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diff --git a/42816-8.txt b/42816-8.txt deleted file mode 100644 index e2f3759..0000000 --- a/42816-8.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,6117 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook, Unveiling a Parallel, by Alice Ilgenfritz -Jones and Ella Marchant - - -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: Unveiling a Parallel - A Romance - - -Author: Alice Ilgenfritz Jones and Ella Marchant - - - -Release Date: May 26, 2013 [eBook #42816] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - - -***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK UNVEILING A PARALLEL*** - - -E-text prepared by Charlene Taylor, Matthew Wheaton, and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page images -generously made available by Internet Archive/American Libraries -(http://archive.org/details/americana) - - - -Note: Images of the original pages are available through - Internet Archive/American Libraries. See - http://archive.org/details/unveilingparalle00jone - - -Transcriber's note: - - The oe-ligature is represented by [oe] (example: ph[oe]nix). - - - - - -UNVEILING A PARALLEL. - -A Romance - -[Illustration] - -by - -TWO WOMEN OF THE WEST - - - - - - - -Copyright 1893, -by -Arena Publishing Company. - -All rights reserved. - - - - -TABLE OF CONTENTS. - - - PAGE. - Chapter I. A Remarkable Acquaintance 5 - Chapter II. A Woman 28 - Chapter III. The Auroras' Annual 59 - Chapter IV. Elodia 88 - Chapter V. The Vaporizer 106 - Chapter VI. Cupid's Gardens 124 - Chapter VII. New Friends 147 - Chapter VIII. A Talk With Elodia 157 - Chapter IX. Journeying Upward 190 - Chapter X. The Master 220 - Chapter XI. A Comparison 248 - - - - -Chapter 1. - -A REMARKABLE ACQUAINTANCE. - - "A new person is to me always a great event, and - hinders me from sleep." - --EMERSON. - - -You know how certain kinds of music will beat everything out of your -consciousness except a wild delirium of joy; how love of a woman will -take up every cranny of space in your being,--and fill the universe -beside,--so that people who are not en rapport with the strains that -delight you, or with the beauty that enthralls you, seem pitiable -creatures, not in touch with the Divine Harmony, with Supreme -Loveliness. - -So it was with me, when I set my feet on Mars! My soul leaped to its -highest altitude and I had but one vast thought,--"I have triumphed; I -am here! And I am alone; Earth is unconscious of the glory that is -mine!" - -I shall not weary you with an account of my voyage, since you are more -interested in the story of my sojourn on the red planet than in the -manner of my getting there. - -It is not literally red, by the way; that which makes it appear so at -this distance is its atmosphere,--its "sky,"--which is of a soft -roseate color, instead of being blue like ours. It is as beautiful as -a blush. - -I will just say, that the time consumed in making the journey was -incredibly brief. Having launched my aeroplane on the current of -attraction which flows uninterruptedly between this world and that, -traveling was as swift as thought. My impression is that my speed was -constantly accelerated until I neared my journey's end, when the -planet's pink envelope interposed its soft resistance to prevent a -destructive landing. - -I settled down as gently as a dove alights, and the sensation was the -most ecstatic I have ever experienced. - -When I could distinguish trees, flowers, green fields, streams of -water, and people moving about in the streets of a beautiful city, it -was as if some hitherto unsuspected chambers of my soul were flung -open to let in new tides of feeling. - -My coming had been discovered. A college of astronomers in an -observatory which stands on an elevation just outside the city, had -their great telescope directed toward the Earth,--just as our -telescopes were directed to Mars at that time,--and they saw me and -made me out when I was yet a great way off. - -They were able to determine the exact spot whereon I would land, about -a mile distant from the observatory, and repaired thither with all -possible speed,--and they have very perfect means of locomotion, -superior even to our electrical contrivances. - -Before I had time to look about me, I found myself surrounded, and -unmistakably friendly hands outheld to welcome me. - -There were eight or ten of the astronomers,--some young, some -middle-aged, and one or two elderly men. All of them, including the -youngest, who had not even the dawn of a beard upon his chin, and the -oldest, whose hair was silky white, were strikingly handsome. Their -features were extraordinarily mobile and expressive. I never saw a -more lively interest manifest on mortal countenances than appeared on -theirs, as they bent their glances upon me. But their curiosity was -tempered by a dignified courtesy and self-respect. - -They spoke, but of course I could not understand their words, though -it was easy enough to interpret the tones of their voices, their -manner, and their graceful gestures. I set them down for a people who -had attained to a high state of culture and good-breeding. - -I suddenly felt myself growing faint, for, although I had not fasted -long, a journey such as I had just accomplished is exhausting. - -Near by stood a beautiful tree on which there was ripe fruit. Some one -instantly interpreted the glance I involuntarily directed to it, and -plucked a cluster of the large rich berries and gave them to me, first -putting one in his own mouth to show me that it was a safe experiment. - -While I ate,--I found the fruit exceedingly refreshing,--the company -conferred together, and presently one of the younger men approached -and took me gently by the arm and walked me away toward the city. The -others followed us. - -We had not to go farther than the first suburb. My companion, whom -they called Severnius, turned into a beautiful park, or grove, in the -midst of which stood a superb mansion built of dazzling white stone. -His friends waved us farewells with their hands,--we responding in -like manner,--and proceeded on down the street. - -I learned afterwards that the park was laid out with scientific -precision. But the design was intricate, and required study to follow -the curves and angles. It seemed to me then like an exquisite mood of -nature. - -The trees were of rare and beautiful varieties, and the shrubbery of -the choicest. The flowers, whose colors could not declare -themselves,--it being night,--fulfilled their other delightful -function and tinctured the balmy air with sweet odors. - -Paths were threaded like white ribbons through the thick greensward. - -As we walked toward the mansion, I stopped suddenly to listen to a -most musical and familiar and welcome sound,--the plash of water. My -companion divined my thought. We turned aside, and a few steps brought -us to a marble fountain. It was in the form of a chaste and lovely -female figure, from whose chiseled fingers a shower of glittering -drops continually poured. Severnius took an alabaster cup from the -base of the statue, filled it, and offered me a drink. The water was -sparkling and intensely cold, and had the suggestion rather than the -fact of sweetness. - -"Delicious!" I exclaimed. He understood me, for he smiled and nodded -his head, a gesture which seemed to say, "It gives me pleasure to know -that you find it good." I could not conceive of his expressing himself -in any other than the politest manner. - -We proceeded into the house. How shall I describe that house? Imagine -a place which responds fully to every need of the highest culture and -taste, without burdening the senses with oppressive luxury, and you -have it! In a word, it was an ideal house and home. Both outside and -inside, white predominated. But here and there were bits of color the -most brilliant, like jewels. I found that I had never understood the -law of contrast, or of economy in art; I knew nothing of "values," or -of relationships in this wonderful realm, of which it maybe truly -said, "Fools rush in where angels fear to tread." - -I learned subsequently that all Marsians of taste are sparing of rich -colors, as we are of gems, though certain classes indulge in -extravagant and gaudy displays, recognizing no law but that which -permits them to have and to do whatsoever they like. - -I immediately discovered that two leading ideas were carried out in -this house; massiveness and delicacy. There was extreme solidity in -everything which had a right to be solid and stable; as the walls, and -the supporting pillars, the staircases, the polished floors, and some -pieces of stationary furniture, and the statuary,--the latter not too -abundant. Each piece of statuary, by the way, had some special reason -for being where it was; either it served some practical purpose, or it -helped to carry out a poetical idea,--so that one was never taken -aback as by an incongruity. - -Some of the floors were of marble, in exquisite mosaic-work, and -others were of wood richly inlaid. The carpets were beautiful, but -they were used sparingly. When we sat down in a room a servant usually -brought a rug or a cushion for our feet. And when we went out under -the trees they spread carpets on the grass and put pillows on the -rustic seats. - -The decorations inside the house were the most airy and graceful -imaginable. The frescoes were like clouds penetrated by the rarest -tints,--colors idealized,--cunningly wrought into surpassingly lovely -pictures, which did not at once declare the artist's intention, but -had to be studied. They were not only an indulgence to the eye, but a -charming occupation for the thoughts. In fact, almost everything about -the place appealed to the higher faculties as well as to the senses. - -There comes to us, from time to time, a feeling of disenchantment -toward almost everything life has to offer us. It never came to me -with respect to Severnius' house. It had for me an interest and a -fascination which I was never able to dissect, any more than you would -be able to dissect the charm of the woman you love. - -With all its fine artistic elaborations, there was a simplicity about -it which made it possible for the smallest nature to measure its -capacity there, as well as the greatest. The proper sort of a -yardstick for all uses has inch-marks. - -Severnius took me upstairs and placed a suite of rooms at my command, -and indicated to me that he supposed I needed rest, which I did -sorely. But I could not lie down until I had explored my territory. - -The room into which I had been ushered, and where Severnius left me, -closing the noiseless door behind him, looked to me like a pretty -woman's boudoir,--almost everything in it being of a light and -delicate color. The walls were cream-tinted, with a deep frieze of a -little darker shade, relieved by pale green and brown decorations. The -wood work was done in white enamel paint. The ceiling was sprinkled -with silver stars. Two or three exquisite water-colors were framed in -silver, and the andirons, tongs and shovel, and the fender round the -fire-place, and even the bedstead, were silver-plated. - -The bed, which stood in an alcove, was curtained with silk, and had -delicacies of lace also, as fine and subtle as Arachne's web. The -table and a few of the chairs looked like our spindle-legged -Chippendale things. And two or three large rugs might have been of -Persian lamb's wool. A luxurious couch was placed across one corner of -the room and piled with down cushions. An immense easy chair, or -lounging chair, stood opposite. - -The dressing table, of a peculiarly beautiful cream-colored wood, was -prettily littered with toilet articles in carved ivory or silver -mountings. Above it hung a large mirror. There was a set of shelves -for books and bric-a-brac; a porphyry lamp-stand with a lamp dressed -in an exquisite pale-green shade; a chiffonier of marquetry. - -The mantel ornaments were vases of fine pottery and marble statuettes. -A musical instrument lay on a low bamboo stand. I could not play upon -it, but the strings responded sweetly to the touch. - -A little investigation revealed a luxurious bath-room. I felt the need -of a bath, and turned on the water and plunged in. As I finished, a -clock somewhere chimed the hour of midnight. - -Before lying down, I put by the window draperies and looked out. I was -amazed at the extreme splendor of the familiar constellations. Owing -to the peculiarity of the atmosphere of Mars, the night there is -almost as luminous as our day. Every star stood out, not a mere -twinkling eye, or little flat, silver disk, but a magnificent sphere, -effulgent and supremely glorious. - -Notwithstanding that it was long before I slept, I awoke with the day. -I think its peculiar light had something to do with my waking. I did -not suppose such light was possible out of heaven! It did not dazzle -me, however; it simply filled me, and gave me a sensation of peculiar -buoyancy. - -I had a singular feeling when I first stepped out of bed,--that the -floor was not going to hold me. It was as if I should presently be -lifted up, as a feather is lifted by a slight current of air skimming -along on the ground. But I soon found that this was not going to -happen. My feet clung securely to the polished wood and the soft wool -of the rug at the bedside. I laughed quietly to myself. In fact I was -in the humor to laugh. I felt so happy. Happiness seemed to be a -quality of the air, which at that hour was particularly charming in -its freshness and its pinkish tones. - -I had made my ablutions and was taking up my trousers to put them on, -when there was a tap at the door and Severnius appeared with some soft -white garments, such as he himself wore, thrown over his arm. In the -most delicate manner possible, he conveyed the wish that I might feel -disposed to put them on. - -I blushed,--they seemed such womanish things. He misinterpreted my -confusion. He assured me by every means in his power that I was -entirely welcome to them, that it would give him untold pleasure to -provide for my every want. I could not stand out against such -generosity. I reached for the things--swaddling clothes I called -them--and Severnius helped me to array myself in them. I happened to -glance into the mirror, and I did not recognize myself. I had some -sense of how a barbarian must feel in his first civilized suit. - -At my friend's suggestion I hung my own familiar apparel up in the -closet,--you may imagine with what reluctance. - -But I may say, right here, that I grew rapidly to my new clothes. I -soon liked them. There was something very graceful in the cut and -style of them. - -They covered and adorned the body without disguising it. They left the -limbs and muscles free and encouraged grace of pose and movement. - -The elegant folds in which the garments hung from the shoulders and -the waist, the tassels and fringes and artistic drapery arrangements, -while seemingly left to their own caprice, were as secure in their -place as the plumage of a bird,--which the wind may ruffle but cannot -displace. - -I suspect that it requires a great deal of skill to construct a -Marsian costume, whether for male or female. They are not altogether -dissimilar; the women's stuffs are of a little finer quality -ordinarily, but their dress is not usually so elaborately trimmed as -the men's garb, which struck me as very peculiar. Both sexes wear -white, or a soft cream. The fabric is either a sort of fine linen, or -a mixture of silk and wool. - -After Severnius and I came to understand each other, as comrades and -friends, he laughingly compared my dress, in which I had made my first -appearance, to the saddle and housings of a horse. He declared that he -and his friends were not quite sure whether I was a man or a beast. -But he was too polite to give me the remotest hint, during our early -acquaintance, that he considered my garb absurd. - -When, having completed my toilet, I indicated to him that I was ready -for the next thing on the program,--which I sincerely hoped might be -breakfast,--he approached me and taking my hand placed a gold ring on -my finger. It was set with a superb rubellite enhanced with pearls. -The stone was the only bit of color in my entire dress. Even my shoes -were of white canvas. - -I thanked him as well as I was able for this especial mark of favor. I -was pleased that he had given me a gem not only beautiful, but -possessing remarkable qualities. I held it in a ray of sunlight and -turned it this way and that, to show him that I was capable of -appreciating its beauties and its peculiar characteristics. - -He was delighted, and I had the satisfaction of feeling that I had -made a good impression upon him. - -He led the way down-stairs, and luckily into the breakfast room. - -We were served by men dressed similarly to ourselves, though their -clothing was without trimming and was of coarser material than ours. -They moved about the room swiftly and noiselessly. Motion upon that -planet seems so natural and so easy. There is very little inertia to -overcome. - -Our meal was rather odd; it consisted of fruits, some curiously -prepared cereals, and a hot palatable drink. No meat. - -After this light but entirely satisfactory repast we ascended the -grand stairway--a marvel of beauty in its elaborate carvings--and -entered a lofty apartment occupying a large part of the last _etage_. - -I at first made out that it was a place devoted to the fine arts. I -had noticed a somewhat conspicuous absence, in the rooms below, of the -sort of things with which rich people in our country crowd their -houses. I understood now, they were all marshaled up here. - -There were exquisitely carved vessels of all descriptions, bronzes, -marbles, royal paintings, precious minerals. - -Here also were the riches of color. - -The brilliant morning light came through the most beautiful windows I -have ever seen, even in our finest cathedrals. The large central -stained glasses were studded round with prisms that played -extraordinary pranks with the sunbeams, which, as they glanced from -them, were splintered into a thousand scintillating bits, as splendid -as jewels. - -We sat down, I filled--I do not know why--with a curious sense of -expectancy that was half awe. - -Across one end of the great room was stretched a superb curtain of -tapestry,--a mosaic in silk and wool. - -Severnius did not make any other sign or gesture to me except the one -that bade me be seated. - -I watched him wonderingly but furtively. He seemed to be composing -himself, as I have seen saintly people compose themselves in church. -Not that he was saintly; he did not strike me as being that kind of a -man, though there was that about him which proclaimed him to be a good -man, whose friendship would be a valuable acquisition. - -He folded his hands loosely in his lap and sat motionless, his glance -resting serenely on one of the great windows for a time and then -passing on to other objects equally beautiful. - -We were still enwrapped in this august silence when I became conscious -that somewhere, afar off, beyond the tapestry curtain, there were -stealing toward us strains of unusual, ineffable music, tantalizingly -sweet and vague. - -Gradually the almost indistinguishable sounds detached themselves -from, and rose above, the pulsing silence,--or that unappreciable -harmony we call silence,--and swelled up among the arches that ribbed -the lofty ceiling, and rolled and reverberated through the great dome -above, and came reflected down to us in refined and sublimated -undulations. - -Our souls--my soul,--in this new wonder and ecstasy I forgot -Severnius,--awoke in responsive raptures, inconceivably thrilling and -exalted. - -I did not need to be told that it was sacred music, it invoked the -Divine Presence unmistakably. No influence that had ever before been -trained upon my spiritual senses had so compelled to adoration of the -Supreme One who holds and rules all worlds. - - "He lifts me to the golden doors; - The flashes come and go; - All heaven bursts her starry floors, - And strows her lights below, - And deepens on and up! the gates - Roll back. * * * *" - -This I murmured, and texts of our scriptures, and fragments of -anthems. It was as if I brought my earthly tribute to lay on this -Marsian shrine. - -The gates did roll back, the heavens were broken up, new spiritual -heights were shown to me, up which my spirit mounted. - -I looked at Severnius. His eyes were closed. His face, lighted as by -an inner illumination, and his whole attitude, suggested a "waiting -upon God," that - - "Intercourse divine, - Which God permits, ordains, across the line." - -There stole insensibly upon the sound-burdened air, the hallowed -perfume of burning incense. - -I conjectured, and truly as I afterward learned, that I was in my -friend's private sanctuary. It was his spiritual lavatory, in which he -made daily ablutions. A service in which the soul lays aside the forms -necessary in public worship and stands unveiled before its God. - -It was a rare honor he paid me, in permitting me to accompany him. And -he repeated it every morning during my stay in his house, except on -one or two occasions. It speedily became almost a necessity to me. You -know how it is when you have formed a habit of exercising your muscles -in a gymnasium. If you leave it off, you are uncomfortable, you have a -feeling that you have cheated your body out of its right. It was so -with me, when for any reason I was obliged to forego this higher -exercise. I was heavy in spirit, my conscience accused me of a wrong -to one of the "selfs" in me,--for we have several selfs, I think. - -There was not always music. Sometimes a wonderful voice chanted psalms -and praises, and recited poems that troubled the soul's deepest -waters. At first I did not understand the words, of course, but the -intonations spoke to me the same as music does. And I felt that I knew -what the words expressed. - -Often there was nothing there but The Presence, which hushed our -voices and set our souls in tune with heavenly things. No matter, I -was fed and satisfied. - -At the end of a sweet half-hour, the music died away, and we rose and -passed out of the sacred place. I longed to question Severnius, but -was powerless. - -He led the way down into the library, which was just off the wide -entrance hall. Books were ranged round the walls on shelves, the same -as we dispose ours. But they were all bound in white cloth or white -leather. - -The lettering on the backs was gold. - -I took one in my hand and flipped its leaves to show Severnius that I -knew what a book was. He was delighted. He asked me, in a language -which he and I had speedily established between ourselves, if I would -not like to learn the Marsian tongue. I replied that it was what I -wished above all things to do. We set to work at once. His teaching -was very simple and natural, and I quickly mastered several important -principles. - -After a little a servant announced some visitors, and Severnius went -out into the hall to receive them. He left the door open, and I saw -that the visitors were the astronomers I had met the night before. -They asked to see me, and Severnius ushered them into the library. I -stood up and shook hands with each one, as he advanced, and repeated -their own formula for "How do you do!" which quite amused them. I -suppose the words sounded very parrot-like,--I did not know where to -put the accent. They congratulated me with many smiles and -gesticulations on my determination to learn the language,--Severnius -having explained this fact to them. He also told them that I had -perhaps better be left to myself and him until I had mastered it, when -of course I should be much more interesting to them and they to me. -They acquiesced, and with many bows and waves of the hand, withdrew. - -The language, I found, was not at all difficult,--not so arbitrary as -many of our modern languages. It was similar in form and construction -to the ancient languages of southern Europe. The proper names had an -almost familiar sound. That of the country I was in was Paleveria. The -city was called Thursia, and there was a river flowing through -it,--one portion of Severnius' grounds, at the back of the house, -sloped to it,--named the Gyro. - - - - -Chapter 2. - -A WOMAN. - - "Her face so fair, as flesh it seemed not, - But heavenly portrait of bright angels hew, - Clear as the skye withouten blame or blot, - Through goodly mixture of complexion's dew; - And in her cheeks the vermeil red did shew - Like roses in a bed of lillies shed. - * * * * * - In her faire eyes two living lamps did flame." - --SPENSER. - - -Thus far, I had seen no women. I was curious on this point, and I was -not kept long in suspense. Late in the afternoon of the day following -my arrival, Severnius and I went out to walk about the grounds, and -were returning through an avenue of eucalyptus trees,--of a variety -more wide-spreading in their branches than any I have seen in our -country,--when a person alighted from a carriage in the _porte -cochere_ and, instead of entering the house, came to meet us. It was a -woman. Though it was not left to her dress, nor her stature,--she was -nearly as tall as myself,--to proclaim that fact; her grace and -carriage would have determined her sex, if her beautiful face had not. -She advanced swiftly, with long, free steps. Her white dress, similar -in cut and style to ours, was relieved only by a girdle studded with -gems. She carried a little white parasol with a gold fringe, and wore -no head-gear to crush down her beautifully massed hair. - -I felt myself growing red under her lively gaze, and attributed it to -my clothes. I was not accustomed to them yet, and I felt as you would -to appear before a beautiful woman in your night shirt. Especially if -you fancied you saw something in her eyes which made you suspect that -she thought you cut a ludicrous figure. Of course that was my -imagination, my apparel, in her eyes, must have been correct, since it -was selected from among his best by my new friend, who was -unmistakably a man of taste. - -Her face, which was indescribably lovely, was also keenly -intelligent,--that sort of intelligence which lets nothing escape, -which is as quick to grasp a humorous situation as a sublime truth. It -was a face of power and of passion,--of, I might say, manly -self-restraint,--but yet so soft! - -I now observed for the first time the effect of the pinkish atmosphere -on the complexion. You have seen ladies in a room where the light came -through crimson hangings or glass stained red. So it was here. - -Severnius smiled, spoke, and gave her his hand. The glance they -bestowed upon each other established their relationship in my mind -instantly. I had seen that glance a thousand times, without suspecting -it had ever made so strong an impression upon me that in a case like -this I should accept its evidence without other testimony. They were -brother and sister. I was glad of that, for the reason, I suppose, -that every unmarried man is glad to find a beautiful woman -unmarried,--there are seductive possibilities in the situation. - -Severnius did his best to introduce us. He called her Elodia. I -learned afterwards that ladies and gentlemen in that country have no -perfunctory titles, like Mrs., or Mr., they support their dignity -without that. It would have seemed belittling to say "Miss" Elodia. - -I had a feeling that she did not attach much importance to me, that -she was half amused at the idea of me; a peculiar tilting-up of her -eyebrows told me so, and I was piqued. It seemed unfair that, simply -because she could not account for me, she should set me down as -inferior, or impossible, or ridiculous, whichever was in her mind. She -regarded me as I have sometimes regarded un-English foreigners in the -streets of New York. - -She indulged her curiosity about me only for a moment, asking a few -questions I inferred, and then passed me over as though she had more -weighty matters in hand. I knew, later on, that she waived me as a -topic of conversation when her brother insisted upon talking about me, -saying half impatiently, "Wait till he can talk and explain himself, -Severnius,--since you say he is going to learn our speech." - -I studied her with deep interest as we walked along, and no movement -or accent of hers was lost upon me. Once she raised her hand--her wide -sleeve slipped back and bared a lovely arm--to break off a long -scimeter-shaped leaf from a bough overhead. Quicker than thought I -sprang at the bough and snapped off the leaf in advance of her, and -presented it with a low obeisance. She drew herself up with a look of -indignant surprise, but instantly relented as though to a person whose -eccentricities, for some reason or other, might better be excused. She -did not, however, take the leaf,--it fluttered to the ground. - -She was not like any other woman,--any woman I had ever seen before. -You could not accuse her of hauteur, yet she bore herself like a royal -personage, though with no suggestion of affecting that sort of an air. -You had to take her as seriously as you would the Czar. I saw this in -her brother's attitude toward her. There was none of that -condescension in his manner that there often is in our manner toward -the women of our households. I began to wonder whether she might not -be the queen of the realm! But she was not. She was simply a private -citizen. - -She sat at the dinner table with us, and divided the honors equally -with Severnius. - -I wish I could give you an idea of that dinner,--the dining-room, the -service, the whole thing! It surpassed my finest conceptions of taste -and elegance. - -We sat down not merely to eat,--though I was hungry enough!--but to -enjoy ourselves in other ways. - -There was everything for the eye to delight in. The room was rich in -artistic decorations upon which the rarest talent must have been -employed. The table arrangements were superb; gold and silver, -crystal, fine china, embroidered linen, flowers. And the food, served -in many courses, was a happy combination of the substantial and the -delicate. There was music--not too near--of a bright and lively -character. Music enters largely into the life of these people. It -seemed to me that something beat time to almost everything we did. - -The conversation carried on between the brother and sister--in which I -could take no more part than a deaf-mute--was, I felt sure, extremely -entertaining if not important. My eyes served me well,--for one sense -is quick to assume the burdens of another,--and I knew that the talk -was not mere banter, nor was it simply the necessary exchange of words -and opinions about everyday matters which must take place in families -periodically, concerning fuel, and provisions, and servants, and -water-tax, and the like. It took a much higher range. The faces of -both were animated, their eyes beamed brightly upon each other. It was -clear that the brother did not talk down to her understanding, rather -he talked up to it,--or no, they were on a level with each other, the -highest level of both, for they held each other up to their best. -However, Elodia had been away for a couple of days, I learned, and -absence gives a bloom of newness which it is delightful to brush off. - -I did not detect any of the quality we call chivalry in Severnius' -pose, nor of its complement in hers. Though one would hardly expect -that between brothers and sisters anywhere. Still, we have a way with -our near women relations which never ignores the distinction between -the sexes; we humor them, patronize them, tyrannize over them. And -they defer to, and exalt us, and usually acknowledge our superiority. - -It was not so with this pair. They respected and honored each other -equally. And there was a charming _camaraderie_ between them, the same -as if they had both been men--or women, if you single out the right -kind. - -They held widely different opinions upon many subjects, but they never -crowded them upon each other. Their tastes were dissimilar. For one -thing, Elodia had not her brother's fine religious sense. She seldom -entered the sanctuary, though once or twice I saw her there, seated -far apart from Severnius and myself. - -Stimulated by the hope of some day being able to talk with her, and of -convincing her that I was a person not altogether beneath her -intelligence, I devoted myself, mind and soul, to the Paleverian -language. In six weeks I could read and write it fairly well. - -Severnius was untiring in his teaching; and every day strengthened my -regard for him as a man. He was an accomplished scholar, and he was as -clean-souled as a child,--but not weakly or ignorantly so. He knew -evil as well as good; but he renounced the one and accepted the other. -He was a man "appointed by Almighty God to stand for a fact." And I -never knew him to weaken his position by defending it. Often we spent -hours in the observatory together. It was a glorious thing to me to -watch the splendid fleet of asteroids sailing between Jupiter and -Mars, and to single out the variously colored moons of Jupiter, and to -distinguish with extraordinary clearness a thousand other wonders but -dimly seen from the Earth. - -Even to study the moons of Mars, the lesser one whirling round the -planet with such astonishing velocity, was a world of entertainment to -me. - -I had begged Severnius not to ask me to see any visitors at all until -I could acquit myself creditably in conversation. He agreed, and I -saw no one. I believe that in those weeks of quiet study, observation, -and close companionship of one noble man, my soul was cleared of much -dross. I lived with books, Severnius, and the stars. - -At last, I no longer feared to trust myself to speak, even to Elodia. -It was a great surprise to her, and evidently a pleasure too. - -My first brilliant attempt was at the dinner table. Severnius adroitly -drew me into a conversation about our world. Elodia turned her -delightful gaze upon me so frankly and approvingly that I felt myself -blushing like a boy whom his pretty Sabbath-school teacher praises -with her smile when he says his text. - -Up to that time, although she had been polite to me,--so entirely -polite that I never for a moment felt myself an intruder in her -home,--she apparently took no great interest in me. But now she -voluntarily addressed me whenever we met, and took pains to draw me -out. - -Once she glanced at a book I was reading, a rather heavy work, and -smiled. - -"You have made astonishing progress," she said. - -"I have had the best of instructors," I replied. - -"Ah, yes; Severnius has great patience. And besides, he likes you. And -then of course he is not wholly disinterested, he wants to hear about -your planet." - -"And do you?" I asked foolishly. I wanted somehow to get the -conversation to running in a personal channel. - -"O, of course," she returned indifferently, "though I am not an -astronomer. I should like to hear something about your people." - -I took that cue joyfully, and soon we were on very sociable terms with -each other. She listened to my stories and descriptions with a most -flattering interest, and I soon found myself worshiping her as a -goddess. Yes, as a goddess, not a woman. Her entire lack of coquetry -prevented me from making love to her, or would have prevented me if I -had dared to have such a thought. If there could have been anything -tender between us, I think she must have made the advances. But this -is foolish. I am merely trying to give you some idea of the kind of -woman she was. But I know that I cannot do that; the quality of a -woman must be felt to be understood. - -There was a great deal of social gayety in Thursia. We went out -frequently, to opera, to concert, and to crowded gatherings in -splendid homes. I observed that Elodia immediately became the centre -of interest wherever she appeared. She gave fresh zest to every -amusement or conversation. She seemed to dignify with her presence -whatever happened to be going on, and made it worth while. Not that -she distinguished herself in speech or act; she had the effect of -being infinitely greater than anything she did or said and one was -always looking out for manifestations of that. She kept one's interest -in her up to the highest pitch. I often asked myself, "Why is it that -we are always looking at her with a kind of inquiry in our -glances?