto the woman He said, I will greatly multiply thy
+sorrow.' Gen. iii, 16.
+
+"Flesh Eaters.--'Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you.'
+Gen. ix, 3.
+
+"Revenge.--'Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed.'
+Gen. ix, 6.
+
+"Drunkenness.--'And he drank of the wine, and was drunken.' Gen. ix, 21.
+
+"Partiality.--'God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the
+tents of Shem and Canaan shall be his servant.' Gen. ix, 27.
+
+"Hunting--'He was a mighty hunter before the Lord.' Gen. x, 9.
+
+"A curser.--'And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse them that
+curseth thee.' Gen. xii, 3.
+
+"Fraud.--'By fraud, Jacob received the blessing intended for Esau and
+then God blessed him and made him prosperous forever afterward. Gen.
+xxvii to xxix.
+
+"Fornication.--'And Bilhah, Rachel's maid, conceived again and bare
+Jacob a second son.' Gen. xxx, 7.
+
+"Anger.--'And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses.' Exodus
+iv, 14.
+
+"Thievery.--'Speak now into the ears of the people and let every man
+borrow of his neighbor and every woman of her neighbor jewels of silver
+and jewels of gold.' Exodus xi, 2.
+
+"Carnage.--'For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night and
+will smite all the first born in the land of Egypt, both man and beast;
+and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment; I am the
+Lord.' Exodus xii, 12.
+
+"Jealousy.--'For I the Lord thy God am jealous God.' Exodus xx, 5.
+
+"Slavery.--'Then his master shall bring him unto the judges; he shall
+also bring him to the door, or unto the doorpost, and his master shall
+bore his ear through with an awl; and he shall serve him forever.'
+Exodus xxi, 6.
+
+"Witchcraft.--'Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.' Exodus xxii, 18.
+
+"Murder.--'And my wrath shall wax hot, and I will kill you with my sword
+and your wives shall be widows and your children fatherless.' Exodus
+xxii, 24.
+
+"Changeability.--'And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Phinehas, the
+son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, hath turned my wrath away
+from the children of Israel, while he was zealous for my sake among
+them, that I consumed not the children of Israel in my jealousy.'
+Numbers xxv, 10, 11.
+
+"Brutality.--'And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Bring forth him
+that hath cursed without the camp; and let all that heard him lay their
+hands upon his head, and let all the congregation stone him.' Leviticus
+xxiv, 13, 14.
+
+"Savage Cruelty.--'And if the burnt sacrifice for his offering to the
+Lord be of fowls, then he shall bring his offering of turtle doves, or
+of young pigeons. And the priest shall bring it unto the altar, and
+wring off its head, and burn it on the altar; and the blood thereof
+shall be wrung out at the ides of the altar.' Leviticus i, 14, 15.
+
+"An Ass.--'And the Lord opened the mouth of the ass and she said unto
+Balaam, What have I done unto thee that thou hast smitten me these three
+times?' Numbers xxii, 28.
+
+"I have brought a few of these absurd writings to your attention," said
+Arletta, "hoping that later on you will go over them carefully and give
+them the same rational consideration you bestow upon other subjects.
+There is one commendable feature about your Bible however, and that is,
+it shows that once there existed among your species a noble mortal who
+devoted his life trying to teach the Apeman human kindness in somewhat
+the same manner our men used to do, with the exception of the
+supernatural dogmas. I refer to Jesus Christ. The fact that the same
+lessons he expounded were taught thousands of years before he was born,
+or that he failed to grasp nature's beautiful ideas without confounding
+them with supernatural fancies, does not detract in any way from his
+nobility of purpose and his name should be mentioned in the future
+history of the world as one of the great benefactors of the human race.
+It seems a pity that his over-zealous followers have tried to place him
+in the light of a deity, for in time to come, when your species begin to
+reason, they might possibly regard him as an impostor. This should not
+be the case however, for although Christ no doubt really believed in a
+religious god, it is unjust to believe that he ever pretended to be
+anything more than a mere human being himself, or that he knew anything
+about the wonderful miracles it was subsequently claimed he had
+performed.
+
+"Any earthly being," said Arletta, as her face fairly beamed with
+intelligence, "whether it be a man, an Apeman or a monkey, who claims to
+be related to the Creator of the universe, or to be His prophet, or His
+specially appointed spokesman, or in any way tries to lead others to
+believe that he possesses supernatural powers, is either an impostor or
+an idiot.
+
+"When all earthly beings make use of the reasoning faculties nature
+endows them with, all religions will perish through the agency of their
+own untruths."
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+"Then am I to understand that your people were Atheists?" inquired I of
+Arletta.
+
+"Not at all," replied she. "We believed in Natural Law but not in
+religion. Our most intellectual men decided that by no stretch of the
+imagination could they build a god for religious purposes as great as
+the Creator of the universe must naturally be, and knowing that it
+remains for man himself to reach his highest state of perfection without
+any supernatural influence whatsoever, they therefore abolished all
+forms of religious worship and established a code of ethics which was
+termed Natural Law.
+
+"Religion teaches one to believe in an unnatural god who apparently must
+be ever ready to answer anybody's prayerful cry and act as a general
+servant to humanity by distributing good things to those who beg for
+them; a sort of meddlesome god who enters into all the petty quarrels of
+hunan beings and generally settles them in the wrong way.
+
+"Natural Law teaches that there exists on grand supreme ruler who guides
+the entire machinery of the universe; the Deity who created the
+principle of life, and one who does not deviate from His eternal and
+immutable laws; an all-wise, everlasting and unchangeable being far
+beyond the faintest conception the brain of man has ever been able to
+formulate. His power unlimited; His laws supreme; His goodness
+incalculable.
+
+"Natural Law explains that He created the principle from which humanity
+evolved, but that it remains for all living things to make better or
+worse their own conditions. His laws may be studied and practiced by all
+human beings, but to claim to know the reasons of the Creator's actions
+would be to assume His wisdom and knowledge. His purposes, therefore,
+are unfathomable.
+
+"Natural Law sets forth that notwithstanding the earth is but a mere
+speck in the universe, still, it being a part of the vast machinery
+governed by the Almighty, there is a reason for its existence and a work
+for it to perform. Like other bodies in space, it contains particles of
+living matter which are constantly passing through a course of
+development with methodical changes from life to death and from death to
+life. But while all living things live and die, the material thereof is
+used over and over again indefinitely. Human beings are a species of
+these particles. All living things are composed of three parts, matter,
+energy and soul. The matter is the machinery; energy the motion and soul
+the engineer. The mind is that part of the machinery having power to
+control its movements. The soul is the spark of life and acts as a moral
+guide to the mind. Soul and conscience are synonymous. The soul, always
+pure, is continually striving to improve the condition of the mind. The
+mind alone is responsible for the disposition of the body and the evils
+arising therefrom, the soul merely acting as its instructor for good. It
+is the mind which inherits evil instincts and but for the good influence
+of the soul, living creatures would not exist in harmony. As the mind
+hardens against righteousness the sway of the soul is lessened, but as
+the mind softens towards goodness the soul increases its power. There is
+a continual struggle between the soul for good and the mind for evil,
+but the soul will eventually gain the ascendancy and all living things
+will be cleansed of impurities.
+
+"The body, including the mind, of each living thing dies, the material
+disintegrates and passes into the composition of other forms. The soul
+never dies; it remains in one body until its collapse and then
+transmigrates into another. The soul of man today may be that of a lower
+animal tomorrow; therefore he should use the greatest kindness and
+consideration toward all living things. There is only a certain quantity
+of matter upon earth to be moulded together in living forms and a
+certain number of souls to abide therein, so that with the increase of
+mankind there must naturally be a decrease in the ranks of other
+animals, hence it remains the duty of man to extend in number and
+quality his own species until all the material in existence is utilized
+by human beings of the very highest intelligence. Humanity, however,
+will never rise above the savage state until the barbarous custom of
+killing and eating other animals is abolished.
+
+"Selfishness is the root of all evil; eradicate selfishness from
+humanity and the earth will be heaven.
+
+"Man's heaven is here on earth if he is only capable of making it so,
+but men cannot enjoy heavenly blessings with hellish minds, and no
+selfish being can properly enjoy the sweets of life. The real essence
+and pleasure of life can only be extracted when mankind labors
+harmoniously together as a unit, instead of each individual struggling
+separately and murderously to obtain the largest portion of the earth's
+blessings. The production of the world must be divided equally among all
+honest toilers and man's greatest happiness must arise from serving
+others instead of himself. No good mortal can thoroughly enjoy luxuries
+that are beyond the reach of his fellow men, therefore all human beings
+should work together as one; enjoying equally the fruits of their
+combined efforts; the weak and the strong alike. There must be but one
+master--the entire human race bound together as one. When mankind,
+acting as a unit, masters itself, then will it rule the earth and gain
+knowledge of extraneous matters; thus the wisdom of inhabitants of older
+and more advanced worlds will be attained and intercourse with them
+practiced, thereby unraveling many apparent mysteries of the universe.
+
+"It is an error to suppose that the Deity is your maker; He created the
+source from which all living things sprung, but collectively, man makes
+himself and is responsible for his own conditions. If the Almighty was
+your maker then the production of criminals, cripples and lunatics would
+demonstrate very bad workmanship, so do not try to shift the blame for
+human weakness upon the Creator of the universe. The Deity controls the
+principle of life; man controls himself.
+
+"Do not pray; you cannot alter the Creator's plans and you place him in
+the light of a petty vanity seeker when claiming that he wants to be
+worshipped. Better please the Omnipotent by kind acts toward all living
+creatures than by offering ridiculous exhortations for favors and
+forgiveness. You proffer insults to the Creator when you claim you can
+change His immutable plans by prayer; when you think he would take from
+one and give to another; when you pretend to communicate with Him; when
+you imagine He takes part in the silly squabbles of human beings; when
+you say that man was made in His image; when you take His name in vain.
+
+"A united world, with all living things on the same plane of perfection
+and working harmoniously together for the common good is the heaven
+humanity should strive to reach. It is within the power of mankind to
+perfect itself, but this can only be accomplished through the unselfish
+efforts of the whole people. Each individual can make better or worse
+his own condition and thereby stamp a good or bad impression upon the
+lives of his descendants. The creature who passes his life without
+adding to the knowledge and goodness of the world has lived for naught,
+and he who fails to improve his own worth morally, mentally or
+physically has spent a life of uselessness for which his descendants
+must suffer; for to misuse oneself is to commit a crime against
+posterity. Each generation should be an improvement upon the preceding
+one. Having been entrusted with a piece of living machinery, it is the
+duty of everyone to give it the very best care and attention possible,
+that its value might be increased to nature, hence moral, mental and
+physical perfection are the highest aims of life to achieve. Parents
+should have no off-spring when one or both of them are insane, diseased,
+gluttons, drunkards or criminals.
+
+"Practice moderation in all things that you may live longer and acquire
+strength to enjoy natural blessings and bestow character upon those to
+follow. Pleasure can only be extracted from temperateness; it increases
+or decreases in proportion to quantity, and he who takes sparingly,
+lives longer to enjoy the most. Do not over-work, over-study, over-eat,
+over-drink, over-sleep, or commit any excess whatsoever. The surest way
+to make the world better is to begin with yourself. Such is the essence
+of Natural Law."
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+"At the present time," proceeded Arletta, "the earth resembles a huge
+table over-loaded with good things and surrounded by a pack of gluttons
+each striving to secure the largest portion. And in this piggish
+scramble the strong obtain more and the weak less than is needed while
+enough is wasted to amply supply the whole. The best forces of the
+participants, which should be utilized for other purposes are also lost
+in the ravenous struggle, for it requires more power to retain than
+obtain these things.
+
+"The same avaricious principal--individual accumulation--is the
+foundation of every government in the world today, and consequently all
+of your social systems are being run upside down. Your people spend
+their time and strength in looking for remedies instead of stopping the
+source from which all evils flow. Corruption is the result of a diseased
+root and as long as that remains, iniquities will continue to multiply.
+Extirpate the cause, however, and sin will depart like magic.
+
+"The system which allows the individual to acquire personal wealth is
+the direct cause for nearly every evil in existence. There is no remedy
+for a wrong unless you eradicate it entirely, and just as long as a
+nation clings to the pernicious plan which permits separate persons to
+store up the products of the earth for private uses, just so long will
+selfishness be the characteristic feature of the people, and all kinds
+of criminals will be bred from the material which otherwise would prove
+very useful to a unified world. According to present methods success is
+based upon what each individual accumulates and not what mankind is
+capable of producing.
+
+"The foundation of existence is effort, without which the inhabitants of
+the world would perish. United exertion produces better results and with
+less toil than competitive efforts. With united labor in force, every
+living being must work, for he who consumes and does not produce is a
+thief. If all the inhabitants of the world combined their labors on the
+most economic basis, there would be enough comforts for all created by
+one-tenth of the power expended at the present time. Each person would
+add his mite to the whole, and in return would receive as much as anyone
+else. All worthless occupations would be done away with, and the power
+thereof directed into useful channels. Labor would rule the world
+instead of money. For of what good would be all the money on earth if
+there was no labor to produce the necessities of life? At present there
+exists but one honest toiler whose labors enrich the world, to ten
+schemers who spend their time plotting to secure the results of his
+work; and these parasites actually confiscate the largest portion of
+that which is produced. The schemers feast and govern, while the
+laborers fast and are governed. Can you imagine more unnatural
+conditions than one class of beings producing all the comforts and
+receiving none in return?
+
+"With the abolition of the noxious system of individual accumulation,
+money would have no value and all the evils arising therefrom would
+cease. Take away the opportunity of the individual to accumulate wealth
+for himself, and you remove the temptation for fraud, theft and numerous
+other crimes, for there is then no incentive left for them. Expel the
+motive and selfishness will disappear, and each mortal give his best
+efforts toward perfecting himself morally, mentally and physically for
+the good he may render the world.
+
+"Teach the child that it will not have to worry over the future; that it
+will not have to lie, cheat, steal, murder or take any advantage of its
+fellow beings in order to receive its share of the good things of life;
+explain to it that the real incentive is to give its best services
+toward increasing the general production of the earth, that all mankind
+may enjoy the sweets thereof together in peace and harmony; impress upon
+its young mind, that he who works in excess of others for the good of
+mankind, lives the noblest life and receives the highest esteem of his
+fellow beings and the blessed approbation of his own soul, and that
+child, reaching maturity, will be a thousand times more useful to
+himself and humanity than he who has been taught to hoard up riches for
+his own special purposes.
+
+"Individual accumulation is responsible for crime; crime necessitates
+laws; laws breed tyranny.
+
+"Abolish individualism, and crime, tyranny and nine-tenths of your
+superfluous laws will be exterminated.
+
+"A few well-defined and just laws properly enforced are sufficient to
+successfully operate the governmental machinery of the human race
+according to Natural Law."
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+"Telepathy," continued Arletta, "proved to be one of the greatest
+factors for good utilized by our people. Through its agency we not only
+found that it was the most natural and complete way to converse with one
+another, but also learned to think collectively as well as singly.
+
+"The brain is both a receiver and transmitter of thought, and all minds
+are directly connected with each other by an invisible force. Thought is
+an element of life and exists everywhere; it is not originated by the
+mind, but is a utility for it. Thoughts are sustenance for the brain, as
+air is for the lungs, or food for the appetite; they are good and bad in
+quality, and it is within man's power to accept or reject them at will.
+By admitting good and repelling bad thoughts, the brain acquires moral
+as well as mental strength but vice versa it is poisoned, and degeneracy
+is sure to follow.
+
+"Nature created both the mountains and the thoughts; look and you can
+see those lofty hills; think and you can receive inspiring thoughts.
+Shut your eyes and you cannot see; close your brain and you cannot
+think. The broader the mind, the greater the ideas to enter. Ignorance
+is bred from a closed brain; intelligence from an open one. He who is
+incapable of thinking is like the blind who cannot see or the deaf who
+cannot hear. The thought is the mightiest force for good or evil,
+humanity has to contend with; time is measured by it and pure meditation
+makes the days short and sweet, while evil notions lengthen and
+depreciate them. The mind that retains good ideas and refuses bad ones
+is of incalculable value to mankind for it has an instantaneous effect
+upon other minds in all parts of the earth.
+
+"It is easier for many minds working in harmony together to grasp a
+thought, than for the single brain to receive it without aid. No one
+earthly being ever conceived a great idea unassisted. One might have
+believed and proclaimed the origin of an idea, but unknown and
+innumerable others secretly aided in its conception. The strongest
+intellect, however, retained and gave it to the world, and he who
+accepts, practices and impresses the thought upon others, deserves the
+credit thereof.
+
+"It took several generations of continuous experimentation by the
+Sagemen to acquire the fundamental principles of telepathy and many more
+to establish the custom of conversing with the mind instead of the
+voice. In the beginning, the evil ones looked upon the practice with
+horror, for it was impossible to conceal anything from their fellow
+beings. But this very fact alone caused them to keep clean and allow no
+impure thoughts to enter their minds that would lower them in the
+estimation of their associates, and after a few generations of active
+use it was accepted as one of the great benefits of nature.
+
+"Whenever a great problem confronted the nation, a hundred or more of
+our deepest thinkers would simultaneously concentrate their mental
+forces upon it, and if unsuccessful in reaching a satisfactory
+conclusion, then the whole people would devote an hour each day upon it
+until finally solved. Thus in thought as well as in action we labored
+together as a unit, harmoniously working out vast ideas that never could
+have been conceived by a single brain, and each mortal receiving an
+equal share of the many blessings derived therefrom.
+
+"And there again is where your individual system retards natural
+progress. A little Apeman receives part of one of nature's ideas. His
+immature brain is incapable of receiving the whole of it so he spends
+his entire life stumbling along in the dark, vainly searching for the
+remainder. Sometimes he becomes insane or dies under the strain of the
+burden, and mankind loses the portion he had already understood. It was
+his greedy desire that caused him to struggle alone for something that
+many minds could easily have brought forth had they been called to his
+assistance. But no, his purpose was not to aid humanity, but get money
+and the power to wield over his fellow creatures by accepting and having
+patented for himself one of nature's gifts.
+
+"And then again one of your little Apemen finally does conceive a good
+idea, or part of one, after thirty years, more or less, of constant
+strain upon his mental faculties. So the progress of the world must be
+held in check for that length of time for an invention that could have
+been produced and put into useful operation by the combined efforts of
+many minds in a few days, weeks or months. But it is the individual
+system and not the individual himself which causes this stupendous waste
+of time and power, and as long as it is kept in force the leakage of
+human progress will naturally be beyond calculation.
+
+"It seems a pity," said Arletta, looking at me sympathetically, "that
+your brain is not sufficiently developed to enable you to grasp the
+magnificent principle of life as it was understood by the Sage-men, but
+it would be as hard for you to comprehend an attempted explanation of
+the whole subject as it would be for a monkey to understand algebra. So
+I have to be content with impressing upon your little intellect just as
+much as it will absorb.
+
+"But come, you look tired, let us partake of some refreshments. And
+remember, do not overload your stomach."
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+"Do not overload your stomach." This admonition caused me to feel like a
+child once more, and I was uncertain whether I ought to laugh or become
+indignant over the remark. Still I fully realized the necessity of this
+warning; not only for myself alone, but for the entire human race from
+which I sprung. How many beings are there in the world today who would
+not profit by following this advice? How many are there with sense
+enough to heed it? I cannot recall to memory any person I have ever met
+who had absolute control of his appetite.
+
+"We take pleasure in living, but do not live for pleasure," continued
+Arletta, as she touched an invisible spring concealed within a dainty
+flower and graciously invited me to eat--or rather to breathe. And as I
+inhaled the delicious fumes it seemed that the very breath of life
+itself was injected into every pore of my body.
+
+"That is enough of the soup," commented Arletta mirthfully, "now try the
+roast; now the entree; and here, perhaps, a little dessert will not hurt
+you; there, that is plenty; a little is strengthening but too much is
+poisonous.
+
+"You see, this process of living is very simple indeed; our chemists
+merely extracted the vital parts of vegetables, herbs, cereals, fruits,
+nuts, flowers, etc., and reduced them to aeriform. These artificial
+flowers are arranged to conceal small tubes from which the nutriment
+flows. By operating these automatic springs the substance is allowed to
+escape in such quantities as is required for meals. Very simple, is it
+not? Much cleaner and better than munching a piece of fat pork, don't
+you think? And there are no cooks needed to prepare it, no waiters to
+serve it, nor any dishes to wash afterward. Our food was arranged ready
+for consumption at the great national laboratories and piped directly to
+the people, to use as they pleased."
+
+"It is all very wonderful," exclaimed I, looking up to Arletta as if she
+were the goddess of life itself, "but there is one thing in particular I
+am anxious to know and that is: what causes daylight here when darkness
+prevails on the outside of this building?"
+
+"Very simple," explained she, "about a thousand years before the great
+catastrophe our scientists discovered a method whereby they could store
+up the rays of the sun for light, heat and power, and after much
+experimenting they found that they could mix these rays with other
+ingredients into solid substances. The light you observed in the hallway
+before entering here is merely compressed into the material of which the
+walls are composed and as long as that remains light will shine from it.
+The light in this room comes from the miniature sun you see in the
+picture; that too will give forth radiance as long as the material holds
+together. Our scientists were remarkable men; they not only made use of
+the sun's rays in many different ways for the benefit of mankind, but
+actually controlled the power of the sun itself insofar as it related to
+the earth. They also restrained the atmosphere which surrounds the earth
+and made the weather conditions to suit their own welfare. But these
+things are so infinitely beyond the Apeman's comprehension, who feels
+that he has almost reached the limit of human resources with his crude
+little steam engines, that it would only be a waste of time and power to
+try and explain them to you, besides being a considerable strain upon
+your half-grown brain."
+
+"This is certainly a wonderful painting," said I, looking about the room
+with much admiration. "I have never seen anything to compare with it
+before."
+
+"There is nothing about it that is extraordinary," remarked Arletta, "it
+is merely a little ornamentation of my own private apartment which I did
+myself according to my own fancy. Any of our ordinary house decorators
+could have done as well or better. All of our children were taught to
+paint and they devoted considerable of their spare time to the art, but
+the works of the real artists were placed upon exhibition in the
+national galleries where everybody could see and enjoy their
+magnificence."
+
+"I observe an absence of jewelry about your person," mentioned I, "was
+it not the custom of your people to wear jewels?"
+
+"Do you think that to wear rings around your toes and suspended from
+your nose is a sensible thing to do?" inquired Arletta.
+
+"No, no; decidedly not," answered I, "such are the customs of the
+barbarians only, but our civilized people wear rings around their
+fingers and in their ears."
+
+"Indeed, and wherein lies the difference?" asked she, good naturedly. It
+then struck me rather forcibly that there was no difference and that it
+was just as ridiculous to wear rings from the ears and around the
+fingers as it was to have them suspended from the nose and about the
+toes. "But were there no diamonds in your country?" questioned I.
+
+"Yes," replied Arletta, "there was a large pile of them in the national
+museum which we looked upon as old junk--sort of relics of the savage
+Apemen. When our children were shown these things and informed that a
+king of an Apeman nation would gladly sacrifice the lives of a hundred
+thousand of his subjects in an attempt to gain possession of them, or
+that his subjects would murder their friends, brothers, wives or
+children in an effort to secure some for themselves, it was impossible
+for their youthful minds to fully understand why the Apeman should
+become so ferocious and idiotic over such trifles. They naturally looked
+upon your species as you would view a tribe of monkeys fighting amongst
+themselves for the possession of a string of glass beads. The Apeman
+like the monkey is incapable of seeing his own absurdities."
+
+"And what about gold?" I inquired. "We had a building constructed of
+it," answered she. "One of the first things the Sagemen did after they
+abolished the system of individual accumulation was to take all the gold
+there was in the country, and mould it into a huge edifice to be used as
+a national museum, and represent a sort of monument to a dead system."
+
+"It must have been a magnificent structure," said I, in amazement. "On
+the contrary," replied Arletta, "it was the most hideous building in our
+land. As a curiosity it was worth seeing, but as an object of grandeur
+it was a total failure. There is more real beauty in one of nature's
+tiniest flowers than there would be in a mountain built of gold and
+studded with diamonds, but the little Apeman who considers gold the
+standard of value cannot understand this."
+
+"When you mentioned the absurdity of wearing jewelry," said I, "it
+brought to my attention the fact that you wear no shoes upon your feet,
+and that your toes are much longer and far more shapely and supple than
+is the case nowadays."
+
+"Yes," answered she, "that is because we made use of our toes as well as
+our fingers for useful purposes. It appears to me that the Apeman has
+permitted his feet to grow into mere hoofs with which to stump along
+upon, and from what I observed during my excursion around the world,
+your people are even allowing their hoofs to become worthless," and here
+she smiled as she recalled to mind some of the gouty, rheumatic and
+over-fed mortals she had seen during that trip.
+
+As Arletta smiled, her beautiful lips parted and for the first time I
+noticed, much to my surprise, that she had no teeth. A woman of our own
+kind without teeth generally presents a rather dilapidated appearance,
+but here was a woman that I thought actually looked more lovely without
+them.
+
+"Well," remarked Arletta, noting my astonishment, "I do not have teeth
+to bite and chew with like the lower animals. The Sageman shed his teeth
+shortly after he discontinued the filthy animal habit of devouring flesh
+and other solid substances for subsistence, and substituted the more
+scientific, cleanly and healthful method of inhalation."
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+"Now we shall enjoy a little music," said Arletta, as she turned her
+attention to the pictorial orchestra.
+
+"Music," repeated I, "then it was real music I heard a short time ago
+and not a mere fancy of my own."
+
+"I was not aware that you heard it at all," replied she. "Yes,"
+responded I, "when first coming into this room, the men in the picture
+appeared to me to be alive, and wishing to attract their attention I
+touched the shoulder of the leader, and then it was that I thought I
+heard the sweetest and grandest music it has ever been my good fortune
+to listen to."
+
+"In that case," said Arletta, "your ears did not deceive you, for you
+certainly heard real music. You see in this picture, an exact portrayal
+of that which existed over four thousand years ago. This delineation is
+an almost perfect representation of one of our national bands as they
+once appeared in life ready to play. The music, of course, is reproduced
+mechanically, the mechanism being concealed from view behind the
+scenery. When you placed your hand upon the shoulder of the leader you
+unconsciously pressed the spring which set the machinery in motion,
+causing a reproduction of the same strains once rendered by these men."
+
+"But this being a painting, I cannot understand how the figures moved as
+if playing upon their instruments," said I.
