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diff --git a/old/twwrl10.txt b/old/twwrl10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7f2e43a --- /dev/null +++ b/old/twwrl10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11302 @@ +The Project Gutenberg Etext of A Romance Of Two Worlds, by Marie Corelli +#6 in our series by Marie Corelli + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before distributing this or any other +Project Gutenberg file. + +We encourage you to keep this file, exactly as it is, on your +own disk, thereby keeping an electronic path open for future +readers. Please do not remove this. + +This header should be the first thing seen when anyone starts to +view the etext. 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"There is no God!" +cries one theorist; "or if there be one, _I_ can obtain no proof of +His existence!" "There is no Creator!" exclaims another. "The +Universe is simply a rushing together of atoms." "There can be no +immortality," asserts a third. "We are but dust, and to dust we +shall return." "What is called by idealists the SOUL," argues +another, "is simply the vital principle composed of heat and air, +which escapes from the body at death, and mingles again with its +native element. A candle when lit emits flame; blow out the light, +the flame vanishes--where? Would it not be madness to assert the +flame immortal? Yet the soul, or vital principle of human existence, +is no more than the flame of a candle." + +If you propound to these theorists the eternal question WHY?--why is +the world in existence? why is there a universe? why do we live? why +do we think and plan? why do we perish at the last?--their grandiose +reply is, "Because of the Law of Universal Necessity." They cannot +explain this mysterious Law to themselves, nor can they probe deep +enough to find the answer to a still more tremendous WHY--namely, +WHY, is there a Law of Universal Necessity?--but they are satisfied +with the result of their reasonings, if not wholly, yet in part, and +seldom try to search beyond that great vague vast Necessity, lest +their finite brains should reel into madness worse than death. +Recognizing, therefore, that in this cultivated age a wall of +scepticism and cynicism is gradually being built up by intellectual +thinkers of every nation against all that treats of the Supernatural +and Unseen, I am aware that my narration of the events I have +recently experienced will be read with incredulity. At a time when +the great empire of the Christian Religion is being assailed, or +politely ignored by governments and public speakers and teachers, I +realize to the fullest extent how daring is any attempt to prove, +even by a plain history of strange occurrences happening to one's +self, the actual existence of the Supernatural around us; and the +absolute certainty of a future state of being, after the passage +through that brief soul-torpor in which the body perishes, known to +us as Death. + +In the present narration, which I have purposely called a "romance," +I do not expect to be believed, as I can only relate what I myself +have experienced. I know that men and women of to-day must have +proofs, or what they are willing to accept as proofs, before they +will credit anything that purports to be of a spiritual tendency;-- +something startling--some miracle of a stupendous nature, such as +according to prophecy they are all unfit to receive. Few will admit +the subtle influence and incontestable, though mysterious, authority +exercised upon their lives by higher intelligences than their own-- +intelligences unseen, unknown, but felt. Yes! felt by the most +careless, the most cynical; in the uncomfortable prescience of +danger, the inner forebodings of guilt--the moral and mental torture +endured by those who fight a protracted battle to gain the hardly- +won victory in themselves of right over wrong--in the thousand and +one sudden appeals made without warning to that compass of a man's +life, Conscience--and in those brilliant and startling impulses of +generosity, bravery, and self-sacrifice which carry us on, heedless +of consequences, to the performance of great and noble deeds, whose +fame makes the whole world one resounding echo of glory--deeds that +we wonder at ourselves even in the performance of them--acts of +heroism in which mere life goes for nothing, and the Soul for a +brief space is pre-eminent, obeying blindly the guiding influence of +a something akin to itself, yet higher in the realms of Thought. + +There are no proofs as to why such things should be; but that they +are, is indubitable. The miracles enacted now are silent ones, and +are worked in the heart and mind of man alone. Unbelief is nearly +supreme in the world to-day. Were an angel to descend from heaven in +the middle of a great square, the crowd would think he had got +himself up on pulleys and wires, and would try to discover his +apparatus. Were he, in wrath, to cast destruction upon them, and +with fire blazing from his wings, slay a thousand of them with the +mere shaking of a pinion, those who were left alive would either say +that a tremendous dynamite explosion had occurred, or that the +square was built on an extinct volcano which had suddenly broken out +into frightful activity. Anything rather than believe in angels--the +nineteenth century protests against the possibility of their +existence. It sees no miracle--it pooh-poohs the very enthusiasm +that might work them. + +"Give a positive sign," it says; "prove clearly that what you say is +true, and I, in spite of my Progress and Atom Theory, will believe." +The answer to such a request was spoken eighteen hundred years and +more ago. "A faithless and perverse generation asketh for a sign, +and no sign shall be given unto them." + +Were I now to assert that a sign had been given to ME--to me, as one +out of the thousands who demand it--such daring assurance on my part +would meet with the most strenuous opposition from all who peruse +the following pages; each person who reads having his own ideas on +all subjects, and naturally considering them to be the best if not +the only ideas worth anything. Therefore I wish it to be plainly +understood that in this book I personally advocate no new theory of +either religion or philosophy; nor do I hold myself answerable for +the opinions expressed by any of my characters. My aim throughout is +to let facts speak for themselves. If they seem strange, unreal, +even impossible, I can only say that the things of the invisible +world must always appear so to those whose thoughts and desires are +centred on this life only. + + + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +AN ARTIST'S STUDIO. + + +In the winter of 188--, I was afflicted by a series of nervous +ailments, brought on by overwork and overworry. Chief among these +was a protracted and terrible insomnia, accompanied by the utmost +depression of spirits and anxiety of mind. I became filled with the +gloomiest anticipations of evil; and my system was strung up by slow +degrees to such a high tension of physical and mental excitement, +that the quietest and most soothing of friendly voices had no other +effect upon me than to jar and irritate. Work was impossible; music, +my one passion, intolerable; books became wearisome to my sight; and +even a short walk in the open air brought with it such lassitude and +exhaustion, that I soon grew to dislike the very thought of moving +out of doors. In such a condition of health, medical aid became +necessary; and a skilful and amiable physician, Dr. R----, of great +repute in nervous ailments, attended me for many weeks, with but +slight success. He was not to blame, poor man, for his failure to +effect a cure. He had only one way of treatment, and he applied it +to all his patients with more or less happy results. Some died, some +recovered; it was a lottery on which my medical friend staked his +reputation, and won. The patients who died were never heard of more-- +those who recovered sang the praises of their physician everywhere, +and sent him gifts of silver plate and hampers of wine, to testify +their gratitude. His popularity was very great; his skill considered +marvellous; and his inability to do ME any good arose, I must +perforce imagine, out of some defect or hidden obstinacy in my +constitution, which was to him a new experience, and for which he +was unprepared. Poor Dr. R----! How many bottles of your tastily +prepared and expensive medicines have I not swallowed, in blind +confidence and blinder ignorance of the offences I thus committed +against all the principles of that Nature within me, which, if left +to itself, always heroically struggles to recover its own proper +balance and effect its own cure; but which, if subjected to the +experimental tests of various poisons or drugs, often loses strength +in the unnatural contest and sinks exhausted, perhaps never to rise +with actual vigour again. Baffled in his attempts to remedy my +ailments, Dr, R----at last resorted to the usual plan adopted by all +physicians when their medicines have no power. He recommended change +of air and scene, and urged my leaving London, then dark with the +fogs of a dreary winter, for the gaiety and sunshine and roses of +the Riviera. The idea was not unpleasant to me, and I determined to +take the advice proffered. Hearing of my intention, some American +friends of mine, Colonel Everard and his charming young wife, +decided to accompany me, sharing with me the expenses of the journey +and hotel accommodation. We left London all together on a damp foggy +evening, when the cold was so intense that it seemed to bite the +flesh like the sharp teeth of an animal, and after two days' rapid +journey, during which I felt my spirits gradually rising, and my +gloomy forebodings vanishing slowly one by one, we arrived at +Cannes, and put up at the Hotel de L----. It was a lovely place, and +most beautifully situated; the garden was a perfect wilderness of +roses in full bloom, and an avenue of orange-trees beginning to +flower cast a delicate fragrance on the warm delicious air. + +Mrs. Everard was delighted. + +"If you do not recover your health here," she said half laughingly +to me on the second morning after our arrival, "I am afraid your +case is hopeless. What sunshine! What a balmy wind! It is enough to +make a cripple cast away his crutches and forget he was ever lame. +Don't you think so?" + +I smiled in answer, but inwardly I sighed. Beautiful as the scenery, +the air, and the general surroundings were, I could not disguise +from myself that the temporary exhilaration of my feelings, caused +by the novelty and excitement of my journey to Cannes, was slowly +but surely passing away. The terrible apathy, against which I had +fought for so many months, was again creeping over me with its cruel +and resistless force. I did my best to struggle against it; I +walked, I rode, I laughed and chatted with Mrs. Everard and her +husband, and forced myself into sociability with some of the +visitors at the hotel, who were disposed to show us friendly +attention. I summoned all my stock of will-power to beat back the +insidious physical and mental misery that threatened to sap the very +spring of my life; and in some of these efforts I partially +succeeded. But it was at night that the terrors of my condition +manifested themselves. Then sleep forsook my eyes; a dull throbbing +weight of pain encircled my head like a crown of thorns; nervous +terrors shook me from head to foot; fragments of my own musical +compositions hummed in my ears with wearying persistence--fragments +that always left me in a state of distressed conjecture; for I never +could remember how they ended, and I puzzled myself vainly over +crotchets and quavers that never would consent to arrange themselves +in any sort of finale. So the days went on; for Colonel Everard and +his wife, those days were full of merriment, sight-seeing, and +enjoyment. For me, though outwardly I appeared to share in the +universal gaiety, they were laden with increasing despair and +wretchedness; for I began to lose hope of ever recovering my once +buoyant health and strength, and, what was even worse, I seemed to +have utterly parted with all working ability. I was young, and up to +within a few months life had stretched brightly before me, with the +prospect of a brilliant career. And now what was I? A wretched +invalid--a burden to myself and to others--a broken spar flung with +other fragments of ship wrecked lives on the great ocean of Time, +there to be whirled away and forgotten. But a rescue was +approaching; a rescue sudden and marvellous, of which, in my wildest +fancies, I had never dreamed. + +Staying in the same hotel with us was a young Italian artist, +Raffaello Cellini by name. His pictures were beginning to attract a +great deal of notice, both in Paris and Rome: not only for their +faultless drawing, but for their wonderfully exquisite colouring. So +deep and warm and rich were the hues he transferred to his canvases, +that others of his art, less fortunate in the management of the +palette, declared he must have invented some foreign compound +whereby he was enabled to deepen and brighten his colours for the +time being; but that the effect was only temporary, and that his +pictures, exposed to the air for some eight or ten years, would fade +away rapidly, leaving only the traces of an indistinct blur. Others, +more generous, congratulated him on having discovered the secrets of +the old masters. In short, he was admired, condemned, envied, and +flattered, all in a breath; while he himself, being of a singularly +serene and unruffled disposition, worked away incessantly, caring +little or nothing for the world's praise or blame. + +Cellini had a pretty suite of rooms in the Hotel de L----, and my +friends Colonel and Mrs. Everard fraternized with him very warmly. +He was by no means slow to respond to their overtures of friendship, +and so it happened that his studio became a sort of lounge for us, +where we would meet to have tea, to chat, to look at the pictures, +or to discuss our plans for future enjoyment. These visits to +Cellini's studio, strange to say, had a remarkably soothing and +calming effect upon my suffering nerves. The lofty and elegant room, +furnished with that "admired disorder" and mixed luxuriousness +peculiar to artists, with its heavily drooping velvet curtains, its +glimpses of white marble busts and broken columns, its flash and +fragrance of flowers that bloomed in a tiny conservatory opening out +from the studio and leading to the garden, where a fountain bubbled +melodiously--all this pleased me and gave me a curious, yet most +welcome, sense of absolute rest. Cellini himself had a fascination +for me, for exactly the same reason. As an example of this, I +remember escaping from Mrs. Everard on one occasion, and hurrying to +the most secluded part of the garden, in order to walk up and down +alone in an endeavour to calm an attack of nervous agitation which +had suddenly seized me. While thus pacing about in feverish +restlessness, I saw Cellini approaching, his head bent as if in +thought, and his hands clasped behind his back. As he drew near me, +he raised his eyes--they were clear and darkly brilliant--he +regarded me steadfastly with a kindly smile. Then lifting his hat +with the graceful reverence peculiar to an Italian, he passed on, +saying no word. But the effect of his momentary presence upon me was +remarkable--it was ELECTRIC. I was no longer agitated. Calmed, +soothed and almost happy, I returned to Mrs. Everard, and entered +into her plans for the day with so much alacrity that she was +surprised and delighted. + +"If you go on like this," she said, "you will be perfectly well in a +month." + +I was utterly unable to account for the remedial influence Raffaello +Cellini's presence had upon me; but such as it was I could not but +be grateful for the respite it gave me from nervous suffering, and +my now daily visits to the artist's studio were a pleasure and a +privilege not to be foregone. Moreover, I was never tired of looking +at his pictures. His subjects were all original, and some of them +were very weird and fantastic. One large picture particularly +attracted me. It was entitled "Lords of our Life and Death." +Surrounded by rolling masses of cloud, some silver-crested, some +shot through with red flame, was depicted the World, as a globe half +in light, half in shade. Poised above it was a great Angel, upon +whose calm and noble face rested a mingled expression of deep +sorrow, yearning pity, and infinite regret. Tears seemed to glitter +on the drooping lashes of this sweet yet stern Spirit; and in his +strong right hand he held a drawn sword--the sword of destruction-- +pointed forever downwards to the fated globe at his feet. Beneath +this Angel and the world he dominated was darkness--utter +illimitable darkness. But