--what is it that we expect her to do?" - -It was a great part of her charm that she was not _blasé_. She was -full of interest in all about her, she was keenly and delightfully -alive. Her manners were perfect, and yet she seemed careless of -etiquette and conventions. Her good manners were a part of herself, as -her regal carriage was. - -It was her unvarying habit, almost, to spend several hours down town -every day. I ventured to ask Severnius wherefore. - -He replied that she had large business interests, and looked carefully -after them herself. - -I expressed astonishment, and Severnius was equally surprised at me. I -questioned him and he explained. - -"My father was a banker," he said, "and very rich. My sister inherited -his gift and taste for finance. I took after my mother's family, who -were scientists. We were trained, of course, in our early years -according to our respective talents. At our parents' death we -inherited their fortune in equal shares. Elodia was prepared to take -up my father's business where he left it. In fact he had associated -her with himself in the business for some time previous to his -departure, and she has carried it on very successfully ever since." - -"She is a banker!" said I. - -"Yes. I, myself, have always had a liking for astronomy, and I have -been employed, ever since I finished my education, in the State -Observatory." - -"And how do you employ your capital?" I asked. - -"Elodia manages it for me. It is all in the bank, or in investments -which she makes. I use my dividends largely in the interest of -science. The State does a great deal in that direction, but not -enough." - -"And what, may I ask, does she do with her surplus,--your sister, I -mean,--she must make a great deal of money?" - -"She re-invests it. She has a speculative tendency, and is rather -daring; though they tell me she is very safe--far-sighted, or -large-sighted, I should call it. I do not know how many great -enterprises she is connected with,--railroads, lines of steamers, -mining and manufacturing operations. And besides, she is -public-spirited. She is much interested in the cause of -education,--practical education for the poor especially. She is -president of the school board here in the city, and she is also a -member of the city council. A great many of our modern improvements -are due to her efforts." - -My look of amazement arrested his attention. - -"Why are you so surprised?" he asked. "Do not your women engage in -business?" - -"Well, not to such an extraordinary degree," I replied. "We have women -who work in various ways, but there are very few of them who have -large business interests, and they are not entrusted with important -public affairs, such as municipal government and the management of -schools!" - -"Oh!" returned Severnius with the note of one who does not quite -understand. "Would you mind telling me why? Is it because they are -incapable, or--unreliable?" - -Neither of the words he chose struck me pleasantly as applied to my -countrywomen. I remembered that I was the sole representative of the -Earth on Mars, and that it stood me in hand to be careful about the -sort of impressions I gave out. It was as if I were on the witness' -stand, under oath. Facts must tell the story, not opinions,--though -personally I have great confidence in my opinions. I thought of our -government departments where women are the experts, and of their -almost spotless record for faithfulness and honesty, and replied: - -"They are both capable and reliable, in as far as they have had -experience. But their chances have been circumscribed, and I believe -they lack the inclination to assume grave public duties. I fear I -cannot make you understand,--our women are so different, so unlike -your sister." - -Elodia was always my standard of comparison. - -"Perhaps you men take care of them all," suggested Severnius, "and -they have grown dependent. We have some such women here." - -"No, I do not think it is that entirely," said I. "For in my city -alone, more than a hundred and seventy thousand women support not -only themselves, but others who are dependent upon them." - -"Ah, indeed! but how?" - -"By work." - -"You mean servants?" - -"Not so-called. I mean intelligent, selfrespecting women; teachers, -clerks, stenographers, type-writers." - -"I should think it would be more agreeable, and easier, for them to -engage in business as our women do." - -"No doubt it would," I replied, feeling myself driven to a close -scrutiny of the Woman Question, as we call it, for the first time in -my life. For I saw that my friend was deeply interested and wanted to -get at the literal truth. "But the women of my country," I went on, -"the self-supporting ones, do not have control of money. They have a -horror of speculation, and shrink from taking risks and making -ventures, the failure of which would mean loss or ruin to others. A -woman's right to make her living is restricted to the powers within -herself, powers of brain and hand. She is a beginner, you know. She -has not yet learned to make money by the labor of others; she does -not know how to manipulate those who are less intelligent and less -capable than herself, and to turn their ignorance and helplessness to -her own account. Perhaps I had better add that she is more religious -than man, and is sustained in this seeming injustice by something she -calls conscience." - -Severnius was silent for a moment; he had a habit of setting his -reason to work and searching out explanations in his own mind, of -things not easily understood. - -As a rule, the Marsians have not only very highly developed physical -faculties, such as sight and hearing, but remarkably acute intellects. -They let no statement pass without examination, and they scrutinize -facts closely and seek for causes. - -"If so many women," said he, "are obliged to support themselves and -others beside, as you say, by their work simply, they must receive -princely wages,--and of course they have no responsibilities, which is -a great saving of energy." - -I remembered having heard it stated that in New York City, the United -States Bureau gives the average of women's wages--leaving out -domestic service and unskilled labor--as five dollars and eighty-five -cents per week. I mentioned the fact, and Severnius looked aghast. - -"What, a mere pittance!" said he. "Only about a third as much as I -give my stableman. But then the conditions are different, no doubt. -Here in Thursia that would no more than fight off the wolf, as we -say,--the hunger and cold. It would afford no taste of the better -things, freedom, leisure, recreation, but would reduce life to its -lowest terms,--mere existence." - -"I fear the conditions are much the same with us," I replied. - -"And do your women submit to such conditions,--do they not try to -alter them, throw them off?" - -"They submit, of course," I said; "I never heard of a revolt or an -insurrection among them! Though there seems to be growing up among -them, lately, a determination strong as death, to work out of those -conditions as fast as may be. They realize--just as men have been -forced to realize in this century--that work of the hands cannot -compete with work of machines, and that trained brains are better -capital than trained fingers. So, slowly but surely, they are reaching -up to the higher callings and working into places of honor and trust. -The odds are against them, because the 'ins' always have a tremendous -advantage over the 'outs.' The women, having never been in, must -submit to a rigid examination and extraordinary tests. They know that, -and they are rising to it. Whenever, it is said, they come into -competition with men, in our colleges and training schools, they hold -their own and more." - -"What are they fitting for?" asked Severnius. - -"Largely for the professions. They are becoming doctors, lawyers, -editors, artists, writers. The enormous systems of public schools in -my own and other countries is entirely in their hands,--except of -course in the management and directorship." - -"Except in the management and directorship?" echoed Severnius. - -"Of course they do not provide and disburse the funds, see to the -building of school-houses, and dictate the policy of the schools!" I -retorted. "But they teach them; you can hardly find a male teacher -except at the head of a school,--to keep the faculty in order." - -Severnius refrained from comment upon this, seeing, I suppose, that I -was getting a little impatient. He walked along with his head down. I -think I neglected to say that we were taking a long tramp into the -country, as we often did. In order to change the conversation, I asked -him what sort of a government they had in Paleveria, and was delighted -when he replied that it was a free republic. - -"My country is a republic also," I said, proudly. - -"We both have much to be thankful for," he answered. "A republic is -the only natural government in the world, and man cannot get above -nature." - -I thought this remark rather singular,--at variance with progress and -high civilization. But I let it pass, thinking to take it up at some -future time. - -"How do you vote here?" I asked. "What are your qualifications and -restrictions?" - -"Briefly told," he replied. "Every citizen may vote on all public -questions, and in all elections." - -"But what constitutes citizenship?" - -"A native-born is a citizen when he or she reaches maturity. -Foreigners are treated as minors until they have lived as long under -the government as it takes for a child to come of age. It is thus," he -added, facetiously, "that we punish people for presuming to be born -outside our happy country." - -"Excuse me," I said, "but do I understand you to say that your women -have the right of suffrage?" - -"Assuredly. Do not yours?" - -"Indeed no!" I replied, the masculine instinct of superiority swelling -within me. - -Severnius wears spectacles. He adjusted them carefully on his nose and -looked at me. - -"But did you not tell me just now that your country is a republic?" - -"It is, but we do not hold that women are our political equals," I -answered. - -His face was an exclamation and interrogation point fused into one. - -"Indeed! and how do you manage it,--how, for instance, can you prevent -them from voting?" - -"O, they don't often try it," I said, laughing. "When they do, we -simply throw their ballots out of the count." - -"Is it possible! That seems to me a great unfairness. However, it can -be accounted for, I suppose, from the fact that things are so -different on the Earth to what they are here. Our government, you see, -rests upon a system of taxation. We tax all property to defray -governmental expenses, and for many other purposes tending toward the -general good; which makes it necessary that all our citizens shall -have a voice in our political economy. But you say your women have no -property, and so--" - -"I beg your pardon!" I interposed; "I did not say that. We have a -great many very rich women,--women whose husbands or fathers have left -them fortunes." - -"Then they of course have a vote?" - -"They do not. You can't make a distinction like that." - -"No? But you exempt their property, perhaps?" - -"Of course not." - -"Do you tell me that you tax property, to whatever amount, and for -whatever purpose, you choose, without allowing the owner her -fractional right to decide about either the one or the other?" - -"Their interests are identical with ours," I replied, "so what is the -difference? We men manage the government business, and I fancy we do -it sufficiently well." - -I expanded my chest after this remark, and Severnius simply looked at -me. I think that at that moment I suffered vicariously in his scornful -regard for all my countrymen. - -I did not like the Socratic method he had adopted in this -conversation, and I turned the tables on him. - -"Do your women hold office, other than in the school board and the -council?" I asked. - -"O, yes, fully half our offices are filled by women." - -"And you make no discrimination in the kind of office?" - -"The law makes none; those things adjust themselves. Fitness, -equipment, are the only things considered. A woman, the same as a man, -is governed by her taste and inclination in the matter of -office-holding. Do women never take a hand in state affairs on the -Earth?" - -"Yes, in some countries they do,--monarchies. There have been a good -many women sovereigns. There are a few now." - -"And are they successful rulers?" - -"Some are, some are not." - -"The same as men. That proves that your women are not really -inferior." - -"Well, I should say not!" I retorted. "Our women are very superior; we -treat them more as princesses than as inferiors,--they are angels." - -I was carried away in the heat of resentment, and knew that what I had -said was half cant. - -"I beg your pardon!" said Severnius quickly; "I got a wrong -impression from your statements. I fear I am very stupid. Are they all -angels?" - -I gave him a furtive glance and saw that he was in earnest. His brows -were drawn together with a puzzled look. - -I had a sudden vision of a scene in Five Points; several groups of -frowsled, petticoated beings, laughing, joking, swearing, quarreling, -fighting, and drinking beer from dirty mugs. - -"No, not all of them," I replied, smiling. "That was a figure of -speech. There are so many classes." - -"Let us confine our discussion to one, then," he returned. "To the -women who might be of your own family; that will simplify matters. And -now tell me, please, how this state of things came about, this -subjection of a part of your people. I cannot understand it,--these -subjects being of your own flesh and blood. I should think it would -breed domestic discontent, where some of the members of a family wield -a power and enjoy a privilege denied to the others. Fancy my shaking -a ballot over Elodia's head!" - -"O, Elodia!" I said, and was immediately conscious that my accent was -traitorous to my countrywomen. I made haste to add, - -"Your sister is--incomparable. She is unusual even here. I have seen -none others like her." - -"How do you mean?" - -"I mean that she is as responsible as a man; she is not inconsequent." - -"Are your women inconsequent?" - -"They have been called so, and we think it rather adds to their -attractiveness. You see they have always been relieved of -responsibility, and I assure you the large majority of them have no -desire to assume it,--I mean in the matter of government and -politics." - -"Yes?" - -I dislike an interrogative "yes," and I made no reply. Severnius -added, - -"I suppose they have lost the faculty which you say they lack,--the -faculty that makes people responsible,--through disuse. I have seen -the same thing in countries on the other side of our globe, where -races have been held as slaves for several centuries. They seem to -have no ideas about personal rights, or liberties, as pertaining to -themselves, and no inclination in that direction. It always struck me -as being the most pathetic feature of their condition that they and -everybody else accepted it as a matter of course, as they would a law -of nature. In the place of strength and self-assertion there has come -to them a dumb patience, or an unquestioning acquiescence like that of -people born blind. Are your women happy?" - -"You should see them!" I exclaimed, with certain ball-room memories -rushing upon me, and visions of fair faces radiant with the joy of -living. But these were quickly followed by other pictures, and I felt -bound to add, "Of late, a restless spirit has developed in certain -circles,--" - -"The working circles, I suppose," interrupted Severnius. "You spoke of -the working women getting into the professions." - -"Not those exclusively. Even the women of leisure are not so satisfied -as they used to be. There has been, for a great many years, more or -less chaffing about women's rights, but now they are beginning to take -the matter seriously." - -"Ah, they are waking up, perhaps?" - -"Yes, some of them are waking up,--a good many of them. It is a little -ridiculous, when one thinks of it, seeing they have no power to -enforce their 'rights', and can never attain them except through the -condescension of men. Tell me, Severnius, when did your women wake -up?" - -Severnius smiled. "My dear sir, I think they have never been asleep!" - -We stalked along silently for a time; the subject passed out of my -mind, or was driven out by the beauties of the landscape about us. I -was especially impressed with the magnificence of the trees that -hedged every little patch of farm land, and threw their protecting -arms around houses and cottages, big and little; and with the many -pellucid streams flowing naturally, or divided like strands of silk -and guided in new courses, to lave the roots of trees or run through -pasture lands where herds were feeding. - -A tree is something to be proud of in Paleveria, more than a fine -residence; more even than ancient furniture and cracked china. Perhaps -because the people sit out under their trees a great deal, and the -shade of them has protected the heads of many generations, and they -have become hallowed through sacred memories and traditions. In -Paleveria they have tree doctors, whose business it is to ward off -disease, heal wounded or broken boughs, and exterminate destructive -insects. - -Severnius startled me suddenly with another question: - -"What, may I ask, is your theory of Man's creation?" - -"God made Man, and from one of his ribs fashioned woman," I replied -catechetically. - -"Ours is different," said he. "It is this: A pair of creatures, male -and female, sprang simultaneously from an enchanted lake in the -mountain region of a country called Caskia, in the northern part of -this continent. They were only animals, but they were beautiful and -innocent. God breathed a Soul into them and they were Man and Woman, -equals in all things." - -"A charming legend!" said I. - -Later on I learned the full breadth of the meaning of the equality he -spoke of. At that time it was impossible for me to comprehend it, and -I can only convey it to you in a complete account of my further -experiences on that wonderful planet. - - - - -Chapter 3. - -THE AURORAS' ANNUAL. - - -It was winter, and snow was on the ground; white and sparkling, and as -light as eider-down. Elodia kept a fine stable. Four magnificent white -horses were harnessed to her sleigh, which was in the form of an -immense swan, with a head and neck of frosted silver. The body of it -was padded outside with white varnished leather, and inside with -velvet of the color of a dove's breast. The robes were enormous skins -of polar bears, lined with a soft, warm fabric of wool and silk. The -harness was bestrung with little silver bells of most musical and -merry tone; and all the trappings and accoutrements were superb. -Elodia had luxurious tastes, and indulged them. - -Every day we took an exhilarating drive. The two deep, comfortable -seats faced each other like seats in a landau. Severnius and I -occupied one, and Elodia the other; so that I had the pleasure of -looking at her whenever I chose, and of meeting her eyes in -conversation now and then, which was no small part of my enjoyment. -The mere sight of her roused the imagination and quickened the pulse. -Her eyes were unusually dark, but they had blue rays, and were as -clear and beautiful as agates held under water. In fact they seemed to -swim in an invisible liquid. Her complexion had the effect of -alabaster through which a pink light shines,--deepest in the cheeks, -as though they were more transparent than the rest of her face. Her -head, crowned with a fascinating little cap, rose above her soft furs -like a regal flower. She was so beautiful that I wondered at myself -that I could bear the sight of her. - -Strange to say, the weather was not cold, it was simply -bracing,--hardly severe enough to make the ears tingle. - -The roads were perfect everywhere, and we often drove into the -country. The horses flew over the wide white stretches at an -incredible speed. - -One afternoon when, at the usual hour, the coachman rang the bell and -announced that he was ready, I was greatly disappointed to find that -we were not to have Elodia. But I said nothing, for I was shy about -mentioning her name. - -When we were seated, Severnius gave directions to the driver. - -"Time yourself, Giddo, so that you will be at the Public Square at -precisely three o'clock," said he, and turned to me. "We shall want to -see the parade." - -"What parade?" I inquired. - -"Oh! has not Elodia told you? This is The Auroras' Annual,--a great -day. The parade will be worth seeing." - -In the excitement of the drive, and in my disappointment about not -having Elodia with us, I had almost forgotten about The Auroras' -Annual, when three o'clock came. I had seen parades in New York City, -until the spectacle had calloused my sense of the magnificent, and I -very much doubted whether Mars had anything new to offer me in that -line. - -Punctual to the minute, Giddo fetched up at the Square,--among a -thousand or so of other turnouts,--with such a flourish as all Jehus -love. We were not a second too soon. There was a sudden burst of -music, infinitely mellowed by distance; and as far up the street as -the eye could well reach there appeared a mounted procession, -advancing slowly. Every charger was snow white, with crimped mane and -tail, long and flowing, and with trappings of various colors -magnificent in silver blazonry. - -The musicians only were on foot. They were beating upon drums and -blowing transcendent airs through silver wind instruments. I do not -know whether it was some quality of the atmosphere that made the -strains so ravishing, but they swept over one's soul with a rapture -that was almost painful. I could hardly sit still, but I was held down -by the thought that if I should get up I would not know what to do. It -is a peculiar sensation. - -On came the resplendent column with slow, majestic movement; and I -unconsciously kept time with the drums, with Browning's stately lines -on my tongue, but unspoken: - - "Steady they step adown the slope, - Steady they climb the hill." - -There was no hill, but a very slight descent. As they drew nearer the -splendor of the various uniforms dazzled my eyes. You will remember -that everything about us was white; the buildings all of white stone -or brick, the ground covered with snow, and the crowds of people -lining the streets all dressed in the national color, or no-color. - -There were several companies in the procession, and each company wore -distinguishing badges and carried flags and banners peculiar to -itself. - -The housings on the horses of the first brigade were of yellow, and -all the decorations of the riders corresponded; of the second pale -blue, and of the third sky-pink. The uniforms of the riders were -inconceivably splendid; fantastic and gorgeous head-gear, glittering -belts, silken scarfs and sashes, badges and medals flashing with gems, -and brilliant colors twisted into strange and curious devices. - -As the first division was about to pass, I lost my grip on myself and -half started to my feet with a smothered exclamation, "Elodia!" - -Severnius put out his hand as though he were afraid I was going to -leap out of the sleigh, or do something unusual. - -"What is it?" he cried, and following my gaze he added, "Yes, that is -Elodia in front; she is the Supreme Sorceress of the Order of the -Auroras." - -"The--_what_!" - -"Don't be frightened," he laughed; "the word means nothing,--it is -only a title." - -I could not believe him when I looked at the advancing figure of -Elodia. She sat her horse splendidly erect. Her fair head was crowned -with a superb diadem of gold and topazes, with a diamond star in the -centre, shooting rays like the sun. Her expression was grave and -lofty; she glanced neither to right nor left, but gazed straight -ahead--at nothing, or at something infinitely beyond mortal vision. -Her horse champed its bits, arched its beautiful neck, and stepped -with conscious pride; dangling the gold fringe on its sheeny yellow -satin saddle-cloth, until one could hardly bear the sight. - -"The words mean nothing!" I repeated to myself. "It is not so; -Severnius has deceived me. His sister is a sorceress; a--I don't know -what! But no woman could preserve that majestic mien, that proud -solemnity of countenance, if she were simply--playing! There is a -mystery here." - -I scrutinized every rider as they passed. There was not a man among -them,--all women. Their faces had all borrowed, or had tried to -borrow, Elodia's queenly look. Many of them only burlesqued it. None -were as beautiful as she. - -When it was all over, and the music had died away in the distance, we -drove off,--Giddo threading his way with consummate skill, which -redounded much to his glory in certain circles he cared for, through -the crowded thoroughfares. - -I could not speak for many minutes, and Severnius was a man upon whom -silence always fell at the right time. I never knew him to break in -upon another's mood for his own entertainment. Nor did he spy upon -your thoughts; he left you free. By-and-by, I appealed to him: - -"Tell me, Severnius, what does it mean?" - -"This celebration?" returned he. "With pleasure. Giddo, you may drive -round for half an hour, and then take us to the Auroras' Temple,--it -is open to visitors to-day." - -We drew the robes closely, and settled ourselves more comfortably, as -we cleared the skirts of the crowd. It was growing late and the air -was filled with fine arrows of frost, touched by the last -sunbeams,--their sharp little points stinging our faces as we were -borne along at our usual lively speed. - -"This society of the Auroras," said Severnius, "originated several -centuries ago, in the time of a great famine. In those days the people -were poor and improvident, and a single failure in their crops left -them in a sorry condition. Some of the wealthiest women of the -country banded themselves together and worked systematically for the -relief of the sufferers. Their faces appeared so beautiful, and beamed -with such a light of salvation as they went about from hut to hut, -that they got the name of 'auroras' among the simple poor. And they -banished want and hunger so magically, that they were also called -'sorcerers'." - -"O, then, it is a charitable organization?" I exclaimed, much -relieved. - -"It was," replied Severnius. "It was in active operation for a hundred -or so years. Finally, when there was no more need of it, the State -having undertaken the care of its poor, it passed into a sentiment, -such as you have seen to-day." - -"A very costly and elaborate sentiment," I retorted. - -"Yes, and it is growing more so, all the time," said he. "I sometimes -wonder where it is going to stop! For those who, like Elodia, have -plenty of money, it does not matter; but some of the women we saw in -those costly robes and ornaments can ill afford them,--they mean less -of comfort in their homes and less of culture to their children." - -"I should think their husbands would not allow such a waste of money," -I said, forgetting the social economy of Mars. - -"It does not cost any more than membership in the orders to which the -husbands themselves belong," returned he. "They argue, of course, that -they need the recreation, and also that membership in such hightoned -clubs gives them and their children a better standing and greater -influence in society." - -Severnius did not forget his usual corollary,--the question with which -he topped out every explanation he made about his country and people. - -"Have you nothing of the sort on the Earth?" he asked. - -"Among the women?