+
+"They did not move at all," answered Arletta, "it was your soul that
+brought to your senses the movements that once took place among these
+men in real life. Music is inspired by the soul, and likewise has a
+direct influence upon it. No Sageman was considered an eminent composer
+if his work lacked the force to convey the soul of the listener to the
+actual scene from whence the inspiration was derived. No doubt your
+inferior brain was incapable of grasping the magnificent conception of
+the author, but the selection being so enrapturous your soul awakened
+and brought your senses to the point where you could see the movements
+of the musicians. Perhaps the next rendition may have a stronger effect
+upon your soul which will cause you to get an outline of what was
+intended by the composer. The composition which the orchestra will now
+reproduce for your benefit was considered by our people to be the
+musical masterpiece of all time. It was named 'The Soul's
+Retrospection,' and was composed by the leader of this band only a few
+years prior to the great catastrophe. Look," said Arletta, with much
+feeling as she waved her hand toward the exalted director, "take a good
+look at this model of a perfect man and you may be able to realize just
+what qualities he had to possess before acquiring the tremendous
+intellectual strength necessary to produce the wonderful work that will
+shortly be impressed upon you. Note the extraordinary look of kindness,
+gentleness and self-denial that is stamped upon his handsome features.
+See the expression of thankfulness and intense reverence he maintained
+for the many splendid gifts nature bestows upon all mankind capable of
+accepting them. Observe the optimistic appearance of one that believed
+the earth was real heaven and who strived to make it so. Notice the cast
+of superior intellectuality caused by devoting his time and mentality to
+natural thoughts, instead of allowing absurd civilized theories to take
+root in his expansive brain. Behold the magnificent physique, the result
+of the constant care and attention he gave to the machinery nature
+provided him with. Ah, me! such a noble being, and to think that there
+is not another piece of flesh and blood on earth at the present time to
+compare with him seems cruel."
+
+At this point Arletta appeared almost overcome with sadness and emotion
+as she buried herself in contemplation of a glorious past and an unknown
+future. Great tears rolled from her beautiful eyes, and unconsciously
+from my own as well. How utterly helpless I felt at that moment. I knew
+of no way to cheer her, although I would have gladly given up my life to
+do so. Aye, more than that, my love for her was so strong that in order
+to make her happy, I should have welcomed back to life again, if such a
+thing were possible, any one of those handsome fellows in the picture.
+However, by a superb display of will power, she quickly regained control
+of herself, and becoming cheerful once more, bade me recline upon one of
+the lounges while she pressed the spring which set the musical apparatus
+in motion.
+
+And as I followed her directions, there suddenly burst forth the
+voluminous and harmonious sound of a hundred strange instruments,
+causing an indescribable thrill of ecstasy to take possession of my
+senses, until it seemed that there was nothing left of me but an
+invisible spirit. And then, even the music apparently stopped, and a
+peculiar feeling overcame me as if my soul had actually left its charge
+and was flying about in an effort to find a convenient resting place.
+Suddenly, as if half awake and half dreaming, I found myself within a
+luxuriously furnished hall, surrounded by a score of richly-clad beings,
+who were bowing, kneeling, and cutting up all sorts of silly antics
+about me. In a dreamy sort of a way, I looked down at myself and
+discovered that I was arrayed in the gorgeous garments of a king, and
+weighted down with dazzling jewels from head to foot. Then everything
+became clear enough to my memory; I was the king, and these idiotic
+creatures fawning and cringing about me were my obedient subjects; my
+slaves; the willing tools which kept me in power. A gouty feeling in my
+feet, a dyspeptic ache of the stomach and an alcoholic pain in the head,
+caused me to be in a very disagreeable mood, and I felt like kicking the
+entire gathering out of my presence.
+
+"Sire," squeaked a knock-kneed, sickly looking civilized creature about
+five feet high, who wore knee breeches, silk stockings and fancy
+ribbons, as he bowed low in addressing me, "those ungrateful subjects of
+your majesty, the ignorant common laboring horde whom God in His
+infinite wisdom has entrusted to your noble guidance, have become
+dissatisfied and turbulent again, and are disturbing the peaceful
+prosperity of the domain by clamoring for bread--more bread and less
+toil is their beastly cry. A delegation of their representatives
+requested me to beg your majesty to grant them an audience that they
+might state their imaginary grievances to you in person."
+
+"More bread and less toil," shouted I furiously, "the audacity of the
+vermin! By the gods! I shall teach those craven beggars that I am the
+master and will tolerate no new-fangled ideas. Give orders to the
+generalissimo to have this delegation beheaded at once and to put to the
+sword every dissatisfied laborer in the land." As I uttered those words,
+intermingled with terrible oaths, and with intense hatred for the
+wretches who dared to complain against such conditions a sudden change
+affected me and I found myself within a dark, filthy little room, seated
+at a bare table, with a feeling of hunger gnawing at my stomach. My
+limbs felt tired and sore from a hard day's toil. Beside me sat a thin,
+haggard, sorrowful woman and several half-famished children piteously
+crying for something to eat. Oh, what a dismal, melancholy feeling.
+"What is it," mused I, observing my bony hands, crooked limbs and ragged
+clothes, "that causes my inability to earn enough money to supply bread
+for myself and family, after working fifteen hours a day, while
+thousands of men in this land do not work at all and have luxuries to
+waste? What unnatural law governs the world that starves myself and
+family who work, and over-feeds the pet dog of the aristocrat, who
+loafs? The Church teaches me that God rules the universe, and that in
+order to please Him I must be contented with my lot. Can I believe this
+unreasonable doctrine of the Church? Can I give thanks to such a god?"
+
+Another change, and behold, I am clad in the garments of a hunter,
+seated upon the back of a spirited horse and in mad pursuit of a fleet-
+footed antelope. I raise my rifle and blaze away at the frightened
+beast. There, I have hit the mark and brought him down at the first
+shot, much to my delight. But lo, it is not dead yet; see how it pants
+and struggles in desperation, as it tries to regain its feet. Now I am
+right upon it, and quickly dismounting, I take hold of its horns, draw a
+long keen knife from its sheath, and with a powerful stroke I almost
+sever the victim's head from the body. And as the warm blood pours forth
+in every direction and the last sign of life departs from its shivering
+body, I view the work of destruction with the fiendish glee of a noble
+sportsman.
+
+But hold! What causes me to tremble with fear as though some blood-
+thirsty monster were pursuing me with the intention of crushing out my
+life's blood? Ah, I understand. I am the four-footed beast and am
+running, running, running as fast as my weary limbs will carry me. And
+such a terrified feeling overcomes me as I look backward and discover I
+am pursued by the most dangerous, savage and cruel animal in existence--
+man. How relentlessly he dogs my footsteps. On, on, on he comes until he
+is right behind me and there is no chance to escape--nor any hope for
+quarter. At last being brought to bay I turn about and decide to give
+battle to my pursuer. But look! The cowardly savage will not fight after
+all. No, he will not advance and fight fair, but at a distance and out
+of harm's way, he stops, and pointing a weapon at me, takes deliberate
+aim, there is a loud report, a quick flash, and the scene once more
+changes.
+
+And thus I transmigrated from one thing into another, in a seemingly
+endless procession of lives, experiencing all the peculiar sensations of
+the many bodies I temporarily inhabited. In some cases I was the big
+strong brute--either physically or mentally--taking advantage of the
+puny weakling. In others, I was the miserable weakling, being crushed by
+the over-powering strength of the bully. But whether strong or weak,
+either physically or mentally, I was always the moral coward and selfish
+creature, ready to cater to those who were stronger, and take advantage
+of those who were feebler than myself, until finally I emerged into a
+most extraordinary being, utterly deficient in all human weaknesses.
+
+Master of a physique absolutely free from all imperfections, and
+controlling a mind powerful enough to grasp nature's beautiful ideas
+unadulterated, I found myself seated upon a platform in the center of a
+mammoth theatre and surrounded by the finest body of musicians the earth
+has ever produced--the immortal Sixth National Band of Sageland. Then I
+fully realized that as leader of this wonderful group I was about to
+render for the first time, my latest musical conception and masterpiece--
+"The Soul's Retrospection"--which would prove to humanity beyond a
+doubt, the positive truth of one of nature's grandest secrets--the
+indestructibility of the soul.
+
+It was generally believed that music was the direct inspiration of the
+soul. It was also thought that the soul was one of the unchangeable
+forces of nature whose duty it was to operate and purify different
+pieces of natural machinery known as animal lives; starting each on its
+brief career and remaining a part thereof until the mechanism exhausted
+its power and collapsed, after which it attached itself to another bit
+of animal matter, remaining therewith until its death, and so on
+indefinitely.
+
+And now, after a life of unswerving devotion to this purpose, I was
+about to establish the truth of these theories by producing a musical
+composition that would cause the listener's soul to leave the body, and
+going backward, revisit, as in a dream, the various animal forms it had
+previously inhabited. How extremely happy I felt to think what a great
+blessing humanity was about to receive direct from nature, through the
+instrumentality of myself and the incalculable good that would result
+therefrom. Not only would it prove of vast scientific value to my own
+countrymen, but also to the millions of ferocious Apemen in all parts of
+the world, who could now be made to understand that no soul is immune
+from hardship, misery and torture until all living things on earth have
+reached the highest stage of perfection.
+
+The news that the first production of "The Soul's Retrospection" was
+about to be given had attracted great attention among the Sagemen, and I
+observed that the great National Auditorium, which was capable of
+seating four hundred thousand persons, was crowded to its very doors, a
+proceeding I had never witnessed before, notwithstanding my companions
+and I had appeared there many times previously to give musical
+performances. I also noticed that the transmitters in all of the domes
+of the auditorium were open and ready for use and I knew that my
+countrymen in every part of Sageland were at their musical receivers
+ready to obtain the instantaneous results of our efforts. All of the
+celebrated wise men and great scientists, while openly skeptical
+concerning the claims of my composition, showed their interest in the
+matter by being present personally and appearing anxious for success to
+crown my efforts. As my eyes wandered over the great assemblage
+completely filling tiers upon tiers of seats, as far back in every
+direction as the natural eye could reach, I felt positive that there was
+at least one person present who had no doubts of successful results.
+"Ah, where is she?" mused I, looking about for a sign of recognition.
+"Here I am," came the quick telepathic response, and immediately my gaze
+fell upon the loveliest woman on earth--Arletta--nature's companion to
+my soul. I am utterly powerless to describe the feeling of joy
+experienced as our eyes met in mutual admiration. Being held momentarily
+spellbound by her loving glance, I fully recognized the fact that she
+was the acme of purity--the guiding star of my life. And with such a
+guide there was no such thing as fail.
+
+All in readiness, I arose to my feet and the entire audience did
+likewise, as a token of appreciation for past services rendered.
+Acknowledging the honor and waiving them seated, without further ado I
+signaled my assistants to begin.
+
+Never did a body of musicians commence a difficult task with more
+determination to create, through the medium of their instruments, an
+exact interpretation of the author's purpose. In no degree could they
+have succeeded more admirably than on this occasion. Never was an entire
+audience so completely carried beyond the borders of reality than now.
+From the first until the last note not a twitch of a muscle could be
+seen in all that mass of humanity, which now resembled a great concourse
+of motionless statues. The musicians themselves, with their minds and
+souls bent upon giving the fullest expression to their grand work, were
+the only evidence that any life at all remained in the large auditorium.
+How bravely they stuck to their laborious undertaking; how beautifully
+they executed their divine work.
+
+At last the piece was finished, and looking about, I observed that the
+great audience jumped to its feet instantly, and every person present
+frantically extended both hands above the head--a sign that we had been
+successful. Never before did I see my countrymen under such intense
+excitement and jubilation as now. Men hugged each other; women cried
+with joy. The world is saved, was the general exclamation. Amid the
+great confusion that followed, I noticed Arletta with her arms
+outstretched toward me--a sign that she was betrothed to me forever. Her
+beautiful face was the picture of happiness and love. As I descended
+from the platform and started forward to clasp her in my arms the entire
+audience seemed to vanish into nothingness, and my head began to whirl.
+I turned and looked backward, and to my great astonishment and confusion
+beheld myself still seated upon the platform. It seemed to me that I was
+divided into two parts. I rubbed my eyes in amazement and looked again.
+There was the leader of the band sitting on the platform motionless and
+surrounded by his faithful helpmates. I looked in the other direction.
+There was Arletta reclining upon the couch with her lustrous eyes fixed
+upon me. I glanced down at myself and found that I was the same old John
+Convert dressed in sailor's clothes.
+
+For several moments I stood there buried in the depth of serious
+meditation. Then slowly walking over near Arletta, I stooped and resting
+upon one foot and knee, I tenderly took her hand in mine and bowed my
+head in reverence. I understood it all now.
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+"What a wonderful world this is! What writer of fiction could draw upon
+his imagination for anything to compare with this extraordinary freak of
+nature?" soliloquized I, arising and taking a seat opposite Arletta and
+staring at her in amazement.
+
+"There is no such thing as a freak of nature," corrected Arletta, "the
+utmost reason prevails for all of her acts; but the simplest of nature's
+laws appears complex and incomprehensible to the Apeman, who merely uses
+his brain as an organ for self-gratification instead of an instrument to
+grasp natural laws for which purpose it is intended. And therefore,
+while your famous Apemen stunt the growth of the brain by misusing it
+for the base purpose of accumulating individual wealth, our great men
+utilized their brains to receive, understand and operate the wise laws
+established by nature for the equal benefit and betterment of all
+mankind. And therein lies the chief difference between the piece of
+human machinery your soul now occupies and that which it once directed
+over four thousand years ago. Behold," said she, dramatically pointing
+at the director of the band, "that you were," and then casting her eyes
+upon me, "that you are. Does your mind lack the strength to fully
+appreciate the magnificent lesson nature has forced upon you, and which,
+no doubt, stands unparalleled in the history of your species?
+
+"Oh, if each little Apeman could only be made to understand, that the
+present body is but one little installment of the innumerable lives his
+soul has to preside over, and that the rich and powerful today may be
+the weak and lowly tomorrow, he would begin at once to treat all living
+things with equal kindness and sympathy. If he could only realize that
+the dog he kicks, the horse he mistreats, or the poor mental or physical
+weakling he takes advantage of might possibly be impelled by the same
+soul that moved the form of his deceased father, mother, or offspring,
+his selfishness and cruelty would vanish forever. If he could only
+comprehend that the soul suffers as well as the flesh it stimulates, and
+that it must naturally continue to do so, more or less, until every
+particle of living matter has been cleansed and remoulded into the
+highest type of earthly being, he would strive to reach perfection
+himself and urge others to do likewise. For all terrestrial life must go
+up or down together; a moment of selfish pleasure now, means an age of
+suffering and torment in the future. Such are the immutable laws of
+nature. And these laws must be obeyed before mankind can climb the
+ladder of greatness.
+
+"It sometimes appears as if Natural Law works very slowly before
+reaching a given point, but there is always a reason for every one of
+its movements. While apparently incomprehensible, still it was in
+accordance with an eternal law, that you were sent back here again after
+an interim of over tour thousand years. My soul, which had been held a
+captive during all that time, might have remained here for millions of
+years had you not come back to release it from its peculiar bondage. But
+you did return, and nature thereby demonstrated that it never forgets
+anything, from the workings of the great living things of which the
+suns, moons and planets are but mere organs, down to the minutest
+microbe of the microbe. So you can readily perceive that at least two of
+the bodies which your soul has inhabited were chosen to perform great
+services for the human race. First, by a natural course of instruction,
+you proved to the Sagemen over four thousand years ago that the soul was
+indestructible. And now, through a mysterious operation of nature you
+are brought back here in an inferior organism and have had a positive
+manifestation of the identical principle thus established, in order that
+you might resurrect and make known to all mankind the unalterable truth--
+Natural Law. Do you not feel highly honored to be called upon twice for
+such grand missions?"
+
+"But I cannot understand," said I, "why nature, after having allowed the
+Sagemen to reach such a state of physical, mental and moral superiority,
+should destroy them just when they had reached the threshold of
+success."
+
+"Nature did not destroy the Sagemen," replied Arletta, "they
+extinguished themselves in making an effort to accomplish something
+beyond their powers. They tried to operate a law with which they had not
+become sufficiently familiar to insure success. If one of your little
+Apemen experiments with steam or dynamite and is blown to atoms, that is
+his own fault, not nature's.
+
+"For a thousand years the Sagemen had made remarkable progress along
+scientific lines. They had mastered themselves, and had learned to think
+both individually and collectively; and also to properly distribute and
+enjoy the products of their combined efforts. They had acquired a
+thorough knowledge of the particles of which the earth is composed, and
+had secured control of the atmosphere that surrounds it. They had
+harnessed the chemical properties of the sun after reaching the earth,
+and had gained possession of many other valuable utilities by following
+the course of Natural Law, but when they undertook to regulate the
+earth's path in space they simply over-stepped the confines of their
+abilities and failed. That was one of nature's laws they were not
+thoroughly acquainted with. However, as it requires many drawbacks to
+achieve extraordinary success in all things, humanity should not be
+discouraged over this failure, but gradually work its way up again until
+it has not only reached, but surpassed the high standard of excellence
+attained by the Sagemen.
+
+"In the great stretch called time, the length of one little human
+existence is but a mere fraction of a moment. Therefore, one should
+devote his best efforts during that brief period, to making better the
+conditions of the place in which he has to spend many lives, for,
+according to what he has done in one life, so must he contend with in
+the next. If, while possessing physical and mental strength in one body,
+he assists in upholding a corrupt social system which takes from the
+weak and gives to the strong, he must expect these same conditions to
+exist when he returns as a weakling. For as long as hogs are bred and
+slaughtered, so must he take his chances of being one of them. How much
+better to help mankind seek a higher plane of intelligence, in which
+equality would be a reality, thus firmly cementing the tie of sympathy
+and love between all living things. In this case he would have no fear
+concerning his chances upon the next visit, no matter in what form he
+might appear. And how much better to carry on the work of decreasing the
+birth of the lower animals and increasing the numbers and quality of the
+higher species, until there was nothing left on earth but the very best
+type of human beings for all souls to inhabit.
+
+"Natural Law is very easily understood if the mind is properly directed
+toward it. Great thoughts are easily conveyed from one to another after
+the strong intellects have conceived them. Nature itself is simply the
+principle of the utilization of creative life. This principle plainly
+shows an evolutionary tendency of all living particles toward a final
+state of complete intelligence. This intelligence is absorbed by the
+mind. The mind itself is expanded in proportion to the quantity it takes
+in, and is capable of directing it for either good or evil purposes. The
+difference between good and evil is merely that between unselfishness
+and selfishness. Owing to its immature growth, the mind has a tendency
+to use the intelligence it acquires for selfish ends. And here is where
+the soul or conscience has its work to perform, in trying to direct it
+into good channels.
+
+"Intelligence means the ability to think, or understand the thoughts
+conceived by others. The most intelligent mind will listen to the soul,
+and use the thought as an unselfish medium with which to aid others. The
+poorly developed brain stifles the pleadings of the conscience and
+utilizes it as a selfish weapon to secure the power to take from others.
+The battle of existence is constantly carried on between selfishness,
+which is bred from the very lowest form of intelligence, and
+unselfishness, which represents the very highest state of mentality. A
+well-balanced mind wants all men to enjoy equal rights and opportunities
+in common with one another, affording each a chance to rise as high as
+his capabilities will permit. For the more intelligent beings there are
+in existence, the better for all concerned. If you want to eradicate
+disease, you must stamp out the conditions that breed it. Before you can
+reach the highest form of intelligence, you must exterminate the causes
+which create selfishness. And he who labors to improve others,
+unconsciously produces better conditions for himself."
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+"The history of Sageland," continued Arletta, "during one thousand years
+prior to the great catastrophe was simply a record of heaven on earth,
+in which the inhabitants lived for and loved one another. The abolition
+of the pernicious system of individual accumulation was the direct cause
+for the existence of this beautiful state of affairs. For when the
+people discovered that they could no longer hoard up wealth for personal
+advantage, but were required to give their best efforts toward general
+production in exchange for the necessities of life, they lost all evil
+desires and endeavored to secure the highest esteem of their fellow-
+beings by perfecting themselves mentally, morally and physically for the
+good of the community.
+
+"The system by which the State required each individual to devote a
+portion of his time toward general production, and which gave him in
+return for his services a home, food, clothes, education, entertainment,
+and, in fact, everything necessary to his welfare and comfort, is so
+simple and easy of comprehension that any living thing above the
+intellectual line of the Ape should be able to understand it.
+
+"In the first place, the State was simply the people--all of the people--
+working harmoniously together as a unit. Every child was educated from
+its infancy in the economic principles of the State, and upon arriving
+at maturity was given a voice in its government. There were no
+privileges whatsoever granted to any particular person or persons, no
+matter how superior their intelligence nor how valuable the services
+they rendered to the country. As long as any one, whether strong or
+weak, lived up to the laws of the State and applied himself to the best
+of his ability, just so long was he allowed a voice in the government
+and an equal proportion of the benefits accorded to all. Both men and
+women enjoyed equal rights. Every man and woman in the country was a
+public servant; they all worked for the public good. Each law adopted
+was put into force through the direct vote of all the people. Municipal
+and sectional laws were made uniform throughout the entire nation. The
+public officials were chosen from the wisest men and women of the land.
+These officials formulated the laws, but none of them became operative
+until sanctioned by the people through suffrage. And no matter whether
+the law was great or trivial, it was left for the people to decide
+whether they would accept or reject it. The majority always settled the
+question, and the law went into operation for a stated period, at the
+expiration of which time the question would again be reconsidered and
+voted upon if necessary. The laws were few and perfectly plain, and
+could not be evaded. Nor was there any advantage to be gained by evading
+them. The principle simply decreed, that all persons must devote a
+certain portion of their time to advancing the conditions of the country
+which gave them sustenance. The State allotted to the individual the
+employment for which it was demonstrated he was best fitted. The working
+hours were few, so that there was no strain upon any one, no matter what
+labor he had to perform. The average length of time the individual was
+compelled to work for the public was four hours daily, the balance of
+the time being at his own disposal, but usually occupied as follows:
+four hours study; two hours for physical exercise and recreative games;
+three hours to music, painting and other intellectual amusements; three
+hours for nourishment and eight hours for sleep. While it was not
+compulsory to pass one's time as stated, still it was generally taught
+and believed that in so doing the individual developed his greatest
+qualities.
+
+"As the State provided everything the individual needed from time of
+birth until death, it gave him an opportunity to devote his time to
+higher and purer thoughts and purposes than the mere animal desires for
+selfish gain, and thus exterminated the cause of deception, fraud, theft
+and all other crimes arising therefrom.
+
+"According to our laws the public owned and operated everything, and
+produced and distributed all of its own goods. And in doing this it set
+aside all superfluous vocations that merely wasted public power and
+turned these forces into other channels for the common good. For
+instance: as the State owned all of the land and everything that was
+produced, and simply gave to the individual that which he was capable of
+consuming, there was no need for such things as taxes. And without taxes
+there was no public labor wasted by tax collectors, lawyers, treasurers,
+auditors, clerks, book-keepers, etc.
+
+"Then again, the individual being able to obtain everything free of
+charge, money became valueless, all the evils of the financial system
+eliminated, and the preponderance of labor expended in upholding this
+unnatural system was used for productive purposes, thus doing away with
+such occupations as money making, money lending, banking, broking,
+speculating, gambling, etc.
+
+"Without money in existence, and labor being the only purchasing power,
+and as every want was satisfied by the State in return for the
+individual's services, there was nothing left to steal, and consequently
+no necessity for utilizing the labor of an army of human beings as
+police, detectives, judges, lawyers, juries, etc.
+
+"And as all the public necessities were produced and distributed by the
+most systematic, direct, and economic methods, straight from the store-
+houses to the consumers, there was no use for merchants, traders,
+jobbers, agents, salesmen, clerks, peddlers, etc.
+
+"As each individual was compelled to give a percentage of his time
+toward general production, in order to be a member, in good standing, of
+the community, and able to enjoy all the rights that such membership
+accorded, there was no chance to avoid honest work and no room for such
+parasites as tramps, beggars and society loafers.
+
+"So that in abolishing the stupid system of individual accumulation and
+substituting nature's plan of united labor and honest distribution, all
+useless vocations and parasitic accessories were extirpated entirely,
+thus transferring that tremendous leakage of human power into honest
+production, the beneficial results of this change being: shorter work
+hours, increased education, refinement, comfort, and security for
+everybody, and the extermination of selfishness and crime.
+
+"United labor merely utilized the various forces of nature, to produce
+and distribute all the necessities of life for the general welfare of
+mankind, by the most intelligent, humane, and unselfish methods."
+
+"But," said I, as Arletta paused for a moment, "was it not a very
+difficult matter to make all men give their best efforts to the State
+when there was no incentive for personal gain other than that which
+everybody else received, and did not those who were capable of
+accomplishing more work than others, complain of the benefits given
+those with less ability and not so industriously inclined as
+themselves?"
+
+"Those same questions were asked and answered over five thousand years
+ago," replied Arletta, "and were subsequently proved to be fallacies. If
+a man's highest aim in life is to foolishly pile up worldly products for
+his own piggish satisfaction, then he is really on no higher plane than
+the swine; for the rich accumulate wealth like the hog does filth, for
+what, they know not. It requires far more ability to build a strong
+moral character and a kindly feeling for others, than it does to
+accumulate a mountain of produce. The Sagemen, with their splendid
+intellects, would gladly have worked themselves to death for the public
+good had not the State restricted the working hours and required each
+person to give proper care and attention to himself as well as to the
+public.
+
+"Immediately after discarding the old system of individual accumulation,
+the Sagemen passed a law that all persons refusing to do their portion
+of work for the public should be considered insane, and put into asylums
+until such time as they regained their proper senses. No work, no
+freedom, the statute said. But even in the beginning there was very
+little use for these asylums, and within two generations they became
+obsolete for the want of inmates. The vast majority of human beings are
+anxious to appear in the best possible light in the eyes of their
+contemporaries and are swayed either forward or backward by the
+sentiment of others. If public opinion says to the individual: you are
+held equally responsible with everybody else for the general welfare and
+conditions of your country, and if you show a lack of self-respect by
+trying to evade the small portion of work necessary to pay for your
+keeping, then you shall be judged mentally and morally unsound, and not
+fit to associate with respectable people, he will not only do all that
+is expected of him, but will try to out-work everybody else in order to
+secure the highest esteem of his fellow beings.
+
+"The system of individual accumulation as now practiced throughout the
+entire world is a most brutal plan of existence. It is either directly
+or indirectly responsible for all the crime and suffering humanity has
+to contend with. It causes men to forget their souls in the desperate
+struggle for a mere living. It saps the strength of the individual and
+then censures him for being weak. It robs him of the fruits of his labor
+and then blames him for being poor. It forces him to steal and then
+punishes him for being a thief. It drives him to all sorts of crime, and
+then condemns him for being a criminal. It encourages and gives
+everything to the strong and discourages by taking everything from the
+weak. It originated with the primitive savages, and is the most beastly
+and debasing system conceivable. It keeps mankind in the very lowest
+stage of intelligence, and in a condition of helplessness on one side
+and slavery on the other. It has been saturated with so many idiotic
+laws and so-called remedies since its inception that it now resembles a
+great network of legalized corruption. Laws for this and laws for that,
+and laws to offset other laws are enacted until the power of the human
+race is wasted, in either making or breaking the innumerable edicts made
+to uphold a weak and rotten system.