above him the clouds were torn asunder, +and through a transparent veil of light golden mist, a face of +surpassing beauty was seen--a face on which youth, health, hope, +love, and ecstatic joy all shone with ineffable radiance. It was the +personification of Life--not life as we know it, brief and full of +care--but Life Immortal and Love Triumphant. Often and often I found +myself standing before this masterpiece of Cellini's genius, gazing +at it, not only with admiration, but with a sense of actual comfort. +One afternoon, while resting in my favourite low chair opposite the +picture, I roused myself from a reverie, and turning to the artist, +who was showing some water-colour sketches to Mrs. Everard, I said +abruptly: + +"Did you imagine that face of the Angel of Life, Signor Cellini, or +had you a model to copy from?" + +He looked at me and smiled. + +"It is a moderately good portrait of an existing original," he said. + +"A woman's face then, I suppose? How very beautiful she must be!" + +"Actual beauty is sexless," he replied, and was silent. The +expression of his face had become abstracted and dreamy, and he +turned over the sketches for Mrs. Everard with an air which showed +his thoughts to be far away from his occupation. + +"And the Death Angel?" I went on. "Had you a model for that also?" + +This time a look of relief, almost of gladness, passed over his +features. + +"No indeed," he answered with ready frankness; "that is entirely my +own creation." + +I was about to compliment him on the grandeur and force of his +poetical fancy, when he stopped me by a slight gesture of his hand. + +"If you really admire the picture," he said, "pray do not say so. If +it is in truth a work of art, let it speak to you as art only, and +spare the poor workman who has called it into existence the shame of +having to confess that it is not above human praise. The only true +criticism of high art is silence--silence as grand as heaven +itself." + +He spoke with energy, and his dark eyes flashed. Amy (Mrs. Everard) +looked at him curiously. + +"Say now!" she exclaimed, with a ringing laugh, "aren't you a little +bit eccentric, signor? You talk like a long-haired prophet! I never +met an artist before who couldn't stand praise; it is generally a +matter of wonder to me to notice how much of that intoxicating sweet +they can swallow without reeling. But you're an exception, I must +admit. I congratulate you!" + +Cellini bowed gaily in response to the half-friendly, half-mocking +curtsey she gave him, and, turning to me again, said: + +"I have a favour to ask of you, mademoiselle. Will you sit to me for +your portrait?" + +"I!" I exclaimed, with astonishment. "Signor Cellini, I cannot +imagine why you should wish so to waste your valuable time. There is +nothing in my poor physiognomy worthy of your briefest attention." + +"You must pardon me, mademoiselle," he replied gravely, "if I +presume to differ from you. I am exceedingly anxious to transfer +your features to my canvas. I am aware that you are not in strong +health, and that your face has not that roundness and colour +formerly habitual to it. But I am not an admirer of the milkmaid +type of beauty. Everywhere I seek for intelligence, for thought, for +inward refinement--in short, mademoiselle, you have the face of one +whom the inner soul consumes, and, as such, may I plead again with +you to give me a little of your spare time? YOU WILL NOT REGRET IT, +I ASSURE YOU." + +These last words were uttered in a lower tone and with singular +impressiveness. I rose from my seat and looked at him steadily; he +returned me glance for glance, A strange thrill ran through me, +followed by that inexplicable sensation of absolute calm that I had +before experienced. I smiled--I could, not help smiling. + +"I will come to-morrow," I said. + +"A thousand thanks, mademoiselle! Can you be here at noon?" + +I looked inquiringly at Amy, who clapped her hands with delighted +enthusiasm. + +"Of course! Any time you like, signor. We will arrange our +excursions so that they shall not interfere with the sittings. It +will be most interesting to watch the picture growing day by day. +What will you call it, signor? By some fancy title?" + +"It will depend on its appearance when completed," he replied, as he +threw open the doors of the studio and bowed us out with his usual +ceremonious politeness. + +"Au revoir, madame! A demain, mademoiselle!" and the violet velvet +curtains of the portiere fell softly behind us as we made our exit. + +"Is there not something strange about that young man?" said Mrs. +Everard, as we walked through the long gallery of the Hotel de L---- +back to our own rooms. "Something fiendish or angelic, or a little +of both qualities mixed up?" + +"I think he is what people term PECULIAR, when they fail to +understand the poetical vagaries of genius," I replied. "He is +certainly very uncommon." + +"Well!" continued my friend meditatively, as she contemplated her +pretty mignonne face and graceful figure in a long mirror placed +attractively in a corner of the hall through which we were passing; +"all I can say is that I wouldn't let him paint MY portrait if he +were to ask ever so! I should be scared to death. I wonder you, +being so nervous, were not afraid of him." + +"I thought you liked him," I said. + +"So I do. So does my husband. He's awfully handsome and clever, and +all that--but his conversation! There now, my dear, you must own he +is slightly QUEER. Why, who but a lunatic would say that the only +criticism of art is silence? Isn't that utter rubbish?" + +"The only TRUE criticism," I corrected her gently. + +"Well, it's all the same. How can there be any criticism at all in +silence? According to his idea when we admire anything very much we +ought to go round with long faces and gags on our mouths. That would +be entirely ridiculous! And what was that dreadful thing he said to +you?" + +"I don't quite understand you," I answered; "I cannot remember his +saying anything dreadful." + +"Oh, I have it now," continued Amy with rapidity; "it was awful! He +said you had the FACE OF ONE WHOM THE SOUL CONSUMES. You know that +was most horribly mystical! And when he said it he looked--ghastly! +What did he mean by it, I wonder?" + +I made no answer; but I thought I knew. I changed the conversation +as soon as possible, and my volatile American friend was soon +absorbed in a discussion on dress and jewellery. That night was a +blessed one for me; I was free from all suffering, and slept as +calmly as a child, while in my dreams the face of Cellini's "Angel +of life" smiled at me, and seemed to suggest peace. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +THE MYSTERIOUS POTION. + + +The next day, punctually at noon, according to my promise, I entered +the studio. I was alone, for Amy, after some qualms of conscience +respecting chaperonage, propriety, and Mrs. Grundy, had yielded to +my entreaties and gone for a drive with some friends. In spite of +the fears she began to entertain concerning the Mephistophelian +character of Raffaello Cellini, there was one thing of which both +she and I felt morally certain: namely, that no truer or more +honourable gentleman than he ever walked on the earth. Under his +protection the loveliest and loneliest woman that ever lived would +have been perfectly safe--as safe as though she were shut up, like +the princess in the fairy-tale, in a brazen tower, of which only an +undiscoverable serpent possessed the key. When I arrived, the rooms +were deserted, save for the presence of a magnificent Newfoundland +dog, who, as I entered, rose, and shaking his shaggy body, sat down +before me and offered me his huge paw, wagging his tail in the most +friendly manner all the while, I at once responded to his cordial +greeting, and as I stroked his noble head, I wondered where the +animal had come from; for though--we had visited Signor Cellini's +studio every day, there had been no sign or mention of this stately, +brown-eyed, four-footed companion. I seated myself, and the dog +immediately lay down at my feet, every now and then looking up at me +with an affectionate glance and a renewed wagging of his tail. +Glancing round the well-known room, I noticed that the picture I +admired so much was veiled by a curtain of Oriental stuff, in which +were embroidered threads of gold mingled with silks of various +brilliant hues. On the working easel was a large square canvas, +already prepared, as I supposed, for my features to be traced +thereon. It was an exceedingly warm morning, and though the windows +as well as the glass doors of the conservatory were wide open, I +found the air of the studio very oppressive. I perceived on the +table a finely-wrought decanter of Venetian glass, in which clear +water sparkled temptingly. Rising from my chair, I took an antique +silver goblet from the mantelpiece, filled it with the cool fluid, +and was about to drink, when the cup was suddenly snatched from my +hands, and the voice of Cellini, changed from its usual softness to +a tone both imperious and commanding, startled me. + +"Do not drink that," he said; "you must not! You dare not! I forbid +you!" + +I looked up at him in mute astonishment. His face was very pale, and +his large dark eyes shone with suppressed excitement. Slowly my +self-possession returned to me, and I said calmly: + +"YOU forbid me, signor? Surely you forget yourself. What harm have I +done in helping myself to a simple glass of water in your studio? +You are not usually so inhospitable." + +While I spoke his manner changed, the colour returned to his face, +and his eyes softened--he smiled. + +"Forgive me, mademoiselle, for my brusquerie. It is true I forgot +myself for a moment. But you were in danger, and----" + +"In danger!" I exclaimed incredulously. + +"Yes, mademoiselle. This," and he held up the Venetian decanter to +the light, "is not water simply. If you will observe it now with the +sunshine beating full against it, I think you will perceive +peculiarities in it that will assure you of my veracity." + +I looked as he bade me, and saw, to my surprise, that the fluid was +never actually still for a second. A sort of internal bubbling +seemed to work in its centre, and curious specks and lines of +crimson and gold flashed through it from time to time. + +"What is it?" I asked; adding with a half-smile, "Are you the +possessor of a specimen of the far-famed Aqua Tofana?" + +Cellini placed the decanter carefully on a shelf, and I noticed that +he chose a particular spot for it, where the rays of the sun could +fall perpendicularly upon the vessel containing it. Then turning to +me, he replied: + +"Aqua Tofana, mademoiselle, is a deadly poison, known to the +ancients and also to many learned chemists of our day. It is a clear +and colourless liquid, but it is absolutely still--as still as a +stagnant pool. What I have just shown you is not poison, but quite +the reverse. I will prove this to you at once." And taking a tiny +liqueur glass from a side table, he filled it with the strange fluid +and drank it off, carefully replacing the stopper in the decanter. + +"But, Signor Cellini," I urged, "if it is so harmless, why did you +forbid my tasting it? Why did you say there was danger for me when I +was about to drink it?" + +"Because, mademoiselle, for YOU it would be dangerous. Your health +is weak, your nerves unstrung. That elixir is a powerful vivifying +tonic, acting with great rapidity on the entire system, and rushing +through the veins with the swiftness of ELECTRICITY. I am accustomed +to it; it is my daily medicine. But I was brought to it by slow, and +almost imperceptible degrees. A single teaspoonful of that fluid, +mademoiselle, administered to anyone not prepared to receive it, +would be instant death, though its actual use is to vivify and +strengthen human life. You understand now why I said you were in +danger?" + +"I understand," I replied, though in sober truth I was mystified and +puzzled. + +"And you forgive my seeming rudeness?" + +"Oh, certainly! But you have aroused my curiosity. I should like to +know more about this strange medicine of yours." + +"You shall know more if you wish," said Cellini, his usual equable +humour and good spirits now quite restored. "You shall know +everything; but not to-day. We have too little time. I have not yet +commenced your picture. And I forgot--you were thirsty, and I was, +as you said, inhospitable. You must permit me to repair my fault." + +And with a courteous salute he left the room, to return almost +immediately with a tumbler full of some fragrant, golden-coloured +liquid, in which lumps of ice glittered refreshingly. A few loose +rose-leaves were scattered on the top of this dainty-looking +beverage. + +"You may enjoy this without fear," said he, smiling; "it will do you +good. It is an Eastern wine, unknown to trade, and therefore +untampered with. I see you are looking at the rose-leaves on the +surface. That is a Persian custom, and I think a pretty one. They +float away from your lips in the action of drinking, and therefore +they are no obstacle." + +I tasted the wine and found it delicious, soft and mellow as summer +moonlight. While I sipped it the big Newfoundland, who had stretched +himself in a couchant posture on the hearth-rug ever since Cellini +had first entered the room, rose and walked majestically to my side +and rubbed his head caressingly against the folds of my dress. + +"Leo has made friends with you, I see," said Cellini. "You should +take that as a great compliment, for he is most particular in his +choice of acquaintance, and most steadfast when he has once made up +his mind. He has more decision of character than many a statesman." + +"How is it we have never seen him before?" I inquired. "You never +told us you had such a splendid companion." + +"I am not his master," replied the artist. "He only favours me with +a visit occasionally. He arrived from Paris last night, and came +straight here, sure of his welcome. He does not confide his plans to +me, but I suppose he will return to his home when he thinks it +advisable. He knows his own business best." + +I laughed. + +"What a clever dog! Does he journey on foot, or does he take the +train?" + +"I believe he generally patronizes the railway. All the officials +know him, and he gets into the guard's van as a matter of course. +Sometimes he will alight at a station en route, and walk the rest of +the way. But if he is lazily inclined, he does not stir till the +train reaches its destination. At the end of every six months or so, +the railway authorities send the bill of Leo's journeyings in to his +master, when it is always settled without difficulty." + +"And who IS his master?" I ventured to ask. + +Cellini's face grew serious and absorbed, and his eyes were full of +grave contemplation as he answered: + +"His master, mademoiselle, is MY master--one who among men, is +supremely intelligent; among teachers, absolutely unselfish; among +thinkers, purely impersonal; among friends, inflexibly faithful. To +him I owe everything--even life itself. For him no sacrifice, no +extreme devotion would be too great, could I hope thereby to show my +gratitude. But he is as far above human thanks or human rewards as +the sun is above the sea. Not here, not now, dare I say to him, MY +FRIEND, BEHOLD HOW MUCH I LOVE THEE! such language would be all too +poor and unmeaning; but hereafter--who knows?