--we have not," I answered. - -"I did not specify," he said. - -"O, well, the men have," I admitted; "I belong to one such -organization myself,--the City Guards." - -"And you guard the city?" - -"No; there is nothing to guard it against at present. It's a -'sentiment,' as you say." - -"And do you parade?" - -"Yes, of course, upon occasion,--there are certain great anniversaries -in our nation's history when we appear." - -"And why not your women?" - -I smiled to myself, as I tried to fancy some of the New York ladies I -knew, arrayed in gorgeous habiliments for an equestrian exhibition on -Broadway. I replied, - -"Really, Severnius, the idea is entirely new to me. I think they would -regard it as highly absurd." - -"Do they regard you as absurd?" he asked, in that way of his which I -was often in doubt about, not knowing whether he was in earnest or -not. - -"I'm sure I do not know," I said. "They may,--our women have a keen -relish for the ludicrous. Still, I cannot think that they do; they -appear to look upon us with pride. And they present us with an -elaborate silken banner about once a year, stitched together by their -own fair fingers and paid for out of their own pocket money. That does -not look as though they were laughing at us exactly." - -I said this as much to convince myself as Severnius. - -The half-hour was up and we were at the Temple gate. The building, -somewhat isolated, reared itself before us, a grand conception in -chiseled marble, glinting in the brilliant lights shot upon it from -various high points. Already it was dark beyond the radius of these -lights,--neither of the moons having yet appeared. - -Severnius dismissed the sleigh, saying that we would walk home,--the -distance was not far,--and we entered the grounds and proceeded to -mount the flight of broad steps leading up to the magnificent -arched entrance. The great carved doors,--the carvings were -emblematic,--swung back and admitted us. The Temple was splendidly -illuminated within, and imagination could not picture anything more -imposing than the great central hall and winding stairs, visible all -the way up to the dome. - -Below, on one side of this lofty hall, there were extensive and -luxurious baths. Severnius said the members of the Order were fond of -congregating here,--and I did not wonder at that; nothing that -appertains to such an establishment was lacking. Chairs and sofas that -we would call "Turkish," thick, soft rugs and carpets, pictures, -statuary, mirrors, growing plants, rare flowers, books, musical -instruments. And Severnius told me the waters were delightful for -bathing. - -The second story consisted of a series of spacious rooms divided from -each other by costly portieres, into which the various emblems and -devices were woven in their proper tinctures. - -All of these rooms were as sumptuously furnished as those connected -with the baths; and the decorations, I thought, were even more -beautiful, of a little higher or finer order. - -In one of the rooms a lady was playing upon an instrument resembling a -harp. She dropped her hands from the strings and came forward -graciously. - -"Perhaps we are intruding?" said Severnius. - -"Ah, no, indeed," she laughed, pleasantly; "no one could be more -welcome here than the brother of our Supreme Sorceress!" - -"Happy the man who has a distinguished sister!" returned he. - -"I am unfortunate," she answered with a slight blush. "Severnius is -always welcome for his own sake." - -He acknowledged the compliment, and with a certain reluctance, I -thought, said, "Will you allow me, Claris, to introduce my -friend--from another planet?" - -She took a swift step toward me and held out her hand. - -"I have long had a great curiosity to meet you, sir," she said. - -I bowed low over her hand and murmured that her curiosity could not -possibly equal the pleasure I felt in meeting her. - -She gave Severnius a quick, questioning look. I believe she thought he -had told me something about her. He let her think what she liked. - -"How is it you are here?" he asked. - -"You mean instead of being with the others?" she returned. "I have not -been well lately, and I thought--or my husband thought--I had better -not join the procession. I am awaiting them here." - -As she spoke, I noticed that she was rather delicate looking. She was -tall and slight, with large, bright eyes, and a transparent -complexion. If Elodia had not filled all space in my consciousness I -think I should have been considerably interested in her. I liked her -frank, direct way of meeting us and talking to us. We soon left her -and continued our explorations. - -I wanted to ask Severnius something about her, but I thought he -avoided the subject. He told me, however, that her husband, Massilia, -was one of his closest friends. And then he added, "I wonder that she -took his advice!" - -"Why so," I asked; "do not women here ever take their husbands' -advice?" - -"Claris is not in the habit of doing so," he returned with, I thought, -some severity. And then he immediately spoke of something else quite -foreign to her. - -The third and last story comprised an immense hall or assembly room, -and rows of deep closets for the robes and paraphernalia of the -members of the Order. In one of these closets a skeleton was suspended -from the ceiling and underneath it stood a coffin. On a shelf were -three skulls with their accompanying cross-bones, and several -cruel-looking weapons. - -Severnius said he supposed these hideous tokens were employed in the -initiation of new members. It seemed incredible. I thought that, if it -were so, the Marsian women must have stronger nerves than ours. - -A great many beautiful marble columns and pillars supported the roof -of the hall, and the walls had a curiously fluted appearance. There -was a great deal of sculpture, not only figures, but flowers, vines, -and all manner of decorations,--even draperies chiseled in marble that -looked like frozen lace, with an awful stillness in their ghostly -folds. There was a magnificent canopied throne on an elevation like an -old-fashioned pulpit, and seats for satellites on either side, and at -the base. If I had been alone, I would have gone up and knelt down -before the throne,--for of course that was where Elodia sat,--and I -would have kissed the yellow cushion on which her feet were wont to -rest when she wielded her jeweled scepter. The scepter, I observed, -lay on the throne-chair. - -There was an orchestra, and there were "stations" for the various -officials, and the walls were adorned with innumerable cabalistic -insignia. I asked Severnius if he knew the meaning of any of them. - -"How should I know?" he replied in surprise. "Only the initiates -understand those things." - -"Then these women keep their secrets," said I. - -"Yes, to be sure they do," he replied. - -The apartment to the right, on the entrance floor, opposite the baths, -was the last we looked into, and was a magnificent banquet hall. A -servant who stood near the door opened it as though it had been the -door of a shrine, and no wonder! It was a noble room in its dimensions -and in all its unparalleled adornments and appurtenances. - -The walls and ceiling bristled with candelabra all alight. The tables, -set for a banquet, held everything that could charm the eye or tempt -the appetite in such a place. - -I observed a great many inverted stemglasses of various exquisite -styles and patterns, including the thin, flaring goblets, as delicate -as a lily-cup, which mean the same thing to Marsians as to us. - -"Do these women drink champagne at their banquets?" I asked, with a -frown. - -"O, yes," replied Severnius. "A banquet would be rather tame without, -wouldn't it? The Auroras are not much given to drink, ordinarily, but -on occasions like this they are liable to indulge pretty freely." - -"Is it possible!" I could say no more than this, and Severnius went -on: - -"The Auroras, you see, are the cream of our society,--the -_elite_,--and costly drinks are typical, in a way, of the highest -refinement. Do you people never drink wine at your social gatherings?" - -"The men do, of course, but not the women," I replied in a tone which -the whole commonwealth of Paleveria might have taken as a rebuke. - -"Ah, I fear I shall never be able to understand!" said he. "It is very -confusing to my mind, this having two codes--social as well as -political--to apply separately to members of an identical community. I -don't see how you can draw the line so sharply. It is like having two -distinct currents in a river-bed. Don't the waters ever get mixed?" - -"You are facetious," I returned, coldly. - -"No, really, I am in earnest," said he. "Do no women in your country -ever do these things,--parade and drink wine, and the like,--which you -say you men are not above doing?" - -I replied with considerable energy: - -"I have never before to-day seen women of any sort dress themselves up -in conspicuous uniforms and exhibit themselves publicly for the avowed -purpose of being seen and making a sensation, except in circuses. And -circus women,--well, they don't count. And of course we have a class -of women who crack champagne bottles and even quaff other fiery -liquors as freely as men, but I do not need to tell you what kind of -creatures those are." - -At that moment there were sounds of tramping feet outside, and the -orchestra filed in at the farther end of the _salon_ and took their -places on a high dais. At a given signal every instrument was in -position and the music burst forth, and simultaneously the banqueters -began to march in. They had put off their heavy outside garments but -retained their ornaments and insignia. Their white necks and arms -gleamed bewitchingly through silvered lace. They moved to their places -without the least jostling or awkwardness, their every step and motion -proving their high cultivation and grace. - -"We must get out of here," whispered Severnius in some consternation. -But a squad of servants clogged the doorway and we were crowded -backward, and in the interest of self-preservation we took refuge in a -small alcove behind a screen of tall hot-house plants with enormous -leaves and fronds. - -"Good heavens! what shall we do?" cried Severnius, beginning to -perspire. - -"Let us sit down," said I, who saw nothing very dreadful in the -situation except that it was warm, and the odor of the blossoms in -front of us was overpowering. There was a bench in the alcove, and we -seated ourselves upon it,--I with much comfort, for it was a little -cooler down there, and my companion with much fear. - -"Would it be a disgrace if we were found here?" I asked. - -"I would not be found here for the world!" replied Severnius. "It -would not be a disgrace, but it would be considered highly improper. -Or, to put it so that you can better understand it, it would be the -same as though they were men and we women." - -"That is clear!" said I; and I pictured to myself two charming New -York girls of my acquaintance secreting themselves in a hall where we -City Guards were holding a banquet,--ye gods! - -As the feast progressed, and as my senses were almost swept away by -the scent of the flowers, I sometimes half fancied that it _was_ the -City Guards who were seated at the tables. - -During the first half-hour everything was carried on with great -dignity, speakers being introduced--this occurred in the interim -between courses--in proper order, and responding with graceful and -well-prepared remarks, which were suitably applauded. But after the -glasses had been emptied a time or two all around, there came a change -with which I was very familiar. Jokes abounded and jolly little songs -were sung,--O, nothing you would take exception to, you know, if they -had been men; but women! beautiful, cultivated, charming women, with -eyes like stars, with cheeks that matched the dawn, with lips that you -would have liked to kiss! And more than this: the preservers of our -ideals, the interpreters of our faith, the keepers of our consciences! -I felt as though my traditionary idols were shattered, until I -remembered that these were not my countrywomen, thank heaven! - -Severnius was not at all surprised; he took it all as a matter of -course, and was chiefly concerned about how we were going to get out -of there. It was more easily accomplished than we could have imagined. -The elegant candelabra were a cunningly contrived system of electric -lights, and, as sometimes happens with us, they went out suddenly and -left the place in darkness for a few convenient seconds. "Quick, now!" -cried Severnius with a bound, and there was just time for us to make -our escape. We had barely reached the outer door when the whole -building was ablaze again. - -Severnius offered no comments on the events of the evening, except to -say we were lucky to get out as we did, and of course I made none. At -my suggestion we stopped at the observatory and spent a few hours -there. Lost among the stars, my soul recovered its equilibrium. I have -found that little things cease to fret when I can lift my thoughts to -great things. - -It must have been near morning when I was awakened by the jingling of -bells, and a sleigh driving into the _porte cochere_. A few moments -later I heard Elodia and her maid coming up the stairs. Her maid -attended her everywhere, and stationed herself about like a dummy. She -was the sign always that Elodia was not far off; and I am sure she -would have laid down her life for her mistress, and would have -suffered her tongue to be cut out before she would have betrayed her -secrets. I tell you this to show you what a power of fascination -Elodia possessed; she seemed a being to be worshiped by high and low. - -Severnius and I ate our breakfast alone the following morning. The -Supreme Sorceress did not get up, nor did she go down town to attend -to business at all during the day. At lunch time she sent her maid -down to tell Severnius that she had a headache. - -"Quite likely," he returned, as the girl delivered her message; "but I -am sorry to hear it. If there is anything I can do for her, tell her -to let me know." - -The girl made her obeisance and vanished. - -"We have to pay for our fun," said Severnius with a sigh. - -"I should not think your sister would indulge in such 'fun'!" I -retorted as a kind of relief to my hurt sensibilities, I was so -cruelly disappointed in Elodia. - -"Why my sister in particular?" returned he with a look of surprise. - -"Well, of course, I mean all those women,--why do they do such things? -It is unwomanly, it--it is disgraceful!" - -I could not keep the word back, and for the first time I saw a flash -of anger in my friend's eyes. - -"Come," said he, "you must not talk like that! That term may have a -different signification to you, but with us it means an insult." - -I quickly begged his pardon and tried to explain to him. - -"Our women," I said, "never do things of that sort, as I have told -you. They have no taste for them and no inclination in that -direction,--it is against their very nature. And if you will forgive -me for saying so, I cannot but think that such indulgence as we -witnessed last night must coarsen a woman's spiritual fibre and dull -the fine moral sense which is so highly developed in her." - -"Excuse me," interposed Severnius. "You have shown me in the case of -your own sex that human nature is the same on the Earth that it is on -Mars. You would not have me think that there are two varieties of -human nature on your planet, corresponding with the sexes, would you? -You say 'woman's' spiritual fibre and fine moral sense, as though she -had an exclusive title to those qualities. My dear sir, it is -impossible! you are all born of woman and are one flesh and one blood, -whether you are male or female. I admit all you say about the -unwholesome influence of such indulgence as wine drinking, late hours, -questionable stories and songs,--a night's debauch, in fact, which it -requires days sometimes to recover from,--but I must apply it to men -as well as women; neither are at their best under such conditions. I -think," he went on, "that I begin to understand the distinction which -you have curiously mistaken for a radical difference. Your women, you -say, have always been in a state of semi-subjection--" - -"No, no," I cried, "I never said so! On the contrary, they hold the -very highest place with us; they are honored with chivalrous devotion, -cared for with the tenderest consideration. We men are their slaves, -in reality, though they call us their lords; we work for them, endure -hardships for them, give them all that we can of wealth, luxury, ease. -And we defend them from danger and save them every annoyance in our -power. They are the queens of our hearts and homes." - -"That may all be," he replied coolly, "but you admit that they have -always been denied their political rights, and it follows that their -social rights should be similarly limited. Long abstinence from the -indulgences which you regard as purely masculine, has resulted in a -habit merely, not a change in their nature." - -"Then thank heaven for their abstinence!" I exclaimed. - -"That is all very well," he persisted, "but you must concede that in -the first place it was forced upon them, and that was an injustice, -because they were intelligent beings and your equals." - -"They ought to thank us for the injustice, then," I retorted. - -"I beg your pardon! they ought not. No doubt they are very lovely and -innocent beings, and that your world is the better for them. But they, -being restricted in other ways by man's authority, or his wishes, or -by fear of his disfavor perhaps, have acquired these gentle qualities -at the expense of--or in the place of--others more essential to the -foundation of character; I mean strength, dignity, self-respect, and -that which you once attributed to my sister,--responsibility." - -I was bursting with indignant things which I longed to say, but my -position was delicate, and I bit my tongue and was silent. - -I will tell you one thing, my heart warmed toward my gentle -countrywomen! With all their follies and frivolities, with all their -inconsistencies and unaccountable ways, their whimsical fancies and -petty tempers, their emotions and their susceptibility to new isms -and religions, they still represented my highest and best ideals. And -I thought of Elodia, sick upstairs from her last night's carousal, -with contempt. - - - - -Chapter 4. - -ELODIA. - - "If to her lot some female errors fall, - Look to her face and you'll forget them all." - --POPE. - - -My contempt for Elodia vanished at the first intimation of her -presence. I had expected to meet her with an air of cold superiority, -but when she entered the dining-room that evening with her usual -careless aplomb, the glance with which she favored me reduced me to my -customary attitude toward her,--that of unquestioning admiration. Our -physical nature is weak, and this woman dominated my senses -completely, with her beauty, with her melodious voice, her singular -magnetic attraction, and every casual expression of her face. - -On that particular evening, her dress was more than ordinarily -becoming, I thought. She had left off some of the draperies she -usually wore about her shoulders, and her round, perfect waist was -more fully disclosed in outline. She was somewhat pale, and her eyes -seemed larger and darker than their wont, and had deeper shadows. And -a certain air of languor that hung about her was an added grace. She -had, however, recovered sufficiently from the dissipations of the day -before to make herself uncommonly agreeable, and I never felt in a -greater degree the charm and stimulus of her presence and -conversation. - -After dinner she preceded us into the parlor,--which was unusual, for -she was always too sparing of her society, and the most we saw of her -was at dinner or luncheon time,--and crossed over to an alcove where -stood a large and costly harp whose strings she knew well how to -thrum. - -"Elodia, you have never sung for our friend," said Severnius. - -She shook her head, and letting her eyes rest upon me -half-unconsciously--almost as if I were not there in fact, for she had -a peculiar way of looking at you without actually seeing you,--she -went on picking out the air she had started to play. I subjoined a -beseeching look to her brother's suggestive remark, but was not sure -she noted it. But presently she began to sing and I dropped into a -chair and sat spell-bound. Her voice was sweet, with a quality that -stirred unwonted feelings; but it was not that alone. As she stood -there in the majesty of her gracious womanhood, her exquisite figure -showing at its best, her eyes uplifted and a something that meant -power radiating from her whole being, I felt that, do what she might, -she was still the grandest creature in that world to me! - -Soon after she had finished her song, while I was still in the thrall -of it, a servant entered the room with a packet for Severnius, who -opened and read it with evident surprise and delight. - -"Elodia!" he cried, "those friends of mine, those Caskians from -Lunismar, are coming to make us a visit." - -"Indeed!" she answered, without much enthusiasm, and Severnius turned -to me. - -"It is on your account, my friend, that I am to be indebted to them -for this great pleasure," he explained. - -"On my account?" said I. - -"Yes, they have heard about you, and are extremely anxious to make -your acquaintance?" - -"They must be," said Elodia, "to care to travel a thousand miles or so -in order to do it." - -"Who are they, pray?" I asked. - -"They are a people so extraordinarily good," she said with a laugh, -"so refined and sublimated, that they cast no shadow in the sun." - -Severnius gave her a look of mild protest. - -"They are a race exactly like ourselves, outwardly," he said, "who -inhabit a mountainous and very picturesque country called Caskia, in -the northern part of this continent." - -"O, that is where the Perfect Pair came from," I rejoined, remembering -what he had told me about Man's origin on Mars. - -Elodia smiled. "Has Severnius been entertaining you with our religious -fables?" she asked. I glanced at him and saw that he had not heard; -he was finishing his letter. - -"You will be interested in these Caskians," he said to me animatedly -as he folded it up; "I was. I spent some months in Lunismar, their -capital, once, studying. They have rare facilities for reading the -heavens there,--I mean of their own contrivance,--beside their natural -advantages; their high altitude and the clearness of the air." - -"And they name themselves after the planetoids and other heavenly -bodies," interjected Elodia, "because they live so near the stars. -What is the name of the superlative creature you were so charmed with, -Severnius?" - -"I suppose you mean my friend Calypso's wife, Clytia," returned he. - -"O, yes, I remember,--Clytia. Is she to favor us?" - -"Yes, and her husband and several others." - -"Any other women?" - -"One or two, I think." - -"And how are we to conduct ourselves during the visitation?" - -"As we always do; you will not find that they will put any constraint -upon you." - -"No, hardly," said Elodia, with a slight curl of the lip. - -I was eager to hear more about these singular people,--the more eager, -perhaps, because the thought of them seemed to arouse Elodia to an -unwonted degree of feeling and interest. Her eyes glowed intensely, -and the color flamed brightly in her cheeks. - -I pressed a question or two upon Severnius, and he responded: - -"According to the traditions and annals of the Caskians, they began -many thousands of years ago to train themselves toward the highest -culture and most perfect development of which mankind is capable. -Their aim was nothing short of the Ideal, and they believed that the -ideal was possible. It took many centuries to counteract and finally -to eradicate hereditary evils, but their courage and perseverance did -not give way, and they triumphed. They have dropped the baser natural -propensities--" - -"As, in the course of evolution, it is said, certain species of -animals dropped their tails to become Man," interrupted Elodia. - -She rose from the divan on which she had gracefully disposed herself -when she quit playing, and glided from the room, sweeping a bow to us -as she vanished, before Severnius or I could interpose an objection to -her leaving us. Although there was never any appearance of haste in -her manner, she had a swift celerity of movement which made it -impossible to anticipate her intention. - -Severnius, however, did not care to interpose an objection, I think. -He felt somewhat hurt by her sarcastic comments upon his friends, and -he expanded more after she had gone. - -"You must certainly visit Lunismar before you leave Mars," he said. -"You will feel well repaid for the trouble. It is a beautiful city, -wonderful in its cleanness, in its dearth of poverty and squalor, and -in the purity and elevation of its social tone. I think you will wish -you might live there always." - -There seemed to be a regret in his voice, and I asked: - -"Why did not you remain there?" - -"Because of my sister," he answered. - -"But she will marry, doubtless." For some occult reason I hung upon -his reply to this. He shook his head. - -"I do not think she will," he said. "And she and I are all that are -left of our family." - -"She does not like,--or she does not believe in these Caskians?" I -hoped he would contradict me, and he did. I had come to found my -judgments of people and of things upon Elodia's, even against the -testimony of my reason. If she disapproved of her brother's -extraordinary friends and thought them an impossible people, why, -then, I knew I should have misgivings of them, too; and I wanted to -believe in them, not only on Severnius' account, but because they -presented a curious study in psychology. - -"O, yes, she does," he said. "She thinks that their principles and -their lives are all right for themselves, but would not be for her--or -for us; and our adoption of them would be simply apish. She is -genuine, and she detests imitation. She accepts herself--as she puts -it--as she found herself. God, who made all things, created her upon a -certain plane of life, and with certain tastes, faculties, passions -and propensities, and that it is not her office to disturb or distort -the order of His economy." - -"She does not argue thus in earnest," I deprecated. - -"It is difficult to tell when Elodia is in earnest," he replied. "She -thinks my sanctuary in the top story of the house here, is a kind of -weakness, because I brought the idea from Lunismar." - -"O, then, it is not common here in Thursia for people to have things -of that sort in their homes!" I said in surprise. - -"Yes, it has gotten to be rather common," he replied. - -"Since you put in yours?" - -He admitted that to be the case. - -"You must think that you have done your country a great good," I began -enthusiastically, "in introducing so beautiful an innovation, and--" - -"You are mistaken," he interrupted, "I think the contrary; because our -rich people, and some who are not rich but only ambitious, took it up -as a fad, and I believe it has really worked evil. It is considered -aristocratic to have one's own private shrine, and not to go to church -at all except in condescension, to patronize the masses. Elodia saw -clearly just how it would be, before I began to carry out my plan. She -has a logical mind, and her thought travels from one sequence to the -next with unfailing accuracy. I recall her saying that one cannot -superinduce the customs and habits of one society upon another of a -different order, without affectation; and that you cannot put on a new -religion, like a new garment, and feel yourself free in it." - -"Does she not believe, then, in progress, development?" - -"Only along the familiar lines. She thinks you can reach outward and -upward from your natural environment, but you must not tear yourself -out of it with violence. However, she admitted that my sanctuary was -well enough for me, because of my having lived among the Caskians and -studied their sublime ethics until I grew into the meanings of them. -But no person can take them second-hand from me, because I could not -bring away with me the inexpressible something which holds those -people together in a perfect Unit. I can go to Caskia and catch the -spirit of their religion, but I cannot bring Caskia here. It was a -mistake in so far as my neighbors are concerned, since they only see -in it, as I have said, a new fashion, a new diversion for their -ennuied thoughts." - -"What is there peculiar about the religion of those people?" I asked. - -"The most peculiar thing about it is that they live it, rather than -profess it," he replied. - -"I don't think I understand," said I, and after a moment's -consideration of the matter in his own mind, he tried to make his -meaning clear to me. - -"Do you often hear an upright man professing his honesty? It is a part -of himself. He is so free of the law which enjoins honesty that he -never gives it a thought. So with the man who is truly religious, he -has flung off the harness and no longer needs to guide himself by bit -and rein, or measure his conduct by the written code. My friends, the -Caskians, have emancipated themselves from the thraldom of the law by -absorbing its principles into themselves. It was like seed sown in the -ground, the germs burst from the husk and shot upward; they are -enjoying the flower and the fruit. That which all nations and peoples, -and all individuals, prize and desire above everything else in life, -is liberty. But I have seen few here in Paleveria who have any -conception of the vast spiritual meanings of the word. We limit it to -the physical; we say 'personal' liberty, as though that were all. You -admire the man of high courage, because in that one thing he is free. -So with all the virtues, named and unnamable; he is greatest who has -loosed himself the most, who weighs anchor and sails away triumphant -and free. But this is but a general picture of the Caskians; let me -particularize: we are forbidden to steal, by both our civil and -religious canons,--the coarseness of such a command would offend them -as much as a direct charge of theft would offend you or myself, so -exquisite is their sense of the rights of others, not only in the -matter of property but in a thousand subtle ways. Robbery in any form -is impossible with them. They would think it a crying sin for one to -take the slightest advantage of another,--nay, to neglect an -opportunity to assist another in the accomplishment of his rightful -purpose would be criminal. We, here on Mars, and you upon the Earth, -have discovered very sensitive elements in nature; they have -discovered the same in their own souls. Their perceptions are -singularly acute, their touch upon each other's lives finely delicate. -In this respect we compare with them as the rude blacksmith compares -with the worker in precious metals." - -"But do they also concern themselves with science?" I asked. - -"Assuredly," he answered. "Their inventions are remarkable, their -methods infinitely superior to ours. They believe in the triple -nature,--the spiritual, the intellectual, and the physical,--and take -equal pains in the development and culture of all." - -"How wonderful!" I said, remembering that upon the Earth we have waves -of culture breaking over the land from time to time, spasmodic, and -never the same; to-day it may be physical, to-morrow intellectual, and -by-and-by a superfine spiritual bloom. But, whichever it is, it -sacrifices the other two and makes itself supreme. - -Severnius went on. As he proceeded, I was struck by the fact that the -principles of our Christian civilization formed the basis of -Paleverian law. - -"I wanted to give you some other instances," he said, "of the -'peculiarities' of the Caskians, as we started out with calling them. -There is a law with us against bearing false witness; they hold each -other in such honor and in such tenderness, that the command is an -idle breath. There is nothing mawkish or sentimental about this, -however; they, in fact, make no virtue of it, any more than you or I -make a virtue of the things we do habitually--perhaps from unanalyzed -motives of policy. You would not strike a man if you knew he would hit -back and hurt you worse than he himself was hurt; well, these people -have sensibilities so finely developed, that a wrong done to another -reacts upon themselves with exquisite suffering. The law and its -penalties are both unseen forces, operating on an internal not an -external plane. With us, the authority which declares, 'Thou shalt not -commit adultery,' becomes powerless at the threshold of marriage. Like -other such laws which hold us together in an outward appearance of -decency and good order, it is a dead letter to them up to the point -where we drop and trample upon it; here they take it up and carry it -into their inmost lives and thoughts in a way almost too fine for us -to comprehend. Because we have never so much as dreamed of catching -the spirit of that law." - -"What do you mean?" I demanded, with a wide stare. - -"Why, that marriage does not sanction lust. The Caskians hold that the -exercise of the procreative faculty is a divine function, and should -never be debased to mere animal indulgence. It has been said upon -Divine Authority--as we believe--that if a man look upon a woman to -lust after her, he has committed adultery in his heart. The Caskians -interpret that to mean a man's wife, the same as any other woman, -because--they hold--one who owes his being to lust and passion -naturally inherits the evil and the curse, just as surely as though -wedlock had not concealed the crime. Their children are conceived in -immaculate purity." - -My look of prolonged amazement called out the usual question: - -"Have you no such class in any of your highly civilized countries?" - -"No, I think not. With us, children do not come in answer to an -intelligent desire for their existence, but are too often simply the -result of indulgence, and so unwelcome that their pre-natal life is -overshadowed by sorrow and crime." - -"Well," said he, "it is the same here; our people believe that -conception without lust is an impossibility in nature, and that -instances of it are supernatural. And certainly it is incredible -unless your mind can grasp the problem, or rather the great fact, of -a people engaged for centuries in eliminating the purely animal -instincts from their consciousness." - -After a moment he added: - -"In Caskia it would be considered shocking if a pair contemplating -marriage were to provide themselves with only one suite of rooms, to -be shared together day and night. Even the humblest people have their -respective apartments; they think such separateness is absolutely -essential to the perfect development of the individual,--for in the -main we each must stand alone,--and to the preservation of moral -dignity, and the fine sentiment and mutual respect which are almost -certain to be lost in the lawlessness of undue familiarity. The -relation between my friend Calypso and his