+
+"You cannot make right by patching up wrong. A new and effective system
+cannot be created by changing the features of an old and putrid one. An
+entirely new foundation must be constructed in order to insure solidity
+and strength. That was the reason the Sagemen uprooted entirely the
+cancerous system of individual accumulation and planted in its place the
+scientific and mutually beneficial plan of united labor and equal
+distribution as decreed by Natural Law.
+
+"The Apeman being the foremost of living particles on earth at the
+present time, and nature being capable, willing and generous enough to
+abundantly provide for all of his needs, he should immediately cast off
+the yoke of greed and devote his time and best efforts to a nobler work
+than the petty accumulation of plunder."
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+"In equal proportion to man's moral and mental strength, so should he be
+well-balanced physically," proceeded Arletta. "In fact, he cannot accept
+his greatest opportunities unless perfectly sound and healthful. The
+mind derives its power of conception from the body, as well as the body
+secures its impetus from mind, therefore, the development of the frame
+should at least keep pace with that of the intellect, if not exceeding
+it. There is nothing more delightful to behold or conceive than a
+perfect physical man, whose features manifest strong moral and mental
+attributes, as exemplified by the portraits of the Sagemen."
+
+"Excepting a perfect woman as depicted by yourself," thought I, with
+uncontrollable rapture, as I feasted my eyes upon her exquisite form and
+lovely countenance. Taking notice of my passionate cogitation, she
+interjected, "Nature created the male and female, and in order to
+perpetuate life itself, the union thereof is necessary; therefore, the
+highest aim of each should be to win and hold the love and companionship
+of the other. To do this successfully, each must strive to reach the
+very highest point of physical, as well as mental and moral excellence.
+Our men adored women as the most sacred and beautiful objects of life;
+the women revered men as the grandest things extant.
+
+"According to the philosophy of Sage--who, by the way, was the founder
+of our government, and the first to expound the principles of Natural
+Law--men belonged to the community, and not the community to man. He
+contended that it was just as essential to the general welfare of the
+public for the individual to build himself up from a healthful
+standpoint, and likewise make himself pleasing to the eyes of others, as
+it was to construct sanitary and artistic houses.
+
+"Health and beauty are natural; disease and deformity are acquired, and
+are therefore crimes against mankind. There are three good reasons why
+it is criminal for one to neglect health. First, by going contrary to
+Natural Law, he unfits himself to give his best labors toward the
+progress of his species. Second, by breeding disease in himself, he
+forces it into the community. Third--the most heinous crime of all--he
+passes down to his offspring the ghastly inheritances resulting from his
+own degraded weaknesses, which, in turn, are handed down from generation
+to generation.
+
+"Intemperance, such as over-eating, over-drinking, over-work, over-rest,
+and many other forms of over-doing things, together with worry and
+uncleanliness, is directly responsible for disease and deformity. All
+living things would be healthful, if they contained enough intelligence
+to live according to Natural Law.
+
+"Besides using moderation in taking nourishment, work and pleasure, the
+Sageman was careful about his exercises, assiduously devoting from two
+to three hours each day to physical culture. He practiced all manner of
+games and acrobatic performances, in order to bring the body up to its
+best possible shape. Suppleness, agility, and gracefulness were desired
+in preference to brute strength. Running, jumping, swimming, and flying
+were considered a necessary part of every one's daily routine, from
+early youth until old age and death."
+
+"Flying," exclaimed I, incredulously, "you surely do not mean to inform
+me that the Sagemen could fly?"
+
+"Yes," answered Arletta, "the practice of floating in the air was begun
+shortly prior to the great catastrophe and many of our men and women
+were becoming adepts at it. You see, after the Sagemen discontinued the
+animal method of eating flesh and other solid substances and adopted the
+aeriform process of nourishment, he naturally became much lighter in
+proportion to his bulk, and gravitation did not hold him so tightly to
+the earth as formerly. Of course it took many generations of tendency in
+that direction before he could even acquire the rudiments of aerial
+propulsion. But after the dread feeling of worry and want was finally
+eradicated from his mind by the abolition of the individual accumulative
+system, he then began to apply himself carefully to physical
+development, and as running, jumping and acrobatic work have the best
+symmetrical effects upon the human form, this kind of exercise was
+extensively followed, and as each generation succeeded in outdoing the
+feats of the preceding one, the entire nation finally evolved into one
+of extraordinary springing propensities. What will you think, when I
+tell you that any of our men or women could jump over the highest
+building there is in the world today, or run faster than any of your
+steam locomotives? It seems hard for you to realize such things, but
+still these are facts. In these days, the Apeman devotes his time to the
+construction of machinery with which to carry around his decaying and
+almost useless frame, while the Sageman utilized the power of his own
+body to propel himself as nature intended.
+
+"The gradual increase from year to year, and generation to generation,
+of the Sageman's ability to make high leaps, and his continual desire to
+remain in the air as long as possible, eventually bore evolutionary
+results by man learning to fly. And like swimming, so with flying, the
+mind plays the biggest part towards its accomplishment.
+
+"As you appear incredulous regarding my statements, I will just give you
+a little illustration," said Arletta, and before I was aware of her
+intentions she arose, and with an almost imperceptible spring went
+straight up to the ceiling, and then with a graceful movement somewhat
+similar to a fish swimming in the water, she went half way across the
+room and slowly descended to the floor again. "There is no good reason
+why a man should not fly as well as swim," said Arletta, being seated
+once more. "Time and inclination work wonders, and the human race has no
+limit to its achievements if it only takes the right course.
+
+"In order to obtain the best results physically, the individual must
+live according to the simple laws of nature. Plenty of good healthful
+exercise must be taken regularly and without strain. The intelligent
+direction of the mind must also be brought into action with all muscular
+efforts. Man's daily employment should be a mixture of both mental and
+physical labor, for all brain work strains the mind and weakens the
+flesh, while all bodily exertion over-taxes the frame and retards the
+growth of intellect. Deep breathing, an abundance of pure fresh air and
+plenty of sunlight are indispensable to perfect health. Daily baths are
+essential to keep the exterior of the body clean, while the interior
+must be kept in good order with a moderate supply of simple, wholesome
+and unadulterated foods. Nature's plain beverage, water, is all that man
+should imbibe. No evil thoughts must be allowed to enter the mind.
+Cheerfulness, self-control, kindliness and optimism are great aids in
+promoting health. Pessimism, worry, anger, fear and violent emotions are
+poison to the system. There should be nothing in life to fear. The
+unselfish know no fear. Those who teach it, or cause others to fear are
+common enemies to health and progress.
+
+"The beastly custom of drinking intoxicating liquors, now prevalent
+throughout the world, is one of the very worst forms of robbing the
+individual of his physical strength and vitality, as well as his reason
+and moral character.
+
+"The tobacco habit also; that idiotic and ridiculous performance of
+filling the mouth with smoke merely to blow it out again, is another
+dangerous obstacle thrown in the path of good health. It seems strange
+that the Apeman cannot open his eyes wide enough to see the danger as
+well as the absurdity of these silly customs which sap his strength and
+leave him in a state of abject weakness. What a pity he cannot exert
+enough will power to overcome these stupid and harmful practices.
+
+"If you want to use your faculties when you are old, exercise them
+properly when you are young. Improve yourself and you make better the
+world."
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+"Sageland, previous to the catastrophe," resumed Arletta, "was a small
+oblong continent surrounded by what are now known as the Indian and
+South Atlantic Oceans. It ran from north-east to southwest. Its extreme
+length was nine hundred and twenty-eight miles and its greatest width
+was three hundred and ninety-six miles. There were a little over thirty
+million inhabitants in the land.
+
+"Unlike the different countries of the present time, there were no large
+cities in Sageland. The population was scattered over the entire surface
+of the country at intervals and was domiciled in two distinct ways,
+namely: the rural form of dwelling, in which a single family occupied a
+separate house for its own private use, and the borough settlements,
+whereby several thousand persons lived together under one roof.
+
+"The great structures known as borough buildings covered about a square
+mile of land each, and were from fifty to eighty stories in height. They
+were very artistically designed, most luxuriously furnished and the
+sanitary arrangements absolutely perfect. They contained, besides a
+private room for each individual, public reception rooms, libraries,
+music halls, theatres, gymnasiums, baths, etc. No person was allowed
+more than one room for private use, but a family could have a suite of
+apartments in proportion to its own number. The reception rooms, music
+halls, theatres, libraries, gymnasiums, baths, etc., were entirely
+public and all persons were at liberty to come or go as they pleased.
+The room in which you are now seated was my own private apartment in a
+borough building which was occupied by seven thousand people.
+
+"I have already explained the method whereby we received our sustenance,
+the different aeriform substances being piped directly from the
+laboratories to the consumers' personal apartments, thus obviating the
+necessity for dining halls and kitchens.
+
+"There being no such agency as commerce in Sageland, through which the
+necessities of life were bought, sold, exchanged, or stolen, there was,
+of course, no need for such establishments as wholesale or retail
+stores, banks, etc. Neither were there any jails. Great national work-
+shops, laboratories, and store-houses, a national auditorium, art
+gallery, museum, and observatory were the only buildings erected besides
+the rural and borough dwellings.
+
+"The chief industries of our people were planting, reaping, condensing
+and distributing dietary substances; manufacturing such things as
+machinery, clothing, paints, musical and scientific instruments, and
+building. Railroads, steamships, mail service, the telegraph and
+telephone had become obsolete with the Sagemen. In the first place, it
+was not necessary for men to travel at all in person, for by the power
+of mind sight they were able to see what took place at any particular
+place on earth, and also they were capable of communicating with each
+other telepathically at any distance just as easily as I am now
+conversing with you.
+
+"Great centrifugal and centripetal engines, capable of transplanting any
+quantity of material from one place to another, were constructed for
+carrying purposes, while automatic transmuting machines, by which one
+element could be turned into another, cut down the necessity of
+transportation to a minimum. Machinery, directed by the human mind, and
+deriving its power from the sun and other forces of nature, did all of
+the Sageman's laborious work.
+
+"The Sageman's discovery and partial utilization of the two great forces
+of nature, centrifugal and centripetal power, were the causes of his
+final destruction, however, for he not only used them advantageously
+here, but by that method actually tried to regulate the earth's course
+in space to suit himself. And furthermore, he not only contemplated
+steering his own world in whatever direction or part of the heavens he
+might choose, but his ultimate plans were to visit, inhabit and control
+the movements of all the great bodies of the universe.
+
+"These laudable purposes, while no doubt practical, failed by being
+undertaken prematurely as forewarned by many of our ablest thinkers,
+who, unfortunately, were in the minority when the question of making the
+initial trial was voted upon. And by this failure the earth was rent in
+a fearful manner, its map considerably altered and Sageland and its
+people wiped out of existence entirely.
+
+"Many millions of Apemen who inhabited the balance of the globe at that
+time must also have perished from the effects of the awful convulsion
+which no doubt shook the earth to its core. And so it was, I presume,
+the upset atmospheric conditions of the earth resulting from this
+catastrophe, forty-two hundred and thirty years ago, that is responsible
+for the legend by which the Apeman blames the Creator for sending a
+flood to destroy the inhabitants of the world, good and bad alike.
+
+"But notwithstanding his superior intellectuality the Sageman was far
+from being infallible. He often made mistakes as he relentlessly
+struggled along in search of knowledge. Natural Law teaches that the
+main object of life is to absorb, concentrate and utilize intelligence.
+Intelligence rules the universe. The Sageman considered it his duty to
+first control himself, then the earth, and finally the universe. But he
+became impatient, and wanted to explore the heavens before he had
+assimilated all terrestrial life, and concentrated sufficient power to
+insure success. He was anxious to control new worlds before he had put
+his own into the best order. Had he waited until the Apeman and other
+living particles could have reached the same state of intelligence as
+himself, and then concentrated and utilized the combined mental strength
+of the whole to solve the great problem, no doubt he would have been
+more successful in his first attempt at universal navigation.
+
+"However, he tried and failed, and by that failure thoroughly
+demonstrated the futility of one part of humanity trying to rush ahead
+of the whole, and the absolute necessity for all mankind to work
+unitedly and harmoniously, and go forward as a unit to accomplish the
+greatest results within its power."
+
+"But," inquired I, "what law or chance was it that destroyed all of your
+countrymen, and still preserved you through all these ages?"
+
+"That is the most remarkable circumstance of the whole affair," answered
+Arletta, as she cast a loving glance in the direction of the leader of
+the band, and then, reverently pointing toward him, she continued, "he
+was the foremost man of his day, and it was generally conceded by all of
+our people that he was the greatest man the earth ever produced. Like
+Sage, the founder of our government, he lived entirely fox others. His
+sole aim in life was to make better the conditions of all living things;
+to make hardship, sorrow, suffering or misery an impossibility on earth.
+In order to be of the greatest service to others, he knew that he must
+not only be unselfish, but also build up his body, brain and character
+to the very highest degree of efficiency and perfection. And he did so.
+He built himself up from a physical, mental, and moral standpoint, until
+it seemed to others that he was the personification of intelligence,
+love, virtue, and magnificence. While possessing the greatest brain
+power, still he was the most humble man in Sageland. Although a giant in
+physical strength, yet he was as gentle as a lamb. He was the greatest
+thinker of all time, but there was no room in his brain for an impure
+thought. Notwithstanding he was still a young man, being but fifty years
+of age, nevertheless he had attained distinct success and fame as a
+musician, composer, scientist, inventor, architect, and athlete. He
+endeavored to unravel all the mysteries of nature which attracted his
+attention. One of the many occult forces he experimented with was human
+magnetism. It was his belief that man could preserve himself
+indefinitely, either in a state of animation or suspended vitality, by
+the strength of his own will power. He often said that, barring
+accidents, he would live to be a thousand years old. In order that he
+might thoroughly study the subject and discover, if possible, the exact
+forces that caused life and death, he often used me as an example for
+his experiments. Many times he had caused me to lie in a trance for
+several months' duration without the slightest change in my appearance
+showing itself. While my aid was necessary to suspend animation, yet
+when once under the influence of the strange forces by which it was
+accomplished, my senses departed entirely, and I had no power to revive
+myself, but had to depend upon him to restore consciousness. Ten days
+prior to the date set for the first trial whereby man was to navigate
+the earth in space, I allowed him to put me under the spell of these
+influences, and although it seems like yesterday that it happened, still
+over forty-two centuries have since passed by. Uncounted billions of
+human beings have lived, suffered and died since that time, but the same
+soul which guided the magnificent being who put me into that trance, has
+lived through it all, and by a mysterious power, has finally returned to
+release my soul from its incarceration. It was a natural law which
+caused me to sleep peacefully through all those centuries, and likewise
+it was according to nature's principle that you were brought back here
+to awaken me.
+
+"The seed of united labor sown by the immortal Sage, which proved so
+prolific in love and progress to the Sagemen, was not entirely destroyed
+by the great catastrophe, but lay smouldering in this tomb during the
+dark ages of superstition, ignorance and cruel civilization, that have
+since elapsed, and must now be replanted in the soil of human hearts,
+and its benevolent results spread throughout the earth, offering peace
+and good will to all living things.
+
+"And you, who are guided by the soul of my final consort," said Arletta,
+as the full rays of her luminous eyes were fastened upon me, "I entreat
+you to go forth as a messenger of truth and justice and teach the
+principles of Natural Law to all of your species."
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+"But what about yourself?" inquired I of Arletta, as I met her
+sympathetic gaze with a look of adoration. "If you would visit the
+different countries of the world you could revolutionize things in a
+very short time, I am sure. You could explain the principles of Natural
+Law to the people, and teach them methods of which I know nothing. The
+wise and learned men of the present time would understand your
+explanation much better, and would give the subject far more serious
+consideration than if I, a poor ignorant fellow with neither education
+nor standing, undertook to instruct them. The whole world would stop and
+listen to you. The inhabitants would set you up as a goddess, and rally
+to your standard as mistress of the earth. Besides, the power your
+apparently unlimited intelligence would create, your wonderful beauty
+would immediately charm every mortal who once set eyes on you. Kings,
+emperors and potentates of all kinds would fall madly in love with you
+at first sight, and you would have but to command to bring them to your
+feet as slaves ready to do your slightest bidding. To further your own
+purposes you could"-but here I stopped short in my recital, shocked by a
+thousand little demons of jealousy entering my brain as it occurred to
+me that perhaps Arletta would forget me entirely if all the great
+persons of the earth showered honors and favors upon her. I felt
+intensely miserable at the very idea of such a thing.
+
+"Do not allow silly thoughts to enter your head," said she
+compassionately, "I shall never leave this place. This room has been the
+scene of the happiest hours of my life in which my coeternal companion,
+incased in the flesh of a real man, plighted his everlasting love and
+devotion to me. And by a simple and intelligent law of nature I have
+been held a captive in this room through countless generations to
+witness the transformation and return of that faithful comrade to
+release my soul from captivity. And now this room shall be my mortal
+sepulcher.
+
+"Although I should like, ever so much, to go forth and devote many years
+to teaching the Apeman the glorious principles of Natural Law as
+prescribed by my beloved countrymen, yet it is not within my power to do
+so.
+
+"Owing to the constant change in the chemical composition of the
+atmosphere, and the vast difference in its present arrangement and that
+of four thousand two hundred years ago, it would be impossible for me to
+live five minutes outside of this chamber. In fact I have noticed that
+the supply of air, which must have been hermetically sealed within this
+vault at the time of the catastrophe, has been gradually escaping by way
+of the hole through which you forced a passageway. Hence within a very
+short time my life will have oozed away for the want of proper stimulus.
+Then again, the period in which the particles of this human frame should
+naturally cling together has long since expired, and should I but expose
+myself to the elements now existing on the exterior of this place, I
+should no doubt, crumble into dust and be blown away with the winds.
+Notwithstanding nature compels the mutability of all things, its laws
+however remain unchangeable, and as the time has passed and the
+conditions altered since I should have lived my natural life, this
+material of which I am now composed must soon collapse, its parts
+disintegrate and return to the elements from whence they came.
+
+"But my soul shall continue to live, and the same law which brought you
+back here to me will also bring our souls together many times and in
+different forms during eternity. And as you now possess the strength,
+intelligence and opportunity, it is your sacred duty to go forth and
+teach Apemen to love one another and practice kindness toward all living
+things, for you know not in what shape I may return. As you would be
+kind to me now, so must you treat all of nature's creatures. And
+remember, that the soul you so ardently worship now and so reverently
+loved over four thousand years ago, cannot return in a perfect form if
+there are none such forms to inhabit, or in a good and pure being if
+there are no such beings extant. But, on the contrary, if in the future
+none but good and beautiful lives exist on earth, my soul cannot
+possibly occupy anything else. Thus, Natural Law plainly teaches that,
+as you prepare earthly conditions in one form of life, so must you
+tolerate them in the next. In fact, our own future safety and happiness
+depend upon all living things reaching a high state of perfection and
+equality. And now," said Arletta, arising and exhibiting considerable
+emotion, "having briefly instructed you in Natural Law as deeply as your
+limited mental capacity will permit, the time has arrived that we must
+part, for I feel that I am growing weak and cannot live much longer. In
+fact, it has been through the power of my will alone that I have been
+kept alive until now. So prepare yourself to go."
+
+"Go!" ejaculated I, jumping to my feet with an awful feeling of anguish
+as I realized the full meaning of her words. "Me, go? Never! I shall
+remain here and we shall die together. I could never live without you.
+There would be left no object in life worth living for." And then,
+advancing forward, I took her shapely hand in mine, and, looking
+directly into her lovely eyes with much earnestness, said: "I fully
+understand that in comparison to the Sage-man, I am a hideous and
+degraded creature. And I also know that the love that filled the heal is
+of your contemporaries for one another was sublime, having for a few
+moments during that musical spell been moved by the same emotions that
+once impelled the exalted being of which I am the re-incarnation, but
+believe me when I say that my love for you now is ten thousand times
+stronger than it was then. I worship you. I shall die for and with you.
+Aye, even nature itself cannot keep me alive after you have gone. I may
+not be the equal of the Sageman in other ways, but I shall prove that my
+love for you is equally as great."
+
+During this outburst of my thoughts, Arletta stood in a motionless
+attitude, holding my outstretched hand and returning my excited gaze
+with a look of mingled pity and sorrow. "Is it possible," said she,
+"that there is not one Apeman in the world today with sufficient
+strength of character to relinquish his own selfish desires for the good
+of his species? Can it be that not one Apeman exists whom nature can
+rely upon for the great work of uplifting humanity, who is brave enough
+to resist the temporary fascination of a lovable woman? And have I lived
+to see the reincarnated soul of the bravest and noblest man that ever
+breathed, bound within the flesh of a wretched coward incapable of
+living for any greater purpose than his own self-gratification? Am I to
+understand that one who is controlled by the spirit of my everlasting
+associate, intends betraying nature's trust by shirking the
+responsibilities of manhood, because he lacks the courage to live? Will
+there be promulgated among the records of time an account of my immortal
+partner having deserted his post of duty by sneaking out of the world
+before his allotted time? Would this being, who is blessed with physical
+strength and a well-balanced brain, allow himself to sink to the level
+of a craven suicide, because he cannot secure something beyond his
+reach? Does he think that nature brought him into existence for no other
+purpose than to feed his own petty desires? Would he deliberately die
+like a useless poltroon, and leave the world in its present state of
+savagery and wretchedness, without even attempting to be of service to
+humanity in the very work it requires the most?"
+
+"Stop! Enough!" cried I. "You have wounded my feelings to the very core.
+I'll admit that I am weak in this instance. Very weak indeed. But this
+is the first time that my courage has ever been assailed by anyone, and
+to have you above all persons, openly insinuate that I am a coward is
+far worse than having inflicted upon me the cruelest tortures of the
+Ape-man's prospective hell. I am only an Apeman, but as I said before, I
+love you beyond all power of expression. You no doubt, cannot understand
+my puny feelings any more than I can fully comprehend your lofty ideals
+or the full meaning of your higher knowledge of things. The very
+greatest hardship for me to undergo would be to live after you have
+passed away. But, if by the promise of so doing I can gain your respect
+and one encouraging look or word of approval, I will not only rescind
+the text of my previous statement and live, but I swear to you in the
+name of the Creator of the law which governs all things, that I shall
+strictly follow to the letter any instructions you may wish to offer
+concerning my future movements, no matter what they might be. So make my
+task a hard one, for the courage you so unfeelingly attacked must be
+tested to its full limits. I am ready to obey your commands."
+
+Having thus addressed Arletta, I straightened myself up to my full
+height with as much dignity as I could assume, folded my arms across my
+chest and awaited her orders.
+
+"The Sagemen never urged their desires by a command," replied Arletta,
+"they simply requested that which they would like to have done. The
+request I shall make concerning your future duty can be incorporated in
+a very few words, but it will require a lifetime and great strength of
+character to execute. But as you have promised like a man to follow my
+instructions, I shall die with implicit confidence in your determination
+to do so. So consider well the following mandate, for it contains the
+essence which will stimulate you to heroic deeds:
+
+"Always consult your soul for advice,
+
+"Do no act your conscience will not sanction."
+
+Three times Arletta slowly repeated this precept, and then placing her
+hands upon my shoulders, she continued: "The first time you act contrary
+to the admonition of your soul, then you will have broken your promise
+to me. Now go," said she, turning me about until I faced the doorway, "I
+must request your immediate departure. Go, and try to be a man. We shall
+meet many times in the future, so while you have the chance try and make
+better the conditions of life, that we may eventually meet on the same
+plane of equality without the shadow of strife or animosity to mar our
+happiness. Good-bye."
+
+With the meaning of these words ringing in my head, I fully understood
+that my audience with Arletta was at an end, and overcome with grief and
+gloom I weakly responded, "good-bye," and then added, "I shall never
+break my promise." Then with a heavy tread I walked to the opening
+through which I had entered, turned half around and took one long, last,
+loving look at Arletta and passed into the corridor beyond. At the same
+time I fancied I heard her gently sobbing.
+
+CHAPTER XXII
+
+Suffering with a dejected feeling of despair, I wended my way through
+the chaotic anterior hall in search of the hole through which I had so
+miraculously entered. It seemed as if life's sole aim had suddenly been
+stricken from the range of my vision. I could not understand why nature
+should be so cruel as to give me but one momentary glimpse of that
+angelic mortal and then thrust me away from her in such an indifferent
+manner. I wondered why the world was not populated exclusively by such
+lovely beings. Was it because the people themselves, through their
+individual accumulative system, created conditions whereby only the most
+abject and debased mortals could survive? Was this system responsible
+for petty selfishness, instead of conscience governing man, causing him
+in his greedy scramble for temporary gain, to keep others in a state of
+helplessness, ignorance, and squalor, thus propagating an inferior race
+of physical, mental, and moral pigmies as the foremost inhabitants of
+the earth? Why could not humanity organize itself as a great unit of
+unselfish effort and equality, for the purpose of uplifting and
+strengthening all of its component parts, instead of those parts pulling
+down, weakening, and destroying one another in a ferocious struggle for
+individual predominance?
+
+As these and similar thoughts crowded themselves into my brain, my
+attention was attracted by soft strains of music emanating from the room
+I had just left, and I stood still and listened. Arletta had evidently
+set the orchestral mechanism in motion again, and was accompanying it by
+tenderly singing her own requiem. With tremulous modulation, her vocal
+chords produced sounds such as I had never heard before, and of which I
+am powerless to give the faintest description. Like a statue, I stood
+and listened to the almost supernatural melody, and inwardly prayed that
+it might continue forever. But suddenly both the music and singing
+ended, and absolute quietness prevailed. It may have been a pure fancy
+on my part, but as I waited in breathless silence, hoping for more
+music, the apparition of Arletta seemed to pass directly over my head,
+and continued right on up through the solid roof of the hallway.
+Startled beyond expression at what I now consider a mere delusion, I
+shouted Arletta at the top of my voice several times, and receiving no
+answer, either telepathically or phonetically, I came to the awful
+conclusion that she was no more.
