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diff --git a/37775.txt b/37775.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..68b4bf4 --- /dev/null +++ b/37775.txt @@ -0,0 +1,14014 @@ +Project Gutenberg's Etidorhpa or the End of Earth., by John Uri Lloyd + +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: Etidorhpa or the End of Earth. + The Strange History of a Mysterious Being and The Account + of a Remarkable Journey + +Author: John Uri Lloyd + +Illustrator: J. Augustus Knapp + +Release Date: October 16, 2011 [EBook #37775] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ETIDORHPA OR THE END OF EARTH. *** + + + + +Produced by Pat McCoy, Suzanne Shell and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + + +[Illustration] + + + + +ETIDORHPA + +OR + +THE END OF EARTH. + + +THE STRANGE HISTORY OF A MYSTERIOUS BEING + +AND + +The Account of a Remarkable Journey + + + + +AS COMMUNICATED IN MANUSCRIPT TO + +LLEWELLYN DRURY + +WHO PROMISED TO PRINT THE SAME, BUT FINALLY EVADED THE RESPONSIBILITY + + +WHICH WAS ASSUMED BY + +JOHN URI LLOYD + + + + +WITH MANY ILLUSTRATIONS BY + +J. AUGUSTUS KNAPP + + +SIXTH EDITION + + +CINCINNATI + +THE ROBERT CLARKE COMPANY + +1896 + + + + +ASCRIPTION. + +To Prof. W. H. Venable, who reviewed the manuscript of this work, I am +indebted for many valuable suggestions, and I can not speak too kindly +of him as a critic. + +The illustrations, excepting those mechanical and historical, making in +themselves a beautiful narrative without words, are due to the admirable +artistic conceptions and touch of Mr. J. Augustus Knapp. + +Structural imperfections as well as word selections and phrases that +break all rules in composition, and that the care even of Prof. Venable +could not eradicate, I accept as wholly my own. For much, on the one +hand, that it may seem should have been excluded, and on the other, for +giving place to ideas nearer to empiricism than to science, I am also +responsible. For vexing my friends with problems that seemingly do not +concern in the least men in my position, and for venturing to think, +superficially, it may be, outside the restricted lines of a science +bound to the unresponsive crucible and retort, to which my life has been +given, and amid the problems of which it has nearly worn itself away, I +have no plausible excuse, and shall seek none. + + JOHN URI LLOYD + + +COPYRIGHT, 1895, BY JOHN URI LLOYD. +COPYRIGHT, 1896, BY JOHN URI LLOYD. + +[_All rights reserved._] + + + + +PREFACE + + +[Illustration] + +Books are as tombstones made by the living for the living, but destined +soon only to remind us of the dead. The preface, like an epitaph, seems +vainly to "implore the passing tribute" of a moment's interest. No man +is allured by either a grave-inscription or a preface, unless it be +accompanied by that ineffable charm which age casts over mortal +productions. Libraries, in one sense, represent cemeteries, and the rows +of silent volumes, with their dim titles, suggest burial tablets, many +of which, alas! mark only cenotaphs--empty tombs. A modern book, no +matter how talented the author, carries with it a familiar personality +which may often be treated with neglect or even contempt, but a volume a +century old demands some reverence; a vellum-bound or hog-skin print, or +antique yellow parchment, two, three, five hundred years old, regardless +of its contents, impresses one with an indescribable feeling akin to awe +and veneration,--as does the wheat from an Egyptian tomb, even though it +be only wheat. We take such a work from the shelf carefully, and replace +it gently. While the productions of modern writers are handled +familiarly, as men living jostle men yet alive; those of authors long +dead are touched as tho' clutched by a hand from the unseen world; the +reader feels that a phantom form opposes his own, and that spectral eyes +scan the pages as he turns them. + +[Illustration: "THE STERN FACE, ... ACROSS THE GULF."] + +The stern face, the penetrating eye of the personage whose likeness +forms the frontispiece of the yellowed volume in my hand, speak across +the gulf of two centuries, and bid me beware. The title page is read +with reverence, and the great tome is replaced with care, for an almost +superstitious sensation bids me be cautious and not offend. Let those +who presume to criticise the intellectual productions of such men be +careful; in a few days the dead will face their censors--dead. + +Standing in a library of antiquated works, one senses the shadows of a +cemetery. Each volume adds to the oppression, each old tome casts the +influence of its spirit over the beholder, for have not these old books +spirits? The earth-grave covers the mind as well as the body of its +moldering occupant, and while only a strong imagination can assume that +a spirit hovers over and lingers around inanimate clay, here each title +is a voice that speaks as though the heart of its creator still +throbbed, the mind essence of the dead writer envelops the living +reader. Take down that vellum-bound volume,--it was written in one of +the centuries long past. The pleasant face of its creator, as fresh as +if but a print of yesterday, smiles upon you from the exquisitely +engraved copper-plate frontispiece; the mind of the author rises from +out the words before you. This man is not dead and his comrades live. +Turn to the shelves about, before each book stands a guardian +spirit,--together they form a phantom army that, invisible to mortals, +encircles the beholder. + +[Illustration: "THE PLEASANT FACE OF ITS CREATOR ... SMILES UPON YOU."] + +Ah! this antique library is not as is a church graveyard, only a +cemetery for the dead; it is also a mansion for the living. These +alcoves are trysting places for elemental shades. Essences of +disenthralled minds meet here and revel. Thoughts of the past take shape +and live in this atmosphere,--who can say that pulsations unperceived, +beyond the reach of physics or of chemistry, are not as ethereal +mind-seeds which, although unseen, yet, in living brain, exposed to such +an atmosphere as this, formulate embryotic thought-expressions destined +to become energetic intellectual forces? I sit in such a weird library +and meditate. The shades of grim authors whisper in my ear, skeleton +forms oppose my own, and phantoms possess the gloomy alcoves of the +library I am building. + +[Illustration: "SKELETON FORMS OPPOSE MY OWN."] + +With the object of carrying to the future a section of thought current +from the past, the antiquarian libraries of many nations have been +culled, and purchases made in every book market of the world. These +books surround me. Naturally many persons have become interested in the +movement, and, considering it a worthy one, unite to further the +project, for the purpose is not personal gain. Thus it is not unusual +for boxes of old chemical or pharmacal volumes to arrive by freight or +express, without a word as to the donor. The mail brings manuscripts +unprinted, and pamphlets recondite, with no word of introduction. They +come unheralded. The authors or the senders realize that in this unique +library a place is vacant if any work on connected subjects is missing, +and thinking men of the world are uniting their contributions to fill +such vacancies. + + * * * * * + +Enough has been said concerning the ancient library that has bred these +reflections, and my own personality does not concern the reader. He can +now formulate his conclusions as well perhaps as I, regarding the origin +of the manuscript that is to follow, if he concerns himself at all over +subjects mysterious or historical, and my connection therewith is of +minor importance. Whether Mr. Drury brought the strange paper in person, +or sent it by express or mail,--whether it was slipped into a box of +books from foreign lands, or whether my hand held the pen that made the +record,--whether I stood face to face with Mr. Drury in the shadows of +this room, or have but a fanciful conception of his figure,--whether the +artist drew upon his imagination for the vivid likeness of the several +personages figured in the book that follows, or from reliable data has +given fac-similes authentic,--is immaterial. Sufficient be it to say +that the manuscript of this book has been in my possession for a period +of seven years, and my lips must now be sealed concerning all that +transpired in connection therewith outside the subject-matter recorded +therein. And yet I can not deny that for these seven years I have +hesitated concerning my proper course, and more than once have decided +to cover from sight the fascinating leaflets, hide them among +surrounding volumes, and let them slumber until chance should bring them +to the attention of the future student. + +These thoughts rise before me this gloomy day of December, 1894, as, +snatching a moment from the exactions of business, I sit among these old +volumes devoted to science-lore, and again study over the unique +manuscript, and meditate; I hesitate again: Shall I, or shall I +not?--but a duty is a duty. Perhaps the mysterious part of the subject +will be cleared to me only when my own thought-words come to rest among +these venerable relics of the past--when books that I have written +become companions of ancient works about me--for then I can claim +relationship with the shadows that flit in and out, and can demand that +they, the ghosts of the library, commune with the shade that guards the +book that holds this preface. + + JOHN URI LLOYD. + + + + +PREFACE TO THIS EDITION. + + +The foot-note on page 160, with the connected matter, has awakened +considerable interest in the life and fate of Professor Daniel Vaughn. + +The undersigned has received many letters imparting interesting +information relating to Professor Vaughn's early history, and asking +many questions concerning a man of whose memory the writer thinks so +highly but whose name is generally unknown. + +Indeed, as some have even argued that the author of Etidorhpa has no +personal existence, the words John Uri Lloyd being a _nom de plume_, so +others have accepted Professor Vaughn to have been a fanciful creation +of the mystical author. + +Professor Daniel Vaughn was one whose life lines ran nearly parallel +with those of the late Professor C. S. Rafinesque, whose eventful history +has been so graphically written by Professor R. Ellsworth Call. The cups +of these two talented men were filled with privation's bitterness, and +in no other place has this writer known the phrase "The Deadly Parallel" +so aptly appropriate. Both came to America, scholars, scientists by +education; both traveled through Kentucky, teachers; both gave freely to +the world, and both suffered in their old age, dying in +poverty--Rafinesque perishing in misery in Philadelphia and Vaughn in +Cincinnati. + +Daniel Vaughn was not a myth, and, in order that the reader may know +something of the life and fate of this eccentric man, an appendix has +been added to this edition of Etidorhpa, in which a picture of his face +is shown as the writer knew it in life, and in which brief mention is +made of his record. + +The author here extends his thanks to Professor Richard Nelson and to +Father Eugene Brady for their kindness to the readers of Etidorhpa and +himself, for to these gentlemen is due the credit of the appended +historical note. + + J. U. L. + + + + +A VALUABLE AND UNIQUE LIBRARY. + +From the Pharmaceutical Era, New York, October, 1894. + + +In Cincinnati is one of the most famous botanical and pharmacal +libraries in the world, and by scientists it is regarded as an +invaluable store of knowledge upon those branches of medical science. So +famous is it that one of the most noted pharmacologists and chemists of +Germany, on a recent trip to this country, availed himself of its rich +collection as a necessary means of completing his study in the line of +special drug history. When it is known that he has devoted a life of +nearly eighty years to the study of pharmacology, and is an emeritus +professor in the famous University of Strassburg, the importance of his +action will be understood and appreciated. We refer to Prof. Frederick +Flueckiger, who, in connection with Daniel Hanbury, wrote +Pharmacographia and other standard works. Attached to the library is an +herbarium, begun by Mr. Curtis Gates Lloyd when a schoolboy, in which +are to be found over 30,000 specimens of the flora of almost every +civilized country on the globe. The collections are the work of two +brothers, begun when in early boyhood. In money they are priceless, yet +it is the intention of the founders that they shall be placed, either +before or at their death, in some college or university where all +students may have access to them without cost or favor, and their wills +are already made to this end, although the institution to receive the +bequest is not yet selected. Eager requests have been made that they be +sent to foreign universities, where only, some persons believe, they can +receive the appreciation they deserve. + +The resting place of this collection is a neat three-story house at 204 +West Court street, rebuilt to serve as a library building. On the door +is a plate embossed with the name Lloyd, the patronymic of the brothers +in question. They are John Uri and Curtis Gates Lloyd. Every hour that +can be spent by these men from business or necessary recreation is spent +here. Mr. C. G. Lloyd devotes himself entirely to the study of botany and +connected subjects, while his brother is equally devoted to materia +medica, pharmacy, and chemistry. + +In the botanical department are the best works obtainable in every +country, and there the study of botany may be carried to any height. In +point of age, some of them go back almost to the time when the art of +printing was discovered. Two copies of Aristotle are notable. A Greek +version bound in vellum was printed in 1584. Another, in parallel +columns of Greek and Latin, by Pacius, was published in 1607. Both are +in excellent preservation. A bibliographical rarity (two editions) is +the "Historia Plantarum," by Pinaeus, which was issued, one in 1561, the +other in 1567. It appears to have been a first attempt at the production +of colored plates. Plants that were rare at that time are colored by +hand, and then have a glossy fixative spread over them, causing the +colors still to be as bright and fresh as the day that the +three-hundred-years-dead workmen laid them on. Ranged in their sequence +are fifty volumes of the famous author, Linnaeus. Mr. Lloyd has a very +complete list of the Linnaean works, and his commissioners in Europe and +America are looking out for the missing volumes. An extremely odd work +is the book of Dr. Josselyn, entitled "New England Rarities," in which +the Puritan author discusses wisely on "byrds, beastes and fishes" of +the New World. Dr. Carolus Plumierus, a French savant, who flourished in +1762, contributes an exhaustive work on the "Flora of the Antilles." He +is antedated many years, however, by Dr. John Clayton, who is termed +Johannes Claytonus, and Dr. John Frederick Gronovius. These gentlemen +collated a work entitled the "Flora of Virginia," which is among the +first descriptions of botany in the United States. Two venerable works +are those of Mattioli, an Italian writer, who gave his knowledge to the +world in 1586, and Levinus Lemnius, who wrote "De Miraculis Occultis +Naturae" in 1628. The father of modern systematized botany is conceded to +be Mons. J. P. Tournefort, whose comprehensive work was published in +1719. It is the fortune of Mr. Lloyd to possess an original edition in +good condition. His "Histoire des Plantes," Paris (1698), is also on the +shelves. In the modern department of the library are the leading French +and German works. Spanish and Italian authors are also on the shelves, +the Lloyd collection of Spanish flora being among the best extant. +Twenty-two volumes of rice paper, bound in bright yellow and stitched in +silk, contain the flora of Japan. All the leaves are delicately tinted +by those unique flower-painters, the Japanese. This rare work was +presented to the Lloyd library by Dr. Charles Rice, of New York, who +informed the Lloyds that only one other set could be found in America. + +One of the most noted books in the collection of J. U. Lloyd is a Materia +Medica written by Dr. David Schoepf, a learned German scholar, who +traveled through this country in 1787. But a limited number of copies +were printed, and but few are extant. One is in the Erlangen library in +Germany. This Mr. Lloyd secured, and had it copied verbatim. In later +years Dr. Charles Rice obtained an original print, and exchanged it for +that copy. A like work is that of Dr. Jonathan Carver of the provincial +troops in America, published in London in 1796. It treats largely of +Canadian materia medica. Manasseh Cutler's work, 1785, also adorns this +part of the library. In addition to almost every work on this subject, +Mr. Lloyd possesses complete editions of the leading serials and +pharmaceutical lists published in the last three quarters of a century. +Another book, famous in its way, is Barton's "Collections Toward a +Materia Medica of the United States," published in 1798, 1801, and 1804. + +Several noted botanists and chemists have visited the library in recent +years. Prof. Flueckiger formed the acquaintance of the Lloyds through +their work, "Drugs and Medicines of North America," being struck by the +exhaustive references and foot-notes. Students and lovers of the old art +of copper-plate engraving especially find much in the ornate title pages +and portraits to please their aesthetic sense. The founders are not +miserly, and all students and delvers into the medical and botanical +arts are always welcome. This library of rare books has been collected +without ostentation and with the sole aim to benefit science and +humanity. We must not neglect to state that the library is especially +rich in books pertaining to the American Eclectics and Thomsonians. +Since it has been learned that this library is at the disposal of +students and is to pass intact to some worthy institution of learning, +donations of old or rare books are becoming frequent. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + + PAGE. + +PROLOGUE--History of Llewellyn Drury, 1 + +CHAPTER. + + I. Home of Llewellyn Drury--"Never Less Alone than When Alone," 3 + + II. A Friendly Conference with Prof. Chickering, 16 + + III. A Second Interview with the Mysterious Visitor, 23 + + IV. A Search for Knowledge--The Alchemistic Letter, 35 + + V. The Writing of "My Confession," 44 + + VI. Kidnapped, 46 + + VII. A Wild Night--I am Prematurely Aged, 55 + + VIII. A Lesson in Mind Study, 63 + + IX. I Can Not Establish My Identity, 67 + + X. My Journey Towards the End of Earth Begins--The Adepts + Brotherhood, 74 + + XI. My Journey Continues--Instinct, 80 + + XII. A Cavern Discovered--Biswell's Hill, 84 + + XIII. The Punch Bowls and Caverns of Kentucky--"Into the Unknown + Country," 89 + + XIV. Farewell to God's Sunshine--"The Echo of the Cry," 99 + + XV. A Zone of Light, Deep Within the Earth, 105 + + XVI. Vitalized Darkness--The Narrows in Science, 109 + + XVII. The Fungus Forest--Enchantment, 119 + + XVIII. The Food of Man, 123 + + XIX. The Cry from a Distance--I Rebel Against Continuing the + Journey, 128 + + +FIRST INTERLUDE.--THE NARRATIVE INTERRUPTED. + + XX. My Unbidden Guest Proves His Statements, and Refutes + My Philosophy, 134 + + +MY UNBIDDEN GUEST CONTINUES HIS MANUSCRIPT. + + XXI. My Weight Disappearing, 142 + + +SECOND INTERLUDE. + + XXII. The Story Again Interrupted--My Guest Departs, 149 + + XXIII. Scientific Men Questioned--Aristotle's Ether, 151 + + XXIV. The Soliloquy of Prof. Daniel Vaughn--"Gravitation is + the Beginning and Gravitation is the End: + All Earthly Bodies Kneel to Gravitation," 156 + + +THE UNBIDDEN GUEST RETURNS TO READ HIS MANUSCRIPT, +CONTINUING THE NARRATIVE. + + XXV. The Mother of a Volcano--"You Can Not Disprove, and You + Dare Not Admit," 162 + + XXVI. Motion from Inherent Energy--"Lead Me Deeper Into this + Expanding Study," 169 + + XXVII. Sleep, Dreams, Nightmare--"Strangle the Life from My + Body," 175 + + +THIRD INTERLUDE.--THE NARRATIVE AGAIN INTERRUPTED. + + XXVIII. A Challenge--My Unbidden Guest Accepts It, 179 + + XXIX. Beware of Biology--The Science of the Life of Man--The + Old Man relates a Story as an Object Lesson, 186 + + XXX. Looking Backward--The Living Brain, 193 + + +THE MANUSCRIPT CONTINUED. + + XXXI. A Lesson on Volcanoes--Primary Colors are Capable of + Farther Subdivision, 204 + + XXXII. Matter is Retarded Motion--"A Wail of Sadness + Inexpressible," 218 + + XXXIII. "A Study of True Science is a Study of God"--Communing + with Angels, 224 + + XXXIV. I Cease to Breathe, and Yet Live, 226 + + XXXV. "A Certain Point Within a Circle"--Men are as Parasites + on the Roof of Earth, 230 + + XXXVI. The Drinks of Man, 235 + + XXVII. The Drunkard's Voice, 238 + +XXXVIII. The Drunkard's Den, 240 + + XXXIX. Among the Drunkards, 247 + + XL. Further Temptation--Etidorhpa Appears, 252 + + XLI. Misery, 262 + + XLII. Eternity Without Time, 272 + + +FOURTH INTERLUDE. + + XLIII. The Last Contest, 277 + + +THE NARRATIVE CONTINUED. + + XLIV. The Fathomless Abyss--The Edge of the Earth's Shell, 306 + + XLV. My Heart-throb is Stilled, and Yet I Live, 310 + + XLVI. The Inner Circle, or the End of Gravitation--In the + Bottomless Gulf, 317 + + XLVII. Hearing Without Ears--"What Will Be the End?" 322 + + XLVIII. Why and How--The Straggling Ray of Light from those + Farthermost Outreaches, 327 + + XLIX. Oscillating Through Space--The Earth Shell Above Us, 333 + + L. My Weight Annihilated--"Tell me," I cried in alarm, + "is this a Living Tomb?" 340 + + LI. Is That a Mortal?--"The End of Earth," 345 + + +FIFTH INTERLUDE. + + LII. The Last Farewell, 352 + + +EPILOGUE--Letter Accompanying the Mysterious Manuscript, 360 + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS. + + +FULL-PAGE. + + Likeness of The--Man--Who--Did--It. Frontispiece + + PAGE. + + Preface Introduction--"Here lies the bones," etc. iii. + + "And to my amazement, saw a white-haired man." 7, 8. + + "The same glittering, horrible, mysterious knife." 29, 30. + + "Fac-simile of the mysterious manuscript of I--Am--The--Man-- + Who--Did--It." 35, 36. + + "My arms were firmly grasped by two persons." 47. + + "Map of Kentucky near entrance to cavern." 85, 86. + + "Confronted by a singular looking being." 95, 96. + + "This struggling ray of sunlight is to be your last for + years." 101, 102. + + "I was in a forest of colossal fungi." 117, 118. + + "Monstrous cubical crystals." 131, 132. + + "Far as the eye could reach the glassy barrier spread as a + crystal mirror." 147, 148. + + "Soliloquy of Prof. Daniel Vaughn--'Gravitation is the + beginning, and gravitation is the end; all earthly bodies + kneel to gravitation.'" 157, 158. + + "We came to a metal boat." 165, 166. + + "Facing the open window he turned the pupils of his eyes + upward." 197, 198. + + "We finally reached a precipitous bluff." 205, 206. + + "The wall descended perpendicularly to seemingly infinite + depths." 209, 210. + + Etidorhpa. 255, 256. + + "We passed through caverns filled with creeping reptiles." 297, 298. + + "Flowers and structures beautiful, insects gorgeous." 303, 304. + + "With fear and trembling I crept on my knees to his side." 307, 308. + + Diagram descriptive of journey from the Kentucky cavern to + the "End of Earth," showing section of earth's crust. 332, 333. + + "Suspended in vacancy, he seemed to float." 347, 348. + + "I stood alone in my room holding the mysterious + manuscript." 357, 358. + + Fac-simile of letter from I--Am--The--Man. 363. + + Manuscript dedication of Author's Edition. 364, 365. + + +HALF-PAGE AND TEXT CUTS. + + "The Stern Face." Fac-simile, reduced from copper plate title + page of the botanical work (1708), 917 pages, of Simonis + Paulli, D., a Danish physician. Original plate 7 x 5-1/2 + inches. iv. + + "The Pleasant Face." Fac-simile of the original copper plate + frontispiece to the finely illustrated botanical work of + Joannes Burmannus, M.D., descriptive of the plants collected + by Carolus Plumierus. Antique. Original plate 9 x 13 inches. v. + + "Skeleton forms oppose my own." Photograph of John Uri Lloyd + in the gloomy alcove of the antiquated library. vi. + + "Let me have your answer now." 12. + + "I espied upon the table a long white hair." 14. + + "Drew the knife twice across the front of the door-knob." 32. + + "I was taken from the vehicle, and transferred to a + block-house." 52. + + "The dead man was thrown overboard." 54. + + "A mirror was thrust beneath my gaze." 58. + + "I am the man you seek." 70. + + "We approach daylight, I can see your face." 106. + + "Seated himself on a natural bench of stone." 108. + + "An endless variety of stony figures." 129. + + Cuts showing water and brine surfaces. 136. + + Cuts showing earth chambers in which water rises above brine. 137. + + Cuts showing that if properly connected, water and brine + reverse the usual law as to the height of their surfaces. 138, 139. + + "I bounded upward fully six feet." 143. + + "I fluttered to the earth as a leaf would fall." 144. + + "We leaped over great inequalities." 145. + + "The bit of garment fluttered listlessly away to the distance, + and then--vacancy." 173. + + Cut showing that water may be made to flow from a tube higher + than the surface of the water. 182. + + Cut showing how an artesian fountain may be made without earth + strata. 184. + + "Rising abruptly, he grasped my hand." 191. + + "A brain, a living brain, my own brain." 200. + + "Shape of drop of water in the earth cavern." 211. + + "We would skip several rods, alighting gently." 227. + + "An uncontrollable, inexpressible desire to flee." 229. + + "I dropped on my knees before him." 232. + + "Handing me one of the halves, he spoke the single word, + 'Drink.'" 234. + + "Each finger pointed towards the open way in front." 242. + + "Telescoped energy spheres." 280. + + "Space dirt on energy spheres." 281. + + "I drew back the bar of iron to smite the apparently + defenseless being in the forehead." 313. + + "He sprung from the edge of the cliff into the abyss below, + carrying me with him into its depths." 315. + + "The Earth and its atmosphere." 336. + + + + +PROLOGUE. + + +My name was Johannes Llewellyn Llongollyn Drury. I was named Llewellyn +at my mother's desire, out of respect to her father, Dr. Evan Llewellyn, +the scientist and speculative philosopher, well known to curious +students as the author of various rare works on occult subjects. The +other given names were ancestral also, but when I reached the age of +appreciation, they naturally became distasteful; so it is that in early +youth I dropped the first and third of these cumbersome words, and +retained only the second Christian name. While perhaps the reader of +these lines may regard this cognomen with less favor than either of the +others, still I liked it, as it was the favorite of my mother, who +always used the name in full; the world, however, contracted Llewellyn +to Lew, much to the distress of my dear mother, who felt aggrieved at +the liberty. After her death I decided to move to a western city, and +also determined, out of respect to her memory, to select from and +rearrange the letters of my several names, and construct therefrom three +short, terse words, which would convey to myself only, the resemblance +of my former name. Hence it is that the Cincinnati Directory does not +record my self-selected name, which I have no reason to bring before the +public. To the reader my name is Llewellyn Drury. I might add that my +ancestors were among the early settlers of what is now New York City, +and were direct descendants of the early Welsh kings; but these matters +do not concern the reader, and it is not of them that I now choose to +write. My object in putting down these preliminary paragraphs is simply +to assure the reader of such facts, and such only, as may give him +confidence in my personal sincerity and responsibility, in order that he +may with a right understanding read the remarkable statements that occur +in the succeeding chapters. + +The story I am about to relate is very direct, and some parts of it are +very strange, not to say marvelous; but not on account of its +strangeness alone do I ask for the narrative a reading;--that were mere +trifling. What is here set down happened as recorded, but I shall not +attempt to explain things which even to myself are enigmatical. Let the +candid reader read the story as I have told it, and make out of it what +he can, or let him pass the page by unread--I shall not insist on +claiming his further attention. Only, if he does read, I beg him to read +with an open mind, without prejudice and without predilection. + +Who or what I am as a participant in this work is of small importance. I +mention my history only for the sake of frankness and fairness. I have +nothing to gain by issuing the volume. Neither do I court praise nor +shun censure. My purpose is to tell the truth. + +Early in the fifties I took up my residence in the Queen City, and +though a very young man, found the employment ready that a friend had +obtained for me with a manufacturing firm engaged in a large and +complicated business. My duties were varied and peculiar, of such a +nature as to tax body and mind to the utmost, and for several years I +served in the most exacting of business details. Besides the labor which +my vocation entailed, with its manifold and multiform perplexities, I +voluntarily imposed upon myself other tasks, which I pursued in the +privacy of my own bachelor apartments. An inherited love for books on +abstruse and occult subjects, probably in part the result of my blood +connection with Dr. Evan Llewellyn, caused me to collect a unique +library, largely on mystical subjects, in which I took the keenest +delight. My business and my professional duties by day, and my studies +at night, made my life a busy one. + +In the midst of my work and reading I encountered the character whose +strange story forms the essential part of the following narrative. I may +anticipate by saying that the manuscript to follow only incidentally +concerns myself, and that if possible I would relinquish all connection +therewith. It recites the physical, mental, and moral adventures of one +whose life history was abruptly thrust upon my attention, and as +abruptly interrupted. The vicissitudes of his body and soul, +circumstances seemed to compel me to learn and to make public. + + + + +ETIDORPHA. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + "NEVER LESS ALONE THAN WHEN ALONE." + + +More than thirty years ago occurred the first of the series of +remarkable events I am about to relate. The exact date I can not recall; +but it was in November, and, to those familiar with November weather in +the Ohio Valley, it is hardly necessary to state that the month is one +of possibilities. That is to say, it is liable to bring every variety of +weather, from the delicious, dreamy Indian summer days that linger late +in the fall, to a combination of rain, hail, snow, sleet,--in short, +atmospheric conditions sufficiently aggravating to develop a suicidal +mania in any one the least susceptible to such influences. While the +general character of the month is much the same the country +over,--showing dull grey tones of sky, abundant rains that penetrate man +as they do the earth; cold, shifting winds, that search the very +marrow,--it is always safe to count more or less upon the probability of +the unexpected throughout the month. + +The particular day which ushered in the event about to be chronicled, +was one of these possible heterogeneous days presenting a combination of +sunshine, shower, and snow, with winds that rang all the changes from +balmy to blustery, a morning air of caloric and an evening of numbing +cold. The early morning started fair and sunny; later came light showers +suddenly switched by shifting winds into blinding sleet, until the +middle of the afternoon found the four winds and all the elements +commingled in one wild orgy with clashing and roaring as of a great +organ with all the stops out, and all the storm-fiends dancing over the +key-boards! Nightfall brought some semblance of order to the sounding +chaos, but still kept up the wild music of a typical November day, with +every accompaniment of bleakness, gloom, and desolation. + +Thousands of chimneys, exhaling murky clouds of bituminous soot all day, +had covered the city with the proverbial pall which the winds in their +sport had shifted hither and yon, but as, thoroughly tired out, they +subsided into silence, the smoky mesh suddenly settled over the houses +and into the streets, taking possession of the city and contributing to +the melancholy wretchedness of such of the inhabitants as had to be out +of doors. Through this smoke the red sun when visible had dragged his +downward course in manifest discouragement, and the hastening twilight +soon gave place to the blackness of darkness. Night reigned supreme. + +Thirty years ago electric lighting was not in vogue, and the system of +street lamps was far less complete than at present, although the gas +burned in them may not have been any worse. The lamps were much fewer +and farther between, and the light which they emitted had a feeble, +sickly aspect, and did not reach any distance into the moist and murky +atmosphere. And so the night was dismal enough, and the few people upon +the street were visible only as they passed directly beneath the lamps, +or in front of lighted windows; seeming at other times like moving +shadows against a black ground. + +As I am like to be conspicuous in these pages, it may be proper to say +that I am very susceptible to atmospheric influences. I figure among my +friends as a man of quiet disposition, but I am at times morose, +although I endeavor to conceal this fact from others. My nervous system +is a sensitive weather-glass. Sometimes I fancy that I must have been +born under the planet Saturn, for I find myself unpleasantly influenced +by moods ascribed to that depressing planet, more especially in its +disagreeable phases, for I regret to state that I do not find +corresponding elation, as I should, in its brighter aspects. I have an +especial dislike for wintry weather, a dislike which I find growing with +my years, until it has developed almost into positive antipathy and +dread. On the day I have described, my moods had varied with the +weather. The fitfulness of the winds had found its way into my +feelings, and the somber tone of the clouds into my meditations. I was +restless as the elements, and a deep sense of dissatisfaction with +myself and everything else, possessed me. I could not content myself in +any place or position. Reading was distasteful, writing equally so; but +it occurred to me that a brisk walk, for a few blocks, might afford +relief. Muffling myself up in my overcoat and fur cap, I took the +street, only to find the air gusty and raw, and I gave up in still +greater disgust, and returning home, after drawing the curtains and +locking the doors, planted myself in front of a glowing grate fire, +firmly resolved to rid myself of myself by resorting to the oblivion of +thought, reverie, or dream. To sleep was impossible, and I sat moodily +in an easy chair, noting the quarter and half-hour strokes as they were +chimed out sweetly from the spire of St. Peter's Cathedral, a few blocks +away. + +Nine o'clock passed with its silver-voiced song of "Home, Sweet Home"; +ten, and then eleven strokes of the ponderous bell which noted the +hours, roused me to a strenuous effort to shake off the feelings of +despondency, unrest, and turbulence, that all combined to produce a +state of mental and physical misery now insufferable. Rising suddenly +from my chair, without a conscious effort I walked mechanically to a +book-case, seized a volume at random, reseated myself before the fire, +and opened the book. It proved to be an odd, neglected volume, "Riley's +Dictionary of Latin Quotations." At the moment there flashed upon me a +conscious duality of existence. Had the old book some mesmeric power? I +seemed to myself two persons, and I quickly said aloud, as if addressing +my double: "If I can not quiet you, turbulent Spirit, I can at least +adapt myself to your condition. I will read this book haphazard from +bottom to top, or backward, if necessary, and if this does not change +the subject often enough, I will try Noah Webster." Opening the book +mechanically at page 297, I glanced at the bottom line and read, +"Nunquam minus solus quam cum solus" (Never less alone than when alone). +These words arrested my thoughts at once, as, by a singular chance, they +seemed to fit my mood; was it or was it not some conscious invisible +intelligence that caused me to select that page, and brought the +apothegm to my notice? + +Again, like a flash, came the consciousness of duality, and I began to +argue with my other self. "This is arrant nonsense," I cried aloud; +"even though Cicero did say it, and, it is on a par with many other +delusive maxims that have for so many years embittered the existence of +our modern youth by misleading thought. Do you know, Mr. Cicero, that +this statement is not sound? That it is unworthy the position you occupy +in history as a thinker and philosopher? That it is a contradiction in +itself, for if a man is alone he is alone, and that settles it?" + +I mused in this vein a few moments, and then resumed aloud: "It won't +do, it won't do; if one is alone--the word is absolute,--he is single, +isolated, in short, alone; and there can by no manner of possibility be +any one else present. Take myself, for instance: I am the sole occupant +of this apartment; I am alone, and yet you say in so many words that I +was never less alone than at this instant." It was not without some +misgiving that I uttered these words, for the strange consciousness of +my own duality constantly grew stronger, and I could not shake off the +reflection that even now there were two of myself in the room, and that +I was not so much alone as I endeavored to convince myself. + +This feeling oppressed me like an incubus; I must throw it off, and, +rising, I tossed the book upon the table, exclaiming: "What folly! I am +alone,--positively there is no other living thing visible or invisible +in the room." I hesitated as I spoke, for the strange, undefined +sensation that I was not alone had become almost a conviction; but the +sound of my voice encouraged me, and I determined to discuss the +subject, and I remarked in a full, strong voice: "I am surely alone; I +know I am! Why, I will wager everything I possess, even to my soul, that +I am alone." I stood facing the smoldering embers of the fire which I +had neglected to replenish, uttering these words to settle the +controversy for good and all with one person of my dual self, but the +other ego seemed to dissent violently, when a soft, clear voice claimed +my ear: + +"You have lost your wager; you are not alone." + +[Illustration: "AND TO MY AMAZEMENT SAW A WHITE-HAIRED MAN."] + +I turned instantly towards the direction of the sound, and, to my +amazement, saw a white-haired man seated on the opposite side of the +room, gazing at me with the utmost composure. I am not a coward, nor a +believer in ghosts or illusions, and yet that sight froze me where I +stood. It had no supernatural appearance--on the contrary, was a plain, +ordinary, flesh-and-blood man; but the weather, the experiences of +the day, the weird, inclement night, had all conspired to strain my +nerves to the highest point of tension, and I trembled from head to +foot. Noting this, the stranger said pleasantly: "Quiet yourself, my +dear sir; you have nothing to fear; be seated." I obeyed, mechanically, +and regaining in a few moments some semblance of composure, took a +mental inventory of my visitor. Who is he? what is he? how did he enter +without my notice, and why? what is his business? were all questions +that flashed into my mind in quick succession, and quickly flashed out +unanswered. + +The stranger sat eying me composedly, even pleasantly, as if waiting for +me to reach some conclusion regarding himself. At last I surmised: "He +is a maniac who has found his way here by methods peculiar to the +insane, and my personal safety demands that I use him discreetly." + +"Very good," he remarked, as though reading my thoughts; "as well think +that as anything else." + +"But why are you here? What is your business?" I asked. + +"You have made and lost a wager," he said. "You have committed an act of +folly in making positive statements regarding a matter about which you +know nothing--a very common failing, by the way, on the part of mankind, +and concerning which I wish first to set you straight." + +The ironical coolness with which he said this provoked me, and I hastily +rejoined: "You are impertinent; I must ask you to leave my house at +once." + +"Very well," he answered; "but if you insist upon this, I shall, on +behalf of Cicero, claim the stake of your voluntary wager, which means +that I must first, by natural though violent means, release your soul +from your body." So saying he arose, drew from an inner pocket a long, +keen knife, the blade of which quiveringly glistened as he laid it upon +the table. Moving his chair so as to be within easy reach of the +gleaming weapon, he sat down, and again regarded me with the same quiet +composure I had noted, and which was fast dispelling my first impression +concerning his sanity. + +I was not prepared for his strange action; in truth, I was not prepared +for anything; my mind was confused concerning the whole night's doings, +and I was unable to reason clearly or consecutively, or even to satisfy +myself what I did think, if indeed I thought at all. + +The sensation of fear, however, was fast leaving me; there was something +reassuring in my unbidden guest's perfect ease of manner, and the mild, +though searching gaze of his eyes, which were wonderful in their +expression. I began to observe his personal characteristics, which +impressed me favorably, and yet were extraordinary. He was nearly six +feet tall, and perfectly straight; well proportioned, with no tendency +either to leanness or obesity. But his head was an object from which I +could not take my eyes,--such a head surely I had never before seen on +mortal shoulders. The chin, as seen through his silver beard, was +rounded and well developed, the mouth straight, with pleasant lines +about it, the jaws square and, like the mouth, indicating decision, the +eyes deep set and arched with heavy eyebrows, and the whole surmounted +by a forehead so vast, so high, that it was almost a deformity, and yet +it did not impress me unpleasantly; it was the forehead of a scholar, a +profound thinker, a deep student. The nose was inclined to aquiline, and +quite large. The contour of the head and face impressed me as indicating +a man of learning, one who had given a lifetime to experimental as well +as speculative thought. His voice was mellow, clear, and distinct, +always pleasantly modulated and soft, never loud nor unpleasant in the +least degree. One remarkable feature I must not fail to mention--his +hair; this, while thin and scant upon the top of his head, was long, and +reached to his shoulders; his beard was of unusual length, descending +almost to his waist; his hair, eyebrows, and beard were all of singular +whiteness and purity, almost transparent, a silvery whiteness that +seemed an aureolar sheen in the glare of the gaslight. What struck me as +particularly remarkable was that his skin looked as soft and smooth as +that of a child; there was not a blemish in it. His age was a puzzle +none could guess; stripped of his hair, or the color of it changed, he +might be twenty-five,--given a few wrinkles, he might be ninety. Taken +altogether, I had never seen his like, nor anything approaching his +like, and for an instant there was a faint suggestion to my mind that he +was not of this earth, but belonged to some other planet. + +I now fancy he must have read my impressions of him as these ideas +shaped themselves in my brain, and that he was quietly waiting for me +to regain a degree of self-possession that would allow him to disclose +the purpose of his visit. + +He was first to break the silence: "I see that you are not disposed to +pay your wager any more than I am to collect it, so we will not discuss +that. I admit that my introduction to-night was abrupt, but you can not +deny that you challenged me to appear." I was not clear upon the point, +and said so. "Your memory is at fault," he continued, "if you can not +recall your experiences of the day just past. Did you not attempt to +interest yourself in modern book lore, to fix your mind in turn upon +history, chemistry, botany, poetry, and general literature? And all +these failing, did you not deliberately challenge Cicero to a practical +demonstration of an old apothegm of his that has survived for centuries, +and of your own free will did not you make a wager that, as an admirer +of Cicero's, I am free to accept?" To all this I could but silently +assent. "Very good, then; we will not pursue this subject further, as it +is not relevant to my purpose, which is to acquaint you with a narrative +of unusual interest, upon certain conditions, with which if you comply, +you will not only serve yourself, but me as well." + +"Please name the conditions," I said. + +"They are simple enough," he answered. "The narrative I speak of is in +manuscript. I will produce it in the near future, and my design is to +read it aloud to you, or to allow you to read it to me, as you may +select. Further, my wish is that during the reading you shall interpose +any objection or question that you deem proper. This reading will occupy +many evenings, and I shall of necessity be with you often. When the +reading is concluded, we will seal the package securely, and I shall +leave you forever. You will then deposit the manuscript in some safe +place, and let it remain for thirty years. When this period has elapsed, +I wish you to publish this history to the world." + +"Your conditions seem easy," I said, after a few seconds' pause. + +"They are certainly very simple; do you accept?" + +I hesitated, for the prospect of giving myself up to a succession of +interviews with this extraordinary and mysterious personage seemed to +require consideration. He evidently divined my thoughts, for, rising +from his chair, he said abruptly: "Let me have your answer now." + +I debated the matter no further, but answered: "I accept, +conditionally." + +"Name your conditions," the guest replied. + +"I will either publish the work, or induce some other man to do so." + +[Illustration: "LET ME HAVE YOUR ANSWER NOW."] + +"Good," he said; "I will see you again," with a polite bow; and turning +to the door which I had previously locked, he opened it softly, and with +a quiet "Good night" disappeared in the hall-way. + +I looked after him with bewildered senses; but a sudden impulse caused +me to glance toward the table, when I saw that he had forgotten his +knife. With the view of returning this, I reached to pick it up, but my +finger tips no sooner touched the handle than a sudden chill shivered +along my nerves. Not as an electric shock, but rather as a sensation of +extreme cold was the current that ran through me in an instant. Rushing +into the hall-way to the landing of the stairs, I called after the +mysterious being, "You have forgotten your knife," but beyond the faint +echo of my voice, I heard no sound. The phantom was gone. A moment later +I was at the foot of the stairs, and had thrown open the door. A street +lamp shed an uncertain light in front of the house. I stepped out and +listened intently for a moment, but not a sound was audible, if indeed I +except the beating of my own heart, which throbbed so wildly that I +fancied I heard it. No footfall echoed from the deserted streets; all +was silent as a churchyard, and I closed and locked the door softly, +tiptoed my way back to my room, and sank collapsed into an easy chair. I +was more than exhausted; I quivered from head to foot, not with cold, +but with a strange nervous chill that found intensest expression in my +spinal column, and seemed to flash up and down my back vibrating like a +feverous pulse. This active pain was succeeded by a feeling of frozen +numbness, and I sat I know not how long, trying to tranquilize myself +and think temperately of the night's occurrence. By degrees I recovered +my normal sensations, and directing my will in the channel of sober +reasoning, I said to myself: "There can be no mistake about his visit, +for his knife is here as a witness to the fact. So much is sure, and I +will secure that testimony at all events." With this reflection I turned +to the table, but to my astonishment I discovered that the knife had +disappeared. It needed but this miracle to start the perspiration in +great cold beads from every pore. My brain was in a whirl, and reeling +into a chair, I covered my face with my hands. How long I sat in this +posture I do not remember. I only know that I began to doubt my own +sanity, and wondered if this were not the way people became deranged. +Had not my peculiar habits of isolation, irregular and intense study, +erratic living, all conspired to unseat reason? Surely here was every +ground to believe so; and yet I was able still to think consistently and +hold steadily to a single line of thought. Insane people can not do +that, I reflected, and gradually the tremor and excitement wore away. +When I had become calmer and more collected, and my sober judgment said, +"Go to bed; sleep just as long as you can; hold your eyelids down, and +when you awake refreshed, as you will, think out the whole subject at +your leisure," I arose, threw open the shutters, and found that day was +breaking. Hastily undressing I went to bed, and closed my eyes, vaguely +conscious of some soothing guardianship. Perhaps because I was +physically exhausted, I soon lost myself in the oblivion of sleep. + +[Illustration: "I ESPIED UPON THE TABLE A LONG WHITE HAIR."] + +I did not dream,--at least I could not afterwards remember my dream if I +had one, but I recollect thinking that somebody struck ten distinct +blows on my door, which seemed to me to be of metal and very sonorous. +These ten blows in my semi-conscious state I counted. I lay very quiet +for a time collecting my thoughts and noting various objects about the +room, until my eye caught the dial of a French clock upon the mantel. +It was a few minutes past ten, and the blows I had heard were the +strokes of the hammer upon the gong in the clock. The sun was shining +into the room, which was quite cold, for the fire had gone out. I arose, +dressed myself quickly, and after thoroughly laving my face and hands in +ice-cold water, felt considerably refreshed. + +Before going out to breakfast, while looking around the room for a few +things which I wanted to take with me, I espied upon the table a long +white hair. This was indeed a surprise, for I had about concluded that +my adventure of the previous night was a species of waking nightmare, +the result of overworked brain and weakened body. But here was tangible +evidence to the contrary, an assurance that my mysterious visitor was +not a fancy or a dream, and his parting words, "I will see you again," +recurred to me with singular effect. "He will see me again; very well; I +will preserve this evidence of his visit for future use." I wound the +delicate filament into a little coil, folded it carefully in a bit of +paper, and consigned it to a corner in my pocket-book, though not +without some misgiving that it too might disappear as did the knife. + +The strange experience of that night had a good effect on me; I became +more regular in all my habits, took abundant sleep and exercise, was +more methodical in my modes of study and reasoning, and in a short time +found myself vastly improved in every way, mentally and physically. + +The days went fleeting into weeks, the weeks into months, and while the +form and figure of the white-haired stranger were seldom absent from my +mind, he came no more. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + A FRIENDLY CONFERENCE. + + +It is rare, in our present civilization, to find a man who lives alone. +This remark does not apply to hermits or persons of abnormal or +perverted mental tendencies, but to the majority of mankind living and +moving actively among their fellows, and engaged in the ordinary +occupations of humanity. Every man must have at least one confidant, +either of his own household, or within the circle of his intimate +friends. There may possibly be rare exceptions among persons of genius +in statecraft, war, or commerce, but it is doubtful even in such +instances if any keep all their thoughts to themselves, hermetically +sealed from their fellows. As a prevailing rule, either a loving wife or +very near friend shares the inner thought of the most secretive +individual, even when secrecy seems an indispensable element to success. +The tendency to a free interchange of ideas and experiences is almost +universal, instinct prompting the natural man to unburden his most +sacred thought, when the proper confidant and the proper time come for +the disclosure. + +For months I kept to myself the events narrated in the preceding +chapter. And this for several reasons: first, the dread of ridicule that +would follow the relation of the fantastic occurrences, and the possible +suspicion of my sanity, that might result from the recital; second, very +grave doubts as to the reality of my experiences. But by degrees +self-confidence was restored, as I reasoned the matter over and +reassured myself by occasional contemplation of the silvery hair I had +coiled in my pocket-book, and which at first I had expected would vanish +as did the stranger's knife. There came upon me a feeling that I should +see my weird visitor again, and at an early day. I resisted this +impression, for it was a feeling of the idea, rather than a thought, but +the vague expectation grew upon me in spite of myself, until at length +it became a conviction which no argument or logic could shake. +Curiously enough, as the original incident receded into the past, this +new idea thrust itself into the foreground, and I began in my own mind +to court another interview. At times, sitting alone after night, I felt +that I was watched by unseen eyes; these eyes haunted me in my solitude, +and I was morally sure of the presence of another than myself in the +room. The sensation was at first unpleasant, and I tried to throw it +off, with partial success. But only for a little while could I banish +the intrusive idea, and as the thought took form, and the invisible +presence became more actual to consciousness, I hoped that the stranger +would make good his parting promise, "I will see you again." + +On one thing I was resolved; I would at least be better informed on the +subject of hallucinations and apparitions, and not be taken unawares as +I had been. To this end I decided to confer with my friend, Professor +Chickering, a quiet, thoughtful man, of varied accomplishments, and +thoroughly read upon a great number of topics, especially in the +literature of the marvelous. + +So to the Professor I went, after due appointment, and confided to him +full particulars of my adventure. He listened patiently throughout, and +when I had finished, assured me in a matter-of-fact way that such +hallucinations were by no means rare. His remark was provoking, for I +did not expect from the patient interest he had shown while I was +telling my story, that the whole matter would be dismissed thus +summarily. I said with some warmth: + +"But this was not a hallucination. I tried at first to persuade myself +that it was illusory, but the more I have thought the experience over, +the more real it becomes to me." + +"Perhaps you were dreaming," suggested the Professor. + +"No," I answered; "I have tried that hypothesis, and it will not do. +Many things make that view untenable." + +"Do not be too sure of that," he said; "you were, by your own account, +in a highly nervous condition, and physically tired. It is possible, +perhaps probable, that in this state, as you sat in your chair, you +dozed off for a short interval, during which the illusion flashed +through your mind." + +"How do you explain the fact that incidents occupying a large portion of +the night, occurred in an interval which you describe as a flash?" + +"Easily enough; in dreams time may not exist: periods embracing weeks or +months may be reduced to an instant. Long journeys, hours of +conversation, or a multitude of transactions, may be compressed into a +term measured by the opening or closing of a door, or the striking of a +clock. In dreams, ordinary standards of reason find no place, while +ideas or events chase through the mind more rapidly than thought." + +"Conceding all this, why did I, considering the unusual character of the +incidents, accept them as real, as substantial, as natural as the most +commonplace events?" + +"There is nothing extraordinary in that," he replied. "In dreams all +sorts of absurdities, impossibilities, discordancies, and violation of +natural law appear realities, without exciting the least surprise or +suspicion. Imagination runs riot and is supreme, and reason for the time +is dormant. We see ghosts, spirits, the forms of persons dead or +living,--we suffer pain, pleasure, hunger,--and all sensations and +emotions, without a moment's question of their reality." + +"Do any of the subjects of our dreams or visions leave tangible +evidences of their presence?" + +"Assuredly not," he answered, with an incredulous, half-impatient +gesture; "the idea is absurd." + +"Then I was not dreaming," I mused. + +Without looking at me, the Professor went on: "These false presentiments +may have their origin in other ways, as from mental disorders caused by +indigestion. Nicolai, a noted bookseller of Berlin, was thus afflicted. +His experiences are interesting and possibly suggestive. Let me read +some of them to you." + +The Professor hereupon glanced over his bookshelf, selected a volume, +and proceeded to read:[1] + + [1] This work I have found to be Vol. IV. of Chambers' Miscellany, + published by Gould and Lincoln, Boston.--J. U. L. + + "I generally saw human forms of both sexes; but they usually + seemed not to take the smallest notice of each other, moving as + in a market place, where all are eager to press through the + crowd; at times, however, they seemed to be transacting business + with each other. I also saw several times, people on horseback, + dogs, and birds. + + "All these phantasms appeared to me in their natural size, and as + distinct as if alive, exhibiting different shades of carnation in + the uncovered parts, as well as different colors and fashions in + their dresses, though the colors seemed somewhat paler than in + real nature. None of the figures appeared particularly terrible, + comical, or disgusting, most of them being of indifferent shape, + and some presenting a pleasant aspect. The longer these phantasms + continued to visit me, the more frequently did they return, while + at the same time they increased in number about four weeks after + they had first appeared. I also began to hear them talk: these + phantoms conversed among themselves, but more frequently + addressed their discourse to me; their speeches were uncommonly + short, and never of an unpleasant turn. At different times there + appeared to me both dear and sensible friends of both sexes, + whose addresses tended to appease my grief, which had not yet + wholly subsided: their consolatory speeches were in general + addressed to me when I was alone. Sometimes, however, I was + accosted by these consoling friends while I was engaged in + company, and not unfrequently while real persons were speaking to + me. These consolatory addresses consisted sometimes of abrupt + phrases, and at other times they were regularly executed." + +Here I interrupted: "I note, Professor, that Mr. Nicolai knew these +forms to be illusions." + +Without answering my remark, he continued to read: + + "There is in imagination a potency far exceeding the fabled power + of Aladdin's lamp. How often does one sit in wintry evening + musings, and trace in the glowing embers the features of an + absent friend? Imagination, with its magic wand, will there build + a city with its countless spires, or marshal contending armies, + or drive the tempest-shattered ship upon the ocean. The following + story, related by Scott, affords a good illustration of this + principle: + + "'Not long after the death of an illustrious poet, who had + filled, while living, a great station in the eyes of the public, + a literary friend, to whom the deceased had been well known, was + engaged during the darkening twilight of an autumn evening, in + perusing one of the publications which professed to detail the + habits and opinions of the distinguished individual who was now + no more. As the reader had enjoyed the intimacy of the deceased + to a considerable degree, he was deeply interested in the + publication, which contained some particulars relating to himself + and other friends. A visitor was sitting in the apartment, who + was also engaged in reading. Their sitting-room opened into an + entrance hall, rather fantastically fitted up with articles of + armor, skins of wild animals, and the like. It was when laying + down his book, and passing into this hall, through which the moon + was beginning to shine, that the individual of whom I speak saw + right before him, in a standing posture, the exact representation + of his departed friend, whose recollection had been so strongly + brought to his imagination. He stopped for a single moment, so as + to notice the wonderful accuracy with which fancy had impressed + upon the bodily eye the peculiarities of dress and position of + the illustrious poet. Sensible, however, of the delusion, he felt + no sentiment save that of wonder at the extraordinary accuracy of + the resemblance, and stepped onward to the figure, which resolved + itself as he approached into the various materials of which it + was composed. These were merely a screen occupied by great coats, + shawls, plaids, and such other articles as are usually found in a + country entrance hall. The spectator returned to the spot from + which he had seen the illusion, and endeavored with all his power + to recall the image which had been so singularly vivid. But this + he was unable to do. And the person who had witnessed the + apparition, or, more properly, whose excited state had been the + means of raising it, had only to return to the apartment, and + tell his young friend under what a striking hallucination he had + for a moment labored.'" + +Here I was constrained to call the Professor to a halt. "Your stories +are very interesting," I said, "but I fail to perceive any analogy in +either the conditions or the incidents, to my experience. I was fully +awake and conscious at the time, and the man I saw appeared and moved +about in the full glare of the gaslight,--" + +"Perhaps not," he answered; "I am simply giving you some general +illustrations of the subject. But here is a case more to the point." + +Again he read: + + "A lady was once passing through a wood, in the darkening + twilight of a stormy evening, to visit a friend who was watching + over a dying child. The clouds were thick--the rain beginning to + fall; darkness was increasing; the wind was moaning mournfully + through the trees. The lady's heart almost failed her as she saw + that she had a mile to walk through the woods in the gathering + gloom. But the reflection of the situation of her friend forbade + her turning back. Excited and trembling, she called to her aid a + nervous resolution, and pressed onward. She had not proceeded far + when she beheld in the path before her the movement of some very + indistinct object. It appeared to keep a little distance ahead of + her, and as she made efforts to get nearer to see what it was, it + seemed proportionally to recede. The lady began to feel rather + unpleasantly. There was some pale white object certainly + discernible before her, and it appeared mysteriously to float + along, at a regular distance, without any effort at motion. + Notwithstanding the lady's good sense and unusual resolution, a + cold chill began to come over her. She made every effort to + resist her fears, and soon succeeded in drawing nearer the + mysterious object, when she was appalled at beholding the + features of her friend's child, cold in death, wrapt in its + shroud. She gazed earnestly, and there it remained distinct and + clear before her eyes. She considered it a premonition that her + friend's child was dead, and that she must hasten to her aid. But + there was the apparition directly in her path. She must pass it. + Taking up a little stick, she forced herself along to the object, + and behold, some little animal scampered away. It was this that + her excited imagination had transformed into the corpse of an + infant in its winding sheet." + +I was a little irritated, and once more interrupted the reader warmly: +"This is exasperating. Now what resemblance is there between the +vagaries of a hysterical, weak-minded woman, and my case?" + +He smiled, and again read: + + "The numerous stories told of ghosts, or the spirits of persons + who are dead, will in most instances be found to have originated + in diseased imagination, aggravated by some abnormal defect of + mind. We may mention a remarkable case in point, and one which is + not mentioned in English works on this subject; it is told by a + compiler of Les Causes Celebres. Two young noblemen, the + Marquises De Rambouillet and De Precy, belonging to two of the + first families of France, made an agreement, in the warmth of + their friendship, that the one who died first should return to + the other with tidings of the world to come. Soon afterwards De + Rambouillet went to the wars in Flanders, while De Precy remained + at Paris, stricken by a fever. Lying alone in bed, and severely + ill, De Precy one day heard a rustling of his bed curtains, and + turning round, saw his friend De Rambouillet, in full military + attire. The sick man sprung over the bed to welcome his friend, + but the other receded, and said that he had come to fulfill his + promise, having been killed on that very day. He further said + that it behooved De Precy to think more of the afterworld, as all + that was said of it was true, and as he himself would die in his + first battle. De Precy was then left by the phantom; and it was + afterward found that De Rambouillet had fallen on that day." + +"Ah," I said, "and so the phantom predicted an event that followed as +indicated." + +"Spiritual illusions," explained the Professor, "are not unusual, and +well authenticated cases are not wanting in which they have been induced +in persons of intelligence by functional or organic disorders. In the +last case cited, the prediction was followed by a fulfillment, but this +was chance or mere coincidence. It would be strange indeed if in the +multitude of dreams that come to humanity, some few should not be +followed by events so similar as to warrant the belief that they were +prefigured. But here is an illustration that fits your case: let me read +it: + + "In some instances it may be difficult to decide whether spectral + appearances and spectral noises proceed from physical derangement + or from an overwrought state of mind. Want of exercise and + amusement may also be a prevailing cause. A friend mentions to us + the following case: An acquaintance of his, a merchant, in + London, who had for years paid very close attention to business, + was one day, while alone in his counting house, very much + surprised to hear, as he imagined, persons outside the door + talking freely about him. Thinking it was some acquaintances who + were playing off a trick, he opened the door to request them to + come in, when to his amazement, he found that nobody was there. + He again sat down to his desk, and in a few minutes the same + dialogue recommenced. The language was very alarming. One voice + seemed to say: 'We have the scoundrel in his own counting house; + let us go in and seize him.' 'Certainly,' replied the other + voice, 'it is right to take him; he has been guilty of a great + crime, and ought to be brought to condign punishment.' Alarmed + at these threats, the bewildered merchant rushed to the door; and + there again no person was to be seen. He now locked his door and + went home; but the voices, as he thought, followed him through + the crowd, and he arrived at his house in a most unenviable state + of mind. Inclined to ascribe the voices to derangement in mind, + he sent for a medical attendant, and told his case, and a certain + kind of treatment was prescribed. This, however, failed; the + voices menacing him with punishment for purely imaginary crimes + continued, and he was reduced to the brink of despair. At length + a friend prescribed entire relaxation from business, and a daily + game of cricket, which, to his great relief, proved an effectual + remedy. The exercise banished the phantom voices, and they were + no more heard." + +"So you think that I am in need of out-door exercise?" + +"Exactly." + +"And that my experience was illusory, the result of vertigo, or some +temporary calenture of the brain?" + +"To be plain with you, yes." + +"But I asked you a while ago if specters or phantoms ever leave tangible +evidence of their presence." The Professor's eyes dilated in +interrogation. I continued: "Well, this one did. After I had followed +him out, I found on the table a long, white hair, which I still have," +and producing the little coil from my pocket-book, I handed it to him. +He examined it curiously, eyed me furtively, and handed it back with the +cautious remark: + +"I think you had better commence your exercise at once." + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + A SECOND INTERVIEW WITH THE MYSTERIOUS VISITOR. + + +It is not pleasant to have one's mental responsibility brought in +question, and the result of my interview with Professor Chickering was, +to put it mildly, unsatisfactory. Not that he had exactly questioned my +sanity, but it was all too evident that he was disposed to accept my +statement of a plain matter-of-fact occurrence with a too liberal +modicum of salt. I say "matter-of-fact occurrence" in full knowledge of +the truth that I myself had at first regarded the whole transaction as a +fantasia or flight of mind, the result of extreme nervous tension; but +in the interval succeeding I had abundant opportunity to correlate my +thoughts, and to bring some sort of order out of the mental and physical +chaos of that strange, eventful night. True, the preliminary events +leading up to it were extraordinary; the dismal weather, the depression +of body and spirit under which I labored, the wild whirl of thought +keeping pace with the elements--in short, a general concatenation of +events that seemed to be ordered especially for the introduction of some +abnormal visitor--the night would indeed have been incomplete without a +ghost! But was it a ghost? There was nothing ghostly about my visitor, +except the manner of his entrance and exit. In other respects, he seemed +substantial enough. He was, in his manners, courteous and polished as a +Chesterfield; learned as a savant in his conversation; human in his +thoughtful regard of my fears and misgivings; but that tremendous +forehead, with its crown of silver hair, the long, translucent beard of +pearly whiteness, and above all the astounding facility with which he +read my hidden thoughts--these were not natural. + +The Professor had been patient with me--I had a right to expect that; he +was entertaining to the extent of reading such excerpts as he had with +him on the subject of hallucinations and their supposed causes, but had +he not spoiled all by assigning me at last to a place with the +questionable, unbalanced characters he had cited? I thought so, and the +reflection provoked me; and this thought grew upon me until I came to +regard his stories and attendant theories as so much literary trash. + +My own reflections had been sober and deliberate, and had led me to seek +a rational explanation of the unusual phenomena. I had gone to Professor +Chickering for a certain measure of sympathy, and what was more to the +point, to secure his suggestions and assistance in the further +unraveling of a profound mystery that might contain a secret of untold +use to humanity. Repulsed by the mode in which my confidence had been +received, I decided to do what I should have done from the outset--to +keep my own counsel, and to follow alone the investigation to the end, +no matter what the result might be. I could not forget or ignore the +silver hair I had so religiously preserved. That was genuine; it was as +tangible, as real, as convincing a witness as would have been the entire +head of my singular visitant, whatever might be his nature. + +I began to feel at ease the moment my course was decided, and the +feeling was at once renewed within me that the gray head would come +again, and by degrees that expectation ripened into a desire, only +intensified as the days sped by. The weeks passed into months; summer +came and went; autumn was fast fading, but the mysterious unknown did +not appear. A curious fancy led me now to regard him as my friend, for +the mixed and indefinite feelings I felt at first towards him had almost +unaccountably been changed to those of sincere regard. He was not always +in my thoughts, for I had abundant occupation at all times to keep both +brain and hands busy, but there were few evenings in which I did not, +just before retiring, give myself up for a brief period to quiet +communion with my own thoughts, and I must confess at such times the +unknown occupied the larger share of attention. The constant +contemplation of any theme begets a feeling of familiarity or +acquaintance with the same, and if that subject be an individual, as in +the present instance, such contemplation lessens the liability to +surprise from any unexpected development. In fact, I not only +anticipated a visit, but courted it. The old Latin maxim that I had +played with, "Never less alone than when alone" had domiciled itself +within my brain as a permanent lodger--a conviction, a feeling rather +than a thought defined, and I had but little difficulty in associating +an easy-chair which I had come to place in a certain position for my +expected visitor, with his presence. + +Indian summer had passed, and the fall was nearly gone when for some +inexplicable reason the number seven began to haunt me. What had I to do +with seven, or seven with me? When I sat down at night this persistent +number mixed itself in my thoughts, to my intense annoyance. Bother take +the mystic numeral! What was I to do with seven? I found myself asking +this question audibly one evening, when it suddenly occurred to me that +I would refer to the date of my friend's visit. I kept no journal, but +reference to a record of some business transactions that I had +associated with that event showed that it took place on November +seventh. That settled the importunate seven! I should look for whomever +he was on the first anniversary of his visit, which was the seventh, now +close at hand. The instant I had reached this conclusion the number left +me, and troubled me no more. + +November third had passed, the fourth, and the fifth had come, when a +stubborn, protesting notion entered my mind that I was yielding to a +superstitious idea, and that it was time to control my vacillating will. +Accordingly on this day I sent word to a friend that, if agreeable to +him, I would call on him on the evening of the seventh for a short +social chat, but as I expected to be engaged until later than usual, +would he excuse me if I did not reach his apartments until ten? The +request was singular, but as I was now accounted somewhat odd, it +excited no comment, and the answer was returned, requesting me to come. +The seventh of November came at last. I was nervous during the day, +which seemed to drag tediously, and several times it was remarked of me +that I seemed abstracted and ill at ease, but I held my peace. Night +came cold and clear, and the stars shone brighter than usual, I thought. +It was a sharp contrast to the night of a year ago. I took an early +supper, for which I had no appetite, after which I strolled aimlessly +about the streets, revolving how I should put in the time till ten +o'clock, when I was to call upon my friend. I decided to go to the +theater, and to the theater I went. The play was spectacular, "Aladdin; +or, The Wonderful Lamp." The entertainment, to me, was a flat failure, +for I was busy with my thoughts, and it was not long until my thoughts +were busy with me, and I found myself attempting to answer a series of +questions that finally became embarrassing. "Why did you make an +appointment for ten o'clock instead of eight, if you wished to keep away +from your apartments?" I hadn't thought of that before; it was stupid to +a degree, if not ill-mannered, and I frankly admitted as much. "Why did +you make an appointment at all, in the face of the fact that you not +only expected a visitor, but were anxious to meet him?" This was easily +answered: because I did not wish to yield to what struck me as +superstition. "But do you expect to extend your call until morning?" +Well, no, I hadn't thought or arranged to do so. "Well, then, what is to +prevent your expected guest from awaiting your return? Or, what +assurance have you that he will not encounter you in the street, under +circumstances that will provoke or, at the least, embarrass you?" None +whatever. "Then what have you gained by your stupid perversity?" +Nothing, beyond the assertion of my own individuality. "Why not go home +and receive your guest in becoming style?" No; I would not do that. I +had started on this course, and I would persevere in it. I would be +consistent. And so I persisted, at least until nine o'clock, when I quit +the theater in sullen dejection, and went home to make some slight +preparation for my evening call. + +With my latch-key I let myself into the front door of the apartment +house wherein I lodged, walked through the hall, up the stair-case, and +paused on the threshold of my room, wondering what I would find inside. +Opening the door I entered, leaving it open behind me so that the light +from the hall-way would shine into the room, which was dark, and there +was no transom above the door. The grate fire had caked into a solid +mass of charred bituminous coal, which shed no illumination beyond a +faint red glow at the bottom, showing that it was barely alive, and no +more. I struck a match on the underside of the mantel shelf, and as I +lit the gas I heard the click of the door latch. I turned instantly; the +door had been gently closed by some unknown force if not by unseen +hands, for there was no breath of air stirring. This preternatural +interference was not pleasant, for I had hoped in the event of another +visit from my friend, if friend he was, that he would bring no uncanny +or ghostly manifestation to disturb me. I looked at the clock; the index +pointed to half past nine. I glanced about the room; it was orderly, +everything in proper position, even to the arm-chair that I had been +wont to place for my nondescript visitor. It was time to be going, so I +turned to the dressing case, brushed my hair, put on a clean scarf, and +moved towards the wash-stand, which stood in a little alcove on the +opposite side of the room. My self-command well-nigh deserted me as I +did so, for there, in the arm-chair that a moment before was empty, sat +my guest of a year ago, facing me with placid features! The room began +to revolve, a faint, sick feeling came over me, and I reeled into the +first convenient chair, and covered my face with my hands. This +depression lasted but an instant, however, and as I recovered +self-possession, I felt or fancied I felt a pair of penetrating eyes +fixed upon me with the same mild, searching gaze I remembered so well. I +ventured to look up; sure enough, there they were, the beaming eyes, and +there was he! Rising from his chair, he towered up to his full height, +smiled pleasantly, and with a slight inclination of the head, murmured: +"Permit me to wish you good evening; I am profoundly glad to meet you +again." + +It was full a minute before I could muster courage to answer: "I wish I +could say as much for myself." + +"And why shouldn't you?" he said, gently and courteously; "you have +realized, for the past six months, that I would return; more than +that--you have known for some time the very day and almost the exact +hour of my coming, have even wished for it, and, in the face of all +this, I find you preparing to evade the requirements of common +hospitality;--are you doing either me or yourself justice?" + +I was nettled at the knowledge he displayed of my movements, and of my +very thoughts; my old stubbornness asserted itself, and I was rude +enough to say: "Perhaps it is as you say; at all events, I am obligated +to keep an engagement, and with your permission will now retire." + +It was curious to mark the effect of this speech upon the intruder. He +immediately became grave, reached quietly into an inner pocket of his +coat, drew thence the same glittering, horrible, mysterious knife that +had so terrified and bewildered me a year before, and looking me +steadily in the eye, said coldly, yet with a certain tone of sadness: +"Well, I will not grant permission. It is unpleasant to resort to this +style of argument, but I do it to save time and controversy." + +I stepped back in terror, and reached for the old-fashioned bell-cord, +with the heavy tassel at the end, that depended from the ceiling, and +was on the point of grasping and giving it a vigorous pull. + +"Not so fast, if you please," he said, sternly, as he stepped forward, +and gave the knife a rapid swish through the air above my head, causing +the cord to fall in a tangle about my hand, cut cleanly, high above my +reach! + +I gazed in dumb stupor at the rope about my hand, and raised my eyes to +the remnant above. That was motionless; there was not the slightest +perceptible vibration, such as would naturally be expected. I turned to +look at my guest; he had resumed his seat, and had also regained his +pleasant expression, but he still held the knife in his hand with his +arm extended, at rest, upon the table, which stood upon his right. + +[Illustration: "THE SAME GLITTERING, MYSTERIOUS KNIFE."] + +"Let us have an end to this folly," he said; "think a moment, and you +will see that you are in fault. Your error we will rectify easily, and +then to business. I will first show you the futility of trying to escape +this interview, and then we will proceed to work, for time presses, and +there is much to do." Having delivered this remark, he detached a single +silvery hair from his head, blew it from his fingers, and let it float +gently upon the upturned edge of the knife, which was still resting on +the table. The hair was divided as readily as had been the bell-cord. I +was transfixed with astonishment, for he had evidently aimed to exhibit +the quality of the blade, though he made no allusion to the feat, but +smilingly went on with his discourse: "It is just a year ago to-night +since we first met. Upon that occasion you made an agreement with me +which you are in honor bound to keep, and--" here he paused as if to note +the effect of his words upon me, then added significantly--"will keep. I +have been at some pains to impress upon your mind the fact that I +would be here to-night. You responded, and knew that I was coming, and +yet in obedience to a silly whim, deliberately made a meaningless +engagement with no other purpose than to violate a solemn obligation. I +now insist that you keep your prior engagement with me, but I do not +wish that you should be rude to your friend, so you had better write him +a polite note excusing yourself, and dispatch it at once." + +I saw that he was right, and that there was no shadow of justification +for my conduct, or at least I was subdued by his presence, so I wrote +the note without delay, and was casting about for some way to send it, +when he said: "Fold it, seal it, and address it; you seem to forget what +is proper." I did as he directed, mechanically, and, without thinking +what I was doing, handed it to him. He took it naturally, glanced at the +superscription, went to the door which he opened slightly, and handed +the billet as if to some messenger who seemed to be in waiting +outside,--then closed and locked the door. Turning toward me with the +apparent object of seeing if I was looking, he deftly drew his knife +twice across the front of the door-knob, making a deep cross, and then +deposited the knife in his pocket, and resumed his seat.[2] + + [2] I noted afterward that the door-knob, which was of solid + metal, was cut deeply, as though made of putty. + +As soon as he was comfortably seated, he again began the conversation: +"Now that we have settled the preliminaries, I will ask if you remember +what I required of you a year ago?" I thought that I did. "Please repeat +it; I wish to make sure that you do, then we will start fair." + +"In the first place, you were to present me with a manuscript--" + +"Hardly correct," he interrupted; "I was to acquaint you with a +narrative which is already in manuscript, acquaint you with it, read it +to you, if you preferred not to read it to me--" + +"I beg your pardon," I answered; "that is correct. You were to read the +manuscript to me, and during the reading I was to interpose such +comments, remarks, or objections, as seemed proper; to embody as +interludes, in the manuscript, as my own interpolations, however, and +not as part of the original." + +"Very good," he replied, "you have the idea exactly; proceed." + +"I agreed that when the reading had been completed, I would seal the +complete manuscript securely, deposit it in some safe place, there to +remain for thirty years, when it must be published." + +[Illustration: "DREW HIS KNIFE TWICE ACROSS THE FRONT OF THE +DOOR-KNOB."] + +"Just so," he answered; "we understand each other as we should. Before +we proceed further, however, can you think of any point on which you +need enlightenment? If so, ask such questions as you choose, and I will +answer them." + +I thought for a moment, but no query occurred to me; after a pause he +said: "Well, if you think of nothing now, perhaps hereafter questions +will occur to you which you can ask; but as it is late, and you are +tired, we will not commence now. I will see you just one week from +to-night, when we will begin. From that time on, we will follow the +subject as rapidly as you choose, but see to it that you make no +engagements that will interfere with our work, for I shall be more +exacting in the future." I promised, and he rose to go. A sudden impulse +seized me, and I said: "May I ask one question?" + +"Certainly." + +"What shall I call you?" + +"Why call me aught? It is not necessary in addressing each other that +any name be used." + +"But what are you?" I persisted. + +A pained expression for an instant rested upon his face, and he said, +sadly, pausing between the words: "I--Am--The--Man Who--Did--It." + +"Did what?" + +"Ask not; the manuscript will tell you. Be content, Llewellyn, and +remember this, that I--Am--The--Man." + +So saying he bade me good night, opened the door, and disappeared down +the broad stair-case. + +One week thereafter he appeared promptly, seated himself, and producing +a roll of manuscript, handed it to me, saying, "I am listening; you may +begin to read." + +On examination I found each page to be somewhat larger than a sheet of +letter paper, with the written matter occupying a much smaller space, so +as to leave a wide white border. One hundred pages were in the package. +The last sentence ending abruptly indicated that my guest did not expect +to complete his task in one evening, and, I may anticipate by saying +that with each successive interview he drew about the same amount of +writing from his bosom. Upon attempting to read the manuscript I at +first found myself puzzled by a style of chirography very peculiar and +characteristic, but execrably bad. Vainly did I attempt to read it; even +the opening sentence was not deciphered without long inspection and +great difficulty. + +The old man, whom I had promised that I would fulfill the task, +observing my discomfiture, relieved me of the charge, and without a word +of introduction, read fluently as follows: + + + + +THE MANUSCRIPT OF I--AM--THE--MAN. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + A SEARCH FOR KNOWLEDGE.--THE ALCHEMISTIC LETTER. + + +I am the man who, unfortunately for my future happiness, was +dissatisfied with such knowledge as could be derived from ordinary books +concerning semi-scientific subjects in which I had long been absorbed. I +studied the current works of my day on philosophy and chemistry, hoping +therein to find something tangible regarding the relationship that +exists between matter and spirit, but studied in vain. Astronomy, +history, philosophy and the mysterious, incoherent works of alchemy and +occultism were finally appealed to, but likewise failed to satisfy me. +These studies were pursued in secret, though I am not aware that any +necessity existed for concealment. Be that as it may, at every +opportunity I covertly acquainted myself with such alchemical lore as +could be obtained either by purchase or by correspondence with others +whom I found to be pursuing investigations in the same direction. A +translation of Geber's "De Claritate Alchemiae," by chance came into my +possession, and afterwards an original version from the Latin of +Boerhaave's "Elementa Chemiae," published and translated in 1753 by +Peter Shaw. This magnificent production threw a flood of light upon the +early history of chemistry, being far more elaborate than any modern +work. It inspired me with the deepest regard for its talented author, +and ultimately introduced me to a brotherhood of adepts, for in this +publication, although its author disclaims occultism, is to be found a +talisman that will enable any earnest searcher after light to become a +member of the society of secret "Chemical Improvers of Natural +Philosophy," with which I affiliated as soon as the key was discovered. +Then followed a systematic investigation of authorities of the +Alchemical School, including Geber, Morienus, Roger Bacon, George +Ripley, Raymond Lully, Bernard, Count of Trevise, Isaac Hollandus, +Arnoldus de la Villanova, Paracelsus, and others, not omitting the +learned researches of the distinguished scientist, Llewellyn. + +[Illustration: FAC-SIMILE OF PAGE OF MANUSCRIPT.] + +I discovered that many talented men are still firm believers in the lost +art of alchemy, and that among the followers of the "thrice-famed +Hermes" are to be found statesmen, clergymen, lawyers, and scientific +men who, for various reasons, invariably conceal with great tact their +connection with the fraternity of adepts. Some of these men had written +scientific treatises of a very different character from those +circulating among the members of our brotherhood, and to their +materialistic readers it would seem scarcely possible that the authors +could be tainted with hallucinations of any description, while others, +conspicuous leaders in the church, were seemingly beyond occult +temptation. + +The larger number, it was evident, hoped by studies of the works of the +alchemists, to find the key to the alkahest of Van Helmont, that is, to +discover the Philosopher's Stone, or the Elixir of Life, and from their +writings it is plain that the inner consciousness of thoughtful and +scientific men rebelled against confinement to the narrow bounds of +materialistic science, within which they were forced to appear as +dogmatic pessimists. To them scientific orthodoxy, acting as a weight, +prohibited intellectual speculation, as rank heresy. A few of my +co-laborers were expert manipulators, and worked experimentally, +following in their laboratories the suggestions of those gifted students +who had pored over precious old manuscripts, and had attempted to solve +the enigmatical formulas recorded therein, puzzles familiar to students +of Hermetic lore. It was thus demonstrated,--for what I have related is +history,--that in this nineteenth century there exists a fraternity, the +members of which are as earnest in their belief in the truth of Esoteric +philosophy, as were the followers of Hermes himself; savants who, in +secret, circulate among themselves a literature that the materialism of +this selfsame nineteenth century has relegated to the deluded and murky +periods that produced it. + +One day a postal package came to my address, this being the manner in +which some of our literature circulated, which, on examination, I +found to be a letter of instruction and advice from some unknown member +of our circle. I was already becoming disheartened over the mental +confusion into which my studies were leading me, and the contents of the +letter, in which I was greatly interested, made a lasting impression +upon me. It seemed to have been circulating a long time among our +members in Europe and America, for it bore numerous marginal notes of +various dates, but each and every one of its readers had for one reason +or another declined the task therein suggested. From the substance of +the paper, which, written exquisitely, yet partook of the ambiguous +alchemistic style, it was evident that the author was well versed in +alchemy, and, in order that my position may be clearly understood at +this turning point in a life of remarkable adventure, the letter is +appended in full: + + THE ALCHEMISTIC LETTER. + + TO THE BROTHER ADEPT WHO DARES TRY TO DISCOVER ZOROASTER'S CAVE, + OR THE PHILOSOPHER'S INTELLECTUAL ECHOES, BY MEANS OF WHICH THEY + COMMUNICATE TO ONE ANOTHER FROM THEIR CAVES. + + Know thou, that Hermes Trismegistus did not originate, but he + gave to our philosophy his name--the Hermetic Art. Evolved in a + dim, mystic age, before antiquity began, it endured through the + slowly rolling cycles to be bandied about by the ever-ready + flippancy of nineteenth century students. It has lived, because + it is endowed with that quality which never dies--truth. Modern + philosophy, of which chemistry is but a fragment, draws its + sustenance from the prime facts which were revealed in ancient + Egypt through Hermetic thought, and fixed by the Hermetic stylus. + + "The Hermetic allegories," so various in interpretable + susceptibility, led subsequent thinkers into speculations and + experimentations, which have resulted profitably to the world. It + is not strange that some of the followers of Hermes, especially + the more mercurial and imaginative, should have evolved nebulous + theories, no longer explainable, and involving recondite + spiritual considerations. Know thou that the ultimate on + psycho-chemical investigation is the proximate of the infinite. + Accordingly, a class came to believe that a projection of natural + mental faculties into an advanced state of consciousness called + the "wisdom faculty" constitutes the final possibility of + Alchemy. The attainment of this exalted condition is still + believed practicable by many earnest savants. Once on this lofty + plane, the individual would not be trammelled by material + obstacles, but would abide in that spiritual placidity which is + the exquisite realization of mortal perfection. So exalted, he + would be in naked parallelism with Omniscience, and through his + illuminated understanding, could feast his soul on those exalted + pleasures which are only less than deific. + + Notwithstanding the exploitings of a number of these + philosophers, in which, by reason of our inability to comprehend, + sense seemed lost in a passage of incohesive dreamery and + resonancy of terminology, some of the purest spiritual researches + the world has ever known, were made in the dawn of history. The + much abused alchemical philosophers existed upon a plane, in some + respects above the level of the science of to-day. Many of them + lived for the good of the world only, in an atmosphere above the + materialistic hordes that people the world, and toiling over + their crucibles and alembics, died in their cells "uttering no + voice." Take, for example, Eirenaeus Philalethes, who, born in + 1623, lived contemporaneously with Robert Boyle. A fragment from + his writings will illustrate the purpose which impelled the + searcher for the true light of alchemy to record his discoveries + in allegories, and we have no right to question the honesty of + his utterances: + + "The Searcher of all hearts knows that I write the truth; nor is + there any cause to accuse me of envy. I write with an unterrified + quill in an unheard of style, to the honor of God, to the profit + of my neighbors, with contempt of the world and its riches, + because Elias, the artist, is already born, and now glorious + things are declared of the city of God. I dare affirm that I do + possess more riches than the whole known world is worth, but I + can not make use of it because of the snares of knaves. I + disdain, loathe, and detest the idolizing of silver and gold, by + which the pomps and vanities of the world are celebrated. Ah! + filthy evil! Ah! vain nothingness! Believe ye that I conceal the + art out of envy? No, verily, I protest to you; I grieve from the + very bottom of my soul that we (alchemists) are driven like + vagabonds from the face of the Lord throughout the earth. But + what need of many words? The thing that we have seen, taught, and + made, which we have, possess, and know, that we do declare; being + moved with compassion for the studious, and with indignation of + gold, silver, and precious stones. Believe me, the time is at the + door, I feel it in spirit, when we, adeptists, shall return from + the four corners of the earth, nor shall we fear any snares that + are laid against our lives, but we shall give thanks to the Lord + our God. I would to God that every ingenious man in the whole + earth understood this science; then it would be valued only for + its wisdom, and virtue only would be had in honor." + + Of course there was a more worldly class, and a large contingent + of mercenary impostors (as science is always encumbered), + parasites, whose animus was shamefully unlike the purity of true + esoteric psychologists. These men devoted their lives to + experimentation for selfish advancement. They constructed + alchemical outfits, and carried on a ceaseless inquiry into the + nature of solvents, and studied their influences on earthly + bodies, their ultimate object being the discovery of the + Philosopher's Stone, and the alkahest which Boerhaave asserts + was never discovered. Their records were often a verbose melange, + purposely so written, no doubt, to cover their tracks, and to + make themselves conspicuous. Other Hermetic believers occupied a + more elevated position, and connected the intellectual with the + material, hoping to gain by their philosophy and science not only + gold and silver, which were secondary considerations, but the + highest literary achievement, the Magnum Opus. Others still + sought to draw from Astrology and Magic the secrets that would + lead them to their ambitious goal. Thus there were degrees of + fineness in a fraternity, which the science of to-day must + recognize and admit. + + Boerhaave, the illustrious, respected Geber, of the alchemistic + school, and none need feel compromised in admiring the talented + alchemists who, like Geber, wrought in the twilight of morn for + the coming world's good. We are now enjoying a fragment of the + ultimate results of their genius and industry in the + materialistic outcomes of present-day chemistry, to be followed + by others more valuable; and at last, when mankind is ripe in the + wisdom faculty, by spiritual contentment in the complacent + furtherings beyond. Allow me briefly to refer to a few men of the + alchemistic type whose records may be considered with advantage. + + Rhasis, a conspicuous alchemist, born in 850, first mentioned + orpiment, borax, compounds of iron, copper, arsenic, and other + similar substances. It is said, too, that he discovered the art + of making brandy. About a century later, Alfarabe (killed in + 950), a great alchemist, astonished the King of Syria with his + profound learning, and excited the admiration of the wise men of + the East by his varied accomplishments. Later, Albertus Magnus + (born 1205), noted for his talent and skill, believed firmly in + the doctrine of transmutation. His beloved pupil, Thomas Aquinas, + gave us the word amalgam, and it still serves us. + Contemporaneously with these lived Roger Bacon (born 1214), who + was a man of most extraordinary ability. There has never been a + greater English intellect (not excepting his illustrious + namesake, Lord Bacon), and his penetrating mind delved deeper + into nature's laws than that of any successor. He told us of + facts concerning the sciences, that scientific men can not fully + comprehend to-day; he told us of other things that lie beyond the + science provings of to-day, that modern philosophers can not + grasp. He was an enthusiastic believer in the Hermetic + philosophy, and such were his erudition and advanced views, that + his brother friars, through jealousy and superstition, had him + thrown into prison--a common fate to men who in those days dared + to think ahead of their age. Despite (as some would say) of his + mighty reasoning power and splendid attainments, he believed the + Philosopher's Stone to be a reality; he believed the secret of + indefinite prolongation of life abode in alchemy; that the future + could be predicted by means of a mirror which he called + Almuchese, and that by alchemy an adept could produce pure gold. + He asserted that by means of Aristotle's "Secret of Secrets," + pure gold can be made; gold even purer and finer than what men + now know as gold. In connection with other predictions he made an + assertion that may with other seemingly unreasonable predictions + be verified in time to come. He said: "It is equally possible to + construct cars which may be set in motion with marvelous + rapidity, independently of horses or other animals." He declared + that the ancients had done this, and he believed the art might be + revived. + + Following came various enthusiasts, such as Raymond, the + ephemeral (died 1315), who flared like a meteor into his brief, + brilliant career; Arnold de Villanova (1240), a celebrated adept, + whose books were burned by the Inquisition on account of the + heresy they taught; Nicholas Flamel, of France (1350), loved by + the people for his charities, the wonder of his age (our age will + not admit the facts) on account of the vast fortune he amassed + without visible means or income, outside of alchemical lore; + Johannes de Rupecissus, a man of such remarkable daring that he + even (1357) reprimanded Pope Innocent VI., for which he was + promptly imprisoned; Basil Valentine (1410), the author of many + works, and the man who introduced antimony (antimonaches) into + medicine; Isaac of Holland who, with his son, skillfully made + artificial gems that could not be distinguished from the natural; + Bernard Trevison (born 1406), who spent $30,000 in the study of + alchemy, out of much of which he was cheated by cruel alchemic + pretenders, for even in that day there were plenty of rogues to + counterfeit a good thing. Under stress of his strong alchemic + convictions, Thomas Dalton placed his head on the block by order + of the virtuous (?) and conservative Thomas Herbert, 'squire to + King Edward; Jacob Bohme (born 1575), the sweet, pure spirit of + Christian mysticism, "The Voice of Heaven," than whom none stood + higher in true alchemy, was a Christian, alchemist, theosophist; + Robert Boyle, a conspicuous alchemical philosopher, in 1662 + published his "Defense of the Doctrine touching the Spring and + Weight of the Air," and illustrated his arguments by a series of + ingenious and beautiful experiments, that stand to-day so high in + the estimation of scientific men, that his remarks are copied + verbatim by our highest authorities, and his apparatus is the + best yet devised for the purpose. Boyle's "Law" was evolved and + carefully defined fourteen years before Mariotte's "Discours de + la Nature de l'Air" appeared, which did not, however, prevent + French and German scientific men from giving the credit to + Mariotte, and they still follow the false teacher who boldly + pirated not only Boyle's ideas, but stole his apparatus. + + Then appeared such men as Paracelsus (born 1493), the celebrated + physician, who taught that occultism (esoteric philosophy) was + superior to experimental chemistry in enlightening us concerning + the transmutation of baser metals into gold and silver; and + Gueppo Francisco (born 1627), who wrote a beautiful treatise on + "Elementary Spirits," which was copied without credit by Compte + de Gabalis. It seems incredible that the man (Gueppo Francisco), + whose sweet spirit-thoughts are revivified and breathe anew in + "Undine" and "The Rape of the Lock," should have been thrown into + a prison to perish as a Hermetic follower; and this should teach + us not to question the earnestness of those who left us as a + legacy the beauty and truth so abundantly found in pure alchemy. + + These and many others, cotemporaries, some conspicuous, and + others whose names do not shine in written history, contributed + incalculably to the grand aggregate of knowledge concerning the + divine secret which enriched the world. Compare the benefits of + Hermetic philosophy with the result of bloody wars ambitiously + waged by self-exacting tyrants--tyrants whom history applauds as + heroes, but whom we consider as butchers. Among the workers in + alchemy are enumerated nobles, kings, and even popes. Pope John + XXII. was an alchemist, which accounts for his bull against + impostors, promulgated in order that true students might not be + discredited; and King Frederick of Naples sanctioned the art, and + protected its devotees. + + At last, Count Cagliostro, the chequered "Joseph Balsamo" (born + 1743), who combined alchemy, magic, astrology, sleight of hand, + mesmerism, Free Masonry, and remarkable personal accomplishments, + that altogether have never since been equalled, burst upon the + world. Focusing the gaze of the church, kings, and the commons + upon himself, in many respects the most audacious pretender that + history records, he raised the Hermetic art to a dazzling height, + and finally buried it in a blaze of splendor as he passed from + existence beneath a mantle of shame. As a meteor streams into + view from out the star mists of space, and in corruscating glory + sinks into the sea, Cagliostro blazed into the sky of the + eighteenth century, from the nebulae of alchemistic speculation, + and extinguished both himself and his science in the light of the + rising sun of materialism. Cagliostro the visionary, the poet, + the inspired, the erratic comet in the universe of intellect, + perished in prison as a mountebank, and then the plodding chemist + of to-day, with his tedious mechanical methods, and cold, + unresponsive, materialistic dogmas, arose from the ashes, and + sprang into prominence. + + Read the story backward, and you shall see that in alchemy we + behold the beginning of all the sciences of to-day; alchemy is + the cradle that rocked them. Fostered with necromancy, astrology, + occultism, and all the progeny of mystic dreamery, the infant + sciences struggled for existence through the dark ages, in care + of the once persecuted and now traduced alchemist. The world owes + a monument to-day more to Hermetic heroes, than to all other + influences and instrumentalities, religion excepted, combined, + for our present civilization is largely a legacy from the + alchemist. Begin with Hermes Trismegistus, and close with Joseph + Balsamo, and if you are inclined towards science, do not + criticise too severely their verbal logorrhea, and their + romanticism, for your science is treading backward; it will + encroach upon their field again, and you may have to unsay your + words of hasty censure. These men fulfilled their mission, and + did it well. If they told more than men now think they knew, they + also knew more than they told, and more than modern philosophy + embraces. They could not live to see all the future they eagerly + hoped for, but they started a future for mankind that will far + exceed in sweetness and light the most entrancing visions of + their most imaginative dreamers. They spoke of the existence of a + "red elixir," and while they wrote, the barbarous world about + them ran red with blood,--blood of the pure in heart, blood of + the saints, blood of a Saviour; and their allegory and wisdom + formulae were recorded in blood of their own sacrifices. They + dreamed of a "white elixir" that is yet to bless mankind, and a + brighter day for man, a period of peace, happiness, long life, + contentment, good will and brotherly love, and in the name of + this "white elixir" they directed the world towards a vision of + divine light. Even pure gold, as they told the materialistic + world who worship gold, was penetrated and whelmed by this + subtle, superlatively refined spirit of matter. Is not the day of + the allegorical "white elixir" nearly at hand? Would that it + were! + + I say to you now, brothers of the eighteenth century, as one + speaking by authority to you, cease (some of you) to study this + entrancing past, look to the future by grasping the present, cast + aside (some of you) the alchemical lore of other days, give up + your loved allegories; it is a duty, you must relinquish them. + There is a richer field. Do not delay. Unlock this mystic door + that stands hinged and ready, waiting the touch of men who can + interpret the talisman; place before mankind the knowledge that + lies behind its rivets. In the secret lodges that have preserved + the wisdom of the days of Enoch and Elias of Egypt, who + propagated the Egyptian Order, a branch of your ancient + brotherhood, is to be found concealed much knowledge that should + now be spread before the world, and added to the treasures of our + circle of adepts. This cabalistic wisdom is not recorded in books + nor in manuscript, but has been purposely preserved from the + uninitiated, in the unreadable brains of unresponsive men. Those + who are selected to act as carriers thereof, are, as a rule, like + dumb water bearers, or the dead sheet of paper that mechanically + preserves an inspiration derived from minds unseen: they serve a + purpose as a child mechanically commits to memory a blank verse + to repeat to others, who in turn commit to repeat again--neither + of them speaking understandingly. Search ye these hidden paths, + for the day of mental liberation approaches, and publish to the + world all that is locked within the doors of that antiquated + organization. The world is nearly ripe for the wisdom faculty, + and men are ready to unravel the golden threads that mystic + wisdom has inwoven in her web of secret knowledge. Look for + knowledge where I have indicated, and to gain it do not hesitate + to swear allegiance to this sacred order, for so you must do to + gain entrance to the brotherhood, and then you must act what men + will call the traitor. You will, however, be doing a sacred duty, + for the world will profit, humanity will be the gainer, "Peace on + Earth, Good Will to Man," will be closer to mankind, and at last, + when the sign appears, the "white elixir" will no longer be + allegorical; it will become a reality. In the name of the Great + Mystic Vase-Man, go thou into these lodges, learn of their + secrets, and spread their treasures before those who can + interpret them. + +Here this letter ended. It was evident that the writer referred to a +secret society into which I could probably enter; and taking the advice, +I did not hesitate, but applied at once for membership. I determined, +regardless of consequence, to follow the suggestion of the unknown +writer, and by so doing, for I accepted their pledges, I invited my +destiny. + +My guest of the massive forehead paused for a moment, stroked his long, +white beard, and then, after casting an inquiring glance on me, asked, +"Shall I read on?" + +"Yes," I replied, and The--Man--Who--Did--It, proceeded as follows: + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + THE WRITING OF MY CONFESSION. + + +Having become a member of the Secret Society as directed by the writer +of the letter I have just read, and having obtained the secrets hinted +at in the mystic directions, my next desire was to find a secluded spot +where, without interruption, I could prepare for publication what I had +gathered surreptitiously in the lodges of the fraternity I designed to +betray. This I entitled "My Confession." Alas! why did my evil genius +prompt me to write it? Why did not some kind angel withhold my hand from +the rash and wicked deed? All I can urge in defense or palliation is +that I was infatuated by the fatal words of the letter, "You must act +what men will call the traitor, but humanity will be the gainer." + +In a section of the state in which I resided, a certain creek forms the +boundary line between two townships, and also between two counties. +Crossing this creek, a much traveled road stretches east and west, +uniting the extremes of the great state. Two villages on this road, +about four miles apart, situated on opposite sides of the creek, also +present themselves to my memory, and midway between them, on the north +side of the road, was a substantial farm house. In going west from the +easternmost of these villages, the traveler begins to descend from the +very center of the town. In no place is the grade steep, as the road +lies between the spurs of the hill abutting upon the valley that feeds +the creek I have mentioned. Having reached the valley, the road winds a +short distance to the right, then turning to the left, crosses the +stream, and immediately begins to climb the western hill; here the +ascent is more difficult, for the road lies diagonally over the edge of +the hill. A mile of travel, as I recall the scene, sometimes up a steep, +and again among rich, level farm lands, and then on the very height, +close to the road, within a few feet of it, appears the square +structure which was, at the time I mention, known as the Stone Tavern. +On the opposite side of the road were located extensive stables, and a +grain barn. In the northeast chamber of that stone building, during a +summer in the twenties, I wrote for publication the description of the +mystic work that my oath should have made forever a secret, a sacred +trust. I am the man who wantonly committed the deplorable act. Under the +infatuation of that alchemical manuscript, I strove to show the world +that I could and would do that which might never benefit me in the +least, but might serve humanity. It was fate. I was not a bad man, +neither malignity, avarice, nor ambition forming a part of my nature. I +was a close student, of a rather retiring disposition, a stone-mason by +trade, careless and indifferent to public honors, and so thriftless that +many trifling neighborhood debts had accumulated against me. + +What I have reluctantly told, for I am forbidden to give the names of +the localities, comprises an abstract of part of the record of my early +life, and will introduce the extraordinary narrative which follows. That +I have spoken the truth, and in no manner overdrawn, will be silently +evidenced by hundreds of brethren, both of the occult society and the +fraternal brotherhood, with which I united, who can (if they will) +testify to the accuracy of the narrative. They know the story of my +crime and disgrace; only myself and God know the full retribution that +followed. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + KIDNAPPED. + + +The events just narrated occurred in the prime of my life, and are +partly matters of publicity. My attempted breach of faith in the way of +disclosing their secrets was naturally infamous in the eyes of my +society brethren, who endeavored to prevail upon me to relent of my +design which, after writing my "Confession," I made no endeavor to +conceal. Their importunities and threatenings had generally been +resisted, however, and with an obliquity that can not be easily +explained, I persisted in my unreasonable design. I was blessed as a +husband and father, but neither the thought of home, wife, nor child, +checked me in my inexplicable course. I was certainly irresponsible, +perhaps a monomaniac, and yet on the subject in which I was absorbed, I +preserved my mental equipoise, and knowingly followed a course that +finally brought me into the deepest slough of trouble, and lost to me +forever all that man loves most dearly. An overruling spirit, perhaps +the shade of one of the old alchemists, possessed me, and in the face of +obstacles that would have caused most men to reflect, and retrace their +steps, I madly rushed onward. The influence that impelled me, whatever +it may have been, was irresistible. I apparently acted the part of +agent, subject to an ever-present master essence, and under this +dominating spirit or demon my mind was powerless in its subjection. My +soul was driven imperiously by that impelling and indescribable +something, and was as passive and irresponsible as lycopodium that is +borne onward in a steady current of air. Methods were vainly sought by +those who loved me, brethren of the lodge, and others who endeavored to +induce me to change my headstrong purpose, but I could neither accept +their counsels nor heed their forebodings. Summons by law were served on +me in order to disconcert me, and my numerous small debts became the +pretext for legal warrants, until at last all my papers (excepting my +"Confession"), and my person also, were seized, upon an execution served +by a constable. Minor claims were quickly satisfied, but when I regained +my liberty, the aggression continued. Even arson was resorted to, and +the printing office that held my manuscript was fired one night, that +the obnoxious revelation which I persisted in putting into print, might +be destroyed. Finally I found myself separated by process of law from +home and friends, an inmate of a jail. My opponents, as I now came to +consider them, had confined me in prison for a debt of only two dollars, +a sufficient amount at that time, in that state, for my incarceration. +Smarting under the humiliation, my spirit became still more rebellious, +and I now, perhaps justly, came to view myself as a martyr. It had been +at first asserted that I had stolen a shirt, but I was not afraid of any +penalty that could be laid on me for this trumped-up charge, believing +that the imputation and the arrest would be shown to be designed as +willful oppression. Therefore it was, that when this contemptible +arraignment had been swept aside, and I was freed before a Justice of +the Peace, I experienced more than a little surprise at a rearrest, and +at finding myself again thrown into jail. I knew that it had been +decreed by my brethren that I must retract and destroy my "Confession," +and this fact made me the more determined to prevent its destruction, +and I persisted sullenly in pursuing my course. On the evening of August +12th, 1826, my jailer's wife informed me that the debt for which I had +been incarcerated had been paid by unknown "friends," and that I could +depart; and I accepted the statement without question. Upon my stepping +from the door of the jail, however, my arms were firmly grasped by two +persons, one on each side of me, and before I could realize the fact +that I was being kidnapped, I was thrust into a closed coach, which +immediately rolled away, but not until I made an outcry which, if heard +by anyone, was unheeded. + +"For your own sake, be quiet," said one of my companions in confinement, +for the carriage was draped to exclude the light, and was as dark as a +dungeon. My spirit rebelled; I felt that I was on the brink of a +remarkable, perhaps perilous experience, and I indignantly replied by +asking: + +"What have I done that you should presume forcibly to imprison me? Am I +not a freeman of America?" + +"What have you done?" he answered. "Have you not bound yourself by a +series of vows that are sacred and should be inviolable, and have you +not broken them as no other man has done before you? Have you not +betrayed your trust, and merited a severe judgment? Did you not +voluntarily ask admission into our ancient brotherhood, and in good +faith were you not initiated into our sacred mysteries? Did you not +obligate yourself before man, and on your sacred honor promise to +preserve our secrets?" + +"I did," I replied; "but previously I had sworn before a higher tribunal +to scatter this precious wisdom to the world." + +"Yes," he said, "and you know full well the depth of the self-sought +solemn oath that you took with us--more solemn than that prescribed by +any open court on earth." + +"This I do not deny," I said, "and yet I am glad that I accomplished my +object, even though you have now, as is evident, the power to pronounce +my sentence." + +"You should look for the death sentence," was the reply, "but it has +been ordained instead that you are to be given a lengthened life. You +should expect bodily destruction; but on the contrary, you will pass on +in consciousness of earth and earthly concerns when we are gone. Your +name will be known to all lands, and yet from this time you will be +unknown. For the welfare of future humanity, you will be thrust to a +height in our order that will annihilate you as a mortal being, and yet +you will exist, suspended between life and death, and in that +intermediate state will know that you exist. You have, as you confess, +merited a severe punishment, but we can only punish in accordance with +an unwritten law, that instructs the person punished, and elevates the +human race in consequence. You stand alone among mortals in that you +have openly attempted to give broadly to those who have not earned it, +our most sacred property, a property that did not belong to you, +property that you have only been permitted to handle, that has been +handed from man to man from before the time of Solomon, and which +belongs to no one man, and will continue to pass in this way from one to +another, as a hallowed trust, until there are no men, as men now exist, +to receive it. You will soon go into the shadows of darkness, and will +learn many of the mysteries of life, the undeveloped mysteries that are +withheld from your fellows, but which you, who have been so presumptuous +and anxious for knowledge, are destined to possess and solve. You will +find secrets that man, as man is now constituted, can not yet discover, +and yet which the future man must gain and be instructed in. As you have +sowed, so shall you reap. You wished to become a distributor of +knowledge; you shall now by bodily trial and mental suffering obtain +unsought knowledge to distribute, and in time to come you will be +commanded to make your discoveries known. As your pathway is surely laid +out, so must you walk. It is ordained; to rebel is useless." + +"Who has pronounced this sentence?" I asked. + +"A judge, neither of heaven nor of earth." + +"You speak in enigmas." + +"No; I speak openly, and the truth. Our brotherhood is linked with the +past, and clasps hands with the antediluvians; the flood scattered the +races of earth, but did not disturb our secrets. The great love of +wisdom has from generation to generation led selected members of our +organization to depths of study that our open work does not touch upon, +and behind our highest officers there stand, in the occult shades +between the here and the hereafter, unknown and unseen agents who are +initiated into secrets above and beyond those known to the ordinary +craft. Those who are introduced into these inner recesses acquire +superhuman conceptions, and do not give an open sign of fellowship; they +need no talisman. They walk our streets possessed of powers unknown to +men, they concern themselves as mortals in the affairs of men, and even +their brethren of the initiated, open order are unaware of their exalted +condition. The means by which they have been instructed, their several +individualities as well, have been concealed, because publicity would +destroy their value, and injure humanity's cause." + +Silence followed these vague disclosures, and the carriage rolled on. I +was mystified and alarmed, and yet I knew that, whatever might be the +end of this nocturnal ride, I had invited it--yes, merited it--and I +steeled myself to hear the sentence of my judges, in whose hands I was +powerless. The persons on the seat opposite me continued their +conversation in low tones, audible only to themselves. An individual by +my side neither moved nor spoke. There were four of us in the carriage, +as I learned intuitively, although we were surrounded by utter darkness. +At length I addressed the companion beside me, for the silence was +unbearable. Friend or enemy though he might be, anything rather than +this long silence. "How long shall we continue in this carriage?" + +He made no reply. + +After a time I again spoke. + +"Can you not tell me, comrade, how long our journey will last? When +shall we reach our destination?" + +Silence only. + +Putting out my hand, I ventured to touch my mate, and found that he was +tightly strapped,--bound upright to the seat and the back of the +carriage. Leather thongs held him firmly in position; and as I pondered +over the mystery, I thought to myself, if I make a disturbance, they +will not hesitate to manacle me as securely. My custodians seemed, +however, not to exercise a guard over me, and yet I felt that they were +certain of my inability to escape. If the man on the seat was a +prisoner, why was he so reticent? Why did he not answer my questions? I +came to the conclusion that he must be gagged as well as bound. Then I +determined to find out if this were so. I began to realize more forcibly +that a terrible sentence must have been meted me, and I half hoped that +I could get from my partner in captivity some information regarding our +destination. Sliding my hand cautiously along his chest, and under his +chin, I intended to remove the gag from his mouth, when I felt my flesh +creep, for it came in contact with the cold, rigid flesh of a corpse. +The man was dead, and stiff. + +The shock unnerved me. I had begun to experience the results of a severe +mental strain, partly induced by the recent imprisonment and extended +previous persecution, and partly by the mysterious significance of the +language in which I had recently been addressed. The sentence, "You will +now go into the Valley of the Shadow of Death, and learn the mysteries +of life," kept ringing through my head, and even then I sat beside a +corpse. After this discovery I remained for a time in a semi-stupor, in +a state of profound dejection,--how long I can not say. Then I +experienced an inexplicable change, such as I imagine comes over a +condemned man without hope of reprieve, and I became unconcerned as a +man might who had accepted his destiny, and stoically determined to +await it. Perhaps moments passed, it may have been hours, and then +indifference gave place to reviving curiosity. I realized that I could +die only once, and I coolly and complacently revolved the matter, +speculating over my possible fate. As I look back on the night in which +I rode beside that dead man, facing the mysterious agents of an +all-powerful judge, I marvel over a mental condition that permitted me +finally to rest in peace, and slumber in unconcern. So I did, however, +and after a period, the length of which I am not able to estimate, I +awoke, and soon thereafter the carriage stopped, and our horses were +changed, after which our journey was resumed, to continue hour after +hour, and at last I slept again, leaning back in the corner. Suddenly I +was violently shaken from slumber, and commanded to alight. It was in +the gray of morning, and before I could realize what was happening, I +was transferred by my captors to another carriage, and the dead man also +was rudely hustled along and thrust beside me, my companions speaking to +him as though he were alive. Indeed, as I look back on these maneuvers, +I perceive that, to all appearances, I was one of the abducting party, +and our actions were really such as to induce an observer to believe +that this dead man was an obstinate prisoner, and myself one of his +official guards. The drivers of the carriages seemed to give us no +attention, but they sat upright and unconcerned, and certainly neither +of them interested himself in our transfer. The second carriage, like +that other previously described, was securely closed, and our journey +was continued. The darkness was as of a dungeon. It may have been days, +I could not tell anything about the passage of time; on and on we rode. +Occasionally food and drink were handed in, but my captors held to their +course, and at last I was taken from the vehicle, and transferred to a +block-house. + +I had been carried rapidly and in secret a hundred or more miles, +perhaps into another state, and probably all traces of my journey were +effectually lost to outsiders. I was in the hands of men who implicitly +obeyed the orders of their superiors, masters whom they had never seen, +and probably did not know. I needed no reminder of the fact that I had +violated every sacred pledge voluntarily made to the craft, and now +that they held me powerless, I well knew that, whatever the punishment +assigned, I had invited it, and could not prevent its fulfillment. That +it would be severe, I realized; that it would not be in accordance with +ordinary human law, I accepted. + +[Illustration: "I WAS TAKEN FROM THE VEHICLE, AND TRANSFERRED TO A +BLOCK-HOUSE."] + +Had I not in secret, in my little room in that obscure Stone Tavern, +engrossed on paper the mystic sentences that never before had been +penned, and were unknown excepting to persons initiated into our sacred +mysteries? Had I not previously, in the most solemn manner, before these +words had been imparted to my keeping, sworn to keep them inviolate and +secret? and had I not deliberately broken that sacred vow, and scattered +the hoarded sentences broadcast? My part as a brother in this fraternal +organization was that of the holder only of property that belonged to no +man, that had been handed from one to another through the ages, sacredly +cherished, and faithfully protected by men of many tongues, always +considered a trust, a charge of honor, and never before betrayed. My +crime was deep and dark. I shuddered. + +"Come what may," I mused, reflecting over my perfidy, "I am ready for +the penalty, and my fate is deserved; it can not but be a righteous +one." + +The words of the occupant of the carriage occurred to me again and +again; that one sentence kept ringing in my brain; I could not dismiss +it: "You have been tried, convicted, and we are of those appointed to +carry out the sentence of the judges." + +The black silence of my lonely cell beat against me; I could feel the +absence of sound, I could feel the dismal weight of nothingness, and in +my solitude and distraction I cried out in anguish to the invisible +judge: "I am ready for my sentence, whether it be death or imprisonment +for life"; and still the further words of the occupant of the carriage +passed through my mind: "You will now go into the Valley of the Shadow +of Death, and will learn the mysteries of Life." + +Then I slept, to awake and sleep again. I kept no note of time; it may +have been days or weeks, so far as my record could determine. An +attendant came at intervals to minister to my wants, always masked +completely, ever silent. + +That I was not entirely separated from mankind, however, I felt assured, +for occasionally sounds of voices came to me from without. Once I +ventured to shout aloud, hoping to attract attention; but the persons +whom I felt assured overheard me, paid no attention to my lonely cry. At +last one night, my door opened abruptly, and three men entered. + +"Do not fear," said their spokesman, "we aim to protect you; keep still, +and soon you will be a free man." + +I consented quietly to accompany them, for to refuse would have been in +vain; and I was conducted to a boat, which I found contained a +corpse--the one I had journeyed with, I suppose--and embarking, we were +silently rowed to the middle of the river, our course being diagonally +from the shore, and the dead man was thrown overboard. Then our boat +returned to the desolate bank. + +Thrusting me into a carriage, that, on our return to the river bank we +found awaiting us, my captors gave a signal, and I was driven away in +the darkness, as silently as before, and our journey was continued I +believe for fully two days. I was again confined in another log cabin, +with but one door, and destitute of windows. My attendants were masked, +they neither spoke to me as they day after day supplied my wants, nor +did they give me the least information on any subject, until at last I +abandoned all hope of ever regaining my liberty. + +[Illustration: "THE DEAD MAN WAS THROWN OVERBOARD."] + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + A WILD NIGHT.--I AM PREMATURELY AGED. + + +In the depths of night I was awakened by a noise made by the opening of +a door, and one by one seven masked figures silently stalked into my +prison. Each bore a lighted torch, and they passed me as I lay on the +floor in my clothes (for I had no bedding), and ranged themselves in a +line. I arose, and seated myself as directed to do, upon the only stool +in the room. Swinging into a semi-circle, the weird line wound about me, +and from the one seat on which I rested in the center of the room, I +gazed successively upon seven pairs of gleaming eyes, each pair directed +at myself; and as I turned from one to another, the black cowl of each +deepened into darkness, and grew more hideous. + +"Men or devils," I cried, "do your worst! Make me, if such is your will, +as that sunken corpse beside which I was once seated; but cease your +persecutions. I have atoned for my indiscretions a thousand fold, and +this suspense is unbearable; I demand to know what is to be my doom, and +I desire its fulfilment." + +Then one stepped forward, facing me squarely,--the others closed +together around him and me. Raising his forefinger, he pointed it close +to my face, and as his sharp eyes glittered from behind the black mask, +piercing through me, he slowly said: "Why do you not say brothers?" + +"Horrible," I rejoined; "stop this mockery. Have I not suffered enough +from your persecutions to make me reject that word as applied to +yourselves? You can but murder; do your duty to your unseen masters, and +end this prolonged torture!" + +"Brother," said the spokesman, "you well know that the sacred rules of +our order will not permit us to murder any human being. We exist to +benefit humanity, to lead the wayward back across the burning desert +into the pathways of the righteous; not to destroy or persecute a +brother. Ours is an eleemosynary institution, instructing its members, +helping them to seek happiness. You are now expiating the crime you have +committed, and the good in your spirit rightfully revolts against the +bad, for in divulging to the world our mystic signs and brotherly +greetings, you have sinned against yourself more than against others. +The sting of conscience, the bitings of remorse punish you." + +"True," I cried, as the full significance of what he said burst upon me, +"too true; but I bitterly repent my treachery. Others can never know how +my soul is harrowed by the recollection of the enormity of that breach +of confidence. In spite of my open, careless, or defiant bearing, my +heart is humble, and my spirit cries out for mercy. By night and by day +I have in secret cursed myself for heeding an unhallowed mandate, and I +have long looked forward to the judgment that I should suffer for my +perfidy, for I have appreciated that the day of reckoning would surely +appear. I do not rebel, and I recall my wild language; I recant my +'Confession,' I renounce myself! I say to you in all sincerity, +brothers, do your duty, only I beg of you to slay me at once, and end my +suspense. I await my doom. What might it be?" + +Grasping my hand, the leader said: "You are ready as a member of our +order; we can now judge you as we have been commanded; had you persisted +in calling us devils in your mistaken frenzy, we should have been forced +to reason with you until you returned again to us, and became one of us. +Our judgment is for you only; the world must not now know its nature, at +least so far as we are concerned. Those you see here, are not your +judges; we are agents sent to labor with you, to draw you back into our +ranks, to bring you into a condition that will enable you to carry out +the sentence that you have drawn upon yourself, for you must be your own +doomsman. In the first place, we are directed to gain your voluntary +consent to leave this locality. You can no longer take part in affairs +that interested you before. To the people of this State, and to your +home, and kindred, you must become a stranger for all time. Do you +consent?" + +"Yes," I answered, for I knew that I must acquiesce. + +"In the next place, you must help us to remove all traces of your +identity. You must, so far as the world is concerned, leave your body +where you have apparently been drowned, for a world's benefit, a +harmless mockery to deceive the people, and also to make an example for +others that are weak. Are you ready?" + +"Yes." + +"Then remove your clothing, and replace it with this suit." + +I obeyed, and changed my garments, receiving others in return. One of +the party then, taking from beneath his gown a box containing several +bottles of liquids, proceeded artfully to mix and compound them, and +then to paint my face with the combination, which after being mixed, +formed a clear solution. + +"Do not fear to wash;" said the spokesman, "the effect of this lotion is +permanent enough to stay until you are well out of this State." + +I passed my hand over my face; it was drawn into wrinkles as a film of +gelatine might have been shrivelled under the influence of a strong +tannin or astringent liquid; beneath my fingers it felt like the +furrowed face of a very old man, but I experienced no pain. I vainly +tried to smooth the wrinkles; immediately upon removing the pressure of +my hand, the furrows reappeared. + +Next, another applied a colorless liquid freely to my hair and beard; he +rubbed it well, and afterward wiped it dry with a towel. A mirror was +thrust beneath my gaze. I started back, the transformation was complete. +My appearance had entirely changed. My face had become aged and +wrinkled, my hair as white as snow. + +I cried aloud in amazement: "Am I sane, is this a dream?" + +"It is not a dream; but, under methods that are in exact accordance with +natural physiological laws, we have been enabled to transform your +appearance from that of one in the prime of manhood into the semblance +of an old man, and that, too, without impairment of your vitality." +Another of the masked men opened a curious little casket that I +perceived was surmounted by an alembic and other alchemical figures, and +embossed with an Oriental design. He drew from it a lamp which he +lighted with a taper; the flame that resulted, first pale blue, then +yellow, next violet and finally red, seemed to become more weird and +ghastly with each mutation, as I gazed spell-bound upon its fantastic +changes. Then, after these transformations, it burned steadily with the +final strange blood-red hue, and he now held over the blaze a tiny cup, +which, in a few moments, commenced to sputter and then smoked, exhaling +a curious, epipolic, semi-luminous vapor. I was commanded to inhale the +vapor. + +[Illustration: "A MIRROR WAS THRUST BENEATH MY GAZE."] + +I hesitated; the thought rushed upon me, "Now I am another person, so +cleverly disguised that even my own friends would perhaps not know me, +this vapor is designed to suffocate me, and my body, if found, will not +now be known, and could not be identified when discovered." + +"Do not fear," said the spokesman, as if divining my thought, "there is +no danger," and at once I realized, by quick reasoning, that if my death +were demanded, my body might long since have been easily destroyed, and +all this ceremony would have been unnecessary. + +I hesitated no longer, but drew into my lungs the vapor that arose from +the mysterious cup, freely expanding my chest several times, and then +asked, "Is not that enough?" Despair now overcame me. My voice, no +longer the full, strong tone of a man in middle life and perfect +strength, squeaked and quavered, as if impaired by palsy. I had seen my +image in a mirror, an old man with wrinkled face and white hair; I now +heard myself speak with the voice of an octogenarian. + +"What have you done?" I cried. + +"We have obeyed your orders; you told us you were ready to leave your +own self here, and the work is complete. The man who entered has +disappeared. If you should now stand in the streets of your village +home, and cry to your former friends, 'It is I, for whom you seek,' they +would smile, and call you a madman. Know," continued the voice, "that +there is in Eastern metaphysical lore, more true philosophy than is +embodied in the sciences of to-day, and that by means of the +ramifications of our order it becomes possible, when necessary, for him +who stands beyond the inner and upper Worshipful Master, to draw these +treasures from the occult Wisdom possessions of Oriental sages who +forget nothing and lose nothing. Have we not been permitted to do his +bidding well?" + +"Yes," I squeaked; "and I wish that you had done it better. I would that +I were dead." + +"When the time comes, if necessary, your dead body will be fished from +the water," was the reply; "witnesses have seen the drowning tragedy, +and will surely identify the corpse." + +"And may I go? am I free now?" I asked. + +"Ah," said he, "that is not for us to say; our part of the work is +fulfilled, and we can return to our native lands, and resume again our +several studies. So far as we are concerned, you are free, but we have +been directed to pass you over to the keeping of others who will carry +forward this judgment--there is another step." + +"Tell me," I cried, once more desponding, "tell me the full extent of my +sentence." + +"That is not known to us, and probably is not known to any one man. So +far as the members of our order are concerned, you have now vanished. +When you leave our sight this night, we will also separate from one +another, we shall know no more of you and your future than will those of +our working order who live in this section of the country. We have no +personal acquaintance with the guide that has been selected to conduct +you farther, and who will appear in due season, and we make no surmise +concerning the result of your journey, only we know that you will not be +killed, for you have a work to perform, and will continue to exist long +after others of your age are dead. Farewell, brother; we have discharged +our duty, and by your consent, now we must return to our various +pursuits. In a short time all evidence of your unfortunate mistake, the +crime committed by you in printing our sacred charges, will have +vanished. Even now, emissaries are ordained to collect and destroy the +written record that tells of your weakness, and with the destruction of +that testimony, for every copy will surely be annihilated, and with your +disappearance from among men, for this also is to follow, our +responsibility for you will cease." + +Each of the seven men advanced, and grasped my hand, giving me the grip +of brotherhood, and then, without a word, they severally and silently +departed into the outer darkness. As the last man disappeared, a figure +entered the door, clad and masked exactly like those who had gone. He +removed the long black gown in which he was enveloped, threw the mask +from his face and stood before me, a slender, graceful, bright-looking +young man. By the light of the candle I saw him distinctly, and was at +once struck by his amiable, cheerful countenance, and my heart bounded +with a sudden hope. I had temporarily forgotten the transformation that +had been made in my person, which, altogether painless, had left no +physical sensation, and thought of myself as I had formerly existed; my +soul was still my own, I imagined; my blood seemed unchanged, and must +flow as rapidly as before; my strength was unaltered, indeed I was in +self-consciousness still in the prime of life. + +"Excuse me, Father," said the stranger, "but my services have been +sought as a guide for the first part of a journey that I am informed you +intend to take." + +His voice was mild and pleasant, his bearing respectful, but the +peculiar manner in which he spoke convinced me that he knew that, as a +guide, he must conduct me to some previously designated spot, and that +he purposed to do so was evident, with or without my consent. + +"Why do you call me Father?" I attempted to say, but as the first few +words escaped my lips, the recollection of the events of the night +rushed upon me, for instead of my own, I recognized the piping voice of +the old man I had now become, and my tongue faltered; the sentence was +unspoken. + +"You would ask me why I called you Father, I perceive; well, because I +am directed to be a son to you, to care for your wants, to make your +journey as easy and pleasant as possible, to guide you quietly and +carefully to the point that will next prove of interest to you." + +I stood before him a free man, in the prime of life, full of energy, and +this stripling alone interposed between myself and liberty. Should I +permit the slender youth to carry me away as a prisoner? would it not be +best to thrust him aside, if necessary, crush him to the earth? go forth +in my freedom? Yet I hesitated, for he might have friends outside; +probably he was not alone. + +"There are no companions near us," said he, reading my mind, "and, as I +do not seem formidable, it is natural you should weigh in your mind the +probabilities of escape; but you can not evade your destiny, and you +must not attempt to deny yourself the pleasure of my company. You must +leave this locality and leave without a regret. In order that you may +acquiesce willingly I propose that together we return to your former +home, which you will, however, find no longer to be a home. I will +accompany you as a companion, as your son. You may speak, with one +exception, to whomever you care to address; may call on any of your old +associates, may assert openly who you are, or whatever and whoever you +please to represent yourself, only I must also have the privilege of +joining in the conversation." + +"Agreed," I cried, and extended my hand; he grasped it, and then by the +light of the candle, I saw a peculiar expression flit over his face, as +he added: + +"To one person only, as I have said, and you have promised, you must not +speak--your wife." + +I bowed my head, and a flood of sorrowful reflections swept over me. Of +all the world the one whom I longed to meet, to clasp in my arms, to +counsel in my distress, was the wife of my bosom, and I begged him to +withdraw his cruel injunction. + +"You should have thought of her before; now it is too late. To permit +you to meet, and speak with her would be dangerous; she might pierce +your disguise. Of all others there is no fear." + +"Must I go with you into an unknown future without a farewell kiss from +my little child or from my babe scarce three months old?" + +"It has been so ordained." + +I threw myself on the floor and moaned. "This is too hard, too hard for +human heart to bear. Life has no charm to a man who is thrust from all +he holds most dear, home, friends, family." + +"The men who relinquish such pleasures and such comforts are those who +do the greatest good to humanity," said the youth. "The multitude exist +to propagate the race, as animal progenitors of the multitudes that are +to follow, and the exceptional philanthropist is he who denies himself +material bliss, and punishes himself in order to work out a problem such +as it has been ordained that you are to solve. Do not argue further--the +line is marked, and you must walk direct." + +Into the blaze of the old fireplace of that log house, for, although it +was autumn, the night was chilly, he then cast his black robe and false +face, and, as they turned to ashes, the last evidences of the vivid acts +through which I had passed, were destroyed. As I lay moaning in my utter +misery, I tried to reason with myself that what I experienced was all a +hallucination. I dozed, and awoke startled, half conscious only, as one +in a nightmare; I said to myself, "A dream! a dream!" and slept again. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + A LESSON IN MIND STUDY. + + +The door of the cabin was open when I awoke, the sun shone brightly, and +my friend, apparently happy and unconcerned, said: "Father, we must soon +start on our journey; I have taken advantage of your refreshing sleep, +and have engaged breakfast at yonder farm-house; our meal awaits us." + +I arose, washed my wrinkled face, combed my white hair, and shuddered as +I saw in a pocket mirror the reflection of my figure, an aged, +apparently decrepit man. + +"Do not be disturbed at your feeble condition," said my companion; "your +infirmities are not real. Few men have ever been permitted to drink of +the richness of the revelations that await you; and in view of these +expectations the fact that you are prematurely aged in appearance should +not unnerve you. Be of good heart, and when you say the word, we will +start on our journey, which will begin as soon as you have said farewell +to former friends and acquaintances." + +I made no reply, but silently accompanied him, for my thoughts were in +the past, and my reflections were far from pleasant. + +We reached the farm-house, and as I observed the care and attention +extended me by the pleasant-faced housewife, I realized that, in one +respect at least, old age brought its compensation. After breakfast a +man appeared from the farmer's barn, driving a team of horses attached +to an open spring-wagon which, in obedience to the request of my guide, +I entered, accompanied by my young friend, who directed that we be +driven toward the village from which I had been abducted. He seemed to +know my past life as I knew it; he asked me to select those of my +friends to whom I first wished to bid farewell, even mentioning their +names; he seemed all that a patient, faithful son could be, and I began +to wonder at his audacity, even as much as I admired his +self-confidence. + +As we journeyed onward we engaged in familiar talk. We sat together on +the back seat of the open spring-wagon, in full sight of passers, no +attempt being made to conceal my person. Thus we traveled for two days, +and on our course we passed through a large city with which I was +acquainted, a city that my abductors had previously carried me through +and beyond. I found that my "son" possessed fine conversational power, +and a rich mine of information, and he became increasingly interesting +as he drew from his fund of knowledge, and poured into my listening ears +an entrancing strain of historical and metaphysical information. Never +at a loss for a word or an idea, he appeared to discern my cogitations, +and as my mind wandered in this or that direction he fell into the +channel of my fancies, and answered my unspoken thoughts, my +mind-questions or meditations, as pertinently as though I had spoken +them. + +His accomplishments, for the methods of his perception were +unaccompanied by any endeavor to draw me into word expression, made me +aware at least, that, in him, I had to deal with a man unquestionably +possessed of more than ordinary intellect and education, and as this +conviction entered my mind he changed his subject and promptly answered +the silent inquiry, speaking as follows: + +"Have you not sometimes felt that in yourself there may exist +undeveloped senses that await an awakening touch to open to yourself a +new world, senses that may be fully developed, but which saturate each +other and neutralize themselves; quiescent, closed circles which you can +not reach, satisfied circuits slumbering within your body and that defy +your efforts to utilize them? In your dreams have you not seen sights +that words are inadequate to describe, that your faculties can not +retain in waking moments, and which dissolve into intangible +nothingness, leaving only a vague, shadowy outline as the mind quickens, +or rather when the senses that possess you in sleep relinquish the body +to the returning vital functions and spirit? This unconscious conception +of other planes, a beyond or betwixt, that is neither mental nor +material, neither here nor located elsewhere, belongs to humanity in +general, and is made evident from the unsatiable desire of men to pry +into phenomena latent or recondite that offer no apparent return to +humanity. This desire has given men the knowledge they now possess of +the sciences; sciences yet in their infancy. Study in this direction is, +at present, altogether of the material plane, but in time to come, men +will gain control of outlying senses which will enable them to step from +the seen into the consideration of matter or force that is now subtle +and evasive, which must be accomplished by means of the latent faculties +that I have indicated. There will be an unconscious development of new +mind-forces in the student of nature as the rudiments of these so-called +sciences are elaborated. Step by step, as the ages pass, the faculties +of men will, under progressive series of evolutions, imperceptibly pass +into higher phases until that which is even now possible with some +individuals of the purified esoteric school, but which would seem +miraculous if practiced openly at this day, will prove feasible to +humanity generally and be found in exact accord with natural laws. The +conversational method of men, whereby communion between human beings is +carried on by disturbing the air by means of vocal organs so as to +produce mechanical pulsations of that medium, is crude in the extreme. +Mind craves to meet mind, but can not yet thrust matter aside, and in +order to communicate one with another, the impression one mind wishes to +convey to another must be first made on the brain matter that +accompanies it, which in turn influences the organs of speech, inducing +a disturbance of the air by the motions of the vocal organs, which, by +undulations that reach to another being, act on his ear, and secondarily +on the earthly matter of his brain, and finally by this roundabout +course, impress the second being's mind. In this transmission of motions +there is great waste of energy and loss of time, but such methods are a +necessity of the present slow, much-obstructed method of communication. +There is, in cultivated man, an innate craving for something more +facile, and often a partly developed conception, spectral and vague, +appears, and the being feels that there may be for mortals a richer, +brighter life, a higher earthly existence that science does not now +indicate. Such intimation of a deeper play of faculties is now most +vivid with men during the perfect loss of mental self as experienced in +dreams, which as yet man in the quick can not grasp, and which fade as +he awakens. As mental sciences are developed, investigators will find +that the medium known as air is unnecessary as a means of conveying +mind conceptions from one person to another; that material sounds and +word pulsations are cumbersome; that thought force unexpressed may be +used to accomplish more than speech can do, and that physical exertions +as exemplified in motion of matter such as I have described will be +unnecessary for mental communication. As door after door in these +directions shall open before men, mystery after mystery will be +disclosed, and vanish as mysteries to reappear as simple facts. +Phenomena that are impossible and unrevealed to the scientist of to-day +will be familiar to the coming multitude, and at last, as by degrees, +clearer knowledge is evolved, the vocal language of men will disappear, +and humanity, regardless of nationality, will, in silence and even in +darkness, converse eloquently together in mind language. That which is +now esoteric will become exoteric. Then mind will meet mind as my mind +now impinges on your own, and, in reply to your unuttered question +regarding my apparently unaccountable powers of perception, I say they +are perfectly natural, but while I can read your thoughts, because of +the fact that you can not reciprocate in this direction, I must use my +voice to impress your mind. You will know more of this, however, at a +future day, for it has been ordained that you are to be educated with an +object that is now concealed. At present you are interested mainly in +the affairs of life as you know them, and can not enter into these purer +spheres. We are approaching one of your former friends, and it may be +your pleasure to ask him some questions and to bid him farewell." + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + + I CAN NOT ESTABLISH MY IDENTITY. + + +In surprise I perceived coming towards us a light spring wagon, in which +rode one of my old acquaintances. Pleasure at the discovery led me to +raise my hat, wave it around my head, and salute him even at the +considerable distance that then separated us. I was annoyed at the look +of curiosity that passed over his countenance, and not until the two +vehicles had stopped side by side did it occur to me that I was +unrecognized. I had been so engrossed in my companion's revelations, +that I had forgotten my unfortunate physical condition. + +I stretched out my hand, I leaned over almost into the other vehicle, +and earnestly said: + +"Do you not know me? Only a short time ago we sat and conversed side by +side." + +A look of bewilderment came over his features. "I have never seen you +that I can recall," he answered. + +My spirit sank within me. Could it be possible that I was really so +changed? I begged him to try and recall my former self, giving my name. +"I am that person," I added; but he, with an expression of countenance +that told as plainly as words could speak that he considered me +deranged, touched his horse, and drove on. + +My companion broke the awkward silence. "Do you know that I perceived +between you two men an unconscious display of mind-language, especially +evident on your part? You wished with all the earnestness of your soul +to bring yourself as you formerly appeared, before that man, and when it +proved impossible, without a word from him, his mind exhibited itself to +your more earnest intellect, and you realized that he said to himself, +'This person is a poor lunatic.' He told you his thoughts in +mind-language, as plainly as words could have spoken, because the +intense earnestness on your part quickened your perceptive faculties, +but he could not see your mental state, and the pleading voice of the +apparent stranger before him could not convince the unconcerned +lethargic mind within him. I observed, however, in addition to what you +noticed, that he is really looking for you. That is the object of his +journey, and I learn that in every direction men are now spreading the +news that you have been kidnapped and carried from your jail. However, +we shall soon be in the village, and you will then hear more about +yourself." + +We rode in silence while I meditated on my remarkable situation. I could +not resign myself without a struggle to my approaching fate, and I felt +even yet a hope, although I seemed powerless in the hands of destiny. +Could I not, by some method, convince my friends of my identity? I +determined, forgetting the fact that my guide was even then reading my +mind, that upon the next opportunity I would pursue a different course. + +"It will not avail," my companion replied. "You must do one of two +things: you will voluntarily go with me, or you will involuntarily go to +an insane asylum. Neither you nor I could by any method convince others +that the obviously decrepit old man beside me was but yesterday hale, +hearty, young and strong. You will find that you can not prove your +identity, and as a friend, one of the great brotherhood to which you +belong, a craft that deals charitably with all men and all problems, I +advise you to accept the situation as soon as possible after it becomes +evident to your mind that you are lost to former affiliations, and must +henceforth be a stranger to the people whom you know. Take my advice, +and cease to regret the past and cheerfully turn your thoughts to the +future. On one side of you the lunatic asylum is open; on the other, a +journey into an unknown region, beyond the confines of any known +country. On the one hand, imprisonment and subjection, perhaps abuse and +neglect; on the other, liberation of soul, evolution of faculty, and a +grasping of superior knowledge that is denied most men--yes, withheld +from all but a few persons of each generation, for only a few, unknown +to the millions of this world's inhabitants, have passed over the road +you are to travel. Just now you wished to meet your jailer of a few +hours ago; it is a wise conclusion, and if he does not recognize you, I +ask in sincerity, who will be likely to do so? We will drive straight to +his home; but, here he comes." + +Indeed, we were now in the village, where my miserable journey began, +and perhaps by chance--it seems that it could not have been +otherwise--my former jailer actually approached us. + +"If you please," said my companion, "I will assist you to alight from +the wagon, and you may privately converse with him." + +Our wagon stopped, my guide opened a conversation with the jailer, +saying that his friend wished to speak with him, and then assisted me to +alight and retired a distance. I was vexed at my infirmities, which +embarrassed me most exasperatingly, but which I knew were artificial; my +body appeared unwilling although my spirit was anxious; but do what I +could to control my actions, I involuntarily behaved like a decrepit old +man. However, my mind was made up; this attempt to prove my personality +should be the last; failure now would prove the turning point, and I +would go willingly with my companion upon the unknown journey if I could +not convince the jailer of my identity. + +Straightening myself before the expectant jailer, who, with a look of +inquisitiveness, regarded me as a stranger, I asked if he knew my former +self, giving my name. + +"That I do," he replied, "and if I could find him at this moment I would +be relieved of a load of worry." + +"Would you surely know him if you met him?" I asked. + +"Assuredly," he replied; "and if you bring tidings of his whereabouts, +as your bearing indicates, speak, that I may rid myself of suspicion and +suspense." + +Calling the jailer by name, I asked him if my countenance did not remind +him of the man he wished to find. + +"Not at all." + +"Listen, does not my voice resemble that of your escaped prisoner?" + +"Not in the least." + +[Illustration: "I AM THE MAN YOU SEEK."] + +With a violent effort I drew my form as straight as possible, and stood +upright before him, with every facial muscle strained to its utmost, in +a vain endeavor to bring my wrinkled countenance to its former +smoothness, and with the energy that a drowning man might exert to +grasp a passing object, I tried to control my voice, and preserve my +identity by so doing, vehemently imploring him, begging him to listen to +my story. "I am the man you seek; I am the prisoner who, a few days ago, +stood in the prime of life before you. I have been spirited away from +you by men who are leagued with occult forces, which extend forward +among hidden mysteries, into forces which illuminate the present, and +reach backward into the past unseen. These persons, by artful and +damnable manipulations under the guidance of a power that has been +evolved in the secrecy of past ages, and transmitted only to a favored +few, have changed the strong man you knew into the one apparently +feeble, who now confronts you. Only a short period has passed since I +was your unwilling captive, charged with debt, a trifling sum; and then, +as your sullen prisoner, I longed for freedom. Now I plead before you, +with all my soul, I beg of you to take me back to my cell. Seal your +doors, and hold me again, for your dungeon will now be to me a +paradise." + +I felt that I was becoming frantic, for with each word I realized that +the jailer became more and more impatient and annoyed. I perceived that +he believed me to be a lunatic. Pleadings and entreaties were of no +avail, and my eagerness rapidly changed into despair until at last I +cried: "If you will not believe my words, I will throw myself on the +mercy of my young companion. I ask you to consider his testimony, and if +he says that I am not what I assert myself to be, I will leave my home +and country, and go with him quietly into the unknown future." + +He turned to depart, but I threw myself before him, and beckoned the +young man who, up to this time, had stood aloof in respectful silence. +He came forward, and addressing the jailer, called him by name, and +corroborated my story. Yes, strange as it sounded to me, he reiterated +the substance of my narrative as I had repeated it. "Now, you will +believe it," I cried in ecstacy; "now you need no longer question the +facts that I have related." + +Instead, however, of accepting the story of the witness, the jailer +upbraided him. + +"This is a preconcerted arrangement to get me into ridicule or further +trouble. You two have made up an incredible story that on its face is +fit only to be told to men as crazy or designing as yourselves. This +young man did not even overhear your conversation with me, and yet he +repeats his lesson without a question from me as to what I wish to learn +of him." + +"He can see our minds," I cried in despair. + +"Crazier than I should have believed from your countenance," the jailer +replied. "Of all the improbable stories imaginable, you have attempted +to inveigle me into accepting that which is most unreasonable. If you +are leagued together intent on some swindling scheme, I give you warning +now that I am in no mood for trifling. Go your way, and trouble me no +more with this foolish scheming, which villainy or lunacy of some +description must underlie." He turned in anger and left us. + +"It is as I predicted," said my companion; "you are lost to man. Those +who know you best will turn from you soonest. I might become as wild as +you are, in your interest, and only serve to make your story appear more +extravagant. In human affairs men judge and act according to the limited +knowledge at command of the multitude. Witnesses who tell the truth are +often, in our courts of law, stunned, as you have been, by the decisions +of a narrow-minded jury. Men sit on juries with little conception of the +facts of the case that is brought before them; the men who manipulate +them are mere tools in unseen hands that throw their several minds in +antagonisms unexplainable to man. The judge is unconsciously often a +tool of his own errors or those of others. One learned judge unties what +another has fastened, each basing his views on the same testimony, each +rendering his decision in accordance with law derived from the same +authority. Your case is that condition of mind that men call lunacy. You +can see much that is hidden from others because you have become +acquainted with facts that their narrow education forbids them to +accept, but, because the majority is against you, they consider you +mentally unbalanced. The philosophy of men does not yet comprehend the +conditions that have operated on your person, and as you stand alone, +although in the right, all men will oppose you, and you must submit to +the views of a misguided majority. In the eyes of a present generation +you are crazy. A jury of your former peers could not do else than so +adjudge you, for you are not on the same mental plane, and I ask, will +you again attempt to accomplish that which is as impossible as it would +be for you to drink the waters of Seneca Lake at one draught? Go to +those men and propose to drain that lake at one gulp, and you will be +listened to as seriously as when you beg your former comrades to believe +that you are another person than what you seem. Only lengthened life is +credited with the production of physical changes that under favorable +conditions, are possible of accomplishment in a brief period, and such +testimony as you could bring, in the present state of human knowledge, +would only add to the proof of your lunacy." + +"I see, I see," I said; "and I submit. Lead on, I am ready. Whatever my +destined career may be, wherever it may be, it can only lead to the +grave." + +"Do not be so sure of that," was the reply. + +I shuddered instinctively, for this answer seemed to imply that the +stillness of the grave would be preferable to my destiny. + +We got into the wagon again, and a deep silence followed as we rode +along, gazing abstractedly on the quiet fields and lonely farm-houses. +Finally we reached a little village. Here my companion dismissed the +farmer, our driver, paying him liberally, and secured lodgings in a +private family (I believe we were expected), and after a hearty supper +we retired. From the time we left the jailer I never again attempted to +reveal my identity. I had lost my interest in the past, and found myself +craving to know what the future had in store for me. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + + MY JOURNEY TOWARDS THE END OF EARTH BEGINS.--THE ADEPTS' + BROTHERHOOD. + + +My companion did not attempt to watch over my motions or in any way to +interfere with my freedom. + +"I will for a time necessarily be absent," he said, "arranging for our +journey, and while I am getting ready you must employ yourself as best +you can. I ask you, however, now to swear that, as you have promised, +you will not seek your wife and children." + +To this I agreed. + +"Hold up your hand," he said, and I repeated after him: "All this I most +solemnly and sincerely promise and swear, with a firm and steadfast +resolution to keep and perform my oath, without the least equivocation, +mental reservation or self-evasion whatever." + +"That will answer; see that you keep your oath this time," he said, and +he departed. Several days were consumed before he returned, and during +that time I was an inquisitive and silent listener to the various +conjectures others were making regarding my abduction which event was +becoming of general interest. Some of the theories advanced were quite +near the truth, others wild and erratic. How preposterous it seemed to +me that the actor himself could be in the very seat of the disturbance, +willing, anxious to testify, ready to prove the truth concerning his +position, and yet unable even to obtain a respectful hearing from those +most interested in his recovery. Men gathered together discussing the +"outrage"; women, children, even, talked of little else, and it was +evident that the entire country was aroused. New political issues took +their rise from the event, but the man who was the prime cause of the +excitement was for a period a willing and unwilling listener, as he had +been a willing and unwilling actor in the tragedy. + +One morning my companion drove up in a light carriage, drawn by a span +of fine, spirited, black horses. + +"We are ready now," he said, and my unprecedented journey began. + +Wherever we stopped, I heard my name mentioned. Men combined against +men, brother was declaiming against brother, neighbor was against +neighbor, everywhere suspicion was in the air. + +"The passage of time alone can quiet these people," said I. + +"The usual conception of the term Time--an indescribable something +flowing at a constant rate--is erroneous," replied my comrade. "Time is +humanity's best friend, and should be pictured as a ministering angel, +instead of a skeleton with hour-glass and scythe. Time does not fly, but +is permanent and quiescent, while restless, force-impelled matter rushes +onward. Force and matter fly; Time reposes. At our birth we are wound up +like a machine, to move for a certain number of years, grating against +Time. We grind against that complacent spirit, and wear not Time but +ourselves away. We hold within ourselves a certain amount of energy, +which, an evanescent form of matter, is the opponent of Time. Time has +no existence with inanimate objects. It is a conception of the human +intellect. Time is rest, perfect rest, tranquillity such as man never +realizes unless he becomes a part of the sweet silences toward which +human life and human mind are drifting. So much for Time. Now for Life. +Disturbed energy in one of its forms, we call Life; and this Life is the +great enemy of peace, the opponent of steadfast perfection. Pure energy, +the soul of the universe, permeates all things with which man is now +acquainted, but when at rest is imperceptible to man, while disturbed +energy, according to its condition, is apparent either as matter or as +force. A substance or material body is a manifestation resulting from a +disturbance of energy. The agitating cause removed, the manifestations +disappear, and thus a universe may be extinguished, without unbalancing +the cosmos that remains. The worlds known to man are conditions of +abnormal energy moving on separate planes through what men call space. +They attract to themselves bodies of similar description, and thus +influence one another--they have each a separate existence, and are +swayed to and fro under the influence of the various disturbances in +energy common to their rank or order, which we call forms of forces. +Unsettled energy also assumes numerous other expressions that are +unknown to man, but which in all perceptible forms is characterized by +motion. Pure energy can not be appreciated by the minds of mortals. +There are invisible worlds besides those perceived by us in our +planetary system, unreachable centers of ethereal structure about us +that stand in a higher plane of development than earthly matter which is +a gross form of disturbed energy. There are also lower planes. Man's +acquaintance with the forms of energy is the result of his power of +perceiving the forms of matter of which he is a part. Heat, light, +gravitation, electricity and magnetism are ever present in all +perceivable substances, and, although purer than earth, they are still +manifestations of absolute energy, and for this reason are sensible to +men, but more evanescent than material bodies. Perhaps you can conceive +that if these disturbances could be removed, matter or force would be +resolved back into pure energy, and would vanish. Such a dissociation is +an ethereal existence, and as pure energy the life spirit of all +material things is neither cold nor hot, heavy nor light, solid, liquid +nor gaseous--men can not, as mortals now exist, see, feel, smell, taste, +or even conceive of it. It moves through space as we do through it, a +world of itself as transparent to matter as matter is to it, insensible +but ever present, a reality to higher existences that rest in other +planes, but not to us an essence subject to scientific test, nor an +entity. Of these problems and their connection with others in the unseen +depths beyond, you are not yet in a position properly to judge, but +before many years a new sense will be given you or a development of +latent senses by the removal of those more gross, and a partial insight +into an unsuspected unseen, into a realm to you at present unknown. + +"It has been ordained that a select few must from time to time pass over +the threshold that divides a mortal's present life from the future, and +your lot has been cast among the favored ones. It is or should be deemed +a privilege to be permitted to pass farther than human philosophy has +yet gone, into an investigation of the problems of life; this I say to +encourage you. We have in our order a handful of persons who have +received the accumulated fruits of the close attention others have +given to these subjects which have been handed to them by the +generations of men who have preceded. You are destined to become as they +are. This study of semi-occult forces has enabled those selected for the +work to master some of the concealed truths of being, and by the partial +development of a new sense or new senses, partly to triumph over death. +These facts are hidden from ordinary man, and from the earth-bound +workers of our brotherhood, who can not even interpret the words they +learn. The methods by which they are elucidated have been locked from +man because the world is not prepared to receive them, selfishness being +the ruling passion of debased mankind, and publicity, until the chain of +evidence is more complete, would embarrass their further evolutions, for +man as yet lives on the selfish plane." + +"Do you mean that, among men, there are a few persons possessed of +powers such as you have mentioned?" + +"Yes; they move here and there through all orders of society, and their +attainments are unknown, except to one another, or, at most, to but few +persons. These adepts are scientific men, and may not even be recognized +as members of our organization; indeed it is often necessary, for +obvious reasons, that they should not be known as such. These studies +must constantly be prosecuted in various directions, and some monitors +must teach others to perform certain duties that are necessary to the +grand evolution. Hence, when a man has become one of our brotherhood, +from the promptings that made you one of us, and has been as ready and +determined to instruct outsiders in our work as you have been, it is +proper that he should in turn be compelled to serve our people, and +eventually, mankind." + +"Am I to infer from this," I exclaimed, a sudden light breaking upon me, +"that the alchemistic manuscript that led me to the fraternity to which +you are related may have been artfully designed to serve the interest of +that organization?" To this question I received no reply. After an +interval, I again sought information concerning the order, and with more +success. + +"I understand that you propose that I shall go on a journey of +investigation for the good of our order and also of humanity." + +"True; it is necessary that our discoveries be kept alive, and it is +essential that the men who do this work accept the trust of their own +accord. He who will not consent to add to the common stock of knowledge +and understanding, must be deemed a drone in the hive of nature--but few +persons, however, are called upon to serve as you must serve. Men are +scattered over the world with this object in view, and are unknown to +their families or even to other members of the order; they hold in +solemn trust our sacred revelations, and impart them to others as is +ordained, and thus nothing perishes; eventually humanity will profit. + +"Others, as you soon will be doing, are now exploring assigned sections +of this illimitable field, accumulating further knowledge, and they will +report results to those whose duty it is to retain and formulate the +collected sum of facts and principles. So it is that, unknown to the +great body of our brotherhood, a chosen number, under our esoteric +teachings, are gradually passing the dividing line that separates life +from death, matter from spirit, for we have members who have mastered +these problems. We ask, however, no aid of evil forces or of necromancy +or black art, and your study of alchemy was of no avail, although to +save the vital truths alchemy is a part of our work. We proceed in exact +accordance with natural laws, which will yet be known to all men. +Sorrow, suffering, pain of all descriptions, are enemies to the members +of our order, as they are to mankind broadly, and we hope in the future +so to control the now hidden secrets of Nature as to be able to govern +the antagonistic disturbances in energy with which man now is everywhere +thwarted, to subdue the physical enemies of the race, to affiliate +religious and scientific thought, cultivating brotherly love, the +foundation and capstone, the cement and union of this ancient +fraternity." + +"And am I really to take an important part in this scheme? Have I been +set apart to explore a section of the unknown for a bit of hidden +knowledge, and to return again?" + +"This I will say," he answered, evading a direct reply, "you have been +selected for a part that one in a thousand has been required to +undertake. You are to pass into a field that will carry you beyond the +present limits of human observation. This much I have been instructed to +impart to you in order to nerve you for your duty. I seem to be a young +man; really I am aged. You seem to be infirm and old, but you are +young. Many years ago, cycles ago as men record time, I was promoted to +do a certain work because of my zealous nature; like you, I also had to +do penance for an error. I disappeared, as you are destined to do, from +the sight of men. I regained my youth; yours has been lost forever, but +you will regain more than your former strength. We shall both exist +after this generation of men has passed away, and shall mingle with +generations yet to be born, for we shall learn how to restore our +youthful vigor, and will supply it time and again to earthly matter. +Rest assured also that the object of our labors is of the most laudable +nature, and we must be upheld under all difficulties by the fact that +multitudes of men who are yet to come will be benefited thereby." + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + + MY JOURNEY CONTINUES.