wife is the finest thing I -ever saw; they are lovers on the highest plane. It would be an -impossibility for either of them to say or do a coarse or improper -thing in the other's presence, or to presume, in any of the -innumerable ways you and I are familiar with in our observations of -husbands and wives, upon the marriage bond existing between them. -This matter of animal passion," he went on, after a little pause, "has -been at the bottom of untold crimes, and unnumbered miseries, in our -land. I doubt if any other one thing has been prolific of more or -greater evils,--even the greed of wealth. Men, and women, too, have -sacrificed kingdoms for it, have bartered their souls for it. -Countless homes have been desolated because of it, countless lives and -hearts have been laid on its guilty altar. We ostracize the bastard; -he is no more impure than the offspring of legalized licentiousness, -and the law which protects the one and despises the other, cannot -discriminate in the matter of after effects, cannot annul or enforce -the curse of heredity. With these people the law of chastity is graven -in the inmost heart, and in this matter, as in all others, each -generation acknowledges its obligation to the next." - - - - -Chapter 5. - -THE VAPORIZER. - - "Portable ecstasies ... - corked up in a pint bottle." - --DE QUINCEY. - - -I was glad when spring came, when the trees began to bud, the grass to -grow, the flowers to bloom; for, of all the seasons, I like it -best,--this wonderful resurrection of life and sweetness! - -Thursia is a fine city,--not only in its costly and architecturally -and æsthetically perfect buildings, public and private, but in its -shaded avenues, its parks, lawns, gardens, fountains, its idyllic -statues, and its monuments to greatness. - -Severnius took pains to exhibit all its attractions to me, driving -with me slowly through the beautiful streets, and pointing out one -conspicuous feature and another. Of course there were some streets -which were not beautiful, but he avoided those as much as -possible,--as I have done myself when I have had friends visiting me -in New York. It is a compliment to your guest to show him the best -there is and to spare him the worst. - -But often, too, we took long walks through fields and woods. When -Elodia accompanied us, which she did a few times, the whole face of -nature smiled, and I thought Paleveria the most incomparably charming -country I had ever seen. Her presence gave importance to -everything,--the song of a bird, the opening of a humble little -flower, the babbling of water. But other things absorbed most of her -time,--we only got the scraps, the remnants. When she was with us she -relaxed, as though we were in some sort a recreation. She amused -herself with us just as I have seen a busy father amuse himself with -his family for an hour or so of an evening. And I think we really -planned our little theatricals of evening conversation for her,--at -least I did. I saved up whatever came to me of thought or incident to -give to her at the dinner table. And she appreciated it; her mind -bristled with keen points, upon which any ideas let loose were caught -in a flash. The sudden illumination of her countenance when a new -thing, or even an old thing in a new dress, was presented to her, was -of such value to me that I found myself laying traps for it, inventing -stories and incidents to touch her fancy. - -Besides her banking interests, over which she kept a close -surveillance, she had a great many other matters that required to be -looked after. As soon as the weather was fine enough, and business -activities in the city began to be redoubled, especially in the matter -of real estate, she made a point of driving about by herself to -inspect one piece of property and another, and to make plans and see -that they were carried out according to her ideas. And she was just as -conscientious in the discharge of her official duties. She was -constantly devising means for the betterment of the schools, both as -to buildings and methods of instruction. I believe she knew every -teacher personally,--and there must have been several thousand,--and -her relations with all of them were cordial and friendly. Her -approbation was a thing they strove for and valued,--not because of -her official position and the authority she held in her hands, but -because of a power which was innate in herself and that made her a -leader and a protector. - -But I was too selfish to yield my small right to her society,--the -right only of a guest in her house,--to these greater claims with -absolute sweetness and patience. - -"Why does she take all these things upon herself?" I asked of -Severnius. - -"Because she has a taste for them," he replied. "Or, as she would say, -a need of them. It is an internal hunger. It is her nature to exert -herself in these ways." - -"I cannot believe it is her nature; it is no woman's nature," I -retorted. "It is a habit which she has cultivated until it has got the -mastery of her." - -"Perhaps," returned Severnius, who was never much disposed to argue -about his sister's vagaries--as they seemed to me. - -"All this is mannish," I went on. "There are other things for women to -do. Why does she not give her time and attention to the softer -graces, to feminine occupations?" - -"I see," he laughed; "you want her to drop these weighty matters and -devote herself to amusing us! and you call that 'feminine.'" - -I joined in his laugh ruefully. - -"Perhaps I am narrow, and selfish, too," I admitted; "but she is so -charming, she brings so much into our conversations whenever we can -entice her to spend a moment with us." - -"Yes, that is true," he answered. "She gleans her ideas from a large -and varied field." - -"I do not mean her ideas, so much as--well, as the delicious flavor of -her presence and personality." - -"Her presence and her personality would not have much flavor, my -friend, if she had no ideas, I am thinking." - -"O, yes, they would," I insisted. "They are the ether in which our own -thoughts expand and take shape and color. They are the essence of her -supreme beauty." - -He shook his head. "Beauty is nothing without intelligence. What is -the camellia beside the rose? Elodia is the rose. She has several -pleasing qualities that appeal to you at one and the same time." - -This was rather pretty, but a man's praises of his sister always sound -tame to me. "She is adorable!" I cried with fervor. We were walking -toward a depot connected with a great railway. For the first time I -was to try the speed of a Marsian train. Severnius wanted me to visit -the city of Frambesco, some two hundred miles from Thursia, in another -state. - -After a short, ruminating silence I broke out again: - -"We don't even have her company evenings, to any extent. What does she -do with her evenings?" - -"Who? O, Elodia! Why, she goes to her club. For recreation, you know." - -"That is complimentary to you and me," I said coolly. - -He brought his spectacles to bear upon me somewhat sharply. - -"Don't you think you are a little unreasonable?" he demanded. "You -have curious ideas about individual liberty! Now, we hold that every -soul shall be absolutely free,--that is, in its relations to other -souls; it shall not be coerced by any other. It is as though souls -were stars suspended in space, each moving in its appointed orbit. No -one has the right to disturb the poise and equilibrium of another, not -even the one nearest it. That is a Caskian idea, by the way; about the -only one Elodia is enamored of. These souls, or spheres, are extremely -sensitive; and they may, and do, exert a tremendous influence, one -upon another,--but without violence." - -"Your meaning is clear," I said coldly. "My powers of attraction in -this case are feeble. Is the club you speak of composed entirely of -women?" - -"Certainly." - -"Do not the men here have clubs?" - -"O, yes; I belong to one, though I do not often attend. I will take -you to visit it,--I wonder I had not thought of it before! But those -things are disturbing; we scientists like to keep our minds clear, -like the lenses of our telescopes." - -"Is Elodia's club a literary one?" I asked, though I was almost sure -it was not. - -"O, no; it is for recreation purely, as I said. The same kind of a -club, I suppose, that you men have. Of course, they have the current -literature, which they skim over and discuss, so as to keep themselves -informed about what is going on in the world. It is the only way you -can keep up with the times, I think, for no one can read everything. -They have games and various diversions. Elodia's clubhouse is -furnished with elegant baths, for women have an extraordinary fondness -for bathing. And they have a gymnasium,--you notice what splendid -figures most of our women have!--and of course a wine cellar." - -"Severnius!" I cried. "You don't mean to tell me that these women have -wines in their clubhouse?" - -"Why, yes," said he. - -"And it is tolerated, allowed, nobody objects?" - -"O, yes, there are plenty of objectors," he replied. "There is a very -strong anti-intoxicant element here, but it has no actual force and -exerts but little influence in--in our circles." - -Severnius was too modest a man to boast of belonging to the upper -class of society, but that was what "our circles" meant. - -"But do not the male relatives of these women object,--their husbands, -fathers, brothers?" - -"No, indeed, why should they? We do the same things they do, without -demur from them." - -"But they should be looking after their domestic affairs, their -children, their homes." - -"My dear sir! they have servants to attend to those matters." - -It seemed useless to discuss these things with Severnius, his point of -view concerning the woman question was so different from mine. -Nevertheless, I persisted. - -"Tell me, Severnius, do women on this planet do everything that men -do?" - -"They have that liberty," he replied, "but there is sometimes a -difference of tastes." - -"I am glad to hear it!" - -"For instance, they do not smoke. By the way, have a cigar?" He passed -me his case and we both fired up. There is a peculiarly delightful -flavor in Marsian tobacco. - -"They have a substitute though," he added, removing the fragrant weed -from his lips to explain. "They vaporize." - -"They what?" - -"They have a small cup, a little larger than a common tobacco pipe, -which they fill with alcohol and pulverized valerian root. This -mixture when lighted diffuses a kind of vapor, a portion of which they -inhale through the cup-stem, a slender, tortuous tube attached to the -cup. The most of it, however, goes into the general air." - -"Good heavens!" I cried, "valerian! the most infernal, diabolical -smell that was ever emitted from any known or unknown substance." - -"It is said to be soothing to the nerves," he replied. - -"But do you not find it horribly disagreeable, unbearable?" I suddenly -recollected that, in passing through the upper hall of the house, I -had once or twice detected this nauseating odor, in the neighborhood -of Elodia's suite of rooms. - -"Yes, I do," he answered, "when I happen to come in contact with it, -which is seldom. They are careful not to offend others to whom the -vapor is unpleasant. Elodia is very delicate in these matters; she is -fond of the vapor habit, but she allows no suggestion of it to cling -to her garments or vitiate her breath." - -"It must be a great care to deodorize herself," I returned, with -ill-concealed contempt. - -"That is her maid's business," said he. - -"Is it not injurious to health?" I asked. - -"Quite so; it often induces frightful diseases, and is sometimes fatal -to life even." - -"And yet they persist in it! I should think you would interfere in -your sister's case." - -"Well," said he, "the evils which attend it are really no greater than -those that wait upon the tobacco habit; and, as I smoke, I can't -advise with a very good grace. I have a sort of blind faith that these -good cigars of mine are not going to do me any harm,--though I know -they have harmed others; and I suppose Elodia reasons in the same -friendly way with her vapor cup." - -The train stood on the track ready to start. I was about to spring up -the steps of the last car when Severnius stopped me. - -"Not that one," he said; "that is the woman's special." - -I stepped back, and read the word _Vaporizer_,--printed in large gilt -letters,--bent like a bow on the side of the car. - -"Do you mean to tell me, Severnius," I exclaimed, "that the railroad -company devotes one of these magnificent coaches exclusively to the -use of persons addicted to the obnoxious habit we have been speaking -of?" - -"That is about the size of it," he returned,--he borrowed the phrase -from me. "Come, make haste, or we shall be left; the next car is the -smoker; we'll step into that and finish these cigars, after which -I'll show you what sumptuous parlor coaches we have." - -As we mounted to the platform I could not resist glancing into the -_Vaporizer_. There were only two or three ladies there, and one of -them held in her ungloved hand the little cup with the tortuous stem -which my friend had described to me. From it there issued a pale blue -smoke or vapor, and oh! the smell of it! I held my breath and hurried -after Severnius. - -"That is the most outrageous, abominable thing I ever heard of!" I -declared, as we entered the smoker and took our seats. - -"O, it is nothing," he returned, smiling; "you are a very fastidious -fellow. I saw you look into that car; did you observe the lady in -blue?" - -"I should think I did! she was in the act," I replied. "And I -recognized her, too; she is that Madam Claris you introduced me to in -the Auroras' Temple, is she not?" - -"Yes; but did you notice her cup?" - -"Not particularly." - -"It is carved out of the rarest wood we have,--wood that hardens like -stone with age,--and has an indestructible lining and is studded with -costly gems; the thing is celebrated, an heirloom in Claris' family. -They like to sport those things, the owners of them do. They are a -mark of distinction,--or, as they might say in some of your countries, -a patent of nobility." - -"I suppose, then, that only the rich and the aristocratic 'vaporize'?" - -"By no means; whatever the aristocracy do, humble folk essay to -imitate. These vapor cups are made in great quantities, of the -commonest clay, and sold for a penny apiece." - -"Then it must be a natural taste, among your women?" said I. - -"No, no more than smoking is among men. They say it is nauseating in -the extreme, at first, and requires great courage and persistence to -continue in it up to the point of liking. There is no doubt that it -becomes very agreeable to them in the end, and that it is almost -impossible to break the habit when once it is fixed." - -"And what do they do with their cups,--I mean, how do they carry them -about when they are not using them?" I asked. - -"Put them in a morocco case, the same as you would a meerschaum, and -drop them into a fanciful little bag which they wear on the arm, -suspended by a chain or ribbon." - -Frambesco could not compare with Thursia either in size or beauty; and -it had a totally different air, a kind of swagger, you might say. I -felt the mercury in my moral barometer drop down several degrees as we -walked about the streets amid much filth, and foul odors, and -unsightly spectacles. - -I made the natural comments to my friend, and he replied that neither -Frambesco nor any other city on the continent could hold a candle to -Thursia, where the best of every thing was centered. - -We observed a great many enormous placards posted about conspicuously, -announcing a game of fisticuffs to take place that afternoon in an -amphitheatre devoted to such purposes; and we decided to look in upon -it. I think it was I who suggested it, for I had no little curiosity -about the "tactics" of the manly art in that country, having seen -Sullivan and several other famous hitters in our own. - -Severnius had considerable difficulty in procuring tickets, and -finally paid a fabulous price to a speculator for convenient seats. -The great cost of admission of course kept out the rabble, and, in a -way, it was an eminently respectable throng that was assembled,--I -mean in so far as money and rich clothes make for respectability. But -there was an unmistakable coarseness in most of the faces, or if not -that, a curiosity which bordered on coarseness. I was amazed to see -women in the audience; but this was nothing to the horror that -quivered through me like a deadly wound, when the combatants sprang -into the arena and squared off for action. For they, too, were -women,--women with tender, rosy flesh; with splendid dark eyes -gleaming with high excitement. Their long, fair hair was braided and -twisted into a hard knot on top of the head. They wore no gloves. Ah, -a woman's hands are soft enough without padding!--I thought. - -They went at it in scientific fashion and were careful to observe the -etiquette of the game; it was held "foul" to attack the face. In fact -it was more of a wrestling than a sparring match,--a test of strength, -prowess, agility. But I recoiled from it with loathing, and feeling -myself grow sick and faint, I muttered something to Severnius and -rushed out of the place. He followed me, of course; the performance -was quite as distasteful to him as to me, the only difference being -that he was familiar with the idea and I was not. - -As I passed out, I observed that many of the women were vaporizing and -many of the men smoking. I suppose it was, in part, the intolerable -abomination of these commingled smells that affected me, for I -experienced a physical as well as moral nausea. I did not get over it -for hours, and I was as glad as a child when it came time to take the -train back to Thursia. - -My disgust was so great that I could not discuss the matter with -Severnius, as I was wont to discuss other matters with him. There was -one thing for which I was supremely thankful,--that Elodia was not -there. - -A few days later, the subject accidentally came up, and I had the -satisfaction of hearing her denounce the barbarity as emphatically as -I could denounce it,--and more sweepingly, for she included male -fighters in her condemnation, and I was unable to make her see that -that was quite another matter. - - - - -Chapter 6. - -CUPID'S GARDENS. - - "O, in what sweets dost thou thy sins enclose." - --SHAKSPEARE. - - -During the time that intervened before the arrival of the Caskians, to -make their proposed visit, I gleaned many more interesting hints from -Severnius relative to their life and conduct, which greatly whetted my -curiosity to meet them. For instance, we were one day engaged in a -conversation, he, Elodia, and myself, upon the subject of the province -of poetry in history,--but that does not matter,--when dinner was -announced in the usual way; that is, the way which assumes without -doubt that nothing else in the world is so important as dinner. It may -be a bell, or a gong, or a verbal call, but it is as imperative as the -command of an autocrat. It brings to the ground, with the suddenness -of a mental shock, the finest flights of the imagination. It wakes the -soul from transcendent dreams, cools the fervor of burning eloquence, -breaks the spell of music. More than this: it destroys the delicate -combination of mental states and forces sometimes induced when several -highly trained minds have fallen into an attitude of acute sympathy -toward one another,--a rare and ineffable thing!--and are borne aloft -through mutual helpfulness to regions of thought and emotion -infinitely exalted, which can never be reproduced. - -I have often had this experience myself, and have wished that the cook -was a creature of supernatural intuitions, so that he could divine the -right moment in which to proclaim that the soup was served! There is a -right moment, a happy moment, when the flock of intellectual birds, -let loose to whirl and circle and soar in the upper air, descend -gracefully and of their own accord to the agreeable level of soup. - -On the occasion to which I have referred, I tried to ignore, and to -make my companions ignore, the discordant summons--by a kind of -dominant action of my mind upon theirs--in order that we might -continue the talk a little longer. We three had never before shown -ourselves off to each other to such striking advantage; we traveled -miles in moments, we expanded, we unrolled reams of intelligence which -were apprehended in a flash, as a whole landscape is apprehended in a -glare of lightning. It was as if our words were tipped with flame and -carried their illumination along with them. I knew that there never -would, never could, come another such time, but Elodia thwarted my -effort to hold it a moment longer. - -"Come!" she cried gayly, rising to her feet and breaking off in the -middle of a beautiful sentence, the conclusion of which I was waiting -for with tremors of delight,--for her views, as it happened, accorded -with mine,--"the ideal may rule in art, but not in life; it is very -unideal to eat, but the stomach is the dial of the world." - -"We make it so," said Severnius. - -"Of course, we make all our sovereigns," she returned. "We set the -dial to point at certain hours, and it simply holds us to our -agreement,--it and the _chef_." - -"That reminds me of our Caskian friends," said Severnius. "They have -exceedingly well-ordered homes, but occasionally one of the three -Natures waits upon another; the Mind may yield to some contingency -connected with the Body, or the Body waive its right in favor of the -Spirit." - -"I had supposed they were more machine-like," commented Elodia, with -her usual air of not being able to take a great interest in the -Caskians. - -"They are the farthest from that of any people I know," he answered. -"They have great moments, now and then, when a few people are gathered -together, and their thought becomes electrical and their minds mingle -as you have seen the glances of eyes mingle in a language more -eloquent than speech,--and, to tell the truth, we ourselves have such -moments, I'll not deny that; but the difference is, that they -appreciate the value of them and hold them fast, while we open our -hands and let them fly away like uncoveted birds, or worthless -butterflies. I have actually known a meal to be dropped out entirely -in Calypso's house, forgotten in the felicity of an intellectual or -spiritual delectation!" - -"Thank heaven, that we live in Thursia!" cried Elodia, "where such -lapses are impossible." - -"They are next to impossible there," said Severnius; "but they do -happen, which proves a great deal. They are in the nature of miracles, -they are so wonderful,--and yet not so wonderful. We forget sometimes -that we have a soul, and they forget that they have a body; there's no -great difference." - -"There is a mighty difference," answered Elodia. "We are put into a -material world, to enjoy material benefits. I should think those -people would miss a great deal of the actual good of life in the -pursuit of the unactual,--always taking their flights from lofty -pinnacles, and skipping the treasures that lie in the valleys." - -"On the contrary," he returned, "the humblest little flower that -grows, the tiniest pebble they pick up on the beach, the smallest -voice in nature, all have place in their economy. They miss nothing; -they gather up into their lives all the treasures that nature scatters -about. If a bird sings, they listen and say, 'That song is for me;' -or, if a blossom opens, 'I will take its beauty into my heart.' These -things, which are free to all, they accept freely. Their physical -senses are supplemented,--duplicated as it were, in finer quality,--by -exquisite inner perceptions." - -The morning after this conversation, Severnius and I took a long drive -in a new direction. We went up the river a mile or so, the road -winding through an avenue of century-old elms, whose great, graceful -branches interlocked overhead and made a shade so dense that the very -atmosphere seemed green. We were so earnestly engaged in conversation -that I did not observe when we left the avenue and entered a wood. We -drove some distance through this, and then the road branched off and -skirted round a magnificent park,--the finest I had seen,--bordered by -a thick hedge, all abloom with white, fragrant flowers, and fenced -with a fretwork of iron, finished with an inverted fringe of bristling -points. Within, were evidences of costly and elaborate care; the trees -were of noble growth and the greensward like stretches of velvet over -which leaf-shadows flickered and played. The disposition of shrubbery -and flowers, the chaste and beautiful statuary, the fountains, -brooklets, arbors, and retreats; the rustic effects in bridges, caves, -grottoes, and several graceful arches, hidden in wreathed emerald, -from which snow-white cherubs with wings on their shoulders peeped -roguishly, all betokened ingenious design, and skilful and artistic -execution. - -Beyond, seen vaguely through the waving foliage, were handsome -buildings, of the elegant cream-colored stone so much in vogue in -Thursia. Here and there, I espied a fawn; one pretty creature, with a -ribbon round its neck, was drinking at a fountain, and at the same -time some beautiful birds came and perched upon the marble rim and -dipped into the sparkling water. - -"How lovely! how idyllic!" I cried. "What place is it, Severnius, and -why have I never seen it before?" - -His answer came a little reluctantly, I thought. "It is called Cupid's -Gardens." - -"And what does it mean?" I asked. - -"Does not its name and those naked imps sufficiently explain it?" he -replied. As I looked at him, a blush actually mantled his cheek. "It -is a rendezvous," he explained, "where women meet their lovers." - -"How curious! I never heard of such a thing," said I. "Do you mean -that the place was planned for that purpose, or did the name get -fastened upon it through accident? Surely you are joking, Severnius; -women can receive their lovers in their homes here, the same as with -us!" - -"Their suitors, not their lovers," he replied. - -"You make a curious distinction!" said I. - -"Women sometimes marry their suitors, never their lovers,--any more -than men marry their mistresses." - -"Great heavens, Severnius!" I felt the blood rush to my face and then -recede, and a cold perspiration broke out all over me. There was a -question in my mind which I did not dare to ask, but Severnius -divined it. - -"Is it a new idea to you?" said he. "Have you no houses of -prostitution in your country, licensed by law, as this is?" - -"For men, not for women," said I. - -"Ah! another of your peculiar discriminations!" he returned. - -"Well, surely you will agree with me that in this matter, at least, -there should be discrimination?" I urged. - -He shook his head with that exasperating stubbornness one occasionally -finds in sweet-tempered people. - -"No, I cannot agree with you, even in this," he replied. "What -possible reason is there why men, more than women, should be -privileged to indulge in vice?" - -"Why, in the very nature of things!" I cried. "There is a hygienic -principle involved; you know,--it is a statistical fact,--that single -men are neither so vigorous nor so long-lived as married men, and a -good many men do not marry." - -"Well, a good many more women do not marry; what of those?" - -"Severnius! I cannot believe you are in earnest. Women!--that is -quite another matter. Women are differently constituted from men; -their nature--" - -"O, come!" he interrupted; "I thought we had settled that -question--that their nature is of a piece with our own. It happens in -your world, my friend, that your women were kept to a strict line of -conduct, according to your account, by a severe discipline,--including -even the death penalty,--until their virtue, from being long and -persistently enforced, grew into a habit and finally became a question -of honor." - -"Yes, stronger than death, thank God!" I affirmed. - -"Well, then, it seems to me that the only excuse men have to offer for -their lack of chastity--I refer to the men on your planet--is that -they have not been hedged about by the wholesome restraints that have -developed self-government in women. I cannot admit your 'hygienic' -argument in this matter; life is a principle that needs encouragement, -and a man of family has more incentives to live, and usually his -health is better cared for, than a single man, that is all." - -We rode in silence for some time. I finally asked, nodding toward the -beautiful enclosure still in view: - -"How do they manage about this business; do they practice any -secrecy?" - -"Of course!" he replied. "I hope you do not think we live in open and -shameless lawlessness? Usually it is only the very wealthy who indulge -in such 'luxuries,' and they try to seal the lips of servants and -go-betweens with gold. But it does not always work; it is in the -nature of those things to leak out." - -"And if one of these creatures is found out, what then?" I asked. - -He answered with some severity: "'Creatures' is a harsh name to apply -to women, some of whom move in our highest circles!" - -"I beg your pardon! call them what you like, but tell me, what happens -when there is an _exposé_? Are they denounced, ostracized, sat upon?" -I inquired. - -"No, not so bad as that," said he. "Of course there is a scandal, but -it makes a deal of difference whether the scandal is a famous or an -infamous one. If the woman's standing is high in other respects,--if -she has money, political influence, talent, attractiveness,--there is -very little made of it; or if society feels itself particularly -insulted, she may conciliate it by marrying an honest man whose -respectability and position protect her." - -"What! does an honest man--a gentleman--ever marry such a woman as -that?" I cried. - -"Frequently; and sometimes they make very good wives. But it is risky. -I have a friend, a capital fellow, who was so unfortunate as to -attract such a woman, and who finally yielded to her persuasions and -married her." - -"Heavens! do the women propose?" - -"Certainly, when they choose to do so; what is there objectionable in -that?" - -I made no reply, and he continued, "My friend, as I said, succumbed to -her pleadings partly--as I believe--because she threw herself upon his -mercy, though she is a beautiful woman, and he might have been -fascinated to some extent. She told him that his love and protection -would be her salvation, and that his denial of her would result in her -total ruin; and that for his sake she would reform her life. He is -both chivalrous and tender, and, withal, a little romantic, and he -consented. My opinion is that, if she could have had him without -marriage, she would have preferred it; but he is a true man, a man of -honor. Women of her sort like virtuous men, and seldom marry any -other. Her love proved to be an ephemeral passion--such as she had had -before--and the result has been what you might expect, though Claris -is not, by any means, the worst woman in the world." - -"Claris?" I exclaimed. - -"Ah! I did not mean to speak her name," he returned in some confusion; -"and I had forgotten that you knew her. Well, yes, since I have gone -so far, it is my friend Massilia's wife that I have been speaking of. -In some respects she is an admirable woman, but she has broken her -husband's heart and ruined his life." - -"Admirable!" I repeated with scorn; "why, in my country, such conduct -would damn a woman eternally, no matter what angelic qualities she -might possess. She would be shown no quarter in any society--save the -very lowest." - -"And how about her counterpart of the other sex?" asked Severnius, -slyly. - -I disregarded this, and returned: - -"Did he not get a divorce?" - -"No; the law does not grant a divorce in such a case. There was where -Claris was shrewder than her husband; she made herself safe by -confessing her misdeeds to him, and cajoling him into marrying her in -spite of them." - -"I beg your pardon, but what a fool he was!" - -Severnius acquiesced in this. "I tried to dissuade him," he said, -"before the miserable business was consummated,--he made me his -confidant,--but it was too late, she had him under her influence." - -Another silence fell upon us, which I broke by asking, "Who were those -pretty youngsters we saw lounging about on the lawn back there?" I -referred to several handsome young men whom I had observed strolling -through the beautiful grounds. - -He looked at me in evident surprise at the question, and replied: - -"Why, those are some of the professional 'lovers'." - -"Great Cæsar's ghost!" - -"Yes," he went on; "some of our most promising youths are decoyed into -those places. It is a distressing business,--a hideous business! And, -on the other hand, there are similar institutions where lovely -young girls are the victims. I do not know which is the more -deplorable,--sometimes I think the latter is. A tender mother would -wish that her daughter had never been born, if she should take up with -such a life; and an honorable father would rather see his son gibbeted -than to find him inside that railing." - -"I should think so!" I responded, and inquired, "What kind of standing -have these men in the outside world?" - -"About the same that a leper would have. They are ignored and despised -by the very women who court their caresses here. In fact, they are on -a level with the common, paid courtesan,--the lowest rank there is. I -have often thought it a curious thing that either men or women should -so utterly despise these poor instruments of their sensual delights!" - -My friend saw that I was too much shocked to moralize on the subject, -and he presently began to explain, and to modify the facts a little. - -"You see, these fellows, when they begin this sort of thing, are -mostly mere boys, with the down scarcely started on their chins; in -the susceptible, impressionable stage, when a woman's honeyed -words--ay, her touch, even--may turn the world upside down to them. -The life, of course, has its attractions,--money and luxury; to say -nothing of the flattery, which is sweeter. Still, few, if any, adopt -it deliberately. Often they are wilily drawn into 'entanglements' -outside; for the misery of it is, that good society, as I have said -before, throws its cloak around these specious beguilers, and the -unfortunate dupe does not dream whither he is being led,--youth has -such a sincere faith in beauty, and grace, and feminine charm! -Sometimes reverses and disaster, of one kind or another, or a -cheerless home environment, drive a young man into seeking refuge and -lethean pleasures here. It is a form of dissipation similar to the -drink habit, only a thousand times worse." - -"Worse?" I cried. "It is infernal, diabolical, damnable! And it is -woman who accomplishes this horrible ruin!