----" and he broke off +abruptly with a half-sigh. Then, as if forcing himself to change the +tenor of his thoughts, he continued in a kind tone: "But, +mademoiselle, I am wasting your time, and am taking no advantage of +the favour you have shown me by your presence to-day. Will you seat +yourself here?" and he placed an elaborately carved oaken settee in +one corner of the studio, opposite his own easel. "I should be sorry +to fatigue you at all," he went on; "do you care for reading?" + +I answered eagerly in the affirmative, and he handed me a volume +bound in curiously embossed leather, and ornamented with silver +clasps. It was entitled "Letters of a Dead Musician." + +"You will find clear gems of thought, passion, and feeling in this +book," said Cellini; "and being a musician yourself, you will know +how to appreciate them. The writer was one of those geniuses whose +work the world repays with ridicule and contempt. There is no fate +more enviable!" + +I looked at the artist with some surprise as I took the volume he +recommended, and seated myself in the position he indicated; and +while he busied himself in arranging the velvet curtains behind me +as a background, I said: + +"Do you really consider it enviable, Signor Cellini, to receive the +world's ridicule and contempt?" + +"I do indeed," he replied, "since it is a certain proof that the +world does not understand you. To achieve something that is above +human comprehension, THAT is greatness. To have the serene sublimity +of the God-man Christ, and consent to be crucified by a gibing world +that was fated to be afterwards civilized and dominated by His +teachings, what can be more glorious? To have the magnificent +versatility of a Shakespeare, who was scarcely recognized in his own +day, but whose gifts were so vast and various that the silly +multitudes wrangle over his very identity and the authenticity of +his plays to this hour--what can be more triumphant? To know that +one's own soul can, if strengthened and encouraged by the force of +will, rise to a supreme altitude of power--is not that sufficient to +compensate for the little whining cries of the common herd of men +and women who have forgotten whether they ever had a spiritual spark +in them, and who, straining up to see the light of genius that burns +too fiercely for their earth-dimmed eyes, exclaim: 'WE see nothing, +therefore there CAN be nothing.' Ah, mademoiselle, the knowledge of +one's own inner Self-Existence is a knowledge surpassing all the +marvels of art and science!" + +Cellini spoke with enthusiasm, and his countenance seemed illumined +by the eloquence that warmed his speech. I listened with a sort of +dreamy satisfaction; the visual sensation of utter rest that I +always experienced in this man's presence was upon me, and I watched +him with interest as he drew with quick and facile touch the outline +of my features on his canvas. + +Gradually he became more and more absorbed in his work; he glanced +at me from time to time, but did not speak, and his pencil worked +rapidly. I turned over the "Letters of a Dead Musician" with some +curiosity. Several passages struck me as being remarkable for their +originality and depth of thought; but what particularly impressed me +as I read on, was the tone of absolute joy and contentment that +seemed to light up every page. There were no wailings over +disappointed ambition, no regrets for the past, no complaints, no +criticism, no word for or against the brothers of his art; +everything was treated from a lofty standpoint of splendid equality, +save when the writer spoke of himself, and then he became the +humblest of the humble, yet never abject, and always happy. + +"O Music!" he wrote, "Music, thou Sweetest Spirit of all that serve +God, what have I done that thou shouldst so often visit me? It is +not well, O thou Lofty and Divine One, that thou shouldst stoop so +low as to console him who is the unworthiest of all thy servants. +For I am too feeble to tell the world how soft is the sound of thy +rustling pinions, how tender is the sighing breath of thy lips, how +beyond all things glorious is the vibration of thy lightest whisper! +Remain aloft, thou Choicest Essence of the Creator's Voice, remain +in that pure and cloudless ether, where alone thou art fitted to +dwell. My touch must desecrate thee, my voice affright thee. Suffice +it to thy servant, O Beloved, to dream of thee and die!" + +Meeting Cellini's glance as I finished reading these lines, I asked: + +"Did you know the author of this book, signor?" + +"I knew him well," he replied; "he was one of the gentlest souls +that ever dwelt in human clay. As ethereal in his music as John +Keats in his poetry, he was one of those creatures born of dreams +and rapture that rarely visit this planet. Happy fellow! What a +death was his!" + +"How did he die?" I inquired. + +"He was playing the organ in one of the great churches of Rome on +the day of the Feast of the Virgin. A choir of finely trained voices +sang to his accompaniment his own glorious setting of the "Regina +Coeli." The music was wonderful, startling, triumphant--ever rising +in power and majesty to a magnificent finale, when suddenly a slight +crash was heard; the organ ceased abruptly, the singers broke off. +The musician was dead. He had fallen forward on the keys of the +instrument, and when they raised him, his face was fairer than the +face of any sculptured angel, so serene was its expression, so rapt +was its smile. No one could tell exactly the cause of his death--he +had always been remarkably strong and healthy. Everyone said it was +heart-disease--it is the usual reason assigned by medical savants +for these sudden departures out of the world. His loss was regretted +by all, save myself and one other who loved him. We rejoiced, and +still do rejoice, at his release." + +I speculated vaguely on the meaning of these last words, but I felt +disinclined to ask any more questions, and Cellini, probably seeing +this, worked on at his sketch without further converse. My eyes were +growing heavy, and the printed words in the "Dead Musician's +Letters" danced before my sight like active little black demons with +thin waving arms and legs. A curious yet not unpleasant drowsiness +stole over me, in which I heard the humming of the bees at the open +window, the singing of the birds, and the voices of people in the +hotel gardens, all united in one continuous murmur that seemed a +long way off. I saw the sunshine and the shadow--I saw the majestic +Leo stretched full length near the easel, and the slight supple form +of Raffaello Cellini standing out in bold outline against the light; +yet all seemed shifting and mingling strangely into a sort of wide +radiance in which there was nothing but varying tints of colour. And +could it have been my fancy, or did I actually SEE the curtain fall +gradually away from my favourite picture, just enough for the face +of the "Angel of Life" to be seen smiling down upon me? I rubbed my +eyes violently, and started to my feet at the sound of the artist's +voice. + +"I have tried your patience enough for to-day," he said, and his +words sounded muffled, as though they were being spoken through, a +thick wall. "You can leave me now if you like." + +I stood before him mechanically, still holding the book he had lent +me clasped in my hand. Irresolutely I raised my eyes towards the +"Lords of our Life and Death." It was closely veiled. I had then +experienced an optical illusion. I forced myself to speak--to smile +--to put back the novel sensations that were overwhelming me. + +"I think," I said, and I heard myself speak as though I were +somebody else at a great distance off--"I think, Signor Cellini, +your Eastern wine has been too potent for me. My head is quite +heavy, and I feel dazed." + +"It is mere fatigue and the heat of the day," he replied quietly. "I +am sure you are not too DAZED, as you call it, to see your favourite +picture, are you?" + +I trembled. Was not that picture veiled? I looked--there was no +curtain at all, and the faces of the two Angels shone out of the +canvas with intense brilliancy! Strange to say, I felt no surprise +at this circumstance, which, had it occurred a moment previously, +would have unquestionably astonished and perhaps alarmed me. The +mistiness of my brain suddenly cleared; I saw everything plainly; I +heard distinctly; and when I spoke, the tone of my voice sounded as +full and ringing as it had previously seemed low and muffled. I +gazed steadfastly at the painting, and replied, half smiling: + +"I should be indeed 'far gone,' as the saying is, if I could not see +that, signor! It is truly your masterpiece. Why have you never +exhibited it?" + +"Can YOU ask that?" he said with impressive emphasis, at the same +time drawing nearer and fixing upon me the penetrating glance of his +dark fathomless eyes. It then seemed to me that some great inner +force compelled me to answer this half-inquiry, in words of which I +had taken no previous thought, and which, as I uttered them, +conveyed no special meaning to my own ears. + +"Of course," I said slowly, as if I were repeating a lesson, "you +would not so betray the high trust committed to your charge." + +"Well said!" replied Cellini; "you are fatigued, mademoiselle. Au +revoir! Till to-morrow!" And, throwing open the door of his studio, +he stood aside for me to pass out. I looked at him inquiringly. + +"Must I come at the same time to-morrow?" I asked. + +"If you please." + +I passed my hand across my forehead perplexedly, I felt I had +something else to say before I left him. He waited patiently, +holding back with one hand the curtains of the portiere. + +"I think I had a parting word to give you," I said at last, meeting +his gaze frankly; "but I seem to have forgotten what it was." +Cellini smiled gravely. + +"Do not trouble to think about it, mademoiselle. I am unworthy the +effort on your part." + +A flash of vivid light crossed my eyes for a second, and I exclaimed +eagerly: + +"I remember now! It was 'Dieu vous garde' signor!" + +He bent his head reverentially. + +"Merci mille fois, mademoiselle! Dieu vous garde--vous aussi. Au +revoir." + +And clasping my hand with a light yet friendly pressure, he closed +the door of his room behind me. Once alone in the passage, the sense +of high elation and contentment that had just possessed me began +gradually to decrease. I had not become actually dispirited, but a +languid feeling of weariness oppressed me, and my limbs ached as +though I had walked incessantly for many miles. I went straight to +my own room. I consulted my watch; it was half-past one, the hour at +which the hotel luncheon was usually served. Mrs. Everard had +evidently not returned from her drive. I did not care to attend the +table d'hote alone; besides, I had no inclination to eat. I drew +down the window-blinds to shut out the brilliancy of the beautiful +Southern sunlight, and throwing myself on my bed I determined to +rest quietly till Amy came back. I had brought the "Letters of a +Dead Musician" away with me from Cellini's studio, and I began to +read, intending to keep myself awake by this means. But I found I +could not fix my attention on the page, nor could I think at all +connectedly. Little by little my eyelids closed; the book dropped +from my nerveless hand; and in a few minutes I was in a deep and +tranquil slumber. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +THREE VISIONS. + + +Roses, roses! An interminable chain of these royal blossoms, red and +white, wreathed by the radiant fingers of small rainbow-winged +creatures as airy as moonlight mist, as delicate as thistledown! +They cluster round me with smiling faces and eager eyes; they place +the end of their rose-garland in my hand, and whisper, "FOLLOW!" +Gladly I obey, and hasten onward. Guiding myself by the fragrant +chain I hold, I pass through a labyrinth of trees, whose luxuriant +branches quiver with the flight and song of birds. Then comes a +sound of waters; the riotous rushing of a torrent unchecked, that +leaps sheer down from rocks a thousand feet high, thundering forth +the praise of its own beauty as it tosses in the air triumphant +crowns of silver spray. How the living diamonds within it shift, and +change, and sparkle! Fain would I linger to watch this magnificence; +but the coil of roses still unwinds before me, and the fairy voices +still cry, "FOLLOW!" I press on. The trees grow thicker; the songs +of the birds cease; the light around me grows pale and subdued. In +the far distance I see a golden crescent that seems suspended by +some invisible thread in the air. Is it the young moon? No; for as I +gaze it breaks apart into a thousand points of vivid light like +wandering stars. These meet; they blaze into letters of fire. I +strain my dazzled eyes to spell out their meaning. They form one +word--HELIOBAS. I read it. I utter it aloud. The rose-chain breaks +at my feet, and disappears. The fairy voices die away on my ear. +There is utter silence, utter darkness,--save where that one NAME +writes itself in burning gold on the blackness of the heavens. + +* * * * + +The interior of a vast cathedral is opened before my gaze. The lofty +white marble columns support a vaulted roof painted in fresco, from +which are suspended a thousand lamps that emit a mild and steady +effulgence. The great altar is illuminated; the priests, in +glittering raiment, pace slowly to and fro. The large voice of the +organ, murmuring to itself awhile, breaks forth in a shout of +melody; and a boy's clear, sonorous treble tones pierce the incense- +laden air. "Credo!"--and the silver, trumpet-like notes fall from +the immense height of the building like a bell ringing in a pure +atmosphere--"Credo in unum Deum; Patrem omni-potentum, factorem +coeli et terrae, visibilium omnium et invisibilium." + +The cathedral echoes with answering voices; and, involuntarily +kneeling, I follow the words of the grand chant. I hear the music +slacken; the notes of rejoicing change to a sobbing and remorseful +wail; the organ shudders like a forest of pines in a tempest, +"Crucifixus etiam pro nobis; passus et sepultus est." A darkness +grows up around me; my senses swim. The music altogether ceases; but +a brilliant radiance streams through a side-door of the church, and +twenty maidens, clad in white and crowned with myrtle, pacing two by +two, approach me. They gaze at me with joyous eyes. "Art thou also +one of us?" they murmur; then they pass onward to the altar, where +again the lights are glimmering. I watch them with eager interest; I +hear them uplift their fresh young voices in prayer and praise. One +of them, whose deep blue eyes are full of lustrous tenderness, +leaves her companions, and softly approaches me. She holds a pencil +and tablet in her hand. + +"Write!" she says, in a thrilling whisper; "and write quickly! for +whatsoever thou shalt now inscribe is the clue to thy destiny." + +I obey her mechanically, impelled not by my own will, but by some +unknown powerful force acting within and around me. I trace upon the +tablet one word only; it is a name that startles me even while I +myself write it down--HELIOBAS. Scarcely have I written it when a +thick white cloud veils the cathedral from my sight; the fair maiden +vanishes, and all is again still. + +* * * * + +I am listening to the accents of a grave melodious voice, which, +from its slow and measured tones, would seem to be in the action of +reading or reciting aloud. I see a small room sparely furnished, and +at a table covered with books and manuscripts is seated a man of +noble features and commanding presence. He is in the full prime of +life; his dark hair has no thread of silver to mar its luxuriance; +his face is unwrinkled; his forehead unfurrowed by care; his eyes, +deeply sunk beneath his shelving brows, are of a singularly clear +and penetrating blue, with an absorbed and watchful look in them, +like the eyes of one accustomed to gaze far out at sea. His hand +rests on the open pages of a massive volume; he is reading, and his +expression is intent and earnest--as if he were littering his own +thoughts aloud, with the conviction and force of an orator who knows +the truth of which he speaks: + +"The Universe is upheld solely by the Law of Love. A majestic +invisible Protectorate governs the winds, the tides, the incoming +and outgoing of the seasons, the birth of the flowers, the growth of +forests, the outpourings of the sunlight, the silent glittering of +the stars. A wide illimitable Beneficence embraces all creation. A +vast Eternal Pity exists for all sorrow, all sin. He who first swung +the planets in the air, and bade them revolve till Time shall be no +more--He, the Fountain-Head of Absolute Perfection, is no deaf, +blind, capricious, or remorseless Being. To Him the death of the +smallest singing-bird is as great or as little as the death of a +world's emperor. For Him the timeless withering of an innocent +flower is as pitiful as the decay of a mighty nation. An infant's +first prayer to Him is heard with as tender a patience as the united +petitions of thousands of worshippers. For in everything and around +everything, from the sun to a grain of sand, He hath a portion, +small or great, of His own most Perfect Existence. Should He hate +His Creation, He must perforce hate Himself; and that Love should +hate Love is an impossibility. Therefore He loves all His work; and +as Love, to be perfect, must contain Pity, Forgiveness, and +Forbearance, so doth He pity, forgive, and forbear. Shall a mere man +deny himself for the sake of his child or friend? and shall the +Infinite Love refuse to sacrifice itself--yea, even to as immense a +humility as its greatness is immeasurable? Shall we deny those +merciful attributes to God which we acknowledge in His creature, +Man? O my Soul, rejoice that thou hast pierced the veil of the +Beyond; that thou hast seen and known the Truth! that to thee is +made clear the Reason of Life, and the Recompense of Death: yet +while rejoicing, grieve that thou art not fated to draw more than a +few souls to the comfort thou hast thyself attained!" + +Fascinated by the speaker's voice and countenance, I listen, +straining my ears to catch every word that falls from his lips. He +rises; he stands erect; he stretches out his hands as though in +solemn entreaty. + +"Azul!" he exclaims. "Messenger of my fate; thou who art a guiding +spirit of the