--INSTINCT. + + +It is unnecessary for me to give the details of the first part of my +long journey. My companion was guided by a perceptive faculty that, like +the compass, enabled him to keep in the proper course. He did not +question those whom we met, and made no endeavor to maintain a given +direction; and yet he was traveling in a part of the country that was +new to himself. I marveled at the accuracy of his intuitive perception, +for he seemed never to be at fault. When the road forked, he turned to +the right or the left in a perfectly careless manner, but the continuity +of his course was never interrupted. I began mentally to question +whether he could be guiding us aright, forgetting that he was reading my +thoughts, and he answered: "There is nothing strange in this +self-directive faculty. Is not man capable of following where animals +lead? One of the objects of my special study has been to ascertain the +nature of the instinct-power of animals, the sagacity of brutes. The +carrier pigeon will fly to its cote across hundreds of miles of strange +country. The young pig will often return to its pen by a route unknown +to it; the sluggish tortoise will find its home without a guide, without +seeing a familiar object; cats, horses and other animals possess this +power, which is not an unexplainable instinct, but a natural sense +better developed in some of the lower creatures than it is in man. The +power lies dormant in man, but exists, nevertheless. If we develop one +faculty we lose acuteness in some other power. Men have lost in mental +development in this particular direction while seeking to gain in +others. If there were no record of the fact that light brings objects to +the recognition of the mind through the agency of the eye, the sense of +sight in an animal would be considered by men devoid of it as +adaptability to extraordinary circumstances, or instinct. So it is that +animals often see clearly where to the sense of man there is only +darkness; such sight is not irresponsive action without consciousness +of a purpose. Man is not very magnanimous. Instead of giving credit to +the lower animals for superior perception in many directions, he denies +to them the conscious possession of powers imperfectly developed in +mankind. We egotistically aim to raise ourselves, and do so in our own +estimation by clothing the actions of the lower animals in a garment of +irresponsibility. Because we can not understand the inwardness of their +power, we assert that they act by the influence of instinct. The term +instinct, as I would define it, is an expression applied by men to a +series of senses which man possesses, but has not developed. The word is +used by man to characterize the mental superiority of other animals in +certain directions where his own senses are defective. Instead of +crediting animals with these, to them, invaluable faculties, man +conceitedly says they are involuntary actions. Ignorant of their mental +status, man is too arrogant to admit that lower animals are superior to +him in any way. But we are not consistent. Is it not true that in the +direction in which you question my power, some men by cultivation often +become expert beyond their fellows? and such men have also given very +little systematic study to subjects connected with these undeniable +mental qualities. The hunter will hold his course in utter darkness, +passing inequalities in the ground, and avoiding obstructions he can not +see. The fact of his superiority in this way, over others, is not +questioned, although he can not explain his methods nor understand how +he operates. His quickened sense is often as much entitled to be called +instinct as is the divining power of the carrier pigeon. If scholars +would cease to devote their entire energies to the development of the +material, artistic, or scientific part of modern civilization, and turn +their attention to other forms of mental culture, many beauties and +powers of Nature now unknown would be revealed. However, this can not +be, for under existing conditions, the strife for food and warmth is the +most important struggle that engages mankind, and controls our actions. +In a time that is surely to come, however, when the knowledge of all men +is united into a comprehensive whole, the book of life, illuminated +thereby, will contain many beautiful pages that may be easily read, but +which are now not suspected to exist. The power of the magnet is not +uniform--engineers know that the needle of the compass inexplicably +deviates from time to time as a line is run over the earth's surface, +but they also know that aberrations of the needle finally correct +themselves. The temporary variations of a few degrees that occur in the +running of a compass line are usually overcome after a time, and without +a change of course, the disturbed needle swerves back, and again points +to the calculated direction, as is shown by the vernier. Should I err in +my course, it would be by a trifle only, and we could not go far astray +before I would unconsciously discover the true path. I carry my magnet +in my mind." + +Many such dissertations or explanations concerning related questions +were subsequently made in what I then considered a very impressive, +though always unsatisfactory, manner. I recall those episodes now, after +other more remarkable experiences which are yet to be related, and +record them briefly with little wonderment, because I have gone through +adventures which demonstrate that there is nothing improbable in the +statements, and I will not consume time with further details of this +part of my journey. + +We leisurely traversed State after State, crossed rivers, mountains and +seemingly interminable forests. The ultimate object of our travels, a +location in Kentucky, I afterward learned, led my companion to guide me +by a roundabout course to Wheeling, Virginia, by the usual mountain +roads of that day, instead of going, as he might perhaps have much more +easily done, via Buffalo and the Lake Shore to Northern Ohio, and then +southerly across the country. He said in explanation, that the time lost +at the beginning of our journey by this route, was more than recompensed +by the ease of the subsequent Ohio River trip. Upon reaching Wheeling, +he disposed of the team, and we embarked on a keel boat, and journeyed +down the Ohio to Cincinnati. The river was falling when we started, and +became very low before Cincinnati was reached, too low for steamers, and +our trip in that flat-bottomed boat, on the sluggish current of the +tortuous stream, proved tedious and slow. Arriving at Cincinnati, my +guide decided to wait for a rise in the river, designing then to +complete our journey on a steamboat. I spent several days in Cincinnati +quite pleasantly, expecting to continue our course on the steamer +"Tecumseh," then in port, and ready for departure. At the last moment my +guide changed his mind, and instead of embarking on that boat, we took +passage on the steamer "George Washington," leaving Shipping-Port +Wednesday, December 13, 1826. + +During that entire journey, from the commencement to our final +destination, my guide paid all the bills, and did not want either for +money or attention from the people with whom we came in contact. He +seemed everywhere a stranger, and yet was possessed of a talisman that +opened every door to which he applied, and which gave us unlimited +accommodations wherever he asked them. When the boat landed at +Smithland, Kentucky, a village on the bank of the Ohio, just above +Paducah, we disembarked, and my guide then for the first time seemed +mentally disturbed. + +"Our journey together is nearly over," he said; "in a few days my +responsibility for you will cease. Nerve yourself for the future, and +bear its trials and its pleasures manfully. I may never see you again, +but as you are even now conspicuous in our history, and will be closely +connected with the development of the plan in which I am also +interested, although I am destined to take a different part, I shall +probably hear of you again." + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + + A CAVERN DISCOVERED.--BISWELL'S HILL. + + +We stopped that night at a tavern in Smithland. Leaving this place after +dinner the next day, on foot, we struck through the country, into the +bottom lands of the Cumberland River, traveling leisurely, lingering for +hours in the course of a circuitous tramp of only a few miles. Although +it was the month of December, the climate was mild and balmy. In my +former home, a similar time of year would have been marked with snow, +sleet, and ice, and I could not but draw a contrast between the two +localities. How different also the scenery from that of my native State. +Great timber trees, oak, poplar, hickory, were in majestic possession of +large tracts of territory, in the solitude of which man, so far as +evidences of his presence were concerned, had never before trodden. From +time to time we passed little clearings that probably were to be +enlarged to thrifty plantations in the future, and finally we crossed +the Cumberland River. That night we rested with Mr. Joseph Watts, a +wealthy and cultured land owner, who resided on the river's bank. After +leaving his home the next morning, we journeyed slowly, very slowly, my +guide seemingly passing with reluctance into the country. He had become +a very pleasant companion, and his conversation was very entertaining. +We struck the sharp point of a ridge the morning we left Mr. Watts' +hospitable house. It was four or five miles distant, but on the opposite +side of the Cumberland, from Smithland. Here a steep bluff broke through +the bottom land to the river's edge, the base of the bisected point +being washed by the Cumberland River, which had probably cut its way +through the stony mineral of this ridge in ages long passed. We climbed +to its top and sat upon the pinnacle, and from that point of commanding +observation I drank in the beauties of the scene around me. The river at +our feet wound gracefully before us, and disappeared in both +directions, its extremes dissolving in a bed of forest. A great black +bluff, far up the stream, rose like a mountain, upon the left side of +the river; bottom lands were about us, and hills appeared across the +river in the far distance--towards the Tennessee River. With regret I +finally drew my eyes from the vision, and we resumed the journey. We +followed the left bank of the river to the base of the black +bluff,--"Biswell's Hill," a squatter called it,--and then skirted the +side of that hill, passing along precipitous stone bluffs and among +stunted cedars. Above us towered cliff over cliff, almost +perpendicularly; below us rolled the river. + +[Illustration: SECTION OF KENTUCKY, NEAR SMITHLAND, IN WHICH THE +ENTRANCE TO THE KENTUCKY CAVERN IS SAID TO BE LOCATED.] + +I was deeply impressed by the changing beauties of this strange Kentucky +scenery, but marveled at the fact that while I became light-hearted and +enthusiastic, my guide grew correspondingly despondent and gloomy. From +time to time he lapsed into thoughtful silence, and once I caught his +eye directed toward me in a manner that I inferred to imply either pity +or envy. We passed Biswell's Bluff, and left the Cumberland River at its +upper extremity, where another small creek empties into the river. +Thence, after ascending the creek some distance, we struck across the +country, finding it undulating and fertile, with here and there a small +clearing. During this journey we either camped out at night, or stopped +with a resident, when one was to be found in that sparsely settled +country. Sometimes there were exasperating intervals between our meals; +but we did not suffer, for we carried with us supplies of food, such as +cheese and crackers, purchased in Smithland, for emergencies. We thus +proceeded a considerable distance into Livingston County, Kentucky. + +I observed remarkable sinks in the earth, sometimes cone-shaped, again +precipitous. These cavities were occasionally of considerable size and +depth, and they were more numerous in the uplands than in the bottoms. +They were somewhat like the familiar "sink-holes" of New York State, but +monstrous in comparison. The first that attracted my attention was near +the Cumberland River, just before we reached Biswell's Hill. It was +about forty feet deep and thirty in diameter, with precipitous stone +sides, shrubbery growing therein in exceptional spots where loose earth +had collected on shelves of stone that cropped out along its rugged +sides. The bottom of the depression was flat and fertile, covered with a +luxuriant mass of vegetation. On one side of the base of the gigantic +bowl, a cavern struck down into the earth. I stood upon the edge of this +funnel-like sink, and marveled at its peculiar appearance. A spirit of +curiosity, such as often influences men when an unusual natural scene +presents itself, possessed me. I clambered down, swinging from brush to +brush, and stepping from shelving-rock to shelving-rock, until I reached +the bottom of the hollow, and placing my hand above the black hole in +its center, I perceived that a current of cold air was rushing +therefrom, upward. I probed with a long stick, but the direction of the +opening was tortuous, and would not admit of examination in that manner. +I dropped a large pebble-stone into the orifice; the pebble rolled and +clanked down, down, and at last, the sound died away in the distance. + +"I wish that I could go into the cavity as that stone has done, and find +the secrets of this cave," I reflected, the natural love of exploration +possessing me as it probably does most men. + +My companion above, seated on the brink of the stone wall, replied to my +thoughts: "Your wish shall be granted. You have requested that which has +already been laid out for you. You will explore where few men have +passed before, and will have the privilege of following your destiny +into a realm of natural wonders. A fertile field of investigation awaits +you, such as will surpass your most vivid imaginings. Come and seat +yourself beside me, for it is my duty now to tell you something about +the land we are approaching, the cavern fields of Kentucky." + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + + THE PUNCH-BOWLS AND CAVERNS OF KENTUCKY.--"INTO THE UNKNOWN + COUNTRY." + + +"This part of Kentucky borders a field of caverns that reaches from near +the State of Tennessee to the Ohio River, and from the mouth of the +Cumberland, eastward to and beyond the center of the State. This great +area is of irregular outline, and as yet has been little explored. +Underneath the surface are layers of limestone and sandstone rock, the +deposits ranging from ten to one hundred and fifty feet in thickness, +and often great masses of conglomerate appear. This conglomerate +sometimes caps the ridges, and varies in thickness from a few feet only, +to sixty, or even a hundred, feet. It is of a diversified character, +sometimes largely composed of pebbles cemented together by iron ore into +compact beds, while again it passes abruptly into gritty sandstone, or a +fine-grained compact rock destitute of pebbles. Sometimes the +conglomerate rests directly on the limestone, but in the section about +us, more often argillaceous shales or veins of coal intervene, and +occasionally inferior and superior layers of conglomerate are separated +by a bed of coal. In addition, lead-bearing veins now and then crop up, +the crystals of galena being disseminated through masses of fluor-spar, +calc-spar, limestone and clay, which fill fissures between tilted walls +of limestone and hard quartzose sandstone. Valleys, hills, and +mountains, grow out of this remarkable crust. Rivers and creeks flow +through and under it in crevices, either directly upon the bedstone or +over deposits of clay which underlie it. In some places, beds of coal or +slate alternate with layers of the lime rock; in others, the interspace +is clay and sand. Sometimes the depth of the several limestone and +conglomerate deposits is great, and they are often honeycombed by +innumerable transverse and diagonal spaces. Water drips have here and +there washed out the more friable earth and stone, forming grottoes +which are as yet unknown to men, but which will be discovered to be +wonderful and fantastic beyond anything of a like nature now familiar. +In other places cavities exist between shelves of rock that lie one +above the other--monstrous openings caused by the erosive action of +rivers now lost, but that have flowed during unnumbered ages past; great +parallel valleys and gigantic chambers, one over the other, remaining to +tell the story of these former torrents. Occasionally the weight of a +portion of the disintegrating rock above becomes too great for its +tensile strength and the material crumbles and falls, producing caverns +sometimes reaching so near to the earth's surface, as to cause sinks in +its crust. These sinks, when first formed, as a rule, present clear rock +fractures, and immediately after their formation there is usually a +water-way beneath. In the course of time soil collects on their sides, +they become cone-shaped hollows from the down-slidings of earth, and +then vegetation appears on the living soil; trees grow within them, and +in many places the sloping sides of great earth bowls of this nature +are, after untold years, covered with the virgin forest; magnificent +timber trees growing on soil that has been stratified over and upon +decayed monarchs of the forest whose remains, imbedded in the earth, +speak of the ages that have passed since the convulsions that made the +depressions which, notwithstanding the accumulated debris, are still a +hundred feet or more in depth. If the drain or exit at the vortex of one +of these sinks becomes clogged, which often occurs, the entire cavity +fills with water, and a pond results. Again, a slight orifice reaching +far beneath the earth's surface may permit the soil to be gradually +washed into a subterranean creek, and thus are formed great bowls, like +funnels sunk in the earth--Kentucky punch-bowls. + +"Take the country about us, especially towards the Mammoth Cave, and for +miles beyond, the landscape in certain localities is pitted with this +description of sinks, some recent, others very old. Many are small, but +deep; others are large and shallow. Ponds often of great depth, +curiously enough overflowing and giving rise to a creek, are to be found +on a ridge, telling of underground supply springs, not outlets, beneath. +Chains of such sinks, like a row of huge funnels, often appear; the soil +between them is slowly washed through their exit into the river, +flowing in the depths below, and as the earth that separates them is +carried away by the subterranean streams, the bowls coalesce and a +ravine, closed at both ends, results. Along the bottom of such a ravine, +a creek may flow, rushing from its natural tunnel at one end of the +line, and disappearing in a gulf at the other. The stream begins in +mystery, and ends in unfathomed darkness. Near Marion, Hurricane Creek +thus disappears, and, so far as men know, is lost to sight forever. Near +Cridersville, in this neighborhood, a valley such as I have described, +takes in the surface floods of a large tract of country. The waters that +run down its sides, during a storm form a torrent, and fence-rails, +timbers, and other objects are gulped into the chasm where the creek +plunges into the earth, and they never appear again. This part of +Kentucky is the most remarkable portion of the known world, and although +now neglected, in a time to come is surely destined to an extended +distinction. I have referred only to the surface, the skin formation of +this honeycombed labyrinth, the entrance to the future wonderland of the +world. Portions of such a superficial cavern maze have been traversed by +man in the ramifications known as the Mammoth Cave, but deeper than man +has yet explored, the subcutaneous structure of that series of caverns +is yet to be investigated. The Mammoth Cave as now traversed is simply a +superficial series of grottoes and passages overlying the deeper cavern +field that I have described. The explored chain of passages is of great +interest to men, it is true, but of minor importance compared to others +yet unknown, being in fact, the result of mere surface erosion. The +river that bisects the cave, just beneath the surface of the earth, and +known as Echo River, is a miniature stream: there are others more +magnificent that flow majestically far, far beneath it. As we descend +into the earth in that locality, caverns multiply in number and increase +in size, retaining the general configuration of those I have described. +The layers of rock are thicker, the intervening spaces broader; and the +spaces stretch in increasingly expanded chambers for miles, while high +above each series of caverns the solid ceilings of stone arch and +interarch. Sheltered under these subterrene alcoves are streams, lakes, +rivers and water-falls. Near the surface of the earth such waters often +teem with aquatic life, and some of the caves are inhabited by species +of birds, reptiles and mammals as yet unknown to men, creatures +possessed of senses and organs that are different from any we find with +surface animals, and also apparently defective in particulars that would +startle persons acquainted only with creatures that live in the +sunshine. It is a world beneath a world, a world within a world--" My +guide abruptly stopped. + +I sat entranced, marveling at the young-old adept's knowledge, admiring +his accomplishments. I gazed into the cavity that yawned beneath me, and +imagined its possible but to me invisible secrets, enraptured with the +thought of searching into them. Who would not feel elated at the +prospect of an exploration, such as I foresaw might be pursued in my +immediate future? I had often been charmed with narrative descriptions +of discoveries, and book accounts of scientific investigations, but I +had never pictured myself as a participant in such fascinating +enterprises. + +"Indeed, indeed," I cried exultingly; "lead me to this Wonderland, show +me the entrance to this Subterranean World, and I promise willingly to +do as you bid." + +"Bravo!" he replied, "your heart is right, your courage sufficient; I +have not disclosed a thousandth part of the wonders which I have +knowledge of, and which await your research, and probably I have not +gained even an insight into the mysteries that, if your courage permits, +you will be privileged to comprehend. Your destiny lies beyond, far +beyond that which I have pictured or experienced; and I, notwithstanding +my opportunities, have no conception of its end, for at the critical +moment my heart faltered--I can therefore only describe the beginning." + +Thus at the lower extremity of Biswell's Hill, I was made aware of the +fact that, within a short time, I should be separated from my +sympathetic guide, and that it was to be my duty to explore alone, or in +other company, some portion of these Kentucky cavern deeps, and I longed +for the beginning of my underground journey. Heavens! how different +would have been my future life could I then have realized my position! +Would that I could have seen the end. After a few days of uneventful +travel, we rested, one afternoon, in a hilly country that before us +appeared to be more rugged, even mountainous. We had wandered leisurely, +and were now at a considerable distance from the Cumberland River, the +aim of my guide being, as I surmised, to evade a direct approach to some +object of interest which I must not locate exactly, and yet which I +shall try to describe accurately enough for identification by a person +familiar with the topography of that section. We stood on the side of a +stony, sloping hill, back of which spread a wooded, undulating valley. + +"I remember to have passed along a creek in that valley," I remarked, +looking back over our pathway. "It appeared to rise from this direction, +but the source ends abruptly in this chain of hills." + +"The stream is beneath us," he answered. Advancing a few paces, he +brought to my attention, on the hillside, an opening in the earth. This +aperture was irregular in form, about the diameter of a well, and +descended perpendicularly into the stony crust. I leaned far over the +orifice, and heard the gurgle of rushing water beneath. The guide +dropped a heavy stone into the gloomy shaft, and in some seconds a dull +splash announced its plunge into underground water. Then he leaned over +the stony edge, and--could I be mistaken?--seemed to signal to some one +beneath; but it must be imagination on my part, I argued to myself, even +against my very sense of sight. Rising, and taking me by the hand, my +guardian spoke: + +"Brother, we approach the spot where you and I must separate. I serve my +masters and am destined to go where I shall next be commanded; you will +descend into the earth, as you have recently desired to do. Here we +part, most likely forever. This rocky fissure will admit the last ray of +sunlight on your path." + +My heart failed. How often are we courageous in daylight and timid by +night? Men unflinchingly face in sunshine dangers at which they shudder +in the darkness. + +"How am I to descend into that abyss?" I gasped. "The sides are +perpendicular, the depth is unknown!" Then I cried in alarm, the sense +of distrust deepening: "Do you mean to drown me; is it for this you have +led me away from my native State, from friends, home and kindred? You +have enticed me into this wilderness. I have been decoyed, and, like a +foolish child, have willingly accompanied my destroyer. You feared to +murder me in my distant home; the earth could not have hidden me; +Niagara even might have given up my body to dismay the murderers! In +this underground river in the wilds of Kentucky, all trace of my +existence will disappear forever." + +I was growing furious. My frenzied eyes searched the ground for some +missile of defense. By strange chance some one had left, on that +solitary spot, a rude weapon, providentially dropped for my use, I +thought. It was a small iron bolt or bar, somewhat rusted. I threw +myself upon the earth, and, as I did so, picked this up quickly, and +secreted it within my bosom. Then I arose and resumed my stormy +denunciation: + +"You have played your part well, you have led your unresisting victim to +the sacrifice, but if I am compelled to plunge into this black grave, +you shall go with me!" I shrieked in desperation, and suddenly threw my +arms around the gentle adept, intending to hurl him into the chasm. At +this point I felt my hands seized from behind in a cold, clammy, +irresistible embrace, my fingers were loosed by a strong grasp, and I +turned, to find myself confronted by a singular looking being, who +quietly said: + +"You are not to be destroyed; we wish only to do your bidding." + +The speaker stood in a stooping position, with his face towards the +earth as if to shelter it from the sunshine. He was less than five feet +in height. His arms and legs were bare, and his skin, the color of light +blue putty, glistened in the sunlight like the slimy hide of a water +dog. He raised his head, and I shuddered in affright as I beheld that +his face was not that of a human. His forehead extended in an unbroken +plane from crown to cheek bone, and the chubby tip of an abortive nose +without nostrils formed a short projection near the center of the level +ridge which represented a countenance. There was no semblance of an eye, +for there were no sockets. Yet his voice was singularly perfect. His +face, if face it could be called, was wet, and water dripped from all +parts of his slippery person. Yet, repulsive as he looked, I shuddered +more at the remembrance of the touch of that cold, clammy hand than at +the sight of his figure, for a dead man could not have chilled me as he +had done, with his sappy skin, from which the moisture seemed to ooze as +from the hide of a water lizard. + +[Illustration: "CONFRONTED BY A SINGULAR LOOKING BEING."] + +Turning to my guide, this freak of nature said, softly: + +"I have come in obedience to the signal." + +I realized at once that alone with these two I was powerless, and that +to resist would be suicidal. Instantly my effervescing passion subsided, +and I expressed no further surprise at this sudden and remarkable +apparition, but mentally acquiesced. I was alone and helpless; rage gave +place to inertia in the despondency that followed the realization of my +hopeless condition. The grotesque newcomer who, though sightless, +possessed a strange instinct, led us to the base of the hill a few +hundred feet away, and there, gushing into the light from the rocky +bluff, I saw a magnificent stream issuing many feet in width. This was +the head-waters of the mysterious brook that I had previously noticed. +It flowed from an archway in the solid stone, springing directly out of +the rock-bound cliff; beautiful and picturesque in its surroundings. The +limpid water, clear and sparkling, issued from the unknown source that +was typical of darkness, but the brook of crystal leaped into a world of +sunshine, light and freedom. + +"Brother," said my companion, "this spring emerging from this prison of +earth images to us what humanity will be when the prisoning walls of +ignorance that now enthrall him are removed. Man has heretofore relied +chiefly for his advancement, both mental and physical, on knowledge +gained from so-called scientific explorations and researches with +matter, from material studies rather than spiritual, all his +investigations having been confined to the crude, coarse substance of +the surface of the globe. Spiritualistic investigations, unfortunately, +are considered by scientific men too often as reaching backward only. +The religions of the world clasp hands with, and lean upon, the dead +past, it is true, but point to a living future. Man must yet search by +the agency of senses and spirit, the unfathomed mysteries that lie +beneath his feet and over his head, and he who refuses to bow to the +Creator and honor his handiwork discredits himself. When this work is +accomplished, as it yet will be, the future man, able then to comprehend +the problem of life in its broader significance, drawing from all +directions the facts necessary to his mental advancement, will have +reached a state in which he can enjoy bodily comfort and supreme +spiritual perfection, while he is yet an earth-bound mortal. In +hastening this consummation, it is necessary that an occasional human +life should be lost to the world, but such sacrifices are noble--yes, +sublime, because contributing to the future exaltation of our race. The +secret workers in the sacred order of which you are still a member, have +ever taken an important part in furthering such a system of evolution. +This feature of our work is unknown to brethren of the ordinary +fraternity, and the individual research of each secret messenger is +unguessed, by the craft at large. Hence it is that the open workers of +our order, those initiated by degrees only, who in lodge rooms carry on +their beneficent labors among men, have had no hand other than as agents +in your removal, and no knowledge of your present or future movements. +Their function is to keep together our organization on earth, and from +them only an occasional member is selected, as you have been, to perform +special duties in certain adventurous studies. Are you willing to go on +this journey of exploration? and are you brave enough to meet the trials +you have invited?" + +Again my enthusiasm arose, and I felt the thrill experienced by an +investigator who stands on the brink of an important discovery, and +needs but courage to advance, and I answered, "Yes." + +"Then, farewell; this archway is the entrance that will admit you into +your arcanum of usefulness. This mystic Brother, though a stranger to +you, has long been apprised of our coming, and it was he who sped me on +my journey to seek you, and who has since been waiting for us, and is to +be your guide during the first stages of your subterrene progress. He is +a Friend, and, if you trust him, will protect you from harm. You will +find the necessaries of life supplied, for I have traversed part of your +coming road; that part I therefore know, but, as I have said, you are to +go deeper into the unexplored,--yes, into and beyond the Beyond, until +finally you will come to the gateway that leads into the 'Unknown +Country.'" + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + + FAREWELL TO GOD'S SUNSHINE.--THE ECHO OF THE CRY. + + +Thus speaking, my quiet leader, who had so long been as a shepherd to my +wandering feet, on the upper earth, grasped my hands tightly, and placed +them in those of my new companion, whose clammy fingers closed over them +as with a grip of iron. The mysterious being, now my custodian, turned +towards the creek, drawing me after him, and together we silently and +solemnly waded beneath the stone archway. As I passed under the shadow +of that dismal, yawning cliff, I turned my head to take one last glimpse +of the world I had known--that "warm precinct of the cheerful day,"--and +tears sprang to my eyes. I thought of life, family, friends,--of all for +which men live--and a melancholy vision arose, that of my lost, lost +home. My dear companion of the journey that had just ended stood in the +sunlight on the banks of the rippling stream, gazing at us intently, and +waved an affectionate farewell. My uncouth new associate (guide or +master, whichever he might be), of the journey to come, clasped me +firmly by the arms, and waded slowly onward, thrusting me steadily +against the cold current, and with irresistible force pressed me into +the thickening darkness. The daylight disappeared, the pathway +contracted, the water deepened and became more chilly. We were +constrained to bow our heads in order to avoid the overhanging vault of +stone; the water reached to my chin, and now the down-jutting roof +touched the crown of my head; then I shuddered convulsively as the last +ray of daylight disappeared. + +Had it not been for my companion, I know that I should have sunk in +despair, and drowned; but with a firm hand he held my head above the +water, and steadily pushed me onward. I had reached the extreme of +despondency: I neither feared nor cared for life nor death, and I +realized that, powerless to control my own acts, my fate, the future, my +existence depended on the strange being beside me. I was mysteriously +sustained, however, by a sense of bodily security, such as comes over us +as when in the hands of an experienced guide we journey through a +wilderness, for I felt that my pilot of the underworld did not purpose +to destroy me. We halted a moment, and then, as a faint light overspread +us, my eyeless guide directed me to look upward. + +"We now stand beneath the crevice which you were told by your former +guide would admit the last ray of sunlight on your path. I also say to +you, this struggling ray of sunlight is to be your last for years." + +I gazed above me, feeling all the wretchedness of a dying man who, with +faculties intact, might stand on the dark edge of the hillside of +eternity, glancing back into the bright world; and that small opening +far, far overhead, seemed as the gate to Paradise Lost. Many a person, +assured of ascending at will, has stood at the bottom of a deep well or +shaft to a mine, and even then felt the undescribable sensation of +dread, often terror, that is produced by such a situation. Awe, mystery, +uncertainty of life and future superadded, may express my sensation. I +trembled, shrinking in horror from my captor and struggled violently. + +"Hold, hold," I begged, as one involuntarily prays a surgeon to delay +the incision of the amputating knife, "just one moment." My companion, +unheeding, moved on, the light vanished instantly, and we were +surrounded by total darkness. God's sunshine was blotted out. + +[Illustration: "THIS STRUGGLING RAY OF SUNLIGHT IS TO BE YOUR LAST FOR +YEARS."] + +Then I again became unconcerned; I was not now responsible for my own +existence, and the feeling that I experienced when a prisoner in the +closed carriage returned. I grew careless as to my fate, and with stolid +indifference struggled onward as we progressed slowly against the +current of water. I began to interest myself in speculations regarding +our surroundings, and the object or outcome of our journey. In places +the water was shallow, scarce reaching to our ankles; again it was so +deep that we could wade only with exertion, and at times the passage up +which we toiled was so narrow, that it would scarcely admit us. After a +long, laborious stemming of the unseen brook, my companion directed me +to close my mouth, hold my nostrils with my fingers, and stoop; almost +diving with me beneath the water, he drew me through the submerged +crevice, and we ascended into an open chamber, and left the creek behind +us. I fancied that we were in a large room, and as I shouted aloud to +test my hypothesis, echo after echo answered, until at last the cry +reverberated and died away in distant murmurs. We were evidently in a +great pocket or cavern, through which my guide now walked rapidly; +indeed, he passed along with unerring footsteps, as certain of his +course as I might be on familiar ground in full daylight. I perceived +that he systematically evaded inequalities that I could not anticipate +nor see. He would tell me to step up or down, as the surroundings +required, and we ascended or descended accordingly. Our path turned to +the right or the left from time to time, but my eyeless guide passed +through what were evidently the most tortuous windings without a mishap. +I wondered much at this gift of knowledge, and at last overcame my +reserve sufficiently to ask how we could thus unerringly proceed in +utter darkness. The reply was: + +"The path is plainly visible to me; I see as clearly in pitch darkness +as you can in sunshine." + +"Explain yourself further," I requested. + +He replied, "Not yet;" and continued, "you are weary, we will rest." + +He conducted me to a seat on a ledge, and left me for a time. Returning +soon, he placed in my hands food which I ate with novel relish. The +pabulum seemed to be of vegetable origin, though varieties of it had a +peculiar flesh-like flavor. Several separate and distinct substances +were contained in the queer viands, some portions savoring of wholesome +flesh, while others possessed the delicate flavors of various fruits, +such as the strawberry and the pineapple. The strange edibles were of a +pulpy texture, homogeneous in consistence, parts being juicy and acid +like grateful fruits. Some portions were in slices or films that I could +hold in my hand like sections of a velvet melon, and yet were in many +respects unlike any other food that I had ever tasted. There was neither +rind nor seed; it seemed as though I were eating the gills of a fish, +and in answer to my question the guide remarked: + +"Yes; it is the gill, but not the gill of a fish. You will be instructed +in due time." I will add that after this, whenever necessary, we were +supplied with food, but both thirst and hunger disappeared altogether +before our underground journey was finished. + +After a while we again began our journey, which we continued in what was +to me absolute darkness. My strength seemed to endure the fatigue to a +wonderful degree, notwithstanding that we must have been walking hour +after hour, and I expressed a curiosity about the fact. My guide replied +that the atmosphere of the cavern possessed an intrinsic vitalizing +power that neutralized fatigue, "or," he said, "there is here an +inherent constitutional energy derived from an active gaseous substance +that belongs to cavern air at this depth, and sustains the life force by +contributing directly to its conservation, taking the place of food and +drink." + +"I do not understand," I said. + +"No; and you do not comprehend how ordinary air supports mind and +vitalizes muscle, and at the same time wears out both muscle and all +other tissues. These are facts which are not satisfactorily explained by +scientific statements concerning oxygenation of the blood. As we descend +into the earth we find an increase in the life force of the cavern air." + +This reference to surface earth recalled my former life, and led me to +contrast my present situation with that I had forfeited. I was seized +with an uncontrollable longing for home, and a painful craving for the +past took possession of my heart, but with a strong effort I shook off +the sensations. We traveled on and on in silence and in darkness, and I +thought again of the strange remark of my former guide who had said: +"You are destined to go deeper into the unknown; yes, into and beyond +the Beyond." + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + + A ZONE OF LIGHT DEEP WITHIN THE EARTH. + + +"Oh! for one glimpse of light, a ray of sunshine!" + +In reply to this my mental ejaculation, my guide said: "Can not you +perceive that the darkness is becoming less intense?" + +"No," I answered, "I can not; night is absolute." + +"Are you sure?" he asked. "Cover your eyes with your hands, then uncover +and open them." I did so and fancied that by contrast a faint gray hue +was apparent. + +"This must be imagination." + +"No; we now approach a zone of earth light; let us hasten on." + +"A zone of light deep in the earth! Incomprehensible! Incredible!" I +muttered, and yet as we went onward and time passed the darkness was +less intense. The barely perceptible hue became gray and somber, and +then of a pearly translucence, and although I could not distinguish the +outline of objects, yet I unquestionably perceived light. + +"I am amazed! What can be the cause of this phenomenon? What is the +nature of this mysterious halo that surrounds us?" I held my open hand +before my eyes, and perceived the darkness of my spread fingers. + +"It is light, it is light," I shouted, "it is really light!" and from +near and from far the echoes of that subterranean cavern answered back +joyfully, "It is light, it is light!" + +I wept in joy, and threw my arms about my guide, forgetting in the +ecstasy his clammy cuticle, and danced in hysterical glee and +alternately laughed and cried. How vividly I realized then that the +imprisoned miner would give a world of gold, his former god, for a ray +of light. + +"Compose yourself; this emotional exhibition is an evidence of weakness; +an investigator should neither become depressed over a reverse, nor +unduly enthusiastic over a fortunate discovery." + +"But we approach the earth's surface? Soon I will be back in the +sunshine again." + +"Upon the contrary, we have been continually descending into the earth, +and we are now ten miles or more beneath the level of the ocean." + +[Illustration: "WE APPROACH DAYLIGHT, I CAN SEE YOUR FORM."] + +I shrank back, hesitated, and in despondency gazed at his hazy outline, +then, as if palsied, sank upon the stony floor; but as I saw the light +before me, I leaped up and shouted: + +"What you say is not true; we approach daylight, I can see your form." + +"Listen to me," he said. "Can not you understand that I have led you +continually down a steep descent, and that for hours there has been no +step upward? With but little exertion you have walked this distance +without becoming wearied, and you could not, without great fatigue, have +ascended for so long a period. You are entering a zone of inner earth +light; we are in the surface, the upper edge of it. Let us hasten on, +for when this cavern darkness is at an end--and I will say we have +nearly passed that limit--your courage will return, and then we will +rest." + +"You surely do not speak the truth; science and philosophy, and I am +somewhat versed in both, have never told me of such a light." + +"Can philosophers more than speculate about that which they have not +experienced if they have no data from which to calculate? Name the +student in science who has reached this depth in earth, or has seen a +man to tell him of these facts?" + +"I can not." + +"Then why should you have expected any of them to describe our +surroundings? Misguided men will torture science by refuting facts with +theories; but a fact is no less a fact when science opposes." + +[Illustration: "SEATED HIMSELF ON A NATURAL BENCH OF STONE."] + +I recognized the force of his arguments, and cordially grasped his hand +in indication of submission. We continued our journey, and rapidly +traveled downward and onward. The light gradually increased in +intensity, until at length the cavern near about us seemed to be as +bright as diffused daylight could have made it. There was apparently no +central point of radiation; the light was such as to pervade and exist +in the surrounding space, somewhat as the vapor of phosphorus spreads a +self-luminous haze throughout the bubble into which it is blown. The +visual agent surrounding us had a permanent, self-existing luminosity, +and was a pervading, bright, unreachable essence that, without an +obvious origin, diffused itself equally in all directions. It reminded +me of the form of light that in previous years I had seen described as +epipolic dispersion, and as I refer to the matter I am of the opinion +that man will yet find that the same cause produces both phenomena. I +was informed now by the sense of sight, that we were in a cavern room of +considerable size. The apartment presented somewhat the appearance of +the usual underground caverns that I had seen pictured in books, and yet +was different. Stalactites, stalagmites, saline incrustations, +occurring occasionally reminded me of travelers' stories, but these +objects were not so abundant as might be supposed. Such accretions or +deposits of saline substances as I noticed were also disappointing, in +that, instead of having a dazzling brilliancy, like frosted snow +crystals, they were of a uniform gray or brown hue. Indeed, my former +imaginative mental creations regarding underground caverns were +dispelled in this somber stone temple, for even the floor and the +fragments of stone that, in considerable quantities, strewed the floor, +were of the usual rock formations of upper earth. The glittering +crystals of snowy white or rainbow tints (fairy caverns) pictured by +travelers, and described as inexpressibly grand and beautiful in other +cavern labyrinths, were wanting here, and I saw only occasional small +clusters of quartz crystals that were other than of a dull gray color. +Finally, after hours or perhaps days of travel, interspersed with +restings, conversations, and arguments, amid which I could form no idea +of the flight of time, my companion seated himself on a natural bench of +stone, and directed me to rest likewise. He broke the silence, and spoke +as follows: + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + + VITALIZED DARKNESS.--THE NARROWS IN SCIENCE. + + +"In studying any branch of science men begin and end with an unknown. +The chemist accepts as data such conditions of matter as he finds about +him, and connects ponderable matter with the displays of energy that +have impressed his senses, building therefrom a span of theoretical +science, but he can not formulate as yet an explanation regarding the +origin or the end of either mind, matter, or energy. The piers +supporting his fabric stand in a profound invisible gulf, into which +even his imagination can not look to form a theory concerning basic +formations--corner-stones. + +"The geologist, in a like manner, grasps feebly the lessons left in the +superficial fragments of earth strata, impressions that remain to bear +imperfect record of a few of the disturbances that have affected the +earth's crust, and he endeavors to formulate a story of the world's +life, but he is neither able to antedate the records shown by the meager +testimony at his command, scraps of a leaf out of God's great book of +history, nor to anticipate coming events. The birth, as well as the +death, of this planet is beyond his page. + +"The astronomer directs his telescope to the heavens, records the +position of the planets, and hopes to discover the influences worlds +exert upon one another. He explores space to obtain data to enable him +to delineate a map of the visible solar universe, but the instruments he +has at command are so imperfect, and mind is so feeble that, like +mockery seems his attempt to study behind the facts connected with the +motions and conditions of the nearest heavenly bodies, and he can not +offer an explanation of the beginning or cessation of their movements. +He can neither account for their existence, nor foretell their end." + +"Are you not mistaken?" I interrupted; "does not the astronomer foretell +eclipses, and calculate the orbits of the planets, and has he not +verified predictions concerning their several motions?" + +"Yes; but this is simply a study of passing events. The astronomer is no +more capable of grasping an idea that reaches into an explanation of the +origin of motion, than the chemist or physicist, from exact scientific +data, can account for the creation of matter. Give him any amount of +material at rest, and he can not conceive of any method by which motion +can disturb any part of it, unless such motion be mass motion +communicated from without, or molecular motion, already existing within. +He accounts for the phases of present motion in heavenly bodies, not for +the primal cause of the actual movements or intrinsic properties they +possess. He can neither originate a theory that will permit of motion +creating itself, and imparting itself to quiescent matter, nor imagine +how an atom of quiescent matter can be moved, unless motion from without +be communicated thereto. The astronomer, I assert, can neither from any +data at his command postulate nor prove the beginning nor the end of the +reverberating motion that exists in his solar system, which is itself +the fragment of a system that is circulating and revolving in and about +itself, and in which, since the birth of man, the universe he knows has +not passed the first milestone in the road that universe is traveling in +space immensity. + +"The mathematician starts a line from an imaginary point that he informs +us exists theoretically without occupying any space, which is a +contradiction of terms according to his human acceptation of knowledge +derived from scientific experiment, if science is based on verified +facts. He assumes that straight lines exist, which is a necessity for +his calculation; but such a line he has never made. Even the beam of +sunshine, radiating through a clear atmosphere or a cloud bank, widens +and contracts again as it progresses through the various mediums of air +and vapor currents, and if it is ever spreading and deflecting can it be +straight? He begins his study in the unknown, it ends with the +unknowable. + +"The biologist can conceive of no rational, scientific beginning to life +of plant or animal, and men of science must admit the fact. Whenever we +turn our attention to nature's laws and nature's substance, we find man +surrounded by the infinity that obscures the origin and covers the +end. But perseverance, study of nature's forces, and comparison of the +past with the present, will yet clarify human knowledge and make plain +much of this seemingly mysterious, but never will man reach the +beginning or the end. The course of human education, to this day, has +been mostly materialistic, although, together with the study of matter, +there has been more or less attention given to its moving spirit. Newton +was the dividing light in scientific thought; he stepped between the +reasonings of the past and the provings of the present, and introduced +problems that gave birth to a new scientific tendency, a change from the +study of matter from the material side to that of force and matter, but +his thought has since been carried out in a mode too realistic by far. +The study of material bodies has given way, it is true, in a few cases +to the study of the spirit of matter, and evolution is beginning to +teach men that matter is crude. As a result, thought will in its +sequence yet show that modifications of energy expression are paramount. +This work is not lost, however, for the consideration of the nature of +sensible material, is preliminary and necessary to progression (as the +life of the savage prepares the way for that of the cultivated student), +and is a meager and primitive child's effort, compared with the richness +of the study in unseen energy expressions that are linked with matter, +of which men will yet learn." + +"I comprehend some of this," I replied; "but I am neither prepared to +assent to nor dissent from your conclusions, and my mind is not clear as +to whether your logic is good or bad. I am more ready to speak plainly +about my own peculiar situation than to become absorbed in abstruse +arguments in science, and I marvel more at the soft light that is here +surrounding us than at the metaphysical reasoning in which you indulge." + +"The child ignorant of letters wonders at the resources of those who can +spell and read, and, in like manner, many obscure natural phenomena are +marvelous to man only because of his ignorance. You do not comprehend +the fact that sunlight is simply a matter-bred expression, an outburst +of interrupted energy, and that the modification this energy undergoes +makes it visible or sensible to man. What, think you, becomes of the +flood of light energy that unceasingly flows from the sun? For ages, +for an eternity, it has bathed this earth and seemingly streamed into +space, and space it would seem must have long since have been filled +with it, if, as men believe, space contains energy of any description. +Man may say the earth casts the amount intercepted by it back into +space, and yet does not your science teach that the great bulk of the +earth is an absorber, and a poor radiator of light and heat? What think +you, I repeat, becomes of the torrent of light and heat and other forces +that radiate from the sun, the flood that strikes the earth? It +disappears, and, in the economy of nature, is not replaced by any known +force or any known motion of matter. Think you that earth substance +really presents an obstacle to the passage of the sun's energy? Is it +not probable that most of this light producing essence, as a subtle +fluid, passes through the surface of the earth and into its interior, as +light does through space, and returns thence to the sun again, in a +condition not discernible by man?" He grasped my arm and squeezed it as +though to emphasize the words to follow. "You have used the term +sunshine freely; tell me what is sunshine? Ah! you do not reply; well, +what evidence have you to show that sunshine (heat and light) is not +earth-bred, a condition that exists locally only, the result of contact +between matter and some unknown force expression? What reason have you +for accepting that, to other forms unknown and yet transparent to this +energy, your sunshine may not be as intangible as the ether of space is +to man? What reason have you to believe that a force torrent is not +circulating to and from the sun and earth, inappreciable to man, +excepting the mere trace of this force which, modified by contact action +with matter appears as heat, light, and other force expressions? How can +I, if this is true, in consideration of your ignorance, enter into +details explanatory of the action that takes place between matter and a +portion of this force, whereby in the earth, first at the surface, +darkness is produced, and then deeper down an earth light that man can +perceive by the sense of sight, as you now realize? I will only say that +this luminous appearance about us is produced by a natural law, whereby +the flood of energy, invisible to man, a something clothed now under the +name of darkness, after streaming into the crust substance of the earth, +is at this depth, revivified, and then is made apparent to mortal eye, +to be modified again as it emerges from the opposite earth crust, but +not annihilated. For my vision, however, this central light is not a +necessity; my physical and mental development is such that the energy of +darkness is communicable; I can respond to its touches on my nerves, and +hence I can guide you in this dark cavern. I am all eye." + +"Ah!" I exclaimed, "that reminds me of a remark made by my former guide +who, referring to the instinct of animals, spoke of that as a natural +power undeveloped in man. Is it true that by mental cultivation a new +sense can be evolved whereby darkness may become as light?" + +"Yes; that which you call light is a form of sensible energy to which +the faculties of animals who live on the surface of the earth have +become adapted, through their organs of sight. The sun's energy is +modified when it strikes the surface of the earth; part is reflected, +but most of it passes onward into the earth's substance, in an altered +or disturbed condition. Animal organisms within the earth must possess a +peculiar development to utilize it under its new form, but such a sense +is really possessed in a degree by some creatures known to men. There is +consciousness behind consciousness; there are grades and depths of +consciousness. Earth worms, and some fishes and reptiles in underground +streams (lower organizations, men call them) do not use the organ of +sight, but recognize objects, seek their food, and flee from their +enemies." + +"They have no eyes," I exclaimed, forgetting that I spoke to an eyeless +being; "how can they see?" + +"You should reflect that man can not offer a satisfactory explanation of +the fact that he can see with his eyes. In one respect, these so-called +lower creatures are higher in the scale of life than man is, for they +see (appreciate) without eyes. The surfaces of their bodies really are +sources of perception, and seats of consciousness. Man must yet learn to +see with his skin, taste with his fingers, and hear with the surface of +his body. The dissected nerve, or the pupil of man's eye, offers to the +physiologist no explanation of its intrinsic power. Is not man +unfortunate in having to risk so much on so frail an organ? The +physiologist can not tell why or how the nerve of the tongue can +distinguish between bitter and sweet, or convey any impression of +taste, or why the nerve of the ear communicates sound, or the nerve of +the eye communicates the impression of sight. There is an impassable +barrier behind all forms of nerve impressions, that neither the +microscope nor other methods of investigation can help the reasoning +senses of man to remove. The void that separates the pulp of the +material nerve from consciousness is broader than the solar universe, +for even from the most distant known star we can imagine the +never-ending flight of a ray of light, that has once started on its +travels into space. Can any man outline the bridge that connects the +intellect with nerve or brain, mind, or with any form of matter? The +fact that the surface of the bodies of some animals is capable of +performing the same functions for these animals that the eye of man +performs for him, is not more mysterious than is the function of that +eye itself. The term darkness is an expression used to denote the fact +that to the brain which governs the eye of man, what man calls the +absence of light, is unrecognizable. If men were more magnanimous and +less egotistical, they would open their minds to the fact that some +animals really possess certain senses that are better developed than +they are in man. The teachers of men too often tell the little they know +and neglect the great unseen. The cat tribe, some night birds, and many +reptiles can see better in darkness than in daylight. Let man compare +with the nerve expanse of his own eye that of the highly developed eye +of any such creature, and he will understand that the difference is one +of brain or intellect, and not altogether one of optical vision surface. +When men are able to explain how light can affect the nerves of their +own eyes and produce such an effect on distant brain tissues as to bring +to his senses objects that he is not touching, he may be able to explain +how the energy in darkness can affect the nerve of the eye in the owl +and impress vision on the brain of that creature. Should not man's +inferior sense of light lead him to question if, instead of deficient +visual power, there be not a deficiency of the brain capacity of man? +Instead of accepting that the eye of man is incapable of receiving the +impression of night energy, and making no endeavor to improve himself in +the direction of his imperfection, man should reflect whether or not his +brain may, by proper cultivation or artificial stimulus, be yet +developed so as to receive yet deeper nerve impressions, thereby +changing darkness into daylight. Until man can explain the modus +operandi of the senses he now possesses, he can not consistently +question the existence of a different sight power in other beings, and +unquestioned existing conditions should lead him to hope for a yet +higher development in himself." + +"This dissertation is interesting, very," I said. "Although inclined +toward agnosticism, my ideas of a possible future in consciousness that +lies before mankind are broadened. I therefore accept your reasoning, +perhaps because I can not refute it, neither do I wish to do so. And now +I ask again, can not you explain to me how darkness, as deep as that of +midnight, has been revivified so as to bring this great cavern to my +view?" + +"That may be made plain at a future time," he answered; "let us proceed +with our journey." + +We passed through a dry, well ventilated apartment. Stalactite +formations still existed, indicative of former periods of water +drippings, but as we journeyed onward I saw no evidence of present +percolations, and the developing and erosive agencies that had worked in +ages past must long ago have been suspended. The floor was of solid +stone, entirely free from loose earth and fallen rocky fragments. It was +smooth upon the surface, but generally disposed in gentle undulations. +The peculiar, soft, radiant light to which my guide referred as +"vitalized darkness" or "revivified sunshine," pervaded all the space +about me, but I could not by its agency distinguish the sides of the +vast cavern. The brightness was of a species that while it brought into +distinctness objects that were near at hand, lost its unfolding power or +vigor a short distance beyond. I would compare the effect to that of a +bright light shining through a dense fog, were it not that the medium +about us was transparent--not milky. The light shrunk into nothingness. +It passed from existence behind and about me as if it were annihilated, +without wasting away in the opalescent appearance once familiar as that +of a spreading fog. Moreover, it seemed to detail such objects as were +within the compass of a certain area close about me, but to lose in +intensity beyond. The buttons on my coat appeared as distinct as they +ever did when I stood in the sunlight, and fully one-half larger than I +formerly knew them to be. The corrugations on the palms of my hands +stood out in bold serpentine relief that I observed clearly when I held +my hands near my eye, my fingers appeared clumsy, and all parts of my +person were magnified in proportion. The region at the limits of my +range of perception reminded me of nothingness, but not of darkness. A +circle of obliteration defined the border of the luminous belt which +advanced as we proceeded, and closed in behind us. This line, or rather +zone of demarkation, that separated the seen from the unseen, appeared +to be about two hundred feet away, but it might have been more or less, +as I had no method of measuring distances. + +[Illustration: "I WAS IN A FOREST OF COLOSSAL FUNGI."] + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + + THE FUNGUS FOREST.--ENCHANTMENT. + + +Along the chamber through which we now passed I saw by the mellow light +great pillars, capped with umbrella-like covers, some of them reminding +me of the common toadstool of upper earth, on a magnificent scale. +Instead, however, of the gray or somber shades to which I had been +accustomed, these objects were of various hues and combined the +brilliancy of the primary prismatic colors, with the purity of clean +snow. Now they would stand solitary, like gigantic sentinels; again they +would be arranged in rows, the alignment as true as if established by +the hair of a transit, forming columnar avenues, and in other situations +they were wedged together so as to produce masses, acres in extent, in +which the stems became hexagonal by compression. The columnar stems, +larger than my body, were often spiral; again they were marked with +diamond-shaped figures, or other regular geometrical forms in relief, +beautifully exact, drawn as by a master's hand in rich and delicately +blended colors, on pillars of pure alabaster. Not a few of the stems +showed deep crimson, blue, or green, together with other rich colors +combined; over which, as delicate as the rarest of lace, would be +thrown, in white, an enamel-like intricate tracery, far surpassing in +beauty of execution the most exquisite needle-work I had ever seen. +There could be no doubt that I was in a forest of colossal fungi, the +species of which are more numerous than those of upper earth cryptomatic +vegetation. The expanded heads of these great thallogens were as varied +as the stems I have described, and more so. Far above our path they +spread like beautiful umbrellas, decorated as if by masters from whom +the great painters of upper earth might humbly learn the art of mixing +colors. Their under surfaces were of many different designs, and were of +as many shapes as it is conceivable could be made of combinations of the +circle and hyperbola. Stately and picturesque, silent and immovable as +the sphinx, they studded the great cavern singly or in groups, reminding +me of a grown child's wild imagination of fairy land. I stopped beside a +group that was of unusual conspicuity and gazed in admiration on the +huge and yet graceful, beautiful spectacle. I placed my hand on the stem +of one plant, and found it soft and impressible; but instead of being +moist, cold, and clammy as the repulsive toadstool of upper earth, I +discovered, to my surprise, that it was pleasantly warm, and soft as +velvet. + +"Smell your hand," said my guide. + +I did so, and breathed in an aroma like that of fresh strawberries. My +guide observed (I had learned to judge of his emotions by his facial +expressions) my surprised countenance with indifference. + +"Try the next one," he said. + +This being of a different species, when rubbed by my hand exhaled the +odor of the pineapple. + +"Extraordinary," I mused. + +"Not at all. Should productions of surface earth have a monopoly of +nature's methods, all the flavors, all the perfumes? You may with equal +consistency express astonishment at the odors of the fruits of upper +earth if you do so at the fragrance of these vegetables, for they are +also created of odorless elements." + +"But toadstools are foul structures of low organization.[3] They are +neither animals nor true vegetables, but occupy a station below that of +plants proper," I said. + + + [3] The fungus Polyporus graveolens was neglected by the guide. + This fungus exhales a delicate odor, and is used in Kentucky to + perfume a room. Being quite large, it is employed to hold a door + open, thus being useful as well as fragrant.--J. U. L. + +"You are acquainted with this order of vegetation under the most +unfavorable conditions; out of their native elements these plants +degenerate and become then abnormal, often evolving into the poisonous +earth fungi known to your woods and fields. Here they grow to +perfection. This is their chosen habitat. They absorb from a pure +atmosphere the combined foods of plants and animals, and during their +existence meet no scorching sunrise. They flourish in a region of +perfect tranquillity, and without a tremor, without experiencing the +change of a fraction of a degree in temperature, exist for ages. Many of +these specimens are probably thousands of years old, and are still +growing; why should they ever die? They have never been disturbed by a +breath of moving air, and, balanced exactly on their succulent, +pedestal-like stems, surrounded by an atmosphere of dead nitrogen, +vapor, and other gases, with their roots imbedded in carbonates and +minerals, they have food at command, nutrition inexhaustible." + +"Still I do not see why they grow to such mammoth proportions." + +"Plants adapt themselves to surrounding conditions," he remarked. "The +oak tree in its proper latitude is tall and stately; trace it toward the +Arctic circle, and it becomes knotted, gnarled, rheumatic, and dwindles +to a shrub. The castor plant in the tropics is twenty or thirty feet in +height, in the temperate zone it is an herbaceous plant, farther north +it has no existence. Indian corn in Kentucky is luxuriant, tall, and +graceful, and each stalk is supplied with roots to the second and third +joint, while in the northland it scarcely reaches to the shoulder of a +man, and, in order to escape the early northern frost, arrives at +maturity before the more southern variety begins to tassel. The common +jimson weed (datura stramonium) planted in early spring, in rich soil, +grows luxuriantly, covers a broad expanse and bears an abundance of +fruit; planted in midsummer it blossoms when but a few inches in height, +and between two terminal leaves hastens to produce a single capsule on +the apex of the short stem, in order to ripen its seed before the frost +appears. These and other familiar examples might be cited concerning the +difference some species of vegetation of your former lands undergo under +climatic conditions less marked than between those that govern the +growth of fungi here and on surface earth. Such specimens of fungi as +grow in your former home have escaped from these underground regions, +and are as much out of place as are the tropical plants transplanted to +the edge of eternal snow. Indeed, more so, for on the earth the ordinary +fungus, as a rule, germinates after sunset, and often dies when the sun +rises, while here they may grow in peace eternally. These meandering +caverns comprise thousands of miles of surface covered by these growths +which shall yet fulfill a grand purpose in the economy of nature, for +they are destined to feed tramping multitudes when the day appears in +which the nations of men will desert the surface of the earth and pass +as a single people through these caverns on their way to the immaculate +existence to be found in the inner sphere." + +"I can not disprove your statement," I again repeated; "neither do I +accept it. However, it still seems to me unnatural to find such +delicious flavors and delicate odors connected with objects associated +in memory with things insipid, or so disagreeable as toadstools and the +rank forest fungi which I abhorred on earth." + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + + THE FOOD OF MAN. + + +"This leads me to remark," answered the eyeless seer, "that you speak +without due consideration of previous experience. You are, or should be, +aware of other and as marked differences in food products of upper +earth, induced by climate, soil and cultivation. The potato which, next +to wheat, rice, or corn, you know supplies nations of men with starchy +food, originated as a wild weed in South America and Mexico, where it +yet exists as a small, watery, marble-like tuber, and its nearest +kindred, botanically, is still poisonous. The luscious apple reached its +present excellence by slow stages from knotty, wild, astringent fruit, +to which it again returns when escaped from cultivation. The cucumber is +a near cousin of the griping, medicinal cathartic bitter-apple, or +colocynth, and occasionally partakes yet of the properties that result +from that unfortunate alliance, as too often exemplified to persons who +do not peel it deep enough to remove the bitter, cathartic principle +that exists near the surface. Oranges, in their wild condition, are +bitter, and are used principally as medicinal agents. Asparagus was once +a weed, native to the salty edges of the sea, and as this weed has +become a food, so it is possible for other wild weeds yet to do. +Buckwheat is a weed proper, and not a cereal, and birds have learned +that the seeds of many other weeds are even preferable to wheat. The +wild parsnip is a poison, and the parsnip of cultivation relapses +quickly into its natural condition if allowed to escape and roam again. +The root of the tapioca plant contains a volatile poison, and is deadly; +but when that same root is properly prepared, it becomes the wholesome +food, tapioca. The nut of the African anacardium (cachew nut) contains a +nourishing kernel that is eaten as food by the natives, and yet a drop +of the juice of the oily shell placed on the skin will blister and +produce terrible inflammations; only those expert in the removal of the +kernel dare partake of the food. The berry of the berberis vulgaris is +a pleasant acid fruit; the bough that bears it is intensely bitter. Such +examples might be multiplied indefinitely, but I have cited enough to +illustrate the fact that neither the difference in size and structure of +the species in the mushroom forest through which we are passing, nor the +conditions of these bodies, as compared with those you formerly knew, +need excite your astonishment. Cultivate a potato in your former home so +that the growing tuber is exposed to sunshine, and it becomes green and +acrid, and strongly virulent. Cultivate the spores of the intra-earth +fungi about us, on the face of the earth, and although now all parts of +the plants are edible, the species will degenerate, and may even become +poisonous. They lose their flavor under such unfavorable conditions, and +although some species still retain vitality enough to resist poisonous +degeneration, they dwindle in size, and adapt themselves to new and +unnatural conditions. They have all degenerated. Here they live on +water, pure nitrogen and its modifications, grasping with their roots +the carbon of the disintegrated limestone, affiliating these substances, +and evolving from these bodies rich and delicate flavors, far superior +to the flavor of earth surface foods. On the surface of the earth, after +they become abnormal, they live only on dead and devitalized organic +matter, having lost the power of assimilating elementary matter. They +then partake of the nature of animals, breathe oxygen and exhale +carbonic acid, as animals do, being the reverse of other plant +existences. Here they breathe oxygen, nitrogen, and the vapor of water; +but exhale some of the carbon in combination with hydrogen, thus +evolving these delicate ethereal essences instead of the poisonous gas, +carbonic acid. Their substance is here made up of all the elements +necessary for the support of animal life; nitrogen to make muscle, +carbon and hydrogen for fat, lime for bone. This fungoid forest could +feed a multitude. It is probable that in the time to come when man +deserts the bleak earth surface, as he will some day be forced to do, as +has been the case in frozen planets that are not now inhabited on the +outer crust; nations will march through these spaces on their way from +the dreary outside earth to the delights of the salubrious inner sphere. +Here then, when that day of necessity appears, as it surely will come +under inflexible climatic changes that will control the destiny of +outer earth life, these constantly increasing stores adapted to nourish +humanity, will be found accumulated and ready for food. You have already +eaten of them, for the variety of food with which I supplied you has +been selected from different portions of these nourishing products +which, flavored and salted, ready for use as food, stand intermediate +between animal and vegetable, supplying the place of both." + +My instructor placed both hands on my shoulders, and in silence I stood +gazing intently into his face. Then, in a smooth, captivating, +entrancing manner, he continued: + +"Can you not see that food is not matter? The material part of bread is +carbon, water, gas, and earth; the material part of fat is charcoal and +gas; the material part of flesh is water and gas; the material part of +fruits is mostly water with a little charcoal and gas.[4] The material +constituents of all foods are plentiful, they abound everywhere, and yet +amid the unlimited, unorganized materials that go to form foods man +would starve. + + [4] By the term gas, it is evident that hydrogen and nitrogen were + designated, and yet, since the instructor insists that other gases + form part of the atmosphere, so he may consistently imply that + unknown gases are parts of food.--J. U. L. + +"Give a healthy man a diet of charcoal, water, lime salts, and air; say +to him, 'Bread contains no other substance, here is bread, the material +food of man, live on this food,' and yet the man, if he eat of these, +will die with his stomach distended. So with all other foods; give man +the unorganized materialistic constituents of food in unlimited amounts, +and starvation results. No! matter is not food, but a carrier of food." + +"What is food?" + +"Sunshine. The grain of wheat is a food by virtue of the sunshine fixed +within it. The flesh of animals, the food of living creatures, are +simply carriers of sunshine energy. Break out the sunshine and you +destroy the food, although the material remains. The growing plant locks +the sunshine in its cells, and the living animal takes it out again. +Hence it is that after the sunshine of any food is liberated during the +metamorphosis of the tissues of an animal although the material part of +the food remains, it is no longer a food, but becomes a poison, and +then, if it is not promptly eliminated from the animal, it will destroy +the life of the animal. This material becomes then injurious, but it +is still material. + +"The farmer plants a seed in the soil, the sunshine sprouts it, +nourishes the growing plant, and during the season locks itself to and +within its tissues, binding the otherwise dead materials of that tissue +together into an organized structure. Animals eat these structures, +break them from higher to lower compounds, and in doing so live on the +stored up sunshine and then excrete the worthless material side of the +food. The farmer spreads these excluded substances over the earth again +to once more take up the sunshine in the coming plant organization, but +not until it does once more lock in its cells the energy of sunshine can +it be a food for that animal." + +"Is manure a food?" he abruptly asked. + +"No." + +"Is not manure matter?" + +"Yes." + +"May it not become a food again, as the part of another plant, when +another season passes?" + +"Yes." + +"In what else than energy (sunshine) does it differ from food?" + +"Water is a necessity," I said. + +"And locked in each molecule of water there is a mine of sunshine. +Liberate suddenly the sun energy from the gases of the ocean held in +subjection thereby, and the earth would disappear in an explosion that +would reverberate throughout the universe. The water that you truly +claim to be necessary to the life of man, is itself water by the grace +of this same sun, for without its heat water would be ice, dry as dust. +'Tis the sun that gives life and motion to creatures animate and +substances inanimate; he who doubts distrusts his Creator. Food and +drink are only carriers of bits of assimilable sunshine. When the fire +worshipers kneeled to their god, the sun, they worshiped the great food +reservoir of man. When they drew the quivering entrails from the body of +a sacrificed victim they gave back to their God a spark of sunshine--it +was due sooner or later. They builded well in thus recognizing the +source of all life, and yet they acted badly, for their God asked no +premature sacrifice, the inevitable must soon occur, and as all +organic life comes from that Sun-God, so back to that Creator the +sun-spark must fly." + +"But they are heathen; there is a God beyond their narrow conception of +God." + +"As there is also a God in the Beyond, past your idea of God. Perhaps to +beings of higher mentalities, we may be heathen; but even if this is so, +duty demands that we revere the God within our intellectual sphere. Let +us not digress further; the subject now is food, not the Supreme +Creator, and I say to you the food of man and the organic life of man is +sunshine." + +He ceased, and I reflected upon his words. All he had said seemed so +consistent that I could not deny its plausibility, and yet it still +appeared altogether unlikely as viewed in the light of my previous earth +knowledge. I did not quite comprehend all the semi-scientific +expressions, but was at least certain that I could neither disprove nor +verify his propositions. My thoughts wandered aimlessly, and I found +myself questioning whether man could be prevailed upon to live +contentedly in situations such as I was now passing through. In company +with my learned and philosophical but fantastically created guardian and +monitor, I moved on. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + + THE CRY FROM A DISTANCE.--I REBEL AGAINST CONTINUING THE JOURNEY. + + +As we paced along, meditating, I became more sensibly impressed with the +fact that our progress was down a rapid declination. The saline +incrustations, fungi and stalagmites, rapidly changed in appearance, an +endless variety of stony figures and vegetable cryptogams recurring +successively before my eyes. They bore the shape of trees, shrubs, or +animals, fixed and silent as statues: at least in my distorted condition +of mind I could make out resemblances to many such familiar objects; the +floor of the cavern became increasingly steeper, as was shown by the +stalactites, which, hanging here and there from the invisible ceiling, +made a decided angle with the floor, corresponding with a similar angle +of the stalagmites below. Like an accompanying and encircling halo the +ever present earth-light enveloped us, opening in front as we advanced, +and vanishing in the rear. The sound of our footsteps gave back a +peculiar, indescribable hollow echo, and our voices sounded ghost-like +and unearthly, as if their origin was outside of our bodies, and at a +distance. The peculiar resonance reminded me of noises reverberating in +an empty cask or cistern. I was oppressed by an indescribable feeling of +mystery and awe that grew deep and intense, until at last I could no +longer bear the mental strain. + +"Hold, hold," I shouted, or tried to shout, and stopped suddenly, for +although I had cried aloud, no sound escaped my lips. Then from a +distance--could I believe my senses?