+
+Is it unmanly to cry? If so, I must confess my unmanliness, for on this
+occasion it was impossible for me to repress the tears from coursing
+down my cheeks, as I realized that the last of nature's grandest and
+noblest earthly beings had passed away. But the tears I shed apparently
+softened my nature, and as I stood buried in the depth of meditation
+concerning the preceding events, I became impregnated with the desire to
+try and do some real good in the world; to make myself useful to
+mankind; to live for others instead of myself alone. And then and there
+I resolved that I would devote the remainder of my natural life to
+teaching human beings the beautiful principles of Natural Law, as I
+understood them, without expectation of compensation or future reward. I
+would go forth, as Arletta had requested, and plant the seed of real
+truth, justice, love, and equality in human hearts to the best of my
+ability, and trust in the souls of men to further aid in its universal
+and everlasting productiveness. I felt positive that the theory of the
+Sagemen was right, and that the soul just released from Arletta was even
+then beginning life in a different form. Would it not be criminal on my
+part to make no effort to better earthly conditions for her future
+welfare? Perhaps, conjectured I, the soul of my own mother, who died at
+the time of my birth, might, even at that moment, be incased in a
+degraded body, surrounded by want and misery, caused by the operation of
+that selfish, brutal and murderous system, which encourages the strong
+to squeeze the very light and hope from the weak, thus forcing and
+keeping mankind in a state of continual degradation. A system that was
+created in the beginning by savages, and which is upheld at the present
+time by savages. And the Church, that gigantic symbol of ignorance and
+stupidity, not only fails to protest against such a beastly system, but
+actually advocates its continuance.
+
+How long I stood there, seriously thinking on this subject, and forming
+new and laudable resolutions for the future, I do not know; but at last
+I awoke to the fact that I was still nothing more nor less than a common
+adventurer, held captive on an isolated projecture in the middle of the
+sea. This became more apparent as I faintly heard the ocean's waves
+dashing against the rocks on the outside of the place. So, following in
+the direction of the sounds, they became louder and more distinct, until
+finally I found myself looking up at the very hole through which I had
+bored my way so unceremoniously. It was night, and I could easily
+distinguish the stars in the outer darkness. In making a careful survey
+of the surroundings, I discovered that it was going to be a much more
+difficult task to get out than it was to get in this extraordinary
+grotto. The aperture was located about three feet above my head; was
+barely large enough to squeeze through, and there was no way by which I
+could climb up to it. I observed, however, that adjoining the hole there
+was a huge marble pillar running upward and outward in an oblique slant,
+and wedged in its position by several other massive stones, but with its
+end protruding below the rest. So, without wasting any time, I leaped up
+and caught hold of it with both hands, and then, adopting the tactics of
+a gymnast, I began slowly working my way through the hole feet foremost,
+like an acrobat going over a horizontal bar. This feat, which required
+great muscular strength, flexibility, and tenaciousness, was the very
+hardest physical performance I ever accomplished, for, besides being
+unable to get a firm grip on it, I found, to my dismay, that the great
+pillar I clung to was insecure in its position, and threatened to fall
+and crush me beneath its weight. And as inch by inch I slowly and
+persistently worked my way upward and outward, so inch by inch did it
+slowly, but surely, work its way downward. Passing my feet and legs
+beyond the brink of the opening, I doubled myself up in such a way that
+the lower half of my body rested upon a sort of a level platform, and,
+with head downward, I pushed my way up until I found myself kneeling
+upon the crust I had previously broken through, and which I subsequently
+decided must have been a great pane of glass, covered by the coagulated
+settlings of the air, which for centuries had been forming a solid
+coating. I remained in a kneeling position for several moments, catching
+my breath and regaining strength. I feared to move, lest the thin layer
+upon which I rested would once more give way beneath me. It appeared to
+waver, as did everything else around me. After a short rest, I carefully
+arose to a standing position, and then observed that I was located in a
+sort of a pit, surrounded by rocks of various shapes and sizes. As I
+cautiously climbed upward, each one of them appeared to tremble at my
+very touch, until just as I reached the topmost point the whole mass
+apparently gave way at once, I lost my balance and fell forward, there
+was a terrible crash, and after that I became dizzy and confused.
+
+The most peculiar and disconnected sensations then passed through my
+mind. First I thought there was a great hole in the side of my head,
+which I tried to fill with small stones. Then my head became full of
+holes, and finally I fancied that I possessed a half dozen heads and all
+of them were cut and bleeding. And then apparently all of these heads
+were suddenly and mysteriously severed from my body, and floated away in
+space like a lot of toy balloons. Following that, it felt as if every
+bone in my body had been broken, and I was taking these bones from their
+places and trying to repair them. Then I imagined that I had several
+different bodies, and all of them were bruised and mangled. These forms
+increased in numbers until I could see nothing else but them, and they
+appeared to be struggling to extricate themselves from beneath a huge
+object which seemed to grow in size until it was as large as a mountain.
+Finally released, they began climbing up the mountain until the summit
+was reached and then gradually decreased until there was but one left.
+
+"What is the matter with me?" I wondered. "Who am I, what am I, and
+where do I belong?" I tried to think coherently, but my mind was feeble
+and incapable of grasping an intelligent thought. Day and night went and
+came many times, but still I remained on that mountain wondering,
+wondering, wondering. Sometimes I would expand until I felt larger than
+the mountain itself; then again I would shrink to the size of a flea.
+One time I would feel as if I were up near the North Pole, surrounded by
+ice and freezing to death. At another time I would imagine that I was in
+the middle of the Sahara Desert, being roasted alive by the scorching
+rays of the sun. And, still again, I would feel that I was shipwrecked
+upon a barren island, and was slowly dying for the want of food and
+water. Sometimes I fancied that I could see ships all about me, and I
+would yell, and roar at the top of my voice to attract attention, but
+without results, as they would pass beyond view without taking any
+notice of me. At other times it seemed that ships would cast their
+anchors right in front of my eyes, and apparently remain stationed there
+for weeks and months at a time, and yet no one would come to my
+assistance. At last there appeared to be ten thousand ships all of the
+same pattern lowering small boats into the water, and these boats manned
+by stalwart oarsmen started to race with each other in my direction.
+What an evenly matched contest. On, on, on they came, bunched closely
+together, each using the same uniform stroke as if all were guided by
+the same coxswain. Now they were right upon me. "Great race," I shouted,
+as they came within hearing distance. "Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!" "The
+poor devil is mad," I fancied I heard someone exclaim, and my mind
+became a blank.
+
+CHAPTER XXIII
+
+FIRST VOICE: "This is a most peculiar case of enteric fever, in which
+the patient baffles all medical aid towards a cure. The fellow has been
+out of his head ever since he was brought here, two months ago, and
+fancies that he has been in a trance since the time of Noah and the Ark.
+He has a strange hallucination that he can be awakened from his
+protracted nap by a kiss from a certain female, whom he describes as
+Arletta the Beautiful. Although he is as crazy as a loon, yet some of
+his utterances are really remarkable for the depth of logic they
+contain. The case has its amusing side also, for every woman by the name
+of Arletta who visits this hospital cannot resist the temptation of
+kissing the man, in order to ascertain whether they possess the secret
+charm to restore his right senses. But so far the osculatory experiment
+has proved a dire failure. He bears evidence of being a handsome and
+distinguished person, notwithstanding he is a charity patient, and
+without friends. His identification is unknown, he having been picked up
+on the street in his present condition by the police, who had him sent
+here. I fully believe-but Miss, you are crying. Evidently your nature is
+too emotional for the sick room, so come, we will pass along."
+
+SECOND VOICE: "No, wait a moment, Doctor. I--I think--I am positive that
+I know this man. In fact, I was very well acquainted with him a few
+years ago. It all seems so strange, but-well-you see-he often told me
+that he loved me. Yes, my name is Arletta, but I did not love him, nor
+even like him. My father and mother hated him, and we all had to
+secretly leave home and travel abroad in order for me to avoid his
+undesirable attentions. But notwithstanding that, my heart now bleeds
+for him in his terrible plight, and I want to do something for him. My
+conscience would not allow me to pass along without trying to aid him.
+You say that in his ravings he claims that a kiss from Arletta would
+save him. I have never done such a thing before in my life, but now an
+irresistible force from within has taken possession of me and I feel
+that it is my duty to try the experiment myself, and see if it will have
+the effect of restoring his normal condition. Therefore, Doctor, whether
+this strange method proves efficacious or not, I shall rely upon your
+honor to keep the secret, and never mention the incident to him. If he
+knew of it I should die of shame. My parents would disown me for such an
+act."
+
+As though awakening from a long and profound sleep the aforesaid
+colloquy seemed to have been impressed upon my mind, and then I opened
+my eyes and looked about in astonishment. The strangeness of my position
+and surroundings surprised me beyond expression. I was lying upon my
+back in a small narrow bed stationed within a large oblong room about
+one hundred by fifty feet in dimensions. Long rows of little white beds
+extended from one end of the apartment to the other, each containing the
+form of a human being. Most of these forms appeared to be soundly
+sleeping, some lay awake silently meditating, while others tossed about
+nervously from one position to another as if in terrible agony. An
+occasional howl of torture rent the air. Moving hither and thither among
+the different beds were women attired in white dresses and wearing
+little white caps on their heads. They carried in their hands, spoons,
+tumblers, trays, and various instruments and vessels of peculiar design.
+
+At the front of my bed stood a man of medium height and build, with a
+heavy reddish mustache and pointed beard. At one side, half way between
+the head and foot of my bed, was the figure of a woman, apparently about
+twenty-one years of age. She was tall, slender, graceful, and
+magnificently gowned in street clothes. Her head was shapely and covered
+with an abundance of dark brown hair. Her physiognomy was intellectually
+strong, and the whole cast of her features showed extraordinary beauty.
+Her eyes were clear and bright, and expressed a tender and sympathetic
+nature. She was looking straight at me in a half-startled sort of a
+manner, and appeared to be backing away from the bed upon which I lay.
+As my eyes met her steady gaze I involuntarily exclaimed, "Arletta!"
+Then instantly my memory returned, and I remembered all that had taken
+place, as explained in the preceding chapters.
+
+Notwithstanding, however, that my mind became clear and well-balanced, I
+became extremely puzzled as I looked at this beautiful woman, to note
+that she bore a striking resemblance to the sublime being, who had just
+passed away among the remnants of Sageland, and I became still further
+confounded when she timidly approached me and softly said: "You are John
+Convert, are you not?"
+
+"Yes," answered I, "that is my name."
+
+"And do you recognize me?" inquired she.
+
+"I recognize in you a living demonstration and positive realization of
+the principle of re-incarnation, as embodied in the Sageman's theory of
+Natural Law," answered I, slowly and deliberately. "I recognize in you
+the soul of Arletta, of Sageland, my eternal companion, and a fulfilment
+of her prophecy that she would be born again. But while I make this
+declaration with the utmost positiveness, still I am at a loss to
+understand how such a thing could be, as the soul of that lovely being,
+having but just left its material body, should according to Natural Law,
+have attached itself to an embryo form, while you are a full-grown
+woman." At these words she appeared considerably amazed for a moment,
+but quickly recovering herself, she said with much sympathy and
+tenderness of feeling: "Come, now, Mr. Convert, try and think clearly
+and talk sensibly. Don't you recollect how, three years ago, we became
+acquainted in Paris; how persistently you followed me all over Europe,
+then crossed the Atlantic aboard the same steamer, and finally journeyed
+out West to my home? Don't you remember how angry Papa became, and how
+he threatened you with dire punishment if you did not stop annoying us?"
+
+"No," said I emphatically, "there must be some mistake, for I have never
+visited Paris and I distinctly recollect having been in Japan three
+years ago, as I celebrated my nineteenth birthday in Tokio."
+
+"Now that is absurd," said she, with a mingled look of pity and
+suppressed amusement. "Three years ago you told me that you were forty
+years old. Don't you recollect how you once cautioned me not to consider
+you an old man simply because your hair was white, and how angry you
+became because I called you Grandpa? Come now, think real hard."
+
+At these words I began to seriously doubt my own identity, but after a
+moment of calm deliberation I replied, "No, I do not recollect any such
+happenings, and moreover, I am not forty years of age, but twenty-two,
+and neither is my hair white but black as you can plainly see. Will you
+please tell me where I am? My mind is a trifle confused at the strange
+surroundings."
+
+"You are in the Ruff Hospital, New York," answered she. "I, myself, have
+been spending some time in this city, and, strangely enough, took a
+notion that I should like to see the different hospitals. It was purely
+accidental that I ran across you. The doctor says you have typhoid
+fever, but," she added, in an encouraging manner, "you will soon be
+well. So cheer up, and try to concentrate your mind, so that you can
+think properly."
+
+"Ruff Hospital, New York!" ejaculated I, in astonishment. "How the deuce
+did I get away over here? Oh, I understand; I fell among the rocks and
+was hurt; then the sailors came and rescued me, and I was brought here.
+That seems like a few moments ago, but I presume at least a month must
+have elapsed since or the ship could not have reached this port. What
+month is this, January?"
+
+"No, this is the month of March," replied she.
+
+"March!" exclaimed I. "Great heavens, how the time has flown! Why, that
+is about three months that I have known absolutely nothing. Let's see,
+it was December 5th that I was thrown overboard, and it must have been
+December 7th that Arletta died. That's right, December 7, 1881-I shall
+always remember that date and keep it holy. It must be now March, 1882."
+
+"Why, Mr. Convert, you are certainly dreaming," responded she, "this the
+year 1903, not 1882. But how strange that you should get so mixed in the
+dates-December 7, 1881, was the day I was born. That was over twenty-one
+years ago, instead of three months, as you fancy."
+
+At this juncture the red-whiskered individual came forward and said: "It
+seems to be a hopeless case, Miss. He has talked in that same strain
+ever since he came here. Perhaps after his fever abates somewhat he may
+regain his equanimity, but to me it looks as if his mind will always be
+unbalanced. He has a nasty scar right over the temporal region, which
+portends ill for his future reason. Perhaps it would be better not to
+talk to him any further at present. He is awfully weak, and appears more
+excited than usual. You have evidently made some impression upon him,
+however, and if you would visit him every few days he might eventually
+be able to recognize you, which would have a strong tendency to set him
+mentally straight again."
+
+"Very well," said she, hesitatingly, as if not anxious to go. "May I
+call and see him tomorrow, Doctor?"
+
+"There are only three visiting days here each week, Miss; Sundays,
+Wednesdays and Fridays, between the hours of three and four P. M. But
+any time you call, if you will ask at the office for Doctor Savage, that
+is my name, I shall consider it a pleasant duty to render you any
+service within my power," replied he, looking at her with unsuppressed
+admiration, of which she apparently took no notice. Then continuing, he
+said, "Would you kindly give me your card that I may know your full name
+in case you call at other times than the regular visiting hours?"
+
+She opened her pocket book as if to take out a card, stopped and
+reflected a moment, and then said, "Well, never mind my last name; just
+remember me as Arletta," and before I could collect my wits sufficiently
+to voice my agitated thoughts they passed from the room together.
+
+CHAPTER XXIV
+
+As I lay musing over the strange occurrences recorded in the previous
+chapter, and wondering whether my entire life was a reality or merely a
+peculiar dream, one of the white-capped nurses strode up to the side of
+my bed and without the slightest warning roughly pushed a little glass
+tube in my mouth. Not knowing whether she wanted me to swallow it or was
+merely trying to puncture a hole in my tongue, I put it out again and
+asked what she intended doing.
+
+"Now look here," said she, in an irritated way, "I have about lost all
+patience with you, and unless you do as I tell you hereafter I shall
+have the orderly punish you again."
+
+"But," said I, in amazement, "you have not mentioned yet what you would
+have me do."
+
+"I have told you fully a hundred times to put this thermometer under
+your tongue and keep it there," replied she, exhibiting considerable
+temper, as she viciously jammed it once more into my mouth and twisted
+it under my tongue. "You are about the biggest chump that ever came into
+this hospital," continued she, grasping my wrist as though she intended
+breaking it and simultaneously taking my pulse and temperature.
+
+A few moments later she jerked the thermometer from my mouth, glanced at
+it hurriedly and then entered a record upon a chart suspended from the
+head of my bed. Then calling one of the male attendants, she instructed
+him to fill the tub preparatory to giving me an ice bath. This attendant
+went to the corner of the room from whence he secured a bath tub on
+wheels, which he pushed over to the side of my bed. The tub was already
+partly filled with water, and I afterward learned that owing to the
+laziness and filthiness of the attendants, the same water was often used
+over and over again for the different typhoid patients. I observed that
+this attendant, who was otherwise called an orderly, was about as
+ignorant and degraded a specimen of humanity as a much boasted
+civilization could possibly breed.
+
+He was about six feet tall, round-shouldered, knock-kneed, and weighed
+about two hundred pounds of flabby flesh, mostly covered by filthy
+garments. His head was pyramidal in shape, and covered by a mass of
+unkempt red hair. He had practically no forehead. His eyes were dull and
+bloodshot. His nose was flat and bent to one side, and his whole face
+was covered with pimples. His mouth was wide and beastly, and filled
+with tobacco. His mustache was irregular, and dyed almost to the roots
+by tobacco juice. His breath was odoriferous with fumes of whiskey,
+cigarettes, and foul stomach disorders, causing a poisonous stench to
+pollute the surrounding atmosphere. One could not look upon him without
+a feeling of sickening disgust. He was a twentieth century American
+civilized Christian. He was not, of course, the highest type of a
+civilized Christian, but nevertheless he was of a high enough order for
+a Christian community to breed, rear, and put in charge of its sick and
+unfortunate members. As he pushed the tub along he carelessly allowed it
+to strike the end of my bed, which gave me a shock as though I had been
+pierced by a thousand daggers, causing an involuntary groan to escape
+from my lips.
+
+"Shut up there, you old duffer," said he, looking at me in a stupid,
+expressionless sort of a way, "you are not hurt yet. I'll give you
+something to cry about if you don't quit making such a fuss over
+nothing. You're the biggest baby I ever saw."
+
+Having fixed the tub in position, put some pieces of ice into the water,
+and adjusted a small portable partition around my bed, which obstructed
+the view of the other patients, he called for the assistance of another
+attendant, and began preparations to put me into the tub. As they
+uncovered me, I glanced down at my emaciated form and was astounded at
+my own appearance. Nothing now remained of the once muscular and
+powerful frame I had always felt so proud of, but sickly looking skin
+and bones. Raising my arm to the level of my eyes I discovered that it
+was shriveled, and ghastly to behold, and it fell back to my side with a
+sickening thud for the want of strength to remain erect. It seemed as if
+a great fiery furnace was located within me and that I was fairly
+burning alive. Ten thousand different pains were shooting back and forth
+in every part of my body, but the most excruciating of all was a
+terrible pain in the center of my back, which caused me to think that my
+spinal column had been dislocated. And then as if all of the tortures of
+a refined civilization had suddenly been thrust upon me, as though some
+supernatural hellish agency was instrumental in causing me to go the
+full limit of human suffering, those two devilish orderlies took hold of
+me, one by the head and the other by the feet, and without any leverage
+whatever to break the strain upon my backbone, they raised and then
+dumped me into the tub of ice-water below. I had always considered
+myself invulnerable to bodily pain, and from early youth had schooled
+myself against outward manifestation of suffering, no matter what the
+circumstances might be, but on this occasion the power of resistance
+deserted me entirely and I gave vent to a howl, of rage like the
+bellowing of a maddened bull, and partly arising, endeavored to clutch
+the throat of the unfeeling beast at my head, but too weak to accomplish
+my purpose I fell back into the tub exhausted. At the same time the
+orderly took hold of my own throat and almost strangling me, beat my
+head against the tub several times cursing me under his breath in the
+vilest of language at the same time.
+
+"Look out you don't kill him," cautioned the other orderly at the foot
+of the tub, "or we might have to go through another of those damned
+investigations."
+
+Just then the doctor and nurse came within the inclosure, and inquired
+as to the cause of the commotion.
+
+"This damned idiot has broken loose again, and I am teaching him how to
+behave himself," replied the orderly.
+
+"Well, he certainly needs a lesson in good behavior," chimed in the
+nurse; "I cannot understand why he has not been sent over to the Island
+for more strenuous treatment long ago."
+
+"Why don't you do as told?" inquired the be-whiskered Dr. Savage, in a
+harsh tone of voice, as he approached close to me, but I was too weak
+and exhausted to answer, and merely looked from one to the other with
+the utmost feeling of contempt. After censuring me sternly and advising
+me to behave myself in the future, the doctor strolled away as if such
+incidents were of trifling importance.
+
+I was kept in that tub of ice-water, freezing, for fifteen minutes,
+while the nurse and orderlies lazily rubbed my arms, legs, and trunk,
+and poured pitcher after pitcher of ice-water over my head, in an effort
+to reduce the fever. It was a barbarous method of treatment, and seemed
+of several hours' duration, but it allayed that intense burning
+sensation, and put new life and vigor into me. As they were about to
+transfer me back to the bed again, I quietly informed the nurse that my
+back was in a terrible condition, and requested that the orderlies be
+instructed to handle me a little more carefully, and to take hold of my
+body instead of my head and feet when lifting me up, so that the strain
+would be less on the middle of my back.
+
+"There is nothing the matter with your back," snapped she. "I have told
+you many times before that you only imagine your back hurts.
+Furthermore, we understand our business without any advice from you."
+
+And with this rejoinder, the orderlies once more took hold of my head
+and heels, and after much tugging and twisting, managed to lift me up
+into the bed. This time the pain seemed even greater to bear than
+before, but, summoning all my will power, I managed to take the brutal
+treatment in silence, and said no more. Back upon the bed again,
+shivering and shaking with cold as though my bones would break, I was
+covered with heavy blankets, and shortly afterwards fell asleep,
+thoroughly exhausted, and feeling assured beyond a doubt that I had once
+more returned to civilization.
+
+CHAPTER XXV
+
+It is not my intention to give a full description of hospital life as it
+came under my personal observation, nor to recount the many cruel acts
+or cases of stupid negligence on the part of the house staff as
+perpetrated upon myself and other patients, during my stay in the Ruff
+Hospital as a ward patient, as to do the subject justice would require
+at least a volume in itself. Neither is it my desire to hold responsible
+any particular person or persons for the existence of such a barbarous
+state of affairs, in which degraded wretches inflict punishment upon the
+sick, knowing that this is but one of the logical results bred from the
+debasing system kept in force by a semi-intelligent class of selfish
+brutes, who are crafty enough to gain control of others by teaching the
+cruel and savage doctrine known as the "survival of the fittest." I have
+nothing but a feeling of compassion and sorrow for those abject
+creatures who mistreated me when I was sick, knowing that they, as well
+as those whom they mistreated, were but the victims of this pernicious
+system.
+
+In the desperate struggle for a mere existence, most men and women are
+forced into employment for which they are entirely unfitted, and
+consequently take no other interest in their work than that of receiving
+their weekly or monthly stipend. This fact was thoroughly demonstrated
+to me by the action of several nurses who appeared to look upon their
+work as tasks to be executed mechanically, instead of duties to be
+performed with pleasure. Then again, others who really preferred the
+work were either kept away from it entirely, or else made dull, peevish
+and irritable by the great number of hours they were forced to be on
+duty each day, thus turning what should have been pleasant employment
+into a drudgery. And like the nurses, so were the orderlies; their daily
+work hours were so long and their pay so small that only the least
+intelligent and most stupid moral idiots could be secured to take
+positions that should be filled by men of the very highest intelligence,
+character and sympathy.
+
+The physicians themselves I found to be inexperienced youths, generally
+masquerading under a set of whiskers, which some people are foolish
+enough to mistake for brains and ability. Coming direct from the medical
+colleges, they accepted these positions in order to gain some practical
+experience at the expense of the lives of the hospital patients.
+
+The bricklayer, who devotes his life to the honorable work of building
+the edifice; the hod carrier, who gives his best services to the
+community in an equally honorable employment; the locomotive engineer,
+who safely carries from city to city a train load of human beings each
+day for many years, are only fit to be practiced upon by inexperienced
+physicians, and abused by irritable nurses and cruel orderlies, if they
+are finally overcome by sickness and enter a charity hospital for
+treatment.
+
+For several days I lay upon my little ward cot in the Ruff Hospital,
+with my life hanging in the balance, and obliged to accept for succor
+the abuse and mistreatment of an inferior house staff. And worse still,
+I had to be an eye witness to cruelties imposed upon other and less
+fortunate sufferers than myself. I feel sure that many a poor fellow
+that I saw carried away upon a stretcher, a lifeless corpse, had given
+up all hope of recovery and died, for the want of a few cheering words
+and kindly sympathy from sonic one, instead of the constant abuse and
+brutality he was subjected to.
+
+I fully believe that I myself must have inevitably succumbed to my
+pitiless treatment, had it not been for the fact that the young girl,
+Arletta, visited me each day for a half hour, bestowing upon me a tender
+sympathy, and manifesting the greatest concern for my welfare and
+recovery.
+
+I was placed in a most peculiar position. I could get no information
+whatsoever from the doctors, nurses, or orderlies, and even Arletta said
+very little, and cautioned me against talking or exciting myself in any
+manner. I learned enough, however, to know that twenty-one years had
+actually elapsed since my wonderful experience with Arletta of Sageland,
+and felt convinced beyond a doubt that the beautiful young girl, who
+took such an interest in my welfare, was impelled by the same soul as my
+noble instructress in Natural Law. But I was intensely mystified and
+unable to conceive what had become of the time between the going of the
+one and the coming of the other Arletta.
+
+Twenty-one years had been swallowed up as completely as if they had
+never been. Nearly one-half of my life had passed away, of which I could
+give absolutely no account. A look into the mirror was a convincing
+proof of this fact, for therein I saw a white-haired and premature old
+man, with a thin, haggard and drawn countenance, which plainly showed
+the results of having lived a life of hardship, and almost
+unrecognizable as my own face. My heavy black mustache was gone, and in
+its place nothing but white stubble remained. The more I endeavored to
+reach some tangible solution of the mystery, the more confused I became.
+According to the girl, Arletta's story, I had been introduced to her at
+a reception in Paris three years previously, had apparently fallen
+desperately in love with her, and made myself obnoxious by following her
+everywhere she went for several months. But as neither she nor her
+parents liked me, I was finally eluded, and had not been seen for over
+two years. According to her account, I was generally looked upon as a
+rich gentleman of leisure and bad habits, who did nothing but travel and
+spend money recklessly. This being the case, the foremost questions of
+my mind were: Where had I gotten the money to spend so extravagantly?
+Had I lived those twenty-one years as a rational being, earning and
+accumulating wealth and still not knowing anything about it? Arletta of
+Sageland had told me that there was no such thing as a freak of nature,
+and that everything worked according to Natural Law, but my case
+certainly seemed to be an exception to the general run of things. What
+would be the final outcome of my mysterious career, was a question to be
+answered that was entirely beyond the limits of my imagination. It gave
+me a severe pain in the head to contemplate beyond the surface of the
+subject, and I finally allowed the whole matter to slip from my
+attention and bent my efforts toward recovery from the effects of my
+physical ailments.
+
+One day Arletta said to me in as kindly a manner as possible: "Mr.
+Convert, the doctor informs me that the reason you do not get well is
+because you lack the will power to do so."
+
+"Will power," exclaimed I, "my dear sweet girl, that is all I have left.
+It is the only force that is keeping me alive in the face of the
+cruelest treatment man could possibly receive at the hands of his fellow
+beings. Without will power I should have been killed long ago by these
+people, but through that agency alone I have been enabled to defy death
+and I promise you that I shall get well in spite of them."