elements, thou who ridest the storm-cloud and sittest +throned on the edge of the lightning! By that electric spark within +me, of which thou art the Twin Flame, I ask of thee to send me this +one more poor human soul; let me change its unrestfulness into +repose, its hesitation to certainty, its weakness to strength, its +weary imprisonment to the light of liberty! Azul!" + +His voice ceases, his extended hands fall slowly, and gradually, +gradually he turns his whole figure towards ME. He faces me--his +intense eyes burn through me--his strange yet tender smile absorbs +me. Yet I am full of unreasoning terror; I tremble--I strive to turn +away from that searching and magnetic gaze. His deep, melodious +tones again ring softly on the silence. He addresses me. + +"Fearest thou me, my child? Am I not thy friend? Knowest thou not +the name of HELIOBAS?" + +At this word I start and gasp for breath; I would shriek, but +cannot, for a heavy hand seems to close my mouth, and an immense +weight presses me down. I struggle violently with this unseen Power-- +little by little I gain the advantage. One effort more! I win the +victory--I wake! + +*** + +"Sakes alive!" says a familiar voice; "you HAVE had a spell of +sleep! I got home about two, nearly starving, and I found you here +curled up 'in a rosy infant slumber,' as the song says. So I hunted +up the Colonel and had lunch, for it seemed a sin to disturb you. +It's just struck four. Shall we have some tea up here?" + +I looked at Mrs. Everard, and smiled assent. So I had been sleeping +for two hours and a half, and I had evidently been dreaming all the +time; but my dreams had been as vivid as realities. I felt still +rather drowsy, but I was thoroughly rested and in a state of +delicious tranquillity. My friend rang the bell for the tea, and +then turned round and surveyed me with a sort of wonder. + +"What have you done to yourself, child?" she said at last, +approaching the bed where I lay, and staring fixedly at me. + +"What do you mean?" + +"Why, you look a different creature. When I left you this morning +you were pale and haggard, a sort of die-away delicate invalid; now +your eyes are bright; and your cheeks have quite a lovely colour in +them; your lips, too, are the right tint. But perhaps," and here she +looked alarmed--"perhaps you've got the fever?" + +"I don't think so," I said amusedly, and I stretched out my hand for +her to feel. + +"No, you haven't," she continued, evidently reassured; "your palm is +moist and cool, and your pulse is regular. Well, you look spry, +anyhow. I shouldn't wonder if you made up your mind to have a dance +to-night." + +"Dance?" I queried. "What dance, and where?" + +"Well, Madame Didier, that jolly little furbelowed Frenchwoman with +whom I was driving just now, has got up a regular party to-night--" + +"Hans Breitmann gib a barty?" I interposed, with a mock solemn air +of inquiry. + +Amy laughed. + +"Well, yes, it MAY be that kind of thing, for all I know to the +contrary. Anyhow, she's hired the band and ordered a right-down +elegant supper. Half the folks in the hotel are going, and a lot of +outsiders have got invitations. She asked if we couldn't come-- +myself, the Colonel, and you. I said I could answer for myself and +the Colonel, but not for you, as you were an invalid. But if you +keep on looking as you do at present, no one will believe that +there's anything the matter with you.--Tea, Alphonse!" + +This to a polite waiter, who was our special attendant, and who just +then knocked at the door to know "madame's" orders. + +Utterly disbelieving what my friend said in regard to my improved +appearance, I rose from the bed and went to the dressing-table to +look in the mirror and judge for myself. I almost recoiled from my +own reflection, so great was my surprise. The heavy marks under my +eyes, the lines of pain that had been for months deepening in my +forehead, the plaintive droop of the mouth that had given me such an +air of ill-health and anxiety--all were gone as if by magic. I saw a +rose-tinted complexion, a pair of laughing, lustrous eyes, and, +altogether, such a happy, mirthful young face smiled back at me, +that I half doubted whether it was indeed myself I saw. + +"There now!" cried Amy in triumph, watching me as I pushed my +clustering hair from my brows, and examined myself more intently. +"Did I not tell you so? The change in you is marvellous! I know what +it is. You have been getting better unconsciously to yourself in +this lovely air and scene, and the long afternoon sleep you've just +had has completed the cure." + +I smiled at her enthusiasm, but was forced to admit that she was +right as far as my actual looks went. No one would believe that I +was, or ever had been, ill. In silence I loosened my hair and began +to brush it and put it in order before the mirror, and as I did so +my thoughts were very busy. I remembered distinctly all that had +happened in the studio of Raffaello Cellini, and still more +distinctly was I able to recall every detail of the three dreams +that had visited me in my slumber. The NAME, too, that had been the +key-note of them all I also remembered, but some instinct forbade me +to utter it aloud. Once I thought, "Shall I take a pencil and write +it down lest I forget it?" and the same instinct said "No." Amy's +voluble chatter ran on like the sound of a rippling brook all the +time I thus meditated over the occurrences of the day. + +"Say, child!" she exclaimed; "will you go to the dance?" + +"Certainly I will, with pleasure," I answered, and indeed I felt as +if I should thoroughly enjoy it. + +"Brava! It will be real fun. There are no end of foreign titles +coming, I believe. The Colonel's a bit grumpy about it,--he always +is when he has to wear his dress suit. He just hates it. That man +hasn't a particle of vanity. He looks handsomer in his evening +clothes than in anything else, and yet he doesn't see it. But tell +me," and her pretty face became serious with a true feminine +anxiety, "whatever will you wear? You've brought no ball fixings, +have you?" + +I finished twisting up the last coil of my hair, and turned and +kissed her affectionately. She was the most sweet-tempered and +generous of women, and she would have placed any one of her +elaborate costumes at my disposal had I expressed the least desire +in that direction. I answered: + +"No, dear; I certainly have no regular ball 'fixings,' for I never +expected to dance here, or anywhere for that matter. I did not bring +the big trunks full of Parisian toilettes that you indulge in, you +spoilt bride! Still I have something that may do. In fact it will +have to do." + +"What is it? Have I seen it? Do show!" and her curiosity was +unappeasable. + +The discreet Alphonse tapped at the door again just at this moment. + +"Entrez!" I answered; and our tea, prepared with the tempting nicety +peculiar to the Hotel de L----, appeared. Alphonse set the tray down +with his usual artistic nourish, and produced a small note from his +vest-pocket. + +"For mademoiselle," he said with a bow; and as he handed it to me, +his eyes opened wide in surprise. He, too, perceived the change in +my appearance. But he was dignity itself, and instantly suppressed +his astonishment into the polite impassiveness of a truly +accomplished waiter, and gliding from the room on the points of his +toes, as was his usual custom, he disappeared. The note was from +Cellini, and ran as follows: + +"If mademoiselle will be so good as to refrain from choosing any +flowers for her toilette this evening, she will confer a favour on +her humble friend and servant, + +"RAFFAELLO CELLINI." + +I handed it to Amy, who was evidently burning with inquisitiveness +to know its contents. + +"Didn't I say he was a queer young man?" she exclaimed, as she +perused the missive attentively. "This is only his way of saying +that he means to send you some flowers himself. But what puzzles me +is to think how he could possibly know you were going to make any +special 'toilette' this evening. It is really very mysterious when I +come to think of it, for Madame Didier said plainly that she would +not ask Cellini to the dance till she saw him at the table d'hote +to-night." + +"Perhaps Alphonse has told him all about it," I suggested. + +My friend's countenance brightened. + +"Of course! That is it; and Mr. Cellini takes it for granted that a +girl of your age would not be likely to refuse a dance. Still there +is something odd about it, too. By-the-bye, I forgot to ask you how +the picture got on?" + +"Oh, very well, I believe," I replied evasively. "Signor Cellini +only made a slight outline sketch as a beginning." + +"And was it like you?--a really good resemblance?" + +"I really did not examine it closely enough to be able to judge." + +"What a demure young person you are!" laughed Mrs. Everard. "Now, +_I_ should have rushed straight up to the easel and examined every +line of what he was doing. You are a model of discretion, really! I +shan't be anxious about leaving you alone any more. But about your +dress for to-night. Let me see it, there's a good girl." + +I opened my trunk and took out a robe of ivory-tinted crepe. It was +made with almost severe simplicity, and was unadorned, save by a +soft ruffle of old Mechlin lace round the neck and sleeves. Amy +examined it critically. + +"Now, you would have looked perfectly ghastly in this last night, +when you were as pale and hollow-eyed as a sick nun; but to-night," +and she raised her eyes to my face, "I believe you will do. Don't +you want the bodice cut lower?" + +"No, thanks!" I said, smiling. "I will leave that to the portly +dowagers--they will expose neck enough for half-a-dozen other +women," + +My friend laughed. + +"Do as you like," she returned; "only I see your gown has short +sleeves, and I thought you might like a square neck instead of that +little simple Greek round. But perhaps it's better as it is. The +stuff is lovely; where did you get it?" + +"At one of the London emporiums of Eastern art," I answered. "My +dear, your tea is getting cold." + +She laid the dress on the bed, and in doing so, perceived the +antique-looking book with the silver clasps which I had left there. + +"What's this?" she asked, turning it round to discover its name. +"'Letters of a Dead Musician!' What a shivery title! Is it morbid +reading?" "Not at all," I replied, as I leaned comfortably back in +an easy-chair and sipped my tea. "It is a very scholarly, poetical, +and picturesque work. Signor Cellini lent it to me; the author was a +friend of his." + +Amy looked at me with a knowing and half-serious expression. + +"Say now--take care, take care! Aren't you and Cellini getting to be +rather particular friends--something a little beyond the Platonic, +eh?" + +This notion struck me as so absurd that I laughed heartily. Then, +without pausing for one instant to think what I was saying, I +answered with amazing readiness and frankness, considering that I +really knew nothing about it: + +"Why, my dear, Raffaello Cellini is betrothed, and he is a most +devoted lover." + +A moment after I had uttered this assertion I was surprised at +myself. What authority had I for saying that Cellini was betrothed? +What did I know about it? Confused, I endeavoured to find some means +of retracting this unfounded and rash remark, but no words of +explanation would come to my lips that had been so ready and primed +to deliver what might be, for all I knew, a falsehood. Amy did not +perceive my embarrassment. She was pleased and interested at the +idea of Cellini's being in love. + +"Really!" she exclaimed, "it makes him a more romantic character +than ever! Fancy his telling you that he was betrothed! How +delightful! I must ask him all about his chosen fair one. But I'm +positively thankful it isn't you, for I'm sure he's just a little +bit off his head. Even this book he has lent you looks like a +wizard's property;" and she fluttered the leaves of the "Dead +Musician's" volume, turning them rapidly over in search of something +attractive. Suddenly she paused and cried out: "Why, this is right- +down awful! He must have been a regular madman! Just listen!" and +she read aloud: + +"'How mighty are the Kingdoms of the Air! How vast they are--how +densely populated--how glorious are their destinies--how all- +powerful and wise are their inhabitants! They possess everlasting +health and beauty--their movements are music--their glances are +light--they cannot err in their laws or judgments, for their +existence is love. Thrones, principalities, and powers are among +them, yet all are equal. Each one has a different duty to perform, +yet all their labours are lofty. But what a fate is ours on this low +earth! For, from the cradle to the grave, we are watched by these +spiritual spectators--watched with unflinching interest, +unhesitating regard. O Angelic Spirits, what is there in the poor +and shabby spectacle of human life to attract your mighty +Intelligences? Sorrow, sin, pride, shame, ambition, failure, +obstinacy, ignorance, selfishness, forgetfulness--enough to make ye +veil your radiant faces in unpierceable clouds to hide forever the +sight of so much crime and misery. Yet if there be the faintest, +feeblest effort in our souls to answer to the call of your voices, +to rise above the earth by force of the same will that pervades your +destinies, how the sound of great rejoicing permeates those wide +continents ye inhabit, like a wave of thunderous music; and ye are +glad, Blessed Spirits!--glad with a gladness beyond that of your own +lives, to feel and to know that some vestige, however fragile, is +spared from the general wreck of selfish and unbelieving Humanity. +Truly we work under the shadow of a "cloud of Witnesses." Disperse, +disperse, O dense yet brilliant multitudes! turn away from me your +burning, truthful, immutable eyes, filled with that look of divine, +perpetual regret and pity! Lo, how unworthy am I to behold your +glory! and yet I must see and know and love you all, while the mad +blind world rushes on to its own destruction, and none can avert its +doom.'" + +Here Amy threw down the book with a sort of contempt, and said to +me: + +"If you are going to muddle your mind with the ravings of a lunatic, +you are not what I took you for. Why, it's regular spiritualism! +Kingdoms of the air indeed! And his cloud of witnesses! Rubbish!" + +"He quotes the CLOUD OF WITNESSES from St. Paul," I remarked. + +"More shame for him!" replied my friend, with the usual inconsistent +indignation that good Protestants invariably display when their pet +corn, the Bible, is accidentally trodden on. "It has been very well +said that the devil can quote Scripture, and this musician (a good +job he IS dead, I'm sure) is perfectly blasphemous to quote the +Testament in support of his ridiculous ideas! St. Paul did not mean +by 'a cloud of witnesses,' a lot of 'air multitudes' and 'burning, +immutable eyes,' and all that nonsense." + +"Well, what DID he mean?" I gently persisted. + +"Oh, he meant--why, you know very well what he meant," said Amy, in +a tone of reproachful solemnity. "And I wonder at your asking me +such a question! Surely you know your Bible, and you must be aware +that St. Paul could never have approved of spiritualism." + +"'And there are bodies celestial and bodies terrestrial, but one is +the glory of the celestial?" I quoted with, a slight smile. + +Mrs. Everard looked shocked and almost angry. + +"My dear, I am ashamed of you! You are a believer in spirits, I do +declare! Why, I thought Maskelyne and Cook had cured everybody of +such notions; and now here's this horrid book going to make you more +nervous than ever. I shall have you getting up one night and +shrieking about burning, immutable eyes looking at you." + +I laughed merrily as I rose to pick up the discarded volume from the +floor. + +"Don't be afraid," I said; "I'll give back the book to Signor +Cellini to-morrow, and I will tell him that you do not like the idea +of my reading it, and that I am going to study the Bible instead. +Come now, dear, don't look cross!" and I embraced her warmly, for I +liked her far too well to wish to offend her. "Let us concentrate +our attention on our finery for to-night, when a 'dense and +brilliant multitude,' not of air, but of the 'earth earthy,' will +pass us under critical survey. I assure you I mean to make the best +of my improved looks, as I don't believe they will last. I dare say +I shall be the 'sick nun' that you termed me again to-morrow." + +"I hope not, dearest," said my friend kindly, returning my caress +and forgetting her momentary ill-humour. "A jolly dance will do you +good if you are careful to avoid over-exertion. But you are quite +right, we must really fix our things ready for the evening, else we +shall be all in a flurry at the last moment, and nothing riles the +Colonel so much as to see women in a fuss. I shall wear my lace +dress; but it wants seeing to. Will you help me?" + +Readily assenting, we were soon deep in the arrangement of the +numberless little mysteries that make up a woman's toilette; and +nothing but the most frivolous conversation ensued. But as I +assisted in the sorting of laces, jewels, and other dainty +appendages of evening costume, I was deep in earnest meditation. +Reviewing in my own mind the various sensations I had experienced +since I had tasted that Eastern wine in Cellini's studio, I came to +the conclusion that he must have tried an experiment on me with some +foreign drug, of which he alone knew the properties. Why he should +do this I could not determine; but that he had done it I was +certain. Besides this, I felt sure that he personally exerted some +influence upon me--a soothing and calming influence I was forced to +admit--still, it could hardly be allowed to continue. To be under +the control, however slight, of one who was almost a stranger to me, +was, at the least, unnatural and unpleasant. I was bound to ask him +a few plain questions. And, supposing Mrs. Everard were to speak to +him about his being betrothed, and he were to deny it, and +afterwards were to turn round upon me and ask what authority I had +for making such a statement, what should I say? Convict myself of +falsehood? However, it was no use to puzzle over the solution of +this difficulty till it positively presented itself. At any rate, I +determined I would ask him frankly, face to face, for some +explanation of the strange emotions I had felt ever since meeting +him; and thus resolved, I waited patiently for the evening. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +A DANCE AND A PROMISE. + + +Our little French friend, Madame Didier, was not a woman to do +things by halves. She was one of those rare exceptions among +Parisian ladies--she was a perfectly happy wife; nay, more, she was +in love with her own husband, a fact which, considering the present +state of society both in France and England, rendered her almost +contemptible in the eyes of all advanced thinkers. She was plump and +jolly in appearance; round-eyed and brisk as a lively robin. Her +husband, a large, mild-faced placid man--"mon petit mari," as she +called him--permitted her to have her own way in everything, and +considered all she did as perfectly well done. Therefore, when she +had proposed this informal dance at the Hotel de L----, he made no +objection, but entered into her plans with spirit; and, what was far +more important, opened his purse readily to her demands for the +necessary expenses. So nothing was stinted; the beautiful ballroom +attached to the hotel was thrown open, and lavishly decorated with +flowers, fountains, and twinkling lights; an awning extended from +its windows right down the avenue of dark ilex-trees, which were +ornamented with Chinese lanterns; an elegant supper was laid out in +the large dining-room, and the whole establishment was en fete. The +delicious strains of a Viennese band floated to our ears as Colonel +Everard, his wife, and myself descended the staircase on our way to +the scene of revelry; and suggestions of fairyland were presented to +us in the graceful girlish forms, clad in light, diaphanous attire, +that flitted here and there, or occasionally passed us. Colonel +Everard marched proudly along with the military bearing that always +distinguished him, now and then glancing admiringly at his wife, +who, indeed, looked her very best. Her dress was of the finest +Brussels lace, looped over a skirt of the palest shell-pink satin; +deep crimson velvet roses clustered on her breast, and nestled in +her rich hair; a necklace of magnificent rubies clasped her neck, +and the same jewels glittered on her round white arms. Her eyes +shone with pleasurable excitement, and the prettiest colour +imaginable tinted her delicate cheeks. + +"When an American woman is lovely, she is very lovely," I said. "You +will be the belle of the room to-night, Amy!" + +"Nonsense!" she replied, well pleased, though, at my remark. "You +must remember I have a rival in yourself." + +I shrugged my shoulders incredulously. + +"It is not like you to be sarcastic," I said. "You know very well I +have the air of a resuscitated corpse." + +The Colonel wheeled round suddenly, and brought us all up to a +standstill before a great mirror. + +"If YOU are like a resuscitated corpse, I'll throw a hundred dollars +into the next mud-pond," he observed. "Look at yourself." + +I looked, at first indifferently, and then with searching scrutiny. +I saw a small, slender girl, clad in white, with a mass of gold hair +twisted loosely up from her neck, and fastened with a single star of +diamonds. A superb garniture of natural lilies of the valley was +fastened on this girl's shoulder; and, falling loosely across her +breast, lost itself in the trailing folds of her gown. She held a +palm-leaf fan entirely covered with lilies of the valley, and a +girdle of the same flowers encircled her waist. Her face was +serious, but contented; her eyes were bright, but with an intense +and thoughtful lustre; and her cheeks were softly coloured, as +though a west wind had blown freshly against them. There was nothing +either attractive or repulsive about her that I could see; and yet-- +I turned away from the mirror hastily with a faint smile. + +"The lilies form the best part of my toilette," I said. + +"That they do," asserted Amy, with emphasis. "They are the finest +specimens I ever saw. It was real elegant of Mr. Cellini to send +them all fixed up ready like that, fan and all. You must be a +favourite of his!" + +"Come, let us proceed," I answered, with some abruptness. "We are +losing time." + +In a few seconds more we entered the ballroom, and were met at once +by Madame Didier, who, resplendent in black lace and diamonds, gave +us hearty greeting. She stared at me with unaffected amazement. + +"Mon dieu!" she exclaimed--her conversation with us was always a +mixture of French and broken English--"I should not 'ave know zis +young lady again! She 'ave si bonne mine. You veel dance, sans +doute?" + +We readily assented, and the usual assortment of dancing-men of all +ages and sizes was brought forward for our inspection; while the +Colonel, being introduced to a beaming English girl of some +seventeen summers, whirled her at once into the merry maze of +dancers, who were spinning easily round to the lively melody of one +of Strauss's most fascinating waltzes. Presently I also found myself +circling the room with an amiable young German, who ambled round +with a certain amount of cleverness, considering that he was +evidently ignorant of the actual waltz step; and I caught a glimpse +now and then of Amy's rubies as they flashed past me in the dance-- +she was footing it merrily with a handsome Austrian Hussar. The room +was pleasantly full--not too crowded for the movements of the +dancers; and the whole scene was exceedingly pretty and animated. I +had no lack of partners, and I was surprised to find myself so +keenly alive to enjoyment, and so completely free from my usual +preoccupied condition of nervous misery I looked everywhere for +Raffaello Cellini, but he was not to be seen. The lilies that I +wore, which he had sent me, seemed quite unaffected by the heat and +glare of the gaslight--not a leaf drooped, not a petal withered; and +their remarkable whiteness and fragrance elicited many admiring +remarks from those with whom I conversed. It was growing very late; +there were only two more waltzes before the final cotillon. I was +standing near the large open window of the ballroom, conversing with +one of my recent partners, when a sudden inexplicable thrill shot +through me from head to foot. Instinctively I turned, and saw +Cellini approaching. He looked remarkably handsome, though his face +was pale and somewhat wearied in expression. He was laughing and +conversing gaily with two ladies, one of whom was Mrs. Everard; and +as he came towards me he bowed courteously, saying: + +"I am too much honoured by the kindness mademoiselle has shown in +not discarding my poor flowers." + +"They are lovely," I replied simply; "and I am very much obliged to +you, signor, for sending them to me." + +"And how fresh they keep!" said Amy, burying her little nose in the +fragrance of my fan; "yet they have been in the heat of the room all +the evening." + +"They cannot perish while mademoiselle wears them," said Cellini +gallantly. "Her breath is their life." + +"Bravo!" cried Amy, clapping her hands. "That is very prettily said, +isn't it?" + +I was silent. I never could endure compliments. They are seldom +sincere, and it gives me no pleasure to be told lies, however +prettily they may be worded. Signor Cellini appeared to divine my +thoughts, for he said in a lower tone: + +"Pardon me, mademoiselle; I see my observation displeased you; but +there is more truth in it than you perhaps know." + +"Oh, say!" interrupted Mrs. Everard at this juncture; "I am SO +interested, signor, to hear you are engaged! I suppose she is a +dream of beauty?" + +The hot colour rushed to my cheeks, and I bit my lips in confusion +and inquietude. What WOULD he answer? My anxiety was not of long +duration. Cellini smiled, and seemed in no way surprised. He said +quietly: + +"Who told you, madame, that I am engaged?" + +"Why, she did, of course!" went on my friend, nodding towards me, +regardless of an imploring look I cast at her. "And said you were +perfectly devoted!" + +"She is quite right," replied Cellini, with another of those rare +sweet smiles of his; "and you also are right, madame, in your +supposition: my betrothed is a Dream of Beauty." + +I was infinitely relieved. I had not, then, been guilty of a +falsehood. But the mystery remained: how had I discovered the truth +of the matter at all? While I puzzled my mind over this question, +the other lady who had accompanied Mrs. Everard spoke. She was an +Austrian of brilliant position and attainments. + +"You quite interest me, signor!" she said. "Is your fair fiancee +here to-night?" + +"No, madame," replied Cellini; "she is not in this country." + +"What a pity!" exclaimed Amy. "I want to see her real bad. Don't +you?" she asked, turning to me. + +I raised my eyes and met the dark clear ones of the artist fixed +full upon me. + +"Yes," I said hesitatingly; "I should like to meet her. Perhaps the +chance will occur at some future time." + +"There is not the slightest doubt about that," said Cellini. "And +now, mademoiselle, will you give me the pleasure of this waltz with +you? or are you promised to another partner?" + +I was not engaged, and I at once accepted his proffered arm. Two +gentlemen came hurriedly up to claim Amy and her Austrian friend; +and for one brief moment Signor Cellini and I stood alone in a +comparatively quiet corner of the ballroom, waiting for the music to +begin. I opened my lips to ask him a question, when he stopped me by +a slight gesture of his hand. + +"Patience!" he said in a low and earnest tone. "In a few moments you +shall have the opportunity you seek." + +The band burst forth just then in the voluptuous strains of a waltz +by Gung'l, and together we floated away to its exquisite gliding +measure. I use the word FLOATED, advisedly, for no other term could +express the delightful sensation I enjoyed. Cellini was a superb +dancer. It seemed to me that our feet scarcely touched the floor, so +swiftly, so easily and lightly we sped along. A few rapid turns, and +I noticed we were nearing the open French windows, and, before I +well realized it, we had stopped dancing and were pacing quietly +side by side down the ilex avenue, where the little lanterns +twinkled like red fireflies and green glow-worms among the dark and +leafy branches. + +We walked along in silence till we reached the end of the path. +There, before us, lay the open garden, with its broad green lawn, +bathed in the lovely light of the full moon, sailing aloft in a +cloudless sky. The night was very warm, but, regardless of this +fact, Cellini wrapped carefully round me a large fleecy white +burnous that he had taken from a chair where it was lying, on his +way through the avenue. + +"I am not cold," I said, smiling. + +"No; but you will be, perhaps. It is not wise to run any useless +risks." + +I was again silent. A low breeze rustled in the tree-tops near us; +the music of the ballroom reached us only in faint and far echoes; +the scent of roses and myrtle was wafted delicately on the balmy +air; the radiance of the moon softened the outlines of the landscape +into a dreamy suggestiveness of its reality. Suddenly a sound broke +on our ears--a delicious, long, plaintive trill; then a wonderful +shower of sparkling roulades; and finally, a clear, imploring, +passionate note repeated many times. It was a nightingale, singing +as only the nightingales of the South can sing. I listened +entranced. + + "'Thou wast not born for death, immortal Bird! + No hungry generations tread thee down; + The voice I hear this passing night was heard + In ancient days by emperor and clown,'" + +quoted Cellini in earnest tones. + +"You admire Keats?" I asked eagerly. + +"More than any other poet that has lived," he replied. "His was the +most ethereal and delicate muse that ever consented to be tied down +to earth. But, mademoiselle, you do not wish to examine me as to my +taste in poetry. You have some other questions to put to me, have +you not?" + +For one instant I hesitated. Then I spoke out frankly, and answered: + +"Yes, signor. What was there in that wine you gave me this morning?" + +He met my searching gaze unflinchingly. + +"A medicine," he said. "An excellent and perfectly simple remedy +made of the juice of plants, and absolutely harmless." + +"But why," I demanded, "why did you give me this medicine? Was it +not wrong to take so much responsibility upon yourself?" + +He smiled. + +"I think not. If you are injured or offended, then I was wrong; but +if, on the contrary, your health and spirits are ever so little +improved, as I see they are, I deserve your thanks, mademoiselle." + +And he waited with an air of satisfaction and expectancy. I was +puzzled and half-angry, yet I could not help acknowledging to myself +that I felt better and more cheerful than I had done for many +months. I looked up at the artist's dark, intelligent face, and said +almost humbly: + +"I DO thank you, signor. But surely you will tell me your reasons +for constituting yourself my physician without even asking my +leave." + +He laughed, and his eyes looked very friendly. + +"Mademoiselle, I am one of those strangely constituted beings who +cannot bear to see any innocent thing suffer. It matters not whether +it be a worm in the dust, a butterfly in the air, a bird, a flower, +or a human creature. The first time I saw you I knew that your state +of health precluded you from the enjoyment of life natural to your +sex and age. I also perceived that the physicians had been at work +upon you trying to probe into the causes of your ailment, and that they +had signally failed. Physicians, mademoiselle, are very clever and +estimable men, and there are a few things which come within the limit +of their treatment; but there are also other things which baffle their +utmost profundity of knowledge. One of these is that wondrous +piece of human machinery, the nervous system; that intricate and +delicate network of fine threads--electric wires on which run the +messages of thought, impulse, affection, emotion. If these threads +or wires become, from any subtle cause, entangled, the skill of the +mere medical practitioner is of no avail to undo the injurious knot, or +to unravel the confused skein. The drugs generally used in such +cases are, for the most part, repellent to the human blood and +natural instinct, therefore they are always dangerous, and often +deadly. I knew, by studying your face, mademoiselle, that you were +suffering as acutely as I, too, suffered some five years ago, and I +ventured to try upon you a simple vegetable essence, merely to see +if you were capable of benefiting by it. The experiment has been so +far successful; but----" + +He paused, and his face became graver and more abstracted. + +"But what?" I queried eagerly. + +"I was about to say," he continued, "that the effect is only +transitory. Within forty-eight hours you must naturally relapse into +your former prostrate condition, and I, unfortunately, am powerless +to prevent it." + +I sighed wearily, and a feeling of disappointment oppressed me. Was +it possible that I must again be the victim of miserable dejection, +pain, and stupor? + +"You can give me another dose of your remedy," I said. + +"That I cannot, mademoiselle," he answered regretfully; "I dare not, +without further advice and guidance." + +"Advice and guidance from whom?" I inquired. + +"From the friend who cured me of my long and almost hopeless +illness," said Cellini. "He alone can tell me whether I