--from a distance as an echo, the +cry came back in the tones of my own voice, "Hold, hold." + +"Speak lower," said my guide, "speak very low, for now an effort such as +you have made projects your voice far outside your body; the greater the +exertion the farther away it appears." + +I grasped him by the arm and said slowly, determinedly, and in a +suppressed tone: "I have come far enough into the secret caverns of the +earth, without knowing our destination; acquaint me now with the object +of this mysterious journey, I demand, and at once relieve this sense of +uncertainty; otherwise I shall go no farther." + +[Illustration: "AN ENDLESS VARIETY OF STONY FIGURES."] + +"You are to proceed to the Sphere of Rest with me," he replied, "and in +safety. Beyond that an Unknown Country lies, into which I have never +ventured." + +"You speak in enigmas; what is this Sphere of Rest? Where is it?" + +"Your eyes have never seen anything similar; human philosophy has no +conception of it, and I can not describe it," he said. "It is located in +the body of the earth, and we will meet it about one thousand miles +beyond the North Pole." + +"But I am in Kentucky," I replied; "do you think that I propose to walk +to the North Pole, man--if man you be; that unreached goal is thousands +of miles away." + +"True," he answered, "as you measure distance on the surface of the +earth, and you could not walk it in years of time; but you are now +twenty-five miles below the surface, and you must be aware that instead +of becoming more weary as we proceed, you are now and have for some time +been gaining strength. I would also call to your attention that you +neither hunger nor thirst." + +"Proceed," I said, "'tis useless to rebel; I am wholly in your power," +and we resumed our journey, and rapidly went forward amid silences that +were to me painful beyond description. We abruptly entered a cavern of +crystal, every portion of which was of sparkling brilliancy, and as +white as snow. The stalactites, stalagmites and fungi disappeared. I +picked up a fragment of the bright material, tasted it, and found that +it resembled pure salt. Monstrous, cubical crystals, a foot or more in +diameter, stood out in bold relief, accumulations of them, as +conglomerated masses, banked up here and there, making parts of great +columnar cliffs, while in other formations the crystals were small, +resembling in the aggregate masses of white sandstone. + +"Is not this salt?" I asked. + +"Yes; we are now in the dried bed of an underground lake." + +"Dried bed?" I exclaimed; "a body of water sealed in the earth can not +evaporate." + +"It has not evaporated; at some remote period the water has been +abstracted from the salt, and probably has escaped upon the surface of +the earth as a fresh water spring." + +"You contradict all laws of hydrostatics, as I understand that subject," +I replied, "when you speak of abstracting water from a dissolved +substance that is part of a liquid, and thus leaving the solids." + +"Nevertheless this is a constant act of nature," said he; "how else can +you rationally account for the great salt beds and other deposits of +saline materials that exist hermetically sealed beneath the earth's +surface?" + +[Illustration: "MONSTROUS CUBICAL CRYSTALS."] + +"I will confess that I have not given the subject much thought; I simply +accept the usual explanation to the effect that salty seas have lost +their water by evaporation, and afterward the salt formations, by some +convulsions of nature, have been covered with earth, perhaps +sinking by earthquake convulsions bodily into the earth." + +"These explanations are examples of some of the erroneous views of +scientific writers," he replied; "they are true only to a limited +extent. The great beds of salt, deep in the earth, are usually +accumulations left there by water that is drawn from brine lakes, from +which the liberated water often escaped as pure spring water at the +surface of the earth. It does not escape by evaporation, at least not +until it reaches the earth's surface." + + + + +INTERLUDE--THE STORY INTERRUPTED. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + + MY UNBIDDEN GUEST PROVES HIS STATEMENT AND REFUTES MY PHILOSOPHY. + + +Let the reader who has followed this strange story which I am directed +to title "The End of Earth," and who, in imagination, has traversed the +cavernous passages of the underworld and listened to the conversation of +those two personages who journeyed towards the secrets of the Beyond, +return now to upper earth, and once more enter my secluded lodgings, the +home of Llewellen Drury, him who listened to the aged guest and who +claims your present attention. Remember that I relate a story within a +story. That importunate guest of mine, of the glittering knife and the +silvery hair, like another Ancient Mariner, had constrained me to listen +to his narrative, as he read it aloud to me from the manuscript. I +patiently heard chapter after chapter, generally with pleasure, often +with surprise, sometimes with incredulity, or downright dissent. Much of +the narrative, I must say,--yes, most of it, appeared possible, if not +probable, as taken in its connected sequence. The scientific sections +were not uninteresting; the marvels of the fungus groves, the properties +of the inner light, I was not disinclined to accept as true to natural +laws; but when The-Man-Who-Did-It came to tell of the intra-earth salt +deposits, and to explain the cause of the disappearance of lakes that +formerly existed underground, and their simultaneous replacement by beds +of salt, my credulity was overstrained. + +"Permit me to interrupt your narrative," I remarked, and then in +response to my request the venerable guest laid down his paper. + +"Well?" he said, interrogatively. + +"I do not believe that last statement concerning the salt lake, and, to +speak plainly, I would not have accepted it as you did, even had I been +in your situation." + +"To what do you allude?" he asked. + +"The physical abstraction of water from the salt of a solution of salt; +I do not believe it possible unless by evaporation of the water." + +"You seem to accept as conclusive the statements of men who have never +investigated beneath the surface in these directions, and you question +the evidence of a man who has seen the phenomenon. I presume you accept +the prevailing notions about salt beds, as you do the assertion that +liquids seek a common level, which your scientific authorities also +teach as a law of nature?" + +"Yes; I do believe that liquids seek a common level, and I am willing to +credit your other improbable statements if you can demonstrate the +principle of liquid equilibrium to be untrue." + +"Then," said he, "to-morrow evening I will show you that fluids seek +different levels, and also explain to you how liquids may leave the +solids they hold in solution without evaporating from them." + +He arose and abruptly departed. It was near morning, and yet I sat in my +room alone pondering the story of my unique guest until I slept to dream +of caverns and seances until daylight, when I was awakened by their +vividness. The fire was out, the room was cold, and, shivering in +nervous exhaustion, I crept into bed to sleep and dream again of +horrible things I can not describe, but which made me shudder in +affright at their recollection. Late in the day I awoke. + +On the following evening my persevering teacher appeared punctually, and +displayed a few glass tubes and some blotting or bibulous paper. + +"I will first show you that liquids may change their levels in +opposition to the accepted laws of men, not contrary to nature's laws; +however, let me lead to the experiments by a statement of facts, that, +if you question, you can investigate at any time. If two vessels of +water be connected by a channel from the bottom of each, the water +surfaces will come to a common level." + +He selected a curved glass tube, and poured water into it. The water +assumed the position shown in Figure 11. + +[Illustration: FIG. 11.--A A, water in tube seeks a level.] + +"You have not shown me anything new," I said; "my text-books taught me +this." + +"True, I have but exhibited that which is the foundation of your +philosophy regarding the surface of liquids. Let me proceed: + +"If we pour a solution of common salt into such a U tube, as I do now, +you perceive that it also rises to the same level in both ends." + +"Of course it does." + +"Do not interrupt me. Into one arm of the tube containing the brine I +now carefully pour pure water. You observe that the surfaces do not seek +the same level." (Figure 12.) + +[Illustration: FIG. 12.--A, surface of water. B, surface of brine.] + +"Certainly not," I said; "the weight of the liquid in each arm is the +same, however; the columns balance each other." + +"Exactly; and on this assumption you base your assertion that connected +liquids of the same gravity must always seek a common level, but you see +from this test that if two liquids of different gravities be connected +from beneath, the surface of the lighter one will assume a higher level +than the surface of the heavier." + +"Agreed; however tortuous the channel that connects them, such must be +the case." + +"Is it not supposable," said he, "that there might be two pockets in the +earth, one containing salt water, the other fresh water, which, if +joined together, might be represented by such a figure as this, wherein +the water surface would be raised above that of the brine?" And he drew +upon the paper the accompanying diagram. (Figure 13.) + +"Yes," I admitted; "providing, of course, there was an equal pressure of +air on the surface of each." + +[Illustration: FIG. 13.--B, surface of brine. W, surface of water. S, +sand strata connecting them.] + +"Now I will draw a figure in which one pocket is above the other, and +ask you to imagine that in the lower pocket we have pure water, in the +upper pocket brine (Figure 14); can you bring any theory of your law to +bear upon these liquids so that by connecting them together the water +will rise and run into the brine?" + +[Illustration: FIG. 14.--B, brine. W, water. S, sand stratum. (The +difference in altitude is somewhat exaggerated to make the phenomenon +clear. A syphon may result under such circumstances.--L.)] + +"No," I replied; "connect them, and then the brine will flow into the +water." + +"Upon the contrary," he said; "connect them, as innumerable cavities in +the earth are joined, and the water will flow into the brine." + +"The assertion is opposed to applied philosophy and common sense," I +said. + +"Where ignorance is bliss, 'tis folly to be wise, you know to be a maxim +with mortals," he replied; "but I must pardon you; your dogmatic +education narrows your judgment. I now will prove you in error." + +He took from his pocket two slender glass tubes, about an eighth of an +inch in bore and four inches in length, each closed at one end, and +stood them in a perforated cork that he placed upon the table. + +Into one tube he poured water, and then dissolving some salt in a cup, +poured brine into the other, filling both nearly to the top (Figure 15). +Next he produced a short curved glass tube, to each end of which was +attached a strip of flexible rubber tubing. Then, from a piece of +blotting paper such as is used to blot ink, he cut a narrow strip and +passed it through the arrangement, forming the apparatus represented by +Figure 16. + +[Illustration: FIG. 15. A A, glass tubes. F, brine surface. E, water +surface.] + +[Illustration: FIG. 16. B, curved glass tube. C C, rubber tubes. D D D, +bibulous paper.] + +Then he inserted the two tubes (Figure 15) into the rubber, the +extremities of the paper being submerged in the liquids, producing a +combination that rested upright in the cork as shown by Figure 17. + +The surfaces of both liquids were at once lowered by reason of the +suction of the bibulous paper, the water decreasing most rapidly, and +soon the creeping liquids met by absorption in the paper, the point of +contact, as the liquids met, being plainly discernible. Now the old man +gently slid the tubes upon each other, raising one a little, so as to +bring the surfaces of the two liquids exactly on a plane; he then marked +the glass at the surface of each with a pen. + +"Observe the result," he remarked as he replaced the tubes in the cork +with their liquid surfaces on a line. + +Together we sat and watched, and soon it became apparent that the +surface of the water had decreased in height as compared with that of +the brine. By fixing my gaze on the ink mark on the glass I also +observed that the brine in the opposing tube was rising. + +"I will call to-morrow evening," he said, "and we shall then discover +which is true, man's theory or nature's practice." + +Within a short time enough of the water in the tube had been transferred +to the brine to raise its surface considerably above its former level, +the surface of the water being lowered to a greater degree. (Figure 18.) +I was discomfited at the result, and upon his appearance next evening +peevishly said to the experimenter: + +"I do not know that this is fair." + +"Have I not demonstrated that, by properly connecting the liquids, the +lighter flows into the heavier, and raises itself above the former +surface?" + +"Yes; but there is no porous paper in the earth." + +"True; I used this medium because it was convenient. There are, however, +vast subterranean beds of porous materials, stone, sand, clay, various +other earths, many of which will answer the same purpose. By perfectly +natural laws, on a large scale, such molecular transfer of liquids is +constantly taking place within the earth, and in these phenomena the law +of gravitation seems ignored, and the rule which man believes from +narrow experience, governs the flow of liquids, is reversed. The arched +porous medium always transfers the lighter liquid into the heavier one +until its surface is raised considerably above that of the light one. In +the same way you can demonstrate that alcohol passes into water, +sulphuric ether into alcohol, and other miscible light liquids into +those heavier." + +[Illustration: FIG. 17. A A, glass tubes. B, curved glass tube. C C, +rubber tubes. D, bibulous paper. E, water surface. F, brine surface.] + +"I have seen you exemplify the statement on a small scale, with water +and brine, and can not question but that it is true on a large one," I +replied. + +"So you admit that the assertion governing the surfaces of liquids is +true only when the liquids are connected from beneath. In other words, +your thought is one-sided, as science thought often is." + +"Yes." + +[Illustration: FIG. 18. E, water surface. F, brine surface.] + +"Now as to the beds of salt deep within the earth. You are also mistaken +concerning their origin. The water of the ocean that runs through an +open channel from the one side may flow into an underground lake, that +by means of the contact action (suction) of the overlying and +surrounding strata is being continually emptied of its water, but not +its salt. Thus by absorption of water the brine of the lake becomes in +time saturated, starting crystallization regularly over the floor and +sides of the basin. Eventually the entire cavity is filled with salt, +and a solid mass of rock salt remains. If, however, before the lake +becomes solid, the brine supply is shut off by some natural cause as by +salt crystals closing the passage thereto, the underground lake is at +last drained of its water, the salt crystallizing over the bottom, and +upon the cliffs, leaving great crevices through the saline deposits, as +chances to have been the case with the salt formations through which I +passed with my guide, and have recently described to you." + +"Even now I have my doubts as to the correctness of your explanations, +especially concerning the liquid surfaces." + +"They are facts, however; liquids capable of being mixed, if connected +by porous arches (bibulous paper is convenient for illustrating by +experiment) reverse the rule men have accepted to explain the phenomena +of liquid equilibrium, for I repeat, the lighter one rushes into that +which is heavier, and the surface of the heavier liquid rises. You can +try the experiment with alcohol and water, taking precautions to prevent +evaporation, or you can vary the experiment with solutions of various +salts of different densities; the greater the difference in gravity +between the two liquids, the more rapid will be the flow of the lighter +one into the heavier, and after equilibrium, the greater will be the +contrast in the final height of the resultant liquid surfaces." + +"Men will yet explain this effect by natural laws," I said. + +"Yes," he answered; "when they learn the facts; and they will then be +able to solve certain phenomena connected with diffusion processes that +they can not now understand. Did I not tell you that after the fact had +been made plain it was easy to see how Columbus stood the egg on its +end? What I have demonstrated by experiment is perhaps no new principle +in hydrostatics. But I have applied it in a natural manner to the +explanation of obscure natural phenomena, that men now seek unreasonable +methods to explain." + +"You may proceed with your narrative. I accept that when certain liquids +are connected, as you have shown, by means of porous substances, one +will pass into the other, and the surface of the lighter liquid in this +case will assume a position below that of the heavier." + +"You must also accept," said he, "that when solutions of salt are +subjected to earth attraction, under proper conditions, the solids may +by capillary attraction be left behind, and pure water finally pass +through the porous medium. Were it not for this law, the only natural +surface spring water on earth would be brine, for the superficial crust +of the earth is filled with saline solutions. All the spring-fed +rivers and lakes would also be salty and fetid with sulphur compounds, +for at great depths brine and foul water are always present. Even in +countries where all the water below the immediate surface of the earth +is briny, the running springs, if of capillary origin, are pure and +fresh. You may imagine how different this would be were it not for the +law I have cited, for the whole earth's crust is permeated by brine and +saline waters. Did your 'philosophy' never lead you to think of this?" + +Continuing, my guest argued as follows: "Do not lakes exist on the +earth's surface into which rivers and streams flow, but which have no +visible outlet? Are not such lakes saline, even though the source of +supply is comparatively fresh? Has it never occurred to you to question +whether capillarity assisted by surface evaporation (not evaporation +only as men assert) is not separating the water of these lakes from the +saline substances carried into them by the streams, thus producing brine +lakes? Will not this action after a great length of time result in +crystalline deposits over portions of the bottoms of such lakes, and +ultimately produce a salt bed?" + +"It is possible," I replied. + +"Not only possible, but probable. Not only probable, but true. Across +the intervening brine strata above the salt crystals the surface rivers +may flow, indeed, owing to differences in specific gravity the surface +of the lake may be comparatively fresh, while in the quiet depths below, +beds of salt crystals are forming, and between these extremes may rest +strata after strata of saline solutions, decreasing in gravity towards +the top." + +Then he took his manuscript, and continued to read in a clear, musical +voice, while I sat a more contented listener than I had been previously. +I was not only confuted, but convinced. And I recalled the saying of +Socrates, that no better fortune can happen a man than to be confuted in +an error. + + + + +MY UNBIDDEN GUEST CONTINUES READING HIS MANUSCRIPT. + + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + + MY WEIGHT DISAPPEARING. + + +We halted suddenly, for we came unexpectedly to the edge of a precipice, +twenty feet at least in depth. + +"Let us jump down," said my guide. + +"That would be dangerous," I answered; "can not we descend at some point +where it is not so deep?" + +"No; the chasm stretches for miles across our path, and at this point we +will meet with the least difficulty; besides, there is no danger. The +specific gravity of our bodies is now so little that we could jump twice +that distance with impunity." + +"I can not comprehend you; we are in the flesh, our bodies are possessed +of weight, the concussion will be violent." + +"You reason again from the condition of your former life, and, as usual, +are mistaken; there will be little shock, for, as I have said, our +bodies are comparatively light now. Have you forgotten that your motion +is continuously accelerated, and that without perceptible exertion you +move rapidly? This is partly because of the loss of weight. Your weight +would now be only about fifty pounds if tested by a spring balance." + +I stood incredulous. + +"You trifle with me; I weigh over one hundred and fifty pounds; how have +I lost weight? It is true that I have noticed the ease with which we +have recently progressed on our journey, especially the latter part of +it, but I attribute this, in part, to the fact that our course is down +an incline, and also to the vitalizing power of this cavern air." + +"This explains part of the matter," he said; "it answered at the time, +and I stated a fact; but were it not that you are really consuming a +comparatively small amount of energy, you would long before this have +been completely exhausted. You have been gaining strength for some +hours; have really been growing younger. Your wrinkled face has become +more smooth, and your voice is again natural. You were prematurely aged +by your brothers on the surface of the earth, in order that when you +pass the line of gravity, you might be vigorous and enjoying manhood +again. Had this aging process not been accomplished you would now have +become as a child in many respects." + +[Illustration: "I BOUNDED UPWARD FULLY SIX FEET."] + +He halted before me. "Jump up," he said. I promptly obeyed the +unexpected command, and sprung upward with sufficient force to carry me, +as I supposed, six inches from the earth; however I bounded upward fully +six feet. My look of surprise as I gently alighted, for there was no +concussion on my return, seemed lost on my guide, and he quietly said: + +"If you can leap six feet upward without excessive exertion, or return +shock, can not you jump twenty feet down? Look!" + +[Illustration: "I FLUTTERED TO THE EARTH AS A LEAF WOULD FALL."] + +And he leaped lightly over the precipice and stood unharmed on the stony +floor below. + +Even then I hesitated, observing which, he cried: + +"Hang by your hands from the edge then, and drop." + +I did so, and the fourteen feet of fall seemed to affect me as though I +had become as light as cork. I fluttered to the earth as a leaf would +fall, and leaned against the precipice in surprised meditation. + +"Others have been through your experience," he remarked, "and I +therefore can overlook your incredulity; but experiences such as you now +meet, remove distrust. Doing is believing." He smiled benignantly. + +[Illustration: "WE LEAPED OVER GREAT INEQUALITIES."] + +I pondered, revolving in my mind the fact that persons had in mental +abstraction, passed through unusual experiences in ignorance of +conditions about them, until their attention had been called to the seen +and yet unnoticed surroundings, and they had then beheld the facts +plainly. The puzzle picture (see p. 129) stares the eye and impresses +the retina, but is devoid of character until the hidden form is +developed in the mind, and then that form is always prominent to the +eye. My remarkably light step, now that my attention had been directed +thereto, was constantly in my mind, and I found myself suddenly +possessed of the strength of a man, but with the weight of an infant. I +raised my feet without an effort; they seemed destitute of weight; I +leaped about, tumbled, and rolled over and over on the smooth stone +floor without injury. It appeared that I had become the airy similitude +of my former self, my material substance having wasted away without a +corresponding impairment of strength.I pinched my flesh to be assured +that all was not a dream, and then endeavored to convince myself that I +was the victim of delirium; but in vain. Too sternly my self-existence +confronted me as a reality, a cruel reality. A species of intoxication +possessed me once more, and I now hoped for the end, whatever it might +be. We resumed our journey, and rushed on with increasing rapidity, +galloping hand in hand, down, down, ever downward into the illuminated +crevice of the earth. The spectral light by which we were aureoled +increased in intensity, as by arithmetical progression, and I could now +distinguish objects at a considerable distance before us. My spirits +rose as if I were under the influence of a potent stimulant; a +liveliness that was the opposite of my recent despondency had gained +control, and I was again possessed of a delicious mental sensation, to +which I can only refer as a most rapturous exhilaration. My guide +grasped my hand firmly, and his touch, instead of revolting me as +formerly it had done, gave pleasure. We together leaped over great +inequalities in the floor, performing these aerial feats almost as +easily as a bird flies. Indeed, I felt that I possessed the power of +flight, for we bounded fearlessly down great declivities and over +abysses that were often perpendicular, and many times our height. A very +slight muscular exertion was sufficient to carry us rods of distance, +and almost tiptoeing we skimmed with ever-increasing speed down the +steeps of that unknown declivity. At length my guide held back; we +gradually lessened our velocity, and, after a time, rested beside a +horizontal substance that lay before us, apparently a sheet of glass, +rigid, immovable, immeasurably great, that stretched as a level surface +before us, vividly distinct in the brightness of an earth light, that +now proved to be superior to sunshine. Far as the eye could reach, the +glassy barrier to our further progress spread as a crystal mirror in +front, and vanishing in the distance, shut off the beyond. + +[Illustration: "FAR AS THE EYE COULD REACH THE GLASSY BARRIER +SPREAD AS A CRYSTAL MIRROR."] + + + + +INTERLUDE.--THE STORY AGAIN INTERRUPTED. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + + MY UNBIDDEN GUEST DEPARTS. + + +Once more I must presume to interrupt this narrative, and call back the +reader's thoughts from those mysterious caverns through which we have +been tracing the rapid footsteps of the man who was abducted, and his +uncouth pilot of the lower realms. Let us now see and hear what took +place in my room, in Cincinnati, just after my visitor, known to us as +The-Man-Who-Did-It, had finished reading to me, Lewellyn Drury, the +custodian of this manuscript, the curious chapter relating how the +underground explorers lost weight as they descended in the hollows of +the earth. My French clock struck twelve of its clear silvery notes +before the gray-bearded reader finished his stint for the occasion, and +folded his manuscript preparatory to placing it within his bosom. + +"It is past midnight," he said, "and it is time for me to depart; but I +will come to you again within a year. + +"Meanwhile, during my absence, search the records, question authorities, +and note such objections as rise therefrom concerning the statements I +have made. Establish or disprove historically, or scientifically, any +portion of the life history that I have given, and when I return I will +hear what you have to say, and meet your argument. If there is a doubt +concerning the authenticity of any part of the history, investigate; but +make no mention to others of the details of our meetings." + +I sat some time in thought, then said: "I decline to concern myself in +verifying the historical part of your narrative. The localities you +mention may be true to name, and it is possible that you have related a +personal history; but I can not perceive that I am interested in either +proving or disproving it. I will say, however, that it does not seem +probable that at any time a man can disappear from a community, as you +claim to have done, and have been the means of creating a commotion in +his neighborhood that affected political parties, or even led to an +unusual local excitement, outside his immediate circle of acquaintances, +for a man is not of sufficient importance unless he is very conspicuous. +By your own admission, you were simply a studious mechanic, a credulous +believer in alchemistic vagaries, and as I revolve the matter over, I am +afraid that you are now trying to impose on my credulity. The story of a +forcible abduction, in the manner you related, seems to me incredible, +and not worthy of investigation, even had I the inclination to concern +myself in your personal affairs. The statements, however, that you make +regarding the nature of the crust of the earth, gravitation, light, +instinct, and human senses are highly interesting, and even plausible as +you artfully present the subjects, I candidly admit, and I shall take +some pains to make inquiries concerning the recorded researches of +experts who have investigated in that direction." + +"Collect your evidence," said he, "and I shall listen to your views when +I return." + +He opened the door, glided away, and I was alone again. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + + I QUESTION SCIENTIFIC MEN.--ARISTOTLE'S ETHER. + + +Days and weeks passed. When the opportunity presented, I consulted Dr. +W. B. Chapman, the druggist and student of science, regarding the nature +of light and earth, who in turn referred me to Prof. Daniel Vaughn. This +learned man, in reply to my question concerning gravitation, declared +that there was much that men wished to understand in regard to this +mighty force, that might yet be explained, but which may never become +known to mortal man. + +"The correlation of forces," said he, "was prominently introduced and +considered by a painstaking scientific writer named Joule, in several +papers that appeared between 1843 and 1850, and he was followed by +others, who engaged themselves in experimenting and theorizing, and I +may add that Joule was indeed preceded in such thought by Mayer. This +department of scientific study just now appears of unusual interest to +scientists, and your questions embrace problems connected with some +phases of its phenomena. We believe that light, heat, and electricity +are mutually convertible, in fact, the evidences recently opened up to +us show that such must be the case. These agencies or manifestations are +now known to be so related that whenever one disappears others spring +into existence. Study the beautiful experiments and remarkable +investigations of Sir William Thomson in these directions." + +"And what of gravitation?" I asked, observing that Prof. Vaughn +neglected to include gravitation among his numerous enumerated forces, +and recollecting that the force gravitation was more closely connected +with my visitor's story than perhaps were any of the others, excepting +the mysterious mid-earth illumination. + +"Of that force we are in greater ignorance than of the others," he +replied. "It affects bodies terrestrial and celestial, drawing a +material substance, or pressing to the earth; also holds, we believe, +the earth and all other bodies in position in the heavens, thus +maintaining the equilibrium of the planets. Seemingly gravitation is not +derived from, or sustained by, an external force, or supply reservoir, +but is an intrinsic entity, a characteristic of matter that decreases in +intensity at the rate of the square of the increasing distance, as +bodies recede from each other, or from the surface of the earth. +However, gravitation neither escapes by radiation from bodies nor needs +to be replenished, so far as we know, from without. It may be compared +to an elastic band, but there is no intermediate tangible substance to +influence bodies that are affected by it, and it remains in undying +tension, unlike all elastic material substances known, neither losing +nor acquiring energy as time passes. Unlike cohesion, or chemical +attraction, it exerts its influence upon bodies that are out of contact, +and have no material connection, and this necessitates a purely fanciful +explanation concerning the medium that conducts such influences, +bringing into existence the illogical, hypothetical, fifth ether, made +conspicuous by Aristotle." + +"What of this ether?" I queried. + +"It is a necessity in science, but intangible, undemonstrated, unknown, +and wholly theoretical. It is accepted as an existing fluid by +scientists, because human theory can not conceive of a substance capable +of, or explain how a substance can be capable of affecting a separate +body unless there is an intermediate medium to convey force impressions. +Hence to material substances Aristotle added (or at least made +conspicuous) a speculative ether that, he assumed, pervades all space, +and all material bodies as well, in order to account for the passage of +heat and light to and from the sun, stars, and planets." + +"Explain further," I requested. + +"To conceive of such an entity we must imagine a material that is more +evanescent than any known gas, even in its most diffused condition. It +must combine the solidity of the most perfect conductor of heat +(exceeding any known body in this respect to an infinite degree), with +the transparency of an absolute vacuum. It must neither create friction +by contact with any substance, nor possess attraction for matter; must +neither possess weight (and yet carry the force that produces weight), +nor respond to the influence of any chemical agent, or exhibit itself to +any optical instrument. It must be invisible, and yet carry the force +that produces the sensation of sight. It must be of such a nature that +it can not, according to our philosophy, affect the corpuscles of +earthly substances while permeating them without contact or friction, +and yet, as a scientific incongruity, it must act so readily on physical +bodies as to convey to the material eye the sensation of sight, and from +the sun to creatures on distant planets it must carry the heat force, +thus giving rise to the sensation of warmth. Through this medium, yet +without sensible contact with it, worlds must move, and planetary +systems revolve, cutting and piercing it in every direction, without +loss of momentum. And yet, as I have said, this ether must be in such +close contact as to convey to them the essence that warms the universe, +lights the universe, and must supply the attractive bonds that hold the +stellar worlds in position. A nothing in itself, so far as man's senses +indicate, the ether of space must be denser than iridium, more mobile +than any known liquid, and stronger than the finest steel." + +"I can not conceive of such an entity," I replied. + +"No; neither can any man, for the theory is irrational, and can not be +supported by comparison with laws known to man, but the conception is +nevertheless a primary necessity in scientific study. Can man, by any +rational theory, combine a vacuum and a substance, and create a result +that is neither material nor vacuity, neither something nor nothing, and +yet an intensified all; being more attenuated than the most perfect of +known vacuums, and a conductor better than the densest metal? This we do +when we attempt to describe the scientists' all-pervading ether of +space, and to account for its influence on matter. This hypothetical +ether is, for want of a better theory of causes, as supreme in +philosophy to-day as the alkahest of the talented old alchemist Van +Helmont was in former times, a universal spirit that exists in +conception, and yet does not exist in perception, and of which modern +science knows as little as its speculative promulgator, Aristotle, did. +We who pride ourselves on our exact science, smile at some of +Aristotle's statements in other directions, for science has disproved +them, and yet necessity forces us to accept this illogical ether +speculation, which is, perhaps, the most unreasonable of all theories. +Did not this Greek philosopher also gravely assert that the lion has but +one vertebra in his neck; that the breath of man enters the heart; that +the back of the head is empty, and that man has but eight ribs?" + +"Aristotle must have been a careless observer," I said. + +"Yes," he answered; "it would seem so, and science, to-day, bases its +teachings concerning the passage of all forces from planet to planet, +and sun to sun, on dicta such as I have cited, and no more reasonable in +applied experiment." + +"And I have been referred to you as a conscientious scientific teacher," +I said; "why do you speak so facetiously?" + +"I am well enough versed in what we call science, to have no fear of +injuring the cause by telling the truth, and you asked a direct +question. If your questions carry you farther in the direction of force +studies, accept at once, that, of the intrinsic constitution of force +itself, nothing is known. Heat, light, magnetism, electricity, galvanism +(until recently known as imponderable bodies) are now considered as +modifications of force; but, in my opinion, the time will come when they +will be known as disturbances." + +"Disturbances of what?" + +"I do not know precisely; but of something that lies behind them all, +perhaps creates them all, but yet is in essence unknown to men." + +"Give me a clearer idea of your meaning." + +"It seems impossible," he replied; "I can not find words in which to +express myself; I do not believe that forces, as we know them +(imponderable bodies), are as modern physics defines them. I am tempted +to say that, in my opinion, forces are disturbance expressions of a +something with which we are not acquainted, and yet in which we are +submerged and permeated. Aristotle's ether perhaps. It seems to me, +that, behind all material substances, including forces, there is an +unknown spirit, which, by certain influences, may be ruffled into the +exhibition of an expression, which exhibition of temper we call a force. +From this spirit these force expressions (wavelets or disturbances) +arise, and yet they may become again quiescent, and again rest in its +absorbing unity. The water from the outlet of a calm lake flows over a +gentle decline in ripples, or quiet undulations, over the rapids in +musical laughings, over a precipice in thunder tones,--always water, +each a different phase, however, to become quiet in another lake (as +ripples in this universe may awaken to our perception, to repose again), +and still be water." + +He hesitated. + +"Go on," I said. + +"So I sometimes have dared to dream that gravitation may be the +reservoir that conserves the energy for all mundane forces, and that +what we call modifications of force are intermediate conditions, +ripples, rapids, or cascades, in gravitation." + +"Continue," I said, eagerly, as he hesitated. + +He shook his head. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + + THE SOLILOQUY OF PROF. DANIEL VAUGHN.--"GRAVITATION IS THE + BEGINNING AND GRAVITATION IS THE END: ALL EARTHLY BODIES KNEEL TO + GRAVITATION." + + +"Please continue, I am intensely interested; I wish that I could give +you my reasons for the desire; I can not do so, but I beg you to +continue." + +"I should add," continued Vaughn, ignoring my remarks, "that we have +established rules to measure the force of gravitation, and have +estimated the decrease of attraction as we leave the surfaces of the +planets. We have made comparative estimates of the weight of the earth +and planets, and have reason to believe that the force expression of +gravitation attains a maximum at about one-sixth the distance toward the +center of the earth, then decreases, until at the very center of our +planet, matter has no weight. This, together with the rule I repeated a +few moments ago, is about all we know, or think we know, of gravitation. +Gravitation is the beginning and gravitation is the end; all earthly +bodies kneel to gravitation. I can not imagine a Beyond, and yet +gravitation," mused the rapt philosopher, "may also be an expression +of--" he hesitated again, forgetting me completely, and leaned his shaggy +head upon his hands. I realized that his mind was lost in conjecture, +and that he was absorbed in the mysteries of the scientific immensity. +Would he speak again? I could not think of disturbing his reverie, and +minutes passed in silence. Then he slowly, softly, reverently murmured: +"Gravitation, Gravitation, thou art seemingly the one permanent, ever +present earth-bound expression of Omnipotence. Heat and light come and +go, as vapors of water condense into rain and dissolve into vapor to +return again to the atmosphere. Electricity and magnetism appear and +disappear; like summer storms they move in diversified channels, or even +turn and fly from contact with some bodies, seemingly forbidden to +appear, but thou, Gravitation, art omnipresent and omnipotent. Thou +createst motion, and yet maintainest the equilibrium of all things +mundane and celestial. An attempt to imagine a body destitute of thy +potency, would be to bankrupt and deaden the material universe. O! +Gravitation, art thou a voice out of the Beyond, and are other forces +but echoes--tremulous reverberations that start into life to vibrate for +a spell and die in the space caverns of the universe while thou +continuest supreme?" + +[Illustration: "SOLILOQUY OF PROF. DANIEL VAUGHN. + +'GRAVITATION IS THE BEGINNING, AND GRAVITATION IS THE END; ALL EARTHLY +BODIES KNEEL TO GRAVITATION.'"] + +His bowed head and rounded shoulders stooped yet lower; he unconsciously +brushed his shaggy locks with his hand, and seemed to confer with a +familiar Being whom others could not see. + +"A voice from without," he repeated; "from beyond our realm! Shall the +subtle ears of future scientists catch yet lighter echoes? Will the +brighter thoughts of more gifted men, under such furtherings as the +future may bring, perchance commune with beings who people immensity, +distance disappearing before thy ever-reaching spirit? For with thee, +who holdest the universe together, space is not space, and there is no +word expressing time. Art thou a voice that carriest the history of the +past from the past unto and into the present, and for which there is no +future, all conditions of time being as one to thee, thy self covering +all and connecting all together? Art thou, Gravitation, a voice? If so, +there must be a something farther out in those fathomless caverns, +beyond mind imaginings, from which thou comest, for how could +nothingness have formulated itself into a voice? The suns and universe +of suns about us, may be only vacant points in the depths of an +all-pervading entity in which even thyself dost exist as a momentary +echo, linked to substances ponderous, destined to fade away in the +inter-stellar expanse outside, where disturbances disappear, and matter +and gravitation together die; where all is pure, quiescent, peaceful and +dark. Gravitation, Gravitation, imperishable Gravitation; thou seemingly +art the ever-pervading, unalterable, but yet moving spirit of a cosmos +of solemn mysteries. Art thou now, in unperceived force expressions, +speaking to dumb humanity of other universes; of suns and vortices of +suns; bringing tidings from the solar planets, or even infinitely +distant star mists, the silent unresolved nebulae, and spreading before +earth-bound mortal minds, each instant, fresh tidings from without, +that, in ignorance, we can not read? May not beings, perhaps like +ourselves but higher in the scale of intelligence, those who people some +of the planets about us, even now beckon and try to converse with us +through thy subtle, ever-present self? And may not their efforts at +communication fail because of our ignorance of a language they can read? +Are not light and heat, electricity and magnetism plodding, vacillating +agents compared with thy steady existence, and is it even further +possible?--" + +His voice had gradually lowered, and now it became inaudible; he was +oblivious to my presence, and had gone forth from his own self; he was +lost in matters celestial, and abstractedly continued unintelligibly to +mutter to himself as, brushing his hair from his forehead, he picked up +his well-worn felt hat, and placed it awkwardly on his shaggy head, and +then shuffled away without bidding me farewell. The bent form, +prematurely shattered by privation; uncouth, unkempt, typical of +suffering and neglect, impressed me with the fact that in him man's life +essence, the immortal mind, had forgotten the material part of man. The +physical half of man, even of his own being, in Daniel Vaughn's +estimation, was an encumbrance unworthy of serious attention, his spirit +communed with the pure in nature, and to him science was a study of the +great Beyond.[5] + + [5] Mr. Drury can not claim to have recorded verbatim Prof. + Vaughn's remarks, but has endeavored to give the substance. His + language was faultless, his word selections beautiful, his + soliloquy impressive beyond description. Perhaps Drury even + misstated an idea, or more than one, evolved then by the great + mind of that patient man. Prof. Daniel Vaughn was fitted for a + scientific throne, a position of the highest honor; but, neglected + by man, proud as a king, he bore uncomplainingly privations most + bitter, and suffered alone until finally he died from starvation + and neglect in the city of his adoption. Some persons are ready to + cry, "Shame! Shame!" at wealthy Cincinnati; others assert that men + could not give to Daniel Vaughn, and since the first edition of + ETIDORHPA appeared, the undersigned has learned of one vain + attempt to serve the interests of this peculiar man. He would not + beg, and knowing his capacities, if he could not procure a + position in which to earn a living, he preferred to starve. The + only bitterness of his nature, it is said, went out against those + who, in his opinion, kept from him such employment as returns a + livelihood to scientific men; for he well knew his intellect + earned for him such a right in Cincinnati. Will the spirit of that + great man, talented Daniel Vaughn, bear malice against the people + of the city in which none who knew him will deny that he perished + from cold and privation? Commemorated is he not by a bust of + bronze that distorts the facts in that the garments are not seedy + and unkempt, the figure stooping, the cheek hollow and the eye + pitifully expressive of an empty stomach? That bust modestly rests + in the public library he loved so well, in which he suffered so + uncomplainingly, and starved so patiently. J. U. L. + +I embraced the first opportunity that presented itself to read the +works that Prof. Vaughn suggested, and sought him more than once to +question further. However, he would not commit himself in regard to the +possible existence of other forces than those with which we are +acquainted, and when I interrogated him as to possibilities in the study +of obscure force expressions, he declined to express an opinion +concerning the subject. Indeed, I fancied that he believed it probable, +or at least not impossible, that a closer acquaintance with conditions +of matter and energy might be the heirloom of future scientific +students. At last I gave up the subject, convinced that all the +information I was able to obtain from other persons whom I questioned, +and whose answers were prompt and positive, was evolved largely from +ignorance and self-conceit, and such information was insufficient to +satisfy my understanding, or to command my attention. After hearing +Vaughn, all other voices sounded empty. + +I therefore applied myself to my daily tasks, and awaited the promised +return of the interesting, though inscrutable being whose subterranean +sojourneying was possibly fraught with so much potential value to +science and to man. + + + + + +THE UNBIDDEN GUEST RETURNS TO READ HIS MANUSCRIPT. CONTINUING HIS +NARRATIVE. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV. + + THE MOTHER OF A VOLCANO.--"YOU CAN NOT DISPROVE, AND YOU DARE NOT + ADMIT." + + +A year from the evening of the departure of the old man, found me in my +room, expecting his presence; and I was not surprised when he opened the +door, and seated himself in his accustomed chair. + +"Are you ready to challenge my statements?" he said, taking up the +subject as though our conversation had not been interrupted. + +"No." + +"Do you accept my history?" + +"No." + +"You can not disprove, and you dare not admit. Is not that your +predicament?" he asked. "You have failed in every endeavor to discredit +the truth, and your would-be scientists, much as they would like to do +so, can not serve you. Now we will continue the narrative, and I shall +await your next attempt to cast a shadow over the facts." + +Then with his usual pleasant smile, he read from his manuscript a +continuation of the intra-earth journey as follows: + +"Be seated," said my eyeless guide, "and I will explain some facts that +may prove of interest in connection with the nature of the superficial +crust of the earth. This crystal liquid spreading before us is a placid +sheet of water, and is the feeder of the volcano, Mount Epomeo." + +"Can that be a surface of water?" I interrogated. "I find it hard to +realize that water can be so immovable. I supposed the substance before +us to be a rigid material, like glass, perhaps." + +"There is no wind to ruffle this aqueous surface,--why should it not be +quiescent? This is the only perfectly smooth sheet of water that you +have ever seen. It is in absolute rest, and thus appears a rigid level +plane." + +"Grant that your explanation is correct," I said, "yet I can not +understand how a quiet lake of water can give rise to a convulsion such +as the eruption of a volcano." + +"Not only is this possible," he responded, "but water usually causes the +exhibition of phenomena known as volcanic action. The Island of Ischia, +in which the volcanic crater Epomeo is situated, is connected by a +tortuous crevice with the peaceful pool by which we now stand, and at +periods, separated by great intervals of time, the lake is partly +emptied by a simple natural process, and a part of its water is expelled +above the earth's surface in the form of super-heated steam, which +escapes through that distant crater." + +"But I see no evidence of heat or even motion of any kind." + +"Not here," he replied; "in this place there is none. The energy is +developed thousands of miles away, but since the phenomena of volcanic +action are to be partially explained to you at a future day, I will +leave that matter for the present. We shall cross this lake." + +I observed as we walked along its edge that the shore of the lake was +precipitous in places, again formed a gradually descending beach, and +the dead silence of the space about us, in connection with the +death-like stillness of that rigid mass of water and its surroundings, +became increasingly impressive and awe-inspiring. Never before had I +seen such a perfectly quiet glass-like surface. Not a vibration or +undulation appeared in any direction. The solidity of steel was +exemplified in its steady, apparently inflexible contour, and yet the +pure element was so transparent that the bottom of the pool was as +clearly defined as the top of the cavern above me. The lights and shades +of the familiar lakes of Western New York were wanting here, and it +suddenly came to my mind that there were surface reflections, but no +shadows, and musing on this extraordinary fact, I stood motionless on a +jutting cliff absorbed in meditation, abstractedly gazing down into that +transparent depth. Without sun or moon, without apparent source of +light, and yet perfectly illuminated, the lofty caverns seemed cut by +that aqueous plane into two sections, one above and one below a +transparent, rigid surface line. The dividing line, or horizontal plane, +appeared as much a surface of air as a surface of water, and the +material above that plane seemed no more nor less a gas, or liquid, than +that beneath it. If two limpid, transparent liquids, immiscible, but of +different gravities, be poured into the same vessel, the line of +demarkation will be as a brilliant mirror, such as I now beheld parting +and yet uniting the surfaces of air and water. + +Lost in contemplation, I unconsciously asked the mental question: + +"Where are the shadows?" + +My guide replied: + +"You have been accustomed to lakes on the surface of the earth; water +that is illuminated from above; now you see by a light that is developed +from within and below, as well as from above. There is no outside point +of illumination, for the light of this cavern, as you know, is neither +transmitted through an overlying atmosphere nor radiated from a luminous +center. It is an inherent quality, and as objects above us and within +the lake are illuminated alike from all sides, there can be no shadows." + +Musingly, I said: + +"That which has occurred before in this journey to the unknown country +of which I have been advised, seemed mysterious; but each succeeding +step discovers to me another novelty that is more mysterious, with +unlooked-for phenomena that are more obscure." + +"This phenomenon is not more of a mystery than is the fact that light +radiates from the sun. Man can not explain that, and I shall not now +attempt to explain this. Both conditions are attributes of force, but +with this distinction--the crude light and heat of the sun, such as men +experience on the surface of the earth, is here refined and softened, +and the characteristic glare and harshness of the light that is known to +those who live on the earth's surface is absent here. The solar ray, +after penetrating the earth's crust, is tempered and refined by agencies +which man will yet investigate understandingly, but which he can not now +comprehend." + +[Illustration: "WE CAME TO A METAL BOAT."] + +"Am I destined to deal with these problems?" + +"Only in part." + +"Are still greater wonders before us?" + +"If your courage is sufficient to carry you onward, you have yet to +enter the portal of the expanse we approach." + +"Lead on, my friend," I cried; "lead on to these undescribed scenes, the +occult wonderland that--" + +He interrupted me almost rudely, and in a serious manner said: + +"Have you not learned that wonder is an exemplification of ignorance? +The child wonders at a goblin story, the savage at a trinket, the man of +science at an unexplained manifestation of a previously unperceived +natural law; each wonders in ignorance, because of ignorance. Accept now +that all you have seen from the day of your birth on the surface of the +earth, to the present, and all that you will meet here are wonderful +only because the finite mind of man is confused with fragments of +evidence, that, from whatever direction we meet them, spring from an +unreachable infinity. We will continue our journey." + +Proceeding farther along the edge of the lake we came to a metallic +boat. This my guide picked up as easily as though it were of paper, for +be it remembered that gravitation had slackened its hold here. Placing +it upon the water, he stepped into it, and as directed I seated myself +near the stern, my face to the bow, my back to the shore. The guide, +directly in front of me, gently and very slowly moved a small lever that +rested on a projection before him, and I gazed intently upon him as we +sat together in silence. At last I became impatient, and asked him if we +would not soon begin our journey. + +"We have been on our way since we have been seated," he answered. + +I gazed behind with incredulity: the shore had disappeared, and the +diverging wake of the ripples showed that we were rapidly skimming the +water. + +"This is marvelous," I said; "incomprehensible, for without sail or oar, +wind or steam, we are fleeing over a lake that has no current." + +"True, but not marvelous. Motion of matter is a result of disturbance of +energy connected therewith. Is it not scientifically demonstrated, at +least in theory, that if the motion of the spirit that causes the +magnetic needle to assume its familiar position were really arrested in +the substance of the needle, either the metal would fuse and vaporize or +(if the forces did not appear in some other form such as heat, +electricity, magnetism, or other force) the needle would be hurled +onward with great speed?" + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. + + MOTION FROM INHERENT ENERGY.--"LEAD ME DEEPER INTO THIS EXPANDING + STUDY." + + +"I partly comprehend that such would be the case," I said. + +"If a series of knife blades on pivot ends be set in a frame, and turned +edgewise to a rapid current of water, the swiftly moving stream flows +through this sieve of metallic edges about as easily as if there were no +obstructions. Slowly turn the blades so as to present their oblique +sides to the current, and an immediate pressure is apparent upon the +frame that holds them; turn the blades so as to shut up the space, and +they will be torn from their sockets, or the entire frame will be +shattered into pieces." + +"I understand; go on." + +"The ethereal current that generates the magnetic force passes through +material bodies with inconceivable rapidity, and the molecules of a few +substances only, present to it the least obstruction. Material molecules +are edgewise in it, and meet no retardation in the subtle flood. This +force is a disturbance of space energy that is rushing into the earth in +one form, and out of it in another. But your mind is not yet in a +condition to grasp the subject, for at best there is no method of +explaining to men that which their experimental education has failed to +prepare them to receive, and for which first absolutely new ideas, and +next words with new meaning, must be formed. Now we, (by we I mean those +with whom I am connected) have learned to disturb the molecules in +matter so as to turn them partly, or entirely, across the path of this +magnetic current, and thus interrupt the motion of this ever-present +energy. We can retard its velocity without, however, producing either +magnetism (as is the case in a bar of steel), electricity, or heat, but +motion instead, and thus a portion of this retarded energy springs into +its new existence as motion of my boat. It is force changed into +movement of matter, for the molecules of the boat, as a mass, must move +onward as the force disappears as a current. Perhaps you can accept now +that instead of light, heat, electricity, magnetism, and gravitation +being really modifications of force they are disturbances." + +"Disturbances of what?" + +"Disturbances of motion." + +"Motion of what?" + +"Motion of itself, pure and simple." + +"I can not comprehend, I can not conceive of motion pure and simple." + +"I will explain at a future time so that you can comprehend more +clearly. Other lessons must come first, but never will you see the end. +Truth is infinite." + +Continuing, he said: + +"Let me ask if there is anything marvelous in this statement. On the +earth's surface men arrest the fitful wind, and by so doing divert the +energy of its motion into movement of machinery; they induce it to turn +mills and propel vessels. This motion of air is a disturbance, mass +motion transmitted to the air by heat, heat in turn being a disturbance +or interruption of pure motion. When men learn to interrupt this +unperceived stream of energy so as to change directly into material +motion the spirit that saturates the universe, and that produces force +expressions, as it is constantly rushing from earth into space, and from +space back again, they will have at command wherever they may be an +endless source of power, light, and heat; mass motion, light and heat +being convertible. Motion lies behind heat, light, and electricity, and +produces them, and so long as the earth revolves on its axis, and +circles in its orbit, man needs no light and heat from such indirect +sources as combustion. Men will, however, yet obtain motion of molecules +(heat), and material mass motion as well, from earth motion, without the +other dangerous intermediate force expressions now deemed necessary in +their production." + +"Do you wish me to understand that on all parts of the earth's surface +there is a continual expenditure of energy, an ever-ready current, that +is really distinct from the light and heat of the sun, and also that the +imponderable bodies that we call heat, light, electricity, and +magnetism are not substances at all?" + +"Yes," he replied. + +"And that this imperceptible something--fluid I will say, for want of a +better term--now invisible and unknown to man, is as a medium in which +the earth, submerged, floats as a speck of dust in a flood of space?" + +"Certainly," he replied. + +"Am I to infer from your remarks that, in the course of time, man will +be able to economize this force, and adapt it to his wants?" + +"Yes." + +"Go on with your exposition, I again beg of you; lead me deeper into +this expanding study." + +"There is but little more that you can comprehend now, as I have said," +he answered. "All materials known to man are of coarse texture, and the +minds of men are not yet in a condition to comprehend finer exhibitions +of force, or of motion modifications. Pure energy, in all its +modifications, is absolutely unknown to man. What men call heat, +gravitation, light, electricity, and magnetism are the grosser +attributes attending alterations in an unknown, attenuated, highly +developed force producer. They are results, not causes. The real force, +an unreached energy, is now flooding all space, pervading all materials. +Everywhere there exists an infinite sea of motion absolute. Since this +primeval entity can not now affect matter, as matter is known to man, +man's sense can only be influenced by secondary attributes of this +energy. Unconscious of its all-pervading presence, however, man is +working towards the power that will some day, upon the development of +latent senses, open to him this new world. Then at last he will move +without muscular exertion, or the use of heat as an agent of motion, and +will, as I am now doing, bridle the motion of space. Wherever he may be +situated, there will then be warmth to any degree that he wishes, for he +will be able to temper the seasons, and mass motion illimitable, also, +for this energy, I reiterate, is omnipresent. However, as you will know +more of this before long, we will pass the subject for the present." + +My guide slowly moved the lever. I sat in deep reflection, beginning to +comprehend somewhat of his reasoning, and yet my mind was more than +clouded. The several ambiguous repetitions he had made since our journey +commenced, each time suggesting the same idea, clothing it in different +forms of expression, impressed me vaguely with the conception of a +certain something for which I was gradually being prepared, and that I +might eventually be educated to grasp, but which he believed my mind was +not yet ready to receive. I gathered from what he said that he could +have given clearer explanations than he was now doing, and that he +clothed his language intentionally in mysticism, and that, for some +reason, he preferred to leave my mind in a condition of uncertainty. The +velocity of the boat increased as he again and again cautiously touched +the lever, and at last the responsive craft rose nearly out of the +water, and skimmed like a bird over its surface. There was no object in +that lake of pure crystal to govern me in calculating as to the rapidity +of our motion, and I studied to evolve a method by which I could time +our movements. With this object in view I tore a scrap from my clothing +and tossed it into the air. It fell at my feet as if in a calm. There +was no breeze. I picked the fragment up, in bewilderment, for I had +expected it to fall behind us. Then it occurred to me, as by a flash, +that notwithstanding our apparently rapid motion, there was an entire +absence of atmospheric resistance. What could explain the paradox? I +turned to my guide and again tossed the fragment of cloth upward, and +again it settled at my feet. He smiled, and answered my silent inquiry. + +"There is a protecting sheet before us, radiating, fan-like, from the +bow of our boat as if a large pane of glass were resting on edge, thus +shedding the force of the wind. This diaphragm catches the attenuated +atmosphere and protects us from its friction." + +"But I see no such protecting object," I answered. + +"No; it is invisible. You can not see the obstructing power, for it is +really a gyrating section of force, and is colorless. That spray of +metal on the brow of our boat is the developer of this protecting +medium. Imagine a transverse section of an eddy of water on edge before +us, and you can form a comparison. Throw the bit of garment as far as +you can beyond the side of the boat." + +I did so, and saw it flutter slowly away to a considerable distance +parallel with our position in the boat as though in a perfect calm, and +then it disappeared. It seemed to have been dissolved. I gazed at my +guide in amazement. + +"Try again," said he. + +[Illustration: "THE BIT OF GARMENT FLUTTERED LISTLESSLY AWAY TO THE SAME +DISTANCE, AND THEN--VACANCY."] + +I tore another and a larger fragment from my coat sleeve. I fixed my +eyes closely upon it, and cast it from me. The bit of garment fluttered +listlessly away to the same distance, and then--vacancy. Wonders of +wonderland, mysteries of the mysterious! What would be the end of this +marvelous journey? Suspicion again possessed me, and distrust arose. +Could not my self-existence be blotted out in like manner? I thought +again of my New York home, and the recollection of upper earth, and +those broken family ties brought to my heart a flood of bitter emotions. +I inwardly cursed the writer of that alchemistic letter, and cursed +myself for heeding the contents. The tears gushed from my eyes and +trickled through my fingers as I covered my face with my hands and +groaned aloud. Then, with a gentle touch, my guide's hand rested on my +shoulder. + +"Calm yourself," he said; "this phenomenon is a natural sequence to a +deeper study of nature than man has reached. It is simply the result of +an exhibition of rapid motion. You are upon a great underground lake, +that, on a shelf of earth substance one hundred and fifty miles below +the earth's surface, covers an area of many thousand square miles, and +which has an average depth of five miles. We are now crossing it +diagonally at a rapid rate by the aid of the force that man will yet use +in a perfectly natural manner on the rough upper ocean and bleak lands +of the earth's coarse surface. The fragments of cloth disappeared from +sight when thrown beyond the influence of our protecting diaphragm, +because when they struck the outer motionless atmosphere they were +instantly left behind; the eye could not catch their sudden change in +motion. A period of time is necessary to convey from eye to mind the +sensation of sight. The bullet shot from a gun is invisible by reason of +the fact that the eye can not discern the momentary interruption to the +light. A cannon ball will compass the field of vision of the eye, moving +across it without making itself known, and yet the fact does not excite +surprise. We are traveling so fast that small, stationary objects +outside our track are invisible." + +Then in a kind, pathetic tone of voice, he said: + +"An important lesson you should learn, I have mentioned it before. +Whatever seems to be mysterious, or marvelous, is only so because of the +lack of knowledge of associated natural phenomena and connected +conditions. All that you have experienced, all that you have yet to meet +in your future journey, is as I have endeavored to teach you, in exact +accordance with the laws that govern the universe, of which the earth +constitutes so small a portion that, were the conditions favorable, it +could be blotted from its present existence as quickly as that bit of +garment disappeared, and with as little disturbance of the mechanism of +the moving universe." + +I leaned over, resting my face upon my elbow; my thoughts were +immethodically wandering in the midst of multiplying perplexities; I +closed my eyes as a weary child, and slept. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. + + SLEEP, DREAMS, NIGHTMARE.--"STRANGLE THE LIFE FROM MY BODY." + + +I know not how long I sat wrapped in slumber. Even if my body had not +been wearing away as formerly, my mind had become excessively wearied. I +had existed in a state of abnormal mental intoxication far beyond the +period of accustomed wakefulness, and had taxed my mental organization +beyond endurance. In the midst of events of the most startling +description, I had abruptly passed into what was at its commencement the +sweetest sleep of my recollection, but which came to a horrible +termination. + +In my dream I was transported once more to my native land, and roamed in +freedom throughout the streets of my lost home. I lived over again my +early life in Virginia, and I seemed to have lost all recollection of +the weird journey which I had lately taken. My subsequent connection +with the brotherhood of alchemists, and the unfortunate letter that led +to my present condition, were forgotten. There came no thought +suggestive of the train of events that are here chronicled, and as a +child I tasted again the pleasures of innocence, the joys of boyhood. + +Then my dream of childhood vanished, and the scenes of later days spread +themselves before me. I saw, after a time, the scenes of my later life, +as though I viewed them from a distance, and was impressed with the idea +that they were not real, but only the fragments of a dream. I shuddered +in my childish dreamland, and trembled as a child would at confronting +events of the real life that I had passed through on earth, and that +gradually assuming the shape of man approached and stood before me, a +hideous specter seemingly ready to absorb me. The peaceful child in +which I existed shrunk back, and recoiled from the approaching living +man. + +"Away, away," I cried, "you shall not grasp me, I do not wish to become +a man; this can not, must not be the horrible end to a sweet existence." + +Gradually the Man Life approached, seized and enveloped me, closing +around me as a jelly fish surrounds its living victim, while the horrors +of a nightmare came over my soul. + +"Man's life is a fearful dream," I shouted, as I writhed in agony; "I am +still a child, and will remain one; keep off! Life of man, away! let me +live and die a child." + +The Specter of Man's Life seized me more firmly as I struggled to +escape, and holding me in its irresistible clutch absorbed my substance +as a vampire might suck the blood of an infant, and while the childish +dream disappeared in that hideous embrace, the miserable man awoke. + +I found myself on land. The guide, seated at my side, remarked: + +"You have slept." + +"I have lived again," I said in bitterness. + +"You have not lived at all as yet," he replied; "life is a dream, +usually it is an unsatisfied nightmare." + +"Then let me dream again as at the beginning of this slumber," I said; +"and while I dream as a child, do you strangle the life from my +body,--spare me the nightmare, I would not live to reach the Life of +Man." + +"This is sarcasm," he replied; "you are as changeable as the winds of +the earth's surface. Now as you are about to approach a part of our +journey where fortitude is necessary, behold, you waver as a little +child might. Nerve yourself; the trials of the present require a steady +mind, let the future care for itself; you can not recall the past." + +I became attentive again; the depressing effects of that repulsive dream +rapidly lifted, and wasted away, as I realized that I was a man, and was +destined to see more than can be seen in the future of other mortals. +This elevation of my spirit was evidently understood by my guide. He +turned to the lake, and pointing to its quiet bosom, remarked: + +"For five hours we have journeyed over this sheet of water at the +average rate of nine hundred miles an hour. At the time you threw the +fragments of cloth overboard, we were traveling at a speed of not less +than twenty miles per minute. You remember that some hours ago you +criticised my assertion when I said that we would soon be near the axis +of the earth beneath the North Pole, and now we are beyond that point, +and are about six thousand miles from where we stood at that time." + +"You must have your way," I replied; "I can not disprove your assertion, +but were it not that I have passed through so many marvelous experiences +since first we met, I would question the reliability of your +information." + +My guide continued: + +"The surface of this lake lies as a mirror beneath both the ocean and +the land. The force effect that preserves the configuration of the ocean +preserves the form of this also, but influences it to a less extent, and +the two surfaces lie nearly parallel with each other, this one being one +hundred and fifty miles beneath the surface of the earth. The shell of +the earth above us is honeycombed by caverns in some places, in others +it is compact, and yet, in most places, is impervious to water. At the +farther extremity of the lake, a stratum of porous material extends +through the space intervening between the bottom of the ocean and this +lake. By capillary attraction, assisted by gravitation, part of the +water of the ocean is being transferred through this stratum to the +underground cavity. The lake is slowly rising." + +At this remark I interrupted him: "You say the water in the ocean is +being slowly transferred down to this underground lake less by gravity +than by capillarity." + +"Yes." + +"I believe that I have reason to question that statement, if you do not +include the salt," I replied. + +"Pray state your objections." + +I answered: "Whether a tube be long or short, if it penetrate the bottom +of a vessel of brine, and extend downward, the brine will flow into and +out of it by reason of its weight." + +"You mistake," he asserted; "the attraction of the sides of the +capillary tube, if the tube is long enough, will eventually separate the +water from the salt, and at length a downward flow of water only will +result." + +I again expressed my incredulity. + +"More than this, by perfectly natural laws the water that is freed from +the tubes might again force itself upward perfectly fresh, to the +surface of the earth--yes, under proper conditions, above the surface of +the ocean." + +"Do you take me for a fool?" I said. "Is it not self-evident that a +fountain can not rise above its source?" + +"It often does," he answered. + +"You trifle with me," I said, acrimoniously. + +"No," he replied; "I am telling you the truth. Have you never heard of +what men call artesian wells?" + +"Yes, and" (here I attempted in turn to become sarcastic) "have you +never learned that they are caused by water flowing into crevices in +uplands where layers of stone or of clay strata separated by sand or +gravel slant upward. The water conducted thence by these channels +afterwards springs up in the valleys to which it has been carried by +means of the crevices in these strata, but it never rises above its +source." + +To my surprise he answered: + +"This is another of man's scientific speculations, based on some facts, +it is true, and now and then correct, but not invariably. The water of +an artesian well on an elevated plane may flow into the earth from a +creek, pond, or river, that is lower than the mouth of the well it +feeds, and still it may spout into the air from either a near or distant +elevation that is higher than its source." + +"I can not admit the truth of this," I said; "I am willing to listen to +reason, but such statements as these seem altogether absurd." + +"As you please," he replied; "we will continue our journey." + + + + +INTERLUDE.--THE STORY INTERRUPTED. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. + + A CHALLENGE.--MY UNBIDDEN GUEST ACCEPTS IT. + + +The white-haired reader, in whom I had now become deeply interested, no +longer an unwelcome stranger, suspended his reading, laid down his +manuscript, and looking me in the face, asked: + +"Are you a believer?" + +"No," I promptly answered. + +"What part of the narrative do you question?" + +"All of it." + +"Have you not already investigated some of the statements I previously +made?" he queried. + +"Yes," I said; "but you had not then given utterance to such +preposterous expressions." + +"Is not the truth, the truth?" he answered. + +"You ask me to believe impossibilities," I replied. + +"Name one." + +"You yourself admit," I said warmly, "that you were incredulous, and +shook your head when your guide asserted that the bottom of the ocean +might be as porous as a sieve, and still hold water. A fountain can not +rise above its source." + +"It often does, however," he replied. + +"I do not believe you," I said boldly. "And, furthermore, I assert that +you might as reasonably ask me to believe that I can see my own brain, +as to accept your fiction regarding the production of light, miles below +the surface of the earth." + +"I can make your brain visible to you, and if you dare to accompany me, +I will carry you beneath the surface of the earth and prove my other +statement," he said. "Come!" He arose and grasped my arm. + +I hesitated. + +"You confess that you fear the journey." + +I made no reply. + +"Well, since you fear that method, I am ready to convince you of the +facts by any rational course you may select, and if you wish to stake +your entire argument on the general statement that a stream of water can +not rise above its head, I will accept the challenge; but I insist that +you do not divulge the nature of the experiment until, as you are +directed, you make public my story." + +"Of course a fluid can be pumped up," I sarcastically observed. +"However, I promise the secrecy you ask." + +"I am speaking seriously," he said, "and I have accepted your challenge; +your own eyes shall view the facts, your own hands prepare the +conditions necessary. Procure a few pints of sand, and a few pounds of +salt; to-morrow evening I will be ready to make the experiment." + +"Agreed; if you will induce a stream of water to run up hill, a fountain +to rise above its head, I will believe any statement you may henceforth +make." + +"Be ready, then," he replied, "and procure the materials named." So +saying he picked up his hat and abruptly departed. + +These substances I purchased the next day, procuring the silver sand +from Gordon's pharmacy, corner of Eighth and Western Row, and promptly +at the specified time we met in my room. + +He came, provided with a cylindrical glass jar about eighteen inches +high and two inches in diameter (such as I have since learned is called +a hydrometer jar), and a long, slender drawn glass tube, the internal +diameter of which was about one-sixteenth of an inch. + +"You have deceived me," I said; "I know well enough that capillary +attraction will draw a liquid above its surface. You demonstrated that +quite recently to my entire satisfaction." + +"True, and yet not true of this experiment," he said. "I propose to +force water through and out of this tube; capillary attraction will not +expel a liquid from a tube if its mouth be above the surface of the +supply." + +He dipped the tip of a capillary tube into a tumbler of water; the water +rose inside the tube about an inch above the surface of the water in the +tumbler. + +"Capillary attraction can do no more," he said. "Break the tube +one-eighth of an inch above the water (far below the present capillary +surface), and it will not overflow. The exit of the tube must be lower +than the surface of the liquid if circulation ensues." + +He broke off a fragment, and the result was as predicted. + +Then he poured water into the glass jar to the depth of about six +inches, and selecting a piece of very thin muslin, about an inch square, +turned it over the end of the glass tube, tied it in position, and +dropped that end of the tube into the cylinder. + +"The muslin simply prevents the tube from filling with sand," he +explained. Then he poured sand into the cylinder until it reached the +surface of the water. (See Figure 23.) + +"Your apparatus is simple enough," I remarked, I am afraid with some +sarcasm. + +"Nature works with exceeding simplicity," he replied; "there is no +complex apparatus in her laboratory, and I copy after nature." + +Then he dissolved the salt in a portion of water that he drew from the +hydrant into my wash bowl, making a strong brine, and stirred sand into +the brine to make a thick mush. This mixture of sand and brine he then +poured into the cylinder, filling it nearly to the top. (See Figure 23, +B. The sand settling soon left a layer of brine above it, as shown by +A.) I had previously noticed that the upper end of the glass tube was +curved, and my surprise can be imagined when I saw that at once water +began to flow through the tube, dropping quite rapidly into the +cylinder. The lower end of the curve of the glass tube was fully half an +inch above the surface of the liquid in the cylinder. + +I here present a figure of the apparatus. (Figure 23.) + +The strange man, or man image, I do not know which, sat before me, and +in silence we watched the steady flow of water, water rising above its +surface and flowing into the reservoir from which it was being +continually derived. + +"Do you give up?" he asked. + +"Let me think," I said. + +"As you please," he replied. + +"How long will this continue?" I inquired. + +"Until strong salt water flows from the tube." + +Then the old man continued: + +"I would suggest that after I depart you repeat these experiments. The +observations of those interested in science must be repeated time and +again by separate individuals. It is not sufficient that one person +should observe a phenomenon; repeated experiments are necessary in order +to overcome error of manipulation, and to convince others of their +correctness. Not only yourself, but many others, after this manuscript +appears, should go through with similar investigations, varied in detail +as mind expansion may suggest. This experiment is but the germ of a +thought which will be enlarged upon by many minds under other +conditions. An event meteorological may occur in the experience of one +observer, and never repeat itself. This is possible. The results of such +experiments as you are observing, however, must be followed by similar +results in the hands of others, and in behalf of science it is necessary +that others should be able to verify your experience. In the time to +come it will be necessary to support your statements in order to +demonstrate that your perceptive faculties are now in a normal +condition. Are you sure that your conceptions of these results are +justified by normal perception? May you not be in an exalted state of +mind that hinders clear perception, and compels you to imagine and +accept as fact that which does not exist? Do you see what you think you +see? After I am gone, and the influences that my person and mind exert +on your own mind have been removed, will these results, as shown by my +experiments, follow similar experimental conditions? In the years that +are to pass before this paper is to be made public, it will be your duty +to verify your present sense faculty. This you must do as opportunities +present, and with different devices, so that no question may arise as to +what will follow when others repeat our experiments. To-morrow evening I +will call again, but remember, you must not tell others of this +experiment, nor show the devices to them." + +[Illustration: FIG. 23. A, brine. B, sand and brine mixed. C, sand and +water.] + +"I have promised," I answered. + +He gathered his manuscript and departed, and I sat in meditation +watching the mysterious fountain. + +As he had predicted, finally, after a long time, the flow slackened, and +by morning, when I arose from my bed, the water had ceased to drip, and +then I found it salty to the taste. + +The next evening he appeared as usual, and prepared to resume his +reading, making no mention of the previous test of my faith. I +interrupted him, however, by saying that I had observed that the sand +had settled in the cylinder, and that in my opinion his experiment was +not true to appearances, but was a deception, since the sand by its +greater weight displaced the water, which escaped through the tube, +where there was least resistance. + +"Ah," he said, "and so you refuse to believe your own eyesight, and are +contriving to escape the deserved penalty; I will, however, acquiesce in +your outspoken desire for further light, and repeat the experiment +without using sand. But I tell you that mother earth, in the phenomena +known as artesian wells, uses sand and clay, pools of mineral waters of +different gravities, and running streams. The waters beneath the earth +are under pressure, induced by such natural causes as I have presented +you in miniature, the chief difference being that the supplies of both +salt and fresh water are inexhaustible, and by natural combinations +similar to what you have seen; the streams within the earth, if a pipe +be thrust into them, may rise continuously, eternally, from a reservoir +higher than the head. In addition, there are pressures of gases, and +solutions of many salts, other than chloride of soda, that tend to favor +the phenomenon. You are unduly incredulous, and you ask of me more than +your right after staking your faith on an experiment of your own +selection. You demand more of me even than nature often accomplishes in +earth structure; but to-morrow night I will show you that this seemingly +impossible feat is possible." + +He then abruptly left the room. The following evening he presented +himself with a couple of one-gallon cans, one of them without a bottom. +I thought I could detect some impatience of manner as he filled the +perfect can (D) with water from the hydrant, and having spread a strip +of thin muslin over the mouth of the other can (B), pressed it firmly +over the mouth (C) of the can of water, which it fitted tightly, thus +connecting them together, the upper (bottomless) can being inverted. +Then he made a narrow slit in the center of the muslin with his +pen-knife, and through it thrust a glass tube like that of our former +experiment. Next he wrapped a string around the open top of the upper +can, crossed it over the top, and tied the glass tube to the center of +the cross string. + +"Simply to hold this tube in position," he explained. + +The remainder of the bag of salt left from the experiment of the +preceding evening was then dissolved in water, and the brine poured into +the upper can, filling it to the top. Then carefully thrusting the glass +tube downward, he brought the tip of the curve to within about one-half +inch of the surface of the brine, when immediately a rapid flow of +liquid exhibited itself. (Figure 24.) + +[Illustration: Fig. 24. + +A, surface of brine. + +B, upper can filled with brine. + +C, necks of cans telescoped. + +D, lower can full of water.] + +"It rises above its source without sand," he observed. + +"I can not deny the fact," I replied, "and furthermore I am determined +that I shall not question any subsequent statement that you may make." +We sat in silence for some time, and the water ran continuously through +the tube. I was becoming alarmed, afraid of my occult guest, who +accepted my self-selected challenges, and worked out his results so +rapidly; he seemed to be more than human. + +"I am a mortal, but a resident of a higher plane than you," he replied, +divining my thoughts. "Is not this experiment a natural one?" + +"Yes," I said. + +"Did not Shakspeare write, 'There are more things in heaven and earth, +Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy'?" + +"Yes," I said. + +And my guest continued: + +"He might have added, 'and always will be'." + +"Scientific men will explain this phenomenon," I suggested. + +"Yes, when they observe the facts," he replied, "it is very simple. They +can now tell, as I have before remarked, how Columbus stood the egg on +end; however, given the problem before Columbus expounded it, they would +probably have wandered as far from the true solution as the mountain +with its edgewise layers of stone is from the disconnected artesian +wells on a distant sea coast where the underground fresh and salt water +in overlying currents and layers clash together. The explanation, of +course, is simple. The brine is of greater specific gravity than the +pure water; the pressure of the heavier fluid forces the lighter up in +the tube. This action continues until, as you will see by this +experiment, in the gradual diffusion of brine and pure water the salt is +disseminated equally throughout the vessels, and the specific gravity of +the mixed liquid becomes the same throughout, when the flow will cease. +However, in the earth, where supplies are inexhaustible, the fountain +flows unceasingly." + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX. + + BEWARE OF BIOLOGY, THE SCIENCE OF THE LIFE OF MAN.