--and is 'received' in -society, which, if too flagrantly outraged, will not forgive her -unless she marries some good man!" - -"O, not always that," protested Severnius; "the unlucky sinner -sometimes recovers caste by a course of penitence, by multiplying her -subscriptions to charities, and by costly peace-offerings to the -aforesaid outraged society." - -"What sort of peace-offerings?" I asked. - -"Well, an entertainment, perhaps, something superb, something out of -the common; or may be a voyage in her private yacht. Bait of that -sort is too tempting for any but the high and mighty, the -real aristocrats, to withstand. The simply respectable, but -weak-hearted,--who are a little below her level in point of wealth, -position, or ancestry,--fall into her net. I have observed that a -woman who has forfeited her place in the highest rank of society -usually begins her reascent by clutching hold of the skirts of honest -folk who are flattered by her condescension, and whose sturdy arms -assist her to rise again." - -"I have observed the same thing myself," I rejoined, but he had not -finished; there was a twinkle in his eye as he went on: - -"If you were to reveal the secret of your air-ship to a woman of this -kind she would probably seize upon it as a means of salvation; she -would have one constructed, on a large and handsome scale, and invite -a party to accompany her on an excursion to the Earth. And though she -were the worst of her class, every mother's son--and daughter--of us -would accept! for none of us hold our self-respect at a higher figure -than that, I imagine." - -"Yes, Severnius, you do," I replied emphatically. - -"I beg your pardon! I would knock off a good deal for a visit to your -planet," he said, laughing. - -By this time we had left Cupid's Gardens far behind. The road bent in -again toward the river, which we presently crossed. If it had not been -for the dreadful things I had just listened to, I think I should have -been in transports over the serene loveliness of the prospect around -us. The view was especially fine from the summit of the bridge; it is -a "high" bridge, for the Gyro is navigated by great steam-ships and -high-masted schooners. - -Severnius bade the driver stop a moment that we might contemplate the -scene, but I had little heart for its beauties. And yet I can recall -the picture now with extraordinary clearness. The river has many -windings, and the woods often hide it from view; but it reappears, -again and again, afar off, in green meadows and yellowing -fields,--opalescent jewels in gold or emerald setting. Here and there, -in the distance, white sails were moving as if on land. Far beyond -were vague mountain outlines, and over all, the tender rose-blush of -the sky. The sweetness of it, contrasted with the picture newly -wrought in my mind, saddened me. - -Some distance up the river, on the other side, we passed an old, -dilapidated villa, or group of buildings jumbled together without -regard to effect evidently, but yet picturesque. They were half hidden -in mammoth forest trees that had never been trimmed or trained, but -spread their enormous limbs wheresoever they would. Unpruned shrubbery -and trailing vines rioted over the uneven lawn, and the rank, -windblown grass, too long to stand erect, lay in waves like a woman's -hair. - -In a general way, the lawn sloped downward toward the road, so that we -could see nearly the whole of it over the high, and ugly, board fence -which inclosed it. Under the trees, a little way back, I observed a -group of young girls lolling in hammocks and idling in rustic chairs. -They caught sight of us and sprang up, laughing boistterously. I -thought they were going to run away in pretended and playful flight; -but instead, they came toward us, and blew kisses at us off their -fingers. - -I looked at Severnius. "What does this mean?" I asked. - -"Why," he said, and the blush mantled his handsome face again, "this -place is the counterpart of Cupid's Gardens,--a resort for men." - -"I thought so," I replied. - -By-and-by he remarked, "I hope you will not form too bad an opinion of -us, my friend! You have learned to-day what horrible evils exist among -us, but I assure you that the sum total of the people who practice -them constitutes but a small proportion of our population. And the -good people here, the great majority, look upon these things with the -same aversion and disgust that you do, and are doing their best--or -they think they are--to abolish them." - -"How?--by legislation?" I asked. - -"Partly; but more through education. Our preachers and teachers have -taken the matter up, but they are handicapped by the delicacy of the -question and the privacy involved in it, which seems to hinder -discussion even, and to forestall advice. Though this is the only way -to accomplish anything, I think. I have very little faith in -legislative measures against secret vices; it is like trying to dam a -stream which cannot be dammed but must break out somewhere. I am -convinced that my friends, the Caskians, have solved the question in -the only possible way,--by elevating and purifying the marriage -relation. I hope some good may be accomplished by the visit of the few -who are coming here!" - -"Will they preach or lecture?" I asked, with what seemed to me a -moment later to be stupid simplicity. - -"O, no!" replied Severnius, with the same air of modest but emphatic -protest which they themselves would have doubtless assumed had the -question been put to them. "It was simply their personal influence I -had reference to. I do not know that I can make you understand, but -their presence always seemed to me like a disinfectant of evil. With -myself, when I was among them, all the good that was in me responded -to their nobility; the evil in me slept, I suppose." - -I made a skeptical rejoinder to the implication in his last sentence, -for to me he seemed entirely devoid of evil; and we finished the drive -in silence. - - - - -Chapter 7. - -NEW FRIENDS. - - "Having established his equality with class after class, of - those with whom he would live well, he still finds certain - others, before whom he cannot possess himself, because they have - somewhat fairer, somewhat grander, somewhat purer, which extorts - homage of him."--EMERSON. - - -It is scarcely egotistical for me to say that I was much sought after, -not only by the citizens of Thursia, but by many distinguished people -from other cities and countries. Among them were many men and women of -great scientific learning, who made me feel that I ought to have -provided myself with a better equipment of knowledge relative to my -own world, before taking my ambitious journey to Mars! They were -exceedingly polite, but I fear they were much disappointed in many of -my hazy responses to their eager questionings. I learned by this -experience the great value of exact information. In a country like -ours, where so much, and so many sorts, of knowledge are in the air, a -person is apt, unless he is a student of some particular thing, to get -little more than impressions. - -There was I,--an average (let me hope!) American citizen,--at the -mercy of inquisitive experts in a hundred different arts and trades, -concerning which, in the main, my ideas might be conservatively -described as "general." You may imagine how unsatisfactory this was to -people anxious to know about our progress in physics and chemistry, -botany, and the great family of "ologies,"--or rather about our -processes in developing the principles of these great sciences. - -With the astronomers and the electricians I got along all right; and I -was also able to make myself interesting,--or so I fancied--in -describing our social life, our educational and political -institutions, and our various forms of religion. Our modes of dress -were a matter of great curiosity to most of these people, and I was -often asked to exhibit my terrestrial garments. - -It was when the crowd of outside visitors was at its thickest that the -Caskians arrived, and as their stay was brief, covering only two days, -you may suppose that we did not advance far on the road to mutual -acquaintance. But to tell the truth, there was not a moment's -strangeness between us after we had once clasped hands and looked into -each other's eyes. It might have been partly due to my own -preparedness to meet them with confidence and trust; but more, I -think, to their singular freedom from the conventional barriers with -which we hedge round our selfness. Their souls spoke to mine, and mine -answered back, and the compact of friendship was sealed in a glance. - -I cannot hope to give you a very clear idea of their perfect -naturalness, their perfect dignity, their kindliness, or their -delightful gayety,--before which stiffness, formality, ceremony, were -borne down, dissolved as sunshine dissolves frost. No menstruum is so -wonderful as the quality of merriment, take it on any plane of life; -when it reaches the highest, and is subtilized by cultured and refined -intellects, it creates an atmosphere in which the most frigid autocrat -of society, and of learning, too, must thaw. The haughtiest dame -cannot keep her countenance in the face of this playful spirit toying -with her frills. The veriest old dry-as-dust, hibernating in mouldy -archæological chambers, cannot resist the blithesome thought which -dares to illumine his antique treasures with a touch of mirth. - -I was struck by Clytia's beauty, which in some ways seemed finer than -Elodia's. The two women were about the same height and figure. But -Clytia's coloring was pure white and black, except for the healthy -carmine of her lips, and occasional fluctuations of the rose tint in -her cheeks. - -I was present when they first met, in the drawing-room. Elodia rose to -her full stature, armed cap-a-pie with her stateliest manner, but with -a gracious sense of hospitality upon her. I marked with pleasure that -Clytia did not rush upon her with any exuberance of gladness,--as some -women would have done in a first meeting with their friend's -sister,--for that would have disgusted Elodia and driven her to still -higher ground. How curious are our mental attitudes toward our -associates, and how quickly adjusted! Here had I been in Elodia's -house, enjoying her companionship--if not her friendship--for months; -and yet, you see, I secretly did not wish any advantage to be on her -side. It could not have been disloyalty, for the impulse was swift and -involuntary. I would like to suppose that it sprang from my -instantaneous recognition of the higher nature; but it did not. It was -due, no doubt, to a fear for the more timid one--as I fancied it to -be. I had a momentary sensation as of wanting to "back" -Clytia,--knowing how formidable my proud hostess could be, and, I -feared, would be,--but the beautiful Caskian did not need my support. -She was not timid. I never saw anything finer than her manner; the -most consummate woman of the world could not have met the situation -with more dignity and grace, and with not half so much simplicity. Her -limpid dark eyes met Elodia's blue-rayed ones, and the result was -mutual respect, with a slight giving on Elodia's part. - -I felt that I had, for the first time in my life, seen a perfect -woman; a woman of such fine proportions, of such nice balance, that -her noble virtues and high intelligence did not make her forget even -the smallest amenities. She kept in hand every faculty of her triple -being, so that she was able to use each in its turn and to give to -everything about her its due appreciation. She had, as Balzac says, -the gift of admiration and of comprehension. That which her glance -rested upon, that which her ear listened to, responded with all that -was in them. I thought it a wonderful power that could so bring out -the innate beauties and values of even inanimate things. Elodia's eyes -rested upon her, from time to time, with a keen and questioning -interest. I think that, among other things, she was surprised--as I -was--at the elegance, the "style" even, of Clytia's dress. - -Although there is very little fashion on that planet, as we know the -word, there is a great deal of style. I had speedily mastered all its -subtle gradations, and could "place" a woman with considerable -certainty, by, let me say, her manner of wearing her clothes, if not -the clothes themselves. I have never studied woman's apparel in -detail, it always seems as mysterious to me as woman herself does; but -I have a good eye for effects in that line, as most men have, and I -knew that Clytia's costume was above criticism. She wore, just where -they seemed to be needed,--as the keystone is needed in an arch,--a -few fine gems. I could not conceive of her putting them on to arouse -the envy of any other woman, or to enhance her personal charms in the -eyes of a man. She dressed well, as another would sing well. Sight is -the sense we value most, but how often is it offended! You can -estimate the quality of a woman by the shade of green she chooses for -her gown. And there is poetry in the fit of a gown, as there is in the -color of it. Clytia knew these things, these higher principles of -dress, as the nightingale knows its song,--through the effortless -working of perfected faculties. But not she alone. My description of -her will answer for the others; the Caskians are a people, you see, -who neglect nothing. We upon the Earth are in the habit of saying, -with regretful cadence, Life is short. It is because our life is all -out of proportion. We are trying to cheat time; we stuff too much -plunder into our bags, and discriminate against the best. - -Clytia and Calypso and their friend Ariadne, a young girl, stayed with -us throughout their visit; the others of their party were entertained -elsewhere. On each of the two evenings they were with us, Elodia -invited a considerable company of people,--not so many as to crowd the -rooms, nor so few as to make them seem empty. Those gatherings were -remarkable events, I imagine, in a good many lives. - -They were in mine. At the close of each evening I retired to my room -in a state of high mental intoxication; my unaccustomed brain had -taken too large a draught of intellectual champagne. And when I awoke -in the morning, it was with a sense of fatigue of mind, the same as -one feels fatigue of body the day after extraordinary feats of -physical exertion. - -But not so the guests! who came down into the breakfast room as -radiant as ever and in full possession of themselves. With them -fatigue seemed impossible. We do not know--because we are so poorly -trained--the wonderful elasticity of a human being, in all his parts. -We often see it exemplified in single faculties,--the voice of a -singer, the legs of a runner, the brain of a lawyer, the spirit of a -religionist. But, as I have said before, we are all out of proportion, -and any slight strain upon an unused faculty gives us the cramp. The -fact is, the most of us are cripples in some sense. We lack a moral -leg, a spiritual arm; there are parts of us that are neglected, -withered, paralyzed. - -One thing in the Caskians which especially pleased me, and which I am -sure made a strong--and favorable--impression upon Elodia, too, was -that their conduct and conversation never lacked the vital human -interest without which all philosophy is cold, and all religion is -asceticism. - -It appeared that these people had taken the long journey not only to -meet me, but that they might extend to me in person a cordial -invitation to visit their country. Severnius warmly urged me to -accept, assuring me, with unmistakable sincerity, that it would give -him pleasure to put his purse at my disposal for the expenses of the -journey,--I having brought up this point as a rather serious obstacle. -As it would only add one more item to the great sum of my indebtedness -to my friend, I took him at his word, and gave my promise to the -Caskians to make the journey to Lunismar sometime in the near future. -And with that they left us, and left behind them matter for -conversation for many a day. - - - - -Chapter 8. - -A TALK WITH ELODIA. - - "It behoveth us also to consider the nature of him that - offendeth."--SENECA. - - -The longer I delayed my visit to Caskia, the more difficult it became -for me to tear myself away from Thursia. You may guess the lodestar -that held me back. It was as if I were attached to Elodia by an -invisible chain which, alas! in no way hindered her free movements, -because she was unconscious of its existence. Sometimes she treated me -with a charmingly frank _camaraderie_, and at other times her manner -was simply, almost coldly, courteous,--which I very well knew to be -due to the fact that she was more than usually absorbed in her -business or official affairs; she was never cold for a purpose, any -more than she was fascinating for a purpose. She was singularly -sincere, affecting neither smiles nor frowns, neither affability nor -severity, from remote or calculating motives. In brief, she did not -employ her feminine graces, her sexpower, as speculating capital in -social commerce. The social conditions in Thursia do not demand that -women shall pose in a conciliatory attitude toward men--upon whose -favor their dearest privileges hang. Marriage not being an economic -necessity with them, they are released from certain sordid motives -which often actuate women in our world in their frantic efforts to -avert the appalling catastrophe of missing a husband; and they are at -liberty to operate their matrimonial campaigns upon other grounds. I -do not say higher grounds, because that I do not know. I only know -that one base factor in the marriage problem,--the ignoble scheming to -secure the means of living, as represented in a husband,--is -eliminated, and the spirit of woman is that much more free. - -We men have a feeling that we are liable at any time to be entrapped -into matrimony by a mask of cunning and deceit, which heredity and -long practice enable women to use with such amazing skill that few can -escape it. We expect to be caught with chaff, like fractious colts -coquetting with the halter and secretly not unwilling to be caught. - -Another thing: woman's freedom to propose--which struck me as -monstrous--takes away the reproach of her remaining single; the -supposition being, as in the case of a bachelor, that it is a matter -of choice with her. It saves her the dread of having it said that she -has never had an opportunity to marry. - -Courtship in Thursia may lack some of the tantalizing uncertainties -which give it zest with us, but marriage also is robbed of many doubts -and misgivings. Still I could not accustom myself with any feeling of -comfort to the situation there,--the idea of masculine pre-eminence -and womanly dependence being too thoroughly ingrained in my nature. - -Elodia, of course, did many things and held many opinions of which I -did not approve. But I believed in her innate nobility, and -attributed her defects to a pernicious civilization and a government -which did not exercise its paternal right to cherish, and restrain, -and protect, the weaker sex, as they should be cherished, and -restrained, and protected. And how charming and how reliable she was, -in spite of her defects! She had an atomic weight upon which you could -depend as upon any other known quantity. Her presence was a stimulus -that quickened the faculties and intensified the emotions. At least I -may speak for myself; she awoke new feelings and aroused new powers -within me. - -Her life had made her practical but not prosaic. She had imagination -and poetic feeling; there were times when her beautiful countenance -was touched with the grandeur of lofty thought, and again with the -shifting lights of a playful humor, or the flashings of a keen but -kindly wit. She had a laugh that mellowed the heart, as if she took -you into her confidence. It is a mark of extreme favor when your -superior, or a beautiful woman, admits you to the intimacy of a -cordial laugh! Even her smiles, which I used to lie in wait for and -often tried to provoke, were not the mere froth of a light and -careless temperament; they had a significance like speech. Though she -was so busy, and though she knew so well how to make the moments -count, she could be idle when she chose, deliciously, luxuriously -idle,--like one who will not fritter away his pence, but upon occasion -spends his guineas handsomely. At the dinner hour she always gave us -of her best. Her varied life supplied her with much material for -conversation,--nothing worth noticing ever escaped her, in the life -and conduct of people about her. She was fond of anecdote, and could -garnish the simplest story with an exquisite grace. - -Upon one of her idle days,--a day when Severnius happened not to be at -home,--she took up her parasol in the hall after we had had luncheon, -and gave me a glance which said, "Come with me if you like," and we -went out and strolled through the grounds together. Her manner had not -a touch of coquetry; I might have been simply another woman, she -might have been simply another man. But I was so stupid as to essay -little gallantries, such as had been, in fact, a part of my youthful -education; she either did not observe them or ignored them, I could -not tell which. Once I put out my hand to assist her over a -ridiculously narrow streamlet, and she paid no heed to the gesture, -but reefed her skirts, or draperies, with her own unoccupied hand and -stepped lightly across. Again, when we were about to ascend an abrupt -hill, I courteously offered her my arm. - -"O, no, I thank you!" she said; "I have two, which balance me very -well when I climb." - -"You are a strange woman," I exclaimed with a blush. - -"Am I?" she said, lifting her brows. "Well, I suppose--or rather you -suppose--that I am the product of my ancestry and my training." - -"You are, in some respects," I assented; and then I added, "I have -often tried to fancy what effect our civilization would have had upon -you." - -"What effect do you think it would have had?" she asked, with quite an -unusual--I might say earthly--curiosity. - -"I dare not tell you," I replied, thrilling with the felicity of a -talk so personal,--the first I had ever had with her. - -"Why not?" she demanded, with a side glance at me from under her -gold-fringed shade. - -"It would be taking too great a liberty." - -"But if I pardon that?" There was an archness in her smile which was -altogether womanly. What a grand opportunity, I thought, for saying -some of the things I had so often wanted to say to her! but I -hesitated, turning hot and then cold. - -"Really," I said, "I cannot. I should flatter you, and you would not -like that." - -For the first time, I saw her face crimson to the temples. - -"That would be very bad taste," she replied; "flattery being the last -resort--when it is found that there is nothing in one to compliment. -Silence is better; you have commendable tact." - -"Pardon my stupid blunder!" I cried; "you cannot think I meant that! -Flattery is exaggerated, absurd, unmeaning praise, and no praise, the -highest, the best, could do you justice, could--" - -She broke in with a disdainful laugh: - -"A woman can always compel a pretty speech from a man, you see,--even -in Mars!" - -"You did not compel it," I rejoined earnestly, "if I but dared,--if -you would allow me to tell you what I think of you, how highly I -regard--" - -She made a gesture which cut short my eloquence, and we walked on in -silence. - -Whenever there has been a disturbance in the moral atmosphere, there -is nothing like silence to restore the equilibrium. I, watching -furtively, saw the slight cloud pass from her face, leaving the -intelligent serenity it usually wore. But still she did not speak. -However, there was nothing ominous in that, she was never troubled -with an uneasy desire to keep conversation going. - -On top of the hill there were benches, and we sat down. It was one of -those still afternoons in summer when nature seems to be taking a -siesta. Overhead it was like the heart of a rose. The soft, white, -cottony clouds we often see suspended in our azure ether, floated--as -soft, as white, as fleecy--in the pink skies of Mars. - -Elodia closed her parasol and laid it across her lap and leaned her -head back against the tree in whose shade we were. It was an acute -pleasure, a rapture indeed, to sit so near to her and alone with her, -out of hearing of all the world. But she was calmly unconscious, her -gaze wandering dreamily through half-shut lids over the wide -landscape, which included forests and fields and meadows, and many -windings of the river, for we had a high point of observation. - -I presently broke the silence with a bold, perhaps an inexcusable -question, - -"Elodia, do you intend ever to marry?" - -It was a kind of challenge, and I held myself rigid, waiting for her -answer, which did not come immediately. She turned her eyes toward me -slowly without moving her head, and our glances met and gradually -retreated, as two opposing forces might meet and retreat, neither -conquering, neither vanquished. Hers went back into space, and she -replied at last as if to space,--as if the question had come, not from -me alone, but from all the voices that urge to matrimony. - -"Why should I marry?" - -"Because you are a woman," I answered promptly. - -"Ah!" her lip curled with a faint smile, "your reason is very general, -but why limit it at all, why not say because I am one of a pair which -should be joined together?" - -The question was not cynical, but serious; I scrutinized her face -closely to make sure of that before answering. - -"I know," I replied, "that here in Mars there is held to be no -difference in the nature and requirements of the sexes, but it is a -false hypothesis, there is a difference,--a vast difference! all my -knowledge of humanity, my experience and observation, prove it." - -"Prove it to you, no doubt," she returned, "but not to me, because my -experience and observation have been the reverse of yours. Will you -kindly tell me," she added, "why you think I should wish to marry any -more than a man,--or what reasons can be urged upon a woman more than -upon a man?" - -An overpowering sense of helplessness fell upon me,--as when one has -reached the limits of another's understanding and is unable to clear -the ground for further argument. - -"O, Elodia! I cannot talk to you," I replied. "It is true, as you say, -that our conclusions are based upon diverse premises; we are so wide -apart in our views on this subject that what I would say must seem to -you the merest cant and sentiment." - -"I think not; you are an honest man," she rejoined with an encouraging -smile, "and I am greatly interested in your philosophy of marriage." - -I acknowledged her compliment. - -"Well," I began desperately, letting the words tumble out as they -would, "it is woman's nature, as I understand it, to care a great deal -about being loved,--loved wholly and entirely by one man who is worthy -of her love, and to be united to him in the sacred bonds of marriage. -To have a husband, children; to assume the sweet obligations of -family ties, and to gather to herself the tenderest and purest -affections humanity can know, is surely, indisputably, the best, the -highest, noblest, province of woman." - -"And not of man?" - -"These things mean the same to men, of course," I replied, "though in -lesser degree. It is man's office--with us--to buffet with the world, -to wrest the means of livelihood, of comfort, luxury, from the -grudging hand of fortune. It is the highest grace of woman that she -accepts these things at his hands, she honors him in accepting, as he -honors her in bestowing." - -I was aware that I was indulging in platitudes, but the platitudes of -Earth are novelties in Mars. - -Her eyes took a long leap from mine to the vague horizon line. "It is -very strange," she said, "this distinction you make, I cannot -understand it at all. It seems to me that this love we are talking -about is simply one of the strong instincts implanted in our common -nature. It is an essential of our being. Marriage is not, it is a -social institution; and just why it is incumbent upon one sex more -than upon the other, or why it is more desirable for one sex than the -other, is inconceivable to me. If either a man, or a woman, desires -the ties you speak of, or if one has the vanity to wish to found a -respectable family, then, of course, marriage is a necessity,--made so -by our social and political laws. It is a luxury we may have if we pay -the price." - -I was shocked at this cold-blooded reasoning, and cried, "O, how can a -woman say that! have you no tenderness, Elodia? no heart-need of these -ties and affections,--which I have always been taught are so precious -to woman?" - -She shrugged her shoulders, and, leaning forward a little, clasped her -hands about her knees. - -"Let us not make it personal," she said; "I admitted, that these -things belong to our common nature, and I do not of course except -myself. But I repeat that marriage is a convention, and--I am not -conventional." - -"As to that," I retorted, "all the things that pertain to -civilization, all the steps which have ever been taken in the -direction of progress, are conventions: our clothing, our houses, our -religions, arts, our good manners. And we are bound to accept every -'convention' that makes for the betterment of society, as though it -were a revelation from God." - -I confess that this thought was the fruit of my brief intercourse with -the Caskians, who hold that there is a divine power continually -operating upon human consciousness,--not disclosing miracles, but -enlarging and perfecting human perceptions. I was thinking of this -when Elodia suddenly put the question to me: - -"Are you married?" - -"No, I am not," I replied. The inquiry was not agreeable to me; it -implied that she had been hitherto altogether too indifferent as to my -"eligibility,"--never having concerned herself to ascertain the fact -before. - -"Well, you are perhaps older than I am," she said, "and you have -doubtless had amours?" - -I was as much astounded by the frankness of this inquiry as you can -be, and blushed like a girl. She withdrew her eyes from my face with a -faint smile and covered the question by another: - -"You intend to marry, I suppose?" - -"I do, certainly," I replied, the resolution crystallizing on the -instant. - -She drew a long sigh. "Well, I do not, I am so comfortable as I am." -She patted the ground with her slipper toe. "I do not wish to impose -new conditions upon myself. I simply accept my life as it comes to me. -Why should I voluntarily burden myself with a family, and all the -possible cares and sorrows which attend the marriage state! If I cast -a prophetic eye into the future, what am I likely to see?