am right in +my theories respecting your nature and constitution." + +"And what are those theories?" I asked, becoming deeply interested +in the conversation. + +Cellini was silent for a minute or so; he seemed absorbed in a sort +of inward communion with himself. Then he spoke with impressiveness +and gravity: + +"In this world, mademoiselle, there are no two natures alike, yet +all are born with a small portion of Divinity within them, which we +call the Soul. It is a mere spark smouldering in the centre of the +weight of clay with which we are encumbered, yet it is there. Now +this particular germ or seed can be cultivated if we will--that is, +if we desire and insist on its growth. As a child's taste for art or +learning can be educated into high capabilities for the future, so +can the human Soul be educated into so high, so supreme an +attainment, that no merely mortal standard of measurement can reach +its magnificence. With much more than half the inhabitants of the +globe, this germ of immortality remains always a germ, never +sprouting, overlaid and weighted down by the lymphatic laziness and +materialistic propensities of its shell or husk--the body. But I +must put aside the forlorn prospect of the multitudes in whom the +Divine Essence attains to no larger quantity than that proportioned +out to a dog or bird--I have only to speak of the rare few with whom +the soul is everything--those who, perceiving and admitting its +existence within them, devote all their powers to fanning up their +spark of light till it becomes a radiant, burning, inextinguishable +flame. The mistake made by these examples of beatified Humanity is +that they too often sacrifice the body to the demands of the spirit. +It is difficult to find the medium path, but it can be found; and +the claims of both body and soul can be satisfied without +sacrificing the one to the other. I beg your earnest attention, +mademoiselle, for what I say concerning THE RARE FEW WITH WHOM THE +SOUL IS EVERYTHING. YOU are one of those few, unless I am greatly in +error. And you have sacrificed your body so utterly to your spirit +that the flesh rebels and suffers. This will not do. You have work +before you in the world, and you cannot perform it unless you have +bodily health as well as spiritual desire. And why? Because you are +a prisoner here on earth, and you must obey the laws of the prison, +however unpleasant they may be to you. Were you free as you have +been in ages past and as you will be in ages to come, things would +be different; but at present you must comply with the orders of your +gaolers--the Lords of Life and Death." + +I heard him, half awed, half fascinated. His words were full of +mysterious suggestions. + +"How do you know I am of the temperament you describe?" I asked in a +low voice. + +"I do not know, mademoiselle; I can only guess. There is but one +person who can perhaps judge of you correctly,--a man older than +myself by many years--whose life is the very acme of spiritual +perfection--whose learning is vast and unprejudiced. I must see and +speak to him before I try any more of my, or rather his, remedies. +But we have lingered long enough out here, and unless you have +something more to say to me, we will return to the ballroom. You +will otherwise miss the cotillon;" and he turned to retrace the way +through the illuminated grove. + +But a sudden thought had struck me, and I resolved to utter it +aloud. Laying my hand on his arm and looking him full in the face, I +said slowly and distinctly: + +"This friend of yours that you speak of--is not his name HELIOBAS?" + +Cellini started violently; the blood rushed up to his brows and as +quickly receded, leaving him paler than before. His dark eyes glowed +with suppressed excitement--his hand trembled. Recovering himself +slowly, he met my gaze fixedly; his glance softened, and he bent his +head with an air of respect and reverence. + +"Mademoiselle, I see that you must know all. It is your fate. You +are greatly to be envied. Come to me to-morrow, and I will tell you +everything that is to be told. Afterwards your destiny rests in your +own hands. Ask nothing more of me just now." + +He escorted me without further words back to the ballroom, where the +merriment of the cotillon was then at its height. Whispering to Mrs. +Everard as I passed her that I was tired and was going to bed, I +reached the outside passage, and there, turning to Cellini, I said +gently: + +"Good-night, signor. To-morrow at noon I will come." + +He replied: + +"Good-night, mademoiselle! To-morrow at noon you will find me +ready." + +With that he saluted me courteously and turned away. I hurried up to +my own room, and on arriving there I could not help observing the +remarkable freshness of the lilies I wore. They looked as if they +had just been gathered. I unfastened them all from my dress, and +placed them carefully in water; then quickly disrobing, I was soon +in bed. I meditated for a few minutes on the various odd occurrences +of the day; but my thoughts soon grew misty and confused, and I +travelled quickly off into the Land of Nod, and thence into the +region of sleep, where I remained undisturbed by so much as the +shadow of a dream. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +CELLINI'S STORY. + + +The following morning at the appointed hour, I went to Cellini's +studio, and was received by him with a sort of gentle courtesy and +kindliness that became him very well. I was already beginning to +experience an increasing languor and weariness, the sure forerunner +of what the artist had prophesied--namely, a return of all my old +sufferings. Amy, tired out by the dancing of the previous night, was +still in bed, as were many of those who had enjoyed Madame Didier's +fete; and the hotel was unusually quiet, almost seeming as though +half the visitors had departed during the night. It was a lovely +morning, sunny and calm; and Cellini, observing that I looked +listless and fatigued, placed a comfortable easy-chair for me near +the window, from whence I could see one of the prettiest parterres +of the garden, gay with flowers of every colour and perfume. He +himself remained standing, one hand resting lightly on his writing- +table, which was strewn with a confusion of letters and newspapers. + +"Where is Leo?" I asked, as I glanced round the room in search of +that noble animal. + +"Leo left for Paris last night," replied Cellini; "he carried an +important despatch for me, which I feared to trust to the post- +office." + +"Is it safer in Leo's charge?" I inquired, smiling, for the sagacity +of the dog amused as well as interested me. + +"Much safer! Leo carries on his collar a small tin case, just large +enough to contain several folded sheets of paper. When he knows he +has that box to guard during his journeys, he is simply +unapproachable. He would fight any one who attempted to touch it +with the ferocity of a hungry tiger, and there is no edible dainty +yet invented that could tempt his appetite or coax him into any +momentary oblivion of his duty. There is no more trustworthy or +faithful messenger." + +"I suppose you have sent him to your friend--his master," I said. + +"Yes. He has gone straight home to--Heliobas." + +This name now awakened in me no surprise or even curiosity. It +simply sounded homelike and familiar. I gazed abstractedly out of +the window at the brilliant blossoms in the garden, that nodded +their heads at me like so many little elves with coloured caps on, +but I said nothing. I felt that Cellini watched me keenly and +closely. Presently he continued: + +"Shall I tell you everything now, mademoiselle?" + +I turned towards him eagerly. + +"If you please," I answered. + +"May I ask you one question?" + +"Certainly." + +"How and where did you hear the name of Heliobas?" + +I looked up hesitatingly. + +"In a dream, signor, strange to say; or rather in three dreams. I +will relate them to you." + +And I described the visions I had seen, being careful to omit no +detail, for, indeed, I remembered everything with curious +distinctness. + +The artist listened with grave and fixed attention. When I had +concluded he said: + +"The elixir I gave you acted more potently than even I imagined it +would. You are more sensitive than I thought. Do not fatigue +yourself any more, mademoiselle, by talking. With your permission I +will sit down here opposite to you and tell you my story. Afterwards +you must decide for yourself whether you will adopt the method of +treatment to which I owe my life, and something more than my life-- +my reason." + +He turned his own library-chair towards me, and seated himself. A +few moments passed in silence; his expression was very earnest and +absorbed, and he regarded my face with a sympathetic interest which +touched me profoundly. Though I felt myself becoming more and more +enervated and apathetic as the time went on, and though I knew I was +gradually sinking down again into my old Slough of Despond, yet I +felt instinctively that I was somehow actively concerned in what was +about to be said, therefore I forced myself to attend closely to +every word uttered. Cellini began to speak in low and quiet tones as +follows: + +"You must be aware, mademoiselle, that those who adopt any art as a +means of livelihood begin the world heavily handicapped--weighted +down, as it were, in the race for fortune. The following of art is a +very different thing to the following of trade or mercantile +business. In buying or selling, in undertaking the work of import or +export, a good head for figures, and an average quantity of shrewd +common sense, are all that is necessary in order to win a fair share +of success. But in the finer occupations, whose results are found in +sculpture, painting, music and poetry, demands are made upon the +imagination, the emotions, the entire spiritual susceptibility of +man. The most delicate fibres of the brain are taxed; the subtle +inner workings of thought are brought into active play; and the +temperament becomes daily and hourly more finely strung, more +sensitive, more keenly alive to every passing sensation. Of course +there are many so-called 'ARTISTS' who are mere shams of the real +thing; persons who, having a little surface-education in one or the +other branch of the arts, play idly with the paint-brush, or dabble +carelessly in the deep waters of literature,--or borrow a few +crotchets and quavers from other composers, and putting them +together in haste, call it ORIGINAL COMPOSITION. Among these are to +be found the self-called 'professors' of painting; the sculptors who +allow the work of their 'ghosts' to be admired as their own; the +magazine-scribblers; the 'smart' young leader-writers and critics; +the half-hearted performers on piano or violin who object to any +innovation, and prefer to grind on in the unemotional, coldly +correct manner which they are pleased to term the 'classical'--such +persons exist, and will exist, so long as good and evil are leading +forces of life. They are the aphides on the rose of art. But the men +and women I speak of as ARTISTS are those who work day and night to +attain even a small degree of perfection, and who are never +satisfied with their own best efforts. I was one of these some years +ago, and I humbly assert myself still to be of the same disposition; +only the difference between myself then and myself now is, that THEN +I struggled blindly and despairingly, and NOW I labour patiently and +with calmness, knowing positively that I shall obtain what I seek at +the duly appointed hour. I was educated as a painter, mademoiselle, +by my father, a good, simple-hearted man, whose little landscapes +looked like bits cut out of the actual field and woodland, so fresh +and pure were they. But I was not content to follow in the plain +path he first taught me to tread. Merely correct drawing, merely +correct colouring, were not sufficient for my ambition. I had +dazzled my eyes with the loveliness of Correggio's 'Madonna,' and +had marvelled at the wondrous blue of her robe--a blue so deep and +intense that I used to think one might scrape away the paint till a +hole was bored in the canvas and yet not reach the end of that +fathomless azure tint; I had studied the warm hues of Titian; I had +felt ready to float away in the air with the marvellous 'Angel of +the Annunciation'--and with all these thoughts in me, how could I +content myself with the ordinary aspiration of modern artists? I +grew absorbed in one subject--Colour. I noted how lifeless and pale +the colouring of to-day appeared beside that of the old masters, and +I meditated deeply on the problem thus presented to me. What was the +secret of Correggio--of Fra Angelico--of Raphael? I tried various +experiments; I bought the most expensive and highly guaranteed +pigments. In vain, for they were all adulterated by the dealers! +Then I obtained colours in the rough, and ground and mixed them +myself; still, though a little better result was obtained, I found +trade adulteration still at work with the oils, the varnishes, the +mediums--in fact, with everything that painters use to gain effect +in their works. I could nowhere escape from vicious dealers, who, to +gain a miserable percentage on every article sold, are content to be +among the most dishonest men in this dishonest age. + +"I assure you, mademoiselle, that not one of the pictures which are +now being painted for the salons of Paris and London can possibly +last a hundred years. I recently visited that Palace of Art, the +South Kensington Museum, in London, and saw there a large fresco by +Sir Frederick Leighton. It had just been completed, I was informed. +It was already fading! Within a few years it will be a blur of +indistinct outlines. I compared its condition with the cartoons of +Raphael, and a superb Giorgione in the same building; these were as +warm and bright as though recently painted. It is not Leighton's +fault that his works are doomed to perish as completely off the +canvas as though he had never traced them; it is his dire +misfortune, and that of every other nineteenth-century painter, +thanks to the magnificent institution of free trade, which has +resulted in a vulgar competition of all countries and all classes to +see which can most quickly jostle the other out of existence. But I +am wearying you, mademoiselle--pardon me! To resume my own story. As +I told you, I could think of nothing but the one subject of Colour; +it haunted me incessantly. I saw in my dreams visions, of exquisite +forms and faces that I longed to transfer to my canvas, but I could +never succeed in the attempt. My hand seemed to have lost all skill. +About this time my father died, and I, having no other relation in +the world, and no ties of home to cling to, lived in utter solitude, +and tortured my brain more and more with the one question that +baffled and perplexed me. I became moody and irritable; I avoided +intercourse with everyone, and at last sleep forsook my eyes. Then +came a terrible season of feverish trouble, nervous dejection and +despair. At times I would sit silently brooding; at others I started +up and walked rapidly for hours, in the hope to calm the wild unrest +that took possession of my brain. I was then living in Rome, in the +studio that had been my father's. One evening--how well I remember +it!