[6] + +(The old man relates a story as an object lesson.) + + [6] The reader is invited to skip this chapter of horrors.--J. U. L. + + +"But you have not lived up to the promise; you have evaded part of the +bargain," I continued. "While you have certainly performed some curious +experiments in physics which seem to be unique, yet, I am only an +amateur in science, and your hydrostatic illustrations may be +repetitions of investigations already recorded, that have escaped the +attention of the scientific gentlemen to whom I have hitherto applied." + +"Man's mind is a creature of doubts and questions," he observed. "Answer +one query, and others rise. His inner self is never satisfied, and you +are not to blame for wishing for a sign, as all self-conscious +conditions of your former existence compel. Now that I have brushed +aside the more prominent questionings, you insist upon those omitted, +and appeal to me to--" he hesitated. + +"To what?" I asked, curious to see if he had intuitively grasped my +unspoken sentence. + +"To exhibit to you your own brain," he replied. + +"That is it exactly," I said; "you promised it, and you shall be held +strictly to your bargain. You agreed to show me my own brain, and it +seems evident that you have purposely evaded the promise." + +"That I have made the promise and deferred its completion can not be +denied, but not by reason of an inability to fulfill the contract. I +will admit that I purposely deferred the exhibition, hoping on your own +account that you would forget the hasty promise. You would better +release me from the promise; you do not know what you ask." + +"I believe that I ask more than you can perform," I answered, "and that +you know it." + +"Let me give you a history," he said, "and then perhaps you will +relent. Listen. A man once became involved in the study of anatomy. It +led him to destruction. He commenced the study in order to learn a +profession; he hoped to become a physician. Materia medica, pharmacy, +chemistry, enticed him at first, but after a time presented no charms. +He was a dull student in much that men usually consider essential to the +practice of medicine. He was not fitted to be a physician. Gradually he +became absorbed in two branches, physiology and anatomy. Within his +mental self a latent something developed that neither himself nor his +friends had suspected. This was an increasing desire for knowledge +concerning the human body. The insatiable craving for anatomy grew upon +him, and as it did so other sections of medicine were neglected. +Gradually he lost sight of his professional object; he dropped +chemistry, materia medica, pharmacy, and at last, morbidly lived only in +the aforenamed two branches. + +"His first visit to the dissecting room was disagreeable. The odor of +putrid flesh, the sight of the mutilated bodies repulsed him. When first +his hand, warm in life, touched the clammy flesh of a corpse, he +shuddered. Then when his fingers came in contact with the viscera of a +cadaver, that of a little child, he cried out in horror. The +demonstrator of anatomy urged him on; he finally was induced to dissect +part of the infant. The reflex action on his sensitive mind first +stunned, and then warped his senses. His companions had to lead him from +the room. 'Wash it off, wash it off,' he repeated, trying to throw his +hand from his person. 'Horrid, horrible, unclean. The child is yet +before me,' he insisted. Then he went into a fever and raved. 'Some +mother will meet me on the street and curse me,' he cried. 'That hand is +red with the blood of my darling; it has desecrated the innocent dead, +and mutilated that which is most precious to a mother. Take the hand +away, wash it,' he shouted. 'The mother curses me; she demands +retribution. Better that a man be dead than cursed by a mother whose +child has been desecrated.' So the unfortunate being raved, dreaming all +manner of horrid imaginings. But at last he recovered, a different man. +He returned voluntarily to the dissecting-room, and wrapped himself in +the uncouth work. Nothing in connection with corpse-mutilation was now +offensive or unclean. He threw aside his other studies, he became a +slave possessed of one idea. He scarcely took time to dine respectably; +indeed, he often ate his lunch in the dissecting-room. The blood of a +child was again and again on his fingers; it mattered not, he did not +take the trouble to wash it off. 'The liver of man is not more sacred +than the liver of a hog,' he argued; 'the flesh of a man is the same as +other forms of animal food. When a person dies the vital heat escapes, +consciousness is dissipated, and the cold, rigid remains are only +animal. Consciousness and life are all that is of man--one is force, the +other matter; when man dies both perish and are dissipated.' His friends +perceived his fondness for dissection, and argued with him again, +endeavoring now to overcome his infatuation; he repelled them. 'I +learned in my vision,' he said, referring to his fever, 'that Pope was +right in saying that the "proper study of mankind is man"; I care +nothing for your priestly superstitions concerning the dead. These +fables are the invention of designing churchmen who live on the +superstitions of the ignorant. I am an infidel, and believe in no spirit +intangible; that which can be seen, felt, and weighed is, all else is +not. Life is simply a sensation. All beyond is chimerical, less than +fantastic, believed in only by dupes and weak-minded, credulous tools of +knaves, or creatures of blind superstition.' He carried the finely +articulated, bleached skull of a cadaver to his room, and placed it +beside a marble statue that was a valued heirloom, the model of Venus of +Milo. 'Both are lime compounds,' he cynically observed, 'neither is +better than the other.' His friends protested. 'Your superstitious +education is at fault,' he answered; 'you mentally clothe one of these +objects in a quality it does not deserve, and the thought creates a +pleasant emotion. The other, equally as pure, reminds you of the grave +that you fear, and you shudder. These mental pulsations are artificial, +both being either survivals of superstition, or creations of your own +mind. The lime in the skull is now as inanimate as that of the statue; +neither object is responsible for its form, neither is unclean. To me, +the delicate configuration, the exact articulation, the perfect +adaptation for the office it originally filled, makes each bone of this +skull a thing of beauty, an object of admiration. As a whole, it gives +me pleasure to think of this wonderful, exquisitely arranged piece of +mechanism. The statue you admire is in every respect outrivaled by the +skull, and I have placed the two together because it pleases me to +demonstrate that man's most artistic creation is far inferior to +material man. Throw aside your sentimental prejudices, and join with me +in the admiration of this thing of beauty;' and he toyed with the skull +as if it were a work of art. So he argued, and arguing passed from bone +to bone, and from organ to organ. He filled his room with abnormal +fragments of the human body, and surrounded himself with jars of +preserved anatomical specimens. His friends fled in disgust, and he +smiled, glad to be alone with his ghastly subjects. He was infatuated in +one of the alcoves of science." + +The old man paused. + +"Shall I proceed?" he asked. + +"Yes," I said, but involuntarily moved my chair back, for I began again +to be afraid of the speaker. + +"At last this scientific man had mastered all that was known concerning +physiology and anatomy. He learned by heart the wording of great volumes +devoted to these subjects. The human frame became to him as an open +book. He knew the articulation of every muscle, could name a bone from a +mere fragment. The microscope ceased to be an object of interest, the +secrets of pathology and physiology had been mastered. Then, +unconsciously, he was infected by another tendency; a new thought was +destined to dominate his brain. 'What is it that animates this frame? +What lies inside to give it life?' He became enthused again: 'The dead +body, to which I have given my time, is not the conscious part of man,' +he said to himself; 'I must find this thing of life within; I have been +only a butcher of the dead. My knowledge is superficial.'" + +Again the old man hesitated and looked at me inquiringly. + +"Shall I proceed?" he repeated. + +I was possessed by horror, but yet fascinated, and answered +determinedly: "Go on." + +"Beware," he added, "beware of the Science of Life." + +Pleadingly he looked at me. + +"Go on," I commanded. + +He continued: + +"With the cunning of a madman, this person of profound learning, led +from the innocence of ignorance to the heartlessness of advanced +biological science, secretly planned to seek the vital forces. 'I must +begin with a child, for the life essence shows its first manifestations +in children,' he reasoned. He moved to an unfrequented locality, +discharged his servants, and notified his former friends that visitors +were unwelcome. He had determined that no interruption to his work +should occur. This course was unnecessary, however, for now he had +neither friends nor visitors. He employed carpenters and artisans, and +perfected a series of mechanical tables, beautiful examples of automatic +mechanism. From the inner room of that house no cry could be heard by +persons outside.... + + [It will be seen, by referring to the epilogue, that Mr. Drury + agreed to mutilate part of the book. This I have gladly done, + excising the heart-rending passages that follow. To use the words + of Prof. Venable, they do not "comport with the general delicacy + of the book."--J. U. L.] + +"Hold, old man, cease," I cried aghast; "I have had enough of this. You +trifle with me, demon; I have not asked for nightmare stories, +heart-curdling accounts of maniacal investigators, who madly pursue +their revolting calling, and discredit the name of science." + +"You asked to see your own brain," he replied. + +"And have been given a terrible story instead," I retorted. + +"So men perverted, misconstruing the aim of science, answer the cry of +humanity," he said. "One by one the cherished treasures of Christianity +have been stolen from the faithful. What, to the mother, can replace the +babe that has been lost?" + +"The next world," I answered, "offers a comfort." + +"Bah," he said; "does not another searcher in that same science field +tell the mother that there is no personal hereafter, that she will never +see her babe again? One man of science steals the body, another man of +science takes away the soul, the third annihilates heaven; they go like +pestilence and famine, hand in hand, subsisting on all that craving +humanity considers sacred, and offering no tangible return beyond a +materialistic present. This same science that seems to be doing so much +for humanity will continue to elevate so-called material civilization +until, as the yeast ferment is smothered in its own excretion, so will +science-thought create conditions to blot itself from existence, and +destroy the civilization it creates. Science is heartless, +notwithstanding the personal purity of the majority of her helpless +votaries. She is a thief, not of ordinary riches, but of treasures that +can not be replaced. Before science provings the love of a mother +perishes, the hope of immortality is annihilated. Beware of materialism, +the end of the science of man. Beware of the beginning of biological +inquiry, for he who commences, can not foresee the termination. I say to +you in candor, no man ever engaged in the part of science lore that +questions the life essence, realizing the possible end of his +investigations. The insidious servant becomes a tyrannical master; the +housebreaker is innocent, the horse thief guiltless in comparison. +Science thought begins in the brain of man; science provings end all +things with the end of the material brain of man. Beware of your own +brain." + +[Illustration: "RISING ABRUPTLY, HE GRASPED MY HAND."] + +"I have no fear," I replied, "that I will ever be led to disturb the +creeds of the faithful, and I will not be diverted. I demand to see my +brain." + +"Your demand shall now be fulfilled; you have been warned of the return +that may follow the commencement of this study; you force the issue; my +responsibility ceases. No man of science realized the end when he began +to investigate his throbbing brain, and the end of the fabric that +science is weaving for man rests in the hidden future. The story I have +related is a true one, as thousands of faithful men who unconsciously +have been led into infidelity have experienced; and as the faithful +followers of sacred teachings can also perceive, who recognize that +their religion and the hope of heaven is slipping away beneath the +steady inroad of the heartless materialistic investigator, who clothes +himself in the garb of science." + +Rising abruptly from his chair, he grasped my hand. "You shall see your +brain, man; come." + + + + +CHAPTER XXX. + + LOOKING BACKWARD.--THE LIVING BRAIN. + + +The old man accompanied his word "come," as I have said, by rising from +his chair, and then with a display of strength quite out of proportion +to his age, he grasped my wrist and drew me toward the door. Realizing +at once that he intended I should accompany him into the night, I +protested, saying that I was quite unprepared. + +"My hat, at least," I insisted, as he made no recognition of my first +demur. + +"Your hat is on your head," he replied. + +This was true, although I am sure the hat had been previously hung on a +rack in a distant part of the room, and I am equally certain that +neither my companion nor myself had touched it. Leaving me no time for +reflection, he opened the door, and drew me through the hall-way and +into the gloom. As though perfectly familiar with the city, he guided me +from my cozy home, on the retired side street in which I resided, +eastwardly into the busy thoroughfare, Western Row. Our course led us +down towards the river, past Ninth, Eighth, Seventh Streets. Now and +then a pedestrian stopped to gaze in surprise at the unique spectacle, +the old man leading the young one, but none made any attempt to molest +us. We passed on in silence, out of the busy part of the thoroughfare +and into the shady part of the city, into the darkness below Fifth +Street. Here the residences were poorer, and tenement-houses and +factories began to appear. We were now in a quarter of the city into +which strangers seldom, if ever, penetrated after night, and in which I +would not have cared to be found unprotected at any time after sunset, +much less in such questionable company. I protested against the +indiscretion; my leader made no reply, but drew me on past the +flickering gas lights that now and then appeared at the intersection of +Third, Pearl, Second, and Water Streets, until at last we stood, in +darkness, on the bank of the Ohio River. + +Strange, the ferry-boat at that time of night only made a trip every +thirty minutes, and yet it was at the landing as though by appointment. +Fear began to possess me, and as my thoughts recur to that evening, I +can not understand how it was that I allowed myself to be drawn without +cry or resistance from my secure home to the Ohio River, in such +companionship. I can account for the adventure only by the fact that I +had deliberately challenged my companion to make the test he was +fulfilling, and that an innate consciousness of pride and justice +compelled me to permit him to employ his own methods. We crossed the +river without speaking, and rapidly ascending the levee we took our +course up Main Street into Covington. Still in the lead, my aged guide, +without hesitation, went onward to the intersection of Main and Pike +Streets; thence he turned to the right, and following the latter +thoroughfare we passed the old tannery, that I recalled as a familiar +landmark, and then started up the hill. Onward we strode, past a hotel +named "Niemeyer's," and soon were in the open country on the Lexington +Pike, treading through the mud, diagonally up the hill back of +Covington. Then, at a sharp curve in the road where it rounded the point +of the hill, we left the highway, and struck down the hillside into a +ravine that bounded the lower side of the avenue. We had long since left +the city lamps and sidewalks behind us, and now, when we left the +roadway, were on the muddy pike at a considerable elevation upon the +hillside and, looking backward, I beheld innumerable lights throughout +the cities of Cincinnati, Covington, and the village of Newport, +sparkling away in the distance behind and below us. + +"Come," my companion said again, as I hesitated, repeating the only word +he had uttered since telling his horrible story, "Come!" + +Down the hill into the valley we plunged, and at last he opened the door +of an isolated log cabin, which we entered. He lighted a candle that he +drew from his pocket, and together we stood facing each other. + +"Be seated," he said dryly. + +And then I observed that the cold excuse for furniture in that desolate +room consisted of a single rude, hand-made chair with corn-shuck bottom. +However, I did not need a second invitation, but sank exhausted and +disconsolate upon the welcome object. + +My companion lost no time, but struck at once into the subject that +concerned us, arguing as follows: + +"One of the troubles with humanity is that of changing a thought from +the old to a new channel; to grasp at one effort an entirely new idea is +an impossibility. Men follow men in trains of thought expression, as in +bodily form generations of men follow generations. A child born with +three legs is a freak of nature, a monstrosity, yet it sometimes +appears. A man possessed of a new idea is an anomaly, a something that +may not be impossible, but which has never appeared. It is almost as +difficult to conceive of a new idea as it is to create out of nothing a +new material or an element. Neither thoughts nor things can be invented, +both must be evolved out of a preexisting something which it necessarily +resembles. Every advanced idea that appears in the brain of man is the +result of a suggestion from without. Men have gone on and on +ceaselessly, with their minds bent in one direction, ever looking +outwardly, never inwardly. It has not occurred to them to question at +all in the direction of backward sight. Mind has been enabled to read +the impressions that are made in and on the substance of brain +convolutions, but at the same time has been and is insensible to the +existence of the convolutions themselves. It is as though we could read +the letters of the manuscript that bears them without having conceived +of a necessity for the existence of a printed surface, such as paper or +anything outside the letters. Had anatomists never dissected a brain, +the human family would to-day live in absolute ignorance of the nature +of the substance that lies within the skull. Did you ever stop to think +that the mind can not now bring to the senses the configuration, or +nature, of the substance in which mind exists? Its own house is unknown. +This is in consequence of the fact that physical existence has always +depended upon the study of external surroundings, and consequently the +power of internal sight lies undeveloped. It has never been deemed +necessary for man to attempt to view the internal construction of his +body, and hence the sense of feeling only advises him of that which lies +within his own self. This sense is abstract, not descriptive. Normal +organs have no sensible existence. Thus an abnormal condition of an +organ creates the sensation of pain or pleasure, but discloses nothing +concerning the appearance or construction of the organ affected. The +perfect liver is as vacancy. The normal brain never throbs and aches. +The quiescent arm presents no evidence to the mind concerning its shape, +size, or color. Man can not count his fingers unless some outside object +touches them, or they press successively against each other, or he +perceives them by sight. The brain of man, the seat of knowledge, in +which mind centers, is not perceptible through the senses. Does it not +seem irrational, however, to believe that mind itself is not aware, or +could not be made cognizant, of the nature of its material +surroundings?" + +"I must confess that I have not given the subject a thought," I replied. + +"As I predicted," he said. "It is a step toward a new idea, and simple +as it seems, now that the subject has been suggested, you must agree +that thousands of intelligent men have not been able to formulate the +thought. The idea had never occurred to them. Even after our previous +conversation concerning the possibility of showing you your own brain, +you were powerless and could not conceive of the train of thought which +I started, and along which I shall now further direct your senses." + +"The eye is so constituted that light produces an impression on a +nervous film in the rear of that organ, this film is named the retina, +the impression being carried backward therefrom through a magma of nerve +fibers (the optic nerve), and reaching the brain, is recorded on that +organ and thus affects the mind. Is it not rational to suppose it +possible for this sequence to be reversed? In other words, if the order +were reversed could not the same set of nerves carry an impression from +behind to the retina, and picture thereon an image of the object which +lies anterior thereto, to be again, by reflex action, carried back to +the brain, thus bringing the brain substance itself to the view of the +mind, and thus impress the senses? To recapitulate: If the nerve +sensation, or force expression, should travel from the brain to the +retina, instead of from an outward object, it will on the reverse of the +retina produce the image of that which lies behind, and then if the +optic nerve carry the image back to the brain, the mind will bring to +the senses the appearance of the image depicted thereon." + +[Illustration: "FACING THE OPEN WINDOW HE TURNED THE PUPILS OF HIS EYES +UPWARD."] + +"This is my first consideration of the subject," I replied. + +"Exactly," he said; "you have passed through life looking at outside +objects, and have been heedlessly ignorant of your own brain. You have +never made an exclamation of surprise at the statement that you really +see a star that exists in the depths of space millions of miles beyond +our solar system, and yet you became incredulous and scornful when it +was suggested that I could show you how you could see the configuration +of your brain, an object with which the organ of sight is nearly in +contact. How inconsistent." + +"The chain of reasoning is certainly novel, and yet I can not think of a +mode by which I can reverse my method of sight and look backward," I now +respectfully answered. + +"It is very simple; all that is required is a counter excitation of the +nerve, and we have with us to-night what any person who cares to +consider the subject can employ at any time, and thus behold an outline +of a part of his own brain. I will give you the lesson." + +Placing himself before the sashless window of the cabin, which opening +appeared as a black space pictured against the night, the sage took the +candle in his right hand, holding it so that the flame was just below +the tip of the nose, and about six inches from his face. Then facing the +open window he turned the pupils of his eyes upward, seeming to fix his +gaze on the upper part of the open window space, and then he slowly +moved the candle transversely, backward and forward, across, in front of +his face, keeping it in such position that the flickering flame made a +parallel line with his eyes, and as just remarked, about six inches from +his face, and just below the tip of his nose. Speaking deliberately, he +said: + +"Now, were I you, this movement would produce a counter irritation of +the retina; a rhythm of the optic nerve would follow, a reflex action of +the brain accompanying, and now a figure of part of the brain that rests +against the skull in the back of my head would be pictured on the +retina. I would see it plainly, apparently pictured or thrown across the +open space before me." + +"Incredible!" I replied. + +"Try for yourself," quietly said my guide. + +Placing myself in the position designated, I repeated the maneuver, when +slowly a shadowy something seemed to be evolved out of the blank space +before me. It seemed to be as a gray veil, or like a corrugated sheet as +thin as gauze, which as I gazed upon it and discovered its outline, +became more apparent and real. Soon the convolutions assumed a more +decided form, the gray matter was visible, filled with venations, first +gray and then red, and as I became familiar with the sight, suddenly the +convolutions of a brain in all its exactness, with a network of red +blood venations, burst into existence.[7] + + [7] This experiment is not claimed as original. See + Purkinje's Beitraege zur Kenntniss des Sehens in + subjectiver Hinsicht (Prague, 1823 and 1825), whose + conclusions to the effect that the shadow of the retina is + seen, I-Am-The-Man ignores.--J. U. L. + +[Illustration: "A BRAIN, A LIVING BRAIN, MY OWN BRAIN."] + +I beheld a brain, a brain, a living brain, my own brain, and as an +uncanny sensation possessed me I shudderingly stopped the motion of the +candle, and in an instant the shadowy figure disappeared. + +"Have I won the wager?" + +"Yes," I answered. + +"Then," said my companion, "make no further investigations in this +direction." + +"But I wish to verify the experiment," I replied. "Although it is not a +pleasant test, I can not withstand the temptation to repeat it." + +And again I moved the candle backward and forward, when the figure of my +brain sprung at once into existence. + +"It is more vivid," I said; "I see it plainer, and more quickly than +before." + +"Beware of the science of man, I repeat," he replied; "now, before you +are deep in the toils, and can not foresee the end, beware of the +science of human biology. Remember the story recently related, that of +the physician who was led to destruction by the alluring voice." + +I made no reply, but stood with my face fixed, slowly moving the candle +backward and forward, gazing intently into the depths of my own brain. + +After a time the old man removed the candle from my hand, and said: "Do +you accept the fact? Have I demonstrated the truth of the assertion?" + +"Yes," I replied; "but tell me further, now that you have excited my +interest, have I seen and learned all that man can discover in this +direction?" + +"No; you have seen but a small portion of the brain convolutions, only +those that lie directly back of the optic nerve. By systematic research, +under proper conditions, every part of the living brain may become as +plainly pictured as that which you have seen." + +"And is that all that could be learned?" I asked. + +"No," he continued. "Further development may enable men to picture the +figures engraved on the convolutions, and at last to read the thoughts +that are engraved within the brains of others, and thus through material +investigation the observer will perceive the recorded thought of another +person. An instrument capable of searching and illuminating the retina +could be easily affixed to the eye of a criminal, after which, if the +mind of the person operated upon were stimulated by the suggestion of an +occurrence either remote or recent, the mind facility would excite the +brain, produce the record, and spread the circumstances as a picture +before the observer. The brain would tell its own story, and the +investigator could read the truth as recorded in the brain of the other +man. A criminal subjected to such an examination could not tell an +untruth, or equivocate; his very brain would present itself to the +observer." + +"And you make this assertion, and then ask me to go no further into the +subject?" + +"Yes; decidedly yes." + +"Tell me, then, could you not have performed this experiment in my room, +or in the dark cellar of my house?" + +"Any one can repeat it with a candle in any room not otherwise lighted, +by looking at a blackboard, a blank wall, or black space," he said. + +I was indignant. + +"Why have you treated me so inhumanly? Was there a necessity for this +journey, these mysterious movements, this physical exertion? Look at the +mud with which I am covered, and consider the return trip which yet lies +before me, and which must prove even more exhausting?" + +"Ah," he said, "you overdraw. The lesson has been easily acquired. +Science is not an easy road to travel. Those who propose to profit +thereby must work circuitously, soil their hands and person, meet +discouragements, and must expect hardships, reverses, abuse, and +discomfort. Do not complain, but thank me for giving you the lesson +without other tribulations that might have accompanied it. Besides, +there was another object in my journey, an object that I have quietly +accomplished, and which you may never know. Come, we must return." + +He extinguished the light of the candle, and we departed together, +trudging back through the mud and the night.[8] + + [8] We must acquiesce in the explanation given for this + seemingly uncalled-for journey, and yet feel that it was + unnecessarily exacting. + +Of that wearisome return trip I have nothing to say beyond the fact that +before reaching home my companion disappeared in the darkness of a side +street, and that the Cathedral chimes were playing for three o'clock +A.M., as I passed the corner of Eighth Street and Western Row. + +The next evening my visitor appeared as usual, and realizing his +complete victory, he made no reference to the occurrences of the +previous night. In his usual calm and deliberate manner he produced the +roll of manuscript saying benignantly, and in a gentle tone: + +"Do you recollect where I left off reading?" + +"You had reached that point in your narrative," I answered, "at which +your guide had replaced the boat on the surface of the lake." + +And the mysterious being resumed his reading. + + + + +THE MANUSCRIPT CONTINUED. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI. + + A LESSON ON VOLCANOES.--PRIMARY COLORS ARE CAPABLE OF FARTHER + SUBDIVISION. + + +"Get into the boat," said my eyeless pilot, "and we will proceed to the +farther edge of the lake, over the barrier of which at great intervals +of time, the surface water flows, and induces the convulsion known as +Mount Epomeo." + +We accordingly embarked, and a gentle touch of the lever enabled us +rapidly to skirt the shore of the underground sea. The soft, bright, +pleasant earth-light continually enveloped us, and the absence of either +excessive heat or cold, rendered existence delightful. The weird forms +taken by the objects that successively presented themselves on the shore +were a source of continual delight to my mind. The motion of our boat +was constantly at the will of my guide. Now we would skim across a great +bay, flashing from point to point; again we wound slowly through +tortuous channels and among partly submerged stones. + +"What a blessing this mode of locomotion would be to humanity," I +murmured. + +"Humanity will yet attain it," he replied. "Step by step men have +stumbled along towards the goal that the light of coming centuries is +destined to illuminate. They have studied, and are still engaged in +studying, the properties of grosser forces, such as heat and +electricity, and they will be led by the thread they are following, to +this and other achievements yet unthought of, but which lie back of +those more conspicuous." + +[Illustration: "WE FINALLY REACHED A PRECIPITOUS BLUFF."] + +We finally reached a precipitous bluff, that sprung to my view as by +magic, and which, with a glass-like surface, stretched upward to a +height beyond the scope of my vision, rising straight from the +surface of the lake. It was composed of a material seemingly black as +jet, and yet when seen under varying spectacular conditions as we +skirted its base it reflected, or emitted, most gorgeously the brilliant +hues of the rainbow, and also other colors hitherto unknown to me. + +"There is something unique in these shades; species of color appear that +I can not identify; I seem to perceive colors utterly unlike any that I +know as the result of deflected, or transmitted, sunlight rays, and they +look unlike the combinations of primary colors with which I am +familiar." + +"Your observations are true; some of these colors are unknown on earth." + +"But on the surface of the earth we have all possible combinations of +the seven prismatic rays," I answered. "How can there be others here?" + +"Because, first, your primary colors are capable of further subdivision. + +"Second, other rays, invisible to men under usual conditions, also +emanate from the sun, and under favorable circumstances may be brought +to the sense of sight." + +"Do you assert that the prism is capable of only partly analyzing the +sunlight?" + +"Yes; what reason have you to argue that, because a triangular bit of +glass resolves a white ray into seven fractions that are, as men say, +differently colored, you could not by proper methods subdivide each of +these so-called primary shades into others? What reason have you to +doubt that rays now invisible to man accompany those capable of +impressing his senses, and might by proper methods become perceptible as +new colors?" + +"None," I answered; "only that I have no proof that such rays exist." + +"But they do exist, and men will yet learn that the term 'primitive' +ray, as applied to each of the seven colors of the rainbow, is +incorrect. Each will yet be resolved, and as our faculties multiply and +become more subtle, other colors will be developed, possessed of a +delicacy and richness indescribable now, for as yet man can not +comprehend the possibilities of education beyond the limits of his +present condition." + +During this period of conversation we skirted the richly colored bluff +with a rapid motion, and at last shot beyond it, as with a flash, into +seeming vacancy. I was sitting with my gaze directed toward the bluff, +and when it instantly disappeared, I rubbed my eyes to convince myself +of their truthfulness, and as I did so our boat came gradually to a +stand on the edge of what appeared to be an unfathomable abyss. Beneath +me on the side where had risen the bluff that disappeared so abruptly, +as far as the eye could reach, was an absolute void. To our right, and +before and behind us, stretched the surface of that great smooth lake on +whose bosom we rested. To our left, our boat brushing its rim, a narrow +ledge, a continuation of the black, glass-like material, reached only a +foot above the water, and beyond this narrow brink the mass descended +perpendicularly to seemingly infinite depths. Involuntarily I grasped +the sides of the boat, and recoiled from the frightful chasm, over which +I had been so suddenly suspended, and which exceeded anything of a +similar description that I had ever seen. The immeasurable depth of the +abyss, in connection with the apparently frail barrier that held the +great lake in its bounds, caused me to shudder and shrink back, and my +brain reeled in dizzy fright. An inexplicable attraction, however, +notwithstanding my dread, held me spell-bound, and although I struggled +to shut out that view, the endeavor failed. I seemed to be drawn by an +irresistible power, and yet I shuddered at the awful majesty of that +yawning gulf which threatened to end the world on which I then existed. +Fascinated, entranced, I could not help gazing, I knew not how long, +down, down into that fathomless, silent profundity. Composing myself, I +turned a questioning glance on my guide. + +He informed me that this hard, glass-like dam confined the waters of +the slowly rising lake that we were sailing over, and which finally +would rise high enough to overflow the barrier. + +[Illustration: "THE WALL DESCENDED PERPENDICULARLY TO SEEMINGLY INFINITE +DEPTHS."] + +"The cycle of the periodic overflow is measured by great intervals," he +said; "centuries are required to raise the level of the lake a fraction +of an inch, and thousands of years may elapse before its surface will +again reach the top of the adamantine wall. Then, governed by the law +that attracts a liquid to itself, and heaps the teaspoon with liquid, +the water of the quiet lake piles upon this narrow wall, forming a +ledge along its summit. Finally the superimposed surface water gives +way, and a skim of water pours over into the abyss." + +He paused; I leaned over and meditated, for I had now accustomed myself +to the situation. + +"There is no bottom," I exclaimed. + +"Upon the contrary," he answered, "the bottom is less than ten miles +beneath us, and is a great funnel-shaped orifice, the neck of the funnel +reaching first down and then upward from us diagonally toward the +surface of the earth. Although the light by which we are enveloped is +bright, yet it is deficient in penetrating power, and is not capable of +giving the contour of objects even five miles away, hence the chasm +seems bottomless, and the gulf measureless." + +"Is it not natural to suppose that a mass of water like this great lake +would overflow the barrier immediately, as soon as the surface reached +the upper edge, for the pressure of the immense volume must be beyond +calculation." + +"No, for it is height, not expanse, which, as hydrostatic engineers +understand, governs the pressure of water. A liquid column, one foot in +width, would press against the retaining dam with the force of a body of +the same liquid, the same depth, one thousand miles in extent. Then the +decrease of gravity here permits the molecular attraction of the water's +molecules to exert itself more forcibly than would be the case on the +surface of the earth, and this holds the liquid mass together more +firmly." + +"See," he observed, and dipping his finger into the water he held it +before him with a drop of water attached thereto (Figure 27), the +globule being of considerable size, and lengthened as though it +consisted of some glutinous liquid. + +[Illustration: FIG. 27.] + +"How can a thin stratum of water give rise to a volcanic eruption?" I +next queried. "There seems to be no melted rock, no evidence of intense +heat, either beneath or about us." + +"I informed you some time ago that I would partially explain these +facts. Know then, that the theories of man concerning volcanic +eruptions, in connection with a molten interior of the earth, are such +as are evolved in ignorance of even the sub-surface of the globe. The +earth's interior is to mankind a sealed chamber, and the wise men who +elucidate the curious theories concerning natural phenomena occurring +therein are forced to draw entirely upon their imagination. Few persons +realize the paucity of data at the command of workers in science. +Theories concerning the earth are formulated from so little real +knowledge of that body, that our science may be said to be all theory, +with scarcely a trace of actual evidence to support it. If a globe ten +inches in diameter be covered with a sheet of paper, such as I hold in +my hand, the thickness of that sheet will be greater in proportion to +that of such a globe than the depth men have explored within the earth +is compared with the thickness of the crust of the earth. The outer +surface of a pencil line represents the surface of the earth; the inner +surface of the line represents the depth of man's explorations; the +highest mountain would be represented by a comma resting on the line. +The geologist studies the substances that are thrust from the crater of +an active volcano, and from this makes conjectures regarding the strata +beneath, and the force that casts the excretions out. The results must +with men, therefore, furnish evidence from which to explain the cause. +It is as though an anatomist would form his idea of the anatomy of the +liver by the secretion thrown out of that organ, or of the lung texture +by the breath and sputum. In fact, volcanoes are of several +descriptions, and usually are extremely superficial. This lake, the +surface of which is but one hundred and fifty miles underground, is the +mother of an exceptionally deep one. When the water pours over this +ledge it strikes an element below us, the metallic base of salt, which +lies in great masses in some portions of the earth's crust.[9] Then an +immediate chemical reaction ensues, the water is dissociated, intense +heat results, part of the water combines with the metal, part is +vaporized as steam, while part escapes as an inflammable gas. The sudden +liberation of these gases causes an irregular pressure of vapor on the +surface of the lake, the result being a throbbing and rebounding of the +attenuated atmosphere above, which, in gigantic waves, like swelling +tides, dashes great volumes of water over the ledge beside us, and into +the depth below. This water in turn reacts on fresh portions of the +metallic base, and the reflex action increases the vapor discharges, and +as a consequence the chamber we are in becomes a gasholder, containing +vapors of unequal gas pressures, and the resultant agitation of the lake +from the turmoil continues, and the pulsations are repeated until the +surface of the lake is lowered to such a degree as at last to prevent +the water from overflowing the barrier. Finally the lake quiets itself, +the gases slowly disappear by earth absorption, and by escape from the +volcanic exit, and for an unrecorded period of time thereafter the +surface of the lake continues to rise slowly as it is doing now." + + [9] This view is supported in theory by a note I believe to have + somewhere seen recorded. Elsewhere other bases are mentioned + also.--J. U. L. + +"But what has this phenomenon to do with the volcano?" + +"It produces the eruption; the water that rushes down into the chasm, +partly as steam, partly as gas, is forced onward and upward through a +crevice that leads to the old crater of the presumed extinct but +periodically active Mount Epomeo. These gases are intensely heated, and +they move with fearful velocity. They tear off great masses of stone, +which the resultant energy disturbances, pressure, gas, and friction, +redden with heat. The mixture of gases from the decomposed water is in +large amount, is burning and exploding, and in this fiery furnace amid +such convulsions as have been described, the adjacent earth substance is +fused, and even clay is melted, and carried on with the fiery blast. +Finally the current reaches the earth's surface through the funnel +passage, the apex of which is a volcano--the blast described a volcanic +eruption." + +"One thing is still obscure in my mind," I said. "You assert that the +reaction which follows the contact of the flowing water and metallic +bases in the crevice below us liberates the explosive gases, and also +volumes of vapor of water. These gases rush, you say, and produce a +volcanic eruption in a distant part of the crust of the earth. I can not +understand why they do not rush backward as well, and produce another +eruption in Kentucky. Surely the pressure of a gas in confinement is the +same in all directions, is it not?" + +"Yes," he replied, "but the conditions in the different directions are +dissimilar. In the direction of the Kentucky cavern, the passage is +tortuous, and often contracts to a narrow crevice. In one place near the +cavern's mouth, as you will remember, we had to dive beneath the surface +of a stream of water. That stratum of water as effectually closed the +exit from the earth as the stopper prevents water escaping from a +bottle. Between the point we now occupy and that water stopper, rest +thousands of miles of quiescent air. The inertia of a thousand miles of +air is great beyond your comprehension. To move that column of air by +pushing against this end of it, and thus shoving it instantly out of the +other end, would require greater force than would burst the one hundred +and fifty miles of inelastic stone above us. Then, the friction of the +sides is another thing that prevents its accomplishment. While a +gradually applied pressure would in time overcome both the inertia of +the air and the friction of the stone passages, it would take a supply +of energy greater than you can imagine to start into motion the elastic +mass that stands as solid and immovable as a sentinel of adamant, +between the cavern you entered, and the spot we now occupy. Time and +energy combined would be able to accomplish the result, but not under +present conditions. + +"In the other direction a broad open channel reaches directly to and +connects with the volcanic shaft. Through this channel the air is in +motion, moving towards the extinct crater, being supplied from another +surface orifice. The gases liberated in the manner I have described, +naturally follow the line of least resistance. They turn at once away +from the inert mass of air that rests behind us, and move with +increasing velocity towards the volcanic exit. Before the pressure that +might be exerted towards the Kentucky cavern would have more than +compressed the intervening column of air enough to raise the water of a +well from its usual level to the surface of the earth, the velocity in +the other direction would have augmented prodigiously, and with its +increased rapidity a suction would follow more than sufficient to +consume the increasingly abundant gases from behind." + +"Volcanoes are therefore local, and the interior of the earth is not a +molten mass as I have been taught," I exclaimed. + +He answered: "If men were far enough along in their thought journey (for +the evolution of the mental side of man is a journey in the world of +thought), they would avoid such theories as that which ascribes a +molten interior to the earth. Volcanoes are superficial. They are as a +rule, when in activity but little blisters or excoriations upon the +surface of the earth, although their underground connections may be +extensive. Some of them are in a continual fret with frequent eruptions, +others, like the one under consideration, awaken only after great +periods of time. The entire surface of this globe has been or will be +subject to volcanic action. The phenomenon is one of the steps in the +world-making, matter-leveling process. When the deposit of substances +that I have indicated, and of which much of the earth's interior is +composed, the bases of salt, potash, and lime and clay is exhausted, +there will be no further volcanic action from this cause, and in some +places, this deposit has already disappeared, or is covered deeply by +layers of earth that serve as a protection." + +"Is water, then, the universal cause of volcanoes?" + +"Water and air together cause most of them. The action of water and its +vapor produces from metallic space dust, limestone, and clay soil, +potash and soda salts. This perfectly rational and natural action must +continue as long as there is water above, and free elementary bases in +contact with the earth bubbles. Volcanoes, earthquakes, geysers, mud +springs, and hot springs, are the natural result of that reaction. +Mountains are thereby forming by upheavals from beneath, and the +corresponding surface valleys are consequently filling up, either by the +slow deposit of the matter from the saline water of hot springs, or by +the sudden eruption of a new or presumably extinct volcano." + +"What would happen if a crevice in the bottom of the ocean should +conduct the waters of the ocean into a deposit of metallic bases?" + +"That often occurs," was the reply; "a volcanic wave results, and a +volcano may thus rise from the ocean's depths." + +"Is there any danger to the earth itself? May it not be riven into +fragments from such a convulsion?" I hesitatingly questioned. + +"No; while the configuration of continents is continually being altered, +each disturbance must be practically superficial, and of limited area." + +"But," I persisted, "the rigid, solid earth may be blown to fragments; +in such convulsions a result like that seems not impossible." + +"You argue from an erroneous hypothesis. The earth is neither rigid nor +solid." + +"True," I answered. "If it were solid I could not be a hundred miles +beneath its surface in conversation with another being; but there can +not be many such cavities as that which we are now traversing, and they +can not surely extend entirely through its mass; the great weight of the +superincumbent material would crush together the strongest materials, if +a globe as large as our earth were extensively honeycombed in this +manner." + +"Quite the contrary," he replied; "and here let me, for the first time, +enlighten you as to the interior structure of the terrestrial globe. The +earth-forming principle consists of an invisible sphere of energy that, +spinning through space, supports the space dust which collects on it, as +dust on a bubble. By gradual accumulation of substance on that sphere a +hollow ball has resulted, on the outer surface of which you have +hitherto dwelt. The crust of the earth is comparatively thin, not more +than eight hundred miles in average thickness, and is held in position +by the central sphere of energy that now exists at a distance about +seven hundred miles beneath the ocean level. The force inherent to this +sphere manifests itself upon the matter which it supports on both sides, +rendering matter the lighter the nearer it lies to the center sphere. In +other words, let me say to you: The crust, or shell, which I have just +described as being but about eight hundred miles in thickness, is firm +and solid on both its convex and concave surface, but gradually loses in +weight, whether we penetrate from the outer surface toward the center, +or from any point of the inner surface towards the outside, until at the +central sphere matter has no weight at all. Do you conceive my meaning?" + +"Yes," I replied; "I understand you perfectly." + +After a pause my pilot asked me abruptly: + +"What do you most desire?" + +The question caused my mind to revert instantly to my old home on the +earth above me, and although I felt the hope of returning to it spring +up in my heart, the force of habit caused me involuntarily to answer, +"More light!" + +"More light being your desire, you shall receive it." + +Obedient to his touch, the bow of the boat turned from the gulf we had +been considering towards the center of the lake; the responsive craft +leaped forward, and in an instant the obsidian parapet disappeared +behind us. On and over the trackless waste of glass-like water we sped, +until the dead silence became painfully oppressive, and I asked: + +"Whither are we bound?" + +"Towards the east." + +The well-timed answer raised my spirits; I thought again that in this +man, despite his repulsive shape, I beheld a friend, a brother; +suspicion vanished, and my courage rose. He touched the lever, and the +craft, subject to his will, nearly rose from the water, and sped with +amazing velocity, as was evident from the appearance of the luminous +road behind us. So rapid was our flight that the wake of the boat seemed +as if made of rigid parallel lines that disappeared in the distance, too +quick for the eye to catch the tremor. + +Continuing his conversation, my companion informed me that he had now +directed the bark toward a point east of the spot where we struck the +shore, after crossing the lake, in order that we might continue our +journey downward, diagonally to the under surface of the earth crust. + +"This recent digression from our journey proper," said he, "has been +made to acquaint you with a subject, regarding which you have exhibited +a curiosity, and about which you have heretofore been misinformed; now +you understand more clearly part of the philosophy of volcanoes and +earthquakes. You have yet much to learn in connection with allied +phenomena, but this study of the crude exhibition of force-disturbed +matter, the manipulation of which is familiar to man under the above +names, is an introduction to the more wonderful study destined yet to be +a part of your field, an investigation of quiescent matter, and pure +motion." + +"I can not comprehend you," I replied, "as I stated once before when you +referred to what you designated as pure motion." + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII. + + MATTER IS RETARDED MOTION. + + +"It is possible--is it not?--for you to imagine a continuous volley of +iron balls passing near you in one line, in a horizontal direction, with +considerable velocity. Suppose that a pane of glass were to be gradually +moved so that a corner of it would be struck by one of the balls; then +the entire sheet of glass would be shivered by the concussion, even +though the bullet struck but a single spot of glass, the point of +contact covering only a small area. Imagine now that the velocity of the +volley of bullets be increased a thousand fold; then a plate of glass +thrust into their track would be smoothly cut, as though with a file +that would gnaw its way without producing a single radiating fracture. A +person standing near the volley would now hear a deep purr or growling +sound, caused by the friction between the bullets and the air. Increase +gradually the rapidity of their motion, and this growl would become more +acute, passing from a deep, low murmur, into one less grave, and as the +velocity increased, the tone would become sharper, and at last +piercingly shrill. Increase now the rapidity of the train of bullets +again, and again the notes would decrease in turn, passing back again +successively through the several keys that had preceded, and finally +would reach the low growl which first struck the ear, and with a further +increase of speed silence would ensue, silence evermore, regardless of +increasing velocity.[10] From these hundreds of miles in a second at +which the volley is now passing, let the rapidity be augmented a +thousand times, reaching in their flight into millions of miles each +second, and to the eye, from the point where the sound disappeared, as +the velocity increased, a dim redness would appear, a glow just +perceptible, indicating to the sense of sight, by a continuous line, +the track of the moving missiles. To all appearance, the line would be +as uniform as an illuminated pencil mark, even though the several +integral bullets of the trail might be separated one from another by +miles of space. Let a pane of glass now be thrust across their track, +and from the point of contact a shower of sparks would fly, and the +edges of glass close to either side of the orifice would be shown, on +withdrawing the glass, to have been fused. Conceive now that the +velocity of the bullets be doubled and trebled, again and again, the +line of red light becomes brighter, then brilliant, and finally as the +velocity increases, at a certain point pure white results, and to man's +sense the trail would now be a continuous something, as solid as a bar +of metal if at a white heat, and (even if the bullets were a thousand +miles apart) man could not bring proof of their separate existence to +his senses. That portion of a pane of glass or other substance, even +steel or adamant, which should cross its track now would simply melt +away, the portion excised and carried out of that pathway neither +showing itself as scintillations, nor as fragments of matter. The solid +would instantly liquefy, and would spread itself as a thin film over the +surface of each ball of that white, hot mass of fleeing metal, now to +all essential conditions as uniform as a bar of iron. Madly increase the +velocity to millions upon millions of miles per second, and the heat +will disappear gradually as did the sound, while the bright light will +pass backward successively through the primary shades of color that are +now known to man, beginning with violet, and ending with red, and as the +red fades away the train of bullets will disappear to the sense of man. +Neither light nor sound now accompanies the volley, neither the human +eye nor the human ear can perceive its presence. Drop a pane of glass or +any other object edgewise through it, and it gives to the sense of man +no evidence; the molecules of the glass separate from in front to close +in from behind, and the moving train passes through it as freely as +light, leaving the surface of the glass unaffected." + + [10] A scientific critic seems to think that the shrill cry would + cease instantly and not gradually. However, science has been at + fault more than once, and I do not care to take liberties with + this statement.--J. U. L. + +"Hold," I interrupted; "that would be as one quality of matter passing +through another quality of matter without disturbance to either, and it +is a law in physics that two substances can not occupy the same space at +the same time." + +"That law holds good as man understands the subject, but bullets are no +longer matter. Motion of mass was first changed into motion of +molecules, and motion of molecule became finally augmented into motion +of free force entities as the bullets disintegrated into molecular +corpuscles, and then were dissociated, atoms resulting. At this last +point the sense of vision, and of touch, ceased to be affected by that +moving column (neither matter nor force), and at the next jump in +velocity the atoms themselves disappeared, and free intangible motion +resulted--nothing, vacancy. + +"This result is the all-pervading spirit of space (the ether of +mankind), as solid as adamant and as mobile as vacuity. If you can +reverse the order of this phenomenon, and imagine an irregular +retardation of the rapidity of such atomic motion, you can read the +story of the formation of the material universe. Follow the chain +backward, and with the decrease of velocity, motion becomes tangible +matter again, and in accordance with conditions governing the change of +motion into matter, from time to time the various elements successively +appear. The planets may grow without and within, and ethereal space can +generate elemental dirt. If you can conceive of an intermediate +condition whereby pure space motion becomes partly tangible, and yet is +not gross enough to be earthy matter, you can imagine how such forces as +man is acquainted with, light, heat, electricity, magnetism, or gravity +even are produced, for these are also disturbances in space motion. It +should be easily understood that, according to the same simple +principle, other elements and unknown forces as well, now imperceptible +to man's limited faculties, could be and are formed outside and inside +his field of perception." + +"I fear that I can not comprehend all this," I answered. + +"So I feared, and perhaps I have given you this lesson too soon, +although some time ago you asked me to teach you concerning the +assertion that electricity, light, heat, magnetism, and gravity are +disturbances, and you said, 'Disturbances of what?' Think the lesson +over, and you will perceive that it is easy. Let us hope that the time +will come when we will be able to glance beneath the rough, material, +earth surface knowledge that man has acquired, and experience the mind +expansion that leads to the blissful insight possessed by superior +beings who do not have to contend with the rasping elements that +encompass all who dwell upon the surface of the earth." + +I pondered over these words, and a vague light, an undefined, +inexpressible something that I could not put into words broke into my +mind; I inferred that we were destined to meet with persons, or +existences, possessed of new senses, of a mind development that man had +not reached, and I was on the point of questioning my pilot when the +motion of the boat was suspended, land appeared ahead, we drew up to it, +and disembarked. Lifting the boat from the water my guide placed it on +land at the edge of the motionless lake, and we resumed our journey. The +scenery seemed but little changed from that of the latter part of our +previous line of travel down the inclined plane of the opposite side of +the lake that we had crossed. The direction was still downward after +leaving the high ridge that bordered the edge of the lake, the floor of +the cavern being usually smooth, although occasionally it was rough and +covered with stony debris. The mysterious light grew perceptibly +brighter as we progressed, the fog-like halo previously mentioned became +less dense, and the ring of obscurity widened rapidly. I could +distinctly perceive objects at a great distance. I turned to my +companion to ask why this was, and he replied: + +"Because we are leaving one of the undiscovered conditions of the upper +atmosphere that disturbs the sunlight." + +"Do you say that the atmosphere is composed of substances unknown to +man?" + +"Yes; several of them are gases, and others are qualities of space +condition, neither gas, liquid, nor solid.[11] One particularly +interferes with light in its passage. It is an entity that is not moved +by the motion of the air, and is unequally distributed over the earth's +surface. As we ascend above the earth it decreases, so it does as we +descend into it. It is not vapor of water, is neither smoke, nor a true +gas, and is as yet sensible to man only by its power of modifying the +intensity of light. It has no color, is chemically inactive, and yet +modifies the sun's rays so as to blot objects from view at a +comparatively small distance from a person on the face of the earth. +That this fact is known to man is evident from the knowledge he +possesses of the difference in the power of his organs of vision at +different parts of the earth. His sight is especially acute on the table +lands of the Western Territories." + + [11] This has since been partly supported by the discovery of the + element Argon. However, the statement has been recorded many + years. Miss Ella Burbige, stenographer, Newport, Ky., copied the + original in 1887; Mr. S. D. Rouse, attorney, Covington, Ky., read + it in 1889; Mr. Russell Errett, editor of the Christian Standard, + in 1890, and Mr. H. C. Meader, President of the American Ticket + Brokers' Association, in 1892. It seems proper to make this + explanation in order to absolve the author from any charge of + plagiarism, for each of these persons will recall distinctly this + improbable [then] assertion.--J. U. L. + +"I have been told," I answered, "that vapor of water causes this +obscuration, or absorption, of light." + +"Vapor of water, unless in strata of different densities, is absolutely +transparent, and presents no obstacle to the passage of light," he said. +"When vapor obstructs light it is owing to impurities contained in it, +to currents of varying densities, or wave motions, or to a mechanical +mixture of condensed water and air, whereby multitudes of tiny globular +water surfaces are produced. Pure vapor of water, free from motion, is +passive to the sunlight." + +"I can scarcely believe that a substance such as you describe, or that +any constituent of the air, can have escaped the perception of the +chemist," I replied. + +In, as I thought, a facetious manner he repeated after me the word +"chemist," and continued: + +"Have chemists detected the ether of Aristotle, that you have mentioned, +and I have defined, which scientists nevertheless accept pervades all +space and every description of matter, and that I have told you is +really matter itself changed into ultra atomic motion? Have chemists +explained why one object is transparent, and another of equal weight and +solidity is opaque? Have chemists told you why vermillion is red and +indigo is blue (the statement that they respectively reflect these rays +of light is not an explanation of the cause for such action)? Have +chemists told you why the prism disarranges or distorts sunlight to +produce the abnormal hues that men assume compose elementary rays of +light? Have chemists explained anything concerning the why or wherefore +of the attributes of matter, or force, or even proven that the so-called +primary forms of matter, or elements, are not compounds? Upon the +contrary, does not the evolution that results in the recorded +discoveries of the chemist foretell, or at least indicate, the possible +future of the art, and promise that surrounding mysteries are yet to be +developed and expanded into open truths, thus elaborating hidden forces; +and that other forms of matter and unseen force expressions, are +destined to spring into existence as the sciences progress? The chemist +of to-day is groping in darkness; he is a novice as compared with the +elaborated chemist of the near future; the imperfectly seen of the +present, the silent and unsuspected, will become distinctly visible in a +time that is to come, and a brightening of the intellect by these +successively upward steps, up stairs of science, will, if science serves +herself best, broaden the mind and give power to the imagination, +resulting finally in--" + +He hesitated. + +"Go on," I said. + +"The passage of mortal man, with the faculties of man intact, into +communion with the spirit world." + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII. + + "A STUDY OF SCIENCE IS A STUDY OF GOD."--COMMUNING WITH ANGELS. + + +"This is incredible," I exclaimed. + +"You need not be astonished," he answered. "Is there any argument that +can be offered to controvert the assertion that man is ignorant of many +natural laws?" + +"I can offer none." + +"Is there any doubt that a force, distinct and separate from matter, +influences matter and vivifies it into a living personality?" + +"I do not deny that there is such force." + +"What then should prevent this force from existing separate from the +body if it be capable of existing in it?" + +"I can not argue against such a position." + +"If, as is hoped and believed by the majority of mankind, even though +some try to deny the fact, it is possible for man to exist as an +association of earth matters, linked to a personal spirit force, the +soul, and for the spirit force, after the death of the body, to exist +independent of the grosser attributes of man, free from his mortal body, +is it not reasonable to infer that the spirit, while it is still in man +and linked to his body, may be educated and developed so as, under +favorable conditions, to meet and communicate with other spirits that +have been previously liberated from earthly bondage?" + +"I submit," I answered; "but you shock my sensibilities when you thus +imply that by cold, scientific investigation we can place ourselves in a +position to meet the unseen spirit world--" + +It was now my turn to hesitate. + +"Go on," he said. + +"To commune with the angels," I answered. + +"A study of true science is a study of God," he continued. "Angels are +organizations natural in accordance with God's laws. They appear +superhuman, because of our ignorance concerning the higher natural +forces. They exist in exact accordance with the laws that govern the +universe; but as yet the attraction between clay and clay-bound spirit +is so great as to prevent the enthralled soul of man from communicating +with them. The faith of the religionist is an example of the +unquenchable feeling that creates a belief as well as a hope that there +is a self-existence separate from earthy substances. The scoffing +scientific agnostic, working for other objects, will yet astonish +himself by elaborating a method that will practically demonstrate these +facts, and then empirical religion, as exemplified by the unquestioning +faithful believer, and systematic science, as typified in the +experimental materialist, will meet on common ground." + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV. + + I CEASE TO BREATHE, AND YET LIVE. + + +During this conversation we had been rapidly walking, or I should better +say advancing, for we no longer walked as men do, but skipped down into +the earth, down, ever downward. There were long periods of silence, in +which I was engaged in meditating over the problems that successively +demanded solution, and even had I desired to do so I could have kept no +record of time; days, or even weeks, may have been consumed in this +journey. Neither have I any method of judging of the rapidity of our +motion. I was sensible of a marked decrease in the amount of muscular +energy required to carry us onward, and I realized that my body was +quite exempt from weariness. Motion became restful instead of +exhausting, and it seemed to me that the ratio of the loss of weight, as +shown by our free movements, in proportion to the distance we traversed, +was greater than formerly. The slightest exhibition of propelling force +cast us rapidly forward. Instead of the laborious, short step of upper +earth, a single leap would carry us many yards. A slight spring, and +with our bodies in space, we would skip several rods, alighting gently, +to move again as easily. I marveled, for, although I had been led to +anticipate something unusual, the practical evidence was wonderfully +impressive, and I again questioned my guide. + +"We are now nearing what physicists would call the center of gravity," +he replied, "and our weight is rapidly diminishing. This is in exact +accordance with the laws that govern the force called gravitation, +which, at the earth's surface, is apparently uniform, though no +instrument known to man can demonstrate its exact variation within the +field man occupies. Men have not, as yet, been in a position to estimate +this change, although it is known that mountains attract objects, and +that a change in weight as we descend into the earth is perceptible; but +to evolve the true law, observation, at a distance of at least ten +miles beneath the surface of the ocean is necessary, and man, being a +creature whose motions are confined to a thin, horizontal skin of earth, +has never been one mile beneath its surface, and in consequence his +opportunities for comparison are extremely limited." + +[Illustration: "WE WOULD SKIP SEVERAL RODS, ALIGHTING GENTLY."] + +"I have been taught," I replied, "that the force of gravitation +decreases until the center of the earth is reached, at which point a +body is without weight; and I can scarcely understand how such positive +statements from scientific men can be far from the truth." + +"It is supposed by your surface men that the maximum of weight is to be +found at one-sixth the distance beneath the surface of the earth, and +therefrom decreases until at the center it is nothing at all," he +replied. "This hypothesis, though a stagger toward the right, is far +from the truth, but as near as could be expected, when we consider the +data upon which men base their calculations. Were it not for the purpose +of controverting erroneous views, men would have little incentive to +continue their investigations, and as has been the rule in science +heretofore, the truth will, in time, appear in this case. One generation +of students disproves the accepted theories of that which precedes, all +working to eliminate error, all adding factors of error, and all +together moving toward a common goal, a grand generalization, that as +yet can not be perceived. And still each series of workers is +overlooking phenomena that, though obvious, are yet unperceived, but +which will make evident to future scientists the mistakes of the +present. As an example of the manner in which facts are thus overlooked, +in your journey you have been impressed with certain surprising external +conditions, or surroundings, and yet are oblivious to conditions more +remarkable in your own body. So it is with scientists. They overlook +prominent facts that stare them boldly in the face, facts that are so +conspicuous as to be invisible by reason of their very nearness." + +"This statement I can not disprove, and therefore must admit under +protest. Where there is so much that appears mysterious I may have +overlooked some things, but I can scarcely accept that, in ignorance, I +have passed conditions in my own organization so marked as this decrease +in gravity which has so strikingly been called to my attention." + +"You have, and to convince you I need only say that you have nearly +ceased to breathe, and are unconscious of the fact." + +I stopped short, in momentary alarm, and now that my mind was directed +to the fact, I became aware that I did not desire to breathe, and that +my chest had ceased to heave with the alternate inhalation and +exhalation of former times. I closed my lips firmly, and for a long +period there was no desire for breath, then a slight involuntary +inhalation followed, and an exhalation, scarcely noticeable, succeeded +by a great interval of inaction. I impulsively turned my face toward the +passage we had trod; a feeling of alarm possessed me, an uncontrollable, +inexpressible desire to flee from the mysterious earth-being beside me, +to return to men, and be an earth-surface man again, and I started +backward through the chamber we had passed. + +The guide seized me by the hand, "Hold, hold," he cried; "where would +you go, fickle mortal?" + +"To the surface," I shouted; "to daylight again. Unhand me, unearthly +creature, abnormal being, man or devil; have you not inveigled me far +enough into occult realms that should be forever sealed from mankind? +Have you not taken from me all that men love or cherish, and undone +every tie of kith or kin? Have you not led me into paths that the +imagination of the novelist dare not conjure, and into experiences that +pen in human hand would not venture to describe as possible, until I now +stand with my feet on the boundary line that borders vacancy, and utter +loss of weight; with a body nearly lost as a material substance, verging +into nothing, and lastly with breath practically extinguished, I say, +and repeat, is it not time that I should hesitate and pause in my +reckless career?" + +"It is not time," he answered. + +"When will that hour come?" I asked in desperation, and I trembled as he +replied: + +"When the three Great Lights are closed." + +[Illustration: "AN UNCONTROLLABLE, INEXPRESSIBLE DESIRE TO FLEE."] + + + + +CHAPTER XXXV. + + "A CERTAIN POINT WITHIN A SPHERE."--MEN ARE AS PARASITES ON THE + ROOF OF EARTH. + + +I realized again, as I had so many times before, that it was useless for +me to rebel. "The self-imposed mystery of a sacrificed life lies before +me," I murmured, "and there is no chance to retrace my footsteps. The +'Beyond' of the course that I have voluntarily selected, and sworn to +follow, is hidden; I must nerve myself to pursue it to the bitter end, +and so help me God, and keep me steadfast." + +"Well said," he replied; "and since you have so wisely determined, I am +free to inform you that these new obligations, like those you have +heretofore taken, contain nothing which can conflict with your duty to +God, your country, your neighbor, or yourself. In considering the +phenomena presented by the suspension of the act of breathing, it should +occur to you that where little labor is to be performed, little +consumption of energy is required. Where there is such a trifling +destruction of the vital force (not mind force) as at present is the +case with us, it requires but slight respiration to retain the normal +condition of the body. On earth's surface the act of respiration alone +consumes by far the larger proportion of vital energy, and the muscular +exertion involved thereby necessitates a proportionate amount of +breathing in order that breath itself may continue. This act of +respiration is the result of one of the conditions of surface earth +life, and consumes most of the vital force. If men would think of this, +they would understand how paradoxical it is for them to breathe in order +to live, when the very act of respiration wears away their bodies and +shortens their lives more than all else they have to do, and without +adding to their mental or physical constitution in the least. Men are +conversant with physical death as a constant result of suspended +respiration, and with respiration as an accompaniment of life, which +ever constant and connected conditions lead them to accept that the act +of breathing is a necessity of mortal life. In reality, man occupies an +unfortunate position among other undeveloped creatures of external +earth; he is an animal, and is constitutionally framed like the other +animals about him. He is exposed to the warring elements, to the vicious +attacks of savage beasts and insidious parasites, and to the inroads of +disease. He is a prey to the elementary vicissitudes of the undesirable +exposure in which he exists upon the outer surface of our globe, where +all is war, even among the forces of nature about him. These conditions +render his lot an unhappy one indeed, and in ignorance he overlooks the +torments of the weary, rasping, endless slavery of respiration in the +personal struggle he has to undergo in order to retain a brief existence +as an organized being. Have you never thought of the connected +tribulations that the wear and tear of respiration alone inflict upon +the human family? The heaving of the chest, the circulation of the +blood, the throbbing of the heart, continue from mortal birth until +death. The heart of man forces about two and one-half ounces of blood +with each pulsation. At seventy beats per minute this amounts to six +hundred and fifty-six pounds per hour, or nearly eight tons per day. The +lungs respire over one thousand times an hour, and move over three +thousand gallons of air a day. Multiply these amounts by three hundred +and sixty-five, and then by seventy, and you have partly computed the +enormous life-work of the lungs and heart of an adult. Over two hundred +thousand tons of blood, and seventy-five million gallons of air have +been moved by the vital force. The energy thus consumed is dissipated. +No return is made for the expenditure of this life force. During the +natural life of man, more energy is consequently wasted in material +transformation resulting from the motion of heart and lungs, than would +be necessary to sustain the purely vital forces alone for a thousand +years. Besides, the act of respiration which man is compelled to perform +in his exposed position, necessitates the consumption of large amounts +of food, in order to preserve the animal heat, and replace the waste of +a material body that in turn is worn out by these very movements. Add +this waste of energy to the foregoing, and then you will surely perceive +that the possible life of man is also curtailed to another and greater +degree in the support of the digestive part of his organism. His spirit +is a slave to his body; his lungs and heart, on which he imagines life +depends, are unceasing antagonists of life. That his act of breathing is +now a necessity upon the surface of the earth, where the force of +gravity presses so heavily, and where the elements have men at their +command, and show him no mercy, I will not deny; but it is exasperating +to contemplate such a waste of energy, and corresponding loss of human +life." + +"You must admit, however, that it is necessary?" I queried. + +"No; only to an extent. The natural life of man should, and yet will be, +doubled, trebled, multiplied a dozen, yes a thousand fold." + +I stepped in front of him; we stood facing each other. + +"Tell me," I cried, "how men can so improve their condition as to +lengthen their days to the limit you name, and let me return to surface +earth a carrier of the glad tidings." + +He shook his head. + +I dropped on my knees before him. + +[Illustration: "I DROPPED ON MY KNEES BEFORE HIM."] + +"I implore you in behalf of that unfortunate humanity, of which I am a +member, give me this boon. I promise to return to you and do your +bidding. Whatever may be my subsequent fate, I promise to acquiesce +therein willingly." + +He raised me to my feet. + +"Be of good cheer," he said, "and in the proper time you may return to +the surface of this rind of earth, a carrier of great and good news to +men." + +"Shall I teach them of what you have shown me?" I asked. + +"Yes; in part you will be a forerunner, but before you obtain the +information that is necessary to the comfort of mankind you will have +to visit surface earth again, and return again, perhaps repeatedly. You +must prove yourself as men are seldom proven. The journey you have +commenced is far from its conclusion, and you may not be equal to its +subsequent trials; prepare yourself, therefore, for a series of events +that may unnerve you. If you had full confidence and faith in your +guide, you would have less cause to fear the result, but your suspicious +human nature can not overcome the shrinking sensation that is natural to +those who have been educated as you have been amid the changing +vicissitudes of the earth's surface, and you can not but be incredulous +by reason of that education." + +Then I stopped as I observed before me a peculiar fungus--peculiar +because unlike all others I had seen. The convex part of its bowl was +below, and the great head, as an inverted toadstool, stood upright on a +short, stem-like pedestal. The gills within were of a deep green color, +and curved out from the center in the form of a spiral. This form, +however, was not the distinguishing feature, for I had before observed +specimens that were spiral in structure. The extraordinary peculiarity +was that the gills were covered with fruit. This fruit was likewise +green in color, each spore, or berry, being from two to three inches in +diameter, and honeycombed on the surface, corrugated most beautifully. I +stopped, leaned over the edge of the great bowl, and plucked a specimen +of the fruit. It seemed to be covered with a hard, transparent shell, +and to be nearly full of a clear, green liquid. I handled and examined +it in curiosity, at which my guide seemed not to be surprised. Regarding +me attentively, he said: + +"What is it that impels a mortal towards this fruit?" + +"It is curious," I said; "nothing more." + +"As for that," said he, "it is not curious at all; the seed of the +lobelia of upper earth is more curious, because, while it is as +exquisitely corrugated, it is also microscopically small. In the second +place you err when you say it is simply curious, 'nothing more,' for no +mortal ever yet passed that bowl without doing exactly as you have done. +The vein of curiosity, were it that alone that impels you, could not but +have an exception." + +Then he cracked the shell of the fruit by striking it on the stony +floor, and carefully opened the shell, handing me one of the halves +filled with a green fluid. As he did so he spoke the single word, +"Drink," and I did as directed. He stood upright before me, and as I +looked him in the face he seemingly, without a reason, struck off into a +dissertation, apparently as distinct from our line of thought as a +disconnected subject could be, as follows: + +[Illustration: "HANDING ME ONE OF THE HALVES, HE SPOKE THE SINGLE +WORD, DRINK."] + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVI. + + DRUNKENNESS.--THE DRINKS OF MAN. + + +"Intemperance has been the vice of every people, and is prevalent in all +climes, notwithstanding that intoxicants, properly employed, may serve +humanity's highest aims. Beginning early in the history of a people, the +disease increases with the growth of a nation, until, at last, unless +the knife is used, civilization perishes. A lowly people becomes more +depraved as the use of liquor increases; a cultivated people passes +backward into barbarism with the depravities that come from dissipation. +Here nations meet, and individuals sink to a common level. No drinking +man is strong enough to say, 'I can not become dissipated;' no nation is +rich and cultivated enough to view the debauch of its people without +alarm. + +"The disgusting habit of the drunken African finds its counterpart in +the lascivious wine-bibber of aristocratic society. To picture the +indecencies of society, that may be charged to debauchery, when the +Grecian and Roman empires were at the height of greatness, would obscure +the orgies of the barbarous African, and make preferable the brutality +of the drunken American Indian. Intemperance brings men to the lowest +level, and holds its power over all lands and all nations." + +"Did the aborigines know how to make intoxicants, and were barbarians +intemperate before contact with civilized nations?" + +"Yes." + +"But I have understood that drunkenness is a vice inherent only in +civilized people; are not you mistaken?" + +"No. Every clime, unless it be the far North where men are scarcely more +than animals, furnishes intoxicants, and all people use them. I will +tell you part of this record of nations. + +"The Nubians make a barley beer which they call bouze, and also a wine, +from the palm tree. The savages of Africa draw the clear, sweet juice of +the palm oil tree into a gourd, in the morning, and by night it becomes +a violent intoxicant. The natives of the Malayan Archipelago ferment and +drink the sap of the flower stems of the cocoanut. The Tartar tribes +make an intoxicating drink from mare's milk, called koomis. In South +America the natives drink a vile compound, called cana, distilled from +sugar cane; and in the Sandwich Islands, the shrub kava supplies the +intoxicant kava-kava, drunk by all the inhabitants, from king to slave, +and mother to child. In the heart of Africa, cannibal tribes make legyce +of a cereal, and indulge in wild orgies over their barbaric cup. In +North America the Indians, before Columbus discovered America, made an +intoxicating drink of the sap of the maple tree. The national drink of +the Mexicans is pulque, a beastly intoxicant, prepared from the Agave +Americana. Mead is an alcoholic drink, made of honey, and used in many +countries. In China wine was indulged in from the earliest day, and in +former times, had it not been for the influence of their philosophers, +especially Confucius, who foresaw the end, the Chinese nation would have +perished from drunkenness. Opium, that fearful enslaver of millions of +human beings, is in every sense a narcotic intoxicant, and stands +conspicuous as an agent, capable of being either a friend, a companion, +or a master, as man permits. History fails to indicate the date of its +introduction to humanity. In South America the leaf of the cocoa plant +is a stimulant scarcely less to be dreaded than opium. The juice of a +species of asclepias produces the intoxicant soma, used once by the +Brahmins, not only as a drink, but also in sacrificial and religious +ceremonies. Many different flavored liquors made of palm, cocoanuts, +sugar, pepper, honey, spices, etc., were used by native Hindoos, and as +intoxicants have been employed from the earliest days in India. The +Vedic people were fearfully dissipated, and page after page of that +wonderful sacred book, the Rigs-Veda, is devoted to the habit of +drunkenness. The worst classes of drunkards of India used Indian hemp to +make bhang, or combined the deadly narcotic stramonium with arrack, a +native beer, to produce a poisonous intoxicant. In that early day the +inhabitants of India and China were fearfully depraved drunkards, and +but for the reforms instituted by their wise men, must have perished as +a people. Parahaoma, or 'homa,' is an intoxicant made from a lost plant +that is described as having yellow blossoms, used by the ancient +dissolute Persians from the day of Zoroaster. Cannabis sativa produces +an intoxicant that in Turkey is known as hadschy, in Arabia and India as +hashish, and to the Hottentots as dacha, and serves as a drunkard's food +in other lands. The fruit of the juniper produces gin, and the fermented +juice of the grape, or malt liquors, in all civilized countries are the +favorite intoxicants, their origin being lost in antiquity. Other +substances, such as palm, apples, dates, and pomegranates have also been +universally employed as drink producers. + +"Go where you will, man's tendency seems to be towards the bowl that +inebriates, and yet it is not the use but the abuse of intoxicants that +man has to dread. Could he be temperate, exhilarants would befriend." + +"But here," I replied, "in this underground land, where food is free, +and existence possible without an effort, this shameful vice has no +existence. Here there is no incentive to intemperance, and even though +man were present with his inherent passion for drink, he could not find +means to gratify his appetite." + +"Ah," my guide replied, "that is an error. Why should this part of the +earth prove an exception to the general rule? Nature always supplies the +means, and man's instinct teaches him how to prepare an intoxicant. So +long as man is human his passions will rule. If you should prove unequal +to the task you have undertaken, if you shrink from your journey, and +turn back, the chances are you will fail to reach the surface of the +earth. You will surely stop in the chamber which we now approach, and +which I have now prepared you to enter, and will then become one of a +band of earth drunkards; having all the lower passions of a mortal you +will yet be lost to the virtues of man. In this chamber those who falter +and turn back, stop and remain for all time, sinking until they become +lower in the human scale than any drunkard on earth. Without any +restraining influence, without a care, without necessity of food or +incentive to exertion, in this habitation where heat and cold are +unknown, and no motive for self-preservation exists, they turn their +thoughts toward the ruling passion of mankind and--Listen! Do you not +hear them? Listen!