--Let us say, -a lovely daughter dying of some frightful malady; an idolized son -squandering my wealth and going to ruin; a husband in whom I no longer -delight, but to whom I am bound by a hundred intricate ties impossible -to sever. I think I am not prepared to take the future on trust to so -great an extent! Why should the free wish for fetters? Affection and -sympathy are good things, indispensable things in fact,--but I find -them in my friends. And for this other matter: this need of love, -passion, sentiment,-which is peculiarly ephemeral in its impulses, -notwithstanding that it has such an insistent vitality in the human -heart,--may be satisfied without entailing such tremendous -responsibilities." - -I looked at her aghast; did she know what she was saying; did she mean -what her words implied? - -"You wrong yourself, Elodia," said I; "those are the sentiments, the -arguments, of a selfish person, of a mean and cowardly spirit. And you -have none of those attributes; you are strong, courageous, generous--" - -"You mistake me," she interrupted, "I am entirely selfish; I do not -wish to disturb my present agreeable pose. Tell me, what is it that -usually prompts people to marry?" - -"Why, love, of course," I answered. - -"Well, you are liable to fall in love with my maid--" - -"Not after having seen her mistress!" I ejaculated. - -"If she happens to possess a face or figure that draws your masculine -eye," she went on, the rising color in her cheek responding to my -audacious compliment; "though there may be nothing in common between -you, socially, intellectually, or spiritually. What would be the -result of such a marriage, based upon simple sex-love?" - -I had known many such marriages, and was familiar with the results, -but I did not answer. We tacitly dropped the subject, and our two -minds wandered away as they would, on separate currents. - -She was the first to break this second silence. - -"I can conceive of a marriage," she said, "which would not become -burdensome, any more than our best friendships become burdensome. -Beside the attraction on the physical plane--which I believe is very -necessary--there should exist all the higher affinities. I should want -my husband to be my most delightful companion, able to keep my liking -and to command my respect and confidence as I should hope to his. But -I fear that is ideal." - -"The ideal is only the highest real," I answered, "the ideal is always -possible." - -"Remotely!" she said with a laugh. "The chances are many against it." - -"But even if one were to fall short a little in respect to husband or -wife, I have often observed that there are compensations springing out -of the relation, in other ways," I returned. - -"You mean children? O, yes, that is true, when all goes well. I will -tell you," she added, her voice dropping to the tone one instantly -recognizes as confidential, "that I am educating several children in -some of our best schools, and that I mean to provide for them with -sufficient liberality when they come of age. So, you see, I have -thrown hostages to fortune and shall probably reap a harvest of -gratitude,--in place of filial affection." - -She laughed with a touch of mockery. - -I suppose every one is familiar with the experience of having -things--facts, bits of knowledge,--"come" to him, as we say. Something -came to me, and froze the marrow in my bones. - -"Elodia," I ventured, "you asked me a very plain question a moment -ago, will you forgive me if I ask you the same,--have you had amours?" - -The expression of her face changed slightly, which might have been due -to the expression of mine. - -"We have perhaps grown too frank with each other," she said, "but you -are a being from another world, and that must excuse us,--shall it?" - -I bowed, unable to speak. - -"One of the children I spoke of, a little girl of six, is my own -natural child." - -She made this extraordinary confession with her glance fixed steadily -upon mine. - -I am a man of considerable nerve, but for a moment the world was dark -to me and I had the sensation of one falling from a great height. And -then suddenly relief came to me in the thought, She is not to be -judged by the standards that measure morality in my country! When I -could command my voice again I asked: - -"Does this little one know that she is your child,--does any one else -know?" - -"Certainly not," she answered in a tone of surprise, and then with an -ironical smile, "I have treated you to an exceptional confidence. It -is a matter of etiquette with us to keep these things hidden." - -As I made no response she added: - -"Is it a new thing to you for a parent not to acknowledge illegitimate -children?" - -"Even the lowest class of mothers we have on Earth do not often -abandon their offspring," I replied. - -"Neither do they here," she said. "The lowest class have nothing to -gain and nothing to lose, and consequently there is no necessity that -they should sacrifice their natural affections. In this respect, the -lower classes are better off than we aristocrats." - -"You beg the question," I returned; "you know what I mean! I should -not have thought that you, Elodia, could ever be moved by such -unworthy considerations--that you would ever fear the world's -opinions! you who profess manly qualities, the noblest of which is -courage!" - -"Am I to understand by that," she said, "that men on your planet -acknowledge their illegitimate progeny, and allow them the privileges -of honored sons and daughters?" - -Pushed to this extremity, I could recall but a single instance,--but -one man whose courage and generosity, in a case of the kind under -discussion, had risen to the level of his crime. I related to her the -story of his splendid and prolonged life, with its one blot of early -sin, and its grace of practical repentance. And upon the other hand, I -told her of the one distinguished modern woman, who has had the -hardihood to face the world with her offenses in her hands, as one -might say. - -"Are you not rather unjust to the woman?" she asked. "You speak of the -man's acknowledgment of his sin as something fine, and you seem to -regard hers as simply impudent." - -"Because of the vast difference between the moral attitude of the -two," I rejoined. "He confessed his error and took his punishment with -humility; she slaps society in the face, and tries to make her genius -glorify her misdeeds." - -"Possibly society is to blame for that, by setting her at bay. If I -have got the right idea about your society, it is as unrelenting to -the one sex as it is indulgent to the other. Doubtless it was ready -with open arms to receive back the offending, repentant man, but would -it not have set its foot upon the woman's neck if she had given it the -chance, if she had knelt in humility as he did? A tree bears fruit -after its kind; so does a code of morals. Gentleness and forgiveness -breed repentance and reformation, and harshness begets defiance." She -added with a laugh, "What a spectacle your civilization would present -if all the women who have sinned had the genius and the spirit of a -Bernhardt!" - -"Or all the men had the magnanimity of a Franklin," I retorted. - -"True!" she said, and after a moment she continued, "I am not so great -as the one, nor have I the 'effrontery' of the other. But it is not so -much that I lack courage; it is rather, perhaps, a delicate -consideration for, and concession to, the good order of society." - -I regarded her with amazement, and she smiled. - -"Really, it is true," she said. "I believe in social order and I pay -respect to it--" - -"By concealing your own transgressions," I interpolated. - -"Well, why not? Suppose I and my cult--a very large class of eminently -respectable sinners!--should openly trample upon this time-honored -convention; the result would eventually be, no doubt, a moral anarchy. -We have a very clear sense of our responsibility to the masses. We -make the laws for their government, and we allow ourselves to seem to -be governed by them also,--so that they may believe in them. We build -churches and pay pew rent, though we do not much believe in the -religious dogmas. And we leave off wine when we entertain temperance -people." - -"But why do you do these things?" I asked; "to what end?" - -"Simply for the preservation of good order and decency. You must know -that the pleasant vices of an elegant person are brutalities in the -uncultured. The masses have no tact or delicacy, they do not -comprehend shades, and refinements of morals and manners. They can -understand exoteric but not esoteric philosophy. We have really two -codes of laws." - -"I think it would be far better for the masses--whom you so highly -respect!--" I said, "if you were to throw off your masks and stand out -before them just as you are. Let moral anarchy come if it must, and -the evil be consumed in its own flame; out of its ashes the ph[oe]nix -always rises again, a nobler bird." - -"How picturesque!" she exclaimed; "do you know, I think your language -must be rich in imagery. I should like to learn it." - -I did not like the flippancy of this speech, and made no reply. - -After a brief pause she added, "There is truth in what you say, a ball -must strike hard before it can rebound. Society must be fearfully -outraged before it turns upon the offender, if he be a person of -consequence. But you cannot expect the offender to do his worst, to -dash himself to pieces, in order that a better state of morals may be -built upon his ruin. We have not yet risen to such sublimity of -devotion and self-sacrifice. I think the fault and the remedy both, -lie more with the good people,--the people who make a principle of -moral conduct. They allow us to cajole them into silence, they wink at -our misdeeds. They know what we are up to, but they conceal the -knowledge,--heaven knows why!--as carefully as we do our vices. -Contenting themselves with breaking out in general denunciations which -nobody accepts as personal rebuke." - -This was such a familiar picture that for a moment I fancied myself -upon the Earth again. And I thought, what a difficult position the -good have to maintain everywhere, for having accepted the championship -of a cause whose standards are the highest and best! We expect them to -be wise, tender, strong, just, stern, merciful, charitable, -unyielding, forgiving, sinless, fearless. - -"Elodia," I said presently, "you can hardly understand what a shock -this--this conversation has been to me. I started out with saying that -I had often tried to fancy what our civilization might have done for -you. I see more clearly now. You are the victim of the harshest and -cruelest assumption that has ever been upheld concerning woman,--that -her nature is no finer, holier than man's. I have reverenced womanhood -all my life as the highest and purest thing under heaven, and I will, -I must, hold fast to that faith, to that rock on which the best -traditions of our Earth are founded." - -"Do your women realize what they have got to live up to?" she asked -ironically. - -"There are things in men which offset their virtues," I returned, in -justice to my own sex. "Where men are strong, women are gentle, where -women are faithful, men are brave, and so on." - -"How charming to have the one nature dovetail into the other so -neatly!" she exclaimed. "I seem to see a vision, shall I tell it to -you,--a vision of your Earth? In the Beginning, you know that is the -way in which all our traditions start out, there was a great heap of -Qualities stacked in a pyramid upon the Earth. And the human creatures -were requested to step up and help themselves to such as suited their -tastes. There was a great scramble, and your sex, having some -advantages in the way of muscle and limb,--and not having yet acquired -the arts of courtesy and gallantry for which you are now so -distinguished,--pressed forward and took first choice. Naturally you -selected the things which were agreeable to possess in themselves, and -the exercise of which would most redound to your glory; such virtues -as chastity, temperance, patience, modesty, piety, and some minor -graces, were thrust aside and eventually forced upon the weaker -sex,--since it was necessary that all the Qualities should be used in -order to make a complete Human Nature. Is not that a pretty fable?" - -She arose and shook out her draperies and spread her parasol. There -were crimson spots in her cheeks, I felt that I had angered her,--and -on the other hand, she had outraged my finest feelings. But we were -both capable of self-government. - -"It must be near dinner time," she said, quietly. - -I walked along by her side in silence. - -As we again crossed the brooklet, she stooped and picked a long raceme -of small white, delicately odorous flowers, and together we analyzed -them, and I recognized them as belonging to our family of _convallaria -majalis_. This led to a discussion of comparative botany on the two -planets,--a safe, neutral topic. In outward appearance our mutual -attitude was unchanged. Inwardly, there had been to me something like -the moral upheaval of the universe. For the first time I had -melancholy symptoms of nostalgia, and passionately regretted that I -had ever exchanged the Earth for Mars. - -Severnius had returned. After dinner he invited me out onto the -veranda to smoke a cigar,--he was very particular not to fill the -house with tobacco smoke. Elodia, he said, did not like the odor. I -wondered whether he took such pains out of consideration for her, or -whether he simply dreaded her power to retaliate with her obnoxious -vapor. The latter supposition, however, I immediately repudiated as -being unjust to him; he was the gentlest and sweetest of men. - -My mind was so full of the subject Elodia and I had discussed that I -could not forbear repeating my old question to him: - -"Tell me, my friend," I entreated, "do you in your inmost soul believe -that men and women have one common nature,--that women are no better -at all than men, and that men may, if they will, be as pure as--well -as women ought to be?" - -Severnius smiled. "If you cannot find an answer to your first question -here in Paleveria, I think you may in any of the savage countries, -where I am quite positive the women exhibit no finer qualities than -their lords. And for a very conclusive reply to your second -question,--go to Caskia!" - -"Does the same idea of equality, or likeness rather, exist in Caskia -that prevails here?" I asked. - -"O, yes," said he, "but their plane of life is so much higher. I -cannot but believe in the equality" he added, "bad as things are with -us. We hope that we are progressing onward and upward; all our -teaching and preaching tend toward that, as you may find in our -churches and schools, and in our literature. I am so much of an -optimist as to believe that we are getting better and better all the -time. One evidence is that there is less of shamelessness than there -used to be with respect to some of the grossest offences against -decency. People do not now glory in their vices, they hide them." - -"Then you approve of concealment!" I exclaimed. - -"It is better than open effrontery, it shows that the moral power in -society is the stronger; that it is making the way of the transgressor -hard, driving him into dark corners." - -I contrasted this in my mind with Elodia's theory on the same subject. -The two differed, but there was a certain harmony after all. - -Severnius added, apropos of what had gone before, "It does not seem -fair to me that one half of humanity should hang upon the skirts of -the other half; it is better that we should go hand in hand, even -though our progress is slow." - -"But that cannot be," I returned; "there are always some that must -bear the burden while others drag behind." - -"O, certainly; that is quite natural and right," he assented. "The -strong should help the weak. What I mean is that we should not throw -the burden upon any particular class, or allow to any particular class -special indulgences. That--pardon me!--is the fault I find with your -civilization; you make your women the chancellors of virtue, and claim -for your sex the privilege of being virtuous or not, as you choose." -He smiled as he added, "Do you know, your loyalty and tender devotion -to individual women, and your antagonistic attitude toward women in -general--on the moral plane--presents the most singular contrast to my -mind!" - -"No doubt," I said; "it is a standing joke with us. We are better in -the sample than in the whole piece. As individuals, we are woman's -devoted slaves, and lovers, and worshipers; as a political body, we -are her masters, from whom she wins grudging concessions; as a social -factor, we refuse her dictation." - -I was not in a mood to discuss the matter further. I was sick at heart -and angry,--not so much with Elodia as with the conditions that had -made her what she was, a woman perfect in every other respect, but -devoid of the one supreme thing,--the sense of virtue. She was now to -me simply a splendid ruin, a temple without holiness. I went up to my -room and spent the night plunged in the deepest sadness I had ever -known. When one is suffering an insupportable agony, he catches at the -flimsiest delusions for momentary relief. He says to himself, "My -friend is not dead!" "My beloved is not false!" So I tried to cheat -myself. I argued, "Why, this is only a matter of education with me, -surely; how many women, with finer instincts than mine, have loved and -married men of exactly the same stamp as Elodia!" But I put away the -thought with a shudder, feeling that it would be a far more dreadful -thing to relax my principles and to renounce my faith in woman's -purity than to sacrifice my love. The tempter came in another form. -Suppose she should repent? But my soul revolted. No, no; Jesus might -pardon a Magdalene, but I could not. Elodia was dead; Elodia had never -been! That night I buried her; I said I would never look upon her face -again. But the morning brought resurrection. How hard a thing it is to -destroy love! - - - - -Chapter 9. - -JOURNEYING UPWARD. - - "The old order changeth, giving place to the new, - And God fulfils himself in many ways." - --TENNYSON. - - -My conversation with Elodia had the effect of crystallizing my -nebulous plans about visiting the Caskians into a sudden resolve. I -could not remain longer in her presence without pain to myself; and, -to tell the truth, I dreaded lest her astounding lack of the -moral sense--which should be the foundation stone of woman's -character--would eventually dull my own. Men are notoriously weak -where women are concerned--the women they worship. - -As soon as I had communicated with the Caskians and learned that they -were still anticipating my coming, with--they were so kind as to say -it--the greatest pleasure, I prepared to set forth. - -In the meantime, an event occurred which further illustrated the -social conditions in Paleveria. Claris, the wife of Massilla, died -very suddenly, and I was astonished at the tremendous sensation the -circumstance occasioned throughout the city. It seemed to me that the -only respect it was possible to pay to the memory of such a woman must -be that which is expressed in absolute silence,--even charity could -not be expected to do more than keep silent. But I was mistaken, -Claris had been a woman of distinction, in many ways; she was -beautiful, rich, and talented, and she had wielded an influence in -public and social affairs. Immediately, the various periodicals in -Thursia, and in neighboring cities, flaunted lengthy eulogistic -obituaries headed with more or less well executed portraits of the -deceased. It seemed as if the authors of these effusions must have run -through dictionaries of complimentary terms, which they culled -lavishly and inserted among the acts and facts of her life with a kind -of journalistic sleight-of-hand. And private comment took its cue from -these authorities. It was said that she was a woman of noble traits, -and pretty anecdotes were told of her, illustrating her generous -impulses, her wit, her positiveness. She had had great personal -magnetism, many had loved her, many had also feared her, for her -tongue could cut like a sword. It was stated that her children had -worshiped her, and that her death had prostrated her husband with -grief. Of the chief blackness of her character none spoke. - -Severnius invited me to attend the funeral obsequies which took place -in the Auroras' Temple, where the embalmed body lay in state; with -incense burning and innumerable candles casting their pallid light -upon the bier. I observed as we drove through the streets that the -closed doors of all the business houses exhibited the emblems of -respect and sorrow. - -The Auroras were assembled in great numbers, having come from distant -parts of the country to do honor to the dead. They were in full -regalia, with mourning badges, and carried inverted torches. The -religious ceremonies and mystic rites of the Order were elaborate and -impressive. The dirge which followed, and during which the members of -the Order formed in procession and began a slow march, was so -unutterably and profoundly sad that I could not keep back the tears. A -little sobbing voice directly in front of me wailed out "Mamma! -Mamma!" A woman stooped down and whispered, "Do you want to go up and -kiss Mamma 'good-by' before they take her away?" But the child shrank -back, afraid of the pomp and ghostly magnificence surrounding the dead -form. - -Elodia was of course the chief figure in the procession, and she bore -herself with a grave and solemn dignity in keeping with the -ceremonies. The sight of her beautiful face, with its subdued but -lofty expression, was more than I could bear. I leaned forward and -dropped my face in my hands, and let the sorrow-laden requiem rack my -soul with its sweet torture as it would. - -That was my last day in Thursia. - -I had at first thought of taking my aeroplane along with me, -reflecting that I might better begin my homeward flight from some -mountain top in Caskia; but Severnius would not hear of that. - -"No indeed!" said he, "you must return to us again. I wish to get -ready a budget for you to carry back to your astronomers, which I -think will be of value to them, as I shall make a complete map of the -heavens as they appear to us. Then we shall be eager to hear about -your visit. And besides, we want to see you again on the ground of -friendship, the strongest reason of all!" - -"You are too kind!" I responded with much feeling. I knew that he was -as sincere as he was polite. This was at the last moment, and Elodia -was present to bid me "good-by." She seconded her brother's -invitation,--"O, yes, of course you must come back!" and turned the -whole power of her beautiful face upon me, and for the first time gave -me her hand. I had coveted it a hundred times as it lay lissome and -white in her lap. I clasped it, palm to palm. It was as smooth as -satin, and not moist,--I dislike a moist hand. I felt that up to that -moment I had always undervalued the sense of touch,--it was the -finest of all the senses! No music, no work of art, no wondrous scene, -had ever so thrilled me and set my nerves a-quiver, as did the -delicate, firm pressure of those magic fingers. The remembrance of it -made my blood tingle as I went on my long journey from Thursia to -Lunismar. - -It was a long journey in miles, though not in time, we traveled like -the wind. - -Both Clytia and Calypso were at the station to meet me, with their two -children, Freya and Eurydice. I learned that nearly all Caskians are -named after the planetoids or other heavenly bodies,--a very -appropriate thing, since they live so near the stars! - -My heart went out to the children the moment my eyes fell upon their -faces. - -They were as beautiful as Raphael's cherubs, you could not look upon -them without thrills of delight. They were two perfect buds of the -highest development humanity has ever attained to,--so far as we know. -I felt that it was a wonderful thing to know that in these lovely -forms there lurked no germs of evil, over their sweet heads there -hung no Adam's curse! They were seated in a pretty pony carriage, with -a white canopy top lined with blue silk. Freya held the lines. It -appeared that Eurydice had driven down and he was to drive back. The -father and mother were on foot. They explained that it was difficult -to drive anything but the little carriage up the steep path to their -home on the hillside, half a mile distant. - -"Who would wish for any other means of locomotion than nature has -given him, in a country where the buoyant air makes walking a luxury!" -I cried, stretching my legs and filling my lungs, with an unwonted -sense of freedom and power. - -I had become accustomed to the atmosphere of Paleveria, but here I had -the same sensations I had experienced when I first landed there. - -"If you would rather, you may take my place, sir?" said the not much -more than knee-high Freya, ready to relinquish the lines. I felt -disposed to laugh, but not so the wise parents. - -"The little ponies could not draw our friend up the hill, he is too -heavy," explained Clytia. - -"Thank you, my little man, all the same!" I added. - -It was midsummer in Paleveria, but here I observed everything had the -newness and delightful freshness of spring. A busy, bustling, joyous, -tuneful spring. The grass was green and succulent; the sap was in the -trees and their bark was sleek and glossy, their leaves just unrolled. -Of the wild fruit trees, every branch and twig was loaded with eager -buds crowding upon each other as the heads of children crowd at a -cottage window when one goes by. Every thicket was full of bird life -and music. I heard the roar of a waterfall in the distance, and -Calypso told me that a mighty river, the Eudosa, gathered from a -hundred mountain streams, was compressed into a deep gorge or canyon -and fell in a succession of cataracts just below the city, and finally -spread out into a lovely lake, which was a wonder in its way, being -many fathoms deep and as transparent as the atmosphere. - -We paused to listen,--the children also. - -"How loud it is to-day, Mamma," exclaimed Freya. His mother assented -and turned to me with a smile. "The falls of Eudosa constitute a large -part of our life up here," she said; "we note all its moods, which are -many. Sometimes it is drowsy, and purrs and murmurs; again it is -merry, and sings; or it is sublime, and rises to a thunderous roar. -Always it is sound. Do you know, my ears ached with the silence when I -was down in Paleveria!" - -I have said Clytia's eyes were black; it was not an opaque blackness, -you could look through them down into her soul. I likened them in my -mind to the waters of the Eudosa which Calypso had just described. - -Every moment something new attracted our attention and the brief -journey was full of incident; the children were especially alive to -the small happenings about us, and I never before took such an -interest in what I should have called insignificant things. Sometimes -the conversation between my two friends and myself rose above the -understanding of the little ones, but they were never ignored,--nor -were they obtrusive; they seemed to know just where to fit their -little questions and remarks into the talk. It was quite wonderful. I -understood, of course, that the children had been brought down to meet -me in order that I might make their acquaintance immediately and -establish my relations with them, since I was to be for some time a -member of the household. They had their small interests apart from -their elders--carefully guarded by their elders--as children should -have; but whenever they were permitted to be with us, they were of us. -They were never allowed to feel that loneliness in a crowd which is -the most desolate loneliness in the world. Clytia especially had the -art of enveloping them in her sympathy, though her intellectual -faculties were employed elsewhere. And how they loved her! I have seen -nothing like it upon the Earth. - -Perhaps I adapt myself with unusual readiness to new environments, and -assimilate more easily with new persons than most people do. I had, as -you know, left Paleveria with deep reluctance, under compulsion of my -will--moved by my better judgment; and throughout my journey I had -deliberately steeped myself in sweet and bitter memories of my life -there, to the exclusion of much that might have been interesting and -instructive to me on the way,--a foolish and childish thing to have -done. And now, suddenly, Paleveria dropped from me like a garment. -Some moral power in these new friends, and perhaps in this city of -Lunismar,--a power I could feel but could not define,--raised me to a -different, unmistakably a higher, plane. I felt the change as one -feels the change from underground to the upper air. - -We first walked a little way through the city, which quite filled the -valley and crept up onto the hillsides, here and there. - -Each building stood alone, with a little space of ground around it, -upon which grass and flowers and shrubbery grew, and often trees. Each -such space bore evidence that it was as tenderly and scrupulously -tended as a Japanese garden. - -It was the cleanest city I ever saw; there was not an unsightly place, -not a single darksome alley or lurking place for vice, no huddling -together of miserable tenements. I remarked upon this and Calypso -explained: - -"Our towns used to be compact, but since electricity has annihilated -distance we have spread ourselves out. We have plenty of ground for -our population, enough to give a generous slice all round. Lunismar -really extends through three valleys." - -Crystal streams trickled down from the mountains and were utilized for -practical and æsthetic purposes. Small parks, exquisitely pretty, were -very numerous, and in them the sparkling water was made to play -curious pranks. Each of these spots was an ideal resting place, and I -saw many elderly people enjoying them,--people whom I took to be from -sixty to seventy years of age, but who, I was astonished to learn, -were all upwards of a hundred. Perfect health and longevity are among -the rewards of right living practiced from generation to generation. -The forms of these old people were erect and their faces were -beautiful in intelligence and sweetness of expression. - -I remarked, apropos of the general beauty and elegance of the -buildings we passed: - -"This must be the fine quarter of Lunismar." - -"No, not especially," returned Calypso, "it is about the same all -over." - -"Is it possible! then you must all be rich?" said I. - -"We have no very poor," he replied, "though of course some have larger -possessions than others. We have tried, several times in the history -of our race, to equalize the wealth of the country, but the experiment -has always failed, human nature varies so much." - -"What, even here?" I asked. - -"What do you mean?" said he. - -"Why, I understand that you Caskians have attained to a most perfect -state of development and culture, and--" I hesitated and he smiled. - -"And you think the process eliminates individual traits?" he inquired. - -Clytia laughingly added: - -"I hope, sir, you did not expect to find us all exactly alike, that -would be too tame!" - -"You compliment me most highly," said Calypso, seriously, "but we must -not permit you to suppose that we regard our 'development' as anywhere -near perfect, In fact, the farther we advance, the greater, and the -grander, appears the excellence to which we have not yet attained. -Though it would be false modesty--and a disrespect to our -ancestors--not to admit that we are conscious of having made some -progress, as a race. We know what our beginnings were, and what we now -are." - -After a moment he went on: - -"I suppose the principle of differentiation, as we observe it in plant -and animal life, is the same in all life, not only physical, but -intellectual, moral, spiritual. Cultivation, though it softens salient -traits and peculiarities, may develop infinite variety in every kind -and species." - -I understood this better later on, after I had met a greater number of -people, and after my perceptions had become more delicate and -acute,--or when a kind of initiatory experience had taught me how to -see and to value excellence. - -A few years ago a border of nasturtiums exhibited no more than a -single color tone, the pumpkin yellow; and a bed of pansies resembled -a patch of purple heather. Observe now the chromatic variety and -beauty produced by intelligent horticulture! A group of commonplace -people--moderately disciplined by culture--might be compared to the -pansies and nasturtiums of our early recollection, and a group of -these highly refined Caskians to the delicious flowers abloom in -modern gardens. - -We crave variety in people, as we crave condiments in food. For me, -this craving was never so satisfied--and at the same time so -thoroughly stimulated--as in Caskian society, which had a spiciness of -flavor impossible to describe. - -Formality was disarmed by perfect breeding, there was nothing that you -could call "manner." The delicate faculty of intuition produced -harmony. I never knew a single instance in which the social atmosphere -was disagreeably jarred,--a common enough occurrence where we depend -upon the machinery of social order rather than upon the vital -principle of good conduct. - -I inquired of Calypso, as we walked along, the sources of the people's -wealth. He replied