--I was attacked by one of those fierce impulses that forbade me +to rest or think or sleep, and, as usual, I hurried out for one of +those long aimless excursions I had latterly grown accustomed to. At +the open street-door stood the proprietress of the house, a stout, +good-natured contadina, with her youngest child Pippa holding to her +skirt. As she saw me approaching, she started back with an +exclamation of alarm, and catching the little girl up in her arms, +she made the sign of the cross rapidly. Astonished at this, I paused +in my hasty walk, and said with as much calmness as I could muster: + +"'What do you mean by that? Have I the evil-eye, think you?' + +"Curly-haired Pippa stretched out her arms to me--I had often +caressed the little one, and given her sweetmeats and toys--but her +mother held her back with a sort of smothered scream, and muttered: + +"'Holy Virgin! Pippa must not touch him; he is mad.' + +"Mad? I looked at the woman and child in scornful amazement. Then +without further words I turned, and went swiftly away down the +street out of their sight. Mad! Was I indeed losing my reason? Was +this the terrific meaning of my sleepless nights, my troubled +thoughts, my strange inquietude? Fiercely I strode along, heedless +whither I was going, till I found myself suddenly on the borders of +the desolate Campagna. A young moon gleamed aloft, looking like a +slender sickle thrust into the heavens to reap an over-abundant +harvest of stars. I paused irresolutely. There was a deep silence +everywhere. I felt faint and giddy: curious flashes of light danced +past my eyes, and my limbs shook like those of a palsied old man. I +sank upon a stone to rest, to try and arrange my scattered ideas +into some sort of connection and order. Mad! I clasped my aching +head between my hands, and brooded on the fearful prospect looming +before me, and in the words of poor King Lear, I prayed in my heart: + + "'O let me not be mad, not mad, sweet heavens!' + +"PRAYER! There was another thought. How could _I_ pray? For I was a +sceptic. My father had educated me with broadly materialistic views; +he himself was a follower of Voltaire, and with his finite rod he +took the measure of Divinity, greatly to his own satisfaction. He +was a good man, too, and he died with exemplary calmness in the +absolute certainty of there being nothing in his composition but +dust, to which he was as bound to return. He had not a shred of +belief in anything but what he called the Universal Law of +Necessity; perhaps this was why all his pictures lacked inspiration. +I accepted his theories without thinking much about them, and I had +managed to live respectably without any religious belief. But NOW-- +now with the horrible phantom of madness rising before me--my firm +nerves quailed. I tried, I longed to PRAY. Yet to whom? To what? To +the Universal Law of Necessity? In that there could be no hearing or +answering of human petitions. I meditated on this with a kind of +sombre ferocity. Who portioned out this Law of Necessity? What +brutal Code compels us to be born, to live, to suffer, and to die +without recompense or reason? Why should this Universe be an ever- +circling Wheel of Torture? Then a fresh impetus came to me. I rose +from my recumbent posture and stood erect; I trembled no more. A +curious sensation of defiant amusement possessed me so violently +that I laughed aloud. Such a laugh, too! I recoiled from the sound, +as from a blow, with a shudder. It was the laugh of--a madman! I +thought no more; I was resolved. I would fulfil the grim Law of +Necessity to its letter. If Necessity caused my birth, it also +demanded my death. Necessity could not force me to live against my +will. Better eternal nothingness than madness. Slowly and +deliberately I took from my vest a Milanese dagger of thin sharp +steel--one that I always carried with me as a means of self-defence +--I drew it from its sheath, and looked at the fine edge glittering +coldly in the pallid moon-rays. I kissed it joyously; it was my +final remedy! I poised it aloft with firm fingers--another instant +and it would have been buried deep in my heart, when I felt a +powerful grasp on my wrist, and a strong arm struggling with mine +forced the dagger from my hand. Savagely angry at being thus foiled +in my desperate intent, I staggered back a few paces and sullenly +stared at my rescuer. He was a tall man, clad in a dark overcoat +bordered with fur; he looked like a wealthy Englishman or American +travelling for pleasure. His features were fine and commanding; his +eyes gleamed with a gentle disdain as he coolly met my resentful +gaze. When he spoke his voice was rich and mellifluous, though his +accents had a touch in them of grave scorn. + +"'So you are tired of your life, young man! All the more reason have +you to live. Anyone can die. A murderer has moral force enough to +jeer at his hangman. It is very easy to draw the last breath. It can +be accomplished successfully by a child or a warrior. One pang of +far less anguish than the toothache, and all is over. There is +nothing heroic about it, I assure you! It is as common as going to +bed; it is almost prosy. LIFE is heroism, if you like; but death is +a mere cessation of business. And to make a rapid and rude exit off +the stage before the prompter gives the sign is always, to say the +least of it, ungraceful. Act the part out, no matter how bad the +play. What say you?' + +"And, balancing the dagger lightly on one finger, as though it were +a paper-knife, he smiled at me with so much frank kindliness that it +was impossible to resist him. I advanced and held out my hand. + +"'Whoever you are,' I said, 'you speak like a true man. But you are +ignorant of the causes which compelled me to---' and a hard sob +choked my utterance. My new acquaintance pressed my proffered hand +cordially, but the gravity of his tone did not vary as he replied: + +"'There is no cause, my friend, which compels us to take violent +leave of existence, unless it be madness or cowardice.' + +"'Aye, and what if it were madness?' I asked him eagerly. He scanned +me attentively, and laying his fingers lightly on my wrist, felt my +pulse. + +"'Pooh, my dear sir!' he said; 'you are no more mad than I am. You +are a little overwrought and excited--that I admit. You have some +mental worry that consumes you. You shall tell me all about it. I +have no doubt I can cure you in a few days.' + +"Cure me? I looked at him in wonderment and doubt. + +"'Are you a physician?' I asked. + +"He laughed. 'Not I! I should be sorry to belong to the profession. +Yet I administer medicines and give advice in certain cases. I am +simply a remedial agent--not a doctor. But why do we stand here in +this bleak place, which must be peopled by the ghosts of olden +heroes? Come with me, will you? I am going to the Hotel Costanza, +and we can talk there. As for this pretty toy, permit me to return +it to you. You will not force it again to the unpleasant task of +despatching its owner.' + +"And he handed the dagger back to me with a slight bow. I sheathed +it at once, feeling somewhat like a chidden child, as I met the +slightly satirical gleam of the clear blue eyes that watched me. + +"'Will you give me your name, signor?' I asked, as we turned from +the Campagna towards the city. + +"'With pleasure. I am called Heliobas. A strange name? Oh, not at +all! It is pure Chaldee. My mother--as lovely an Eastern houri as +Murillo's Madonna, and as devout as Santa Teresa--gave me the +Christian saint's name of Casimir also, but Heliobas pur et simple +suits me best, and by it I am generally known.' + +"'You are a Chaldean?' I inquired. + +"'Exactly so. I am descended directly from one of those "wise men of +the East" (and, by the way, there were more than three, and they +were not all kings), who, being wide awake, happened to notice the +birth-star of Christ on the horizon before the rest of the world's +inhabitants had so much as rubbed their sleepy eyes. The Chaldeans +have been always quick of observation from time immemorial. But in +return for my name, you will favour me with yours?' + +"I gave it readily, and we walked on together. I felt wonderfully +calmed and cheered--as soothed, mademoiselle, as I have noticed you +yourself have felt when in MY company." + +Here Cellini paused, and looked at me as though expecting a +question; but I preferred to remain silent till I had heard all he +had to say. He therefore resumed: + +"We reached the Hotel Costanza, where Heliobas was evidently well +known. The waiters addressed him as Monsieur le Comte; but he gave +me no information as to this title. He had a superb suite of rooms +in the hotel, furnished with every modern luxury; and as soon as we +entered a light supper was served. He invited me to partake, and +within the space of half an hour I had told him all my history--my +ambition--my strivings after the perfection of colour--my +disappointment, dejection, and despair--and, finally, the fearful +dread of coming madness that had driven me to attempt my own life. +He listened patiently and with unbroken attention. When I had +finished, he laid one hand on my shoulder, and said gently: + +"'Young man, pardon me if I say that up to the present your career +has been an inactive, useless, selfish "kicking against the pricks," +as St. Paul says. You set before yourself a task of noble effort, +namely, to discover the secret of colouring as known to the old +masters; and because you meet with the petty difficulty of modern +trade adulteration in your materials, you think that there is no +chance--that all is lost. Fie! Do you think Nature is overcome by a +few dishonest traders? She can still give you in abundance the +unspoilt colours she gave to Raphael and Titian; but not in haste-- +not if you vulgarly scramble for her gifts in a mood that is +impatient of obstacle and delay. "Ohne hast, ohne rast," is the +motto of the stars. Learn it well. You have injured your bodily +health by useless fretfulness and peevish discontent, and with that +we have first to deal. In a week's time, I will make a sound, sane +man of you; and then I will teach you how to get the colours you +seek--yes!' he added, smiling, 'even to the compassing of +Correggio's blue.' + +"I could not speak for joy and gratitude; I grasped my friend and +preserver by the hand. We stood thus together for a brief interval, +when suddenly Heliobas drew himself up to the full stateliness of +his height and bent his calm eyes deliberately upon me. A strange +thrill ran through me; I still held his hand. + +"'Rest!' he said in slow and emphatic tones, 'Weary and overwrought +frame, take thy full and needful measure of repose! Struggling and +deeply injured spirit, be free of thy narrow prison! By that Force +which I acknowledge within me and thee and in all created things, I +command thee, REST!' + +"Fascinated, awed, overcome by his manner, I gazed at him and would +have spoken, but my tongue refused its office--my senses swam--my +eyes closed--my limbs gave way--I fell senseless." + +Cellini again paused and looked at me. Intent on his words, I would +not interrupt him. He went on: + +"When I say senseless, mademoiselle, I allude of course to my body. +But I, myself--that is, my soul--was conscious; I lived, I moved, I +heard, I saw. Of that experience I am forbidden to speak. When I +returned to mortal existence I found myself lying on a couch in the +same room where I had supped with Heliobas, and Heliobas himself sat +near me reading. It was broad noonday. A delicious sense of +tranquillity and youthful buoyancy was upon me, and without speaking +I sprang up from my recumbent position and touched him on the arm. +He looked up. + +"'Well?' he asked, and his eyes smiled. + +"I seized his hand, and pressed it reverently to my lips. + +"'My best friend!' I exclaimed. 'What wonders have I not seen--what +truths have I not learned--what mysteries!' + +"'On all these things be silent,' replied Heliobas. 'They must not +be lightly spoken of. And of the questions you naturally desire to +ask me, you shall have the answers in due time. What has happened to +you is not wonderful; you have simply been acted upon by scientific +means. But your cure is not yet complete. A few days more passed +with me will restore you thoroughly. Will you consent to remain so +long in my company?' + +"Gladly and gratefully I consented, and we spent the next ten days +together, during which Heliobas administered to me certain remedies, +external and internal, which had a marvellous effect in renovating +and invigorating my system. By the expiration of that time I was +strong and well--a sound and sane man, as my rescuer had promised I +should be--my brain was fresh and eager for work, and my mind was +filled with new and grand ideas of art. And I had gained through +Heliobas two inestimable things--a full comprehension of the truth +of religion, and the secret of human destiny; and I had won a LOVE +so exquisite!" + +Here Cellini paused, and his eyes were uplifted in a sort of +wondering rapture. He continued after a pause: + +"Yes, mademoiselle, I discovered that I was loved, and watched over +and guided by ONE so divinely beautiful, so gloriously faithful, +that mortal language fails before the description of such +perfection!" + +He paused again, and again continued: + +"When he found me perfectly healthy again in mind and body, Heliobas +showed me his art of mixing colours. From that hour all my works +were successful. You know that my pictures are eagerly purchased as +soon as completed, and that the colour I obtain in them is to the +world a mystery almost magical. Yet there is not one among the +humblest of artists who could not, if he chose, make use of the same +means as I have done to gain the nearly imperishable hues that still +glow on the canvases of Raphael. But of this there is no need to +speak just now. I have told you my story, mademoiselle, and it now +rests with me to apply its meaning to yourself. You are attending?" + +"Perfectly," I replied; and, indeed, my interest at this point was +so strong that I could almost hear the expectant beating of my +heart. Cellini resumed: + +"Electricity, mademoiselle, is, as you are aware, the wonder of our +age. No end can be foreseen to the marvels it is capable of +accomplishing. But one of the most important branches of this great +science is ignorantly derided just now by the larger portion of +society--I mean the use of human electricity; that force which is in +each one of us--in you and in me--and, to a very large extent, in +Heliobas. He has cultivated the electricity in his own system to +such an extent that his mere touch, his lightest glance, have +healing in them, or the reverse, as he chooses to exert his power--I +may say it is never the reverse, for he is full of kindness, +sympathy, and pity for all humanity. His influence is so great that +he can, without speaking, by his mere presence suggest his own +thoughts to other people who are perfect strangers, and cause them +to design and carry out certain actions in accordance with his +plans. You are incredulous? Mademoiselle, this power is in every one +of us; only we do not cultivate it, because our education is yet so +imperfect. To prove the truth of what I say, _I_, though I have only +advanced a little way in the cultivation of my own electric force, +even _I_ have influenced YOU. You cannot deny it. By my thought, +impelled to you, you saw clearly my picture that was actually +veiled. By MY force, you replied correctly to a question I asked you +concerning that same picture. By MY desire, you gave me, without +being aware of it, a message from one I love when you said, 'Dieu +vous garde!' You remember? And the elixir I gave you, which is one +of the simplest remedies discovered by Heliobas, had the effect of +making you learn what he intended you to learn--his name." + +"He!" I exclaimed. "Why, he does not know me--he can have no +intentions towards me!" + +"Mademoiselle," replied Cellini gravely, "if you will think again of +the last of your three dreams, you will not doubt that he HAS +intentions towards you. As I told you, he is a PHYSICAL ELECTRICIAN. +By that is meant a great deal. He knows by instinct whether he is or +will be needed sooner or later. Let me finish what I have to say. +You are ill, mademoiselle--ill from over-work. You are an +improvisatrice--that is, you have the emotional genius of music, a +spiritual thing unfettered by rules, and utterly misunderstood by +the world. You cultivate this faculty, regardless of cost; you +suffer, and you will suffer more. In proportion as your powers in +music grow, so will your health decline. Go to Heliobas; he will do +for you what he did for me. Surely you will not hesitate? Between +years of weak invalidism and perfect health, in less than a +fortnight, there can be no question of choice." + +I rose from my seat slowly. + +"Where is this Heliobas?" I asked. "In Paris?" + +"Yes, in Paris. If you decide to go there, take my advice, and go +alone. You can easily make some excuse to your friends. I will give +you the address of a ladies' Pension, where you will be made at home +and comfortable. May I do this?" + +"If you please," I answered. + +He wrote rapidly in pencil on a card of his own: + + "MADAME DENISE, + "36, Avenue du Midi, + "Paris," + +and handed it to me. I stood still where I had risen, thinking +deeply. I had been impressed and somewhat startled by Cellini's +story; but I was in no way alarmed at the idea of trusting myself to +the hands of a physical electrician such as Heliobas professed to +be. I knew that there were many cases of serious illnesses being +cured by means of electricity--that electric baths and electric +appliances of all descriptions were in ordinary use; and I saw no +reason to be surprised at the fact of a man being in existence who +had cultivated electric force within himself to such an extent that +he was able to use it as a healing power. There seemed to me to be +really nothing extraordinary in it. The only part of Cellini's +narration I did not credit was the soul-transmigration he professed +to have experienced; and I put that down to the over-excitement of +his imagination at the time of his first interview with Heliobas. +But I kept this thought to myself. In any case, I resolved to go to +Paris. The great desire of my life was to be in perfect health, and +I determined to omit no means of obtaining this inestimable +blessing. Cellini watched me as I remained standing before him in +silent