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVII. + + THE DRUNKARD'S VOICE. + + +Then I noticed a medley of sounds seemingly rising out of the depths +beyond us. The noise was not such as to lead me to infer that persons +were speaking coherently, but rather resembled a jargon such as might +come from a multitude of persons talking indiscriminately and aimlessly. +It was a constant volley, now rising and now falling in intensity, as +though many persons regardless of one another were chanting different +tunes in that peculiar sing-song tone often characteristic of the +drunkard. As we advanced, the noise became louder and more of a medley, +until at last we were surrounded by confusion. Then a single voice rose +up strong and full, and at once, from about us, close to us, yes, +against our very persons, cries and shrieks unearthly smote my ears. I +could distinguish words of various tongues, English, Irish, German, and +many unfamiliar and disjointed cries, imprecations, and maledictions. +The cavern about seemed now to be resonant with voices,--shrieks, yells, +and maniacal cries commingled,--and yet no form appeared. As we rushed +onward, for now my guide grasped my arm tightly and drew me rapidly down +the cavern floor, the voices subsided, and at length sounded as if +behind us. Now however it seemed as though innumerable arrows, each +possessed of a whistle or tone of its own, were in wave-like gusts +shrieking by us. Coming from in front, they burst in the rear. Stopping +to listen, I found that a connection could be traced between the screech +of the arrow-like shriek, and a drunkard's distant voice. It seemed as +though a rocket made of an escaping voice would scream past, and +bursting in the cavern behind, liberate a human cry. Now and then all +but a few would subside, to burst out with increased violence, as if a +flight of rockets each with a cry of its own would rush past, to be +followed after their explosion by a medley of maniacal cries, songs, +shrieks, and groans, commingled. It was as though a shell containing a +voice that escaped slowly as by pressure from an orifice, were fired +past my ears, to explode and liberate the voice within my hearing. The +dreadful utterance was not an echo, was not hallucination, it was real. + +I stopped and looked at my guide in amazement. He explained: "Did you +not sometime back experience that your own voice was thrown from your +body?" + +"Yes," I answered. + +"These crazed persons or rather experiences depraved, are shouting in +the cavern beyond," he said. "They are in front; their voices pass us to +burst into expression in the rear." + +Then, even as he spoke, from a fungus stalk near us, a hideous creature +unfolded itself, and shambled to my side. It had the frame of a man, and +yet it moved like a serpent, writhing towards me. I stepped back in +horror, but the tall, ungainly creature reached out an arm and grasped +me tightly. Leaning over he placed his hideous mouth close to my ear, +and moaned: "Back, back, go thou back." + +I made no reply, being horror-stricken. + +"Back, I say, back to earth, or--" + +He hesitated, and still possessed of fear, and unable to reply, I was +silent. + +"Then go on," he said, "on to your destiny, unhappy man," and slinking +back to the fungus whence he arose, he disappeared from sight. + +"Come," said my guide, "let us pass the Drunkard's Den. This was but a +straggler; nerve yourself, for his companions will soon surround us." + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVIII. + + THE DRUNKARDS' DEN. + + +As we progressed the voices in our rear became more faint, and yet the +whistling volleys of screeching voice bombs passed us as before. I +shuddered in anticipation of the sight that was surely to meet our gaze, +and could not but tremble for fear. Then I stopped and recoiled, for at +my very feet I beheld a huge, living human head. It rested on the solid +rock, and had I not stopped suddenly when I did, I would have kicked it +at the next leap. The eyes of the monster were fixed in supplication on +my face; the great brow indicated intelligence, the finely-cut mouth +denoted refinement, the well-modeled head denoted brain, but the whole +constituted a monster. The mouth opened, and a whizzing, arrow voice +swept past, and was lost in the distance. + +"What is this?" I gasped. + +"The fate of a drunkard," my guide replied. "This was once an +intelligent man, but now he has lost his body, and enslaved his soul, in +the den of drink beyond us, and has been brought here by his comrades, +who thus rid themselves of his presence. Here he must rest eternally. He +can not move, he has but one desire, drink, and that craving, deeper +than life, can not be satiated." + +"But he desires to speak; speak lower, man, or head of man, if you wish +me to know your wants," I said, and leaned toward him. + +Then the monster whispered, and I caught the words: + +"Back, back, go thou back!" + +I made no reply. + +"Back I say, back to earth or--" + +Still I remained silent. + +"Then go on," he said; "on to your destiny, unhappy man." + +"This is horrible," I muttered. + +"Come," said the guide, "let us proceed." + +And we moved onward. + +Now I perceived many such heads about us, all resting upright on the +stony floor. Some were silent, others were shouting, others still were +whispering and endeavoring to attract my attention. As we hurried on I +saw more and more of these abnormal creatures. Some were in rows, +resting against each other, leaving barely room for us to pass between, +but at last, much to my relief, we left them behind us. + +But I found that I had no cause for congratulation, when I felt myself +clutched by a powerful hand--a hand as large as that of a man fifty feet +in height. I looked about expecting to see a gigantic being, but instead +beheld a shrunken pigmy. The whole man seemed but a single hand--a +Brobdingnag hand affixed to the body of a Liliputian. + +"Do not struggle," said the guide; "listen to what he wishes to impart." + +I leaned over, placing my ear close to the mouth of the monstrosity. + +"Back, back, go thou back," it whispered. + +"What have I to fear?" I asked. + +"Back, I say, back to earth, or--" + +"Or what?" I said. + +"Then go on; on to your destiny, unhappy man," he answered, and the hand +loosed its grasp. + +My guide drew me onward. + +Then, from about us, huge hands arose; on all sides they waved in the +air; some were closed and were shaken as clenched fists, others moved +aimlessly with spread fingers, others still pointed to the passage we +had traversed, and in a confusion of whispers I heard from the pigmy +figures a babble of cries, "Back, back, go thou back." Again I +hesitated, the strain upon my nerves was becoming unbearable; I glanced +backward and saw a swarm of misshaped diminutive forms, each holding up +a monstrous arm and hand. The passage behind us was closed against +retreat. Every form possessed but one hand, the other and the entire +body seemingly had been drawn into this abnormal member. While I thus +meditated, momentarily, as by a single thought each hand closed, +excepting the index finger, and in unison each finger pointed towards +the open way in front, and like shafts from a thousand bows I felt the +voices whiz past me, and then from the rear came the reverberation as a +complex echo, "Then go on; on to your destiny, unhappy man." + +Instinctively I sprang forward, and had it not been for the restraining +hand of my guide would have rushed wildly into passages that might have +ended my misery, for God only knows what those unseen corridors +contained. I was aware of that which lay behind, and was only intent on +escaping from the horrid figures already passed. + +[Illustration: "EACH FINGER POINTED TOWARDS THE OPEN WAY IN FRONT."] + +"Hold," whispered the guide; "as you value your life, stop." + +And then exerting a power that I could not withstand, he held me a +struggling prisoner. + +"Listen," he said, "have you not observed that these creatures do not +seek to harm you? Have not all of them spoken kindly, have any offered +violence?" + +"No," I replied, "but they are horrible." + +"That they realize; but fearing that you will prove to be as weak as +they have been, and will become as they are now, they warn you back. +However, I say to you, if you have courage sufficient, you need have no +fear. Come, rely on me, and do not be surprised at anything that +appears." + +Again we went forward. I realized now my utter helplessness. I became +indifferent again; I could neither retrace my footsteps alone, nor guide +them forward in the path I was to pursue. I submissively relied on my +guide, and as stoical as he appeared to be, I moved onward to new +scenes. + +We came to a great chamber which, as we halted on its edge, seemed to be +a prodigious amphitheater. In its center a rostrum-like stone of a +hundred feet in diameter, flat and circular on the top, reared itself +about twelve feet above the floor, and to the base of this rostrum the +floor of the room sloped evenly. The amphitheater was fully a thousand +feet in diameter, of great height, and the floor was literally alive +with grotesque beings. Imagination could not depict an abnormal human +form that did not exhibit itself to my startled gaze. One peculiarity +now presented itself to my mind; each abnormal part seemed to be created +at the expense of the remainder of the body. Thus, to my right I beheld +a single leg, fully twelve feet in height, surmounted by a puny human +form, which on this leg, hopped ludicrously away. I saw close behind +this huge limb a great ear attached to a small head and body; then a +nose so large that the figure to which it was attached was forced to +hold the face upward, in order to prevent the misshaped organ from +rubbing on the stony floor. Here a gigantic forehead rested on a +shrunken face and body, and there a pair of enormous feet were walking, +seemingly attached to the body of a child, and yet the face was that of +a man. If an artist were to attempt to create as many revolting figures +as possible, each with some member out of proportion to the rest of the +body, he could not add one form to those upon this floor. And yet, I +again observed that each exaggerated organ seemed to have drawn itself +into existence by absorbing the remainder of the body. We stood on the +edge of this great room, and I pondered the scene before my eyes. At +length my guide broke the silence: + +"You must cross this floor; no other passage is known. Mark well my +words, heed my advice." + +"This is the Drunkards' Den. These men are lost to themselves and to the +world. Every member of this assembly once passed onward as you are now +doing, in charge of a guide. They failed to reach the goal to which you +aspire, and retreating, reached this chamber, to become victims to the +drink habit. Some of these creatures have been here for ages, others +only for a short period." + +"Why are they so distorted?" I asked. + +"Because matter is now only partly subservient to will," he replied. +"The intellect and mind of a drunkard on surface earth becomes abnormal +by the influence of an intoxicant, but his real form is unseen, although +evidently misshapen and partly subject to the perception of a few only +of his fellow men. Could you see the inner form of an earth surface +drunkard, you would perceive as great a mental monstrosity as is any +physical monster now before you, and of the two the physically abnormal +creature is really the least objectionable. Could you see the mind +configurations of an assembly of surface earth topers, you would +perceive a class of beings as much distorted mentally as are these +physically. A drunkard is a monstrosity. On surface earth the mind +becomes abnormal; here the body suffers." + +"Why is it," I asked, "that parts of these creatures shrink away as some +special organ increases?" + +"Because the abnormal member can grow only by abstracting its substance +from the other portions of the body. An increasing arm enlarges itself +by drawing its strength from the other parts, hence the body withers as +the hand enlarges, and in turn the hand shrinks when the leg increases +in size. The total weight of the individual remains about the same. + +"Men on earth judge of men not by what they are, but by what they seem +to be. The physical form is apparent to the sense of sight, the real man +is unseen. However, as the boot that encloses a foot can not altogether +hide the form of the foot within, so the body that encloses the life +entity, can not but exhibit here and there the character of the +dominating spirit within. Thus a man's features may grow to indicate the +nature of the enclosed spirit, for the controlling character of that +spirit will gradually impress itself on the material part of man. Even +on surface earth, where the matter side of man dominates, a vicious +spirit will produce a villainous countenance, a mediocre mind a vapid +face, and an amorous soul will even protrude the anterior part of the +skull. + +"Carry the same law to this location, and it will be seen that as mind, +or spirit, is here the master, and matter is the slave, the same rule +should, under natural law, tend to produce such abnormal figures as you +perceive. Hence the part of a man's spirit that is endowed most highly +sways the corresponding part of his physical body at the expense of the +remainder. Gradually the form is altered under the relaxing influence of +this fearful intra-earth intoxicant, and eventually but one organ +remains to tell of the symmetrical man who formerly existed. Then, when +he is no longer capable of self-motion, the comrades carry the +drunkard's fate, which is here the abnormal being you have seen, into +the selected corridor, and deposit it among others of its kind, as in +turn the bearers are destined sometime to be carried by others. We +reached this cavern through a corridor in which heads and arms were +abnormal, but in others may be found great feet, great legs, or other +portions of self-abused man. + +"I should tell you, furthermore, that on surface earth a drunkard is not +less abnormal than these creatures; but men can not see the form of the +drunkard's spirit. Could they perceive the image of the real man life +that corresponds to the material part, it would appear not less +distorted and hideous. The soul of a mortal protrudes from the visible +body as down expands from a thistle seed, but it is invisible. Drink +drives the spirit of an earth-surface drunkard to unnatural forms, not +less grotesque than these physical distortions. Could you see the real +drunkard on surface earth he would be largely outside the body shell, +and hideous in the extreme. As a rule, the spirit of an earth-surface +drunkard dominates the nose and face, and if mortal man could be +suddenly gifted with the sense of mind-sight, they would find themselves +surrounded by persons as misshapen as any delirious imagination can +conjure. Luckily for humanity this scene is as yet withheld from man, +for life would otherwise be a fearful experience, because man has not +the power to resist the temptation to abuse drink." + +"Tell me," I said, "how long will those beings rest in these caverns?" + +"They have been here for ages," replied the guide; "they are doomed to +remain for ages yet." + +"You have intimated that if my courage fails I will return to this +cavern and become as they are. Now that you have warned me of my doom, +do you imagine that anything, even sudden death, can swerve me from my +journey? Death is surely preferable to such an existence as this." + +"Do not be so confident. Every individual before you has had the same +opportunity, and has been warned as you have been. They could not +undergo the test to which they were subjected, and you may fail. +Besides, on surface earth are not men constantly confronted with the +doom of the drunkard, and do they not, in the face of this reality, turn +back and seek his caverns? The journey of life is not so fearful that +they should become drunkards to shrink from its responsibilities. You +have reached this point in safety. You have passed the sentinels +without, and will soon be accosted by the band before us. Listen well +now to my advice. A drunkard always seeks to gain companions, to draw +others down to his own level, and you will be tried as never have you +been before. Taste not their liquor by whatever form or creature +presented. They have no power to harm him who has courage to resist. If +they entreat you, refuse; if they threaten, refuse; if they offer +inducements, refuse to drink. Let your answer be No, and have no fear. +If your strength fail you, mark well my--" + +Before he could complete his sentence I felt a pressure, as of a great +wind, and suddenly found myself seized in an embrace irresistible, and +then, helpless as a feather, was swept out into the cavern of the +drunkards. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIX. + + AMONG THE DRUNKARDS. + + +I remember once to have stood on the edge of Niagara's great whirlpool, +but not more fearful did its seething waters then seem than did the +semi-human whirl into which I had now been plunged. Whether my guide had +been aware of the coming move that separated us I never knew, but, as +his words were interrupted, I infer that he was not altogether ready to +part from my company. Be this as it may, he disappeared from sight, and, +as by a concerted move, the cries of the drunkards subsided instantly. I +found myself borne high in the air, perched on a huge hand that was +carried by its semi-human comrades. It seemed as though the contents of +that vast hall had been suddenly thrown beneath me, for, as I looked +about, I saw all around a sea of human fragments, living, moving parts +of men. Round and round that hall we circled as an eddy whirls in a +rock-bound basin, and not less silently than does the water of an eddy. +Then I perceived that the disjointed mass of humanity moved as a spiral, +in unison, throbbing like a vitalized stream, bearing me submissively on +its surface. Gradually the distance between myself and the center stone +lessened, and then I found that, as if carried in the groove of a +gigantic living spiral, I was being swept towards the stone platform in +the center of the room. There was method in the movements of the +drunkards, although I could not analyze the intricacies of their complex +reel. + +Finally I was borne to the center stone, and by a sudden toss of the +hand, in the palm of which I was seated, I was thrown upon the raised +platform. Then in unison the troop swung around the stone, and I found +myself gazing on a mass of vitalized fragments of humanity. Quickly a +figure sprung upon the platform, and in him I discerned a seemingly +perfect man. He came to my side and grasped my hand as if he were a +friend. + +"Do not fear," he said; "obey our request, and you will not be harmed." + +"What do you desire?" I asked. + +He pointed to the center of the stone, and I saw thereon many gigantic, +inverted fungus bowls. The gills of some had been crushed to a pulp, and +had saturated themselves with liquid which, perhaps by a species of +fermentation, had undergone a structural change; others were as yet +intact; others still contained men intently cutting the gills into +fragments and breaking the fruit preparatory to further manipulation. + +"You are to drink with us," he replied. + +"No," I said; "I will not drink." + +"Then you must die; to refuse to drink with us is to invite death." + +"So mote it be; I will not drink." + +We stood facing each other, apparently both meditating on the situation. + +I remember to have been surprised, not that the man before me had been +able to spring from the floor to the table rock on which I stood, but +that so fair a personage could have been a companion of the +monstrosities about me. He was a perfect type of manhood, and was +exquisitely clothed in a loose, flowing robe that revealed and +heightened the beauty of his symmetrical form. His face was fair, yet +softly tinted with rich, fresh color; his hair and beard were neatly +trimmed; his manner was polished, and his countenance frank and +attractive. The contrast between the preternatural shapes from among +whom he sprung and himself was as between a demon and an angel. I +marveled that I had not perceived him before, for such a one should have +been conspicuous because so fair; but I reflected that it was quite +natural that among the thousands of grotesque persons about me, one +attractive form should have escaped notice. Presently he spoke again, +seemingly having repented of his display of temper. + +"I am a friend," he said; "a deliverer. I will serve you as I have +others before you. Lean on me, listen to my story, accept my proffered +friendship." + +Then he continued: "When you have rested, I will guide you in safety +back to upper earth, and restore you to your friends." + +I could not resist his pleasing promise. I suddenly and unaccountably +believed in his sincerity. He impressed me with confidence in his +truthfulness, yes, against my better judgment, convinced me that he must +be a friend, a savior. Grasping him by the hand I thanked him for his +interest in a disconsolate wanderer, and assured him of my confidence. + +"I am in your hands," I said; "I will obey you implicitly. I thank you, +my deliverer; lead me back to surface earth and receive the gratitude of +a despairing mortal." + +"This I will surely do," he said; "rest your case in my hands, do not +concern yourself in the least about your future. Before acquiescing in +your desire, however, I will explain part of the experiences through +which you have recently passed. You have been in the control of an evil +spirit, and have been deceived. The grotesque figures, the abnormal +beings about you, exist only in your disordered imagination. They are +not real. These persons are happy and free from care or pain. They live +in bliss inexpressible. They have a life within a life, and the outward +expression that you have perceived is as the uncouth hide and figure +that incloses the calm, peaceful eye of a toad. Look at their eyes, not +at their seemingly distorted forms." + +I turned to the throng and beheld a multitude of upturned faces mildly +beaming upon me. As I glanced from eye to eye of each countenance, the +repulsive figure disappeared from my view, and a sweet expression of +innocence was all that was disclosed to me. I realized that I had judged +by the outer garment. I had wronged these fellow-beings. A sense of +remorse came over me, a desire to atone for my short-sightedness. + +"What can I offer as a retribution?" I asked. "I have injured these +people." + +"Listen," was the reply. "These serene intelligences are happy. They are +as a band of brothers. They seek to do you a kindness, to save you from +disaster. One hour of experience such as they enjoy is worth a hundred +years of the pleasures known to you. This delicious favor, an hour of +bliss, they freely offer you, and after you have partaken of their +exquisite joy, I will conduct you back to earth's surface whenever you +desire to leave us." He emphasized the word, desire. + +"I am ready," I replied; "give me this promised delight." + +The genial allurer turned to the table rock behind us, and continued: + +"In these fungus bowls we foment the extract of life. The precious +cordial is as a union of the quintessential spirits of joy, peace, +tranquillity, happiness, and delight. Could man abstract from ecstasy +the thing that underlies the sense that gives that word a meaning, his +product would not approach the power of the potent liquids in these +vessels." + +"Of what are they composed?" I asked. + +"Of derivatives of the rarest species of the fungus family," he +answered. "They are made by formulae that are the result of thousands of +years of experimentation. Come, let us not delay longer the hour of +bliss." + +Taking me by the hand, my graceful comrade led me to the nearest bowl. +Then on closer view I perceived that its contents were of a deep green +color, and in active commotion, and although no vapor was apparent, a +delightful sensation impressed my faculties. I am not sure that I +inhaled at all,--the feeling was one of penetration, of subtile, magic +absorption. My companion took a tiny shell which he dipped into the +strange cauldron. Holding the tiny cup before me, he spoke the one word, +"Drink." + +Ready to acquiesce, forgetful of the warning I had received, I grasped +the cup, and raised it to my lips, and as I did so chanced to glance at +my tempter's face, and saw not the supposed friend I had formerly +observed, but, as through a mask fair in outline, the countenance of an +exulting demon, regarding me with a sardonic grin. In an instant he had +changed from man to devil. + +I dashed the cup upon the rock. "No; I will not drink," I shouted. + +Instantly the cavern rung with cries of rage. A thousand voices joined +as by accord, and simultaneously the throng of fragments of men began to +revolve again. The mysterious spiral seemed to unwind, but I could not +catch the method of its movement. The motion was like that of an +uncoiling serpent bisected lengthwise, the two halves of the body +seeming to slide against each other. Gradually that part of the cavern +near the stone on which I stood became clear of its occupants, and at +last I perceived that the throng had receded to the outer edge. + +Then the encircling side walls of the amphitheater became visible, and +as water sinks into sand, the medley of fragments of humanity +disappeared from view. + +I turned to my companion; he, too, had vanished. I glanced towards the +liquor cauldrons; the stone was bare. I alone occupied the gigantic +hall. No trace remained to tell of the throng that a short time +previously had surrounded and mocked me. + +Desolate, distracted, I threw myself upon the stone, and cursed my +miserable self. "Come back," I cried, "come back. I will drink, drink, +drink." + + + + +CHAPTER XL. + + FURTHER TEMPTATION.--ETIDORHPA. + + +Then, as my voice reverberated from the outer recesses, I caught a sound +as of music in the distance. I raised my head and listened--yes, surely +there was music. The melody became clearly distinct, and soon my senses +were aware that both vocal and instrumental music were combined. The +airs which came floating were sweet, simple, and beautiful. The voices +and accompanying strains approached, but I could distinguish no words. +By and by, from the corridors of the cavern, troops of bright female +forms floated into view. They were clad in robes ranging from pure white +to every richest hue, contrasting strangely, and in the distance their +rainbow brilliancy made a gorgeous spectacle. Some were fantastically +attired in short gowns, such as I imagine were worn by the dancing girls +of sacred history, others had kirtles of a single bright color, others +of many shades intermingled, while others still were dressed in +gauze-like fabrics of pure white. + +As they filed into the cavern, and approached me, they formed into +platoons, or into companies, and then, as dissolving views come and go, +they presented first one and then another figure. Sometimes they would +stretch in great circling lines around the hall, again they would form +into squares, and again into geometrical figures of all shades and +forms, but I observed that with every change they drew nearer to the +stone on which I rested. + +They were now so near that their features could be distinguished, and +never before had I seen such loveliness in human mold. Every face was as +perfect as a master's picture of the Madonna, and yet no two seemed to +possess the same type of beauty. Some were of dark complexion with +glossy, raven hair, others were fair with hair ranging from light brown +to golden. The style of head dress, as a rule, was of the simplest +description. A tinted ribbon, or twisted cord, over the head, bound +their hair with becoming grace, and their silken locks were either +plaited into braids, curled into ringlets, or hung loosely, flowing in +wavelets about their shoulders. Some held curious musical instruments, +others beautiful wands, and altogether they produced a scenic effect of +rare beauty that the most extravagant dream of fairyland could not +surpass. Thus it was that I became again the center of a throng, not of +repulsive monsters, but of marvelously lovely beings. They were as +different from those preceding as darkness is from daylight. + +Could any man from the data of my past experiences have predicted such a +scene? Never before had the semblance of a woman appeared, never before +had an intimation been given that the gentle sex existed in these silent +chambers. Now, from the grotesque figures and horrible cries of the +former occupants of this same cavern, the scene had changed to a +conception of the beautiful and artistic, such as a poetic spirit might +evolve in an extravagant dream of higher fairy land. I glanced above; +the great hall was clothed in brilliant colors, the bare rocks had +disappeared, the dome of that vast arch reaching to an immeasurable +height, was decorated in all the colors of the rainbow. Flags and +streamers fluttered in breezes that also moved the garments of the +angelic throng about me, but which I could not sense; profiles of +enchanting faces pervaded the glimmering space beyond; I alone was but +an onlooker, not a participant of the joys about me. + +The movements of the seraph-like figures continued, innumerable forms +and figures followed forms and figures innumerable, and music +indescribable blended with the poetry of motion. I was rapt, the past +disappeared, my former mind was blotted from existence, the world +vanished, and I became a thrill of joy, a sensation of absolute delight. + +The band of spirits or fairy forms reached the rock at my feet, but I +did not know how long a time they consumed in doing this; it may have +been a second, and it may have been an eternity. Neither did I care. A +single moment of existence such as I experienced, seemed worth an age of +any other pleasure. + +Circling about me, these ethereal creatures paused from their motions, +and, as the music ceased, I stood above them, and yet in their midst, +and gazed out into a distance illimitable, but not less beautiful in the +expanse than was the adjacent part. The cavern had altogether +disappeared, and in the depths about me as far as the eye could reach, +seemingly into the broad expanse of heaven, I saw the exquisite forms +that I have so imperfectly described. + +Then a single band from the throng lightly sprung upon the stony terrace +where I stood, and sung and danced before me. Every motion was perfect +as imagination could depict, every sound was concentrated extract of +melody. This band retired to be replaced by another, which in turn gave +way to another, and still another, until, as in space we have no +standard, time vanished, and numbers ceased to be numbers. + +No two of the band of dancers were clothed alike, no two songs were +similar, though all were inexpressibly enchanting. The first group +seemed perfect, and yet the second was better, and each succeeding band +sung sweeter songs, were more beautiful, and richer in dress than those +preceding. I became enveloped in the aesthetic atmosphere, my spirit +seemed to be loosened from the body, it was apparently upon the point of +escaping from its mortal frame; suddenly the music ceased, the figures +about became passive, and every form standing upright and graceful, +gazed upon my face, and as I looked at the radiant creatures, each +successive face, in turn, seemed to grow more beautiful, each form more +exquisite than those about. + +Then, in the distance, I observed the phalanx divide, forming into two +divisions, separated by a broad aisle, stretching from my feet to the +limit of space without, and down this aisle I observed a single figure +advancing toward me. + +As she approached, the phalanx closed in behind her, and when at last +she reached the stone on which I stood, she stepped, or was wafted to my +side, and the phalanx behind moved together and was complete again. + +[Illustration: ETIDORHPA.] + +"My name is Etidorhpa. In me you behold the spirit that elevates man, +and subdues the most violent of passions. In history, so far back in the +dim ages as to be known now as legendary mythology, have I ruled and +blessed the world. Unclasp my power over man and beast, and while heaven +dissolves, the charms of Paradise will perish. I know no master. The +universe bows to my authority. Stars and suns enamored pulsate and throb +in space and kiss each other in waves of light; atoms cold embrace and +cling together; structures inanimate affiliate with and attract +inanimate structures; bodies dead to other noble passions are not dead +to love. The savage beast, under my enchantment, creeps to her lair, and +gently purrs over her offspring; even man becomes less violent, and +sheathes his weapon and smothers his hatred as I soothe his passions +beside the loved ones in the privacy of his home. + +"I have been known under many titles, and have comforted many peoples. +Strike my name from Time's record, and the lovely daughters of Zeus and +Dione would disappear; and with them would vanish the grace and beauty +of woman; the sweet conception of the Froth Child of the Cyprus Sea +would be lost; Venus, the Goddess of Love, would have no place in song, +and Love herself, the holiest conception of the poet, man's superlative +conception of Heaven's most precious charms, would be buried with the +myrtle and the rose. My name is Etidorhpa; interpret it rightly, and you +have what has been to humanity the essence of love, the mother of all +that ennobles. He who loves a wife worships me; she, who in turn makes a +home happy, is typical of me. I am Etidorhpa, the beginning and the end +of earth. Behold in me the antithesis of envy, the opposite of malice, +the enemy of sorrow, the mistress of life, the queen of immortal bliss. + +"Do you know," she continued, and her voice, soft and sweet, carried +with it a pleasurable sense of truthfulness indescribable, "do you know +that man's idea of heaven, places me, Etidorhpa, on the highest throne? +With the charm of maiden pure, I combine the devotion of wife and the +holiness of mother. Take from the life of man the treasures I embody, +and he will be homeless, childless, loveless. The thought of Heaven will +in such a case be as the dismal conception of a dreary platitude. A life +in such a Heaven, a Heaven devoid of love (and this the Scriptures +teach), is one of endless torment. + +"Love, by whatever name the conception is designated, rules the world. +Divest the cold man of science, of the bond that binds him to his +life-thought, and his work is ended. Strike from the master in music +the chord that links his soul to the voice he breathes, and his songs +will be hushed. Deaden the sense of love which the artist bears his art, +and as the spirit that underlies his thought-scenes vanishes, his touch +becomes chilled, and his brush inexpressive. The soldier thinks of his +home and country, and without a murmur sheds his life blood. + +"And yet there are debasing phases of love, for as love of country +builds a nation, so love of pillage may destroy it. Love of the holy and +the beautiful stands in human life opposed to love of the debasing and +vicious, and I, Etidorhpa, am typical of the highest love of man. As the +same force binds the molecules of the rose and the violet as well as +those of noxious drugs, so the same soul conception may serve the love +of good or the love of evil. Love may guide a tyrant or actuate a saint, +may make man torture his fellow, or strive to ease his pain. + +"Thus, man's propensity to serve his holy or his evil passion may each +be called a degree in love, and in the serving of that passion the love +of one heart may express itself as the antithesis of love in another. As +bitter is to some men's taste more pleasant than sweet, and sour is yet +more grateful to others, so one man may love the beautiful, another +delight in the grotesque, and a third may love to see his neighbor +suffer. Amid these, the phase of love that ennobles, brings the greatest +degree of pleasure and comfort to mankind, but the love that degrades is +love nevertheless, by whatever name the expression of the passion may be +called. Love rules the world, and typical of man's intensest, holiest +love, I, Etidorhpa, stand the Soul of Love Supreme." She hesitated. + +"Go on." + +"I have already said, and in saying this have told the truth, I come +from beyond the empty shell of a materialistic gold and silver +conception of Heaven. Go with me, and in my home you will find man's +soul devotion, regardless of material surroundings. I have said, and +truly, the corridors of the Heaven mansion, enriched by precious stones +and metals fine, but destitute of my smiles and graces, are deserted. +The golden calf is no longer worshiped, cobwebs cling in festoons +motionless, and the dust of selfish thoughts perverted, dry and black as +the soot from Satan's fires settling therein, as the dust of an +antiquated sarcophagus, rest undisturbed. Place on one side the Heaven +of which gold-bound misers sing, and on the other Etidorhpa and the +treasures that come with me to man and woman, (for without me neither +wife, child, nor father could exist,) and from any other heaven mankind +will turn away. The noblest gift of Heaven to humanity is the highest +sense of love, and I, Etidorhpa, am the soul of love." + +She ceased speaking, and as I looked at the form beside me I forgot +myself in the rapture of that gaze. + +Crush the colors of the rainbow into a single hue possessed of the +attributes of all the others, and multiply that entity to infinity, and +you have less richness than rested in any of the complex colors shown in +the trimming of her raiment. Lighten the softness of eiderdown a +thousand times, and yet maintain its sense of substance, and you have +not conceived of the softness of the gauze that decked her simple, +flowing garments. Gather the shadows cast by a troop of radiant angels, +then sprinkle the resultant shade with star dust, and color therewith a +garment brighter than satin, softer than silk, and more ethereal than +light itself, and you have less beauty than reposed in the modest dress +that enveloped her figure. Abstract the perfume from the sweetest +oriental grasses, and combine with it the essential spirit of the wild +rose, then add thereto the soul of ambergris, and the quintessential +extracts of the finest aromatics of the East, and you have not +approached the exquisite fragrance that penetrated my very being at her +approach. She stood before me, slender, lithe, symmetrical, radiant. Her +hair was more beautiful than pen can depict; it was colorless because it +can not be described by colors known to mortals. Her face paled the +beauty of all who had preceded her. She could not be a fairy, for no +conception of a fairy can approach such loveliness; she was not a +spirit, for surely material substance was a part of her form; she was +not an angel, for no abnormal, irrational wing protruded from her +shoulder to blemish her seraphic figure. + +"No," I said musingly; "she is a creature of other climes; the +Scriptures tell of no such being; she is neither human nor angelic, +but--" + +"But what?" she said. + +"I do not know," I answered. + +"Then I will tell you," she replied. "Yes; I will tell you of myself and +of my companions. I will show you our home, carrying you through the +shadows of heaven to exhibit that fair land, for heaven without +Etidorhpa casts a shadow in comparison therewith. See," she said, as +with her dainty fingers she removed from her garment a fragment of +transparent film that I had not previously observed; "see, this is a +cobweb that clung to my skirt, as, on my way to meet you, I passed +through the dismal corridors of the materialists' loveless heaven." + +She dropped it on the floor, and I stooped to pick it up, but vainly--my +fingers passed through it as through a mist. + +"You must be an angel," I stammered. + +She smiled. + +"Come," she said, "do not consume your time with thoughts of +materialistic heaven; come with me to that brighter land beyond, and in +those indescribable scenes we, you and I, will wander together forever." + +She held out her hand; I hesitatingly touched it, and then raised it to +my lips. She made no resistance. + +I dropped upon my knees. "Are you to be mine?" I cried. "Mine forever?" + +"Yes," she answered; "if you will it, for he who loves will be loved in +turn." + +"I will do it," I said; "I give myself to you, be you what you may, be +your home where it may, I give up the earth behind me, and the hope of +heaven before me; the here and the hereafter I will sacrifice. Let us +hasten," I said, for she made no movement. + +She shook her head. "You must yet be tempted as never before, and you +must resist the tempter. You can not pass into the land of Etidorhpa +until you have suffered as only the damned can suffer, until you have +withstood the pangs of thirst, and have experienced heat and cold +indescribable. Remember the warning of your former guide, mark well the +words of Etidorhpa: you must not yield. 'Twas to serve you that I came +before you now, 'twas to preserve you from the Drunkard's Cavern that I +have given you this vision of the land beyond the End of Earth where, if +you will serve yourself, we will meet again." + +She held aloft two tiny cups; I sprung to my feet and grasped one of +them, and as I glanced at the throng in front of me, every radiant +figure held aloft in the left hand a similar cup. All were gazing in my +face. I looked at the transparent cup in my hand; it appeared to be +partly filled with a green liquid. I looked at her cup and saw that it +contained a similar fluid. + +Forgetting the warning she had so recently given, I raised the cup to my +lips, and just before touching it glanced again at her face. The fair +creature stood with bowed head, her face covered with her hand; her very +form and attitude spoke of sorrow and disappointment, and she trembled +in distress. She held one hand as though to thrust back a form that +seemed about to force itself beyond her figure, for peering exultingly +from behind, leered the same Satanic face that met my gaze on the +preceding occasion, when in the presence of the troop of demons, I had +been tempted by the perfect man. + +Dashing the cup to the floor I shouted: + +"No; I will not drink." + +Etidorhpa dropped upon her knees and clasped her hands. The Satanic +figure disappeared from sight. Realizing that we had triumphed over the +tempter, I also fell upon my knees in thankfulness. + + + + +CHAPTER XLI. + + MISERY. + + +As all the bubbles in a glass shrink and vanish when the first +collapses, so the troop of fairy-like forms before me disintegrated, and +were gone. The delicate being, whose hand I held, fluttered as does a +mist in the first gust of a sudden gale, and then dissolved into +transparency. The gaily decked amphitheater disappeared, the very earth +cavern passed from existence, and I found myself standing solitary and +alone in a boundless desert. I turned towards every point of the compass +only to find that no visible object appeared to break the monotony. I +stood upon a floor of pure white sand which stretched to the horizon in +gentle wave-like undulations as if the swell of the ocean had been +caught, transformed to sand, and fixed. + +I bent down and scooped a handful of the sand, and raised it in the palm +of my hand, letting it sift back again to earth; it was surely sand. I +pinched my flesh, and pulled my hair, I tore my garments, stamped upon +the sand, and shouted aloud to demonstrate that I myself was still +myself. It was real, yes, real. I stood alone in a desert of sand. +Morning was dawning, and on one side the great sun rose slowly and +majestically. + +"Thank God for the sun," I cried. "Thank God for the light and heat of +the sun." + +I was again on surface earth; once more I beheld that glorious orb for +the sight of which I had so often prayed when I believed myself +miserable in the dismal earth caverns, and which I had been willing to +give my very life once more to behold. I fell on my knees, and raised my +hands in thankfulness. I blessed the rising sun, the illimitable sand, +the air about me, and the blue heavens above. I blessed all that was +before me, and again and again returned thanks for my delivery from the +caverns beneath me. I did not think to question by what power this +miracle had been accomplished. I did not care to do so; had I thought +of the matter at all I would not have dared to question for fear the +transition might prove a delusion. + +I turned towards the sun, and walked eastward. As the day progressed and +the sun rose into the heavens, I maintained my journey, aiming as best I +could to keep the same direction. The heat increased, and when the sun +reached the zenith it seemed as though it would melt the marrow in my +bones. The sand, as white as snow and hot as lava, dazzled my eyes, and +I covered them with my hands. The sun in the sky felt as if it were a +ball of white hot iron near my head. It seemed small, and yet appeared +to shine as through a tube directed only towards myself. Vainly did I +struggle to escape and get beyond its boundary, the tube seemed to +follow my every motion, directing the blazing shafts, and concentrating +them ever upon my defenseless person. I removed my outer garments, and +tore my shirt into fibers hoping to catch a waft of breeze, and with one +hand over my eyes, and the other holding my coat above my head, +endeavored to escape the mighty flood of heat, but vainly. The fiery +rays streamed through the garment as mercury flows through a film of +gauze. They penetrated my flesh, and vaporized my blood. My hands, +fingers, and arms puffed out as a bladder of air expands under the +influence of heat. My face swelled to twice, thrice its normal size, and +at last my eyes were closed, for my cheeks and eyebrows met. I rubbed my +shapeless hand over my sightless face, and found it as round as a ball; +the nose had become imbedded in the expanded flesh, and my ears had +disappeared in the same manner. + +I could no longer see the sun, but felt the vivid, piercing rays I could +not evade. I do not know whether I walked or rolled along; I only know +that I struggled to escape those deadly rays. Then I prayed for death, +and in the same breath begged the powers that had transferred me to +surface earth to carry me back again to the caverns below. The +recollection of their cool, refreshing atmosphere was as the thought of +heaven must be to a lost spirit. I experienced the agony of a damned +soul, and now, in contradistinction to former times, considered as my +idea of perfect happiness the dismal earth caverns of other days. I +thought of the day I had stood at the mouth of the Kentucky cave, and +waded into the water with my guide; I recalled the refreshing coolness +of the stream in the darkness of that cavern when the last ray of +sunshine disappeared, and I cursed myself for longing then for sunshine, +and the surface earth. Fool that man is, I mentally cried, not to be +contented with that which is, however he may be situated, and wherever +he may be placed. This is but a retribution, I am being cursed for my +discontented mind, this is hell, and in comparison with this hell all +else on or in earth is happiness. Then I damned the sun, the earth, the +very God of all, and in my frenzy cursed everything that existed. I felt +my puffed limbs, and prayed that I might become lean again. I asked to +shrink to a skeleton, for seemingly my misery came with my expanded +form; but I prayed and cursed in vain. So I struggled on in agony, every +moment seemingly covering a multitude of years; struggled along like a +lost soul plodding in an endless expanse of ever-increasing, +ever-concentrating hell. At last, however, the day declined, the heat +decreased, and as it did so my distorted body gradually regained its +normal size, my eyesight returned, and finally I stood in that +wilderness of sand watching the great red sun sink into the earth, as in +the morning I had watched it rise. But between the sunrise and the +sunset there had been an eternity of suffering, and then, as if released +from a spell, I dropped exhausted upon the sand, and seemed to sleep. I +dreamed of the sun, and that an angel stood before me, and asked why I +was miserable, and in reply I pointed to the sun. "See," I said, "the +author of the misery of man." + +Said the angel: "Were there no sun there would be no men, but were there +no men there would still be misery." + +"Misery of what?" I asked. + +"Misery of mind," replied the angel. "Misery is a thing, misery is not a +conception--pain is real, pain is not an impression. Misery and pain +would still exist and prey upon mind substance were there no men, for +mind also is real, and not a mere conception. The pain you have suffered +has not been the pain of matter, but the pain of spirit. Matter can not +suffer. Were it matter that suffered, the heated sand would writhe in +agony. No; it is only mind and spirit that experience pain, or pleasure, +and neither mind nor spirit can evade its destiny, even if it escape +from the body." + +Then I awoke and saw once more the great red sun rise from the sand-edge +of my desolate world, and I became aware of a new pain, for now I +perceived the fact that I experienced the sense of thirst. The +conception of the impression drew my mind to the subject, and instantly +intense thirst, the most acute of bodily sufferings, possessed me. When +vitalized tissue craves water, other physical wants are unfelt; when man +parches to death all other methods of torture are disregarded. I thought +no longer of the rising sun, I remembered no more the burning sand of +yesterday, I felt only the pain of thirst. + +"Water, water, water," I cried, and then in the distance as if in answer +to my cry, I beheld a lake of water. + +Instantly every nerve was strained, every muscle stretched, and I fled +over the sands towards the welcome pool. + +On and on I ran, and as I did so, the sun rising higher and higher, +again began to burn the sands beneath my feet, and roast the flesh upon +my bones. Once more I experienced that intolerable sense of pain, the +pain of living flesh disintegrating by fire, and now with thirst gnawing +at my vitals, and fire drying up the residue of my evaporated blood, I +struggled in agony towards a lake that vanished before my gaze, to +reappear just beyond. + +This day was more horrible than the preceding, and yet it was the +reverse so far as the action of the sun on my flesh was concerned. My +prayer of yesterday had been fearfully answered, and the curses of the +day preceding were being visited upon my very self. I had prayed to +become lean, and instead of the former puffed tissue and expanded flesh, +my body contracted as does beef when dried. The tightening skin squeezed +upon the solidifying flesh, and as the moisture evaporated, it left a +shriveled integument, contracted close upon the bone. My joints stood +out as great protuberances, my skin turned to a dark amber color, and my +flesh became transparent as does wetted horn. I saw my very vitals +throb, I saw the empty blood vessels, the shriveled nerves and vacant +arteries of my frame. I could not close my eyes. I could not shield them +from the burning sun. I was a mummy, yet living, a dried corpse walking +over the sand, dead to all save pain. I tried to fall, but could not, +and I felt that, while the sun was visible, I must stand upright; I +could not stop, and could not stoop. Then at last the malevolent sun +sank beneath the horizon, and as the last ray disappeared again, I fell +upon the sand. + +I did not sleep, I did not rest, I did not breathe nor live a human; I +only existed as a living pain, the conception of pain realized into a +conscious nucleus,--and so the night passed. Again the sun arose, and +with the light of her first ray I saw near at hand a caravan, camels, +men, horses, a great cavalcade. They approached rapidly and surrounded +me. The leader of the band alighted and raised me to my feet, for no +longer had I the power of motion. He spoke to me kindly, and strange as +it may seem to you, but not at all strange did it seem to me, called me +by name. + +"We came across your tracks in the desert," he said; "we are your +deliverers." + +I motioned for water; I could not speak. + +"Yes," he said, "water you shall have." + +Then from one of the skins that hung across the hump of a camel he +filled a crystal goblet with sparkling water, and held it towards me, +but just before the goblet touched my lips he withdrew it and said: + +"I forgot to first extend the greetings of our people." + +And then I noticed in his other hand a tiny glass containing a green +liquid, which he placed to my lips, pronouncing the single word, +"Drink." + +I fastened my gaze upon the water, and opened my lips. I smelled the +aroma of the powerful narcotic liquid within the glass, and hastened to +obey, but glanced first at my deliverer, and in his stead saw the +familiar face of the satanic figure that twice before had tempted me. +Instantly, without a thought as to the consequences, without a fear as +to the result, I dashed the glass to the sand, and my voice returning, I +cried for the third time, "No; I will not drink." + +The troop of camels instantly disappeared, as had the figures in the +scenes before, the tempter resolved into clear air, the sand beneath my +feet became natural again, and I became myself as I had been before +passing through the hideous ordeal. The fact of my deliverance from the +earth caverns had, I now realized, been followed by temporary aberration +of my mind, but at last I saw clearly again, the painful fancy had +passed, the delirium was over. + +I fell upon my knees in thankfulness; the misery through which I had +passed had proven to be illusory, the earth caverns were beneath me, the +mirage and temptations were not real, the horrors I had experienced were +imaginary--thank God for all this--and that the sand was really sand. +Solitary, alone, I kneeled in the desert barren, from horizon to horizon +desolation only surrounded, and yet the scene of that illimitable waste, +a fearful reality, it is true, was sweet in comparison with the misery +of body and soul about which I had dreamed so vividly. + +"'Tis no wonder," I said to myself, "that in the moment of transition +from the underground caverns to the sunshine above, the shock should +have disturbed my mental equilibrium, and in the moment of reaction I +should have dreamed fantastic and horrible imaginings." + +A cool and refreshing breeze sprung now, from I know not where; I did +not care to ask; it was too welcome a gift to question, and contrasted +pleasantly with the misery of my past hallucination. The sun was shining +hot above me, the sand was glowing, parched beneath me, and yet the +grateful breeze fanned my brow, and refreshed my spirit. + +"Thank God," I cried, "for the breeze, for the coolness that it brings; +only those who have experienced the silence of the cavern solitudes +through which I have passed, and added thereto, have sensed the horrors +of the more recent nightmare scenes, can appreciate the delights of a +gust of air." + +The incongruity of surrounding conditions, as connected with affairs +rational, did not appeal at all to my questioning senses, it seemed as +though the cool breeze, coming from out the illimitable desolation of a +heated waste was natural. I arose and walked on, refreshed. From out +that breeze my physical self drew refreshment and strength. + +"'Tis the cold," I said; "the blessed antithesis of heat, that supports +life. Heat enervates, cold stimulates; heat depresses, cold animates. +Thank God for breezes, winds, waters, cold." + +I turned and faced the gladsome breeze. "'Tis the source of life, I will +trace it to its origin, I will leave the accursed desert, the hateful +sunshine, and seek the blissful regions that give birth to cool +breezes." + +I walked rapidly, and the breeze became more energetic and cooler. With +each increase of momentum on my part, corresponding strength seemed to +be added to the breeze--both strength and coolness. + +"Is not this delightful?" I murmured; "my God at last has come to be a +just God. Knowing what I wanted, He sent the breeze; in answer to my +prayer the cool, refreshing breeze arose. Damn the heat," I cried aloud, +as I thought of the horrid day before; "blessed be the cold," and as +though in answer to my cry the breeze stiffened and the cold +strengthened itself, and I again returned thanks to my Creator. + +With ragged coat wrapped about my form I faced the breeze and strode +onward towards the home of the gelid wind that now dashed in gusts +against my person. + +Then I heard my footstep crunch, and perceived that the sand was hard +beneath my feet; I stooped over to examine it and found it frozen. +Strange, I reflected, strange that dry sand can freeze, and then I +noticed, for the first time, that spurts of snow surrounded me, 'twas a +sleety mixture upon which I trod, a crust of snow and sand. A sense of +dread came suddenly over me, and instinctively I turned, affrighted, and +ran away from the wind, towards the desert behind me, back towards the +sun, which, cold and bleak, low in the horizon, was sinking. The sense +of dread grew upon me, and I shivered as I ran. With my back towards the +breeze I had blessed, I now fled towards the sinking sun I had cursed. I +stretched out my arms in supplication towards that orb, for from behind +overhanging blackness spread, and about me roared a fearful hurricane. +Vainly. As I thought in mockery the heartless sun disappeared before my +gaze, the hurricane surrounded me, and the wind about me became +intensely cold, and raved furiously. It seemed as though the sun had +fled from my presence, and with the disappearance of that orb, the +outline of the earth was blotted from existence. It was an awful +blackness, and the universe was now to me a blank. The cold strengthened +and froze my body to the marrow of my bones. First came the sting of +frost, then the pain of cold, then insensibility of flesh. My feet were +benumbed, my limbs motionless. I stood a statue, quiescent in the midst +of the roaring tempest. The earth, the sun, the heavens themselves, my +very person now had disappeared. Dead to the sense of pain or touch, +sightless, amid a blank, only the noise of the raging winds was to me a +reality. And as the creaking frost reached my brain and congealed it, +the sound of the tempest ceased, and then devoid of physical senses, my +quickened intellect, enslaved, remained imprisoned in the frozen form it +could not leave, and yet could no longer control. + +Reflection after reflection passed through that incarcerated thought +entity, and as I meditated, the heinous mistakes I had committed in the +life that had passed, arose to torment. God had answered my +supplications, successively I had experienced the hollowness of earthly +pleasures, and had left each lesson unheeded. Had I not alternately +begged for and then cursed each gift of God? Had I not prayed for heat, +cold, light, and darkness, and anathematized each? Had I not, when in +perfect silence, prayed for sound; in sheltered caverns, prayed for +winds and storms; in the very corridors of heaven, and in the presence +of Etidorhpa, had I not sought for joys beyond? + +Had I not found each pleasure of life a mockery, and notwithstanding +each bitter lesson, still pursued my headstrong course, alternately +blessing and cursing my Creator, and then myself, until now, amid a +howling waste, in perfect darkness, my conscious intellect was bound to +the frozen, rigid semblance of a body? All about me was dead and dark, +all within was still and cold, only my quickened intellect remained as +in every corpse the self-conscious intellect must remain, while the body +has a mortal form, for death of body is not attended by the immediate +liberation of mind. The consciousness of the dead man is still acute, +and he who thinks the dead are mindless, will realize his fearful error +when devoid of motion he lies a corpse, conscious of all that passes on +around him, waiting the liberation that can only come by disintegration +and destruction of the flesh. + +So, unconscious of pain, unconscious of any physical sense, I existed on +and on, enthralled, age after age passed and piled upon one another, for +time was to me unchangeable, no more an entity. I now prayed for change +of any kind, and envied the very devils in hell their pleasures, for +were they not gifted with the power of motion, could they not hear, and +see, and realize the pains they suffered? I prayed for death--death +absolute, death eternal. Then, at last, the darkness seemed to lessen, +and I saw the frozen earth beneath, the monstrous crags of ice above, +the raging tempest about, for I now had learned by reflection to +perceive by pure intellect, to see by the light within. My body, solid +as stone, was fixed and preserved in a waste of ice. The world was +frozen. I perceived that the sun, and moon, and stars, nearly stilled, +dim and motionless, had paled in the cold depths of space. The universe +itself was freezing, and amid the desolation only my deserted intellect +remained. Age after age had passed, aeons of ages had fled, nation after +nation had grown and perished, and in the uncounted epochs behind, +humanity had disappeared. Unable to free itself from the frozen body, my +own intellect remained the solitary spectator of the dead silence about. +At last, beneath my vision, the moon disappeared, the stars faded one by +one, and then I watched the sun grow dim, until at length only a milky, +gauze-like film remained to indicate her face, and then--vacancy. I had +lived the universe away. And in perfect darkness the living intellect, +conscious of all that had transpired in the ages past, clung still +enthralled to the body of the frozen mortal. I thought of my record in +the distant past, of the temptations I had undergone, and called myself +a fool, for, had I listened to the tempter, I could at least have +suffered, I could have had companionship even though it were of the +devils--in hell. I lived my life over and over, times without number; I +thought of my tempters, of the offered cups, and thinking, argued with +myself: + +"No," I said; "no, I had made the promise, I have faith in Etidorhpa, +and were it to do over again I would not drink." + +Then, as this thought sped from me, the ice scene dissolved, the +enveloped frozen form of myself faded from view, the sand shrunk into +nothingness, and with my natural body, and in normal condition, I found +myself back in the earth cavern, on my knees, beside the curious +inverted fungus, of which fruit I had eaten in obedience to my guide's +directions. Before me the familiar figure of my guide stood, with folded +arms, and as my gaze fell upon him he reached out his hand and raised me +to my feet. + +"Where have you been during the wretched epochs that have passed since I +last saw you?" I asked. + +"I have been here," he replied, "and you have been there." + +"You lie, you villainous sorcerer," I cried; "you lie again as you have +lied to me before. I followed you to the edge of demon land, to the +caverns of the drunkards, and then you deserted me. Since last we met I +have spent a million, billion years of agony inexpressible, and have had +that agony made doubly horrible by contrast with the thought, yes, the +very sight and touch of Heaven. I passed into a double eternity, and +have experienced the ecstacies of the blessed, and suffered the torments +of the damned, and now you dare boldly tell me that I have been here, +and that you have been there, since last I saw you stand by this cursed +fungus bowl." + +"Yes," he said, taking no offense at my violence; "yes, neither of us +has left this spot; you have sipped of the drink of an earth-damned +drunkard, you have experienced part of the curses of intemperance, the +delirium of narcotics. Thousands of men on earth, in their drunken +hallucination, have gone through hotter hells than you have seen; your +dream has not exaggerated the sufferings of those who sup of the +delirium of intemperance." + +And then he continued: + +"Let me tell you of man's conception of eternity." + + + + +CHAPTER XLII. + + ETERNITY WITHOUT TIME. + + +"Man's conception of eternity is that of infinite duration, continuance +without beginning or end, and yet everything he knows is bounded by two +or more opposites. From a beginning, as he sees a form of matter, that +substance passes to an end." Thus spoke my guide. + +Then he asked, and showed by his question that he appreciated the nature +of my recent experiences: "Do you recall the instant that you left me +standing by this bowl to start, as you imagined, with me as a companion, +on the journey to the cavern of the grotesque?" + +"No; because I did not leave you. I sipped of the liquid, and then you +moved on with me from this spot; we were together, until at last we were +separated on the edge of the cave of drunkards." + +"Listen," said he; "I neither left you nor went with you. You neither +went from this spot nor came back again. You neither saw nor experienced +my presence nor my absence; there was no beginning to your journey." + +"Go on." + +"You ate of the narcotic fungus; you have been intoxicated." + +"I have not," I retorted. "I have been through your accursed caverns, +and into hell beyond. I have been consumed by eternal damnation in the +journey, have experienced a heaven of delight, and also an eternity of +misery." + +"Upon the contrary, the time that has passed since you drank the liquid +contents of that fungus fruit has only been that which permitted you to +fall upon your knees. You swallowed the liquor when I handed you the +shell cup; you dropped upon your knees, and then instantly awoke. See," +he said; "in corroboration of my assertion the shell of the fungus fruit +at your feet is still dripping with the liquid you did not drink. Time +has been annihilated. Under the influence of this potent earth-bred +narcoto-intoxicant, your dream begun inside of eternity; you did not +pass into it." + +"You say," I interrupted, "that I dropped upon my knees, that I have +experienced the hallucination of intoxication, that the experiences of +my vision occurred during the second of time that was required for me to +drop upon my knees." + +"Yes." + +"Then by your own argument you demonstrate that eternity requires time, +for even a millionth part of a second is time, as much so as a million +of years." + +"You mistake," he replied, "you misinterpret my words. I said that all +you experienced in your eternity of suffering and pleasure, occurred +between the point when you touched the fungus fruit to your lips, and +that when your knees struck the stone." + +"That consumed time," I answered. + +"Did I assert," he questioned, "that your experiences were scattered +over that entire period?" + +"No." + +"May not all that occurred to your mind have been crushed into the +second that accompanied the mental impression produced by the liquor, or +the second of time that followed, or any other part of that period, or a +fraction of any integral second of that period?" + +"I can not say," I answered, "what part of the period the hallucination, +as you call it, occupied." + +"You admit that so far as your conception of time is concerned, the +occurrences to which you refer may have existed in either an inestimable +fraction of the first, the second, or the third part of the period." + +"Yes," I replied, "yes; if you are correct in that, they were +illusions." + +"Let me ask you furthermore," he said; "are you sure that the flash that +bred your hallucination was not instantaneous, and a part of neither the +first, second, nor third second?" + +"Continue your argument." + +"I will repeat a preceding question with a slight modification. May not +all that occurred to your mind have been crushed into the space between +the second of time that preceded the mental impression produced by the +liquor, and the second that followed it? Need it have been a part of +either second, or of time at all? Indeed, could it have been a part of +time if it were instantaneous?" + +"Go on." + +"Suppose the entity that men call the soul of man were in process of +separation from the body. The process you will admit would occupy time, +until the point of liberation was reached. Would not dissolution, so far +as the separation of matter and spirit is concerned at its critical +point be instantaneous?" + +I made no reply. + +"If the critical point is instantaneous, there would be no beginning, +there could be no end. Therein rests an eternity greater than man can +otherwise conceive of, for as there is neither beginning nor end, time +and space are annihilated. The line that separates the soul that is in +the body from the soul that is out of the body is outside of all things. +It is a between, neither a part of the nether side nor of the upper +side; it is outside the here and the hereafter. Let us carry this +thought a little further," said he. "Suppose a good man were to undergo +this change, could not all that an eternity of happiness might offer be +crushed into this boundless conception, the critical point? All that a +mother craves in children dead, could reappear again in their once loved +forms; all that a good life earns, would rest in the soul's experience +in that eternity, but not as an illusion, although no mental pleasure, +no physical pain is equal to that of hallucinations. Suppose that a +vicious life were ended, could it escape the inevitable critical point? +Would not that life in its previous journey create its own sad eternity? +You have seen the working of an eternity with an end but not a beginning +to it, for you can not sense the commencement of your vision. You have +been in the cavern of the grotesque,--the realms of the beautiful, and +have walked over the boundless sands that bring misery to the soul, and +have, as a statue, seen the frozen universe dissolve. You are thankful +that it was all an illusion as you deem it now; what would you think had +only the heavenly part been spread before you?" + +"I would have cursed the man who dispelled the illusion," I answered. + +"Then," he said, "you are willing to admit that men who so live as to +gain such an eternity, be it mental illusion, hallucination or real, +make no mistake in life." + +"I do," I replied; "but you confound me when you argue in so cool a +manner that eternity may be everlasting to the soul, and yet without the +conception of time." + +"Did I not teach you in the beginning of this journey," he interjected, +"that time is not as men conceive it. Men can not grasp an idea of +eternity and retain their sun bred, morning and evening, conception of +time. Therein lies their error. As the tip of the whip-lash passes with +the lash, so through life the soul of man proceeds with the body. As +there is a point just when the tip of the whip-lash is on the edge of +its return, where all motion of the line that bounds the tip ends, so +there is a motionless point when the soul starts onward from the body of +man. As the tip of the whip-lash sends its cry through space, not while +it is in motion either way, but from the point where motion ceases, the +spaceless, timeless point that lies between the backward and the +forward, so the soul of man leaves a cry (eternity) at the critical +point. It is the death echo, and thus each snap of the life-thread +throws an eternity, its own eternity, into eternity's seas, and each +eternity is made up of the entities thus cast from the critical point. +With the end of each soul's earth journey, a new eternity springs into +existence, occupying no space, consuming no time, and not conflicting +with any other, each being exactly what the soul-earth record makes it, +an eternity of joy (heaven), or an eternity of anguish (hell). There can +be no neutral ground." + +Then he continued: + +"The drunkard is destined to suffer in the drunkard's eternity, as you +have suffered; the enticement of drink is evanescent, the agony to +follow is eternal. You have seen that the sub-regions of earth supply an +intoxicant. Taste not again of any intoxicant; let your recent lesson be +your last. Any stimulant is an enemy to man, any narcotic is a fiend. It +destroys its victim, and corrupts the mind, entices it into pastures +grotesque, and even pleasant at first, but destined to eternal misery in +the end. Beware of the eternity that follows the snapping of the +life-thread of a drunkard. Come," he abruptly said, "we will pursue our +journey." + + [NOTE.--Morphine, belladonna, hyoscyamus and cannabis indica are + narcotics, and yet each differs in its action from the others. + Alcohol and methyl alcohol are intoxicants; ether, chloroform, + and chloral are anaesthetics, and yet no two are possessed of the + same qualities. Is there any good reason to doubt that + combinations of the elements as yet hidden from man can not cause + hallucinations that combine and intensify the most virulent of + narcotics, intoxicants, and anaesthetics, and pall the effects of + hashish or of opium? + + If, in the course of experimentation, a chemist should strike + upon a compound that in traces only would subject his mind and + drive his pen to record such seemingly extravagant ideas as are + found in the hallucinations herein pictured, would it not be his + duty to bury the discovery from others, to cover from mankind the + existence of such a noxious fruit of the chemist's or + pharmaceutist's art? Introduce such an intoxicant, and start it + to ferment in humanity's blood, and before the world were advised + of its possible results, might not the ever increasing potency + gain such headway as to destroy, or debase, our civilization, and + even to exterminate mankind?--J. U. L.] + + + + +INTERLUDE. + + + + +CHAPTER XLIII. + + THE LAST CONTEST. + + +I, Lewellyn Drury, had been so absorbed in the fantastic story the old +man read so fluently from the execrably written manuscript, and in the +metaphysical argument which followed his account of the vision he had +introduced so artfully as to lead me to think it was a part of his +narrative, that I scarcely noted the passage of time. Upon seeing him +suspend his reading, fold the manuscript, and place it in his pocket, I +reverted to material things, and glancing at the clock, perceived that +the hands pointed to bed-time. + +"To-morrow evening," said he, "I will return at nine o'clock. In the +interim, if you still question any part of the story, or wish further +information on any subject connected with my journey, I will be prepared +to answer your queries. Since, however, that will be your last +opportunity, I suggest that you make notes of all subjects that you wish +to discuss." + +Then, in his usual self-possessed, exquisitely polite manner, he bowed +himself out. + +I spent the next day reviewing the most questionable features of his +history, recalling the several statements that had been made. +Remembering the humiliation I had experienced in my previous attempts to +confute him, I determined to select such subjects as would appear the +most difficult to explain, and to attack the old man with vehemence. + +I confess, that notwithstanding my several failures, and his successful +and constant elucidation and minute details in regard to occurrences +which he related, and which anticipated many points I had once had in +mind to question, misgivings still possessed me concerning the +truthfulness of the story. If these remarkable episodes were true, +could there be such a thing as fiction? If not all true, where did fact +end and fancy begin? + +Accordingly I devoted the following day to meditating my plan of attack, +for I felt that I had been challenged to a final contest. Late the next +day, I felt confident of my own ability to dispossess him, and in order +further to test his power, when night came I doubly locked the door to +my room, first with the key and next with the inside bolt. I had +determined to force him again to induce inert material to obey his +command, as he had done at our first interview. The reader will remember +that Prof. Chickering had deemed that occurrence an illusion, and I +confess that time had dimmed the vividness of the scene in my own mind. +Hence I proposed to verify the matter. Therefore, at the approach of +nine o'clock, the evening following, I sat with my gaze riveted on the +bolt of the door, determined not to answer his knock. + +He gave me no chance to neglect a response to his rap. Exactly at the +stroke of nine the door swung noiselessly on its hinges, the wizard +entered, and the door closed again. The bolt had not moved, the knob did +not turn. The bar passed through the catch and back to its seat,--I +sprung from my chair, and excitedly and rudely rushed past my guest. I +grasped the knob, wrenched it with all my might. Vainly; the door was +locked, the bolt was fastened. Then I turned to my visitor. He was +quietly seated in his accustomed place, and apparently failed to notice +my discomposure, although he must have realized that he had withstood my +first test. + +This pronounced defeat, at the very beginning of our proposed contest, +produced a depressing effect; nevertheless I made an effort at +self-control, and seating myself opposite, looked my antagonist in the +face. Calm, dignified, with the brow of a philosopher, and the +countenance of a philanthropist, a perfect type of the exquisite +gentleman, and the cultured scholar, my guest, as serene and complacent +as though, instead of an intruder, he were an invited participant of the +comforts of my fireside, or even the host himself, laid his hat upon the +table, stroked his silvery, translucent beard, and said: + +"Well?" + +I accepted the challenge, for the word, as he emphasized it, was a +challenge, and hurled at him, in hopes to catch him unprepared, the +following abrupt sentence: + +"I doubt the possibility of the existence of a great cavern such as you +have described. The superincumbent mass of earth would crush the +strongest metal. No material known to man could withstand a pressure so +great as would overlie an arch as large as that you depict; material +would succumb even if the roof were made of steel." + +"Do not be so positive," he replied. "By what authority do you make this +assertion?" + +"By the authority of common sense as opposed to an unreasonable +hypothesis. You should know that there is a limit to the strength of all +things, and that no substance is capable of making an arch of thousands +of miles, which, according to your assertion, must have been the +diameter of the roof of your inland sea." + +"Ah," he replied, "and so you again crush my facts with your theory. +Well, let me ask a question." + +"Proceed." + +"Did you ever observe a bubble resting on a bubble?" + +"Yes." + +"Did you ever place a pipe-stem in a partly filled bowl of soap water, +and by blowing through it fill the bowl with bubbles?" + +"Yes." + +"Did you ever calculate the tensile strength of the material from which +you blew the bubble?" + +"No; for soap water has no appreciable strength." + +"And yet you know that a bubble made of suds has not only strength, but +elasticity. Suppose a bubble of energy floating in space were to be +covered to the depth of the thickness of a sheet of tissue paper with +the dust of space, would that surprise you?" + +"No." + +"Suppose two such globes of energy, covered with dust, were to be +telescoped or attached together, would you marvel at the fact?" + +"No." + +He drew a picture on a piece of paper, in which one line was inclosed by +another, and remarked: + +"The pencil mark on this paper is proportionately thicker than the crust +of the earth over the earth cavern I have described. Even if it were +made of soap suds, it could revolve through space and maintain its +contour." + +"But the earth is a globe," I interjected. + +"You do not mean an exact globe?" + +"No; it is flattened at the poles." + +He took from his pocket two thin rubber balls, one slightly larger than +the other. With his knife he divided the larger ball, cutting it into +halves. He then placed one of the sections upon the perfect ball, and +held the arrangement between the gas light and the wall. + +[Illustration: FIG. 33. A A, telescoped energy spheres.] + +"See; is not the shadow flattened, as your earth is, at the poles?" + +"Yes; but the earth is not a shadow." + +"We will not argue that point now," he replied, and then asked: "Suppose +such a compound shell as this were to revolve through space and +continuously collect dust, most of it of the earth's temperature, +forming a fluid (water), would not that dust be propelled naturally from +the poles?" + +"Yes; according to our theory." + +"Perhaps," said he, "the contact edge of the invisible spheres of energy +which compose your earth bubbles, for planets are bubbles, that have +been covered with water and soil during the time the energy bubble, +which is the real bone of the globe, has been revolving through space; +perhaps, could you reach the foundation of the earth dust, you would +find it not a perfect sphere, but a compound skeleton, as of two bubbles +locked, or rather telescoped together. [See Fig. 34.] + +"Are you sure that my guide did not lead me through the space between +the bubbles?" + +Then he continued: + +"Do not be shocked at what I am about to assert, for, as a member of +materialistic humanity, you will surely consider me irrational when I +say that matter, materials, ponderous substances, one and all, so far as +the ponderous part is concerned have no strength." + +"What! no strength?" + +"None whatever." + +I grasped the poker. + +"Is not this matter?" + +"Yes." + +"I can not break it." + +"No." + +"Have not I strength?" + +"Confine your argument now to the poker; we will consider you next. You +can not break it." + +"I can break this pencil, though," and I snapped it in his face. + +"Yes." + +I curled my lip in disdain. + +"You carry this argument too far." + +"Why?" + +"I can break the pencil, I can not break the poker; had these materials +not different strengths there could be no distinction; had I no strength +I could not have broken either." + +"Are you ready to listen?" he replied. + +"Yes; but do not exasperate me." + +"I did not say that the combination you call a poker had no strength, +neither did I assert that you could not break a pencil." + +"A distinction without a difference; you play upon words." + +"I said that matter, the ponderous side of material substances, has no +strength." + +"And I say differently." + +He thrust the end of the poker into the fire, and soon drew it forth +red-hot. + +"Is it as strong as before?" + +"No." + +"Heat it to whiteness and it becomes plastic." + +"Yes." + +[Illustration: Fig. 34. B B, telescoped energy spheres covered with +space dirt, inclosing space between.] + +"Heat it still more and it changes to a liquid." + +"Yes." + +"Has liquid iron strength?" + +"Very little, if any." + +"Is it still matter?" + +"Yes." + +"Is it the material of the iron, or is it the energy called heat that +qualifies the strength of the metal? It seems to me that were I in your +place I would now argue that absence of heat constitutes strength," he +sarcastically continued. + +"Go on." + +"Cool this red-hot poker by thrusting it into a pail of cold water, and +it becomes very hard and brittle." + +"Yes." + +"Cool it slowly, and it is comparatively soft and plastic." + +"Yes." + +"The material is the same, is it not?" + +"Go on." + +"What strength has charcoal?" + +"Scarcely any." + +"Crystallize it, and the diamond results." + +"I did not speak of diamond." + +"Ah! and is not the same amount of the same material present in each, a +grain of diamond and a grain of charcoal? What is present in a grain of +diamond that is not present in a grain of charcoal?" + +"Go on." + +"Answer my question." + +"I can not." + +"Why does brittle, cold zinc, when heated, become first ductile, and +then, at an increased temperature, become brittle again? In each case +the same material is present." + +"I do not know; but this I do know: I am an organized being, and I have +strength of body." + +The old man grasped the heavy iron poker with both hands, and suddenly +rising to his full height, swung it about his head, then with a motion +so menacing that I shrunk back into my chair and cried out in alarm, +seemed about to strike, with full force, my defenseless brow. + +"My God," I shouted, "what have I done that you should murder me?" + +He lowered the weapon, and calmly asked: + +"Suppose that I had crushed your skull--where then would be your vaunted +strength?" + +I made no reply, for as yet I had not recovered from the mental shock. + +"Could you then have snapped a pencil? Could you have broken a reed? +Could you even have blown the down from a thistle bloom?" + +"No." + +"Would not your material body have been intact?" + +"Yes." + +"Listen," said he. "Matter has no strength, matter obeys spirit, and +spirit dominates all things material. Energy in some form holds +particles of matter together, and energy in other forms loosens them. +'Tis this imponderable force that gives strength to substances, not the +ponderable side of the material. Granite crushed is still granite, but +destitute of rigidity. Creatures dead are still organic structures, but +devoid of strength or motion. The spirit that pervades all material +things gives to them form and existence. Take from your earth its vital +spirit, the energy that subjects matter, and your so-called adamantine +rocks would disintegrate, and sift as dust into the interstices of +space. Your so-called rigid globe, a shell of space dust, would +dissolve, collapse, and as the spray of a burst bubble, its ponderous +side would vanish in the depths of force." + +I sat motionless. + +"Listen," he repeated. "You wrong your own common sense when you place +dead matter above the spirit of matter. Atoms come and go in their +ceaseless transmigrations, worlds move, universes circulate, not because +they are material bodies, but because as points of matter, in a flood of +force, they obey the spirit that can blot out a sun, or dissolve the +earth, as easily as it can unlink two atoms. Matter is an illusion, +spirit is the reality." + +I felt that he had silenced me against my will, and although I could not +gainsay his assertions, I determined to study the subject carefully, at +my leisure. + +"As you please," he interjected into my musings; "but since you are so +determined, you would better study from books that are written by +authors who know whereof they write, and who are not obliged to theorize +from speculative data concerning the intrastructural earth crust." + +"But where can I find such works? I do not know of any." + +"Then," said he, "perhaps it would be better to cease doubting the word +of one who has acquired the knowledge to write such a book, and who has +no object in misleading you." + +"Still other questions arise," I said. + +"Well?" + +"I consider the account of the intra-earth fungus intoxicant beyond the +realm of fact." + +"In what respect?" + +"The perfect loss of self that resulted immediately, in an instant, +after swallowing the juice of the fungous fruit, so that you could not +distinguish between the real guide at your side and the phantom that +sprung into existence, is incredible. [See p. 234.] An element of time +is a factor in the operation of nerve impressions."