that the mountains were full of it. There were -minerals and precious stones, and metals in great abundance; and all -the ores were manufactured in the vicinity of the mines before being -shipped to the lower countries and exchanged for vegetable products. - -This prompted me to ask the familiar question: - -"And how do you manage the labor problem?" He did not understand me -until after I had explained about our difficulties in that line. And -then he informed me that most of the people who worked in mines and -factories had vested interests in them. - -"Physical labor, however," he added, "is reduced to the minimum; -machinery has taken the place of muscle." - -"And thrown an army of workers out of employment and the means of -living, I suppose?" I rejoined, taking it for granted that the small -share-holders had been squeezed out, as well as the small operators. - -"O, no, indeed," he returned, in surprise. "It has simply given them -more leisure. Everybody now enjoys the luxury of spare time, and may -devote his energies to the service of other than merely physical -needs." He smiled as he went on, "This labor problem the Creator gave -us was a knotty one, wasn't it? But what a tremendous satisfaction -there is in the thought--and in the fact--that we have solved it." - -I was in the dark now, and waited for him to go on. - -"To labor incessantly, to strain the muscles, fret the mind, and weary -the soul, and to shorten the life, all for the sake of supplying the -wants of the body, and nothing more, is, I think, an inconceivable -hardship. And to have invoked the forces of the insensate elements and -laid our burdens upon them, is a glorious triumph." - -"Yes, if all men are profited by it," I returned doubtfully. - -"They are, of course," said he, "at least with us. I was shocked to -find it quite different in Paleveria. There, it seemed to me, -machinery--which has been such a boon to the laborers here--has been -utilized simply and solely to increase the wealth of the rich. I saw a -good many people who looked as though they were on the brink of -starvation." - -"I don't see how you manage it otherwise," I confessed. - -"It belongs to the history of past generations," he replied. "Perhaps -the hardest struggle our progenitors had was to conquer the lusts of -the flesh,--of which the greed of wealth is doubtless the greatest. -They began to realize, generations ago, that Mars was rich enough to -maintain all his children in comfort and even luxury,--that none need -hunger, or thirst, or go naked or houseless, and that more than this -was vanity and vain-glory. And just as they, with intense assiduity, -sought out and cultivated nature's resources--for the reduction of -labor and the increase of wealth--so they sought out and cultivated -within themselves corresponding resources, those fit to meet the new -era of material prosperity; namely, generosity and brotherly love." - -"Then you really and truly practice what you preach!" said I, with -scant politeness, and I hastened to add, "Severnius told me that you -recognize the trinity in human nature. Well, we do, too, upon the -Earth, but the Three have hardly an equal chance! We preach the -doctrine considerably more than we practice it." - -"I understand that you are a highly intellectual people," remarked -Calypso, courteously. - -"Yes, I suppose we are," said I; "our achievements in that line are -nothing to be ashamed of. And," I added, remembering some felicitous -sensations of my own, "there is no greater delight than the travail of -intellect which brings forth great ideas." - -"Pardon me!" he returned, "the travail of soul which brings forth a -great love--a love willing to share equally with others the fruits of -intellectual triumph--is, to my mind, infinitely greater." - -We had reached the terrace, or little plateau, on which my friends' -house stood; it was like a strip of green velvet for color and -smoothness. - -The house was built of rough gray stone which showed silver glintings -in the sun. Here and there, delicate vines clung to the walls. There -was a carriage porch--into which the children drove--and windows -jutting out into the light, and many verandas and little balconies, -that seemed to give the place a friendly and hospitable air. Above -there was a spacious observatory, in which was mounted a very fine -telescope that must have cost a fortune,--though my friends were not -enormously rich, as I had learned from Severnius. But these people do -not regard the expenditure of even very large sums of money for the -means of the best instruction and the best pleasures as extravagance, -if no one suffers in consequence. I cannot go into their economic -system very extensively here, but I may say that it provides primarily -that all shall share bountifully in the general good; and after that, -individuals may gratify their respective tastes--or rather, satisfy -their higher needs; for their tastes are never fanciful, but always -real--as they can afford. - -I do not mean that this is a written law, a formal edict, to be evaded -by such cunning devices as we know in our land, or at best loosely -construed; nor is it a mere sentiment preached from pulpits and -glorified in literature,--a beautiful but impracticable conception! It -is purely a moral law, and being such it is a vital principle in each -individual consciousness. - -The telescope was Calypso's dearest possession, but I never doubted -his willingness to give it up, if there should come a time when the -keeping of it would be the slightest infringement of this law. I may -add that in all the time I spent in Caskia, I never saw a man, woman, -or child, but whose delight in any possession would have been marred -by the knowledge that his, or her, gratification meant another's -bitter deprivation. The question between Thou and I was always settled -in favor of Thou. And no barriers of race, nationality, birth, or -position, affected this universal principle. - -I made a discovery in relation to the Caskians which would have -surprised and disappointed me under most circumstances; they had no -imagination, and they were not given to emotional excitation. Their -minds touched nothing but what was real. But mark this: Their real was -our highest ideal. The moral world was to them a real world; the -spiritual world was to them a real world. They had no need of imagery. -And they were never carried away by floods of feeling, for they were -always up to their highest level,--I mean in the matter of kindness -and sympathy and love. Moreover, their intellectual perceptions were -so clear, and the mysteries of nature were unrolled before their -understanding in such orderly sequence, that although their increase -of knowledge was a continuous source of delight, it never came in -shocks of surprise or excited childish wonderment. I cannot hope to -give you more than a faint conception of the dignity and majesty of a -people whose triple nature was so highly and so harmoniously -developed. One principle governed the three: Truth. They were true to -every law under which they had been created and by which they were -sustained. They were taught from infancy--but of this further on. I -wish to reintroduce Ariadne to you and let her explain some of the -wonders of their teaching, she being herself a teacher. - -The observatory was a much used apartment, by both the family and by -guests. It was a library also, and it contained musical instruments. A -balcony encircled it on the outside, and here we often sat of -evenings, especially if the sky was clear and the stars and moon were -shining. The heavens as seen at night were as familiar to Clytia and -Calypso, and even to the children, as a friend's face. - -It was pleasant to sit out upon the balcony even on moonless nights -and when the stars were hidden, and look down upon the city all -brilliantly alight, and listen to the unceasing music of the Falls of -Eudosa. I, too, soon learned his many "moods." - -Back of the house there rose a long succession of hills, ending -finally in snow-capped mountains, the highest of which was called the -Spear, so sharply did it thrust its head up through the clouds into -the heavens. - -The lower hills had been converted into vineyards. A couple of men -were fixing the trellises, and Calypso excused himself to his wife and -me and went over to them. A neatly dressed maid came out of the house -and greeted the children, who had much important news to relate -concerning their drive; and a last year's bird-nest to show her, which -they took pains to explain was quite useless to the birds, who were -all making nice new nests. The sight of the maid,--evidently an -intelligent and well-bred girl,--whose face beamed affectionately upon -the little ones, prompted a question from me: - -"How do you manage about your servants, I mean house servants," I -asked; "do you have people here who are willing to do menial work?" - -Clytia looked up at me with an odd expression. Her answer, coming from -any one less sincere, would have sounded like cant. - -"We do not regard any work as mean." - -"But some kinds of work are distasteful, to say the least," I -insisted. - -"Not if you love those for whom you labor," she returned. "A mother -does not consider any sort of service to her child degrading." - -"O, I know that," said I; "that is simply natural affection." - -"But natural affection, you know, is only the germ of love. It is -narrow,--only a little broader than selfishness." - -"Well, tell me how it applies in this question of service?" I asked. -"I am not able to comprehend it in the abstract." - -"We do not require people to do anything for us which we would not do -for ourselves, or for them," she said. "And then, we all work. We -believe in work; it means strength to the body and relief to the mind. -No one permits himself to be served by another for the unworthy -reason, openly or tacitly confessed, that he is either too proud, or -too indolent, to serve himself." - -"Then why have servants at all?" I asked. - -"My husband explained to you," she returned, "that our people are not -all equally rich; and they are not all adapted to what you would call, -perhaps, the higher grades of service. You see the little maid yonder -with the children; she has the gifts of a teacher,--our teachers are -very carefully chosen, and as carefully instructed. She has been -placed with me for our mutual benefit,--I could not intrust my little -ones to the care of a mere paid nurse who thought only of her wages. -Nor could she work simply for wages. The money consideration is the -smallest item in the arrangement. My husband superintends some steel -works in which he has some shares. The man he is talking with now--who -is attending to the grape vines--has also a large interest in the -steel works, but he has no taste or faculty for engaging in that kind -of business. He might spend his whole life in idleness if he chose, or -in mental pursuits, for he is a very scholarly man, but he loves the -kind of work he is doing now, and our vineyard is his especial pride. -Moreover," a beautiful smile touched her face as she looked up at the -two men on the hillside, "Fides loves my Calypso, they are soul -friends!" - -When I became more familiar with the household, I found that the same -relations existed all round; mutual pleasure, mutual sympathy, mutual -helpfulness. First there seemed to be on the part of each employe a -distinct preference and liking for the kind of work he or she had -undertaken to do; second, a fitness and careful preparation for the -work; and last, the love of doing for those who gave appreciation, -love, and another sort of service or assistance in return. I heard one -of them say one day: - -"I ask nothing better than to be permitted to cook the meals for these -dear people!" - -This was a woman who wrote monthly articles on chemistry and botany -for one of the leading scientific journals. She was a middle-aged -woman and unmarried, who did not wish to live alone, who abhorred -"boarding," and who had found just such a comfortable nest in Clytia's -home as suited all her needs and desires. Of course she did not slave -in the kitchen all day long, and her position did not debar her from -the best and most intelligent society, nor cut her off from the -pleasure and privileges that sweeten life. She brought her scientific -knowledge to the preparation of the food she set before us, and took -as much pride in the results of her skill as an inventor takes in his -appliances. And such wholesome, delicious, well-cooked dishes I have -never eaten elsewhere. Clytia believed in intelligently prepared food, -as she believed in intelligent instruction for her children; she would -have thought it a crime to set an ignorant person over her kitchen. -And this woman of whom I am speaking knew that she held a place of -honor and trust, and she filled it not only with dignity but -lovingness. She had some younger women to assist her, whom she was -instructing in the science and the art of cooking, and who would -by-and-by take responsible positions themselves. These women, or -girls, assisted also in the housekeeping, which was the most perfect -system in point of cleanliness, order and beauty that it is possible -to conceive of in a home; because skill, honesty and conscientiousness -enter into every detail of the life of these people. The body is held -in honor, and its needs are respected. Life is sacred, and physical -sins,--neglect or infringement of the laws of health,--are classed in -the same category with moral transgressions. In fact, the same -principles and the same mathematical rules apply in the Three Natures -of Man,--refined of course to correspond with the ascending scale from -the lowest to the highest, from the physical to the spiritual. But so -closely are the Three allied that there are no dividing lines,--there -is no point where the Mind may say, "Here my responsibility ends," or -where the Body may affirm, "I have only myself to please." Day by day -these truths became clear to me. There was nothing particularly new in -anything that I heard,--indeed it was all singularly familiar, in -sound. But the wonder was, that the things we idealize, and theorize -about, they accept literally, and absorb into their lives. They have -made living facts of our profoundest philosophy and our sublimest -poetry. Are we then too philosophical, too poetical,--and not -practical? A good many centuries have rolled up their records and -dropped them into eternity since we were given the simple, wonderful -lesson, "Whatsoever a man sows that shall he also reap,"--and we have -not learned it yet! St. Paul's voice rings through the Earth from age -to age, "Work out your own salvation," and we do not comprehend. These -people have never had a Christ--in flesh and blood--but they have put -into effect every precept of our Great Teacher. They have received the -message, from whence I know not,--or rather by what means I know -not,--"A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another." - - - - -Chapter 10. - -THE MASTER. - - "I spoke as I saw. - I report, as a man may report God's work--all's Love, - yet all's Law." - -- BROWNING. - - -I have spoken of Ariadne, and promised to re-introduce her to you. You -will remember her as the graceful girl who accompanied Clytia and her -husband to Thursia. She had not made quite so strong an impression -upon me as had the elder woman, perhaps because I was so preoccupied -with, and interested in watching the latter's meeting with Elodia. -Certainly there was nothing in the young woman herself, as I speedily -ascertained, to justify disparagement even with Clytia. I was -surprised to find that she was a member of our charming household. - -She was an heiress; but she taught in one of the city schools, side by -side with men and women who earned their living by teaching. I rather -deprecated this fact in conversation with Clytia one day; I said that -it was hardly fair for a rich woman to come in and usurp a place which -rightfully belonged to some one who needed the work as a means of -support,--alas! that _I_ should have presumed to censure anything in -that wonderful country. With knowledge came modesty. - -Clytia's cheeks crimsoned with indignation. "Our teachers are not -beneficiaries," she replied; "nor do we regard the positions in our -schools--the teachers' positions--as charities to be dispensed to the -needy. The profession is the highest and most honorable in our land, -and only those who are fitted by nature and preparation presume to -aspire to the office. There is no bar against those who are so -fitted,--the richest and the most distinguished stand no better, and -no poorer, chance than the poorest and most insignificant. We must -have the best material, wherever it can be found." - -We had but just entered the house, Clytia and I, when Ariadne glided -down the stairs into the room where we sat, and approached me with the -charming frankness and unaffectedness of manner which so agreeably -characterizes the manners of all these people. She was rather tall, -and slight; though her form did not suggest frailty. She resembled -some elegant flower whose nature it is to be delicate and slender. She -seemed even to sway a little, and undulate, like a lily on its stem. - -I regarded her with attention, not unmixed with curiosity,--as a man -is prone to regard a young lady into whose acquaintance he has not yet -made inroads. - -My chief impression about her was that she had remarkable eyes. They -were of an indistinguishable, dark color, large horizontally but not -too wide open,--eyes that drew yours continually, without your being -able to tell whether it was to settle the question of color, or to -find out the secret of their fascination, or whether it was simply -that they appealed to your artistic sense--as being something finer -than you had ever seen before. They were heavily fringed at top and -bottom, and so were in shadow except when she raised them toward the -light. Her complexion was pale, her hair light and fluffy; her brows -and lashes were several shades darker than the hair. Her hands were -lovely. Her dress was of course white, or cream, of some soft, -clinging material; and she wore a bunch of blue flowers in her belt, -slightly wilted. - -There is this difference in women: some produce an effect simply, and -others make a clear-cut, cameo-like impression upon the mind. Ariadne -was of the latter sort. Whatever she appropriated, though but a tiny -blossom, seemed immediately to proclaim its ownership and to swear its -allegiance to her. From the moment I first saw her there, the blue -flowers in her belt gave her, in my mind, the supreme title to all of -their kind. I could never bear to see another woman wear the same -variety,--and I liked them best when they were a little wilted! Her -belongings suggested herself so vividly that if one came unexpectedly -upon a fan, a book, a garment of hers, he was affected as by a -presence. - -I soon understood why it was that my eyes sought her face so -persistently, drawn by a power infinitely greater than the mere power -of beauty; it was due to the law of moral gravitation,--that by which -men are attracted to a leader, through intuitive perception of a -quality in him round which their own energies may nucleate. We all -recognize the need of a centre, of a rallying-point,--save perhaps the -few eccentrics, detached particles who have lost their place in the -general order, makers of chaos and disturbers of peace. - -It is this power which constitutes one of the chief qualifications of -a teacher in Lunismar; because it rests upon a fact universally -believed in,--spiritual royalty; an august force which cannot be -ignored, and is never ridiculed--as Galileo was ridiculed, and -punished, for his wisdom; because there ignorance and prejudice do not -exist, and the superstition which planted the martyr's stake has never -been known. - -Ariadne said that she had been up in the observatory, and that there -were indications of an approaching storm. - -"I hope it may be a fine one!" exclaimed Clytia. - -I thought this rather an extraordinary remark--coming from one of the -sex whose formula is more likely to be, "I hope it will not be a -severe one." - -At that moment a man appeared in the doorway, the majesty of whose -presence I certainly felt before my eyes fell upon him. Or it might -have been the reflection I saw in the countenances of my two -companions,--I stood with my back to the door, facing them,--which -gave me the curious, awe-touched sensation. - -I turned round, and Clytia immediately started forward. Ariadne -exclaimed in an undertone, with an accent of peculiar sweetness,--a -commingling of delight, and reverence, and caressing tenderness: - -"Ah! the Master!" - -Clytia took him by the hand and brought him to me, where I stood -rooted to my place. - -"Father, this is our friend," she said simply, without further -ceremony of introduction. It was enough. He had come on purpose to see -me, and therefore he knew who I was. As for him--one does not explain -a king! The title by which Ariadne had called him did not at the -moment raise an inquiry in my mind. I accepted it as the natural -definition of the man. He was a man of kingly proportions, with eyes -from which Clytia's had borrowed their limpid blackness. His glance -had a wide compresiveness, and a swift, sure, loving insight. - -He struck me as a man used to moving among multitudes, with his head -above all, but his heart embracing all. - -You may think it strange, but I was not abashed. Perfect love casteth -out fear; and there was in this divine countenance--I may well call it -divine!--the lambent light of a love so kindly and so tender, that -fear, pride, vanity, egotism, even false modesty--our pet -hypocrisy--surrendered without a protest. - -I think I talked more than any one else, being delicately prompted to -furnish some account of the world to which I belong, and stimulated -by the profound interest with which the Master attended to every word -that I said. But I received an equal amount of information -myself,--usually in response to the questions with which I rounded up -my periods, like this: We do so, and so, upon the Earth; how is it -here? The replies threw an extraordinary light upon the social order -and conditions there. - -I naturally dwelt upon the salient characteristics of our people,--I -mean, of course, the American people. I spoke of our enormous grasp of -the commercial principle; of our manipulation of political and even -social forces to great financial ends; of our easy acquisition of -fortunes; of our tremendous push and energy, directed to the -accumulation of wealth. And of our enthusiasms, and institutions; our -religions and their antagonisms, and of the many other things in which -we take pride. - -And I learned that in Caskia there is no such thing as speculative -enterprise. All business has an actual basis most discouraging to the -adventurous spirit in search of sudden riches. There is no monetary -skill worthy the dignified appellation of financial management,--and -no use for that particular development of the talent of ingenuity. - -All the systems involving the use of money conduct their affairs upon -the simplest arithmetical rules in their simplest form; addition, -subtraction, multiplication, division. There are banks, of course, for -the mutual convenience of all, but there are no magnificent delusions -called "stocks;" no boards of trade, no bulls and bears, no "corners," -no mobilizing of capital for any questionable purposes; no gambling -houses; no pitfalls for unwary feet; and no mad fever of greed and -scheming coursing through the veins of men and driving them to -insanity and self-destruction. More than all, there are no fictitious -values put upon fads and fancies of the hour,--nor even upon works of -art. The Caskians are not easily deceived. An impostor is impossible. -Because the people are instructed in the quality of things -intellectual, and moral, and spiritual, as well as in things physical. -They are as sure of the knowableness of art, as they are--and as we -are--of the knowableness of science. Art is but refined science, and -the principles are the same in both, but more delicately, and also -more comprehensively, interpreted in the former than in the latter. - -One thing more: there are no would-be impostors. The law operates no -visible machinery against such crimes, should there be any. The Master -explained it to me in this way: - -"The Law is established in each individual conscience, and rests -securely upon self-respect." - -"Great heavens!" I cried, as the wonder of it broke upon my -understanding, "and how many millions of years has it taken your race -to attain to this perfection?" - -"It is not perfection," he replied, "it only approximates perfection; -we are yet in the beginning." - -"Well, by the grace of God, you are on the right way!" said I. "I am -familiar enough with the doctrines you live by, to know that it is the -right way; they are the same that we have been taught, theoretically, -for centuries, but, to tell the truth, I never believed they could be -carried out literally, as you appear to carry them out. We are -tolerably honest, as the word goes, but when honesty shades off into -these hair-splitting theories, why--we leave it to the preachers, -and--women." - -"Then you really have some among you who believe in the higher -truths?" the Master said, and his brows went up a little in token of -relief.--My picture of Earth-life must have seemed a terrible one to -him! - -"O, yes, indeed," said I, taking my cue from this. And I proceeded to -give some character sketches of the grand men and women of Earth whose -lives have been one long, heroic struggle for truth, and to whom a -terrible death has often been the crowning triumph of their faith. I -related to him briefly the history of America from its discovery four -hundred years ago; and told him about the splendid material -prosperity,--the enormous wealth, the extraordinary inventions, the -great population, the unprecedented free-school system, and the -progress in general education and culture,--of a country which had its -birth but yesterday in a deadly struggle for freedom of conscience; -and of our later, crueller war for freedom that was not for ourselves -but for a despised race. I described the prodigious waves of public -and private generosity that have swept millions of money into burned -cities for their rebuilding, and tons of food into famine-stricken -lands for the starving. - -I told him of the coming together in fellowship of purpose, of the -great masses, to face a common danger, or to meet a common necessity; -and of the moral and intellectual giants who in outward appearance and -in the seeming of their daily lives are not unlike their fellows, but -to whom all eyes turn for help and strength in the hour of peril. But -I did not at that time undertake any explanation of our religious -creeds, for it somehow seemed to me that these would not count for -much with a people who expressed their theology solely by putting into -practice the things they believed. I had the thought in mind though, -and determined to exploit it later on. As I have said before, the -Master listened with rapt attention, and when I had finished, he -exclaimed, - -"I am filled with amazement! a country yet so young, so far advanced -toward Truth!" - -He gave himself up to contemplation of the picture I had drawn, and in -the depths of his eyes I seemed to see an inspired prophecy of my -country's future grandeur. - -Presently he rose and went to a window, and, with uplifted face, -murmured in accents of the sublimest reverence that have ever touched -my understanding, "O, God, All-Powerful!" - -And a wonderful thing happened: the invocation was responded to by a -voice that came to each of our souls as in a flame of fire, "Here am -I." The velocity of worlds is not so swift as was our transition from -the human to the divine. - -But it was not an unusual thing, this supreme triumph of the spirit; -it is what these people call "divine worship,"--a service which is -never perfunctory, which is not ruled by time or place. One may -worship alone, or two or three, or a multitude, it matters not to God, -who only asks to be worshiped in spirit and in truth,--be the time -Sabbath or mid-week, the place temple, or field, or closet. - -A little later I remarked to the Master,--wishing to have a point -cleared up,-- - -"You say there are no fictitious values put upon works of art; how do -you mean?" - -He replied, "Inasmuch as truth is always greater than human -achievement--which at best may only approximate the truth,--the value -of a work of art should be determined by its merit alone, and not by -the artist's reputation, or any other remote influence,--of course I -do not include particular objects consecrated by association or by -time. But suppose a man paints a great picture, for which he recieves -a great price, and thereafter uses the fame he has won as speculating -capital to enrich himself,--I beg the pardon of every artist for -setting up the hideous hypothesis!--But to complete it: the moment a -man does that, he loses his self-respect, which is about as bad as -anything that can happen to him; it is moral suicide. And he has done -a grievous wrong to art by lowering the high standard he himself -helped to raise. But his crime is no greater than that of the -name-worshipers, who, ignorantly, or insolently, set up false -standards and scorn the real test of values. However, these important -matters are not left entirely to individual consciences; artists, and -so-called art-critics, are not the only judges of art. We have no -mysterious sanctuaries for a privileged few; all may enter,--all are -indeed made to enter, not by violence, but by the simple, natural -means employed in all teaching. All will not hold the brush, or the -pen, or the chisel; but from their earliest infancy our children are -carefully taught to recognize the forms of truth in all art; the eye -was made to see, the ear to hear, the mind to understand." - -The visit was at an end. When he left us it was as though the sun had -passed under a cloud. - -Clytia went out with him, her arm lovingly linked in his; and I turned -to Ariadne. "Tell me," I said, "why is he called Master? Is it a -formal title, or was it bestowed in recognition of the quality of the -man?" - -"Both," she answered. "No man receives the title who has not the -'quality.' But it is in one way perfunctory; it is the distinguishing -title of a teacher of the highest rank." - -"And what are teachers of the highest rank, presidents of colleges?" I -asked. - -"O, no," she replied with a smile, "they are not necessarily teachers -of schools--old and young alike are their pupils. They are those who -have advanced the farthest in all the paths of knowledge, especially -the moral and the spiritual." - -"I understand," said I; "they are your priests, ministers, -pastors,--your Doctors of Divinity." - -"Perhaps," she returned, doubtfully; our terminology was not always -clear to those people. - -"Usually," she went on, "they begin with teaching in the schools,--as -a kind of apprenticeship. But, naturally, they rise; there is that -same quality in them which forces great poets and painters to high -positions in their respective fields." - -"Then they rank with geniuses!" I exclaimed, and the mystery of the -man in whose grand company I had spent the past hour was solved. - -Ariadne looked at me as though surprised that I should have been -ignorant of so natural and patent a fact. - -"Excuse me!" said I, "but it is not always the case with us; any man -may set up for a religious teacher who chooses, with or without -preparation,--just as any one may set up for a poet, or a painter, or -a composer of oratorio." - -"Genius must be universal on your planet then," she returned -innocently. I suppose I might have let it pass, there was nobody to -contradict any impressions I might be pleased to convey! but there is -something in the atmosphere of Lunismar which compels the truth, good -or bad. - -"No," said I, "they do it by grace of their unexampled self-trust,--a -quality much encouraged among us,--and because we do not legislate -upon such matters. The boast of our country is liberty, and in some -respects we fail to comprehend the glorious possession. Too often we -mistake lawlessness for liberty. The fine arts are our playthings, and -each one follows his own fancy, like children with toys." - -"Follows-his-own-fancy," she repeated, as one repeats a strange -phrase, the meaning of which is obscure. - -"By the way," I said, "you must be rather arbitrary here. Is a man -liable to arrest or condign punishment, if he happens to burlesque any -of the higher callings under the impression that he is a genius?" - -She laughed, and I added, "I assure you that this is not an uncommon -occurrence with us." - -"It would be impossible here," she replied, "because no one could so -mistake himself, though it seems egotistical for one of us to say so! -but"--a curious expression touched her face, a questioning, doubting, -puzzled look--"we are speaking honestly, are we not?" - -I wondered if I had betrayed my American characteristic of hyperbole, -and I smiled as I answered her: - -"My countrymen are at my mercy, I know; but had I a thousand grudges -against them, I beg you to believe that I am not so base as to take -advantage of my unique opportunity to do them harm! We are a young -people, as I said awhile ago, a very young people; and in many -respects we have the innocent audacity of babes. Yes," I added, "I -have told you the truth,--but not all of it; Earth, too, is pinnacled -with great names,--of Masters, like yours, and poets, and painters, -and scientists, and inventors. Even in the darkest ages there have -been these points of illumination. What I chiefly wonder at here, is -the universality of intelligence, of understanding. You are a teacher -of children, pray tell me how you teach. How do you get such wonderful -results? I can comprehend--a little--'what' you people are, I wish to -know the 'how,' the 'why'." - -"All our teaching," she said, "embraces the three-fold nature. The -physical comes first of course, for you cannot reach the higher -faculties through barriers of physical pain and sickness, hunger and -cold. The child must have a good body, and to this end he is taught -the laws that govern his body, through careful and attentive -observance of cause and effect. And almost immediately, he begins to -have fascinating glimpses of similar laws operating upon a higher -than the physical plane. Children have boundless curiosity, you know, -and this makes the teacher's work easy and delightful,--for we all -love to tell a piece of news! Through this faculty, the desire to -know, you can lead a child in whatever paths you choose. You can -almost make him what you choose. A little experience teaches a child -that every act brings consequences, good or bad; but he need not get -all his knowledge by experience, that is too costly. The reasoning -faculty must be aroused, and then the conscience,--which is to the -soul what the sensatory nerves are to the body. But the conscience is -a latent faculty, and here comes in the teacher's most delicate and -important work. Conscience is quite dependent upon the intellect; we -must know what is right and what is wrong, otherwise conscience must -stagger blindly." - -"Yes, I know," I interrupted, "the consciences of some very good -people in our world have burned witches at the stake." - -"Horrible!" she said with a shudder. - -She continued: "This, then, is the basis. We try, through that simple -law of cause and effect, which no power can set aside, to supply each -child with a safe, sure motive for conduct that will serve him through -life, as well in his secret thought as in outward act. No one with -this principle well-grounded in him will ever seek to throw the blame -of his misdeeds upon another. We teach the relative value of -repentance; that though it cannot avert or annul the effects of -wrong-doing, it may serve to prevent repetition of the wrong." - -"Do you punish offenders?" I asked. - -She smiled. "Punishment for error is like treating symptoms instead of -the disease which produced them, is it not?