+
+"Why, Mr. Convert, how can you talk so harshly against these kind
+people? I am sure they are doing everything within their power to make
+you well."
+
+"You think so because you know nothing of the case," answered I. "You
+simply visit this place for a half hour each day, at a time that
+everything is moving along smoothly, and merely get a surface view of
+matters. It is my earnest hope that you may never get a practical
+insight into these things by being placed in the same position as myself
+or these other poor fellows all around me. If all the poor unfortunates
+I have seen carried out of this ward, corpses, have died for want of the
+same kind of will power I require, then all I can say is that the
+doctors here should be held responsible for a great many cases of actual
+murder."
+
+"Why, Mr. Convert, what do you mean by talking in this way?" inquired
+she.
+
+"Just this," replied I, "these doctors are treating me for the wrong
+ailment. I am suffering no more from the effects of typhoid fever than
+you are, but still these doctors are trying to cure me of a malady which
+does not exist. Since recovering my memory I have observed that the many
+typhoid patients all around me have been bathed from five to ten times
+daily, while my fever rises to a point which necessitates an ice bath to
+reduce it but once each day, and always at the same hour, five o'clock
+in the afternoon. In any part of the world where malaria is prevalent
+these symptoms indicate nothing more nor less than chills and fever and
+should be cured within a day or two by a few doses of quinine. I have
+explained this to the doctors several times, but with a wisdom born of
+book learning they have contemptuously disregarded my advice and still
+continue to treat me for enteric fever, and then lay the blame upon me
+for not getting well. Do not doubt me, my dear girl, I know what I am
+talking about. Up to a few days ago my memory was obscured, but now I am
+in my right senses and fully capable of using all of my reasoning
+faculties to their fullest extent. Some day I shall explain many strange
+things to you, of which you know nothing. But now I must devote all of
+my thoughts and forces toward regaining my former physical strength, and
+likewise increase my moral and mental vigor for a future great work."
+
+Arletta said no more at that time, but to my great surprise, the next
+day I was transferred from the charity ward to a paid private room in
+another part of the hospital. The furnishings of this room were of the
+most luxurious description, and the nurse informed me that it was the
+very best and highest priced apartment in the building. I afterwards
+learned that the cost of renting this room, including attendance, was
+one hundred dollars per week. Arletta had secured it for me. It was
+really remarkable how quickly the value of my life increased in the eyes
+of those hospital attendants, by the expenditure of a little money. From
+a worthless proletariat I was suddenly transformed into a man of great
+importance. There were two private nurses to wait on me, and they moved
+with the celerity of antelopes in response to my slightest bidding. They
+appeared to be bubbling over with kindness and attention, and seemed to
+anticipate my every want. The orderlies treated me as if I were the
+crowned ruler of the universe, while the doctors displayed an unnatural
+politeness that was almost amusing. I found out later that Arletta was
+to fee them all handsomely in case of my early recovery. My new nurses
+were always ready to answer questions and give me any information I
+wanted.
+
+Upon arriving at my new and sumptuous quarters, one of the nurses
+informed me that I was to receive a personal visit from the great Doctor
+Know-all that day. She further informed me that he was considered to be
+the leading physician of America and that he never made a professional
+call for less than one thousand dollars. As if by appointment Arletta
+and this doctor arrived at almost the same moment. Several of the house
+physicians also followed him into the room anxious to learn what
+diagnosis this celebrated practitioner would make of a case which had so
+baffled them. He lost no time in unnecessary talk but got down to work
+immediately, first looking over the charts which recorded my condition
+since my entrance to the hospital. Then he examined me carefully, with
+various instruments, from the tip of my head to the sole of my foot,
+meanwhile asking me many questions on widely different subjects.
+
+At last he turned to the house physicians and said: "It is my opinion
+that when this man first entered the hospital he was merely suffering
+from a simple case of malaria and not enteric fever, as you have
+diagnosed. Since then his kidneys have become affected, and he now
+suffers from both malaria and lumbago. For the fever, give him ten
+grains of quinine three times a day for two days and gradually diminish
+the quantity until the fever abates entirely. Begin to feed him after
+the second day. For the lumbago, give him at least two quarts of lithia
+water to drink each day. Now as to the man's mental calibre, I find him
+perfectly sane and normal. But owing to a fracture of the skull
+sustained by him some time in the past, the two sides of his brain have
+become separated, causing two distinct personalities to exist. When one
+side of the brain works, the other side remains dormant, and vice versa.
+He likewise possesses a dual memory, and is only capable of recollecting
+events as they happen separately and distinctly, according to the side
+of the brain which takes the impression. Consequently, this man may have
+lived a perfectly sane life during the past twenty-one years, of which
+he claims to have no recollection. He may at any time in the future
+resume either personality by some slight mental disturbance, but his two
+personalities will always remain as strangers to each other."
+
+Having thus delivered himself, the doctor, who apparently was bent upon
+making a few more thousand dollar calls that day, hurriedly, but with
+great dignity, strode out of the room, closely followed by the other
+physicians.
+
+After they had departed, and we were alone, Arletta pulled a chair up
+close to the head of my bed, and, looking steadily and earnestly into my
+eyes, said: "I sincerely hope, Mr. Convert, that you may never again
+resume your other personality."
+
+CHAPTER XXVI
+
+The change from a charity patient to the highest paid patient in the
+Ruff Hospital bore magical results, and I was soon on the road to
+recovery. The quinine knocked all the fever out of me within two days.
+The food I was given to eat after fasting two months, began to
+strengthen me at once and within ten days I was able to walk about the
+room. Arletta never failed to visit me at least once each day, and on
+some days, two and three times. With each visit she brought flowers,
+fruit, or some little delicacy, and I was not long in discovering that
+she was taking more than an ordinary interest in me. As the days flew
+by, her visits became more frequent and of longer duration, until
+finally it seemed as if she almost lived in my apartment. Many times she
+came in the morning and remained all day, taking her lunch with me in
+the meantime. As my health improved, and I became more vigorous in
+bodily strength, those same feelings of admiration and love I bore for
+the first Arletta took a firm hold of me until it seemed that she was a
+part of my very life. Ah! those were happy and heavenly days indeed. The
+happiness I enjoyed there, was of that kind which can only exist between
+two souls fore-ordained and mated to each other for all eternity. As the
+time went by-all too rapidly-we had much to talk about. Arletta
+described the many progressive strides made by science and invention
+during the twenty-one years in which my mind was a blank, and I told her
+hair-raising stories of my early travels and adventures in all parts of
+the world. We said very little regarding my other personality. That
+subject appeared distasteful, and caused her to shudder whenever it was
+brought up. She seemed to think that in my other character I was all
+that was low, mean and contemptible, while she openly avowed that my
+present self was noble, honorable, and manly.
+
+There was one hitch, however, which seemed to take root and stand
+threateningly in the path of absolute harmony between us, and that was
+my belief in Natural Law. She refused to believe the story I told her of
+the wonderful Sagewoman of whom she was the re-incarnation, claiming
+that it was nothing more nor less than a fancy of my disordered brain.
+She also seemed greatly displeased when I informed her that it was my
+intention to go out into the world and teach the principles of Natural
+Law. It pained her to think that I should allow myself to even question
+the authenticity and infallibility of the Bible. Her faith was so strong
+and her nature so gentle that I refrained from discussing the subject in
+any form, after I found how much she grieved over it. So I said no more
+about my experience with the divine Sagewoman and my promise to follow
+her instructions during the remainder of my natural life, but confined
+my conversation to other subjects, and to the full enjoyment of her
+daily companionship during my period of convalescence.
+
+Day by day my weight and strength increased, until at last the time
+arrived for me to quit the hospital and go into the outer world. I had
+made no plans as to what I should do when thrown upon my own resources,
+but felt confident that once well and strong I should find plenty of
+work to do with both my hands and brain. Arletta, who appeared to have
+an unlimited bank account, was generously supplying me with every
+comfort and luxury that money could purchase, notwithstanding my earnest
+protests against it. The tailor had visited me, taken my measure, and
+returned a fine black frock suit of clothes. The hatter had furnished a
+silk tile, the shoemaker, shoes, and the haberdasher all the other
+articles necessary to complete my wearing apparel in the most up-to-date
+style. The barber, the manicurists, and even the chiropodist had visited
+me and taken extra pains in polishing me off.
+
+"You are the handsomest old gentleman in New York," said Arletta,
+girlishly, as she saw me for the first time dressed in street clothes,
+and all ready to take my departure. "But you do not look so old, after
+all," she added reflectively, "if it were not for your white hair you
+might pass for a man of thirty-five. My! what a great big fellow you
+are! Really, I am afraid that all of the women at the Waldoria will
+become infatuated with you at first sight," continued she, critically
+looking me over from head to foot.
+
+"And what do you mean by the Waldoria?" inquired I.
+
+"The Waldoria Hotel," answered she. "I have arranged for you to live
+there until you have thoroughly recuperated and regained your full
+strength-there, now, no more objections, or I shall become angry. At
+present, you are in my charge, and must do just what I tell you."
+
+"Notwithstanding I consider the task of following your instructions a
+most pleasant one," replied I, "still it seems to me that I am not doing
+exactly right in accepting your most generous offerings, for the simple
+reason that I shall never be able to repay you for all you have done."
+
+"I have been amply repaid already," said Arletta, "by the miraculous
+transformation of a very bad and offensive man whom I did not like, into
+a thoroughly good one whom I do like. So say no more about the matter,
+for the present at least. After you have fully recovered from the
+effects of the terrible ordeal through which you have just passed, then
+I shall consider any protests you may have to offer, but not before. I
+have ordered the carriage to come for you at noon, and have given
+instructions to have you taken to the hotel. When you arrive there, you
+will go to the head clerk's desk and hand him your card." Here she gave
+me a small package of visiting cards on which was inscribed "John
+Convert." "You will then ask to be shown to your apartments, which have
+been settled for in advance for one year, after which make yourself as
+comfortable as possible in the place. Do not mention your business in
+any way as it pertains to you and me. It will be impossible for me to
+see you as often as I should like, but whenever it is convenient I shall
+have you come and see me. I am stopping at a different hotel in another
+part of the city, and for reasons best known to myself, I shall continue
+to withhold my last name from you, as you seem to have no recollection
+of it whatever, and it will also be necessary for the present to meet
+you in some out-of-the-way place, which I will designate later. Perhaps
+some day you will learn who I am, and all about me, but until I am ready
+to furnish you with further information concerning my identity, I shall
+rely upon your honor as a man not to undertake, by any methods
+whatsoever, to discover who I am, or where I reside."
+
+With this mysterious admonition and a tender farewell, Arletta left me
+in the depth of meditation as to what strange occurrence nature's
+storehouse might still contain for me, and a few minutes later I was
+notified that the carriage was in waiting.
+
+CHAPTER XXVII
+
+It would be almost impossible to record my impressions of the different
+things that came to my notice for the first time in twenty-one years, as
+I was driven from the hospital to the hotel.
+
+While great progress had taken place in many lines during that time,
+still after having had such a realistic mental picture of the wonders of
+Sage-land stamped upon my mind, the new inventions, such as trolley
+cars, automobiles, etc., which I had never seen before, seemed crude and
+insignificant.
+
+As I passed from street to street I could not fail to observe the great
+disorder that prevailed everywhere, in the foremost city of the world.
+In the first place, I was struck by the inharmonious and ragged
+appearance of the buildings. Here was a tall skyscraper of nice white
+marble thirty stories high, towering up into the clouds like a great
+beanpole, while on one side of it was a squatty little two-story red
+brick structure, and on the other side a six-story brown stone building,
+the whole forming a most irregular and distracting appearance to the
+eye. In other places, right in the heart of the city, and adjoining
+well-designed buildings, were vacant lots inclosed by high ugly board
+fences, on which were painted fantastic and ridiculous advertisements.
+
+These defects, of course, could only be thoroughly remedied by putting
+into force the logical economic principle of State ownership of all land
+and buildings, instead of permitting the individual to do as he pleased
+with property made valuable by the community.
+
+The disarrangement of the buildings, however, merely typified the
+incongruous and illogical disorganization of the people themselves. For
+instance, here was a big, strong, well-fed fashionably groomed young
+man, walking along the street, carrying no heavier burden than a light
+walking stick, while just beside him was a half-starved old woman,
+almost bent double under the weight of a large basket of clothes she had
+washed for somebody else.
+
+Then again, here were two big, strong men, perched upon the driver's
+seat of a magnificent carriage, drawn by two great powerful horses, and
+conveying about the city for recreation a dyspeptic lap-dog, while
+trudging along the gutter in search of work or something to eat was a
+weak, ill-fed, broken-down old man, who had, no doubt, given the best
+years of his life to the actual labor which had increased the wealth of
+the community.
+
+Along the streets everywhere were dirty young boys of tender age, who
+should have been at school or play, rushing madly in every direction,
+trying to earn a few cents by the sale of newspapers, polishing shoes,
+and acting as chore boys.
+
+Little brass bands were scattered about here and there, braying forth
+inharmoniously, and organ grinders and street piano players were rending
+the air with bad music in return for a few pennies, thrown to them by
+passing pedestrians.
+
+Venders of fruit, shoe-strings, collar-buttons, and other light
+merchandise were scattered along the sidewalks and gutters, trying to
+earn a living by the sale of their wares, while beggars occasionally
+stopped the more fortunate members of society with pathetic
+importunities for money to buy bread.
+
+Cabmen and horses were wasting the public power by standing idly about
+waiting for engagements, or else driving aimlessly in all directions,
+searching for patronage.
+
+Wagons of every description were rushing about hither and thither in a
+wretchedly unsystematic method of retail delivery, utilizing in many
+cases the labor of two men and a team of horses to carry a small package
+several miles distant.
+
+Countless little retail merchants, with an incalculable force of
+managers, clerks, book-keepers, errand boys, etc., were fairly throwing
+away the public power in enormous quantities through the brainless
+struggle of competitive trade.
+
+All these imperfections could be extirpated by the abolition of the
+money system, thought I, as the carriage came to a standstill in front
+of a great brown stone edifice, and the driver announced that we had
+reached our destination. The door of the carriage was swung open by a
+uniformed employee, and, alighting therefrom, I was immediately ushered
+into the main office of the leading institution of its kind in the
+World--the Waldoria Hotel.
+
+It was quite a new sensation for me to enter this great hostelry as a
+guest, having spent the fore part of my life as a rough adventurer who
+had never known the meaning of luxury or refinement. But still, somehow
+or other, it always seemed natural for me to carry myself properly in
+whatever position I happened to be placed, and on this occasion I felt
+composed and at my ease as I entered and made known my identity to the
+head clerk.
+
+This pompous servant showed extraordinary affability and politeness
+toward me, which caused me to wonder how I should have been received by
+him had I been a shoemaker, a carpenter, or some other honest son of
+toil, whose labor increases the wealth of the world, instead of a
+moneyed gentleman of leisure and extravagance, as he evidently supposed
+me to be.
+
+"Your secretary has deposited five thousand dollars to your credit here,
+Mr. Convert," said he, handing me a blank cheque book, "so if you will
+kindly give me your signature for certification, you can then draw upon
+that amount as you see fit."
+
+In astonishment I was about to inform him that I had no secretary, and
+that the money was not mine, when it occurred to me that perhaps
+Arletta, or her agent, if she had one, must have pretended to be my
+secretary. So I said nothing and did as requested.
+
+Upon being shown to my apartments, a handsomely furnished suite of two
+rooms and a bath, upon the tenth floor, I was further amazed to find
+therein a trunk, two dress-suit cases, a traveling bag, and six suits of
+fine clothes, made in different styles, from an evening dress to a sack
+business suit. And the bedstead, tables and bureaus were literally
+covered with articles, such as a bath-robe, pajamas, underwear, shirts,
+collars, cuffs, gloves, hats, shoes, etc., all brand new and marked
+"John Convert." Upon the dressing case was a small jewel box, containing
+several kinds of gold cuff buttons, diamond scarf pins, and a solid gold
+watch, on the inside of which was inscribed, "From Arletta to John."
+
+It took some time for me to get over the wonderment into which I was
+plunged at the sight of these things, and the contemplation of how far
+Arletta intended going before ceasing her benevolent acts towards me,
+but after spending an hour or two in becoming accustomed to my
+surroundings and putting the various articles away into the bureaus and
+wardrobes, I decided to make a general survey of the entire hotel
+premises.
+
+I learned that the Waldoria Hotel was thirty stories high, and covered
+an entire block in the most fashionable district in New York City. In
+many ways it resembled a small city in itself, containing a bank,
+theatre, music hall, photograph gallery, art studio, gymnasium, laundry,
+electric plant, Turkish baths, tonsorial apartments, brokers' offices,
+library, and various ball-rooms, besides four different restaurants, two
+cafes, and several reception and smoking rooms for the use of its
+patrons.
+
+The entire roof of the building was utilized as a promenade and summer
+garden for musical entertainments.
+
+The hotel could accommodate about three thousand guests, who occupied
+apartments, the rentals of which cost from three to one hundred and
+fifty dollars per day. About two thousand employees were necessary to
+keep the establishment in good running order. Each floor had a separate
+clerk and corps of attendants, and nobody could gain admission to any of
+the apartment floors except the occupants and their guests.
+
+All of the apartments of the hotel, from the magnificent "Royal Suite"
+to the single bedrooms of the transients, were furnished in the most
+luxurious manner possible. Costly draperies, priceless paintings, and
+exquisite furnishings of every description, adorned the drawing-rooms,
+ball-rooms, foyers and restaurants. Statues of ancient personages
+ornamented the different hallways, while the carved marble and woodwork
+seen everywhere showed splendid workmanship. Sweet strains of music from
+the orchestras stationed in different balconies could be heard in most
+any part of the building.
+
+Seated on either side of the long, commodious corridors, on lounges
+overhung by palms and tropical plants of various descriptions, were men
+and women of the fashionable set, who represented the largest portion of
+wealth of the community.
+
+The women with their low-cut gowns, highly perfumed, and weighted down
+with jewels of every kind, formed a brilliant spectacle that was
+bewitching and bewildering to behold. They vied with one another in the
+display of their gorgeous gowns and jewels, with the desire to impress
+upon each other thereby the wealth they possessed and the position they
+held in society. In fact, wealth seemed to be the predominant feature of
+their whole existence.
+
+Beautiful young women scarcely out of their teens, could be seen paying
+all of their attentions to decrepit, bald-headed old men of apparent
+opulence, while on the other hand, young and athletic looking men were
+courting women old enough to be their grandmothers. In either case, the
+young were quite willing to sell their persons for wealth. These
+unnatural facts plainly demonstrated to what depths the human being,
+will go in an endeavor to secure money, or the power derived therefrom.
+
+In the restaurants, the most criminal extravagance was practiced by
+these moneyed people, in many cases the costly viands and high-priced
+wines ordered being only partly consumed, and the remainder left to be
+thrown into the waste barrel. In fact, it appeared that the individual's
+importance was gauged by the amount of money he could spend, and men who
+no doubt in a great many cases squeezed the pennies from the poor
+laboring classes through their different financial methods of
+confiscation, thought nothing of spending from five to fifty dollars for
+a single meal.
+
+In short, I found the Waldoria Hotel to be a sort of a heavenly place,
+infested principally by hellish beings-a welcome nest for people with
+money but a very unwelcome place for persons who had none. It made
+absolutely no difference how people got their money as long as they had
+it.
+
+The stone masons, iron-workers, carpenters, painters, plumbers and other
+laborers who built the beautiful edifice were not allowed inside of it.
+The furniture makers, carpet and tapestry weavers, interior decorators,
+etc., through whose skill the hotel was made grand, were not permitted
+to enjoy the magnificence of their own creation. But owing to the stupid
+money system, which these laborers them selves help to keep in force,
+the results of their combined efforts were either usurped by an
+unproductive class fortunate enough to be born rich, or those shrewd
+enough to accumulate money, such as trust managers, bankers, real estate
+speculators, stock jobbers, and brokers, gamblers, burglars, money loan
+swindlers, high salaried clergymen, etc.
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII
+
+In looking over the daily newspapers the next morning my attention was
+forcefully called to the fact that fully nine-tenths of the news columns
+was given to the promulgation of crime in all its various forms, of
+which ninety per cent could be directly traced to the money evil, of
+which the system of individual accumulation must be held responsible.
+For the benefit of future generations who may desire information that
+will give them an exact idea of the real value of their civilized
+ancestors, I herewith reproduce a few extracts from the newspapers, word
+for word, just as the despatches were published.
+
+"Albany, N. Y., Special Despatch: It is reported on high authority that
+State Senator Grab has received a half million dollars, to be
+distributed among the various senators and assemblymen, for the purpose
+of securing their votes in exchange for certain legislative laws that
+will favor the Gas Trust in its iniquitous squeeze of the people for
+higher rates. Several senators have openly threatened to vote against
+these measures, claiming that Senator Grab is acting the hog and will
+not divide the booty fairly among them."
+
+"Fall River, Mass.: Ten thousand workingmen and women have been thrown
+out of employment by the mills of this city, owing to the unprecedented
+rise in the price of cotton, caused by the recent manipulations of that
+famous Wall Street speculator, Dan Bull, who by forcing up the prices in
+the speculative market has added millions to his own bank account during
+the past few weeks. The mills have been shut down indefinitely and
+starvation is now facing thousands of men, women and children as a
+consequence."
+
+"Brooklyn, N. Y.: The marriage ceremony between the Right Reverend Q. T.
+Getrich, Bishop of New York, and Mrs. E. Z. Money was solemnized here
+today with great pomp, and attended by some of the very wealthiest and
+most fashionable people of the country. It has been suggested by some
+ungodly reprobate that perhaps the young and handsome bishop married the
+fat and aged widow to gain possession of her millions, but this
+sacrilegious imputation is furiously resented by all pious church
+members."
+
+"Chicago, Ill.: Municipal ownership of public utilities seems to have
+been given a serious setback by the very costly and unsuccessful
+experiment this city undertook in operating its own electric and water
+plants during the past year. It appears that city officials are just as
+susceptible to the charm of money as private corporations, and just as
+willing, by corrupt methods, to fleece the public in order to obtain it.
+It is evident that as long as there is money in use there will always be
+boodlers."
+
+"Baltimore, Md.: The pure food inspectors of this city after having made
+an inspection of the different canned goods, have come to the conclusion
+that at least ninety per cent. of the same is adulterated and that the
+public is being slowly poisoned to death. The greed of the various
+concerns which produce these things for bigger profits, causes them to
+use cheap chemicals in their adulterative methods in place of higher
+priced and genuine substances. These inspectors make the astonishing
+statement that they believe all foods and drinks are more or less
+adulterated and that in the general rush for money profits, the
+inhabitants of the world are actually poisoning each other by slow
+degrees."
+
+"St. Louis, Mo.: An epidemic of diphtheria is raging in this city and
+hundreds of children are dying daily from the effects of its ravages.
+The deaths in most cases are children of the poorer classes who cannot
+afford to pay the exorbitant prices lately put upon antitoxin by the
+Medicine Trust. This trust, which controls the supply of antitoxin, has
+increased the price nearly two hundred per cent, during the past year at
+different intervals, until it has now become absolutely prohibitive to
+all except the wealthy. Unless there is something done immediately to
+alleviate this condition of affairs, the lives of thousands of young
+children will be blotted out, which might otherwise have been saved."
+
+"Kokomo, Ind.: An awful tragedy took place in this town yesterday when
+Peter Doles, apparently driven insane from poverty and want of
+employment, killed his wife and five children by splitting their heads
+open with an axe, and afterward thrust a knife into his own heart. Doles
+was at one time a wealthy citizen of this place, but speculation was the
+cause of his downfall."
+
+"Philadelphia, Pa.: A terrible state of affairs has been brought to
+light here by the police who have discovered that a regular system of
+child murder has been in practice for some time by a syndicate of fiends
+who murder children for the insurance. These fiends, who secured their
+victims from regularly operated baby farms of illegitimate children,
+would have their lives insured for large sums and then destroy them
+afterwards, in order to obtain the insurance money."
+
+"Paterson, N. J.: U. R. Dire was sentenced to be hung today for the
+murder of his father. Some time ago, young Dire obtained information
+that his millionaire father was about to make a new will, and cut him
+off without money, so he deliberately entered into a cold-blooded plan
+with his father's secretary to murder the old man by poison. The
+secretary afterward turned State's evidence and upon his testimony the
+young man was convicted."
+
+"Reno, Nev.: This town was the scene of murderous outlawry last night
+when an organized band of burglars gained entrance to a local bank, and
+blew up the vaults. The night watchman discovered their presence, and
+raising an alarm brought the police and other citizens to the premises.
+Then occurred a general encounter between the police and the burglars in
+which over a hundred shots were fired, causing the death of three
+policemen, two private citizens and four of the burglars. The remainder
+of the desperadoes jumped on their horses and escaped with the money."
+
+"Boston, Mass.: Rev. D. D. Sly, the eminent clergyman of this city,
+announced today that he has received a call from the Lord to take up his
+work in another field. He will leave at once for New York City, where he
+will take charge of a fashionable Fifth Avenue pastorate. Reverend Sly's
+salary will be increased from two thousand five hundred to five thousand
+dollars per annum through the change, which once more brings up the
+question as to whether the Lord was ever known to call a pastor to a new
+field at a lower salary."
+
+"Buffalo, N. Y.: A case brought up in court here today shows to what
+extent the extortionate loan sharks will go in their greed for money. It
+was proved that two years ago O. U. Curr loaned Mrs. Kate Poor, a
+washer-woman with three small children, the sum of fifty dollars on
+household furniture. A contract was entered into, whereby the widow was
+to pay interest at the rate of twenty per cent per month until the
+principal had been paid. Mrs. Poor stated under oath that she has
+already paid Curr, in monthly installments, over three hundred dollars
+and that she is still indebted to him for the original loan of fifty
+dollars."
+
+"Scranton, Pa.: Trades Unionism is receiving a great deal of public
+censure at present in this city, owing to the recent disclosure made
+against Judas Pilate, a union agent, who has been blackmailing different
+contractors for several years past, by making them pay him large sums of
+money, under threats of ordering union men to strike. It has been proved
+that Pilate has secured over fifty thousand dollars by this method. His
+followers, however, still remain loyal to him, notwithstanding he sold
+them out many times and brought disrepute upon Trades Unionism."
+
+"Harrisburg, Pa.: The various manufacturers of cigarettes in this state
+have banded together to defeat the Anti-Cigarette League in its efforts
+to have laws passed forbidding the sale of cigarettes to children. While
+the manufacturers do not deny that the cigarette is wrecking the
+physical, mental, and moral character of the American youth, they
+contend that it will prove detrimental to their business interests, and
+thereby cause a loss of many thousand dollars if the Anti-Cigarette Law
+is put into effect. Reliable statistics for the past three years show
+that one hundred thousand children are ruined annually by smoking
+cigarettes."