[12] + + [12] It is well that reference was made to this point. Few readers + would probably notice that Chapter XXXVI. begun a narcotic + hallucination.--J. U. L. + +"Have you investigated all possible anaesthetics?" he asked. + +"Of course not." + +"Or all possible narcotics?" + +"No." + +"How long does it require for pure prussic acid to produce its +physiological action?" + +"I do not know." + +He ignored my reply, and continued: + +"Since there exists a relative difference between the time that is +required for ether and chloroform to produce insensibility, and between +the actions and resultant effects of all known anaesthetics, intoxicants, +and narcotics, I think you are hypercritical. Some nerve excitants known +to you act slowly, others quickly; why not others still instantaneously? +If you can rest your assertion on any good basis, I will gladly meet +your questions, but I do not accept such evidence as you now introduce, +and I do not care to argue for both parties." + +Again I was becoming irritated, for I was not satisfied with the manner +in which I upheld my part of the argument, and naturally, as is usually +the case with the defeated party, became incensed at my invincible +antagonist. + +"Well," I said, "I criticise your credulity. The drunkards of the +drunkards' cavern were beyond all credence. I can not conceive of such +abnormal creations, even in illusion. Had I met with your experiences I +would not have supposed, for an instant, that the fantastic shapes could +have been aught but a dream, or the result of hallucination, while, +without a question, you considered them real." + +"You are certainly pressed for subjects about which to complain when you +resort to criticising the possibilities in creations of a mind under the +influence of a more powerful intoxicant than is known to surface earth," +he remarked. "However, I will show you that nature fashions animals in +forms more fantastic than I saw, and that even these figures were not +overdrawn--" + +Without heeding his remark, I interrupted his discourse, determined to +have my say: + +"And I furthermore question the uncouth personage you describe as your +guide. Would you have me believe that such a being has an existence +outside an abnormal thought-creation?" + +"Ah," he replied, "you have done well to ask these two questions in +succession, for you permit me to answer both at once. Listen: The +Monkey, of all animals, seems to approach closest to man in figure, the +Siamang Gibon of Asia, the Bald-headed Saki of South America, with its +stub of a tail, being nearest. From these types we have great deviations +as in the Wanderer of India, with its whiskered face, and the Black +Macaque of the Island of Celebes, with its hairy topknot, and hairless +stub of a tail, or the well-known Squirrel Monkey, with its long supple +tail, and the Thumbless Spider Monkey, of South America. Between these +types we have among monkeys, nearly every conceivable shape of limb and +figure, and in color of their faces and bodies, all the shades of the +rainbow. + +"Some Squirrels jump and then sail through the air. The Sloth can barely +move on the earth. Ant-eaters have no teeth at all, while the Grizzly +Bear can crush a gun barrel with its molars. + +"The Duck-billed Platypus of South Australia has the body of a mole, the +tail of a raccoon, the flat bill of a duck, and the flipper of a seal, +combined with the feet of a rat. It lays eggs as birds do, but suckles +its young as do other mammalia. The Opossum has a prehensile tail, as +have some monkeys, and in addition a living bag or pouch in which the +female carries her tiny young. The young of a kind of tree frog of the +genus Hylodes, breathe through a special organ in their tails; the young +of the Pipa, a great South American toad, burrow into the skin of the +mother, and still another from Chili, as soon as hatched, creep down the +throat of the father frog, and find below the jaw an opening into a +false membrane covering the entire abdomen, in which they repose in +safety. Three species of frogs and toads have no tongue at all, while in +all the others the tongue is attached by its tip to the end of the +mouth, and is free behind. The ordinary Bullfrog has conspicuous great +legs, while a relative, the Coecilia (and others as well) have a head +reminding of the frog, but neither tail nor legs, the body being +elongated as if it were a worm. The long, slender fingers of a Bat are +united by means of a membrane that enables it to fly like a bird, while +as a contrast, the fingers of a Mole, its near cousin, are short and +stubby, and massive as compared with its frame. The former flies through +the air, the latter burrows (almost flies) through the earth. The Great +Ant-eater has a curved head which is drawn out into a slender snout, no +teeth, a long, slender tongue, a great bushy tail, and claws that +neither allow the creature to burrow in the earth nor climb into trees, +but which are admirably adapted to tear an ant-hill into fragments. Its +close relatives, the Apar and Armadillo, have a round body covered with +bony plates, and a short, horny, curved tail, while another relative, +the Long-tailed Pangolin, has a great alligator-like tail which, +together with its body, is covered with horny, overlapping scales. + +"The Greenland Whale has an enormous head occupying more than one-third +its length, no teeth, and a throat scarcely larger than that of a sucker +fish. The Golden Mole has a body so nearly symmetrical that, were it not +for the snout, it would be difficult to determine the location of the +head without close inspection, and it has legs so short that, were it +not for the powerful claws, they would not be observed at all. The +Narwhal has a straight, twisted tusk, a--" + +"Hold, hold," I interrupted; "do you think that I am concerned in these +well known contrasts in animal structure?" + +"Did you not question the possibility of the description I gave of my +grotesque drunkards, and of the form of my subterranean guide?" my guest +retorted. + +"Yes; but I spoke of men, you describe animals." + +"Man is an animal, and between the various species of animals that you +say are well known, greater distinctions can be drawn than between my +guide and surface-earth man. Besides, had you allowed me to proceed to a +description of animal life beneath the surface of the earth, I would +have shown you that my guide partook of their attributes. Of the +creatures described, one only was of the intra-earth origin--the +Mole,--and like my guide, it is practically eyeless." + +"Go on," I said; "'tis useless for me to resist. And yet--" + +"And yet what?" + +"And yet I have other subjects to discuss." + +"Proceed." + +"I do not like the way in which you constantly criticise science, +especially in referring thereto the responsibilities of the crazed +anatomist.[13] It seems to me that he was a monomaniac, gifted, but +crazed, and that science was unfortunate in being burdened with such an +incubus." + + [13] This section (see p. 190) was excised, being too + painful.--J. U. L. + +"True, and yet science advances largely by the work of such apparently +heartless creatures. Were it not for investigators who overstep the +bounds of established methods, and thus criticise their predecessors, +science would rust and disintegrate. Besides, why should not science be +judged by the rule she applies to others?" + +"What do you mean?" + +"Who is more free to criticise religion than the materialistic man of +science?" + +"But a religious man is not cruel." + +"Have you not read history? Have you not shuddered at the crimes +recorded in the name of the religions of man?" + +"Yes; but these cruelties were committed by misguided men under the +cloak of the church, or of false religions, during the dark ages. Do not +blame religion, but the men who abused the cause." + +"Yes," he added, "you are right; they were fanatics, crazed beings, men; +yes, even communities, raving mad. Crazed leaders can infuse the minds +of the people with their fallacies, and thus become leaders of crazed +nations. Not, as I have depicted in my scientific enthusiast, one man +alone in the privacy of his home torturing a single child, but whole +nations pillaging, burning, torturing, and destroying. But this is +foreign to our subject. Beware, I reiterate, of the science of human +biology. The man who enters the field can not foresee the end, the man +who studies the science of life, and records his experiments, can not +know the extremes to which a fanatical follower may carry the +thought-current of his leader. I have not overdrawn the lesson. Besides, +science is now really torturing, burning, maiming, and destroying +humanity. The act of destruction has been transferred from barbarians +and the fanatic in religion to the follower of the devotees of science." + +"No; I say, no." + +"Who created the steam engine? Who evolves improved machinery? Who +creates improved artillery, and explosives? Scientific men." + +He hesitated. + +"Go on." + +"Accumulate the maimed and destroyed each year; add together the +miseries and sorrows that result from the explosions, accidents, and +catastrophes resulting from science improvements, and the dark ages +scarcely offer a parallel. Add thereto the fearful destruction that +follows a war among nations scientific, and it will be seen that the +scientific enthusiast of the present has taken the place of the +misguided fanatic of the past. Let us be just. Place to the credit of +religion the good that religion has done, place to the credit of science +the good that science is doing, and yet do not mistake, both leave in +their wake an atmosphere saturated with misery, a road whitened with +humanity's bones. Neither the young nor the old are spared, and so far +as the sufferer is concerned it matters not whether the person has been +racked by the tortures of an inquisition, or the sword of an infidel, is +shrieking in the agony of a scald by super-heated steam, or is mangled +by an explosion of nitroglycerin." + +Again he hesitated. + +"Go on." + +"One of science's most serious responsibilities, from which religion has +nearly escaped, is that of supplying thought-food to fanatics, and from +this science can not escape." + +"Explain yourself." + +"Who places the infidel in possession of arguments to combat sacred +teachings? Who deliberately tortures animals, and suggests that +biological experimentation in the name of science, before cultured +audiences even, is legitimate, such as making public dissections of +living creatures?" + +"Enough, enough," I cried, thinking of his crazed anatomist, and +covering my face with my hands; "you make my blood creep." + +"Yes," he added sarcastically; "you shudder now and criticise my +truthful study, and to-morrow you will forget the lesson, and perhaps +for dinner you will relish your dish of veal, the favorite food of +mothers, the nearest approach to the flesh of babies." + +Then his manner changed, and in his usual mild, pleasant way, he said: + +"Take what I have said kindly; I wish only to induce your religious part +to have more charity for your scientific self, and the reverse. Both +religion and science are working towards the good of man, although their +devotees are human, and by human errors bring privations, sufferings, +and sorrows to men. Neither can fill the place of the other; each should +extend a helping hand, and have charity for the shortcomings of the +other; they are not antagonists, but workers in one field; both must +stand the criticisms of mutual antagonists, and both have cause to fear +the evils of fanaticism within their own ranks more than the attacks of +opponents from without. Let the religious enthusiast exercise care; his +burning, earnest words may lead a weak-minded father to murder an +innocent family, and yet 'tis not religion that commits the crime. Let +the zealous scientific man hesitate; he piles up fuel by which minds +unbalanced, or dispositions perverted, seek to burn and destroy hopes +that have long served the yearnings of humanity's soul. Neither pure +religion nor true science is to blame for the acts of its devotees, and +yet each must share the responsibility of its human agents." + +"We will discuss the subject no further," I said; "it is not agreeable." + +Then I continued: + +"The idea of eternity without time is not quite clear to me, although I +catch an imperfect conception of the argument advanced. Do you mean to +say that when a soul leaves the body, the earth life of the individual, +dominated by the soul, is thrown off from it as is the snap of a +whip-lash, and that into the point between life and death, the hereafter +of that mortal may be concentrated?" + +"I simply give you the words of my guide," he replied, "but you have +expressed the idea about as well as your word language will admit. Such +a conception of eternity is more rational to one who, like myself, has +lived through an instant that covered, so far as mind is concerned, a +million years of time, than is an attempt to grasp a conception of an +eternity, without beginning or end, by basing an argument on conditions +governing material substances, as these substances are known to man. You +have the germ of the idea which may be simply a thought for you to +ponder over; you can study the problem at your leisure. Do not, however, +I warn you, attempt to comprehend the notion of eternity by throwing +into it the conception of time as men accept that term, for the very +word time, as men define it, demands that there be both a beginning and +an end. With the sense of time in one's mind, there can be no conception +of the term eternity." + +Then, as I had so often done before, I unwarily gave him an opportunity +to enlarge on his theme, to my disadvantage. I had determined not to ask +any questions concerning his replies to my criticism, for whenever I had +previously done so, the result had been disastrous to me. In this case I +unwittingly said: + +"Why do you say that our language will not permit of clearer conceptions +than you give?" + +"Because your education does not permit you to think outside of words; +you are word-bound." + +"You astonish me by making such an arrogant assertion. Do you mean to +assert that I can not think without using words?" + +"Yes. Every thought you indulge in is circumscribed. You presumably +attempt to throw a thought-line forward, and yet you step backward and +spin it in words that have been handed you from the past, and, struggle +as you may, you can not liberate yourself from the dead incubus. Attempt +to originate an idea, and see if you can escape your word-master?" + +"Go on; I am listening." + +"Men scientific think in language scientific. Men poetical think in +language poetic. All educated men use words in thinking of their +subjects, words that came to them from the past, and enslave their +intellect. Thus it is that the novelist can not make fiction less real +than is fact; that scientists can not commence at the outside, and build +a theory back to phenomena understood. In each case the foundation of a +thought is a word that in the very beginning carries to the mind a +meaning, a something from the past. Each thought ramification is an +offshoot from words that express ideas and govern ideas, yes, create +ideas, even dominating the mind. Men speak of ideas when they intend to +refer to an image in the mind, but in reality they have no ideas outside +of the word sentences they unconsciously reformulate. Define the term +idea correctly, and it will be shown that an idea is a sentence, and if +a sentence is made of words already created, there can be no new idea, +for every word has a fixed meaning. Hence, when men think, they only +rearrange words that carry with themselves networks of ideas, and thus +play upon their several established meanings. How can men so +circumscribed construct a new idea or teach a new science?" + +"New words are being created." + +"Language is slowly progressing, but no new word adds itself to a +language; it is linked to thought-chains that precede. In order to +create a word, as a rule, roots are used that are as established in +philology as are building materials in architecture. When a new sound is +thrust into a language, its intent must be introduced by words already +known, after which it conveys a meaning derived from the past, and +becomes a part of mind sentences already constructed, as it does of +spoken language. Language has thus been painfully and slowly evolved and +is still being enlarged, but while new impressions may be felt by an +educated person, the formulated feeling is inseparable, from well-known +surviving words." + +"Some men are dumb." + +"Yes; and yet they frame mind-impressions into unspoken words of their +own, otherwise they would be scarcely more than animals. Place an +uneducated dumb person in a room with a complicated instrument, and +although he may comprehend its uses, he can not do so unless he frames +sense-impressions into, what is to him, a formulated mind-word +sequence." + +"But he can think about it." + +"No; unless he has already constructed previous impressions into +word-meanings of his own, he can not think about it at all. Words, +whether spoken or unspoken, underlie all ideas. Try, if you believe I am +mistaken, try to think of any subject outside of words?" + +I sat a moment, and mentally attempted the task, and shook my head. + +"Then," said the old man, "how can I use words with established meanings +to convey to your senses an entirely new idea? If I use new sounds, +strung together, they are not words to you, and convey no meaning; if I +use words familiar, they reach backward as well as forward. Thus it is +possible to instruct you, by a laborious course of reasoning, concerning +a phenomenon that is connected with phenomena already understood by you, +for your word-language can be thrust out from the parent stalk, and can +thus follow the outreaching branches. However, in the case of phenomena +that exist on other planes, or are separated from any known material, or +force, as is the true conception that envelops the word eternity, there +being neither connecting materials, forces, nor words to unite the +outside with the inside, the known with the unknown, how can I tell you +more than I have done? You are word-bound." + +"Nevertheless, I still believe that I can think outside of words." + +"Well, perhaps after you attempt to do so, and fail again and again, you +will appreciate that a truth is a truth, humiliating as it may be to +acknowledge the fact." + +"A Digger Indian has scarcely a word-language," I asserted, loth to +relinquish the argument. + +"You can go farther back if you desire, back to primitive man; man +without language at all, and with ideas as circumscribed as those of the +brutes, and still you have not strengthened your argument concerning +civilized man. But you are tired, I see." + +"Yes; tired of endeavoring to combat your assertions. You invariably +lead me into the realms of speculation, and then throw me upon the +defensive by asking me to prove my own theories, or with apparent +sincerity, you advance an unreasonable hypothesis, and then, before I am +aware of your purpose, force me to acquiesce because I can not find +facts to confute you. You very artfully throw the burden of proof on me +in all cases, for either by physical comparisons that I can not make, I +must demonstrate the falsity of your metaphysical assertions, or by +abstract reasonings disprove statements you assert to be facts." + +"You are peevish and exhausted, or you would perceive that I have +generally allowed you to make the issue, and more than once have +endeavored to dissuade you from doing so. Besides, did I not several +times in the past bring experimental proof to dispel your incredulity? +Have I not been courteous?" + +"Yes," I petulantly admitted; "yes." + +Then I determined to imitate his artful methods, and throw him upon the +defensive as often as he had done with me. I had finally become familiar +with his process of arguing a question, for, instead of coming +immediately to his subject, he invariably led by circuitous route to the +matter under discussion. Before reaching the point he would manage to +commit me to his own side of the subject, or place me in a defenseless +position. So with covert aim I began: + +"I believe that friction is one method of producing heat." + +"Yes." + +"I have been told that the North American Indians make fires by rubbing +together two pieces of dry wood." + +"True." + +"I have understood that the light of a shooting star results from the +heat of friction, producing combustion of its particles." + +"Partly," he answered. + +"That when the meteoric fragment of space dust strikes the air, the +friction resulting from its velocity heats it to redness, fuses its +surface, or even burns its very substance into ashes." + +"Yes." + +"I have seen the spindle of a wheel charred by friction." + +"Yes." + +"I have drawn a wire rapidly through a handkerchief tightly grasped in +my hands, and have warmed the wire considerably in doing so." + +"Yes." + +I felt that I had him committed to my side of the question, and I +prepared to force him to disprove the possibility of one assertion that +he had made concerning his journey. + +"You stated that you rode in a boat on the underground lake." + +"Yes." + +"With great rapidity?" + +"Yes." + +"Rapid motion produces friction, I believe?" + +"Yes." + +"And heat?" + +"Yes." + +"Why did not your boat become heated even to redness? You rode at the +rate of nine hundred miles an hour," I cried exultingly. + +"For two reasons," he calmly replied; "two natural causes prevented such +a catastrophe." + +And again he warned me, as he had done before, by saying: + +"While you should not seek for supernatural agencies to account for any +phenomena in life, for all that is is natural, neither should you fail +to study the differences that varying conditions produce in results +already known. A miracle ceases to be a miracle when we understand the +scientific cause underlying the wonder; occultism is natural, for if +there be occult phenomena they must be governed by natural law; mystery +is not mysterious if the veil of ignorance that envelops the +investigator is lifted. What you have said is true concerning the heat +that results from friction, but-- + +"First, the attraction of gravitation was inconsiderable where the boat, +to which you refer, rested on the water. + +"Second, the changing water carried away the heat as fast as it was +produced. While it is true that a cannon ball becomes heated in its +motion through the air, its surface is cooled when it strikes a body of +water, notwithstanding that its great velocity is altogether overcome by +the water. The friction between the water and the iron does not result +in heated iron, but the contrary. The water above the rapids of a river +has practically the temperature of the water below the rapids, +regardless of the friction that ensues between these points. Admit, +however, that heat is liberated as the result of the friction of solids +with water, and still it does not follow that this heat will perceptibly +affect the solid. With a boat each particle of water carries the heat +away, each succeeding portion of water takes up the heat liberated by +that preceding it. Thus the great body of water, over which our boat +sped, in obedience to the ordinary law, became slightly warmed, but its +effect upon the boat was scarcely perceptible. Your comparison of the +motion of a meteor, with that of our boat, was unhappy. We moved +rapidly, it is true, in comparison with the motion of vessels such as +you know, but comparison can not be easily drawn between the velocity of +a boat and that of a meteor. While we moved at the rate of many miles a +minute, a meteor moves many times faster, perhaps as many miles in a +second. Then you must remember that the force of gravitation was so +slight in our position that--" + +"Enough," I interrupted. "We will pass the subject. It seems that you +draw upon science for knowledge to support your arguments, however +irrational they may be, and then you sneer at this same method of +argument when I employ it." + +He replied to my peevish complaint with the utmost respect by calling to +my attention the fact that my own forced argument had led to the answer, +and that he had simply replied to my attacks. Said he: + +"If I am wrong in my philosophy, based on your science thought, I am +right in my facts, and science thought is thus in the wrong, for facts +overbalance theory. I ask you only to give me the attention that my +statements merit. I am sincere, and aim to serve your interests. Should +investigation lead you hereafter to infer that I am in error, at our +final interview you can have my considerate attention. Be more +charitable, please." + +Then he added: + +"Is there any other subject you wish to argue?" + +"Yes," I answered, and again my combativeness arose; "yes. One of the +truly edifying features of your narrative is that of the intelligent +guide," and I emphasized the word intelligent, and curled up my lip in a +sarcastic manner. + +"Proceed." + +"He was verily a wonderful being; an eyeless creature, and yet possessed +of sight and perception beyond that of mortal man; a creature who had +been locked in the earth, and yet was more familiar with its surface +than a philosopher; a cavern-bred monstrosity, and yet possessed of the +mind of a sage; he was a scientific expert, a naturalist, a metaphysical +reasoner, a critic of religion, and a prophet. He could see in absolute +darkness as well as in daylight; without a compass he could guide a boat +over a trackless sea, and could accomplish feats that throw Gulliver and +Munchausen into disrepute." + +In perfect composure my aged guest listened to my cynical, and almost +insulting tirade. He made no effort to restrain my impetuous sentences, +and when I had finished replied in the polished language of a scholarly +gentleman. + +"You state truly, construe my words properly, as well as understand +correctly." + +Then he continued musingly, as though speaking to himself: + +"I would be at fault and deserve censure did I permit doubts to be +thrown upon so clear a subject, or discredit on so magnanimous a +person." + +Turning to me he continued: + +"Certainly I did not intend to mislead or to be misunderstood, and am +pleased to find you so earnest a scholar." + +And then in his soft, mild manner, he commenced his detail reply, +pouring oil upon the waters of my troubled soul, his sweet, melodious +voice being so in contrast to my rash harangue. He began with his +expressive and often repeated word, "listen." + +[Illustration: "WE PASSED THROUGH CAVERNS FILLED WITH CREEPING +REPTILES."] + +"Listen. You are right, my guide was a being wonderful to mortals. He +was eyeless, but as I have shown you before, and now swear to the fact, +was not sightless; surely," he said, "surely you have not forgotten +that long ago I considered the phenomenal instinct at length. He +predicted the future by means of his knowledge of the past--there is +nothing wonderful in that. Can not a civil engineer continue a line into +the beyond, and predict where the projection of that line will strike; +can he not also calculate the effect that a curve will have on his +line's destiny? Why should a being conversant with the lines and curves +of humanity's journey for ages past not be able to indicate the lines +that men must follow in the future? Of course he could guide the boat, +in what was to me a trackless waste of water, but you err in asserting +that I had said he did not have a guide, even if it were not a compass. +Many details concerning this journey have not been explained to you; +indeed, I have acquainted you with but little that I experienced. Near +surface earth we passed through caverns filled with creeping reptiles; +through others we were surrounded by flying creatures, neither beast nor +bird; we passed through passages of ooze and labyrinths of apparently +interminable intra-earth structures; to have disported on such features +of my journey would have been impracticable. From time to time I +experienced strains of melody, such as never before had I conceived, +seemingly choruses of angels were singing in and to my very soul. From +empty space about me, from out the crevices beyond and behind me, from +the depths of my spirit within me, came these strains in notes clear and +distinct, but yet indescribable. Did I fancy, or was it real? I will not +pretend to say. Flowers and structures beautiful, insects gorgeous and +inexplicable were spread before me. Figures and forms I can not attempt +to indicate in word descriptions, ever and anon surrounded, accompanied, +and passed me by. The canvas conceptions of earth-bred artists bring to +mind no forms so strange and weird and yet so beautiful as were these +compound beings. Restful beyond description was it to drink in the +indescribable strains of poetry of motion that I appreciated in the +movements of fair creatures I have not mentioned, and it was no less +soothing to experience the soul relief wrought by the sounds about me, +for musicians know no notes so sweet and entrancing. + +"There were also, in side caverns to which I was led, combinations of +sounds and scenes in which floating strains and fleeting figures were +interwoven and interlaced so closely that the senses of both sight and +hearing became blended into a single sense, new, weird, strange, and +inexpressible. As flavor is the combination of odor and taste, and is +neither taste nor odor, so these sounds and scenes combined were neither +scenes nor sounds, but a complex sensation, new, delicious. Sometimes I +begged to be permitted to stop and live forever 'mid those heavenly +charms, but with as firm a hand as when helping me through the chambers +of mire, ooze, and creeping reptiles, my guide drew me onward. + +"But to return to the subject. As to my guide being a cavern-bred +monstrosity, I do not remember to have said that he was cavern-bred, and +if I have forgotten a fact, I regret my short memory. Did I say that he +was always a cavern being? Did I assert that he had never lived among +mortals of upper earth? If so, I do not remember our conversation on +that subject. He was surely a sage in knowledge, as you have experienced +from my feeble efforts in explaining the nature of phenomena that were +to you unknown, and yet have been gained by me largely through his +instruction. He was a metaphysician, as you assert; you are surely +right; he was a sincere, earnest reasoner and teacher. He was a +conscientious student, and did not by any word lead me to feel that he +did not respect all religions, and bow to the Creator of the universe, +its sciences, and its religions. His demeanor was most considerate, his +methods faultless, his love of nature deep, his patience inexhaustible, +his sincerity unimpeachable. Yes," the old man said; "you are right in +your admiration of this lovely personage, and when you come to meet this +being as you are destined yet to do--for know now that you too will some +day pass from surface earth, and leave only your name in connection with +this story of myself--you will surely then form a still greater love and +a deeper respect for one so gifted, and yet so self-sacrificing." + +"Old man," I cried, "you mock me. I spoke facetiously, and you answer +literally. Know that I have no confidence in your sailor-like tales, +your Marco Polo history." + +"Ah! You discredit Marco Polo? And why do you doubt?" + +"Because I have never seen such phenomena, I have never witnessed such +occurrences. I must see a thing to believe it." + +"And so you believe only what you see?" he queried. + +"Yes." + +"Now answer promptly," he commanded, and his manner changed as by magic +to that of a master. "Did you ever see Greenland?" + +"No." + +"Iceland?" + +"No." + +"A geyser?" + +"No." + +"A whale?" + +"No." + +"England?" + +"No." + +"France?" + +"No." + +"A walrus?" + +"No." + +"Then you do not believe that these conditions, countries, and animals +have an existence?" + +"Of course they have." + +"Why?" + +"Others have seen them." + +"Ah," he said; "then you wish to modify your assertion--you only believe +what others have seen?" + +"Excepting one person," I retorted. + +Then he continued, seemingly not having noticed my personal allusion: + +"Have you ever seen your heart?" + +I hesitated. + +"Answer," he commanded. + +"No." + +"Your stomach?" + +"No." + +"Have you seen the stomach of any of your friends?" + +"No." + +"The back of your head?" + +I became irritated, and made no reply. + +"Answer," he again commanded. + +"I have seen its reflection in a glass." + +"I say no," he replied; "you have not." + +"You are impudent," I exclaimed. + +"Not at all," he said, good humoredly; "how easy it is to make a +mistake. I venture to say that you have never seen the reflection of the +back of your head in a mirror." + +"Your presumption astounds me." + +"I will leave it to yourself." + +He took a hand-glass from the table and held it behind my head. + +"Now, do you see the reflection?" + +"No; the glass is behind me." + +"Ah, yes; and so is the back of your head." + +"Look," I said, pointing to the great mirror on the bureau; "look, there +is the reflection of the back of my head." + +"No; it is the reflection of the reflection in my hand-glass." + +"You have tricked me; you quibble!" + +"Well," he said, ignoring my remark; "what do you believe?" + +"I believe what others have seen, and what I can do." + +"Excluding myself as to what others have seen," he said facetiously. + +"Perhaps," I answered, relenting somewhat. + +"Has any man of your acquaintance seen the middle of Africa?" + +"No." + +"The center of the earth?" + +"No." + +"The opposite side of the moon?" + +"No." + +"The soul of man?" + +"No." + +"Heat, light, electricity?" + +"No." + +"Then you do not believe that Africa has a midland, the earth a center, +the moon an opposite side, man a soul, force an existence?" + +"You distort my meaning." + +"Well, I ask questions in accord with your suggestions, and you defeat +yourself. You have now only one point left. You believe only what _you_ +can do?" + +[Illustration: "FLOWERS AND STRUCTURES BEAUTIFUL, INSECTS GORGEOUS."] + +"Yes." + +"I will rest this case on one statement, then, and you may be the +judge." + +"Agreed." + +"You can not do what any child in Cincinnati can accomplish. I assert +that any other man, any other woman in the city can do more than you +can. No cripple is so helpless, no invalid so feeble as not, in this +respect, to be your superior." + +"You insult me," I again retorted, almost viciously. + +"Do you dispute the assertion seriously?" + +"Yes." + +"Well, let me see you kiss your elbow." + +Involuntarily I twisted my arm so as to bring the elbow towards my +mouth, then, as I caught the full force of his meaning, the ridiculous +result of my passionate wager came over me, and I laughed aloud. It was +a change of thought from the sublime to the ludicrous. + +The white-haired guest smiled in return, and kindly said: + +"It pleases me to find you in good humor at last. I will return +to-morrow evening and resume the reading of my manuscript. In the +meantime take good exercise, eat heartily, and become more cheerful." + +He rose and bowed himself out. + + + + +THE OLD MAN CONTINUES HIS MANUSCRIPT. + + + + +CHAPTER XLIV. + + THE FATHOMLESS ABYSS.--THE EDGE OF THE EARTH SHELL. + + +Promptly at eight o'clock the next evening the old man entered my room. +He did not allude to the occurrences of the previous evening, and for +this considerate treatment I felt thankful, as my part in those episodes +had not been enviable. He placed his hat on the table, and in his usual +cool and deliberate manner, commenced reading as follows: + +For a long time thereafter we journeyed on in silence, now amid stately +stone pillars, then through great cliff openings or among gigantic +formations that often stretched away like cities or towns dotted over a +plain, to vanish in the distance. Then the scene changed, and we +traversed magnificent avenues, bounded by solid walls which expanded +into lofty caverns of illimitable extent, from whence we found ourselves +creeping through narrow crevices and threading winding passages barely +sufficient to admit our bodies. For a considerable period I had noted +the absence of water, and as we passed from grotto to temple reared +without hands, it occurred to me that I could not now observe evidence +of water erosion in the stony surface over which we trod, and which had +been so abundant before we reached the lake. My guide explained by +saying in reply to my thought question, that we were beneath the water +line. He said that liquids were impelled back towards the earth's +surface from a point unnoticed by me, but long since passed. Neither did +I now experience hunger nor thirst, in the slightest degree, a +circumstance which my guide assured me was perfectly natural in view of +the fact that there was neither waste of tissue nor consumption of heat +in my present organism. + +[Illustration: "WITH FEAR AND TREMBLING I CREPT ON MY KNEES TO HIS +SIDE."] + +At last I observed far in the distance a slanting sheet of light that, +fan-shaped, stood as a barrier across the way; beyond it neither earth +nor earth's surface appeared. As we approached, the distinctness of its +outline disappeared, and when we came nearer, I found that it streamed +into the space above, from what appeared to be a crevice or break in the +earth that stretched across our pathway, and was apparently limitless +and bottomless. + +"Is this another hallucination?" I queried. + +"No; it is a reality. Let us advance to the brink." + +Slowly we pursued our way, for I hesitated and held back. I had really +begun to distrust my own senses, and my guide in the lead was even +forced to demonstrate the feasibility of the way, step by step, before I +could be induced to follow. At length we neared the edge of the chasm, +and while he stood boldly upright by the brink, with fear and trembling +I crept on my knees to his side, and together we faced a magnificent but +fearful void that stretched beneath and beyond us, into a profundity of +space. I peered into the chamber of light, that indescribable gulf of +brilliancy, but vainly sought for an opposite wall; there was none. As +far as the eye could reach, vacancy, illuminated vacancy, greeted my +vision. The light that sprung from that void was not dazzling, but was +possessed of a beauty that no words can suggest. I peered downward, and +found that we stood upon the edge of a shelving ledge of stone that +receded rapidly beneath us, so that we seemed to rest upon the upper +side of its wedge-like edge. I strained my vision to catch a glimpse of +the bottom of this chasm, but although I realized that my eyes were +glancing into miles and miles of space, there was no evidence of earthly +material other than the brink upon which we stood. + +The limit of vision seemed to be bounded by a silvery blending of light +with light, light alone, only light. The dead silence about, and the new +light before me, combined to produce a weird sensation, inexplicable, +overpowering. A speck of dust on the edge of immensity, I clung to the +stone cliff, gazing into the depths of that immeasurable void. + + + + +CHAPTER XLV. + + MY HEART THROB IS STILLED, AND YET I LIVE. + + +"It now becomes my duty to inform you that this is one of the stages in +our journey that can only be passed by the exercise of the greatest will +force. Owing to our former surroundings upon the surface of the earth, +and to your inheritance of a so-called instinctive education, you would +naturally suppose that we are now on the brink of an impassable chasm. +This sphere of material vacuity extends beneath us to a depth that I am +sure you will be astonished to learn is over six thousand miles. We may +now look straight into the earth cavity, and this streaming light is the +reflected purity of the space below. The opposite side of this crevice, +out of sight by reason of its distance, but horizontally across from +where we stand, is precipitous and comparatively solid, extending upward +to the material that forms the earth's surface. We have, during our +journey, traversed an oblique, tortuous natural passage, that extends +from the spot at which you entered the cave in Kentucky, diagonally down +into the crust of the globe, terminating in this shelving bluff. I would +recall to your mind that your journey up to this time has been of your +own free will and accord. At each period of vacillation--and you could +not help but waver occasionally--you have been at liberty to return to +surface earth again, but each time you decided wisely to continue your +course. You can now return if your courage is not sufficient to overcome +your fear, but this is the last opportunity you will have to reconsider, +while in my company." + +"Have others overcome the instinctive terrors to which you allude?" + +"Yes; but usually the dread of death, or an unbearable uncertainty, +compels the traveler to give up in despair before reaching this spot, +and the opportunity of a lifetime is lost. Yes; an opportunity that +occurs only in the lifetime of one person out of millions, of but few in +our brotherhood." + +"Then I can return if I so elect?" + +"Certainly." + +"Will you inform me concerning the nature of the obstacle I have to +overcome, that you indicate by your vague references?" + +"We must descend from this cliff." + +"You can not be in earnest." + +"Why?" + +"Do you not see that the stone recedes from beneath us, that we stand on +the edge of a wedge overhanging bottomless space?" + +"That I understand." + +"There is no ladder," and then the foolish remark abashed me as I +thought of a ladder six thousand miles in length. + +"Go on." + +He made no reference to my confusion. + +"There is practically no bottom," I asserted, "if I can believe your +words; you told me so." + +"And that I reiterate." + +"The feat is impracticable, impossible, and only a madman would think of +trying to descend into such a depth of space." + +Then an idea came over me; perhaps there existed a route at some other +point of the earth's crevice by which we could reach the under side of +the stone shelf, and I intimated as much to the guide. + +"No; we must descend from this point, for it is the only entrance to the +hollow beneath." + +We withdrew from the brink, and I meditated in silence. Then I crept +again to the edge of the bluff, and lying flat on my chest, craned my +head over, and peered down into the luminous gulf. The texture of the +receding mineral was distinctly visible for a considerable distance, and +then far, far beneath all semblance to material form disappeared--as the +hull of a vessel fades in deep, clear water. As I gazed into the gulf it +seemed evident that, as a board floating in water is bounded by water, +this rock really ended. I turned to my guide and questioned him. + +"Stone in this situation is as cork," he replied; "it is nearly devoid +of weight; your surmise is correct. We stand on the shelving edge of a +cliff of earthly matter, that in this spot slants upward from beneath +like the bow of a boat. We have reached the bottom of the film of space +dust on the bubble of energy that forms the skeleton of earth." + +I clutched the edge of the cliff with both hands. + +"Be not frightened; have I not told you that if you wish to return you +can do so. Now hearken to me: + +"A short time ago you endeavored to convince me that we could not +descend from this precipice, and you are aware that your arguments were +without foundation. You drew upon your knowledge of earth materials, as +you once learned them, and realized at the time that you deluded +yourself in doing so, for you know that present conditions are not such +as exist above ground. You are now influenced by surroundings that are +entirely different from those that govern the lives of men upon the +earth's surface. You are almost without weight. You have nearly ceased +to breathe, as long since you discovered, and soon I hope will agree +entirely to suspend that harsh and wearying movement. Your heart +scarcely pulsates, and if you go with me farther in this journey, will +soon cease to beat." + +I started up and turned to flee, but he grasped and held me firmly. + +"Would you murder me? Do you think I will mutely acquiesce, while you +coolly inform me of your inhuman intent, and gloat over the fact that my +heart will soon be as stone, and that I will be a corpse?" He attempted +to break in, but I proceeded in frenzy. "I _will_ return to upper earth, +to sunshine and humanity. I _will_ retreat while yet in health and +strength, and although I have in apparent willingness accompanied you to +this point, learn now that at all times I have been possessed of the +means to defend myself from personal violence." I drew from my pocket +the bar of iron. "See, this I secreted about my person in the fresh air +of upper earth, the sweet sunshine of heaven, fearing that I might fall +into the hands of men with whom I must combat. Back, back," I cried. + +He released his hold of my person, and folded his arms upon his breast, +then quietly faced me, standing directly between myself and the passage +we had trod, while I stood on the brink, my back to that fearful chasm. + +By a single push he could thrust me into the fathomless gulf below, and +with the realization of that fact, I felt that it was now a life and +death struggle. With every muscle strained to its utmost tension, with +my soul on fire, my brain frenzied, I drew back the bar of iron to smite +the apparently defenseless being in the forehead, but he moved not, and +as I made the motion, he calmly remarked: "Do you remember the history +of Hiram Abiff?" + +[Illustration: "I DREW BACK THE BAR OF IRON TO SMITE THE APPARENTLY +DEFENSELESS BEING IN THE FOREHEAD."] + +The hand that held the weapon dropped as if stricken by paralysis, and a +flood of recollections concerning my lost home overcame me. I had raised +my hand against a brother, the only being of my kind who could aid me, +or assist me either to advance or recede. How could I, unaided, recross +that glassy lake, and pass through the grotesque forests of fungi and +the labyrinth of crystal grottoes of the salt bed? How could I find my +way in the utter darkness that existed in the damp, soppy, dripping +upper caverns that I must retrace before I could hope to reach the +surface of the earth? "Forgive me," I sobbed, and sunk at his feet. +"Forgive me, my friend, my brother; I have been wild, mad, am crazed." +He made no reply, but pointed over my shoulder into the space beyond. + +I turned, and in the direction indicated, saw, in amazement, floating in +the distant space a snow- and ice-clad vessel in full sail. She was +headed diagonally from us, and was moving rapidly across the field of +vision. Every spar and sail was clearly defined, and on her deck, and in +the rigging I beheld sailors clad in winter garments pursuing their +various duties. + +As I gazed, enraptured, she disappeared in the distance. + +"A phantom vessel," I murmured. + +"No," he replied; "the abstraction of a vessel sailing on the ocean +above us. Every object on earth is the second to an imprint in another +place. There is an apparent reproduction of matter in so-called vacancy, +and on unseen pages a recording of all events. As that ship sailed over +the ocean above us, she disturbed a current of energy, and it left its +impress as an outline on a certain zone beneath, which is parallel with +that upon which we now chance to stand." + +"I can not comprehend," I muttered. + +"No," he answered; "to you it seems miraculous, as to all men an +unexplained phenomenon approaches the supernatural. All that is is +natural. Have men not been told in sacred writings that their every +movement is being recorded in the Book of Life, and do they not often +doubt because they can not grasp the problem? May not the greatest +scientist be the most apt skeptic?" + +"Yes," I replied. + +"You have just seen," he said, "the record of an act on earth, and in +detail it is being printed elsewhere in the Book of Eternity. If you +should return to earth's surface you could not by stating these facts +convince even the persons on that same ship, of your sanity. You could +not make them believe that hundreds of miles beneath, both their vessel +and its crew had been reproduced in fac simile, could you?" + +"No." + +"Were you to return to earth you could not convince men that you had +existed without breath, with a heart dead within you. If you should try +to impress on mankind the facts that you have learned in this journey, +what would be the result?" + +"I would probably be considered mentally deranged; this I have before +admitted." + +"Would it not be better then," he continued, "to go with me, by your own +free will, into the unknown future, which you need fear less than a +return to the scoffing multitude amid the storms of upper earth? You +know that I have not at any time deceived you. I have, as yet, only +opened before you a part of one rare page out of the boundless book of +nature; you have tasted of the sweets of which few persons in the flesh +have sipped, and I now promise you a further store of knowledge that is +rich beyond conception, if you wish to continue your journey." + +"What if I decide to return?" + +"I will retrace my footsteps and liberate you upon the surface of the +earth, as I have others, for few persons have courage enough to pass +this spot." + +"Binding me to an oath of secrecy?" + +[Illustration: "SPRUNG FROM THE EDGE OF THE CLIFF INTO THE ABYSS BELOW, +CARRYING ME WITH HIM INTO ITS DEPTHS."] + +"No," he answered; "for if you relate these events men will consider you +a madman, and the more clearly you attempt to explain the facts that you +have witnessed, the less they will listen to you; such has been the fate +of others." + +"It is, indeed, better for me to go with you," I said musingly; "to that +effect my mind is now made up, my course is clear, I am ready." + +With a motion so quick in conception, and rapid in execution that I was +taken altogether by surprise, with a grasp so powerful that I could not +have repelled him, had I expected the movement and tried to protect +myself, the strange man, or being beside me, threw his arms around my +body. Then, as a part of the same movement, he raised me bodily from the +stone, and before I could realize the nature of his intention, sprung +from the edge of the cliff into the abyss below, carrying me with him +into its depths. + + + + +CHAPTER XLVI. + + THE INNER CIRCLE, OR THE END OF GRAVITATION.--IN THE BOTTOMLESS + GULF. + + +I recall a whirling sensation, and an involuntary attempt at +self-preservation, in which I threw my arms wildly about with a vain +endeavor to clutch some form of solid body, which movement naturally +ended by a tight clasping of my guide in my arms, and locked together we +continued to speed down into the seven thousand miles of vacancy. +Instinctively I murmured a prayer of supplication, and awaited the +approaching hereafter, which, as I believed, would quickly witness the +extinction of my unhappy life, the end of my material existence; but the +moments (if time can be so divided when no sun marks the division) +multiplied without bodily shock or physical pain of any description; I +retained my consciousness. + +"Open your eyes," said my guide, "you have no cause for fear." + +I acquiesced in an incredulous, dazed manner. + +"This unusual experience is sufficient to unnerve you, but you need have +no fear, for you are not in corporal danger, and can relax your grasp on +my person." + +I cautiously obeyed him, misgivingly, and slowly loosened my hold, then +gazed about to find that we were in a sea of light, and that only light +was visible, that form of light which I have before said is an entity +without source of radiation. In one direction, however, a great gray +cloud hung suspended and gloomy, dark in the center, and shading +therefrom in a circle, to disappear entirely at an angle of about +forty-five degrees. + +"This is the earth-shelf from which we sprung," said the guide; "it will +soon disappear." + +Wherever I glanced this radiant exhalation, a peaceful, luminous +envelope, this rich, soft, beautiful white light appeared. The power of +bodily motion I found still a factor in my frame, obedient, as before, +to my will. I could move my limbs freely, and my intellect seemed to be +intact. Finally I became impressed with the idea that I must be at +perfect rest, but if so what could be the nature of the substance, or +material, upon which I was resting so complacently? No; this could not +be true. Then I thought: "I have been instantly killed by a painless +shock, and my spirit is in heaven;" but my earthly body and coarse, +ragged garments were palpable realities; the sense of touch, sight, and +hearing surely were normal, and a consideration of these facts dispelled +my first conception. + +"Where are we now?" + +"Moving into earth's central space." + +"I comprehend that a rushing wind surrounds us which is not +uncomfortable, but otherwise I experience no unusual sensation, and can +not realize but that I am at rest." + +"The sensation, as of a blowing wind, is in consequence of our rapid +motion, and results from the friction between our bodies and the +quiescent, attenuated atmosphere which exists even here, but this +atmosphere becomes less and less in amount until it will disappear +altogether at a short distance below us. Soon we will be in a perfect +calm, and although moving rapidly, to all appearances will be at +absolute rest." + +Naturally, perhaps, my mind attempted, as it so often had done, to urge +objections to his statements, and at first it occurred to me that I did +not experience the peculiar sinking away sensation in the chest that I +remembered follows, on earth, the downward motion of a person falling +from a great height, or moving rapidly in a swing, and I questioned him +on the absence of that phenomenon. + +"The explanation is simple," he said; "on the surface of the earth a +sudden motion, either upward or downward, disturbs the equilibrium of +the organs of respiration, and of the heart, and interferes with the +circulation of the blood. This produces a change in blood pressure +within the brain, and the 'sinking' sensation in the chest, or the +dizziness of the head of a person moving rapidly, or it may even result +in unconsciousness, and complete suspension of respiration, effects +which sometimes follow rapid movements, as in a person falling from a +considerable height. Here circumstances are entirely different. The +heart is quiet, the lungs in a comatose condition, and the blood +stagnant. Mental sensations, therefore, that result from a disturbed +condition of these organs are wanting, and, although we are experiencing +rapid motion, we are in the full possession of our physical selves, and +maintain our mental faculties unimpaired." + +Again I interposed an objection: + +"If, as you say, we are really passing through an attenuated atmosphere +with increasing velocity, according to the law that governs falling +bodies that are acted upon by gravity which continually accelerates +their motion, the friction between ourselves and the air will ultimately +become so intense as to wear away our bodies." + +"Upon the contrary," said he, "this attenuated atmosphere is decreasing +in density more rapidly than our velocity increases, and before long it +will have altogether disappeared. You can perceive that the wind, as you +call it, is blowing less violently than formerly; soon it will entirely +cease, as I have already predicted, and at that period, regardless of +our motion, we will appear to be stationary." + +Pondering over the final result of this strange experience I became +again alarmed, for accepting the facts to be as he stated, such motion +would ultimately carry us against the opposite crust of the earth, and +without a doubt the shock would end our existence. I inquired about +this, to me, self-evident fact, and he replied: + +"Long before we reach the opposite crust of the earth, our motion will +be arrested." + +I had begun now to feel a self-confidence that is surprising as I recall +that remarkable position in connection with my narrow experience in true +science, and can say that instead of despondency, I really enjoyed an +elated sensation, a curious exhilaration, a feeling of delight, which I +have no words to describe. Life disturbances and mental worry seemed to +have completely vanished, and it appeared as if, with mental perception +lucid, I were under the influence of a powerful soporific; the cares of +mortals had disappeared. After a while the wind ceased to blow, as my +guide had predicted, and with the suspension of that factor, all that +remained to remind me of earth phenomena had vanished. There was no +motion of material, nothing to mar or disturb the most perfect peace +imaginable; I was so exquisitely happy that I now actually feared some +change might occur to interrupt that quiescent existence. It was as a +deep, sweet sleep in which, with faculties alive, unconsciousness was +self-conscious, peaceful, restful, blissful. I listlessly turned my +eyes, searching space in all directions--to meet vacancy everywhere, +absolute vacancy. I took from my pocket (into which I had hastily thrust +it) the bar of iron, and released it; the metal remained motionless +beside me. + +"Traveling through this expanse with the rapidity of ourselves," said my +guide. + +I closed my eyes and endeavored to convince myself that I was +dreaming--vainly, however. I opened my eyes, and endeavored to convince +myself that I was moving, equally in vain. I became oblivious to +everything save the delicious sensation of absolute rest that enveloped +and pervaded my being. + +"I am neither alive nor dead," I murmured; "neither asleep nor awake; +neither moving nor at rest, and neither standing, reclining, nor +sitting. If I exist I can not bring evidence to prove that fact, neither +can I prove that I am dead." + +"Can any man prove either of these premises?" said the guide. + +"I have never questioned the matter," said I; "it is a self-evident +fact." + +"Know then," said he, "that existence is a theory, and that man is +incapable of demonstrating that he has a being. All evidences of mortal +life are only as the phantasms of hallucination. As a moment in +dreamland may span a life of time, the dreamer altogether unconscious +that it is a dream, so may life itself be a shadow, the vision of a +distempered fancy, the illusion of a floating thought." + +"Are pain, pleasure, and living, imaginary creations?" I asked +facetiously. + +"Is there a madman who does not imagine, as facts, what others agree +upon as hallucinations peculiar to himself? Is it not impossible to +distinguish between different gradations of illusions, and is it not, +therefore, possible that even self-existence is an illusion? What +evidence can any man produce to prove that his idea of life is not a +madman's dream?" + +"Proceed," I said. + +"At another time, perhaps," he remarked; "we have reached the Inner +Circle, the Sphere of Rest, the line of gravity, and now our bodies have +no weight; at this point we begin to move with decreased speed, we will +soon come to a quiescent condition, a state of rest, and then start back +on our rebound." + + + + +CHAPTER XLVII. + + HEARING WITHOUT EARS.--"WHAT WILL BE THE END?" + + +A flood of recollections came over me, a vivid remembrance of my +earth-learned school philosophy. "I rebel again," I said, "I deny your +statements. We can neither be moving, nor can we be out of the +atmosphere. Fool that I have been not to have sooner and better used my +reasoning faculties, not to have at once rejected your statements +concerning the disappearance of the atmosphere." + +"I await your argument." + +"Am I not speaking? Is other argument necessary? Have I not heard your +voice, and that, too, since you asserted that we had left the +atmosphere?" + +"Continue." + +"Have not men demonstrated, and is it not accepted beyond the shadow of +a doubt, that sound is produced by vibrations of the air?" + +"You speak truly; as men converse on surface earth." + +"This medium--the air--in wave vibrations, strikes upon the drum of the +ear, and thus impresses the brain," I continued. + +"I agree that such is the teachings of your philosophy; go on." + +"It is unnecessary; you admit the facts, and the facts refute you; there +must be an atmosphere to convey sound." + +"Can not you understand that you are not now on the surface of the +earth? Will you never learn that the philosophy of your former life is +not philosophy here? That earth-bound science is science only with +surface-earth men? Here science is a fallacy. All that you have said is +true of surface earth, but your argument is invalid where every +condition is different from the conditions that prevail thereon. You use +the organs of speech in addressing me as you once learned to use them, +but such physical efforts are unnecessary to convey sense-impressions +in this condition of rest and complacency, and you waste energy in +employing them. You assert and believe that the air conveys sound; you +have been taught such theories in support of a restricted philosophy; +but may I ask you if a bar of iron, a stick of wood, a stream of water, +indeed any substance known to you placed against the ear will not do the +same, and many substances even better than the atmosphere?" + +"This I admit." + +"Will you tell me how the vibration of any of these bodies impresses the +seat of hearing?" + +"It moves the atmosphere which strikes upon the tympanum of the ear." + +"You have not explained the phenomenon; how does that tympanic membrane +communicate with the brain?" + +"By vibrations, I understand," I answered, and then I began to feel that +this assertion was a simple statement, and not sufficient to explain how +matter acts upon mind, whatever mind may be, and I hesitated. + +"Pray do not stop," he said; "how is it that a delicate vibrating film +of animal membrane can receive and convey sound to a pulpy organic mass +that is destitute of elasticity, and which consists mostly of water, for +the brain is such in structure, and vibrations like those you mention, +can not, by your own theory, pass through it as vibrations through a +sonorous material, or even reach from the tympanum of the ear to the +nearest convolution of the brain." + +"I can not explain this, I admit," was my reply. + +"Pass that feature, then, and concede that this tympanic membrane is +capable of materially affecting brain tissue by its tiny vibrations, how +can that slimy, pulpy formation mostly made up of water, communicate +with the soul of man, for you do not claim, I hope, that brain material +is either mind, conscience, or soul?" + +I confessed my inability to answer or even to theorize on the subject, +and recognizing my humiliation, I begged him to open the door to such +knowledge. + +"The vibration of the atmosphere is necessary to man, as earthy man is +situated," he said. "The coarser attributes known as matter formations +are the crudities of nature, dust swept from space. Man's organism is +made up of the roughest and lowest kind of space materials; he is +surrounded by a turbulent medium, the air, and these various conditions +obscure or destroy the finer attributes of his ethereal nature, and +prevent a higher spiritual evolution. His spiritual self is enveloped in +earth, and everywhere thwarted by earthy materials. He is insensible to +the finer influences of surrounding media by reason of the overwhelming +necessity of a war for existence with the grossly antagonistic +materialistic confusion that everywhere confronts, surrounds, and +pervades him. Such a conflict with extraneous matter is necessary in +order that he may retain his earthy being, for, to remain a mortal, he +must work to keep body and soul together. His organs of communication +and perception are of 'earth, earthy'; his nature is cast in a mold of +clay, and the blood within him gurgles and struggles in his brain, a +whirlpool of madly rushing liquid substances, creating disorder in the +primal realms of consciousness. He is ignorant of this inward turmoil +because he has never been without it, as ignorant as he is of the rank +odors of the gases of the atmosphere that he has always breathed, and +can not perceive because of the benumbed olfactory nerves. Thus it is +that all his subtler senses are inevitably blunted and perverted, and +his vulgar nature preponderates. The rich essential part of his own self +is unknown, even to himself. The possibility of delight and pleasure in +an acquaintance with the finer attributes of his own soul is clouded by +this shrouding materialistic presence that has, through countless +generations, become a part of man, and he even derives most of his +mental pleasures from such acts as tend to encourage the animal +passions. Thus it follows that the sensitive, highly developed, +extremely attenuated part of his inner being has become subservient to +the grosser elements. The baser part of his nature has become dominant. +He remains insensible to impressions from the highly developed +surrounding media which, being incapable of reaching his inner organism +other than through mechanical agencies, are powerless to impress. Alas, +only the coarser conditions of celestial phenomena can affect him, and +the finer expressions of the universe of life and force are lost to his +spiritual apprehension." + +"Would you have me view the soul of man as I would a material being?" + +"Surely," he answered; "it exists practically as does the more gross +forms of matter, and in exact accord with natural laws. Associated with +lower forms of matter, the soul of man is a temporary slave to the +enveloping substance. The ear of man as now constituted can hear only by +means of vibrations of such media as conduct vibrations in matter--for +example, the air; but were man to be deprived of the organs of hearing, +and then exist for generations subject to evolutions from within, +whereby the acuteness of the spirit would become intensified, or +permitted to perform its true function, he would learn to communicate +soul to soul, not only with mankind, but with beings celestial that +surround, and are now unknown to him. This he would accomplish through a +medium of communication that requires neither ear nor tongue. To an +extent your present condition is what men call supernatural, although in +reality you have been divested of only a part of your former material +grossness, which object has been accomplished under perfectly natural +conditions; your mind no longer requires the material medium by which to +converse with the spiritual. We are conversing now by thought contact, +there is no atmosphere here, your tongue moves merely from habit, and +not from necessity. I am reading your mind as you in turn are mine, +neither of us is speaking as you were accustomed to speak." + +"I can not accept that assertion," I said; "it is to me impossible to +realize the existence of such conditions." + +"As it is for any man to explain any phenomenon in life," he said. "Do +you not remember that you ceased to respire, and were not conscious of +the fact?" + +"Yes." + +"That your heart had stopped beating, your blood no longer circulated, +while you were in ignorance of the change?" + +"That is also true." + +"Now I will prove my last assertion. Close your mouth, and think of a +question you wish to propound." + +I did so, and to my perfect understanding and comprehension he answered +me with closed mouth. + +"What will be the end?" I exclaimed, or thought aloud. "I am possessed +of nearly all the attributes that I once supposed inherent only in a +corpse, yet I live, I see clearly, I hear plainly, I have a quickened +being, and a mental perception intensified and exquisite. Why and how +has this been accomplished? What will be the result of this eventful +journey?" + +"Restful, you should say," he remarked; "the present is restful, the end +will be peace. Now I will give you a lesson concerning the words Why and +How that you have just used." + + + + +CHAPTER XLVIII. + + WHY AND HOW.--"THE STRUGGLING RAY OF LIGHT FROM THOSE FARTHERMOST + OUTREACHES." + + +"Confronting mankind there stands a sphinx--the vast Unknown. However +well a man may be informed concerning a special subject, his farthermost +outlook concerning that subject is bounded by an impenetrable infinity." + +"Granted," I interrupted, "that mankind has not by any means attained a +condition of perfection, yet you must admit that questions once regarded +as inscrutable problems are now illuminated by the discoveries of +science." + +"And the 'discovered,' as I will show, has only transferred ignorance to +other places," he replied. "Science has confined its labors to +superficial descriptions, not the elucidation of the fundamental causes +of phenomena." + +"I can not believe you, and question if you can prove what you say." + +"It needs no argument to illustrate the fact. Science boldly heralds her +descriptive discoveries, and as carefully ignores her explanatory +failures. She dare not attempt to explain the why even of the simplest +things. Why does the robin hop, and the snipe walk? Do not tell me this +is beneath the notice of men of science, for science claims that no +subject is outside her realm. Search your works on natural history and +see if your man of science, who describes the habits of these birds, +explains the reason for this evident fact. How does the tree-frog change +its color? Do not answer me in the usual superficial manner concerning +the reflection of light, but tell me why the skin of that creature is +enabled to perform this function? How does the maple-tree secrete a +sweet, wholesome sap, and deadly nightshade, growing in the same soil +and living on the same elements, a poison? What is it that your +scientific men find in the cells of root, or rootlet, to indicate that +one may produce a food, and the other a noxious secretion that can +destroy life? Your microscopist will discuss cell tissues learnedly, +will speak fluently of physiological structure, will describe organic +intercellular appearances, but ignore all that lies beyond. Why does the +nerve in the tongue respond to a sensation, and produce on the mind the +sense of taste? What is it that enables the nerve in the nose to perform +its discriminative function? You do not answer. Silver is sonorous, lead +is not; why these intrinsic differences? Aluminum is a light metal, gold +a heavy one; what reason can you offer to explain the facts other than +the inadequate term density? Mercury at ordinary temperature is a +liquid; can your scientist tell why it is not a solid? Of course anyone +can say because its molecules move freely on each other. Such an answer +evades the issue; why do they so readily exert this action? Copper +produces green or blue salts; nickel produces green salts; have you ever +been told why they observe these rules? Water solidifies at about +thirty-two degrees above your so-called zero; have you ever asked an +explanation of your scientific authority why it selects that +temperature? Alcohol dissolves resins, water dissolves gums; have you +any explanation to offer why either liquid should dissolve anything, +much less exercise a preference? One species of turtle has a soft shell, +another a hard shell; has your authority in natural history told you why +this is so? The albumen of the egg of the hen hardens at one hundred and +eighty degrees Fahrenheit; the albumen of the eggs of some turtles can +not be easily coagulated by boiling the egg in pure water; why these +differences? Iceland spar and dog-tooth spar are identical, both are +crystallized carbonate of lime; has your mineralogist explained why this +one substance selects these different forms of crystallization, or why +any crystal of any substance is ever produced? Why is common salt white +and charcoal black? Why does the dog lap and the calf drink? One child +has black hair, another brown, a third red; why? Search your physiology +for the answer and see if your learned authority can tell you why the +life-current makes these distinctions? Why do the cells of the liver +secrete bile, and those of the mouth saliva? Why does any cell secrete +anything? A parrot can speak; what has your anatomist found in the +structure of the brain, tongue, or larynx of that bird to explain why +this accomplishment is not as much the birthright of the turkey? The +elements that form morphine and strychnine, also make bread, one a food, +the other a poison; can your chemist offer any reason for the fact that +morphine and bread possess such opposite characters? The earth has one +satellite, Saturn is encompassed by a ring; it is not sufficient to +attempt to refer to these familiar facts; tell me, does your earth-bound +astronomer explain why the ring of Saturn was selected for that planet? +Why are the salts of aluminum astringent, the salts of magnesium +cathartic, and the salts of arsenicum deadly poison? Ask your +toxicologist, and silence will be your answer. Why will some substances +absorb moisture from the air, and liquefy, while others become as dry as +dust under like conditions? Why does the vapor of sulphuric ether +inflame, while the vapor of chloroform is not combustible, under +ordinary conditions? Oil of turpentine, oil of lemon, and oil of +bergamot differ in odor, yet they are composed of the same elements, +united in the same proportion; why should they possess such distinctive, +individual characteristics? Further search of the chemist will explain +only to shove the word why into another space, as ripples play with and +toss a cork about. Why does the newly-born babe cry for food before its +intellect has a chance for worldly education? Why--" + +"Stop," I interrupted; "these questions are absurd." + +"So some of your scientific experts would assert," he replied; "perhaps +they would even become indignant at my presumption in asking them, and +call them childish; nevertheless these men can not satisfy their own +cravings in attempting to search the illimitable, and in humiliation, or +irritation, they must ignore the word Why. That word Why to man +dominates the universe. It covers all phenomena, and thrusts inquiry +back from every depth. Science may trace a line of thought into the +infinitely little, down, down, beyond that which is tangible, and at +last in that far distant inter-microscopical infinity, monstrous by +reason of its very minuteness, must rest its labors against the word +Why. Man may carry his superficial investigation into the immeasurably +great, beyond our sun and his family of satellites, into the outer +depths of the solar system, of which our sun is a part, past his sister +stars, and out again into the depths of the cold space channels beyond; +into other systems and out again, until at last the nebulae shrink and +disappear in the gloom of thought-conjecture, and as the straggling ray +of light from those farthermost outreaches, too feeble to tell of its +origin, or carry a story of nativity, enters his eye, he covers his face +and rests his intellect against the word Why. From the remote space +caverns of the human intellect, beyond the field of perception, whether +we appeal to conceptions of the unknowable in the infinitely little, or +the immeasurably great, we meet a circle of adamant, as impenetrable as +the frozen cliffs of the Antarctic, that incomprehensible word--Why! + +"Why did the light wave spring into his field of perception by +reflection from the microscopic speck in the depths of littleness, on +the one hand; and how did this sliver of the sun's ray originate in the +depths of inter-stellar space, on the other?" + +I bowed my head. + +[Illustration: DESCRIPTION OF JOURNEY FROM K. [KENTUCKY] TO P.--"THE END +OF EARTH."] + + + + +CHAPTER XLIX. + + OSCILLATING THROUGH SPACE.--EARTH'S SHELL ABOVE ME.[14] + + [14] For detail illustration of the earth shell, as explained in + this chapter, see the plate. + +Continued my companion: + +"We have just now crossed the line of gravitation. We were drawn +downward until at a certain point, to which I called your attention at +the time, we recently crossed the curved plane of perfect rest, where +gravity ceases, and by our momentum are now passing beyond that plane, +and are now pressing against the bond of gravitation again. This shell +in which gravity centers is concentric with that of the earth's +exterior, and is about seven hundred miles below its surface. Each +moment of time will now behold us carried farther from this sphere of +attraction, and thus the increasing distance increases the force of the +restraining influence. Our momentum is thus retarded, and consequently +the rapidity of our motion is continually decreasing. At last when the +forces of gravitation and mass motion neutralize each other, we will +come to a state of rest again. When our motion in this direction ceases, +however, gravitation, imperishable, continues to exert its equalizing +influence, the result being a start in the opposite direction, and we +will then reverse our course, and retrace our path, crossing again the +central band of attraction, to retreat and fly to the opposite side of +the power of greater attraction, into the expanse from which we came, +and that is now above us." + +"Can this oscillation ever end? Are we to remain thus, as an unceasing +pendulum, traversing space, to and fro across this invisible shell of +attraction from now until the end of time?" + +"No; there are influences to prevent such an experience; one being the +friction of the attenuated atmosphere into which we plunge each time +that we cross the point of greater gravity, and approach the crust of +the earth. Thus each succeeding vibration is in shorter lines, and at +last we will come to a state of perfect rest at the center of gravity." + +"I can only acquiesce in meek submission, powerless even to argue, for I +perceive that the foundations for my arguments must be based on those +observed conditions of natural laws formerly known to me, and that do +not encompass us here; I accept, therefore, your statements as I have +several times heretofore, because I can not refute them. I must close my +eyes to the future, and accept it on faith; I cease to mourn the past, I +can not presage the end." + +"Well spoken," he replied; "and while we are undergoing this necessary +delay, this oscillating motion, to which we must both submit before we +can again continue our journey, I will describe some conditions inherent +in the three spheres of which the rind of the earth is composed, for I +believe that you are now ready to receive and profit by facts that +heretofore you would have rejected in incredulity. + +"The outer circle, coat, or contour, of which you have heard others +besides myself speak, is the surface crust of our globe, the great +sphere of land and water on which man is at present an inhabitant. This +is the exposed part of the earth, and is least desirable as a residence. +It is affected by grievous atmospheric changes, and restless physical +conditions, such as men, in order to exist in, must fortify against at +the expense of much bodily and mental energy, which leads them, +necessarily, to encourage the animal at the expense of the ethereal. The +unmodified rays of the sun produce aerial convulsions that are marked by +thermal contrasts, and other meteorological variations, during which the +heat of summer and the cold of winter follow each other periodically and +unceasingly. These successive solar pulsations generate winds, calms, +and storms, and in order to protect himself against such exposures and +changes in material surroundings, man toils, suffers, and comes to +believe that the doom, if not the object, of life on earth is the +preservation of the earthy body. All conditions and phases of nature on +this outer crust are in an angry struggle, and this commotion envelops +the wretched home, and governs the life of man. The surrounding cyclones +of force and matter have distorted the peaceful side of what human +nature might be until the shortened life of man has become a passionate, +deplorable, sorrowful struggle for physical existence, from the cradle +to the grave. Of these facts man is practically ignorant, although each +individual is aware he is not satisfied with his condition. If his +afflictions were obvious to himself, his existence would be typical of a +life of desolation and anguish. You know full well that the condition of +the outer sphere is, as I have described it, a bleak, turbulent surface, +the roof of the earth on which man exists, as a creeping parasite does +on a rind of fruit, exposed to the fury of the ever-present earth +storms. + +"The central circle, or medial sphere, the shell, or layer of +gravitation, lies conformably to the outer configuration of the globe, +about seven hundred miles towards its center. It stretches beneath the +outer circle (sphere) as a transparent sheet, a shell of energy, the +center of gravitation. The material crust of the earth rests on this +placid sphere of vigor, excepting in a few places, where, as in the +crevice we have entered, gaps, or crevices, in matter exist, beginning +from near the outer surface and extending diagonally through the medial +and inner spheres into the intra-earth space beyond. This medial sphere +is a form of pure force, a disturbance of motion, and although without +weight it induces, or conserves, gravity. It is invisible to mortal +eyes, and is frictionless, but really is the bone of the earth. On it +matter, the retarded energy of space, space dust, has arranged itself as +dust collects on a bubble of water. This we call matter. The material +portion of the earth is altogether a surface film, an insignificant skin +over the sphere of purity, the center of gravitation. Although men +naturally imagine that the density and stability of the earth is +dependent on the earthy particles, of which his own body is a part, such +is not the case. Earth, as man upon the outer surface, can now know it, +is an aggregation of material particles, a shell resting on this +globular sphere of medial force, which attracts solid matter from both +the outer and inner surfaces of earth, forming thereby the middle of the +three concentric spheres. This middle sphere is the reverse of the +outer, or surface, layer in one respect, for, while it attracts solids, +gases are repelled by it, and thus the atmosphere becomes less dense as +we descend from the outer surfaces of the earth. The greater degree of +attraction for gases belongs, therefore, to the earth's exterior +surface." + +"Exactly at the earth's exterior surface?" I asked. + +"Practically so. The greatest density of the air is found a few miles +below the surface of the ocean; the air becomes more attenuated as we +proceed in either direction from that point. Were this not the case, the +atmosphere that surrounds the earth would be quickly absorbed into its +substance, or expand into space and disappear." + +"Scientific men claim that the atmosphere is forty-five geographical +miles in depth over the earth's surface," I said. + +"If the earth is eight thousand miles in diameter, how long would such +an atmosphere, a skin only, over a great ball, resist such attraction, +and remain above the globe? Were it really attracted towards its center +it would disappear as a film of water sinks into a sponge." + +"Do you know," I interrupted, "that if these statements were made to men +they would not be credited? Scientific men have calculated the weights +of the planets, and have estimated therefrom the density of the earth, +showing it to be solid, and knowing its density, they would, on this +consideration alone, discredit your story concerning the earth shell." + +[Illustration: THE EARTH AND ITS ATMOSPHERE. + +The space between the inner and the outer lines represents the +atmosphere upon the earth. The depth to which man has penetrated the +earth is less than the thickness of either line, as compared with the +diameter of the inner circle.] + +"You mistake, as you will presently see. It is true that man's ingenuity +has enabled him to ascertain the weights and densities of the planets, +but do you mean to say that these scientific results preclude the +possibility of a hollow interior of the heavenly bodies?" + +"I confess, I do." + +"You should know then, that what men define as density of the earth, is +but an average value, which is much higher than that exhibited by +materials in the surface layers of the earth crust, such as come within +the scrutiny of man. This fact allows mortals of upper earth but a vague +conjecture as to the nature of the seemingly much heavier substances +that exist in the interior of the earth. Have men any data on hand to +show exactly how matter is distributed below the limited zone that is +accessible to their investigations?" + +"I think not." + +"You may safely accept, then, that the earth shell I have described to +you embraces in a compact form the total weight of the earth. Even +though men take for granted that matter fills out the whole interior of +our planet, such material would not, if distributed as on earth's +surface, give the earth the density he has determined for it." + +"I must acquiesce in your explanations." + +"Let us now go a step further in this argument. What do you imagine is +the nature of those heavier substances whose existence deep within the +earth is suggested by the exceedingly high total density observed by man +on upper earth?" + +"I am unable to explain, especially as the materials surrounding us +here, seemingly, do not differ much from those with which my former life +experience has made me acquainted." + +"Your observation is correct, there is no essential difference in this +regard. But as we are descending into the interior of this globe, and +are approaching the central seat of the shell of energy, the opposing +force into which we plunge becomes correspondingly stronger, and as a +consequence, matter pressed within it becomes really lighter. Your own +experience about your weight gradually disappearing during this journey +should convince you of the correctness of this fact." + +"Indeed, it does," I admitted. + +"You will then readily understand, that the heavy material to which +surface-bred mortals allude as probably constituting the interior of the +earth, is, in fact, nothing but the manifestation of a matter-supporting +force, as exemplified in the sphere of attractive energy, the seat of +which we are soon to encounter on our journey. Likewise the mutual +attraction of the heavenly bodies is not a property solely of their +material part, but an expression in which both the force-spheres and the +matter collected thereon take part. + +"Tell me more of the sphere in which gravitation is intensest." + +"Of that you are yet to judge," he replied. "When we come to a state of +rest in the stratum of greater gravity, we will then traverse this +crevice in the sheet of energy until we reach the edge of the earth +crust, after which we will ascend towards the interior of the earth, +until we reach the inner crust, which is, as before explained, a surface +of matter that lies conformably with the external crust of the earth, +and which is the interior surface of the solid part of the earth. There +is a concave world beneath the outer convex world." + +"I can not comprehend you. You speak of continuing our journey towards +the center of the earth, and at the same time you say that after leaving +the Median Circle, we will then ascend, which seems contradictory." + +"I have endeavored to show you that matter is resting in or on a central +sphere of energy, which attracts solid bodies towards its central plane. +From this fundamental and permanent seat of gravity we may regard our +progress as up-hill, whether we proceed towards the hollow center or +towards the outer surface of the globe. If a stick weighted on one end +is floated upright in water, an insect on the top of the stick above the +water will fall to the surface of the liquid, and yet the same insect +will rise to the surface of the water if liberated beneath the water at +the bottom of the stick. This comparison is not precisely applicable to +our present position, for there is no change in medium here, but it may +serve as an aid to thought and may indicate to you that which I wish to +convey when I say 'we ascend' in both directions as we pull against +Gravity. The terms up and down are not absolute, but relative." + +Thus we continued an undefined period in mind conversation; and of the +information gained in my experience of that delightful condition, I have +the privilege now to record but a small portion, and even this statement +of facts appears, as I glance backward into my human existence, as if it +may seem to others to border on the incredible. During all that time--I +know not how long the period may have been--we were alternately passing +and repassing through the partition of division (the sphere of gravity) +that separated the inner from the outer substantial crust of earth. With +each vibration our line of travel became shorter and shorter, like the +decreasing oscillations of a pendulum, and at last I could no longer +perceive the rushing motion of a medium like the air. Finally my guide +said that we were at perfect rest at a point in that mysterious medial +sphere which, at a distance of about seven hundred miles below the level +of the sea, concentrates in its encompassing curvature, the mighty power +of gravitation. We were fixed seven hundred miles from the outer surface +of the globe, but more than three thousand from the center. + + + + +CHAPTER L. + + MY WEIGHT ANNIHILATED.