--relief for the present, -but no help for the future. Punishment, and even criticism, are -dangerous weapons, to be used, if at all, with a tact and skill that -make one tremble to think of! They are too apt to destroy freedom of -intercourse between teacher and pupil. Unjust criticism, especially, -shuts the teacher from an opportunity to widen the pupil's knowledge. -Too often our criticisms are barriers which we throw about ourselves, -shutting out affection and confidence; and then we wonder why friends -and family are sealed books to us!" - -"That is a fact," I assented, heartily, "and no one can keep to his -highest level if he is surrounded by an atmosphere of coldness and -censure. Even Christ, our Great Teacher, affirmed that he could not do -his work in certain localities because of prevailing unbelief." - -"There is one thing which it is difficult to learn," went on Ariadne, -"discrimination, the fitness of things. I may not do that which is -proper for another to do,--why? Because in each individual -consciousness is a special and peculiar law of destiny upon which -rests the burden of personal responsibility. It is this law of the -individual that makes it an effrontery for any one to constitute -himself the chancellor of another's conscience, or to sit in judgment -upon any act which does not fall under the condemnation of the common -law. It is given to each of us to create a world,--within ourselves -and round about us,--each unlike all the others, though conforming to -the universal principles of right, as poets, however original, -conform to the universal principles of language. We have choice--let -me give you a paradox!--every one may have first choice of -inexhaustible material in infinite variety. But how to choose!" - -I quoted Milton's lines: - - "He that has light within his own clear breast, - May sit in the center and enjoy bright day; - But he that hides a dark soul and foul thoughts, - Benighted walks under the mid-day sun; - Himself is his own dungeon." - -She thanked me with a fine smile. - -Clytia had come in a few moments before, but her entrance had been -such that it had caused no disturbing vibrations in the current of -sympathetic understanding upon which Ariadne and myself were launched. - -Now, however, we came ashore as it were, and she greeted us as -returned voyagers love to be greeted, with cordial welcome. - -She informed us that dinner was ready, and I was alarmed lest we might -have delayed that important function. - -The children had disappeared for the day, having already had their -dinner in the nursery under the supervision of their mother. - -Calypso had invited in his friend Fides. He was a man of powerful -frame, and strong, fine physionomy; with a mind as virile as the -former, and as clear-cut as the latter. The woman who had created the -dinner--I do not know of a better word--also sat at table with us, and -contributed many a gem to the thought of the hour. Thought may seem an -odd word to use in connection with a dinner conversation,--unless it -is a "toast" dinner! but even in their gayest and lightest moods these -people are never thoughtless. Their minds instead of being lumbering -machinery requiring much force and preparation to put in motion, are -set upon the daintiest and most delicate wheels. Their mental -equipment corresponds with the astonishing mechanical contrivances for -overcoming friction in the physical world. And this exquisite -machinery is applied in exactly the same ways,--sometimes for utility, -and sometimes for simple enjoyment. - -Ariadne's prediction had been correct, the storm-king was mustering -his forces round the mountain-tops, and the Eudosa was answering the -challenge from the valley. - -After dinner we went up into the observatory, and from thence passed -out onto the balcony, thrilled by the same sense of delightful -expectancy you see in the unennuied eyes of Youth, waiting for the -curtain to go up at a play. All save myself had of course seen -thunder-storms in Lunismar, but none were _blasé_. There was eagerness -in every face. - -We took our station at a point which gave us the best view of the -mountains, and saw the lightning cut their cloud-enwrapped sides with -flaming swords, and thrust gleaming spears down into the darkling -valley, as if in furious spite at the blackness which had gathered -everywhere. For the sun had sunk behind a wall as dense as night and -left the world to its fate. Before the rain began to fall there was an -appalling stillness, which even the angry mutterings of the Eudosa -could not overcome. And then, as though the heavens had marshaled all -their strength for one tremendous assault, the thunder broke forth. I -have little physical timidity, but the shock struck me into a pose as -rigid as death. - -The others were only profoundly impressed, spiritually alive to the -majesty of the performance. - -That first explosion was but the prelude to the mighty piece played -before us, around us, at our feet, and overhead. - -Earth has been spared the awfulness--(without destruction)--and has -missed the glory of such a storm as this. - -But the grandest part was yet to come. The rain lasted perhaps twenty -minutes, and then a slight rent was made in the thick and sombre -curtain that covered the face of the heavens, and a single long shaft -of light touched the frozen point of the Spear and turned its crystal -and its snow to gold. The rest of the mountain was still swathed in -cloud. A moment more, and a superb rainbow, and another, and yet -another, were flung upon the shoulder of the Spear, below the -glittering finger. The rent in the curtain grew wider, and beyond, all -the splendors of colors were blazoned upon the shimmering draperies -that closed about and slowly vanished with the sun. - -We sat in silence for a little time. I happened to be near Fides, and -I presently turned to him and said: - -"That was a most extraordinary manifestation of the Almighty's power!" - -He looked at me but did not reply. - -Ariadne, who had heard my remark, exclaimed laughingly: - -"Fides thinks the opening of a flower is a far more wonderful -manifestation than the stirring up of the elements!" - -In the midst of the storm I had discovered the Master standing at the -farther end of the balcony, and beside him a tall, slender woman with -thick, white hair, whom I rightly took to be his wife. I was presented -to her shortly, and the mental comment I made at the moment, I never -afterward reversed,--"She is worthy to be the Master's wife!" - -Although the rain had ceased, the sky was a blank, as night settled -upon the world. Not a star shone. But it was cool and pleasant, and -we sat and talked for a couple of hours. Suddenly, a band of music on -the terrace below silenced our voices. It was most peculiar music: now -it was tone-pictures thrown upon the dark background of shadows; and -now it was a dance of sprites; and now a whispered confidence in the -ear. It made no attempt to arouse the emotions, to produce either -sadness or exaltation. It was a mere frolic of music. When it was -over, I went down stairs, with the others, humming an inaudible tune, -as though I had been to the opera. - - - - -Chapter 11. - -A COMPARISON. - - "He who rests on what he is, has a destiny above - destiny, and can make mouths at fortune." - --EMERSON. - - "Work out your own salvation." - --ST. PAUL. - - -I had a feeling, when I retired to my room that night, as if years lay -between me and the portion of my life which I had spent in Paleveria. -But across the wide gulf my soul embraced Severnius. All that was -beautiful, and lovable, and noble in that far-off country centered in -him, as light centres in a star. - -But of Elodia I could not think without pain. I even felt a kind of -helpless rage mingling with the pain,--remembering that it was simply -the brutality of the social system under which she had been reared, -that had stamped so hideous a brand upon a character so fair. I -contrasted her in my mind with the women asleep in the rooms about me, -whose thoughts were as pure as the thoughts of a child. Had she been -born here, I reflected, she would have been like Clytia, like Ariadne. -And oh! the pity of it, that she had not! - -I was restless, wakeful, miserable, thinking of her; remembering her -wit, her intelligence, her power; remembering how charming she was, -how magnetic, and alas! how faulty! - -She gave delight to all about her, and touched all life with color. -But she was like a magnificent bouquet culled from the gardens of -wisdom and beauty; a thing of but temporary value, whose fragrance -must soon be scattered, whose glory must soon pass away. - -Ariadne was the white and slender lily, slowly unfolding petal after -petal in obedience to the law of its own inner growth. Should the -blossom be torn asunder its perfume would rise as incense about its -destroyer, and from the life hidden at its root would come forth more -perfect blossoms and more delicate fragrance. - -I had arrived at this estimate of her character by a process more -unerring and far swifter than reason. You might call it spiritual -telegraphy. The thought of her not only restored but immeasurably -increased my faith in woman; and I fell asleep at last soothed and -comforted. - -I awoke in the morning to the sound of singing. It was Ariadne's -voice, and she was touching the strings of a harp. All Caskians sing, -and all are taught to play upon at least one musical instrument. Every -household is an orchestra. - -Ariadne's voice was exceptionally fine--where all voices were -excellent. Its quality was singularly bird-like; sometimes it was the -joyous note of the lark, and again it was the tenderly sweet, and -passionately sad, dropping-song of the mocking-bird. - -When I looked out of my window, the sun was just silvering the point -of the Spear, and light wreaths of mist were lifting from the valleys. -I saw the Master, staff in hand, going up toward the mountains, and -Fides was coming across the hills. - -I had wondered, when I saw the Master and his wife on the balcony the -night before, how they came to be there at such an hour on such a -night. I took the first opportunity to find out. The only way to find -out about people's affairs in Caskia, is by asking questions, or, by -observation--which takes longer. They speak with their lives instead -of their tongues, concerning so many things that other people are -wordy about. They are quite devoid of theories. But they are -charmingly willing to impart what one wishes to know. - -I learned that Clytia's parents lived within a stone's throw of her -house on one side, and Calypso's grandparents at about the same -distance on the other. And I also learned that it was an arrangement -universally practiced; the clustering together of families, in order -that the young might always be near at hand to support, and protect, -and to smooth the pathway of the old. Certain savage races upon the -Earth abandon the aged to starvation and death; certain other races, -not savage, abandon them to a loneliness that is only less cruel. But -these extraordinarily just people repay to the helplessness of age, -the tenderness and care, the loving sympathy, which they themselves -received in the helplessness of infancy. - -The grandparents happened to be away from home, and I did not meet -them for some days. - -On that first morning we had Clytia's parents to breakfast. -Immediately after breakfast the circle broke up. It was Clytia's -morning to visit and assist in the school which her little ones -attended; Ariadne started off to her work, with a fresh cluster of the -delicious blue flowers in her belt; and I had the choice of visiting -the steel-works with Calypso, or taking a trip to Lake Eudosa, on -foot, with the Master. I could hardly conceal the delight with which I -decided in favor of the latter. We set off at once, and what a walk it -was! A little way through the city, and then across a strip of lush -green meadow, starred with daisies, thence into sweet-smelling woods, -and then down, down, down, along the rocky edge of the canyon, past -the deafening waterfalls to the wonderful Lake! - -We passed, on our way through the city, a large, fine structure which, -upon inquiry, I found to be the place where the Master "taught" on the -Sabbath day. - -"Do you wish to look in?" he asked, and we turned back and entered. -The interior was beautiful and vast, capacious enough to seat several -thousand people; and every Sunday it was filled. - -I thought it a good opportunity for finding out something about the -religion of this people, and I began by asking: - -"Are there any divisions in your Church,--different denominations, I -mean?" - -He seemed unable to comprehend me, and I was obliged to enter into an -explanation, which I made as simple as possible, of course, relative -to the curse of Adam and the plan of redemption. In order that he -might understand the importance attaching to our creeds, I told him of -the fierce, sanguinary struggles of past ages, and the grave -controversies of modern times, pertaining to certain dogmas and -tenets,--as to whether they were essential, or non-essential to -salvation. - -"Salvation from what?" he asked. - -"Why, from sin." - -"But how? We know only one way to be saved from sin." - -"And what is that?" I inquired. - -"Not to sin." - -"But that is impossible!" I rejoined, feeling that he was trifling -with the subject. Though that was unlike him. - -"Yes, it is impossible," he replied, gravely. "God did not make us -perfect. He left us something to do for ourselves." - -"That is heretical," said I. "Don't you believe in the Fall of Man?" - -"No, I think I believe in the Rise of Man," he answered, smiling. - -"O, I keep forgetting," I exclaimed, "that I am on another planet!" - -"And that this planet has different relations with God from what your -planet has?" returned he. "I cannot think so, sir; it is altogether a -new idea to me, and--pardon me!--an illogical one. We belong to the -same system, and why should not the people of Mars have the sentence -for sin revoked, as well as the people of Earth? Why should not we -have been provided with an intercessor? But tell me, is it really -so?--do you upon the Earth not suffer the consequences of your acts?" - -"Why, certainly we do," said I; "while we live. The plan of salvation -has reference to the life after death." - -He dropped his eyes to the ground. - -"You believe in that life, do you not?" I asked. - -"Believe in it!"--he looked up, amazed. "All life is eternal; as long -as God lives, we shall live." - -A little later he said: - -"You spoke of the fall of man,--what did you mean?" - -"That Man was created a perfect being, but through sin became -imperfect, so that God could not take him back to Himself,--save by -redemption." - -"And God sent His Only Son to the Earth, you say, to redeem your race -from the consequences of their own acts?" - -"So we believe," said I. - -After another brief silence, he remarked: - -"Man did not begin his life upon this planet in perfection." - -At this moment we passed a beautiful garden, in which there was an -infinite profusion of flowers in infinite variety. - -"Look at those roses!" he exclaimed; "God planted the species, a crude -and simple plant, and turned it over to man to do what he might with -it; and in the same way he placed man himself here,--to perfect -himself if he would. I am not jealous of God, nor envious of you; but -just why He should have arranged to spare you all this labor, and -commanded us to work out our own salvation, I cannot comprehend." - -It struck me as a remarkable coincidence that he should have used the -very words of one of our own greatest logicians. - -A longer silence followed. The Master walked with his head inclined, -in the attitude of profound thought. At last he drew a deep breath and -looked up, relaxing his brows. - -"It may be prodigiously presumptuous," he said, "but I am inclined to -think there has been a mistake somewhere." - -"How, a mistake?" I asked. - -He paid no heed to the question, but said: "Tell me the story,--tell -me the exact words, if you can, of this Great Teacher whom you believe -to be the Son of God?" - -I gave a brief outline of the Saviour's life and death, and it was a -gratification to me--because it seemed, in some sort, an -acknowledgment, or concession to my interpretation,--to see that he -was profoundly affected. - -"Oh!" he cried,--his hands were clenched and his body writhed as with -the actual sufferings of the Man of Sorrows,--"that a race of men -should have been brought through such awful tribulation to see God! -Why could they not accept the truth from his lips?" - -"Because they would not. They kept crying 'Give us a sign,' and he -gave himself to death." - -I grouped together as many of the words of Christ as I could recall, -and I was surprised, not only that his memory kept its grasp on them -all, but that he was able to see at once their innermost meaning. It -was as if he dissolved them in the wonderful alembic of his -understanding, and instantly restored them in crystals of pure truth, -divested alike of mysticism and remote significance. He took them up, -one by one, and held them to the light, as one holds precious gems. He -knew them, recognized them, and appraised them with the delight, and -comprehensiveness, and the critical judgment of a connoisseur of -jewels. - -"You believe that Christ came into your world," he said, "that you -'might have life.' That is, he came to teach you that the life of the -soul, and not the body, is the real life. He died 'that you might -live,' but it was not the mere fact of his death that assured your -life. He was willing to give up his life in pledge of the truth of -what he taught, that you might believe that truth, and act upon that -belief, and so gain life. He taught only the truth,--his soul was a -fountain of truth. Hence, when he said, Suffer the little children to -come unto me, it was as though he said, Teach your children the truths -I have taught you. And when he cried in the tenderness of his great -and yearning love, Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, -and I will give you rest, he meant,--oh! you cannot doubt it, my -friend,--he meant, Come, give up your strifes, and hatreds, your -greeds, and vanities, and selfishness, and the endless weariness of -your pomps and shows; come to me and learn how to live, and where to -find peace, and contentment. 'A new commandment I give unto you, that -ye love one another.' This was the 'easy yoke,' and the 'light -burden,' which your Christ offered to you in place of the tyranny of -sin. 'Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to -them.' There is nothing finer than that,--there is no law above that! -We Caskians have been trying to work upon that principle for thousands -of years. It is all that there is of religion, save the spiritual -perception of abstract truths which we may conceive of; more or less -clearly, as attributes of God. Your Great Teacher explained to you -that God is a spirit, and should be worshiped in spirit and in truth. -Hence we may worship Him where and when we will. Worship is not a -ceremony, but profound contemplation of the infinite wisdom, the -infinite power, and the infinite love of God. The outdoor -world,--here, where we stand now, with the marvelous sky above us, the -clouds, the sun; this mighty cataract before us; and all the teeming -life, the beauty, the fragrance, the song,--is the best place of all. -I pity the man who lacks the faculty of worship! it means that though -he may have eyes he sees not, and ears he hears not." - -"Do you believe in temples of worship?" I asked. - -"Yes," he replied, "I believe in them; for though walls and stained -windows shut out the physical glories of the world, they do not blind -the eyes of the spirit. And if there is one in the pulpit who has -absorbed enough of the attributes of God into his soul to stand as an -interpreter to the people, it is better than waiting outside. Then, -too, there is grandeur in the coming together of a multitude to -worship in oneness of spirit. And all things are better when shared -with others. I believe that art should bring its best treasures to -adorn the temples of worship, and that music should voice this supreme -adoration. But in this matter, we should be careful not to limit God -in point of locality. What does the saying mean, 'I asked for bread, -and ye gave me a stone?' I think it might mean, for one thing, 'I -asked where to find God, and you pointed to a building.' The finite -mind is prone to worship its own creations of God. There are ignorant -races upon this planet,--perhaps also upon yours,--who dimly recognize -Deity in this way; they bring the best they have of skill in -handiwork, to the making of a pitiful image to represent God; and -then, forgetting the motive, they bow down to the image. We call that -idolatry. But it is hard even for the enlightened to avoid this sin." - -He paused a moment and then went on: - -"I cannot comprehend the importance you seem to place upon the forms -and symbols, nor in what way they relate to religion, but they may -have some temporary value, I can hardly judge of that. Baptism, you -say, is a token and a symbol, but do a people so far advanced in -intelligence and perception, still require tokens and symbols? And can -you not, even yet, separate the spiritual meaning of Christ's words -from their literal meaning? You worship the man--the God, if you -will,--instead of that for which he stood. He himself was a symbol, he -stood for the things he wished to teach. 'I am the truth,' 'I am the -life.' Do you not see that he meant, 'I am the exponent of truth, I -teach you how to live; hearken unto me.' In those days in which he -lived, perhaps, language was still word-pictures, and the people whom -he taught could not grasp the abstract, hence he used the more -forcible style, the concrete. He could not have made this clearer, -than in those remarkable words, 'Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one -of the least of these, my brethren, ye have done it unto me.'" - -"I know," I replied, as he paused for some response from me; "my -intellect accepts your interpretation of these things, but this -symbolic religion of ours is ingrained in our very consciences, so -that neglect of the outward forms of Christianity seems almost worse -than actual sin." - -"And it will continue to be so," he said, "until you learn to practice -the truth for truth's sake,--until you love your neighbor--not only -because Christ commanded it, but because the principle of love is -'ingrained in your consciences.' As for belonging to a church, I can -only conceive of that in the social sense, for every soul that aspires -upward belongs to Christ's church universal. They are the lambs of his -flock, the objects of his tenderest care. But I can see how a great -number of religious societies, or organizations, are possible, as -corresponding with the requirements of different groups of people." - -"Yes," I said, glad of this admission, "and these societies are all -aiming at the same thing that you teach,--the brotherhood of man. They -clothe the poor, they look after the sick, they send missionaries to -the heathen, they preach morality and temperance,--all, in His Name, -because, to tell the truth, they cannot conceive of any virtue -disassociated from the man, Jesus. Jesus is the great leader of the -spiritual forces marshaled under the banners of truth upon the Earth. -In all their good works, which are so great and so many, good -christians give Christ the glory, because, but for him, they would not -have had the Truth, the Life,--the world was so dark, so ignorant. All -the ancient civilizations upon the Earth,--and some of them were -magnificent!--have perished, because they did not possess this truth -and this spiritual life which Christ taught. There was a great deal of -knowledge, but not love; there was a great deal of philosophy, but it -was cold. There was mysticism, but it did not satisfy. Do you wonder, -sir, that a world should love the man who brought love into that -world,--who brought peace, good-will, to men?" - -"No, no," said the Master, "I do not wonder. It is grand, sublime! And -he gave his body to be destroyed by his persecutors, in order to prove -to the world that there is a life higher than the physical, and -indestructible,--and that physical death has no other agony than -physical pain. Ah, I see, I understand, and I am not surprised that -you call this man your redeemer! I think, my friend," he added, "that -you have now a civilization upon the Earth, which will not perish!" - -After a moment, he remarked, turning to me with a smile, "We are not -so far apart as we thought we were, when we first started out, are -we?" - -"No," said I, "the only wonder to me is, that you should have been in -possession, from the beginning, of the same truths that were revealed -to us only a few centuries ago, through, as we have been taught to -believe, special Divine Favor." - -"Say, rather, Infinite Divine Love," he returned; "then we shall -indeed stand upon the same plane, all alike, children of God." - -As we continued our walk, his mind continued to dwell upon the -teachings of Christ, and he sought to make clear to me one thing after -another. - -"Pray without ceasing," he repeated, reflectively. "Well, now, it -would be impossible to take that literally; the literal meaning of -prayer is verbal petition. The real meaning is, the sincere desire of -the soul. You are commanded to pray in secret, and God will reward -you openly. Put the two together and you have this: Desire constantly, -within your secret soul, to learn and to practice the truth; and your -open reward shall be the countless blessings which are attracted to -the perfect life, the inner life. 'Ask whatsoever you will, in my -name, and it shall be granted you.' That is, 'Ask in the name of truth -and love.' Shall you pray for a personal blessing or favor which might -mean disaster or injury to another? Prayer is the desire and effort of -the soul to keep in harmony with God's great laws of the universe." - - * * * * * - -As it had been in Thursia, so it was here; people came to see me from -all parts, and there were some remarkable companies in Clytia's -parlors! Usually they were spontaneous gatherings, evening parties -being often made up with little or no premeditation. There was music -always, in great variety, and of the most delightful and elevated -character,--singing, and many kinds of bands. And sometimes there was -dancing,--not of the kind which awakened in De Quincey's soul, "the -very grandest form of passionate sadness,"--but of a kind that made me -wish I had been the inventor of the phrase, "poetry of motion," so -that I could have used it here, fresh and unhackneyed. In all, there -was no more voluptuousness than in the frolic of children. -Conversation might--and often was--as light as the dance of -butterflies, but it was liable at any moment to rise, upon a hint, or -a suggestion, to the most sublimated regions of thought,--for these -people do not leave their minds at home when they go into society. And -here, in society, I saw the workings of the principle of brotherly -love, in a strikingly beautiful aspect. There was no disposition on -the part of any one to outdo another; rather there seemed to be a -general conspiracy to make each one rise to his best. The spirit of -criticism was absent, and the spirit of petty jealousy. The women -without exception were dressed with exquisite taste, because this is a -part of their culture. And every woman was beautiful, for loving eyes -approved her; and every man was noble, for no one doubted him. - -If the sky was clear, a portion of each evening was spent in the -observatory, or out upon the balcony, as the company chose, and the -great telescope was always in requisition, and always pointed to the -Earth!--if the Earth was in sight. - -The last evening I spent in Lunismar was such an one as I have -described. Ariadne and I happened to be standing together, and alone, -in a place upon the balcony which commanded a view of our world. It -was particularly clear and brilliant that night, and you may imagine -with what feelings I contemplated it, being about to return to it! We -had been silent for some little time, when she turned her eyes to -me--those wonderful eyes!--and said, a little sadly, I thought: - -"I shall never look upon Earth again, without happy memories of your -brief visit among us." - -A strange impulse seized me, and I caught her hands and held them fast -in mine. "And I, O, Ariadne! when I return to Earth again, and lift -my eyes toward heaven, it will not be Mars that I shall see, but -only--Ariadne!" - -A strange light suddenly flashed over her face and into her eyes as -she raised them to mine, and in their clear depths was revealed to me -the supreme law of the universe, the law of life, the law of love. In -a voice tremulous with emotion--sad, but not hopeless--she murmured: - -"And I, also, shall forget my studies in the starry fields of space to -watch for your far-distant planet--the Earth--which shall forever -touch all others with its glory." - -And there, under the stars, with the plaintive music of the Eudosa in -our ears, and seeing dimly through the darkness the white finger of -the snowy peaks pointing upward, we looked into each other's eyes -and--"I saw a new heaven and a new earth." - - -THE END. - - -[Illustration: Books] - -_From the Press of the Arena Publishing Company._ - - -The Rise of the Swiss Republic. - -By W. D. MCCRACKAN, A.M. - - It contains over four hundred pages, printed from new and - handsome type, on a fine quality of heavy paper. The margins are - wide, and the volume is richly bound in cloth. - -Price, postpaid, $3.00. - - -Sultan to Sultan. - -By M. 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