+
+"Pittsburg, Pa.: The Steel Trust has made a general reduction in the
+salaries of all its employees throughout the United States, which will
+decrease the wages of the worker from ten to twenty per cent, and
+affecting in the neighborhood of two hundred thousand men. It is
+estimated that this sweeping reduction will save the Steel Trust
+approximately twenty millions of dollars per year. Owing to the
+manipulations of the Wall Street schemers, this saving becomes necessary
+to keep the Trust in existence, as in the great merger of the several
+different steel companies, the actual valuation of the plants was
+increased one hundred times over in watered stock, so that it not only
+becomes necessary for those who do the labor to pay dividends on bona
+fide investments of the capitalists, but to pay dividends on watered
+stock criminally increased one hundred fold besides. This decrease in
+wages will cause great suffering among the laboring classes, for, owing
+to the increased cost of living caused by the raising of prices by the
+various food trusts, it is almost impossible for the ordinary man to
+make both ends meet. It appears to all thoughtful students of political
+economy that the object of those in control of the money markets is to
+limit the supply of necessities of life, so that the demand for them
+will force prices up, and, by decreasing production, will cause a
+superfluous quantity of labor, which, in turn, will force wages down.
+With cheap labor to produce, and a high selling price for the
+production, the trust managers and other financiers have easily solved
+the question of how to legally confiscate the wealth of the world."
+
+"New York City: A great war is now being waged between the rich tenement
+house owners and their poor tenants on the East Side, which promises to
+end in lawlessness, riots, and much suffering in consequence. It appears
+that the owners of these houses have increased the rents from time to
+time until they are now beyond the reach of the tenants' ability to pay.
+At least three thousand of these occupants have banded together to fight
+the last raise, while the landlords have also combined to evict them
+unless they comply with the terms. The tenants, who are mostly hard
+working laborers, claim that it is utterly impossible for them to meet
+the extortionate prices of foods, fuel, gas, oil, and rents, now being
+forced upon them by the financiers with the small amount of wages that
+they receive for their work from the industrialists, and if they are
+evicted from their present homes it is a problem as to what they will do
+or where they will go. The landlords claim that is none of their
+concern; that they themselves are merely following the system now in
+existence of getting all they can, through their property rights,
+according to the law of supply and demand. Some of them even claim that
+these tenants are nothing more than vermin, anyway, and that it would be
+well to push them all into the East River and exterminate them
+entirely."
+
+The newspaper articles, which I have reproduced, are but a few of the
+thousands chronicled daily of the terrible crimes which take place in
+all parts of civilized Christendom over the individual possession of
+money, or its equivalent, and they also demonstrate that after nineteen
+hundred years of Christianity the world still remains in a savage state.
+The Christian must admit, if he will stop and consider, that there must
+be something lacking in his religion, if after all these centuries, such
+barbarous conditions still exist. What is lacking? This question can be
+answered in a few words. The abolition of the money system. The
+eradication of individual accumulation. The substitution of united labor
+and honest distribution. The adherence to the principles of Natural Law.
+
+Had Christ taught Natural Law instead of supernatural religion, had he
+been an organizer and started a movement toward the abolition of the
+money system and established a united labor organization in place of the
+system of individual accumulation, the world long ere this would have
+been a heavenly abiding place for the human family, instead of a
+seething furnace of petty quarrels, murderous fights, and selfish strife
+among all of the inhabitants.
+
+Why should one hog have more to eat than another? Why should one man
+have more luxuries and privileges than another? Why should the man who
+conceives an idea receive a greater reward than he who puts the idea
+into execution? Why should the man who works with his brain have more of
+the sweets of life than he who works with his hands? Why should the man
+who lays the brick have more of the world's goods than he who carries
+the brick mortar to him? These questions do not apply alone to the
+capitalist, but also to the laborer as well, and as long as the laboring
+classes champion the cutthroat policy of grading man's allowance
+according to his ability, of giving more to one than another, owing to a
+slight difference of brain capacity, he should not, after showing his
+own greediness in this respect, expect the capitalist not to be greedy
+also. He must learn that all men should have equal opportunities and
+benefits from the whole production of united labor. As long as money
+exists, so long will fights and quarrels take place between capital and
+labor, and between the different branches of labor as well. The laborer
+will fight the capitalist until he in turn becomes a capitalist, and
+then he will turn about and fight the laborer. So there is but one
+reasonable method to pursue in order to better the conditions on earth,
+and to eliminate suffering and crime entirely, and that method is to
+strike at the very root of the cause, and abolish money and the system
+of individual accumulation.
+
+CHAPTER XXIX
+
+My sojourn at the Waldoria Hotel was a rather pleasant one in many ways.
+I enjoyed the luxury and refinement of the surroundings. The harmonious
+music of the orchestras was pleasant to listen to, and the magnificent
+paintings and beautiful works of art were pleasing to the eye. I also
+took some pleasure in wearing the different suits of fine clothes with
+which I had been supplied, and in making my own person appear as well as
+possible in the eyes of others. I even enjoyed entering the spacious and
+luxurious restaurants and eating sparingly of some of the delicious
+viands prepared by the scientific chef. In fact, the many delightful
+advantages to be derived from living at the Waldoria directly appealed
+to me as being some of the blessings supplied by nature for all human
+beings to enjoy.
+
+But still there was a serious drawback to my thorough and absolute
+enjoyment of these conditions, when I took into consideration the fact
+that I was in no way responsible for their existence. I was accepting
+something from the community, but giving nothing in return. I felt that
+in living at the Waldoria, and doing no work for the community, I was
+like a great sponge soaking up the life-blood of honest toil, and
+returning nothing for the sustenance it afforded me. I felt that I
+should at least go to work and do something that would help to pay for
+my keeping. True it was that I had the money to pay for these things,
+but where did the money come from? Where does all money come from? To
+have money to pay for things does not mean that one has earned them. So
+I decided that I would go to work as soon as possible, and give to the
+community an equivalent for the things I enjoyed.
+
+But then, the great difficulty arose when I tried to find something to
+do. It made little difference what kind of work I should engage in as
+long as it was of a productive nature. But when I went around looking
+for employment, I discovered that there was none to be had.
+
+It is certainly a most unnatural system which fails to utilize all the
+power at its command for the good of universal production, and it seems
+hard to realize that such conditions can exist; but during my wanderings
+from street to street, store to store, and factory to factory,
+throughout the great commonwealth of New York, I discovered that besides
+myself, there were also thousands of other earnest men tramping the
+streets, willing, but unable, to find work. At last, however, I was put
+in the peculiar position of having to pay to work. One day, after a week
+of unsuccessful attempts to obtain employment, I ran across one of the
+sub-bosses of the street-cleaning department. Making known my desire to
+him, I was amazed when he told me that he would let me work on condition
+that I paid him twenty-five dollars for the job and promised to give him
+ten per cent. of my wages each month. He informed me that all of the men
+under his charge had to do likewise. In fact, he intimated that in order
+to hold his own position as sub-boss he had to pay this money to bosses
+higher up in the department.
+
+And so in order to feel that I was at least doing something for the
+community to earn my right to live, I was forced to pay for the
+opportunity and also to aid in keeping alive one of the many systems of
+graft, which unnaturally swallows up the results of honest men's labor.
+So I began work as a street-sweeper--a position looked upon generally as
+one of the lowest in the scale of human employment. Why the man who
+sweeps the streets, making clean and wholesome the thoroughfares, which
+have to be traveled constantly by the people, and saving the public from
+filth and disease, should be looked down upon by the rest of his fellow
+beings for doing this great service, seems beyond the limits of sane
+reasoning; but such is the case in this world, where money is the god
+worshiped by all.
+
+An illustrative incident occurred while I held the unique position of
+street-sweeper, and at the same time being a guest at the fashionable
+Waldoria Hotel. I had become acquainted with many of the wealthy guests
+of the place, who, no doubt, supposing me to be a man of riches, courted
+my society to some extent. In fact, I had become rather popular among
+the permanent residents. There was one family in particular, a certain
+Mrs. Snipe and her two daughters, who took every occasion to pay me
+attentions, until one day as I was engaged in my daily work on the
+street, some distance from the hotel, I noticed a carriage approaching
+which held Mrs. Snipe and her brood. They were all looking straight at
+me, but gave no sign of recognition as they passed along. That evening,
+after I had changed my working clothes, which by the way, resembled the
+white duck outfit worn by an African explorer, and, having left them in
+the tool-house, I went home and attired myself in evening dress. Again I
+met the Snipe family in one of the foyers of the hotel. The old lady,
+accompanied by her eligible daughters, approached me and said: "Mr.
+Convert, I have something awfully funny to tell you. It is just too
+funny to keep to myself. You have a double; we saw him today. Now, don't
+get angry when I tell you where we saw him and who he is, but he
+resembled you so much that if it were not for the position he occupied I
+should have sworn it was you. He was a member of the street-sweeping
+brigade, and if you wish to see him just go over to Fifth avenue and
+Twenty-sixth street tomorrow and you can see for yourself. There, now,
+you are not angry, are you?"
+
+"No," answered I, "the person you refer to I have seen many times. There
+is nothing to be angry about. Certainly, not because he holds the
+honorable position of cleaning the streets which you have to travel."
+
+"Honorable," retorted Mrs. Snipe; "you must be joking. I cannot
+understand how an aristocratic gentleman like yourself would otherwise
+make such an absurd remark."
+
+"I am not joking at all," said I; "in my estimation, the street-sweeper
+belongs to the most honorable portion of mankind. He is down-trodden by
+society now, owing to an unnatural system which permits the strong to
+take the largest portion of wealth and rule; but the day will come when
+men who sweep the streets or occupy other positions of worth to the
+community, will enjoy the same luxuries and surroundings that you and
+other non-producers now enjoy. They will live in the palaces now
+occupied by the parasites who do no work. Such places as the Waldoria
+Hotel will be utilized for their benefit, and those who do not work,
+those who claim the right to live without labor, will be thrown out
+entirely."
+
+"Why, Mr. Convert, what do you mean by talking in such a beastly way? If
+you are so fond of those vulgar street-sweepers, why don't you become
+one of them?"
+
+"I have," I answered. "The man you saw today sweeping the streets was
+none other than myself, and I am proud of it."
+
+"You are either joking or else you have gone out of your mind," said
+Mrs. Snipe with a look of disgust. But upon my reiteration that I was
+really the man she saw, both she and her daughters abruptly left my
+presence and never looked at me afterwards. They no doubt communicated
+the text of our conversation to the different people of the hotel, also,
+for I discovered later that the other guests with whom I had become
+acquainted, not only refused to converse with me, but regarded me as a
+sort of curiosity or peculiar freak of nature. They would pass me on the
+street, where I was working at different times, in their gorgeous
+carriages, and, calling each other's attention would pass jokes at my
+expense, and laugh loud and mockingly at me. At first these things
+troubled me to some degree, but gradually I gathered courage to bear
+their sneers-courage such as I had never experienced before.
+
+I had faced all manner of dangers during my life without fear, but I had
+never known the real meaning of courage until I made up my mind to do
+right under all conditions, and accept the ridicule of my fellow beings
+without resentment. In my humble position I could now appreciate the
+philosophy and the true greatness of the Sagewoman's beautiful lessons
+of unselfishness. I felt that I was just beginning to get strong-strong
+in the grandest attribute a human being can possess-moral courage. The
+great Sagewoman's teachings on forbearance were beginning to take root
+in my nature. I was learning to understand that I must work and feel for
+others, regardless of my own selfish desires.
+
+One day, while I was busily engaged in my daily toil, my attention
+became attracted to a big, fashionably dressed man, standing on the
+sidewalk near by, calmly smoking a high-priced cigar. He was apparently
+about thirty years of age, six feet tall, and weighed over two hundred
+pounds. He was beastly in appearance, and looked as if he considered his
+own selfish wants as the only things in the world worth attention. He
+probably had never done an honest day's labor in his life. A ragged old
+man, about sixty years of age, who apparently had given his whole life
+to productive toil, but now feeble and half-starved in appearance,
+approached and appealed to him for a few cents with which to buy
+something to eat. The big fellow roughly told him to go along and not
+bother him, and the old man, not doing as he was ordered, the young man
+deliberately swung his fist and struck the poor beggar between the eyes,
+knocking him senseless to the pavement. For a moment I was dumbfounded
+by this exhibition of brutality, and then instantly every drop of blood
+in my body was set boiling at the sight. I lost control of myself. My
+old-time pugnacious spirit asserted itself, and I sprang forward like a
+maddened bull, striking the brute a vicious blow upon the head with my
+fist, and sending him sprawling several feet away. As he scrambled to
+his feet, in a dazed condition, I rushed forward furiously, with the
+intention of felling him to the ground. After allowing him to regain his
+feet, I raised my arm to deal a well-directed blow with all my strength,
+when something within me suddenly cried out: "Don't strike." "Don't make
+a brute of yourself because the other did." "Let the law take its
+course." And, as I hesitated momentarily, there passed through my mind
+like an electric flash, these words:
+
+"Always consult your soul for advice.
+
+"Do no act your conscience will not sanction."
+
+Then instantly recognizing the mandate I had so faithfully promised the
+great Sagewoman to obey, I overcame my rage and allowed my arms to fall
+to my sides without striking another blow.
+
+Two policemen hurriedly approached the scene. I stated what had occurred
+and requested them to take the bully to jail. To my surprise, however,
+at the command of the well-dressed ruffian, who I afterward learned was
+a wealthy financier, both myself and the beggar were taken to the
+station-house. I was fined ten dollars, and the poor old man was
+sentenced to jail for thirty days.
+
+While I knew that in this case the law of justice had been misapplied in
+favor of the cowardly Wretch with money, nevertheless I felt that I had
+gained incalculable strength in self-control by not acting contrary to
+the warning of my soul and making of myself the same kind of a brute as
+the one whom I had intended to injure.
+
+CHAPTER XXX
+
+Central Park is a tract of land situate in the middle of residential New
+York. It is oblong in shape, being two miles in length, half a mile in
+width and covering an area of about eight hundred and sixty acres. The
+ground has been artificially changed from a wild waste to one of the
+most beautiful spots to be found anywhere. It is coursed by a net-work
+of splendid drive-ways, equestrian roads and foot-paths running in all
+directions among the many little rocky hills and miniature lakes. Trees,
+flower-beds and shrubbery of various kinds have been cleverly arranged
+by skilled artists to form a delightfully picturesque effect. Chirping
+birds of many colors and tame squirrels in multitudinous numbers find
+this park a heavenly abiding place where the danger of annihilation is
+minimized. Playgrounds for the children are laid out in different parts
+of the domain while a zoological garden where animals are kept
+imprisoned in small cages for the term of their natural lives, is put
+forth as one of its many features.
+
+As one passes through the entrance gate at Seventy-eighth street and
+Central Park West, and turns first to the right, then to the left, and
+finally to the right again, following a foot-path similar in its
+windings to a letter S, and crossing two small bridges, he will come to
+an abrupt ending of a narrow path running into an immense projecting
+rock. Here is located a canopied seat just large enough for two people.
+Facing this shelter is a small lake, on the edge of which overhanging
+trees afford delightful shade during the hot months. That was the place
+selected by Arletta for our meeting ground. It was an out-of-the-way,
+quiet and romantic spot where we spent many pleasant afternoons and
+evenings enjoying each other's company. Whenever Arletta wanted to see
+me she sent a note which never failed to bring me there. In fact, such a
+feeling of enchantment did the place hold for me, that many times I
+wandered out there and sat alone for hours, musing.
+
+But notwithstanding that our many meetings had the effect of
+strengthening our mutual admiration and love for each other, and that I
+was beginning to fairly idolize this beautiful young woman, still
+certain things came to pass that I could not understand, and which
+caused me to feel that Arletta's actions were very mysterious, and that
+there was something about her life she was trying to withhold from me.
+
+In the first place she would never meet me anywhere else except in that
+obscure nook in the park, and in departing would not permit me to escort
+her beyond the Seventy-eighth street entrance, where she would abruptly
+bid me a hasty adieu, with instructions that I must take another route.
+
+That, in itself, appeared to be a strange proceeding, but one evening as
+I entered a fashionable Fifth avenue restaurant on one of my tours of
+inspection of plutocratic conditions, I was amazed to see her seated at
+one of the tables, drinking wine with a male companion. Her face was
+flushed from the effects of the beverage, and she was acting a trifle
+hilarious, and displaying traits of frivolity such as I had never
+observed in her before. As I caught her eye she gave a quick start, and
+then deliberately turned her head in another direction, and pretended
+not to have seen me. At this act I rushed out into the street, and it
+was with great difficulty that I was able to control my feelings.
+
+The next evening I met her in the park, and was further surprised when
+she not only failed to mention the incident, but intimated that she had
+spent the evening at an entirely different place. She appeared so
+innocent, however, and was so charming in her manner that I almost
+immediately forgot the affair, and said nothing about it. A few nights
+later, though, as I was walking down Broadway, near Twenty-seventh
+street, I noticed a large crowd of men and women gathered, and
+questioning a bystander as to the reason thereof, I was informed that a
+stylishly dressed lady was "too drunk to navigate" and was in the hands
+of a policeman. As I craned my neck to get a glimpse of the unfortunate
+woman, I was shocked beyond expression to find that it was none other
+than Arletta who had created the commotion. Horrified, I rushed through
+the crowd, pushing men right and left, until I had reached the
+policeman, who was holding her up by the arm and trying to ascertain her
+name and address. She could hardly stand, and seemed dazed to the point
+of falling, but as I spoke her name, her memory revived somewhat, and,
+fixing her half-closed eyes upon me, she said: "Why, hello Jack" And
+then, turning to the officer, remarked: "This is my friend Jack; he will
+take me home." I could not understand the reason she called me Jack. She
+had never addressed me in that way before. But without delay I informed
+the policeman that I would take charge of her, and requested him to call
+a cab. When the vehicle arrived it became necessary for me to lift her
+bodily into it, and then I was at a loss to know just where to take her.
+In order to get away from the crowd, however, I told the driver to go on
+and I would give him the address later.
+
+"Tell him to take us to the Seraglio Apartments," she mumbled.
+
+"Do you know where the Seraglio Apartments are?" I inquired of the
+driver.
+
+"Yes, sir, in Central Park West," replied he, as he whipped up his horse
+and started in that direction.
+
+Arletta said no more, but remained silent, as if stupefied from the
+effects of the intoxicating drink she had taken.
+
+"What a pity," thought I, as we sped along, "that this young woman, with
+all of her beauty, grace and charm, and with all of her splendid traits
+of character, should fall a victim to the awful curse of drink! Could
+this condition have been brought about because she had no work to
+perform and too much time and money to squander recklessly? What a pity
+that there are human beings who make and sell poisonous stuff for money
+which not only robs those who use it of their reasoning power, but which
+undermines the very foundation of the human race! Those people who make
+and sell liquor, knowing that it will ultimately destroy the lives of
+thousands of human beings, are just as much murderous poisoners as would
+be the chemist who would knowingly give a deadly drug to an intended
+suicide."
+
+When we arrived at the apartment house, which was one of the most
+magnificent in New York, it was with some difficulty that I was able to
+arouse her sufficiently so that she could walk with my assistance.
+Entering the vestibule, I asked her if she could get along without
+further help, but she insisted that I should go to her rooms, so getting
+into the elevator we were taken up to the eighth floor. As though he was
+accustomed to this sort of an affair, the elevator attendant went ahead
+and opened one of the doors on the right of the hallway, and after
+turning on the electric light, and we had entered, he withdrew at once,
+quietly closing the door after him. I then found myself within one of
+the most elegantly furnished drawing rooms imaginable. At one end of the
+apartment was an archway gorgeously draped with costly tapestries which
+partially screened another room beyond, which served as a bed-chamber.
+Arletta staggered forward, half pulling me along with her into this
+other room, and throwing herself upon the bed, ordered me, in a dazed
+sort of a way, to remove her clothing. I was dumbfounded at this
+extraordinary command and felt that I was placed in an extremely awkward
+position. I did not like the idea of allowing the poor girl to remain
+over night, in the uncomfortable position she had taken, bound as she
+was by tightly fitting garments, and still I realized that it was a very
+delicate undertaking to follow out her instructions, knowing full well
+that if she were in her right senses she would be horrified at the
+thought of such a thing. But as I stood looking at her for several
+moments in a state of perplexed indecision, and wondering what course to
+pursue, she began to moan as if in agony, and without further hesitation
+I decided to go ahead and do my best to make her position more
+comfortable. So I began by taking off her shoes.
+
+"What a superb foot!" mused I enthusiastically, as I unlaced and removed
+her pretty little shoes. "Was there ever another quite so shapely or
+entrancing? And the ankle! How daintily its joints showed beneath
+embroidered hose of exquisite material." Hardly had I begun this task
+before I realized that a strange magnetic force was stealing upon me.
+With such a feast for my eyes to contend with, it seemed as if my senses
+were being gradually overcome by the intoxicating clutch of voluptuous
+dreams.
+
+The shoes off, I turned my attention to the collar which apparently
+caused her much uneasiness. The collar, as I discovered, was a part of
+the bodice and could not be taken off without removing the whole
+garment, which task required considerable time, patience, and careful
+maneuvering to perform. This I finally accomplished, however, with the
+aid of Arletta, who revived occasionally from her comatose state long
+enough to give a few indistinct directions, and then as my eyes rested
+upon her lovely arms, neck and shoulders, I was plunged into ecstatic
+emotion such as words have not the power to express. At last I succeeded
+in loosening the stays and different cords and ribbons usually worn by
+women, which alleviated her distress considerably, and after throwing a
+light robe over her form was about to, arrange her position so that she
+might rest comfortably, when to my utter astonishment she threw her arms
+around my neck, kissed me several times, and whispered in my ear, "You
+won't leave me alone tonight, will you, darling?"
+
+This seemed to be almost too much for me to bear; the cravings of my
+sensual nature began a desperate struggle with my better self. My blood
+started to tingle with the heat of passion. Evil thoughts crowded
+themselves into my brain. The more of these evil thoughts I allowed to
+enter my head the less power of resistance I held against their subtle
+ravages. I was losing self-control. I felt powerless to battle
+successfully against the temptation. Stealthily walking over to the
+door, I softly bolted it and then stood still for some time and
+listened. It was past midnight and everything was quiet. I turned out
+the light and started to go over to Arletta. As I did so, something
+within me seemed to cry out with shame against such cowardice. As I
+paused for a moment, the voice from within became stronger in its
+disapproval of my intentions. Apparently I became divided into two
+parts, and each was struggling for the mastery of me. One side was
+trying with all its might to push me forward, while the other was
+attempting to hold me back with reproachful warnings. These two parts
+were my material and spiritual selves, contending for supremacy. I
+wavered back and forth, from one to the other, and it seemed that the
+material side was about to conquer and carry me down to disgrace, when
+suddenly there passed through my mind like a great wave of strength the
+Sagewoman's wonderful precept:
+
+"Always consult your soul for advice.
+
+"Do no act your conscience will not sanction."
+
+And recognizing the full meaning of these words, I immediately turned
+about, unbolted the door, and quietly left the apartment, feeling that
+the soul was still master of my actions.
+
+CHAPTER XXXI
+
+Almost from the first day after I left the hospital I began to feel an
+earnest desire to follow out the instructions of the great Sage-woman in
+regard to teaching my fellow beings the philosophy of Natural Law, and,
+knowing of no better way to begin this work, I decided to go out and
+lecture upon the streets to all persons who might care to listen. I set
+aside three evenings each week to preach the Truth, and took a position
+at the corner of Fifth avenue, and Twenty-third street, just opposite
+the "Flatiron" building, with nothing but a soap-box for a platform; it
+was here that I devoted many evenings instructing the masses in the
+principles of Sagemanism. At first I felt a little awkward, and could
+not find sufficient words to express myself properly upon the subject,
+but gradually there came self-reliance, which enabled me to communicate
+my thoughts to others, and within a few weeks I had acquired a fluency
+of speech whereby I could talk for hours without embarrassment. During
+my first attempts at public speaking, few people would remain more than
+a moment or two to hear what I had to say, but with the increased force
+and power of speech, which I acquired with practice, my audiences grew
+larger and larger, until finally the streets were blockaded with their
+numbers at these meetings. Many of my hearers, both rich and poor alike,
+got into the habit of coming repeatedly to listen to these talks, and
+after a short time they would come to me one by one and request personal
+tutorage in the principles set forth. In fact, the number of these
+proselytes increased to such an extent, and their intentions were so
+earnest and serious, that it finally became necessary to engage a hall,
+where we might hold private meetings. It was in this way that there was
+finally organized the society for the propagation of the principles of
+Natural Law. Little by little the society gained in numerical strength,
+until I felt sure that the seed of this grand work had been planted in
+human soil for all time to come, and that its fruits would blossom forth
+in abundance as time passed by.
+
+But while success appeared to be crowning my humble efforts in this
+direction, and the more progress I made in this propaganda, the more
+opposed to my methods Arletta became. She grew intensely antagonistic to
+my work, and tried in every way to have me discontinue it. She could not
+believe that all human beings were born to have equal rights and
+privileges in the world. She had been taught from infancy that there
+must always be a master and a servant, and that the Deity was
+responsible for the position held between them. She believed, as most
+good Christians do, that it is the Creator's will that some people are
+born in wealth and luxury, while others are born and bred in poverty and
+squalor. She repeatedly endeavored to persuade me to desist in the work
+I had undertaken and re-enter the Church as a good Christian member. My
+efforts to convert her as a believer in Natural Law were futile, and a
+great gulf seemed to be springing up and separating us from one another.
+I felt that I was placed in a very difficult position. On the one hand,
+I loved this beautiful young woman more than words can convey any idea
+of. She seemed to be a part of my life. I would have gladly suffered any
+pain or torture, if by so doing it would have afforded her one moment of
+pleasure. On the other hand, I had sworn most solemnly to the great
+Sagewoman that I would devote the remainder of my natural life to the
+dissemination of the principles in which she had instructed me. I often
+wondered at my strange predicament. Here I was being censured by the
+reincarnated soul of the great Sage-woman for carrying out the very work
+she taught me, and for fulfilling my promise to her.
+
+The climax of this peculiar situation was reached one night at our
+meeting place in the park. Arletta had sent me an urgent despatch to
+come and see her without fail, and then she had stated that it was her
+intention to leave New York the next day on a protracted trip through
+Europe. She said she had come to bid me good-bye, and that it was to be
+good-bye forever, as she never intended to see me again. She appeared
+depressed and sad upon this occasion, and her eyes were filled with
+tears. In answer to my inquiry, as to her reason for leaving me in this
+way, she said that it was because she could not uphold me in my crusade
+against all recognized principles of religious beliefs.