--"TELL ME," I CRIED IN ALARM, "IS THIS TO + BE A LIVING TOMB?" + + +"If you will reflect upon the condition we are now in, you will perceive +that it must be one of unusual scientific interest. If you imagine a +body at rest, in an intangible medium, and not in contact with a gas or +any substance capable of creating friction, that body by the prevailing +theory of matter and motion, unless disturbed by an impulse from +without, would remain forever at absolute rest. We now occupy such a +position. In whatever direction we may now be situated, it seems to us +that we are upright. We are absolutely without weight, and in a +perfectly frictionless medium. Should an inanimate body begin to revolve +here, it would continue that motion forever. If our equilibrium should +now be disturbed, and we should begin to move in a direction coinciding +with the plane in which we are at rest, we would continue moving with +the same rapidity in that direction until our course was arrested by +some opposing object. We are not subject to attraction of matter, for at +this place gravitation robs matter of its gravity, and has no influence +on extraneous substances. We are now in the center of gravitation, the +'Sphere of Rest.'" + +"Let me think it out," I replied, and reasoning from his remarks, I +mentally followed the chain to its sequence, and was startled as +suddenly it dawned upon me that if his argument was true we must remain +motionless in this spot until death (could beings in conditions like +ourselves die beyond the death we had already achieved) or the end of +time. We were at perfect rest, in absolute vacancy, there being, as I +now accepted without reserve, neither gas, liquid, nor solid, that we +could employ as a lever to start us into motion. "Tell me," I cried in +alarm, "is this to be a living tomb? Are we to remain suspended here +forever, and if not, by what method can we hope to extricate ourselves +from this state of perfect quiescence?" He again took the bar of iron +from my hand, and cautiously gave it a whirling motion, releasing it as +he did so. It revolved silently and rapidly in space without support or +pivot. + +"So it would continue," he remarked, "until the end of time, were it not +for the fact that I could not possibly release it in a condition of +absolute horizontal rest. There is a slight, slow, lateral motion that +will carry the object parallel with this sheet of energy to the material +side of this crevice, when its motion will 'be arrested by the earth it +strikes.'" + +"That I can understand," I replied, and then a ray of light broke upon +me. "Had not Cavendish demonstrated that, when a small ball of lead is +suspended on a film of silk, near a mass of iron or lead, it is drawn +towards the greater body? We will be drawn by gravity to the nearest +cliff," I cried. + +"You mistake," he answered; "Cavendish performed his experiments on the +surface of the earth, and there gravity is always ready to start an +object into motion. Here objects have no weight, and neither attract nor +repel each other. The force of cohesion holds together substances that +are in contact, but as gravitation can not now affect matter out of +molecular contact with other forms of matter, because of the equilibrium +of all objects, so it may be likewise said, that bodies out of contact +have at this point no attraction for one another. If they possessed this +attribute, long ago we would have been drawn towards the earth cliff +with inconceivable velocity. However, if by any method our bodies should +receive an impulse sufficient to start them into motion, ever so gently +though it be, we in like manner would continue to move in this +frictionless medium--until--" + +"We would strike the material boundary of this crevice," I interrupted. + +"Yes; but can you conceive of any method by which such voluntary motion +can now be acquired?" + +"No." + +"Does it not seem to you," he continued, "that when skillful mechanics +on the earth's surface are able to adjust balances so delicately that in +the face of friction of metal, friction of air, inertia of mass, the +thousandth part of a grain can produce motion of the great beams and +pans of such balances, we, in this location where there is no friction +and no opposing medium--none at all--should be able to induce mass +motion?" + +"I can not imagine how it is possible, unless we shove each other apart. +There is no other object to push against,--but why do you continue to +hold me so tightly?" I interrupted myself to ask, for he was clasping me +firmly again. + +"In order that you may not leave me," he replied. + +"Come, you trifle," I said somewhat irritated; "you have just argued +that we are immovably suspended in a frictionless medium, and fixed in +our present position; you ask me to suggest some method by which we can +create motion, and I fail to devise it, and almost in the same sentence +you say that you fear that I will leave you. Cease your incongruities, +and advise with me rationally." + +"Where is the bar of iron?" he asked. + +I turned towards its former location; it had disappeared. + +"Have you not occasionally felt," he asked, "that in your former life +your mind was a slave in an earthly prison? Have you never, especially +in your dreams, experienced a sensation of mental confinement?" + +"Yes." + +"Know then," he replied, "that there is a connection between the mind +and the body of mortal beings, in which matter confines mind, and yet +mind governs matter. How else could the will of men and animals impart +voluntary motion to earthy bodies? With beings situated as are the +animals on the surface of the earth, mind alone can not overcome the +friction of matter. A person could suspend himself accurately on a +string, or balance himself on a pivot, and wish with the entire force of +his mind that his body would revolve, and still he would remain at +perfect rest." + +"Certainly. A man would be considered crazy who attempted it," I +answered. + +"Notwithstanding your opinion, in time to come, human beings on the +surface of the earth will investigate in this very direction," he +replied, "and in the proper time mental evolution will, by +experimentation, prove the fact of this mind and matter connection, and +demonstrate that even extraneous matter may be made subservient to mind +influences. On earth, mind acts on the matter of one's body to produce +motion of matter, and the spirit within, which is a slave to matter, +moves with it. Contraries rule here. Mind force acts on pure space +motion, moving itself and matter with it, and that, too, without any +exertion of the material body which now is a nonentity, mind here being +the master." + +"How can I believe you?" I replied. + +"Know, then," he said, "that we are in motion now, propelled by my will +power." + +"Prove it." + +"You may prove it yourself," he said; "but be careful, or we will +separate forever." + +Releasing his grasp, he directed me to wish that I were moving directly +to the right. I did so; the distance widened between us. + +"Wish intensely that you would move in a circle about me." + +I acquiesced, and at once my body began to circle around him. + +"Call for the bar of iron." + +I did as directed, and soon it came floating out of space into my very +hand. + +"I am amazed," I ejaculated; "yes, more surprised at these phenomena +than at anything that has preceded." + +"You need not be; you move now under the influences of natural laws that +are no more obscure or wonderful than those under which you have always +existed. Instead of exercising its influence on a brain, and thence +indirectly on a material body, your mind force is exerting its action +through energy on matter itself. Matter is here subservient. It is +nearly the same as vacuity, mind being a comprehensive reality. The +positions we have heretofore occupied have been reversed, and mind now +dominates. Know, that as your body is now absolutely without weight, and +is suspended in a frictionless medium, the most delicate balance of a +chemist can not approach in sensitiveness the adjustment herein +exemplified. Your body does not weigh the fraction of the millionth part +of a grain, and where there is neither material weight nor possible +friction, even the attrition that on surface earth results from a needle +point that rests on an agate plate is immeasurably greater in +comparison. Pure mind energy is capable of disturbing the equilibrium +of matter in our situation, as you have seen exemplified by our +movements and extraneous materials, 'dead matter' obeys the spiritual. +The bar of iron obeyed your call, the spiritless metal is subservient to +the demands of intelligence. But, come, we must continue our journey." + +Grasping me again, he exclaimed: "Wish with all intensity that we may +move forward, and I will do the same." + +I did so. + +"We are now uniting our energies in the creation of motion," he said; +"we are moving rapidly, and with continually accelerated speed; before +long we will perceive the earthy border of this chasm." + +And yet it seemed to me that we were at perfect rest. + + + + +CHAPTER LI. + + IS THAT A MORTAL?--"THE END OF EARTH." + + +At length I perceived, in the distance, a crescent-shaped ring of silver +luster. It grew broader, expanding beneath my gaze, and appeared to +approach rapidly. + +"Hold; cease your desire for onward motion," said the guide; "we +approach too rapidly. Quick, wish with all your mind that you were +motionless." + +I did so, and we rested in front of a ridge of brilliant material, that +in one direction, towards the earth's outer circle, broadened until it +extended upward as far as the eye could reach in the form of a bold +precipice, and in the other towards the inner world, shelved gradually +away as an ocean beach might do. + +"Tell me, what is this barrier?" I asked. + +"It is the bisected edge of the earth crevice," he said. "That +overhanging upright bluff reaches towards the external surface of the +earth, the land of your former home. That shelving approach beneath is +the entrance to the 'Inner Circle,' the concavity of our world." + +Again we approached the visible substance, moving gently under the will +of my guide. The shore became more distinctly outlined as we advanced, +inequalities that were before unnoticed became perceptible, and the +silver-like material resolved itself into ordinary earth. Then I +observed, upright and motionless, on the edge of the shore that reached +toward the inner shell of earth, towards that "Unknown Country" beyond, +a figure in human form. + +"Is that a mortal?" I asked. "Are we nearing humanity again?" + +"It is a being of mortal build, a messenger who awaits our coming, and +who is to take charge of your person and conduct you farther," he +replied. "It has been my duty to crush, to overcome by successive +lessons your obedience to your dogmatic, materialistic earth philosophy, +and bring your mind to comprehend that life on earth's surface is only a +step towards a brighter existence, which may, when selfishness is +conquered, in a time to come, be gained by mortal man, and while he is +in the flesh. The vicissitudes through which you have recently passed +should be to you an impressive lesson, but the future holds for you a +lesson far more important, the knowledge of spiritual, or mental +evolution which men may yet approach; but that I would not presume to +indicate now, even to you. Your earthly body has become a useless shell, +and when you lay it aside, as you soon can do, as I may say you are +destined to do, you will feel a relief as if an abnormal excrescence had +been removed; but you can not now comprehend such a condition. That +change will not occur until you have been further educated in the purely +occult secrets for which I have partly prepared you, and the material +part of your organism will at any time thereafter come and go at command +of your will. On that adjacent shore, the person you have observed, your +next teacher, awaits you." + +"Am I to leave you?" I cried in despair, for suddenly the remembrance of +home came into my mind, and the thought, as by a flash, that this being +alone could guide me back to earth. "Recall your words, do not desert me +now after leading me beyond even alchemistic imaginings into this +subterranean existence, the result of what you call your natural, or +pure, ethereal lessons." + +He shook his head. + +"I beg of you, I implore of you, not to abandon me now; have you no +compassion, no feeling? You are the one tie that binds me to earth +proper, the only intelligence that I know to be related to a human in +all this great, bright blank." + +Again he shook his head. + +[Illustration: "SUSPENDED IN VACANCY, HE SEEMED TO FLOAT."] + +"Hearken to my pleadings. Listen to my allegation. You stood on the edge +of the brook spring in Kentucky, your back to the darkness of that +gloomy cavern, and I voluntarily gave you my hand as to a guide; I +turned from the verdure of the earth, the sunshine of the past, and +accompanied you into as dismal a cavern as man ever entered. I have +since alternately rebelled at your methods, and again have trusted you +implicitly as we passed through scenes that rational imagination +scarce could conjure. I have successively lost my voice, my weight, my +breath, my heart throb, and my soul for aught I know. Now an unknown +future awaits me on the one hand, in which you say my body is to +disappear, and on the other you are standing, the only link between +earth and my self-existence, a semi-mortal it may be, to speak mildly, +for God only knows your true rank in life's scale. Be you man or not, +you brought me here, and are responsible for my future safety. I plead +and beg of you either to go on with me into the forthcoming uncertainty +'Within the Unknown Country' to which you allude, or carry me back to +upper earth." + +He shook his head again, and motioned me onward, and his powerful will +overcoming my feeble resistance, impelled me towards that mysterious +shore. I floated helpless, as a fragment of camphor whirls and spins on +a surface of clear, warm water, spinning and whirling aimlessly about, +but moving onward. My feet rested on solid earth, and I awkwardly +struggled a short distance onward and upward, and then stepped upon the +slope that reached, as he had said, inward and upward towards the +unrevealed "Inner Circle." I had entered now that mysterious third +circle or sphere, and I stood on the very edge of the wonderful land I +was destined to explore, "The Unknown Country." The strange, peaceful +being whom I had observed on the shore, stepped to my side, and clasped +both my hands, and the guide of former days waved me an adieu. I sank +upon my knees and imploringly raised my arms in supplication, but the +comrade of my journey turned about, and began to retrace his course. +Suspended in vacancy, he seemed to float as a spirit would if it were +wafted diagonally into the heavens, and acquiring momentum rapidly, +became quickly a bright speck, seemingly a silver mote in the occult +earth shine of that central sphere, and soon vanished from view. In all +my past eventful history there was nothing similar to or approaching in +keenness the agony that I suffered at this moment, and I question if +shipwrecked sailor or entombed miner ever experienced the sense of utter +desolation that now possessed and overcame me. Light everywhere about +me, ever-present light, but darkness within, darkness indescribable, and +mental distress unutterable. I fell upon my face in agony, and thought +of other times, and those remembrances of my once happy upper earth life +became excruciatingly painful, for when a person is in misery, pleasant +recollections, by contrast, increase the pain. "Let my soul die now as +my body has done," I moaned; "for even mental life, all I now possess, +is a burden. The past to me is a painful, melancholy recollection; the +future is--" + +I shuddered, for who could foretell my future? I glanced at the +immovable being with the sweet, mild countenance, who stood silent on +the strand beside me, and whom I shall not now attempt to describe. He +replied: + +"The future is operative and speculative. It leads the contemplative to +view with reverence and admiration the glorious works of the Creator, +and inspires him with the most exalted ideas of the perfections of his +divine Creator." + +Then he added: + +"Have you accepted that whatever seems to be is not, and that that which +seems not to be, is? Have you learned that facts are fallacies, and +physical existence a delusion? Do you accept that material bliss is +impossible, and that while humanity is working towards the undiscovered +land, man is not, can not be satisfied?" + +"Yes," I said; "I admit anything, everything. I do not know that I am +here or that you are there. I do not know that I have ever been, or that +any form of matter has ever had an existence. Perhaps material things +are not, perhaps vacuity only is tangible." + +"Are you willing to relinquish your former associations, to cease to +concern yourself in the affairs of men? Do you--" + +He hesitated, seemed to consider a point that I could not grasp; then, +without completing his sentence, or waiting for me to answer, added: + +"Come, my friend, let us enter the expanses of the Unknown Country. You +will soon behold the original of your vision, the hope of humanity, and +will rest in the land of Etidorhpa. Come, my friend, let us hasten." + +Arm in arm we passed into that domain of peace and tranquillity, and as +I stepped onward and upward perfect rest came over my troubled spirit. +All thoughts of former times vanished. The cares of life faded; misery, +distress, hatred, envy, jealousy, and unholy passions, were blotted from +existence. Excepting my love for dear ones still earth-enthralled, and +the strand of sorrow that, stretching from soul to soul, linked us +together, the past became a blank. I had reached the land of Etidorhpa-- + +THE END OF EARTH. + + + + +INTERLUDE. + + + + +CHAPTER LII. + + THE LAST FAREWELL. + + +My mysterious guest, he of the silver, flowing beard, read the last word +of the foregoing manuscript, and then laid the sheet of paper on the +table, and rested his head upon his hand, gazing thoughtfully at the +open fire. Thus he sat for a considerable period in silence. Then he +said: + +"You have heard part of my story, that portion which I am commanded to +make known now, and you have learned how, by natural methods, I passed +by successive steps while in the body, to the door that death only, as +yet, opens to humanity. You understand also that, although of human +form, I am not as other men (for with me matter is subservient to mind), +and as you have promised, so you must act, and do my bidding concerning +the manuscript." + +"But there is surely more to follow. You will tell me of what you saw +and experienced beyond the end of earth, within the possessions of +Etidorhpa. Tell me of that Unknown Country." + +"No," he answered; "this is the end, at least so far as my connection +with you is concerned. You still question certain portions of my +narrative, I perceive, notwithstanding the provings I have given you, +and yet as time passes investigation will show that every word I have +read or uttered is true, historically, philosophically, and spiritually +(which you now doubt), and men will yet readily understand how the +seemingly profound, unfathomable phenomena I have encountered may be +verified. I have studied and learned by bitter experience in a school +that teaches from the outgoings of a deeper philosophy than human +science has reached, especially modern materialistic science which, +however, step by step it is destined to reach. And yet I have recorded +but a small part of the experiences that I have undergone. What I have +related is only a foretaste of the inexhaustible feast which, in the +wisdom expanse of the future, will yet be spread before man, and which +tempts him onward and upward. This narrative, which rests against the +beginning of my real story, the Unknown Country and its possibilities +should therefore incite to renewed exertions, both mental and +experimental, those permitted to review it. I have carried my history to +the point at which I can say to you, very soon afterward I gave up my +body temporarily, by a perfectly natural process, a method that man can +yet employ, and passed as a spiritual being into the ethereal spaces, +through those many mansions which I am not permitted to describe at this +time, and from which I have been forced unwillingly to return and take +up the semblance of my body, in order to meet you and record these +events. I must await the development and expansion of mind that will +permit men to accept this faithful record of my history before +completing the narrative, for men are yet unprepared. Men must seriously +consider those truths which, under inflexible natural laws, govern the +destiny of man, but which, if mentioned at this day can only be viewed +as the hallucinations of a disordered mind. To many this manuscript will +prove a passing romance, to others an enigma, to others still it will be +a pleasing study. Men are not now in a condition to receive even this +paper. That fact I know full well, and I have accordingly arranged that +thirty years shall pass before it is made public. Then they will have +begun to study more deeply into force disturbances, exhibitions of +energy that are now known and called imponderable bodies (perhaps some +of my statements will then even be verified), and to reflect over the +connection of matter therewith. A few minds will then be capable of +vaguely conceiving possibilities, which this paper will serve to +foretell, for a true solution of the great problems of the ethereal +unknown is herein suggested, the study of which will lead to a final +elevation of humanity, such as I dare not prophesy." + +"Much of the paper is obscure to me," I said; "and there are occasional +phrases and repetitions that appear to be interjected, possibly, with +an object, and which are yet disconnected from the narrative proper." + +"That is true; the paper often contains statements that are +emblematical, and which you can not understand, but yet such portions +carry to others a hidden meaning. I am directed to speak to many persons +besides yourself, and I can not meet those whom I address more directly +than I do through this communication. These pages will serve to instruct +many people--people whom you will never know, to whom I have brought +messages that will in secret be read between the lines." + +"Why not give it to such persons?" + +"Because I am directed to bring it to you," he replied, "and you are +required: + +"First, To seal the manuscript, and place it in the inner vault of your +safe. + +"Second, To draw up a will, and provide in case of your death, that +after the expiration of thirty years from this date, the seals are to be +broken, and a limited edition published in book form, by one you select. + +"Third, An artist capable of grasping the conceptions will at the proper +time be found, to whom the responsibility of illustrating the volume is +to be entrusted, he receiving credit therefor. Only himself and yourself +(or your selected agent) are to presume to select the subjects for +illustration. + +"Fourth, In case you are in this city, upon the expiration of thirty +years, you are to open the package and follow the directions given in +the envelope therein." + +And he then placed on the manuscript a sealed envelope addressed to +myself. + +"This I have promised already," I said. + +"Very well," he remarked, "I will bid you farewell." + +"Wait a moment; it is unjust to leave the narrative thus uncompleted. +You have been promised a future in comparison with which the experiences +you have undergone, and have related to me, were tame; you had just met +on the edge of the inner circle that mysterious being concerning whom I +am deeply interested, as I am in the continuation of your personal +narrative, and you have evidently more to relate, for you must have +passed into that Unknown Country. You claim to have done so, but you +break the thread in the most attractive part by leaving the future to +conjecture." + +"It must be so. This is a history of man on Earth, the continuation will +be a history of man within the Unknown Country." + +"And I am not to receive the remainder of your story?" I reiterated, +still loth to give it up. + +"No; I shall not appear directly to you again. Your part in this work +will have ended when, after thirty years, you carry out the directions +given in the sealed letter which, with this manuscript, I entrust to +your care. I must return now to the shore that separated me from my +former guide, and having again laid down this semblance of a body, go +once more into--" + +He buried his face in his hands and sobbed. Yes; this strange, cynical +being whom I had at first considered an impertinent fanatic, and then, +more than once afterward, had been induced to view as a cunning +impostor, or to fear as a cold, semi-mortal, sobbed like a child. + +"It is too much," he said, seemingly speaking to himself; "too much to +require of one not yet immortal, for the good of his race. I am again +with men, nearly a human, and I long to go back once more to my old +home, my wife, my children. Why am I forbidden? The sweets of Paradise +can not comfort the mortal who must give up his home and family, and yet +carry his earth-thought beyond. Man can not possess unalloyed joys, and +blessings spiritual, and retain one backward longing for mundane +subjects, and I now yearn again for my earth love, my material family. +Having tasted of semi-celestial pleasures in one of the mansions of that +complacent, pure, and restful sphere, I now exist in the border land, +but my earth home is not relinquished, I cling as a mortal to former +scenes, and crave to meet my lost loved ones. All of earth must be left +behind if Paradise is ever wholly gained, yet I have still my sublunary +thoughts. + +"Etidorhpa! Etidorhpa!" he pleaded, turning his eyes as if towards one I +could not see, "Etidorhpa, my old home calls. Thou knowest that the +beginning of man on earth is a cry born of love, and the end of man on +earth is a cry for love; love is a gift of Etidorhpa, and thou, +Etidorhpa, the soul of love, should have compassion on a pleading +mortal." + +He raised his hands in supplication. + +"Have mercy on me, Etidorhpa, as I would on you if you were I and I were +Etidorhpa." + +Then with upturned face he stood long and silent, listening. + +"Ah," he murmured at last, as if in reply to a voice I could not catch, +a voice that carried to his ear an answer of deep disappointment; "thou +spokest truly in the vision, Etidorhpa: it is love that enslaves +mankind; love that commands; love that ensnares and rules mankind, and +thou, Etidorhpa, art the soul of Love. True it is that were there no +Etidorhpa, there would still be tears on earth, but the cold, +meaningless tears of pain only. No mourning people, no sorrowful +partings, no sobbing mothers kneeling with upturned faces, no planting +of the myrtle and the rose on sacred graves. There would be no +child-love, no home, no tomb, no sorrow, no Beyond--" + +He hesitated, sank upon his knees, pleadingly raised his clasped hands +and seemed to listen to that far-off voice, then bowed his head, and +answered: + +"Yes; thou art right, Etidorhpa--although thou bringest sorrow to +mortals, without thee and this sorrow-gift there could be no bright +hereafter. Thou art just, Etidorhpa, and always wise. Love is the seed, +and sorrow is the harvest, but this harvest of sadness is to man the +richest gift of love, the golden link that joins the spirit form that +has fled to the spirit that is still enthralled on earth. Were there no +earth-love, there could be no heart-sorrow; were there no craving for +loved ones gone, the soul of man would rest forever a brother of the +clod. He who has sorrowed and not profited by his sorrow-lesson, is +unfitted for life. He who heeds best his sorrow-teacher is in closest +touch with humanity, and nearest to Etidorhpa. She who has drank most +deeply of sorrow's cup has best fitted herself for woman's sphere in +life, and a final home of immortal bliss. I will return to thy realms, +Etidorhpa, and this silken strand of sorrow wrapped around my heart, +reaching from earth to Paradise and back to earth, will guide at last my +loved ones to the realms beyond--the home of Etidorhpa." + +Rising, turning to me, and subduing his emotion, ignoring this outburst, +he said: + +"If time should convince you that I have related a faithful history, if +in after years you come to learn my name (I have been forbidden to +speak it), and are convinced of my identity, promise me that you will do +your unbidden guest a favor." + +[Illustration: "I STOOD ALONE IN MY ROOM HOLDING THE MYSTERIOUS +MANUSCRIPT."] + +"This I will surely do; what shall it be?" + +"I left a wife, a little babe, and a two-year-old child when I was taken +away, abducted in the manner that I have faithfully recorded. In my +subsequent experience I have not been able to cast them from my memory. +I know that through my error they have been lost to me, and will be +until they change to the spirit, after which we will meet again in one +of the waiting Mansions of the Great Beyond. I beg you to ascertain, if +possible, if either my children, or my children's children live, and +should they be in want, present them with a substantial testimonial. +Now, farewell." + +He held out his hand, I grasped it, and as I did so, his form became +indistinct, and gradually disappeared from my gaze, the fingers of my +hand met the palm in vacancy, and with extended arms I stood alone in my +room, holding the mysterious manuscript, on the back of which I find +plainly engrossed: + + "There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, + Than are dreamt of in your philosophy." + + + + +EPILOGUE. + + LETTER ACCOMPANYING THE MYSTERIOUS MANUSCRIPT. + + +The allotted thirty years have passed, and as directed, I, Llewellyn +Drury, now break the seals, and open the envelope accompanying the +mysterious package which was left in my hand, and read as follows: + + Herein find the epilogue to your manuscript. Also a picture of + your unwelcome guest, I--Am--The--Man, which you are directed to + have engraved, and to use as a frontispiece to the volume. There + are men yet living to bear witness to my identity, who will need + but this picture to convince them of the authenticity of the + statements in the manuscript, as it is the face of one they knew + when he was a young man, and will recognize now that he is in + age. Do not concern yourself about the reception of the work, for + you are in no wise responsible for its statements. Interested + persons, if living, will not care to appear in public in + connection therewith, and those who grasp and appreciate, who can + see the pertinence of its truths, who can read between the lines + and have the key to connected conditions, will assuredly keep + their knowledge of these facts locked in their own bosoms, or + insidiously oppose them, and by their silence or their attacks + cover from men outside the fraternity, their connection with the + unfortunate author. They dare not speak. + + Revise the sentences; secure the services of an editor if you + desire, and induce another to publish the book if you shrink from + the responsibility, but in your revision do not in any way alter + the meaning of the statements made in the manuscript; have it + copied for the printer, and take no part in comments that may + arise among men concerning its reception.[15] Those who are best + informed regarding certain portions thereof, will seemingly be + least interested in the book, and those who realize most fully + these truths, will persistently evade the endorsement of them. + The scientific enthusiast, like the fraternity to which I belong, + if appealed to, will obstruct the mind of the student either by + criticism or ridicule, for many of these revelations are not + recorded in his books. + + [15] From a review of the fac simile (see p. 35), it will be seen + that an exact print word for word could not be expected. In more + than one instance subsequent study demonstrated that the first + conception was erroneous, and in the interview with Etidorhpa + (see p. 252), after the page had been plated, it was discovered + that the conveyed meaning was exactly the reverse of the + original. Luckily the error was discovered in time to change the + verse, and leave the spirit of this fair creature + unblemished.--J. U. L. + + You are at liberty to give in your own language as a prologue the + history of your connection with the author, reserving, however, + if you desire to do so, your personality, adding an introduction + to the manuscript, and, as interludes, every detail of our + several conversations, and of your experience. Introduce such + illustrations as the selected artist and yourself think proper in + order to illuminate the statements. Do not question the + advisability of stating all that you know to have occurred; write + the whole truth, for although mankind will not now accept as fact + all that you and I have experienced, strange phases of life + phenomena are revealing themselves, and humanity will yet surely + be led to a higher plane. As men investigate the points of + historical interest, and the ultra-scientific phenomena broached + in this narrative, the curtain of obscurity will be drawn aside, + and evidence of the truths contained in these details will be + disclosed. Finally, you must mutilate a page of the manuscript + that you may select, and preserve the fragment intact and in + secret. Do not print another edition unless you are presented + with the words of the part that is missing.[16] + + [16] I have excised a portion (see p. 190).--J. U. L. + + (Signed.) I--Am--The--Man. + + +NOTE BY MR. DRURY.--Thus the letter ended. After mature consideration it +has been decided to give verbatim most of the letter, and all of the +manuscript, and to append, as a prologue, an introduction to the +manuscript, detailing exactly the record of my connection therewith, +including my arguments with Professors Chickering and Vaughn, whom I +consulted concerning the statements made to me directly by its author. I +will admit that perhaps the opening chapter in my introduction may be +such as to raise in the minds of some persons a question concerning my +mental responsibility, for as the principal personage in this drama +remarks: "Mankind can not now accept as facts what I have seen." Yet I +walk the streets of my native city, a business man of recognized +thoughtfulness and sobriety, and I only relate on my own responsibility +what has to my knowledge occurred. It has never been intimated that I am +mentally irresponsible, or speculative, and even were this the case, the +material proof that I hold, and have not mentioned as yet, and may not, +concerning my relations with this remarkable being, effectually +disproves the idea of mental aberration, or spectral delusion. Besides, +many of the statements are of such a nature as to be verified easily, or +disproved by any person who may be inclined to repeat the experiments +suggested, or visit the localities mentioned. The part of the whole +production that will seem the most improbable to the majority of +persons, is that to which I can testify from my own knowledge, as +related in the first portion and the closing chapter. This approaches +necromancy, seemingly, and yet in my opinion, as I now see the matter, +such unexplained and recondite occurrences appear unscientific, because +of the shortcomings of students of science. Occult phenomena, at some +future day, will be proved to be based on ordinary physical conditions +to be disclosed by scientific investigations [for "All that is is +natural, and science embraces all things"], but at present they are +beyond our perception; yes, beyond our conception. + +Whether I have been mesmerized, or have written in a trance, whether I +have been the subject of mental aberration, or have faithfully given a +life history to the world, whether this book is altogether romance, or +carries a vein of prophecy, whether it sets in motion a train of wild +speculations, or combines playful arguments, science problems, and +metaphysical reasonings, useful as well as entertaining, remains for the +reader to determine. So far as I, Llewellyn Drury, am concerned, this +is-- + +THE END. + +[Illustration: handwritten script] + +Had the above communication and the missing fragment of manuscript been +withheld (see page 161), it is needless to say that this second edition +of Etidorhpa would not have appeared. + +On behalf of the undersigned, who is being most liberally scolded by +friends and acquaintances who can not get a copy of the first edition, +and on behalf of these same scolding mortals, the undersigned extends to +I-Am-The-Man the collective thanks of those who scold and the +scolded.--J. U. L. + +[Illustration: handwritten script] + +This introduction, which in the author's edition was signed by the +writer, is here reprinted in order that my views of the book be not +misconstrued.--J. U. L. + + + + +THE LIFE OF + +PROF. DANIEL VAUGHN + +BY PROF. RICHARD NELSON + +TO WHICH IS ADDED + +AN ACCOUNT OF HIS DEATH + +BY FATHER EUGENE BRADY, S.J. + + + +[Illustration: PROF. DANIEL VAUGHN.] + + +Story of the Life of Prof. Daniel Vaughn.[17] + + + [17] Reprinted from the Cincinnati Tribune. + +BY PROF. RICHARD NELSON. + +HIS VALUABLE LIBRARY SHOWING MARKS OF MUCH STUDY. + +Twelve Years' Record in the Chair of Chemistry at the Cincinnati College +of Medicine. + +[A paper read before the Literary Club by Prof. Richard Nelson.] + + +Few men, if any, so eminent in science and philosophy have been known to +live and die in such obscurity as the subject of this paper. A +mathematician whose knowledge has never been fathomed, an original +investigator in terrestrial and celestial chemistry, most of whose +speculations are now accepted as law; a contributor to the philosophical +journals of Europe, whose papers were received with distinguished favor; +an astronomer, who, in those papers, ventured to differ with Laplace, +and, too, as will be shown, a man skilled in classical scholarship, yet +unknown to his nearest neighbors and recognized by only a few in his own +city. He lived and died in obscurity and poverty in a city distinguished +for its schools of science and art, and the liberality and public spirit +of its men of wealth; who, if any, were to blame? One object of this +paper is to unravel the mystery. + + +HIS BIRTHPLACE AND PARENTAGE. + +Daniel Vaughn was born in the year 1818 at Glenomara, four miles from +Killaloe, County Clare, Ireland. His father's name was John, who had two +brothers, Daniel and Patrick. John, like Daniel, was educated for the +church, but, being the eldest son, remained on the farm. Daniel became, +subsequently, the parish priest of Killaloe, and in 1845 was ordained +Bishop. + +John Vaughn had three children, Daniel (the subject of this paper), Owen +and Margaret, afterward Mrs. Kent. The distance to the nearest school +being four Irish miles, John had his sons educated by a tutor till they +were prepared to enter a classical academy. + +At the age of about sixteen Dan, as he was familiarly called, was placed +under the care of his uncle and namesake at Killaloe, where he entered +the academy. There the young student pursued the study of Greek, Latin +and mathematics, giving some attention to certain branches of physics, +for which he evinced peculiar aptitude. + + +HE EMIGRATES AND FINDS A HOME. + +About the year 1840 his uncle, desirous of having the young man enter +the church, advanced him a sum of money to defray his expenses at a +theological school in Cork, but on seeing the American liners when he +reached Queenstown, the temptation to take the voyage to the land of +promise was too great for the young adventurer to resist, so he secured +a passage to New York. When at school he made wonderful advancement in +study, especially in higher mathematics, and felt he ought to go to a +country where he could be free to pursue his favorite line of thought +and where attainments in science would not be circumscribed, as in the +church. + +Of his voyage and subsequent wanderings little is known until he reached +Kentucky. That he visited many schools and paid his way in part by +teaching there is no question. The college of the late Dr. Campbell, in +Virginia, was one of the institutions visited, but he felt he must push +on to Kentucky. About 1842 he had reached the Blue Grass region, near +the home of the late Colonel Stamps, in Bourbon County. The Colonel saw +him engaged at work and was quick to observe that the stranger was no +common man. Taking him to his house and supplying his wants, the Colonel +soon installed him as his guest, and eventually made him instructor of +his children. Access to the Colonel's library was a boon to the +stranger, developing in him traits of genius of which his host was very +proud. + +It was only a short time till the neighboring farmers heard of the +distinguished young scholar, and desired to have the more mature members +of their families under his care. A school was opened in the Colonel's +house for instruction in the higher mathematics, the classics, geology, +physical geography and astronomy. The young people were pleased with +their teacher and made commendable progress, but the curriculum was too +varied and comprehensive for an instructor, who, though far advanced in +scholarship, had not yet studied the art of teaching. + + +ACCEPTS A PROFESSORSHIP. + +In 1845 he accepted the chair of Greek in a neighboring college, which +afforded him leisure for his scientific pursuits. After an absence of +seven years the Professor returned to his old friend, Colonel Stamps and +family, where he remained some two years, leaving them to settle in +Cincinnati. + +During his stay at the Colonel's (1851) he became a member of the +American Association for the Advancement of Science, and in 1852 +contributed to it his first article, entitled "On the Motions of +Numerous Small Bodies and the Phenomena Resulting Therefrom." Having +accumulated a valuable collection of books on science and philosophy and +obtained access to several libraries, public and private, in the city, +he was now in a condition to devote most of his time and energies to his +favorite sciences. For subsistence he delivered lectures before +teachers' institutes and colleges till 1856, when an affection of the +lungs compelled him to abandon the lecture field. + +In the meantime he had offered papers for publication to Silliman's +Journal, the principal scientific magazine of America at that time, +but, receiving no response to his communications and being denied +publication, he took the advice of a friend and sent his subsequent +articles to the British Association for the Advancement of Science and +to the Philosophic Magazine, where they were received with favor. He was +much gratified to find his article on "Meteoric Astronomy" published in +the report of the Liverpool meeting of the association in 1854. Six +papers, which he subsequently sent in 1857, 1859 and 1861, met with +similar favor. + +For several years he visited schools, colleges and teachers' institutes +in Oxford, Lebanon, Cleveland and other cities, lecturing on his +favorite branches of science. It had been his intention to popularize +the science of physical astronomy by the publication of tracts or +pamphlets. + + +PUBLISHES PAMPHLETS. + +In the year 1856, at the request of teachers before whom he had lectured +at the institutes, and with a view to popularize scientific knowledge, +the Professor commenced the publication of pamphlets. The first number +treated of "The Geological Agency of Water and Subterranean Forces." +Only two of these pamphlets came into the possession of the +administrator. One of them was a good-sized volume, as may be inferred +from the following articles it contained: + + "The Influence of Magnitude on Stability." + "The Doctrine of Gravitation." + "Theory of Tides." + "Effects of Tides." + "Cases of Excessive Tidal Action and Planetary Instability." + "The Rings of Saturn." + "The Supposed Influence of Satellites in Preserving Planetary Rings." + "Movements of Comets." + "The Tails of Comets." + "Mass and Density of Comets." + "Cometary Catastrophes." + "Phenomena Attending the Fall of Meteors." + "The Origin of Solar and Meteoric Light." + "Variable Stars and the Sun's Spots." + "Temporary Stars." + "Electrical Light and the Aurora Borealis." + "Proof of the Stability of the Solar System," with an appendix. + +Some of these subjects had been treated of at greater length and +published by American and British associations for the advancement of +science. + +He sent to the British Association for the Advancement of Science: + + "Cases of Planetary Instability Indicated by the Appearance of + Temporary Stars." + "Appearance of Temporary Stars." + +Other papers appeared: + + "Note on the Sunspots," Philosophical Magazine for December, 1858. + "On the Solar Spots and Variable Stars," idem, Vol. 15, p. 359. + "Changes in the Conditions of Celestial Bodies," an essay. + "The Origin of Worlds," Popular Science Monthly, May, 1879. + "Planetary Rings and New Stars," Popular Science Monthly, + February, 1879. + "Astronomical History of Worlds," idem, September, 1878. + "On the Stability of Satellites in Small Orbits and the Theory of + Saturn's Rings," Philosophical Magazine, May, 1861. + "On the Origin of the Asteroids." Contributed to the American + Association for the Advancement of Science. + "Static and Dynamic Stability in the Secondary Systems," + Philosophical Magazine, December, 1861. + "On Phenomena which May be Traced to the Presence of a Medium + Pervading all Space," idem, May 11, 1861. + +The Professor contributed to other publications on both sides of the +Atlantic, but as he failed to retain copies of the articles or of the +magazines in which they were published, doubtless many papers of +interest are among the number. + +The year 1860 found the Professor possessed of a valuable collection of +books, the accumulation of ten or fifteen years, all showing the marks +of wear, some of them besmeared with the drippings from his candle. +Among them were works of some of the most prominent authors in branches +of theoretical and practical science. Those of Laplace, Kepler, +Tycho-Brahe, Leibnitz, Herschel, Newton and others, together with many +pamphlets and periodicals, composed his library. He possessed a familiar +knowledge of the German, French, Italian and Spanish languages, and of +ancient Greek and Latin. Many of his papers appeared in the continental +languages. It may be here stated that for the eminent astronomer, +Laplace, as a scientist and writer, Prof. Vaughn entertained great +respect, though he could not accept his nebular hypothesis, because +important parts of it would not bear mathematical investigation. [The +proof is in the papers in my possession.--N.] In an article of the +Professor to the Popular Science Monthly (February, 1879) is a case of +the kind, showing that the distinguished astronomer ignored his own +famous theory. The article reads: "In endeavoring to account for the +direct motion in secondary systems Laplace contends that, in consequence +of friction the supposed primitive solar rings would have a greater +velocity in their outer than in their inner zones. Now, if friction is +to counteract to such an extent the normal effects of gravitation, it +must be an eternal bar against the origin of worlds by nebulous +dismemberment, and if the ring of attenuated matter were placed under +the circumstances suggested by the eminent astronomer, it would be +ultimately doomed, not to form a planet, but to coalesce with the +immense spheroid of fiery vapor it was supposed to have environed." + +It is interesting to know that the theory of our Professor was the +correct one, as proved by a recent discovery of Prof. James E. Keeler, +astronomer of the Allegheny Observatory. As announced in a daily paper: +"Prof. James E. Keeler, of the Allegheny Observatory, has made a +wonderful discovery. It is a scientific and positive demonstration of +the fact that the rings of Saturn are made up of many small bodies and +that the satellites of the inner edge of the rings move faster than the +outer." + +As to satellites, Prof. Vaughn, in the paper quoted, page 466, states: +"The matter spread over the wide annular fields is ever urged by its own +attraction to collect together and form satellites, which are ever +destroyed by attractive disturbance of the primary, and have their parts +scattered once more over a wide space." + + +INSTALLED AS PROFESSOR OF CHEMISTRY. + +The Professor was elected to the chair of chemistry in the Cincinnati +College of Medicine and Surgery in 1860, where he served with +distinction for twelve years. His scholarly valedictory at that +institution is one of the papers reserved for publication in his +memoirs. + +While in the college he continued his investigations in science, +applying his knowledge of terrestrial chemistry to the chemistry of the +heavens, as shown in nearly all his writings. Besides the position held +in the college, he gave lessons in schools and seminaries in geology, +astronomy, chemistry, Latin and Greek. + +In 1873 he visited Lexington, where he met his old friend, Dr. J. C. +Darby, and delivered lectures in public, at the Sayre Institute and the +Baptist School, returning to Cincinnati the following spring. Except +from his writings, he seemed to have no source of revenue for several +years. How he managed to exist his most intimate friends could only +conjecture. True, he contributed papers to monthly publications, but +they appeared at such long intervals they could not be relied on for +support, so, in the autumn of 1878 his friends organized for him a +course of lectures, which were well patronized by physicians and others +versed in science. In the meantime, negotiations were opened with +prominent citizens of suburban towns for other lectures, and efforts +were made to retire the Professor on an annuity. + + +HIS END DRAWING NEAR. + +Enfeebled health, which confined him to his room for several weeks, +prevented him from entering on the suburban course, so a second course +was projected for the city and one of the lectures delivered. From what +transpired after that lecture his friends were again anxious regarding +his health, and, as the time approached for the delivery of the second, +determined to see him. For reasons stated elsewhere it was with some +difficulty he was found. Prostrated on a couch, he was suffering from a +hemorrhage of the lungs of a few days previous, with evidences all +around of a state of extreme destitution. No time was lost in having him +removed to comfortable quarters in the Good Samaritan Hospital, where +his friends arranged for his care as a private patient. Next day, April +3, he expressed himself as greatly benefited by the change and talked +cheerfully and hopefully of the future. Next day, Friday, he continued +to improve, but on Saturday proof of his forthcoming article in the +Popular Science Monthly reached him, and, feeling that he ought to +return it promptly, he sat up to do the work. The effort was too great. +Overcome with exhaustion after its completion, he sank to sleep and a +little after two o'clock next morning, April 6, his weary spirit +peacefully took its flight. Born in 1818, the Professor was then in the +sixty-first year of his age. + + +HIS OBSEQUIES. + +A committee of the more intimate friends of the deceased was formed, +consisting of the late Jacob Traber, his nephew, J. C. Sproull, Drs. J. J. +and William Taft and the writer. + +Funeral services were held in the chapel of the Hospital, where, +considering the suddenness of the Professor's demise, many mourners were +present. The interest evinced was profound, while the floral tributes +that covered the casket were eloquent of affection and esteem. + +The remains were interred in a burial lot of Jacob Traber, who +generously tendered its use until a separate place of interment and a +monument could be procured. The remains of the two friends now lie side +by side. + + +HIS EFFECTS. + +After the funeral the committee referred to visited the room occupied by +the Professor prior to his decease, and had the writer, as his nearest +friend, procure letters of administration, so that papers of value, if +any, would be cared for. A few letters, some private relics, unsalable +remnants of books and pamphlets and scraps of manuscript constituted the +effects. The scarcity of manuscript was easily accounted, for, as it was +the habit of the deceased for years to print articles designed for +publication and have them mailed to magazines and to savants in +different parts of Europe and America. + + +CHARACTERISTICS AND HABITS OF STUDY. + +A prominent characteristic of Prof. Vaughn was shyness--a shrinking from +familiarity or conspicuousness. He never was the first to salute a +casual acquaintance on the street, and when introduced to a stranger +would extend his hand with apparent diffidence or reserve--not with the +warmth of a hearty shake, but rather with a cautious presentation of the +finger tips. Undemonstrative in manner, and inexperienced in the customs +of social life, his diffidence was taken for coldness, yet he was kind +and tender hearted almost to a fault, and a most grateful recipient of a +favor. In his poverty he would part with money or personal property to +people whom he considered more necessitous than himself. Of the proceeds +of his last course of lectures he gave to one such a sum so large as to +almost discourage his friends from helping him. + +Then, too, he was glad to render service to professional and public men. +He made translations for writers and wrote lectures for others and made +chemical analyses for the city when payment was not expected. As to his +placing a commercial value upon his services he never learned to do it, +though they often cost him both time and money that he could not well +spare. + +His waking hours were always fully occupied in writing or study, either +in his laboratory, the libraries or in open-air observations. He was +thoroughly familiar with the geology of the neighborhood and the +physical geography of the entire continent, as may be seen by his +articles on "Volcanoes," "The Origin of Lakes and Mountains," "The +Absence of Trees on Prairies," "Malaria," etc. His ingenuity in the +construction of apparatus for his illustrations in chemistry was +remarkable. Given a few tubes of glass and rubber, a piece of tin, some +acid and alkali, a blow-pipe, soldering iron and a pair of pinchers, he +could construct at will enough apparatus for a lesson, a lecture or an +analysis. + +Considering his poverty, it may be questioned how he was able to +maintain a laboratory. For twelve years he found a room at the Medical +College. At other times he extemporized quarters at his humble lodgings, +where the same apartment was to him laboratory, study and living room. +Such a room he could not find in a private house, so he sought it +elsewhere, as in the tenement in which he was found in his last +illness. That life necessarily isolated him from society, its pleasures +and advantages before he became familiar with the laws by which it was +governed. + +Having acquired a mastery of Greek and Latin in his youth, he had a good +preparation for the acquisition of the modern languages; besides, to +prosecute his studies and investigations, he found it necessary to +understand most of the languages of Europe. + +Exception has been taken to the Professor's manner as a lecturer. When +we consider his natural diffidence in the presence of strangers we are +surprised that he attempted to lecture at all. Take his case when he +last lectured,--his lecture hall, the operating room of the Dental +College, and his platform that of the operator with his audience around +but elevated a few feet above him. The position was an exceedingly +trying one, and some time elapsed before he was able to make a good +start. While hesitating, on such occasions, his eyes would wander around +the audience till they rested on those of a familiar friend. Immediately +he addressed himself to that person, and confidence was restored. Like +other public speakers we know of, he continued to address himself +chiefly to the one selected, however embarrassing it might be to that +individual. + + +HIS RELIGIOUS LIFE. + +The Professor was a Bible student, if we judge from fragments found +among his effects and a well-worn Bible, now a relic in possession of a +former student. The book is a curiosity, worn as is the cover with marks +of his fingers as he held it, often with a candle in his hand, as shown +by occasional drippings on the page and cover. + +He was not a member of any church. At least, had not been up to a month +before his decease, though he visited churches of all denominations and +was familiar with their doctrines and polity. His religion consisted in +his living up to his highest ideas of right and truth; hence he was +charitable almost to a fault. When he had not money to give, he parted +with his books. + +An eloquent public speaker, referring to his private life, has said: "He +was social, kind and humane. He took pleasure in instructing the +children and communing with friends--good men and women, who loved and +admired him--and his humanity was gratified in bestowing what he valued +most--knowledge. To him nothing seemed more precious than truth, and to +shed the light of it abroad. His heart was in his work, and without a +glance to the right or left, he pursued his arduous quest." + +Of the works of creation which occupied so much of his thoughts, the +Professor's views may be had by reading the following concluding remarks +found in his "Physical Astronomy:" + +"Whatever doubts may hang over all speculations respecting distant +events, either of past or future time, we have reason to believe that +our universe will ever exhibit great and useful operations throughout +its extensive domains. From the ruins of some celestial bodies others +will rise to act a part in the drama of the physical creation in future +ages. Though nature's work may all decay, her laws remain the same, and +numerous agencies, obedient to their control and aided by occasional +interventions of creative power, must maintain the heavens forever in a +harmonious condition and transform innumerable spheres into seats of +light and intelligence. While the laws of nature have been thus widely +ordained for such great ends, their simplicity renders them intelligible +to the limited powers of the human mind, and the immense universe thus +becomes a vast field of intellectual enjoyment for man." + + +TESTIMONY OF THE LATE DR. JOHN HANCOCK. + +The late Dr. Hancock, in writing to Mrs. J. W. McLaughlin, stated that he +attended institute lectures of Prof. Vaughn, making his acquaintance at +a meeting of the Southwestern Ohio Normal Institute. The Professor was +engaged to lecture on his favorite specialties, physical geography and +astronomy. "It is my recollection," says the doctor, "that Prof. Vaughn +was a graduate of Trinity Collage, Dublin. However that may be, there +can be no doubt as to his wide and profound scholarship. He was not only +deeply versed in the physical sciences, but was equally proficient in +the classics and mathematics. It is said by competent judges that he +read Greek and Latin as he would English, as though he thought in those +languages, and he was one of the few Americans who read through +Laplace's 'Mechanique Celeste.' He had a prodigious memory. At the +Oxford Institute, to which I have referred, some dozen of the leading +members, Prof. Vaughn among them, got up some literary games requiring +wide reading and retentive memories for successful rivalry. In these +games the Professor showed a wealth of reading and an ability to use it +on the instant that I have never seen approached by any other scholar. +It is needless to say that he was first in the game and the rest +nowhere. + +"Some ten years afterward, when connected with Nelson's Commercial +College, I edited a little educational paper, the News and Educator, of +which Mr. Nelson was proprietor. In this relation I came much more +frequently in contact with Prof. Vaughn than I ever did before. To this +paper he contributed a number of articles on scientific subjects, but, +being printed in an obscure local paper, they attracted little +attention." + + +REMINISCENCES OF MRS. STAMPS. + +Mrs. Eliza Stamps, widow of the late Colonel Stamps, in giving her +experience with the Professor, said: "He was a very industrious student, +in his profound researches pursuing them to the exclusion of every thing +else. He would frequently forget the demands of hunger and disregard the +summons to his meals. As to his engaging in innocent amusements, he +considered it a sacrifice of valuable time; yet, lest he should be +accused of selfishness or wanting in social etiquette, he sometimes left +his books to unite with the children in their games, and, diffident +though he was, would occasionally take part in the dance. + +"He enjoyed the Colonel's library, but soon exhausted its resources and +those of the neighbors; so, to obtain a supply, he would go on foot to +Cincinnati, one hundred miles distant, and return in the same manner, +loaded with new books." + +Throughout his after life he gave evidence of his great respect and +affection for Colonel Stamps, his benefactor, and his family, and the +young ladies and gentlemen who had been his pupils, who never ceased to +venerate him for his learning, or to love and cherish his memory. Some +such were among the mourners at his funeral. + + +REPUTATION IN ENGLAND. + +The late Jacob Traber, one of the most intimate friends of the +Professor, has written: "In the year 1858 I was in the office of John +Sayre, bookseller, High Holborn, where I made the purchase of books that +were yet in the hands of the printer. I gave my address and directions +for shipping. When in the act of leaving the office I was accosted by an +elderly gentleman who, with the apology, 'Beg pardon, I overheard you +when you gave your address, Cincinnati, and desire to make inquiry about +one of your distinguished citizens, Daniel Vaughn. Assuming that you +know him, may I ask how long it is since you have seen him?' I replied +that I had known the Professor some four years, and had met him but a +few months ago. At that time I regarded the Professor as a mechanical +genius of the speculative type, and so expressed myself. A quick +rejoinder came in that broad and forcible accent of an Englishman: 'If +you Cincinnati people vote Vaughn as a speculative mechanic, the ripest +and profoundest mathematical scholar in England may be marked as his +apprentice. You have a treasure in that man. Why, sir, we send him +problems that fail to be mastered here, and speedily have them back not +only with a solution, but with the demonstration.' The speaker proved to +be one of the ablest scholars and scientists in Europe." + + +FIXING THE RESPONSIBILITY FOR HIS CONDITION. + +The subject of this paper, it will be inferred, did not inherit a +patrimony, yet he contributed his valuable services to many worthy +objects without pecuniary compensation. As has been stated, his great +pleasure, next to the investigation of truth, was to impart useful +knowledge and help the needy. When in the medical college he was paid +with shares of stock on which a dividend was never declared, and when +engaged in lecturing and teaching his diffidence prevented him from +placing a sufficient value on his services. Living the life of a +recluse, he concealed his poverty from his nearest friends, who were +ignorant even of his address. Then, he never sought a gratuity, and his +friends could only learn by conjecture when he was in need. When asked +if his privations did not cause him much anxiety, he said they gave him +no concern. + +On more than one occasion the writer, at the request of men of wealth +and influence, proposed to retire him on an annuity, but he modestly but +firmly declined to accept, and it was not until after the announcement +of his last course that he consented. Then the proposition was to pay +his expenses at a hotel of his choice and advance him money for his +personal expenses, for which he was to lecture when and where he might +choose. The gentlemen most active in this project were the following, +now deceased: Henry Peachy, William F. Corry, Jacob Traber, Colonel +Geoffrey and others. Favorably known to the public were Drs. J. J. and +William Taft, Dr. Thad Reamy, J. C. Sproull, etc. + +The project had so far matured that the writer and another had arranged +with Mr. Peachy to make the Lafayette National Bank the custodian of the +funds. Had the Professor survived, he would have enjoyed a life of +leisure and comfort, at one of the most prominent hotels in the city. + +The people of Cincinnati were, therefore, not responsible for the +poverty of our friend, nor for the state of destitution in which he was +found prior to his removal to the hospital. + + + + +ACCOUNT OF THE DEATH OF PROF. VAUGHN, BY REV. EUGENE BRADY, S.J. + + [Concerning the last days of Professor Vaughn, the following from + the pen of Father Brady, pastor of St. Xavier's Church, is of + special interest. This is peculiarly appropriate by reason of the + fact that Father Brady, while a boy, attended the college during + the time Professor Vaughn taught in Bardstown, Kentucky, and + finally comforted him in his last moments.--J. U. L.] + + "MY DEAR MR. LLOYD:-- + + "Concerning the foot-note on page 160 of Etidorhpa. The + description of Daniel Vaughn is correct. The story of his + privations is quite true. He was so absorbed in science as to be + self-neglectful. Moreover, he was grossly neglected by those _who + made use of his labors_. + + "A servant girl told the venerable Sister Anthony that a poor + lodger was dying in destitution in the west end of the city. The + lodger was Professor Vaughn. The Sister had the good man conveyed + to the Good Samaritan Hospital on April 1, 1879. She made him + comfortable, as he repeatedly declared. He died on April 6, 1879. + _Thoroughly conscious_ up to the last moment, _it was at his + request_ that the undersigned had the melancholy pleasure of + administering to him the last rites of the Catholic Church. It was + neither delirium nor senility that revived his faith. He was but + sixty-one years of age, and as rational as ever in life." + + --EUGENE BRADY, S.J. + + + + + +ETIDORHPA. + +TO THE RECIPIENTS OF THE AUTHOR'S EDITION OF ETIDORHPA: + + +That so large an edition as 1,299 copies of an expensive book, +previously unseen by any subscriber, should have been taken in advance +by reason of a mere announcement, is complimentary to the undersigned; +and yet this very confidence occasioned him not a little anxiety. Under +such circumstances to have failed to give, either in workmanship or +subject-matter, more than was promised in the announcement of Etidorhpa, +would have been painfully embarrassing. + +Not without deep concern, then, were the returns awaited; for, while +neither pains nor expense were spared to make the book artistically a +prize, still, beautiful workmanship and attractive illustrations may +serve but to make more conspicuous other failings. Humiliating indeed +would it have been had the recipients, in a spirit of charity, spoken +only of artistic merit and neat bookwork. + +When one not a bookman publishes a book, he treads the danger-line. When +such a person, without a great publishing-house behind him, issues a +book like Etidorhpa--a book that, spanning space, seemingly embraces +wild imaginings and speculation, and intrudes on science and +religion--he invites personal disaster. + +That in the case of the Author's Edition of Etidorhpa the reverse +happily followed, is evidenced by hundreds of complimentary letters, +written by men versed in this or that section wherein the book intrudes; +and in a general way the undersigned herein gratefully extends his +thanks to all correspondents--thanks for the cordial expressions of +approval, and for the graceful oversights by critics and correspondents, +that none better than he realizes have been extended towards blemishes +that must, to others, be not less apparent than they are to himself. + +Since general interest has been awakened in the strange book Etidorhpa, +and as many readers are soliciting information concerning its reception, +it is not only as a duty, but as a pleasure, that the undersigned +reproduces the following abstracts from public print concerning the +Author's Edition, adding, that as in most cases the reviews were of +great length and made by men specially selected for the purpose, the +brief notes are but fragments and simply characteristic of their general +tenor. + +The personal references indulged by the critics could not be excised +without destroying the value of the criticisms, and the undersigned can +offer no other apology for their introduction than to say that to have +excluded them would have done an injustice to the writers. + + Respectfully, + JOHN URI LLOYD. + + + + +ETIDORHPA AS A WORK OF ART. + +PROFESSOR S. W. WILLIAMS, WYOMING, OHIO. + + +If a fine statue or a stately cathedral is a poem in marble, a +masterpiece of the printer's art may be called a poem in typography. +Such is Etidorhpa. In its paper, composition, presswork, illustrations, +and binding--it is the perfection of beauty. While there is nothing +gaudy in its outward appearance, there is throughout a display of good +taste. The simplicity of its neatness, like that of a handsome woman, is +its great charm. Elegance does not consist in show nor wealth in +glitter; so the richest as well as the costliest garb may be rich in its +very plainness. The illustrations were drawn and engraved expressly for +this work, and consist of twenty-one full-page, half-tone cuts, and over +thirty half-page and text cuts, besides two photogravures. The best +artistic skill was employed to produce them, and the printing was +carefully attended to, so as to secure the finest effect. Only enameled +book paper is used; and this, with the wide margins, gilt top, trimmed +edges, and clear impressions of the type, makes the pages restful to the +eyes in reading or looking at them. The jacket, or cover, which protects +the binding, is of heavy paper, and bears the same imprint as the book +itself. Altogether, as an elegant specimen of the bookmakers' art it is +a credit to the trade. All honor to the compositors who set the type, +the artists who drew and engraved the illustrations, the electrotyper +who put the forms into plate, the pressman who worked off the sheets, +and the binder who gathered and bound them in this volume. + + + + +REVIEWS OF ETIDORHPA. + + +[Sidenote: B. O. Flower, Editor of The Arena, Boston.] + +The present is an age of expectancy, of anticipation, and of prophecy; +and the invention or discovery or production that occupies the attention +of the busy world, as it rushes on its self-observed way, for more than +the passing nine day's wonder, must needs be something great indeed. +Such a production has now appeared in the literary world in the form of +the volume entitled "Etidorhpa, or the End of Earth;" the very title of +which is so striking as to arrest the attention at once. + +A most remarkable book.... Surpasses, in my judgment, any thing that has +been written by the elder Dumas or Jules Verne, while in moral purpose +it is equal to Hugo at his best.... It appeals to the thoughtful +scientist no less than to the lover of fascinating romance. + + +[Sidenote: Mr. Herbert Bates, in the Commercial Gazette, Cincinnati.] + +In summing, I would say that I have found the book distinctly +stimulating. It is odd, but with the oddity of force. It has passages of +uncanny imagination, but they excellently evade the enormous and +extravagant. It is a book that by its title and by such features as +strike one at a hurried glance might easily repel. Yet it is a book +that, studied carefully, calls for re-reading and deep meditation. Its +theories are capable of scientific demonstration, its imaginings, while +they may not be fact, are always consistent with it. The reader who lets +the outside repel him errs sadly. Let him read it, and he will be as +changed in his position toward it, as ready to convert others, as is the +reviewer, who picked it up with foreboding and laid it down with the +sense of having read great thoughts. + + +[Sidenote: Dr. W. H. Venable.] + +"The End of Earth" is not like any other book. The charm of adventure, +the excitement of romance, the stimulating heat of controversy, the keen +pursuit of scientific truth, the glow of moral enthusiasm, are all found +in its pages. The book may be described as a sort of philosophical +fiction, containing much exact scientific truth, many bold theories, and +much ingenious speculation on the nature and destiny of man.... The +occult and esoteric character of the discussions adds a strange +fascination to them. We can hardly classify, by ordinary rules, a work +so unusual in form and purpose, so discursive in subject-matter, so +unconventional in its appeals to reason, religion and morality.... The +direct teaching of the book, in so far as it aims to influence conduct, +is always lofty and pure. + + +[Sidenote: Letter from Sir Henry Irving, to the Author.] + +"_My Dear Sir:_ Let me thank you most heartily for sending me the +special copy of your wonderful book 'Etidorhpa,' which I shall ever +value. I may say that when by chance I found it in Cincinnati I read it +with the greatest interest and pleasure, and was so struck by it that I +have sent copies to several friends of mine here and at home. I hope I +may have the pleasure of meeting you some day either here or in London. +I remain, sincerely yours, HENRY IRVING. + + "20th March, 1896." + + +[Sidenote: Etidorhpa as a work of art. Prof. S. W. Williams.] + +If a fine statute or a stately cathedral is a poem in marble, a +masterpiece of the printer's art may be called a poem in typography. +Such is "Etidorhpa." In its paper, composition, presswork, +illustrations, and binding--it is the perfection of beauty. While there +is nothing gaudy in its outward appearance, there is throughout a +display of good taste. + +The illustrations were drawn and engraved expressly for this work, and +consist of twenty-one full-page, half-tone cuts, and over thirty +half-page and text cuts, besides two photogravures. The best artistic +skill was employed to produce them, and the printing was carefully +attended to, so as to secure the finest effect. + + +[Sidenote: Eclectic Medical Journal, Cincinnati.] + +No one could have written the chapter on the "Food of Man" but Professor +Lloyd; no one else knows and thinks of these subjects in a similar +way.... The "old man's" description of "the spirit of stone," "the +spirit of plants," and finally, "the spirit of man," is very fine, but +those who hear Professor Lloyd lecture catch Lloyd's impulses +throughout. The only regret one has in reading this entrancing work is, +that it ends unexpectedly, for the End of Earth comes without a +catastrophe. It should have been a hundred pages longer; the reader +yearns for more, and closes the book wistfully. + + +[Sidenote: New Idea, Detroit.] + +One of the great charms of the book is the space between the lines, +which only the initiated can thoroughly comprehend. Don't fail to read +and re-read Etidorhpa. Be sure and read it in the light of +contemporaneous literature, for without doing so, its true beauty will +not appear. Aside from its subject-matter, the excellency of the +workmanship displayed by the printer, and artistic beauty of the +illustrations, will make Etidorhpa an ornament to any library. + + +[Sidenote: Cincinnati Student.] + +This book, to use the words of the editor of the Chicago Inter-Ocean, is +"the literary novelty of the year."... In a literary sense, according to +all reviewers, it abounds with "word-paintings of the highest order"--in +some chapters being "terrible" in its vividness, several critics +asserting that Dante's Inferno has nothing more realistic.... + + +[Sidenote: The British and Colonial Druggist, London, England.] + +We have read it with absorbed interest, the vividly-depicted scenes of +each stage in the miraculous journey forming a theme which enthralls the +reader till the last page is turned. Many new views of natural laws are +given by the communicator, and argued between him and Drury, into which, +and into the ultimate intent of Etidorhpa, we will not attempt to enter, +but will leave it for each reader to peruse, and draw his own +conclusions.... Professor Lloyd's style is quaint and polished, and +perfectly clear. The printing and paper are all that can be desired, and +an abundance of artistic and striking illustrations are admirably +reproduced. + + +[Sidenote: New York World.] + +Etidorhpa, the End of the Earth, is in all respects the worthiest +presentation of occult teachings under the attractive guise of fiction +that has yet been written. Its author, Mr. John Uri Lloyd, of +Cincinnati, as a scientist and writer on pharmaceutical topics, has +already a more than national reputation, but only his most intimate +friends have been aware that he was an advanced student of occultism. +His book is charmingly written, some of its passages being really +eloquent; as, for instance, the apostrophe to Aphrodite--whose name is +reversed to make the title of the story. It has as thrilling situations +and startling phenomena as imagination has ever conceived.... There is +no confusion between experiences and illusions, such as are common in +the works of less instructed and conscientious writers treating of such +matters. He knows where to draw the line and how to impress perception +of it, as in the four awful nightmare chapters illustrating the curse of +drink. Etidorhpa will be best appreciated by those who have "traveled +East in search of light and knowledge."... + + +[Sidenote: John Clark Ridpath, LL.D.] + +We are disposed to think "Etidorhpa" the most unique, original, and +suggestive new book that we have seen in this the last decade of a not +unfruitful century. + + +[Sidenote: Times-Star, Cincinnati.] + +It is as fascinating as the richest romance by Dumas, and mysterious and +awe-inspiring as the wild flights of Verne. Hugo wrote nothing more +impassioned than those terrible chapters where "The-Man-Who-Did-It" +drinks liquor from the mushroom cup. There never was a book like it. It +falls partly in many classes, yet lies outside of all. It will interest +all sorts and conditions of men and it has that in it which may make it +popular as the most sensational novel of the day. Intricate plotting, +marvelous mysteries, clear-cut science without empiricism, speculative +reasoning, sermonizing, historical facts, and bold theorizing make up +the tissue of the story, while the spirit of Etidorhpa, the spirit of +love, pervades it all.... Happy is the scientist who can present science +in a form so inviting as to charm not only the scholars of his own +profession, but the laymen besides. This, Professor John Uri Lloyd has +done in his Etidorhpa. + + +[Sidenote: The Inter-Ocean, Chicago.] + +For eighteen years the writer has been seated at his desk, and all kinds +of books have been passed in review, but has never before met with such +a stumper as Etidorhpa. Its name is a stunner, and its title-page, +head-lines, and weird, artistic pictures send you such a ghastly welcome +as to make goblins on the walls, and fill the close room with spooks and +mystery. The writer has only known of Professor Lloyd as a scientist and +an expert in the most occult art of the pharmacist, and can scarcely +conceive him in the role of the mystic and romancer in the region +heretofore sacred to the tread of the supernatural.... The book is the +literary novelty of the year, but those interested in such lines of +thought will forget its novelties in a profound interest in the themes +discussed. + + +[Sidenote: The Chicago Medical Times.] + +The work stands so entirely alone in literature, and possesses such a +marvelous versatility of thought and idea, that, in describing it, we +are at a loss for comparison. In its scope it comprises alchemy, +chemistry, science in general, philosophy, metaphysics, morals, biology, +sociology, theosophy, materialism, and theism--the natural and +supernatural.... It is almost impossible to describe the character of +the work. It is realistic in expression, and weird beyond Hawthorne's +utmost flights. It excels Bulwer-Lytton's Coming Race and Jules Verne's +most extreme fancy. It equals Dante in vividness and eccentricity of +plot.... The entire tone of the work is elevating. It encourages thought +of all that is ennobling and pure. It teaches a belief and a faith in +God and holy things, and shows God's supervision over all his works. It +is an allegory of the life of one who desires to separate himself from +the debasing influences of earth, and aspires to a pure and noble +existence, as beautiful and as true to the existing conditions of human +life as Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress. The sorrow; the struggle with self; +the physical burdens; the indescribable temptations with the presence +and assistance of those who would assist in overcoming them; the dark +hours, Vanity Fair, and the Beulahland, are all there. + + +[Sidenote: Indianapolis Journal.] + +In every respect the volume bearing the title Etidorhpa, or the End of +the Earth, is a most remarkable book. Typographically, it is both unique +and artistic--as near perfection in conception and execution as can be +conceived.... The author is John Uri Lloyd, of Cincinnati, a scientific +writer whose pharmaceutical treatises are widely known and highly +valued. That a man whose mind and time have been engrossed with the +affairs of a specialist and man of affairs could have found time to +enter the field of speculation, and there display not only the most +extensive knowledge of the exact natural sciences, and refute what is +held to be scientific truth with bold theories and ingenious +speculations on the nature and destiny of man is marvelous.... + +The Addenda is as original as the book itself, consisting, as it does, +of a list of names, some of whom are not subscribers, but to whom the +author is deeply obliged, or whom he regards as very dear friends, and +those of a few whom he personally admires.... If each of them has a copy +of Etidorhpa, or the End of the Earth, he possesses a book which is not +like any other book in the world. + + +[Sidenote: Cleveland Leader.] + +It relates to a journey made by the old man under the guidance of a +peculiar being into the interior of the earth. The incidents of this +journey overshadow any thing that Verne ever wrote in his palmiest days. +But perhaps the most singular part of it is that they are all based on +scientific grounds. Dr. Lloyd, the author of the volume, is one of the +deepest students, and is well known as a profound writer on subjects +pertaining to his profession, as well as one who has taken much pains in +studying the occult sciences.... The book is a very pleasant one to +read, a little redundant at times, but full of information.... Readers +who succeed in securing it will be very lucky indeed. + + + +TRANSCRIBER NOTES: + + Punctuation corrected without note. + + page 47: no illustration is found in the original book for + this reference. + + page 228: "siezed" changed to "seized" (The guide seized me by the + hand). + + page 284: "begun" changed to "began" (began a narcotic + hallucination). + + page 338: "comformably" changed to "conformably" (that lies + conformably with the external crust). + + page 385: "wierd" changed to "weird" (and weird, artistic pictures). + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Etidorhpa or the End of Earth., by John Uri Lloyd + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ETIDORHPA OR THE END OF EARTH. *** + +***** This file should be named 37775.txt or 37775.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/7/7/7/37775/ + +Produced by Pat McCoy, Suzanne Shell and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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