+
+She told me frankly that she loved me and that she cared nothing for any
+other man in the world except myself, but that she could not do
+otherwise than go away and forget me. She claimed that nothing further
+could come of our friendship as long as I continued an emissary of
+Natural Law; that her religion forbade it and her parents would oppose
+it; that her friends would be against it, and the whole world would
+sneer at it; and that to be placed in such a trying position was more
+than she could possibly bear. According to her, there was no good reason
+why I could not give up my undertaking, to please her. She had
+everything in the world to make me happy and was willing to give me
+anything within her power, if I would only relinquish my purpose and
+promise never to think of it again. She told me that she was wealthy,
+that she had millions in her own name, and that her father and uncles
+were multi-millionaires, to whose wealth she would be the sole heir. She
+said that if I would promise to quit the work I was engaged in, that she
+would give me her hand in marriage, and also deposit in the bank to my
+credit one million dollars on the following day as a dowry, with which I
+could do as I pleased. She was serious and, apparently in earnest, and I
+did not doubt one word of what she said as being the truth. So I was
+placed in the position of choosing between great wealth, the woman I
+loved, and all other earthly pleasures on the one hand, and a duty which
+I had solemnly sworn to perform, on the other. It was a trying
+situation, to say the least. With bowed head I sat and considered all
+phases of the matter, with much earnestness and equal indecision. To
+think that Arletta would leave me forever was to feel that my heart was
+being torn from its fastenings. To have her as my wife, this alone
+seemed to be the very greatest happiness that life could afford, and
+mayhap, the promise of a million dollars was not without its allurement.
+A position in the very best society of the country also loomed before my
+vision, as I considered these things. On the other hand, if I refused, I
+could look forward to a life of poverty, hard work, and the abuse of my
+fellow beings. The temptation was a trying one, and it seemed impossible
+for me to refuse Arletta's offering. As I raised my head and looked into
+her beautiful eyes, which expressed great love, and tenderness, and
+expectation, I felt that I could not say no to her. It seemed as if I
+had been placed between honor and temptation, and was about to fall into
+the arms of the latter. I hesitated a moment, undecided as to what to
+do, when something within me distinctly said: "Be a man. Give up all
+earthly pleasures during this life and teach Natural Law, according to
+your promise." Then once again the wise words of the great Sagewoman
+passed through my mind:
+
+"Always consult your soul for advice.
+
+"Do no act your conscience will not sanction."
+
+Instantly arising and feeling that I should follow the advice of my soul
+above all other considerations, I determined to do that which was right.
+I concluded that to lose Arletta, and all the pleasures incidental to a
+life with her, was but a temporary loss, but the opportunity of setting
+a great example to my fellow beings, a precedent that would have lasting
+influence, might never arrive again, and that it was my solemn duty to
+seize this chance while I had the power to do so. So, standing erect and
+without further hesitation, I took Arletta's hand in mine and said: "My
+dear girl, to lose you will cause me much suffering and pain, so much
+that it would be impossible for you to form any conception of it. To
+lose you is to deprive me of all that is dear and sweet in this life. To
+permit you to go without acceding to your wishes taxes my strength to
+the utmost limit, but believe me, the life of one little human being is
+of short duration in the immense sea of time, and while I am giving up
+the delight and pleasure of your companionship now, I am doing so in
+order that I may lend my feeble efforts toward the establishment of a
+social system whereby the conditions of this world will be made such
+that at some future date our souls may be able to join each other in
+peace and harmony and enjoy the blessings of a heavenly world, free from
+money, which I hope will eventually be the result of my present labors.
+Therefore, in acting contrary to your wishes now, I feel that I am
+working for your future happiness. I shall remain at my present post of
+duty, trying to uplift mankind, I shall follow the dictates of my
+conscience in doing this, and as long as the bones of my little anatomy
+hold together as a living being and my brain has the power to reason, I
+shall teach the principles of Natural Law even if all the world follows
+your example and turns against me."
+
+At the conclusion of this little speech my emotion overcame me and I
+could say no more. Arletta also appeared overcome with sadness, and was
+unable to speak. She withdrew her hand from mine and without a word
+turned and walked slowly away, sobbing bitterly as she left. I stood and
+watched her retreating form in a dazed sort of a way. With each step
+which put us farther apart, increasing darkness obscured my vision. I
+wanted to call her back but a lump came in my throat and I could not
+speak. My brain was in a whirl. A terrible feeling of gloom over-
+shadowed me. I labored under great excitement. My head seemed as if it
+were ready to burst. I felt that I was going mad. The trees and
+everything else appeared to be moving about in great confusion. Those
+same symptoms which I experienced after falling among the rocks of
+Sageland returned. My body seemed to be dividing into several parts and
+then becoming one again. I tried to control myself but without avail.
+All of a sudden I saw standing before me two Arlettas, one at the right
+hand and the other at the left. The one at the right I instantly
+recognized as the great Sagewoman, while on the left stood the girl
+Arletta. They were facing and pointing in opposite directions. Looking
+to my right I saw a path running up a steep hill which seemed almost
+impossible to climb and upon which was inscribed the word strength. To
+my left I observed a path running down the hill upon which was written
+the word weakness. At the top of the hill everything looked bright and
+cheerful and orderly, while at the bottom darkness and confusion
+prevailed. Above the extreme top, as though stamped in space like a
+great rainbow, these words appeared: Natural Law, Wisdom, Love for
+Others. At the bottom, and almost obscured in the gloom, I faintly
+discerned the following: Religion, Ignorance, Love of Self.
+
+As I stood speechless at this wonderful vision everything suddenly
+became dark and I knew no more.
+
+CHAPTER XXXII
+
+The next impression my memory has any record of was a huge ocean
+steamer, floating away upon the deep. Great volumes of smoke were
+pouring forth from its smoke-stacks as it majestically glided over the
+water. Upon its many decks were hundreds of human beings, scattered
+about in little groups, gaily chatting and enjoying to the fullest
+extent the delight experienced by an ocean voyage. Among all of the
+happy faces, however, there was one that appeared sad and forlorn. It
+was the face of a beautiful young woman, standing alone against the
+railing of the promenade deck, who was weeping in silence. As she raised
+her eyes and looked in my direction, I instantly recognized the girl
+Arletta, and realized that she was leaving me forever. And then, like
+one in a dream, I held out my hands and mutely implored her to return.
+She appeared to be within a short distance and looking straight at me,
+but still made no sign of recognition. I could not understand the reason
+for such coldness on her part, and in astonishment rubbed my eyes and
+looked again, when lo and behold, she had vanished from sight. But far
+out into the distance, almost to the horizon, I could plainly see a
+large steamer headed toward the vast ocean beyond. I looked around in a
+confused sort of a way, and discovered, to my surprise, that I was
+standing almost at the water's edge on one of the docks near Battery
+Place. It was daylight, and the sun was shining overhead. I then
+concluded that I must have been out of my head for some time, and
+questioning a stranger, who stood nearby, I learned that just fourteen
+hours had elapsed since I had bade Arletta good-bye, and I could form no
+recollection of the slightest incident that happened since then.
+
+After watching the steamer until it had disappeared from view, I slowly
+walked to a bench in Battery Park and sat down, in the depths of
+despair, to reflect upon the strange occurrence. I must have sat there
+for about an hour in deep meditation, when my attention was attracted by
+a newspaper urchin, shouting at the top of his voice: "Paper! Extra! All
+about the great murder." At the same time he rushed up to me, pushed a
+paper into my hand, took the penny I offered him mechanically, and
+scampered along.
+
+"Another murder," mused I; "what a pity human beings cannot dwell
+together without taking each other's lives."
+
+Glancing over the headlines, I learned from the big black type that a
+beautiful young woman had been murdered in cold blood. Reading further,
+I was horrified to find that the young woman's name was Arletta Fogg,
+and that she was murdered in her own rooms, at the Seraglio Apartments,
+Central Park West. I could hardly believe my eyes saw the thing aright.
+I felt sure that it must be an optical illusion wrought by my constant
+thought of Arletta. I looked again and again, yet read ever the same
+words, and, laboring under tremendous excitement, I hurriedly perused
+the account of the murder. It stated that about eleven o'clock of the
+previous night Arletta Fogg had arrived at the apartment house, and had
+been taken to her rooms by the elevator attendant. A half hour later a
+tall, smooth-faced, white-haired gentleman arrived, and was shown to her
+apartments. This man was seen by the watchman to leave the place at
+three o'clock in the morning, and the chambermaid discovered her at ten
+o'clock in the morning, dead, and covered with blood from several stabs
+in the body.
+
+Cold perspiration oozed from every pore of my body as I read and re-read
+this article, over and over again. I was puzzled, dumbfounded, horror-
+stricken. The description given of the apparent murderer tallied exactly
+with myself. Straining every nerve I endeavored to regain some
+impression that might lead to a knowledge of my actions from the time
+Arletta left me the night before until I had recovered my senses that
+day. But try as I might, I could no more recall to memory the slightest
+movement on my part during that time than I could recollect any event
+which happened during the twenty-one years of which my life had been a
+blank.
+
+Like a man under the influence of liquor I arose and staggered hurriedly
+forward until I reached the "L" station where I boarded a train and rode
+up to Eighty-first street. Here I alighted and walked rapidly over to
+the Seraglio Apartments. A vast crowd of curious people was collected
+about the place, and as I approached, all eyes were apparently turned
+upon me.
+
+Hastening forward I bounded up the entrance steps and almost flew into
+the vestibule. There were little knots of people standing about the
+hallway, talking in low tones. Even their voices hushed as I hurried
+into the elevator and told the attendant to take me up to the eighth
+floor. The operator appeared to be almost frightened out of his wits at
+the sight of me, but after a momentary pause he ran the elevator to the
+eighth floor, peering at me all the time as he might have eyed a wild
+beast who was about to devour him. Many people were in the upper hall-
+way, but looking neither to the right nor to the left, I went straight
+to the door of the room I had entered the night I had taken Arletta
+home. Finding it locked, without a moment's hesitation I threw against
+it, all of the force my gigantic frame could command which caused it to
+give way and fly open before me. I then observed that there were several
+men in the room, in different positions and groups, as if making a study
+of the surroundings. Lying upon the bed, in the room adjoining, was the
+form of a woman partly covered by a spread, and being examined by a man
+who might have been the coroner. As I rushed forward like a madman,
+every one there became frightened and made way for me to pass.
+
+Approaching the bed I eagerly scanned her features, and being positive
+of her identity I took the inanimate form of Arletta in my arms and
+kissing her tenderly, was overcome by emotion.
+
+CHAPTER XXXIII
+
+Arrested for the murder of Arletta Fogg, after being positively
+identified by the elevator attendant and the night watchman as being the
+only person who visited her apartments on the night of the crime, was
+the next incident of my strange career. Thrown into prison, and caged
+like a savage beast in a little cell hardly large enough to turn around
+in, has been my lot ever since that awful tragedy. The case attracted
+widespread interest, and the newspapers teemed with sensational accounts
+of it. At the trial, all of the evidence pointed directly to me as the
+perpetrator of the deed. The elevator operator swore that I was the man
+whom he had taken to Arletta's apartments shortly after eleven o'clock
+that night. The watchman testified that he saw me leave her room at
+three o'clock in the morning. On the stand, I was made to tell, under
+oath, that Arletta and I had been lovers; that we had been together that
+same night in the park, and had parted at about half past ten o'clock;
+that she had informed me of her intention to never see me again. By
+these statements the prosecuting attorney showed the motive for the
+crime. I could give no account of my time between half past ten that
+night and the next day at noon, which was another strong point against
+me. I had pleaded not guilty, feeling that as I knew nothing about the
+crime I could not very wisely do otherwise, but also, stating that I had
+suffered a temporary aberration of the mind during that time, and that
+if I really did commit the deed, which I could not believe possible,
+then I had done it in an entirely different character or personality
+from my normal self.
+
+My attorney endeavored to have me sham insanity during the trial, and he
+became irritably insolent in his manner toward me because I positively
+refused to do so. He told me that if I stuck to the truth I would surely
+be convicted, but if I followed his advice by openly assuming idiotic
+tactics in court and making false statements under oath, according to
+his directions, he could save me without any trouble. He frequently
+growled and cursed at me for the straightforward way that I gave my
+testimony, claiming that his professional reputation was being ruined by
+my telling the truth. He privately acknowledged that, in his opinion, I
+was guilty, but that if he were successful in having me acquitted, he
+would achieve great fame thereby, and incidentally be able to increase
+the size of his future clients' fees.
+
+It was proved in court-alas, the saddest blow I had yet received, that
+Arletta was a frivolous young woman, who practically lived a life of
+ease and luxury, by monetary gifts derived from two wealthy men, one a
+United States Senator and the other a prominent Wall Street financier,
+both being high pillars of the Church, and one of them being old enough
+to be her grandfather. That was the most painful testimony of the whole
+proceedings. It did not seem possible to me that the dear, sweet,
+innocent girl, whom I had loved so much for her gentleness and kindness
+of nature, could possibly lead such a dual existence, and I could not
+understand why she should have deceived me, with accounts of herself so
+at variance with the facts. When I thought of her as she had always
+appeared to me, excepting those times when I saw her under the influence
+of liquor, she seemed like a good angel, who was far beyond even the
+suspicion of reproach; and so when I learned the worst, I pictured her
+at her best, and my love remained unshaken. While I realized that it was
+the poor girl's weakness that led her into temptation, still it was
+plain to discern that the cause of her downfall was money and the
+miserable creatures who utilized it to buy her very life's blood and
+drag her along the mire of shame. The poor girl is dead, but the great
+men, through whose efforts she was disgraced, are still alive, and are
+considered eminently respectable by both the Church and the community.
+The curse of money could not have been more forcibly demonstrated than
+by this incident. The unfortunate young woman craved money, and sold
+herself for it. My deepest sympathy goes after her to the grave. The
+finger of scorn is now raised against Arletta by the whole world, but if
+she could be brought back to life again, I should gladly take her by the
+hand and say, that my love for her was as strong as ever, and that I
+would defend her against the insults of the depraved society which
+reared and educated her in the vices which it now deplores.
+
+It took the jury just forty-five minutes to reach a decision against me.
+Ten minutes of this time, as I learned from newspaper accounts, were
+devoted to prayer, that the Almighty should point out the right way to
+decide the case. Evidently the god, to whom the jury prayed,
+demonstrated that it was their duty to convict me. For convict me they
+did, by bringing in a verdict of murder in the first degree. My sentence
+was that I pay the penalty of the crime with my life by being
+electrocuted.
+
+The trial was severe and brutal from beginning to end, from my point of
+view. I was bullied by the prosecutor, scathingly censured by the judge,
+libeled by the press, cursed by the public, and deserted by my own
+attorney. I was treated like a cowardly beast of the most depraved type.
+But with all the abuse that was heaped upon me, I endured it without a
+murmur, calmly claiming that I was not responsible for the deed, but
+perfectly willing to take any punishment the law meted out to me. There
+was one thing, however, which stood out prominently amidst the many
+shoals of my misfortune, which made me feel that I had not lived in
+vain. My faithful little band of followers, whom I had taught the
+principles of Natural Law, remained loyal to me until the very end. Not
+one member of the society was there who would believe that I was guilty
+of such an atrocious crime. They insisted that there was some mistake,
+and spent much time and money in trying to ferret out the mystery. They
+called upon me as often as the prison regulations would permit, and amid
+scenes that were touching, protested their undying fidelity to me and
+the cause I espoused. Each individual promised most solemnly to carry on
+the work I had begun as long as his life lasted, and I feel sure that,
+although the end of my time is drawing near, the work entrusted to me by
+the great Sagewoman is born again, and will grow to huge proportions as
+time passes on.
+
+And so I have come to the end of my story. Tomorrow I must die. In
+writing this book, I have tried to confine myself exclusively to the
+truth. I have felt all along, however, my inability to do the subject
+justice. There are many things that the great Sagewoman tried to impress
+upon me which my little brain was not strong enough to grasp. There are
+also many things which are perfectly clear in my mind, that I have been
+unable to convey to others, but I have done my best, and that is all
+that can be expected of any one. I should like to have given more
+attention to the arrangement of this work, but unfortunately the time
+allowed me has been very short, and I have had to rush it along in order
+to complete it. I have produced this treatise while confined within my
+cell in the death-house, and therefore have had many disadvantages to
+contend with. I shall give the manuscript to the little body of men and
+women who are banded together and known as the Natural Law Society, of
+which I had the honor to be the founder, with the understanding that it
+will be published and distributed at the earliest possible date. I could
+wish that the reader might peruse the contents of this work a second
+time, if it is not asking too much; at least that he might go over
+carefully and thoughtfully that portion of it which contains the
+teachings of the great Sagewoman. While I probably have failed to
+present clearly much of the great wisdom directly received from her
+magnificent brain, there may arise in the future, wise men, who will be
+capable of reading in these lines much more than even I, who write them,
+am able to comprehend. It is my one hope that great men will spring up
+in the future and take hold of this work--men with minds so strong, so
+broad, so courageous, and so unselfish, that they will be willing to
+devote their lives to the noble task of trying to put the whole human
+race on a footing of equality. There can be no equality so long as those
+who are strong want to take more of nature's gifts than those who are
+weak, and no man can ever be great who thinks that one human being is
+entitled to more than another. That is selfishness. Selfishness and
+greatness are the extreme opposites.
+
+This is my last day on earth, to use a common but erroneous expression.
+At noon today my soul will be separated from its body by the hand of
+man, acting according to a most unnatural, diabolical, and murderous
+law. And the poor unfortunate creature, who actually slays me, will do
+so, not because he has a thirst for blood, but for money. Money
+furnished by the State--a Christian civilization which bred and reared
+us both.
+
+I am now forty-four years old, and have just reached the threshold of
+mental strength. As I am in perfect condition physically, and have a
+splendid constitution as a foundation, there is no good reason why I
+could not have lived at least forty years more. Forty years longer could
+I have served the world at my very best, but my fellow beings have
+decided to kill me, right at a time when I could have been of the most
+use to them. I am really sorry that I must die, not because I fear
+death, but because my opportunity to do good to others is taken from me.
+Twenty-two years ago I was anxious to die, aye even by my own hand. I
+thought that there was nothing to live for at that time. But the
+beautiful teachings of the great Sagewoman awakened new ideas of
+responsibility within me, and now I can see that the grandest thing
+within the reach of a human being is to live; live as long as nature
+will allow; live for others.
+
+Natural Law teaches that it is idiotic to pray, and I believe that
+prayer is a form of insanity, but were I to pray, which I profess I have
+no idea of doing, my one request of the Creator would be that I might
+live out my life, in order to spread the principles of Natural Law to
+the furthermost corners of the earth; or, that I might be born again in
+a well-constructed body, with a mind capable of grasping nature's ideas
+in their entirety, and interpreting them to my fellow men in a way that
+could not be misunderstood. If the Creator would grant me this request,
+and I could have the ability and the power to change the conditions of
+the earth to those existing in Sageland before the Catastrophe, I would
+gladly give in exchange for the privilege, my eternal soul as a
+sacrifice, and take upon myself everlastingly, all of the misery,
+suffering, and torture now inflicted upon the rest of mankind.
+
+Good-bye, dear reader, and may your soul always guide you.
+
+END OF JOHN CONVERT'S WORK.
+
+Epilogue on following pages.
+
+EPILOGUE
+
+FROM THE NEW YORK DAILY (Special Despatch:)
+
+"SING SING, N. Y., 11 A. M.-Electrocution day here always attracts many
+curious people about the prison walls, but the much heralded execution
+of John Convert seems to have brought an unusual number of persons to
+this neighborhood, and the hill overlooking the prison is almost black
+with people, who have come from all parts of the State.
+
+"Viewed from this hill, Sing Sing prison presents the appearance of a
+huge, square pen, covering many acres of land, and enclosed by a high,
+brick wall on the three land sides, and a tall, iron picket fence on the
+side adjoining the Hudson River.
+
+"On the top of these walls, sentinels are stationed at intervals, who
+walk back and forth, armed with breech-loading rifles, and under orders
+to shoot dead any prisoner attempting to escape.
+
+"Within the enclosure, at the north end, are several red brick
+buildings, which are used as workshops for the twelve hundred time
+prisoners, now incarcerated here. Running along its eastern border is a
+massive stone structure, about seven hundred feet long, fifty feet wide,
+and sixty feet high, with windows crated by heavy, iron bars. This is
+the main building of the prison, and is used principally as a dormitory
+for the inmates and offices for those who have charge of the
+institution.
+
+"The extreme south end of the main building is walled off separately,
+and occupied exclusively by prisoners whom the State has doomed to
+death. This place is called the Death Chamber. Inside of this chamber is
+a high steel cage, four tiers high, and divided into several cells,
+which are about eight by six feet in dimension. Thick, cement walls,
+floor, and ceiling, make each cell separate and distinct from the
+others. Heavy doors of barred steel open outward onto the different
+platforms, which run all the way around the inside of the cage. Armed
+patrolmen, known as death guards, are kept constantly walking around
+these platforms. Within this cage is John Convert and many other
+notorious murderers, waiting their turns to be put to death as
+punishment for their heinous crimes.
+
+"At the south end of the Death Chamber is a solid iron door, which leads
+into an adjoining little red brick building, about fifty by twenty feet
+in dimension, one story high, and containing two rooms. These rooms are
+perfectly bare, excepting that in one of them there is a chair, and in
+the other a table. About ten feet from the door leading from the Death
+Chamber is the electric chair, by which the State kills its worst
+criminals. In appearance it is similar to a plain, old-fashioned garden
+arm-chair, with a high back. Connected to this chair are several straps,
+by which the condemned man is harnessed in a sitting position, so that
+he cannot move. These straps are adjusted across the head, chest,
+abdomen, both fore and upper arms and the ankles. They are not bound too
+tightly, but left taut in order to allow for the expansion of the body.
+The electro connections are at the head and the inside of the right
+calf, the trousers being cut from the knee downward, so that a contact
+can be made with the bare flesh. Just back of the chair is a large
+closet, which conceals all of the electrical apparatus necessary to
+throw on or off the current at the will of the Electrician, by whose
+hand the condemned man is sent to eternity. Stationed within the closet,
+the Electrocutioner can see what is going on outside, but cannot be seen
+from without. Just back of the closet is a partition dividing the two
+rooms, through which is a door leading into it. In the center of this
+other room is a stationary table, upon which the autopsy is performed.
+
+"All of the machinery has been thoroughly tested, and found to be in
+good running order, and neither the State's Electrician nor the Warden
+expect the slightest hitch in connection with today's proceedings. The
+twelve witnesses invited by the Warden, and made necessary by law,
+together with the brain experts, have arrived upon the scene, and
+everything is in complete readiness for the electrocution of John
+Convert."
+
+FROM THE NEW YORK DAILY (Special Despatch:)
+
+"SING SING, N. Y., 1:15 P. M.-One of the strangest and most pathetic
+tragedies that has ever happened in the State of New York has just taken
+place within the house of electrocution here, the result of which must
+cause the whole civilized world to pause and shudder. Your correspondent
+earnestly prays that he may never again be called upon to witness
+another such horror, the effects of which have completely unnerved him
+and beggars even a faint description.
+
+"At precisely twelve o'clock today, with the State Electrician, medical
+experts, and witnesses, mutely stationed in their places, the great iron
+door leading from the Death Chamber was suddenly swung open, and between
+two guards the gigantic form of John Convert walked over to the electric
+chair, with a firm and unfaltering step. Immediately, all eyes were
+turned upon him, and at the same instant there was a subdued murmur of
+surprise by many of those present at the magnificent appearance of the
+man.
+
+"Tall and erect, with finely formed limbs, and powerfully built
+shoulders, he easily towered above all of the other occupants of the
+room. With a clean shaven face, the handsome features of which expressed
+extraordinary intelligence, kindness, and gentleness of nature, combined
+with wonderful strength of character, and a shapely head, overhung by an
+abundance of beautiful snow-white hair, he looked more like an
+ambassador from heaven than a convicted murderer. He wore a black Prince
+Albert suit of clothes. As he reached the side of the chair he paused,
+and calmly looking from one to the other of the assemblage, he began to
+address them in a clear and melodious voice. Almost from the first
+utterance, his hearers became electrified by his charming manner and
+eloquence, and for nearly half an hour were held spellbound, while he
+explained the principles of Natural Law, and the vast benefits the human
+race could derive by putting them into effect.
+
+"In a convincing way he drew a beautiful picture upon the minds of those
+present of a heaven that should be established here on earth by and for
+all living things, in which they should work united and harmoniously
+together for a common and unselfish cause, instead of each one pulling
+in a different direction for his own selfish purposes. He explained that
+all living things were composed of the same material, which was
+constantly undergoing a change from life to death and from death to life
+by being molded and remolded into different forms, which are constructed
+according to the intelligence absorbed by the whole. That it is within
+the power of the human race, if working together as a unit, to
+reconstruct all living matter on earth into more perfect organisms, just
+as it is within the power of man to re-mould a pile of dead scrap iron
+into new and useful machinery. That these results could only be
+accomplished by the eradication of selfishness from the human race, and
+that it was impossible to extinguish selfishness as long as the money
+system was kept in force, and individuals were recompensed according to
+their craftiness to help themselves. He told of the soul being
+everlasting, and how a wise law of nature breaks the monotony of its
+existence through the process of re-incarnation, and that the soul of
+the rich aristocrat of today may be the soul of the suckling pig
+tomorrow. He said that it was within the power of every living thing to
+do good, if only following the advice of the soul, and that the oftener
+this advice was taken the easier it became to do right, but that the
+less the soul's warning was heeded, the more hardened and vile became
+the nature of the individual. He told of how children inherit the
+weaknesses of their parents, and mentioned how much grander it is for
+parents to give their children character without gold, than to give them
+gold without character.
+
+"So earnestly and pathetically did he present the whole subject, that at
+the conclusion of his discourse there was not a dry eye in the room, and
+as he calmly took his seat in the electric chair, the whole assemblage,
+including the guards, stood motionless for several moments as if in a
+hypnotic trance. And then, as the guards reluctantly began to adjust the
+straps about his body, three men burst into loud sobs and rushed from
+the room, bitterly denouncing the electrocution as savagery, and
+refusing to witness the proceedings any further. With the exception of
+the condemned man, everybody was completely unstrung. But John Convert,
+in the shadow of death, did not lose his wonderful self-control for a
+moment, but sat with perfect equipoise in that murderous chair, calmly
+watching with apparent interest the work of fastening him in. "'You have
+that strap around the abdomen twisted,' he coolly remarked to one of the
+excited guards, and then quietly added, 'you are not sufficiently
+hardened for this kind of work, my man, but perhaps your children may
+be.' And as if stung by remorse at these words, the guard suddenly burst
+into a frenzy of grief and cried out in piteous tones: 'No, no! Don't
+say that! I love my children. I undertook this objectionable work for
+their sakes, that I might be able to give them the same advantages that
+other children enjoy. But now that you have spoken, I can see that I am
+paying for their advantages at the expense of their moral characters,
+and that they too might follow in my miserable footsteps and, eventually
+sell themselves for money. But listen, I have but just taken this
+position, and now I am getting my first experience at this kind of work,
+and I feel as if _I_ were about to commit murder. And now, after hearing
+your wonderful words, my conscience is crying out within me to stop, and
+so, in the presence of these witnesses, I not only renounce all further
+connection with this abominable act, but I most solemnly swear that I
+believe in Natural Law, and that I shall henceforth devote my life to
+teaching its principles to my own children, and also to those of my
+fellow beings. My eyes have suddenly been opened. For the first time in
+my life I feel like a man.'
+
+"At this unexpected turn of affairs, the countenance of John Convert
+lighted up with a look of divine happiness that was truly glorious to
+behold, and, addressing the guard, he said: 'Well spoken, my noble man.
+May you accumulate sufficient strength to enable you to faithfully
+follow out your splendid resolution; may your future deeds be so
+unselfish, heroic, and fruitful, towards uplifting mankind, that the
+grandchildren of your enemies may live to praise your name.'
+
+"These words seemed to have a cheering effect upon the guard, who
+affectionately shook the hand of Convert, and then left the room.
+
+"During this time, however, the other guard had continued the work of
+adjusting the straps, and finally having them properly arranged, stepped
+backward a few feet and raised his left arm as a sign to the
+Electrocutioner in the closet that everything was in readiness. And
+then, just as John Convert uttered the words, 'Always Consult Your Soul
+for Advice,' a terrible, dull, buzzing sound took the place of his
+voice, his body suddenly expanded, as if about to burst, his limbs were
+drawn up and distorted, blue flames shot forth with a weird glow, a
+sickening odor of burning flesh saturated the air, and quicker than it
+takes to tell, the deadly current had penetrated through every fiber of
+his body.
+
+"And then, as all turned away their heads from the awful sight, a loud
+crash was heard, and the door leading from the court-yard into the other
+room burst open, and in rushed the Warden, yelling like a madman: 'Stop
+it! For God's sake, stop it! You are killing the wrong man!' And pulling
+open the door of the closet which concealed the Electrician, he threw
+off the current with his own hands. At the same time, amidst great
+confusion, several of the spectators rushed forward and began
+unfastening the straps which bound the unfortunate man to the chair,
+after which the body was carried into the other room and laid upon the
+table.
+
+"Following in the footsteps of the Warden, was a tall, beautiful, young
+woman, hatless, and with hair disheveled and dress disarranged. She was
+panting heavily, and a wild, terrified look gleamed in her eyes. She
+appeared dazed and almost exhausted. Catching sight of Convert, she
+frantically tried to get near him, but was held in check by one of the
+doctors, while the other one made a hurried examination of the body. And
+then, this doctor, apparently suffering from great mental excitement,
+turned toward those present, and, with his eyes full of tears, chokingly
+whispered, 'Too late, he is dead.'
+
+"At these terrible words, the young woman uttered a heart-piercing
+shriek, and, rushing forward, threw herself upon the corpse, as she
+piteously moaned: 'You have murdered him. You have murdered him.'"
+
+FROM THE NEW YORK DAILY.
+
+"The following statement, made by one of Chicago's most beautiful and
+brilliant young society women, is the sequel to the most extraordinary
+case that ever attracted public attention in this country:
+
+"'My name is Arletta Wright. My father is R. U. Wright, of Chicago,
+Ill., the well-known financier and multi-millionaire. A few years ago,
+while in Paris, I was introduced to a man by the name of John Convert. I
+supposed he was an American, but at that time did not take enough
+interest in him to inquire as to who he was or where he came from.
+Later, however, I found that he was continually crossing my path, and
+appeared anxious to court my attention. He was a tall, well-built,
+handsome man, with a clean-shaven face and snow-white hair, apparently
+about forty years old. But there was something about his looks and
+actions that I did not like, and I tried to avoid him as much as
+possible. But he was not to be avoided very easily, and, after
+persistently following me all over Europe, he crossed the ocean in the
+same steamer, and finally came to my home in Chicago. He got to be such
+a nuisance that he was refused admittance to our house, and in order to
+get rid of him entirely, I secretly left Chicago and went abroad again.
+A few months afterward I returned home, and found that he had left for
+parts unknown, and the incident was soon forgotten.
+
+"'During the month of March, 1903, about two and a half years later,
+important business called my father to New York for a stay of several
+months, and mother and I, accompanying him, we took apartments at the
+Opulent Hotel, on Broadway, near Seventy-eighth street.
+
+"'About that time I decided to visit the different institutions of New
+York, and one day as I was being shown through a charity ward of the
+Ruff Hospital, I was astonished to see John Convert lying sick upon one
+of the cots. He had a wild and peculiar stare in his eyes and at first
+gave no sign of recognition, but seemed to be undergoing an intense"
+mental strain, as if trying to recall to mind some event that had
+escaped his memory. The doctor informed me that he was an unidentified
+charity patient suffering with typhoid fever and was evidently insane.
+He told me that the man imagined he had been in a trance for over four
+thousand years, and could only be brought out of it by a kiss from one
+he called Arletta. My heart seemed to melt with pity and sorrow, and my
+dislike changed into love for the man upon hearing these words, and
+without hesitation I kissed him, at the same time hoping most sincerely
+that the act would have a salutary effect. Strange as it may seem, the
+whole expression of his countenance changed instantly as if by some
+magic force; his eyes lighted up radiantly, and looking at me in great
+astonishment he uttered my name-Arletta. But while I was quite elated
+over my strange success, I was also much surprised and puzzled at his
+following utterances, whereby he claimed that I was the re-incarnated
+soul of Arletta of Sageland, who, according to his story, had died on
+the same day I was born, over twenty-one years before, and from which
+time he could form no recollection of events whatever.
+
+"'Subsequently, I was informed by an eminent brain specialist, who
+examined him, that he was mentally sound, but that owing to a severe
+fracture of the skull received some time previously his brain had become
+divided into two distinct parts, causing two personalities to exist and
+enabling him to recollect events only as they were separately recorded
+on either side of the brain. By this explanation I readily understood
+the reason why he did not recognize me and also for the wonderful change
+which took place, both in his character and my feelings toward him. On
+that day my first and last love for man was born.
+
+"'As time passed by, and he recovered his health and strength, he
+appeared to me the most beautiful character I had ever known, and with
+each succeeding day my love for him grew stronger. But while love formed
+a strong mutual link of attachment between us, another force succeeded
+in putting us apart.
+
+"'He believed in Natural Law and unselfishness, with equal rights for
+both strong and weak alike. I believed in religion and selfishness, with
+the strong enjoying more earthly blessings than the weak.
+
+"'He believed in a Supreme Being, who created immutable laws whereby the
+entire machinery of the universe is governed, and that these laws could
+no more be changed by the silly prayers of man than by the prayers of a
+microbe. I believed in a god to whom I could pray to change earthly
+conditions to suit my fancies; a god willing to grant me favors even at
+the expense of others.
+
+"'He believed in re-incarnation, and the power of the soul to eventually
+master the flesh and create a heaven on earth. I believed in the
+transmigration of the soul to some obscure heaven where there would be
+nothing farther to do but rest during all eternity.
+
+"'He was broad in his views and never tried to restrain me from thinking
+as I liked. I was narrow in mine, and quite unwilling that he should
+believe in any theory except my own.
+
+"'These and other differences of opinion caused us to separate.
+
+"'One night last June, the same night that awful murder took place in
+the Seraglio Apartments, I met John Convert at our regular meeting place
+in Central Park for the last time. It was my habit to meet him in an
+out-of-the-way corner of the park, because I did not want my parents or
+friends to know of it. For this same reason, I had never told him my
+last name or place of residence. At this meeting, I informed him that he
+must either give up all further connection with the movement he had
+instituted toward the regeneration of mankind, or bid me good-bye
+forever. He chose the latter course, although I know that his heart was
+fairly bursting with grief when I left him.
+
+"'Now, that it is too late, I can fully appreciate what a grand, noble
+fellow he was. I offered him a million dollars to forsake the cause he
+had pledged himself to uphold. Think of it, one million dollars! A sum
+of money for which most civilized men would gladly sell their eternal
+souls. But John Convert, a believer in Natural Law, could not be bought
+at any price, and even though I offered him my hand in marriage, an
+offering which many Crown Princes of Europe have repeatedly begged for,
+still he would not recede from the grand purpose he had undertaken.
+
+"'Well, we parted, and the next morning I boarded a steamer bound for
+Europe. But I was wretched and unhappy, and felt that life was a burden
+to me. I was unable to drive the image of John Convert out of my mind,
+and as I stood upon the deck of the steamer, as it passed along the
+river leading to the ocean. I looked back toward New York, and fancied I
+could see poor John standing alone, and forlorn, upon one of the docks,
+with his arms outstretched, sadly imploring me to return, and with a
+feeling of remorse I started for my stateroom to lie down and have a
+good cry.
+
+"'As I hurried along the dark passageway leading to my room, I was
+almost startled out of my senses by coming face to face with the very
+man I thought I had left behind, John Convert. He appeared to be even
+more startled than myself, and, stepping backward a few paces, he fairly
+trembled, as he hoarsely exclaimed: 'My God, Arletta, is that really
+you?' At these words I became frightened, and as the faint rays of light
+from a distant port-hole fell squarely upon his face, I observed a wild,
+peculiar stare in his eyes, and noticed that his whole countenance was
+overcast by a most villainous expression. At that moment, I remembered
+the doctor's warning words, that he might change personalities at any
+time that he was subjected to severe mental excitement, and I now
+recognized in the man standing before me the same character I had met in
+Paris. Just as quickly as love had taken possession of my feelings for
+John Convert in the hospital, just that suddenly did it depart when I
+saw this detestable looking creature in front of me. In an instant he
+became loathsome to my sight, and without waiting for another word I
+rushed into my state-room and bolted the door.
+
+"'Not once did I leave my room during that trip across the ocean, but
+when the steamer arrived at Liverpool, and I started to go ashore, the
+very first person my eyes rested upon was John Convert; and from that
+time on he incessantly dogged my footsteps all over Europe. The more I
+saw of him, the more debased and despicable he appeared to me. The good,
+kind, old face, that I had loved so well, had now apparently become
+distorted by a murderous expression, and the soulful eyes which had
+intoxicated me with ecstasy, now depicted the nature of a degenerate. I
+shunned him as I would a leper, and many times I wished that I had left
+him to die in the hospital, instead of aiding him to recover. He became
+so objectionable to my sight that I threatened to have him arrested if
+he did not stop following me about. But this had no effect upon him
+whatever, and after three long, weary months of travel on the continent,
+in which I attempted to elude him, without success, I finally returned
+to England and boarded a steamer at Southampton for New York. I fully
+expected to see John Convert make the voyage also, but to my surprise
+and great joy I saw him standing on the pier after the steamer had left
+her moorings and was steaming away. He stood waving his hand at me, and
+I watched him until beyond the range of vision, then went down to my
+state-room, with a feeling of relief, as though a great load had been
+lifted from my shoulders. One of the first things that attracted my
+attention after entering the state-room, was a large, well-filled
+envelope, lying upon the bed, and addressed to me. Tearing it open, I
+found an assortment of various documents, among which was the following
+letter.'"
+
+"'My dear Arletta: At last realizing that you are beyond my reach and
+that further efforts to win your love would be useless, and feeling that
+after all, my affinity is not really you but she whom I recently killed,
+and as my conscience is torturing me until I can find no rest or
+contentment in life, I have decided to avenge the many crimes I have
+committed during the past by taking my own life, and ere you read these
+lines I shall be dead.
+
+"'My life has been a most miserable failure, and were it not for the
+fact that during my last hours I feel a strong desire to try and make
+amends, through you, to the man I have been impersonating for many
+years, I should, quietly pass out of existence without further ado.
+
+"'In the first place my name is not John, but Edward Convert, son of
+Henry Convert, and grandson of Peter Convert, who many years ago was a
+wealthy banker of London, England.
+
+"'My grandfather had two sons; James, the elder, being my uncle, and
+Henry the younger, my father.
+
+"'About the time my father reached maturity, both he and my uncle fell
+in love with beautiful twin sisters of a poor family, and in due course
+of time each took one as a wife. This was done in direct opposition to
+my grandfather's commands, and so incensed did he become over the
+affair, that when he died shortly afterward, it was found that he had
+cut them both off with a mere pittance, while the bulk of his estate
+which was valued at several million pounds, was to be held in trust
+until the eldest son of my uncle James had reached maturity, after which
+it was to be delivered to him intact.
+
+"'At that time neither my father nor uncle had children, and being of
+different temperaments-my uncle a pious clergyman, and my father a
+broker with gambling tendencies-they soon parted and lost track of each
+other.
+
+"'My parents emigrated to Canada and resided in Toronto for some years,
+in which city I was born. When I was about five years of age my mother
+died, and a short time later my father moved to Buffalo, N. Y., and
+entered into the brokerage business there. As I grew up, I was educated
+with the sole idea that the only purpose for which I had been created
+was to get money. At home I was taught by my father, in school through
+books, and at church by the pastor, that my success in life would be
+judged according to the amount of money I could accumulate. Was it any
+wonder, then, that I grew up to worship money as the real god, and to
+finally sell my soul for it? Oh, the terrible curse of money! And what
+an awful crime for parents to teach their children to love it! Had I not
+been taught from infancy to crave money, I might have become a useful
+member of the human family, and utilized my brain power for some worthy
+cause, instead of using it to scheme, cheat, steal, and even murder, in
+order that I might obtain it.
+
+"Well, one day when I was about sixteen years old, my father, having
+just returned from one of his western trips, informed me that he had
+accidentally run across his brother James, the clergyman, in a little
+Kansas town named Eden. He said that my uncle told him that his wife had
+died sixteen years before, while giving birth to an only son, as they
+were crossing the Atlantic Ocean. Subsequently this son, who had been
+named John, ran away from home when he was but eleven years old, and had
+never been seen or heard of since. My father said that Uncle James had
+evidently brooded over the matter so long that he was broken down in
+health and could not live much longer. Then he showed me a picture of
+John Convert, when he was ten years old, and said that it looked exactly
+like me at that age. Finally, he told me that Cousin John was the sole
+heir to his grandfather's estate, and intimated that it would be a
+splendid stroke of business for me to go to Eden and pretend to be the
+long-lost son, and, after reaching the age of twenty-one, claim the
+estate as my own. My father told me that as soon as he heard my uncle's
+story, his well-trained financial brain had immediately formulated this
+excellent plan, and consequently he led my uncle to believe that he had
+no children of his own. He also ascertained the names of the different
+places where my uncle had lived during the past, and proposed that I
+should visit these localities and become acquainted with John's old
+playmates, in order to acquire a thorough knowledge of his youthful
+characteristics and any other useful information necessary to carry out
+the deception successfully.
+
+"'Well, I entered into the plot with enthusiasm, and within six months
+presented myself to Uncle James as his son.
+
+"'At first the scheme worked to perfection, and there was great
+rejoicing in the little town of Eden, where the Rev. James Convert was
+an honored and respected citizen of the community. But as time went by,
+my uncle apparently began to doubt my identity, for at times he would
+look at me long and searchingly, and then, with a sorrowful shake of the
+head, would remark that I lacked the character of the boy he had known
+as his son. So, fearing that he might ultimately discover the fraud and
+foil our plans, my father and I jointly murdered him by a slow process
+of poison. Then, with the necessary papers in my possession, and plenty
+of reputable witnesses from Eden to swear that I was the acknowledged
+son of the Rev. James Convert, at the age of twenty-one I took
+possession of my grandfather's vast estate in England.
+
+"'But the fear of the rightful heir turning up sooner or later to expose
+the fraud began to haunt me, and, feeling my insecurity as long as he
+was alive, I began a long and tedious search for John Convert, which
+extended to all parts of the world, and covered a period of over twenty-
+three years, with the sole purpose of killing him if found.
+
+"'In the meantime, fearing that my father might become conscience-
+stricken sooner or later, and make a confession of our crime to the
+authorities, I killed him also; and of the three murders, of which I am
+now responsible, I feel less concern over my father's death than of the
+other two; for was it not from him that I inherited the instincts to
+lie, cheat, steal, and murder for money, and by his instructions that
+these instincts were developed, instead of being discouraged from
+infancy?
+
+"'Well, although I searched in nearly every nook and corner of the
+globe, I was unable to find even a clue to my missing cousin, but during
+that time a most peculiar affair happened, which resulted in my killing
+a third victim.
+
+"'As you will remember, I met and became infatuated with you in Paris
+over three years ago, and then followed you to Chicago. After learning
+that you had secretly departed for Europe again in order to avoid me, I
+made up my mind to bother you no further, and taking a trip in the
+opposite direction I spent considerable time touring Australia, Africa
+and Asia. It was about two years after, while stopping at a fashionable
+hotel in Berlin that I discovered a young woman boarding there by the
+name of Arletta Fogg. So closely did she resemble you that I supposed it
+was you living there under an assumed name. At first when I accused her
+of being Arletta Wright, of Chicago, she denied it emphatically. But
+later, after learning that I was a millionaire, she pretended that I was
+right in my supposition and led me to believe that she had left home for
+an indefinite period owing to some family disagreement and was now
+traveling incognito. She permitted me to show her many attentions and
+gradually we became very good friends. So infatuated with her charms did
+I become that I was her abject slave. We went to Italy and Egypt
+together and I lavished money upon her without stint. I proposed
+honorable marriage to her a hundred times, but she always refused,
+saying that she preferred a free and independent life. We went to New
+York, and there I discovered that there were other men besides myself
+interested in her, and that she had two different places of residence.
+Several times I saw her in fashionable restaurants dining with other
+men, and following her one night into the Seraglio Apartments, I found
+that she occupied a suite of rooms there, of which I had known nothing.
+She was somewhat under the influence of liquor that night, and the
+information I secured from her was of such a kind that it almost drove
+me mad with jealousy, and in a fit of frenzy I stabbed her to death with
+her own toy dagger and left her lying on the bed. The next morning I
+quietly boarded the steamer for Europe, and keeping out of sight until
+away from land, I started to go to the purser's office to pay for my
+passage, when the very first person I met was you. You can well imagine
+how it startled me to see one whom I thought was dead. But after the
+first shock had passed away, and learning from the list that Arletta
+Wright was a passenger, I gave the whole matter thoughtful consideration
+and finally concluded that Arletta Fogg and Arletta Wright were two
+different persons and that the other was merely a beautiful adventuress
+and your double.
+
+"'Well, you know the rest. You never would care for me, and as the great
+wealth I so wrongfully acquired cannot buy happiness of peace of mind, I
+shall ask God to forgive my sins and then blow out the brains that have
+become so useless.
+
+"'Somewhere in this world the right John Convert may be earning his
+bread by the sweat of his brow, entirely ignorant of the fact that he is
+a millionaire by birth, for it was his father's intention never to
+disclose this secret to him, preferring that he should spend his time as
+a useful laborer, rather than a moneyed loafer, living without work.
+Whether he resembles me at this age or not, I cannot say. Perhaps not,
+for my hair has become prematurely white from sin and worry. Then again,
+he may wear a beard, while my face is clean shaven. But no matter where
+he is, what he does, or how he looks, I shall trust in you to do all
+within your power to try and locate him, and deliver into his hands the
+enclosed papers, which will be the means of restoring his possessions to
+him.
+
+"'If you are fortunate enough to find him, beg his forgiveness for me,
+and say that the cause of all my wickedness was money, and a father who
+taught me to love it. With a prayer to God for mercy, I shall expect to
+go to heaven in spite of my sins, as I have faith in Jesus Christ, and,
+hoping to meet you there, I bid you good-bye until then.
+
+"'Sincerely yours,
+
+"'EDWARD (JOHN) CONVERT.'"
+
+"'Notwithstanding the dreadful contents of this letter, I felt like
+crying with joy after reading it, as my mind once more became occupied
+with thoughts of the splendid character whom I had so ardently loved,
+but shamefully deserted in New York three months previously. I made up
+my mind to return and ask his forgiveness, and then join him in his
+praiseworthy labors of uplifting mankind. Oh! what happiness I
+experienced during the next few days in anticipation of seeing him again
+and hearing his manly voice. But alas, how little we know what sorrows
+are in store for us! The steamer arrived at her wharf at ten o'clock
+this morning, and a few minutes later. I was seated in a carriage
+speeding along in the direction of the Waldoria Hotel. At forty minutes
+past ten I inquired of the clerk for John Convert. Then came the
+appalling information that he was to be electrocuted at noon for the
+murder of Arletta Fogg. The rest seems like an awful nightmare. Getting
+a schedule of trains for Sing Sing, I rushed outside the hotel, and,
+jumping in the first cab I saw, handed the driver a roll of bills, and
+told him they were all his if he could get me to the depot in time to
+catch the eleven o'clock train. Through the streets like mad we whirled,
+and, reaching the station, I quickly alighted and ran to the ticket
+office, and from there to the train, which I boarded just as it started
+away. It was an express, which made no stops before reaching Sing Sing,
+and was due there at exactly twelve o'clock, the time set for the
+electrocution. I told the conductor that I would give him a million
+dollars if he would land me in Sing Sing fifteen minutes ahead of time,
+but he apparently thought I was insane, and paid no attention to my
+frantic entreaties to go faster. To make matters worse, the train
+arrived five minutes late, but, hoping against hopes, I got into a
+carriage and was driven to the prison.
+
+"Here the attendants thought I was crazy, as I rushed into the reception
+room, crying out to stop the electrocution, and they would not permit me
+to see the Warden, who was in his private office. Hearing my cries,
+however, the Warden came out to see what was the trouble, and as quickly
+as possible I explained to him the circumstances surrounding the murder
+of Arletta Fogg, and showed him the written confession of Edward
+Convert. He read just enough to make sure he was right, and then with an
+exclamation of horror he rushed out of the office, followed by me.
+Through grated doors, long, dismal corridors, and a court-yard, we ran,
+and coming to a little, red brick house, he broke open the frame door
+with a crash, and hurried inside, only to find that we were just a
+minute too late.'"
+
+"After a fit of sobbing, Arletta Wright quieted herself long enough to
+say: 'Telegraph the news to all parts of the civilized world that the
+State of New York has just murdered the noblest mortal of which history
+has ever made mention. Tell the inhabitants that through his teachings a
+new dispensation has sprung into existence, and that Sagemanism is born
+again. Publicly announce my firm belief in the beautiful principles of
+Natural Law, and say that henceforth I renounce all further allegiance
+to a religion which permits the strong to victimize the weak, and
+upholds a corrupt and unnatural system, which allows schemers, thieves,
+gamblers, sneaks, loafers, spongers, and all other kinds of human
+parasites to grow fat off the labors of those who toil. Say that I shall
+take up the work where John Convert left off, and devote the remainder
+of my life and all of my wealth towards the cause he advocated.'"
+
+(THE END.)
+
+STRAY SHOTS
+
+The foundation of humbug is faith.
+
+The light of the universe is reason.
+
+Better be an unselfish dog than a selfish man.
+
+Advice is cheap, so always give the best.
+
+To exhibit temper is to demonstrate insanity.
+
+The rich of today breed thieves for tomorrow.
+
+Strengthen yourself that you may help those less fortunate.
+
+There is never a pleasure lost that there is not another gained.
+
+True philanthropy does not steal from one to give to another.
+
+Religions burn their bridges in front instead of behind them.
+
+One good man on earth is better than ten thousand in heaven.
+
+Feed the mind with good thoughts and you will always be happy.
+
+Keep the mind and body clean and the soul will take care of itself.
+
+Put your trust in the desires of your conscience.
+
+There are two ways to think--animal and human.
+
+Make your soul the master of your mind and body.
+
+Observe at least one day each week for rest and play.
+
+Man is great among men as the flea is great among fleas.
+
+No drawback should cause man to lose control of himself.
+
+Better be a good man persecuted, than a bad man praised.
+
+You of few weaknesses should not judge harshly of those with many
+weaknesses.
+
+Hate not, but pity your enemies, for thereby you demonstrate your own
+superiority.
+
+It makes little difference who gets the credit, as long as the world
+derives the benefit.
+
+Without Labor, Capital would starve; without Capital, Labor could live
+in luxury.
+
+A liar is a moral coward who fears to speak the truth and abide by the
+consequences.
+
+Permit your soul to look from the eye and all of nature's objects will
+appear beautiful.
+
+Hide not your face behind a fantastic beard, that the world may read
+your character.
+
+The expression of the face is caused by the tendency of the thought.
+
+Semi-intelligent beings try to live on the strength of those less
+intelligent.
+
+Persecution is a deadly poison which reacts upon those who administer
+it.
+
+He with many faults is generally too weak to overlook the faults of
+others.
+
+Which is the most beastly, the pig itself, or the man who rears, kills
+and eats it?
+
+Behold yourself through the eyes of others and judge your worth
+accordingly.
+
+When man dies he leaves his works for the approbation or contempt of
+posterity.
+
+As the mother loves her child, so should all living things love each
+other.
+
+The sins of the parents are visited upon the children as a natural
+result, and not by an act of the Almighty.
+
+There are thoughts in existence today which man will not be able to
+grasp for thousands of years to come.
+
+Replace the Church with schools of moral, mental and physical culture
+and the world will pro& thereby.
+
+As the swindler first creates a feeling of faith in his intended victim,
+so religion demands faith in its followers.
+
+Of what good are you if you gain the produce of the whole world and
+breed ten thousand criminal descendants.
+
+There are many men in this world who call it work to figure how they can
+secure the results of others' labor.
+
+If you have knowledge, offer it to others; if they do not accept it,
+that is their loss.
+
+Do not fill your head so full of other people's ideas that there is no
+room left for your own.
+
+Point out the defects of him who is present; praise the good qualities
+of him who is absent.
+
+Those who ride upon the backs of others must in turn carry others upon
+their own backs.
+
+The Bible not only proves its own absurdities, but any others that the
+human mind can conceive.
+
+Parents should mould their children's character before they are born, by
+their own thoughts and actions.
+
+Your ancestors are responsible for the weaknesses you inherit, but you
+are responsible for non-improvement.
+
+Marrying for money or position without mutual love is but one way to
+breed and preserve the germs of prostitution.
+
+It is not only the selfishness of the strong that robs the weak, but
+also the selfishness of the weak that keeps them so.
+
+If nature has blessed you with superior ability and you do not use it to
+benefit mankind, then you have betrayed nature's trust.
+
+The laborer furnishes the capitalist with money, houses, clothes,
+eatables, service and then the weapons and power to keep him enslaved.
+
+If you have not improved your condition physically, mentally and morally
+over that of your parents, your life has been a failure.
+
+Religion is a great cudgel held threateningly by the strong over the
+heads of the weak to keep them in a state of ignorance and slavery.
+
+If the soul were born with the body, then it must die with it; but if
+the soul live afterward, then it must have lived before the body was
+born.
+
+The learned man is sometimes wise; the wise man is not always learned.
+The wise man produces good thoughts direct from nature; the learned man
+acquires them afterward.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Born Again, by Alfred Lawson
+
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