abstraction. + +"Will you go?" he inquired at last. + +"Yes; I will go," I replied. "But will you give me a letter to your +friend?" + +"Leo has taken it and all necessary explanations already," said +Cellini, smiling; "I knew you would go. Heliobas expects you the day +after to-morrow. His residence is Hotel Mars, Champs Elysees. You +are not angry with me, mademoiselle? I could not help knowing that +you would go." + +I smiled faintly. + +"Electricity again, I suppose! No, I am not angry. Why should I be? +I thank you very much, signor, and I shall thank you more if +Heliobas indeed effects my cure." + +"Oh, that is certain, positively certain," answered Cellini; "you +can indulge that hope as much as you like, mademoiselle, for it is +one that cannot be disappointed. Before you leave me, you will look +at your own picture, will you not?" and, advancing to his easel, he +uncovered it. + +I was greatly surprised. I thought he had but traced the outline of +my features, whereas the head was almost completed. I looked at it +as I would look at the portrait of a stranger. It was a wistful, +sad-eyed, plaintive face, and on the pale gold of the hair rested a +coronal of lilies. + +"It will soon be finished," said Cellini, covering the easel again; +"I shall not need another sitting, which is fortunate, as it is so +necessary for you to go away. And now will you look at the 'Life and +Death' once more?" + +I raised my eyes to the grand picture, unveiled that day in all its +beauty. + +"The face of the Life-Angel there," went on Cellini quietly, "is a +poor and feeble resemblance of the One I love. You knew I was +betrothed, mademoiselle?" + +I felt confused, and was endeavouring to find an answer to this when +he continued: + +"Do not trouble to explain, for _I_ know how YOU knew. But no more +of this. Will you leave Cannes to-morrow?" + +"Yes. In the morning." + +"Then good-bye, mademoiselle. Should I never see you again---" + +"Never see me again!" I interrupted. "Why, what do you mean?" + +"I do not allude to your destinies, but to mine," he said, with a +kindly look. "My business may call me away from here before you come +back--our paths may lie apart--many circumstances may occur to +prevent our meeting--so that, I repeat, should I never see you +again, you will, I hope, bear me in your friendly remembrance as one +who was sorry to see you suffer, and who was the humble means of +guiding you to renewed health and happiness." + +I held out my hand, and my eyes filled with tears. There was +something so gentle and chivalrous about him, and withal so warm and +sympathetic, that I felt indeed as if I were bidding adieu to one of +the truest friends I should ever have in my life. + +"I hope nothing will cause you to leave Cannes till I return to it," +I said with real earnestness. "I should like you to judge of my +restoration to health." + +"There will be no need for that," he replied; "I shall know when you +are quite recovered through Heliobas." + +He pressed my hand warmly. + +"I brought back the book you lent me," I went on; "but I should like +a copy of it for myself. Can I get it anywhere?" + +"Heliobas will give you one with pleasure," replied Cellini; "you +have only to make the request. The book is not on sale. It was +printed for private circulation only. And now, mademoiselle, we +part. I congratulate you on the comfort and joy awaiting you in +Paris. Do not forget the address--Hotel Mars, Champs Elysees. +Farewell!" + +And again shaking my hand cordially, he stood at his door watching +me as I passed out and began to ascend the stairs leading to my +room. On the landing I paused, and, looking round, saw him still +there. I smiled and waved my hand. He did the same in response, +once--twice; then turning abruptly, disappeared. + +That afternoon I explained to Colonel and Mrs. Everard that I had +resolved to consult a celebrated physician in Paris (whose name, +however, I did not mention), and should go there alone for a few +days. On hearing that I knew of a well-recommended ladies' Pension, +they made no objection to my arrangements, and they agreed to remain +at the Hotel de L---till I returned. I gave them no details of my +plans, and of course never mentioned Raffaello Cellini in connection +with the matter. A nervous and wretchedly agitated night made me +more than ever determined to try the means of cure proposed to me. +At ten o'clock the following morning I left Cannes by express train +for Paris. Just before starting I noticed that the lilies of the +valley Cellini had given me for the dance had, in spite of my care, +entirely withered, and were already black with decay--so black that +they looked as though they had been scorched by a flash of +lightning. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +THE HOTEL MARS AND ITS OWNER. + + +It was between three and four o'clock in the afternoon of the day +succeeding the night of my arrival in Paris, when I found myself +standing at the door of the Hotel Mars, Champs Elysees. I had proved +the Pension kept by Madame Denise to be everything that could be +desired; and on my presentation of Raffaello Cellini's card of +introduction, I had been welcomed by the maitresse de la maison with +a cordial effusiveness that amounted almost to enthusiasm. + +"Ce cher Cellini!" the cheery and pleasant little woman had +exclaimed, as she set before me a deliciously prepared breakfast. +"Je l'aime tant! Il a si bon coeur! et ses beaux yeux! Mon Dieu, +comme un ange!" + +As soon as I had settled the various little details respecting my +room and attendance, and had changed my travelling-dress for a quiet +visiting toilette, I started for the abode of Heliobas. + +The weather was very cold; I had left the summer behind me at +Cannes, to find winter reigning supreme in Paris. A bitter east wind +blew, and a few flakes of snow fell now and then from the frowning +sky. The house to which I betook myself was situated at a commanding +corner of a road facing the Champs Elysees. It was a noble-looking +building. The broad steps leading to the entrance were guarded on +either side by a sculptured Sphinx, each of whom held, in its +massive stone paws, a plain shield, inscribed with the old Roman +greeting to strangers, "Salve!" Over the portico was designed a +scroll which bore the name "Hotel Mars" in clearly cut capitals, and +the monogram "C. H." + +I ascended the steps with some hesitation, and twice I extended my +hand towards the bell, desiring yet fearing to awaken its summons. I +noticed it was an electric bell, not needing to be pulled but +pressed; and at last, after many doubts and anxious suppositions, I +very gently laid my fingers on the little button which formed its +handle. Scarcely had I done this than the great door slid open +rapidly without the least noise. I looked for the servant in +attendance--there was none. I paused an instant; the door remained +invitingly open, and through it I caught a glimpse of flowers. +Resolving to be bold, and to hesitate no longer, I entered. As I +crossed the threshold, the door closed behind me instantly with its +previous swiftness and silence. + +I found myself in a spacious hall, light and lofty, surrounded with +fluted pillars of white marble. In the centre a fountain bubbled +melodiously, and tossed up every now and then a high jet of +sparkling spray, while round its basin grew the rarest ferns and +exotics, which emitted a subtle and delicate perfume. No cold air +penetrated here; it was as warm and balmy as a spring day in +Southern Italy. Light Indian bamboo chairs provided with luxurious +velvet cushions were placed in various corners between the marble +columns, and on one of these I seated myself to rest a minute, +wondering what I should do next, and whether anyone would come to +ask me the cause of my intrusion. My meditations were soon put to +flight by the appearance of a young lad, who crossed the hall from +the left-hand side and approached me. He was a handsome boy of +twelve or thirteen years of age, and he was attired in a simple +Greek costume of white linen, relieved with a broad crimson silk +sash. A small flat crimson cap rested on his thick black curls; this +he lifted with deferential grace, and, saluting me, said +respectfully: + +"My master is ready to receive you, mademoiselle." + +I rose without a word and followed him, scarcely permitting myself +to speculate as to how his master knew I was there at all. + +The hall was soon traversed, and the lad paused before a magnificent +curtain of deep crimson velvet, heavily bordered with gold. Pulling +a twisted cord that hung beside it, the heavy, regal folds parted in +twain with noiseless regularity, and displayed an octagon room, so +exquisitely designed and ornamented that I gazed upon it as upon +some rare and beautiful picture. It was unoccupied, and my young +escort placed a chair for me near the central window, informing me +as he did so that "Monsieur le Comte" would be with me instantly; +whereupon he departed. + +Left alone, I gazed in bewilderment at the loveliness round me. The +walls and ceiling were painted in fresco. I could not make out the +subjects, but I could see faces of surpassing beauty smiling from +clouds, and peering between stars and crescents. The furniture +appeared to be of very ancient Arabian design; each chair was a +perfect masterpiece of wood-carving, picked out and inlaid with +gold. The sight of a semi-grand piano, which stood open, brought me +back to the realization that I was living in modern times, and not +in a dream of the Arabian Nights; while the Paris Figaro and the +London Times--both of that day's issue--lying on a side-table, +demonstrated the nineteenth century to me with every possible +clearness. There were flowers everywhere in this apartment--in +graceful vases and in gilded osier baskets--and a queer lop-sided +Oriental jar stood quite near me, filled almost to overflowing with +Neapolitan violets. Yet it was winter in Paris, and flowers were +rare and costly. + +Looking about me, I perceived an excellent cabinet photograph of +Raffaello Cellini, framed in antique silver; and I rose to examine +it more closely, as being the face of a friend. While I looked at +it, I heard the sound of an organ in the distance playing softly an +old familiar church chant. I listened. Suddenly I bethought myself +of the three dreams that had visited me, and a kind of nervous dread +came upon me. This Heliobas,--was I right after all in coming to +consult him? Was he not perhaps a mere charlatan? and might not his +experiments upon me prove fruitless, and possibly fatal? An idea +seized me that I would escape while there was yet time. Yes! ... I +would not see him to-day, at any rate; I would write and explain. +These and other disjointed thoughts crossed my mind; and yielding to +the unreasoning impulse of fear that possessed me, I actually turned +to leave the room, when I saw the crimson velvet portiere dividing +again in its regular and graceful folds, and Heliobas himself +entered. + +I stood mute and motionless. I knew him well; he was the very man I +had seen in my third and last dream; the same noble, calm features; +the same commanding presence; the same keen, clear eyes; the same +compelling smile. There was nothing extraordinary about his +appearance except his stately bearing and handsome countenance; his +dress was that of any well-to-do gentleman of the present day, and +there was no affectation of mystery in his manner. He advanced and +bowed courteously; then, with a friendly look, held out his hand. I +gave him mine at once. + +"So you are the young musician?" he said, in those warm mellifluous +accents that I had heard before and that I so well remembered. "My +friend Raffaello Cellini has written to me about you. I hear you +have been suffering from physical depression?" + +He spoke as any physician might do who inquired after a patient's +health. I was surprised and relieved. I had prepared myself for +something darkly mystical, almost cabalistic; but there was nothing +unusual in the demeanour of this pleasant and good-looking gentleman +who, bidding me be seated, took a chair himself opposite to me, and +observed me with that sympathetic and kindly interest which any +well-bred doctor would esteem it his duty to exhibit. I became quite +at ease, and answered all his questions fully and frankly. He felt +my pulse in the customary way, and studied my face attentively. I +described all my symptoms, and he listened with the utmost patience. +When I had concluded, he leaned back in his chair and appeared to +ponder deeply for some moments. Then he spoke. + +"You know, of course, that I am not a doctor?" + +"I know," I said; "Signer Cellini explained to me." + +"Ah!" and Heliobas smiled. "Raffaello explained as much as he might; +but not everything. I must tell you I have a simple pharmacopoeia of +my own--it contains twelve remedies, and only twelve. In fact there +me no more that are of any use to the human mechanism. All are made +of the juice of plants, and six of them are electric. Raffaello +tried you with one of them, did he not?" + +As he put this question, I was aware of a keenly inquiring look sent +from the eyes of my interrogator into mine. + +"Yes," I answered frankly, "and it made me dream, and I dreamt of +YOU." + +Heliobas laughed lightly. + +"So!--that is well. Now I am going in the first place to give you +what I am sure will be satisfactory information. If you agree to +trust yourself to my care, you will be in perfect health in a little +less than a fortnight--but you must follow my rules exactly." + +I started up from my seat. + +"Of course!" I exclaimed eagerly, forgetting all my previous fear of +him; "I will do all you advise, even if you wish to magnetize me as +you magnetized Signor Cellini!" + +"I never MAGNETIZED Raffaello," he said gravely; "he was on the +verge of madness, and he had no faith whereby to save himself. I +simply set him free for a time, knowing that his was a genius which +would find out things for itself or perish in the effort. I let him +go on a voyage of discovery, and he came back perfectly satisfied. +That is all. You do not need his experience." + +"How do you know?" I asked. + +"You are a woman--your desire is to be well and strong, health being +beauty--to love and to be beloved--to wear pretty toilettes and to +be admired; and you have a creed which satisfies you, and which you +believe in without proofs." + +There was the slightest possible tinge of mockery in his voice as +he said these words. A tumultuous rush of feelings overcame me. My +high dreams of ambition, my innate scorn of the trite and +commonplace, my deep love of art, my desires of fame--all these +things bore down upon my heart and overcame it, and a pride too deep +for tears arose in me and found utterance. + +"You think I am so slight and weak a thing!" I exclaimed. "YOU, who +profess to understand the secrets of electricity--you have no better +instinctive knowledge of me than that! Do you deem women all alike-- +all on one common level, fit for nothing but to be the toys or +drudges of men? Can you not realize that there are some among them +who despise the inanities of everyday life--who care nothing for the +routine of society, and whose hearts are filled with cravings that +no mere human love or life can satisfy? Yes--even weak women are +capable of greatness; and if we do sometimes dream of what we cannot +accomplish through lack of the physical force necessary for large +achievements, that is not our fault but our misfortune. We did not +create ourselves. We did not ask to be born with the over- +sensitiveness, the fatal delicacy, the highly-strung nervousness of +the feminine nature. Monsieur Heliobas, you are a learned and far- +seeing man, I have no doubt; but you do not read me aright if you +judge me as a mere woman who is perfectly contented with the petty +commonplaces of ordinary living. And as for my creed, what is it to +you whether I kneel in the silence of my own room or in the glory of +a lighted cathedral to pour out my very soul to ONE whom I know +exists, and whom I am satisfied to believe in, as you say, without +proofs, save such proofs as I obtain from my own inner +consciousness? I tell you, though, in your opinion it is evident my +sex is against me, I would rather die than sink into the miserable +nonentity of such lives as are lived by the majority of women." + +I paused, overcome by my own feelings. Heliobas smiled. + +"So! You are stung!" he said quietly; "stung into action. That is as +it should be. Resume your seat, mademoiselle, and do not be angry +with me. I am studying you for your own good. In the meantime permit +me to analyze your words a little. You are young and inexperienced. +You speak of the 'over-sensitiveness, the fatal delicacy, the +highly-strung nervousness of the feminine nature.' My dear lady, if +you had lived as long as I have, you would know that these are mere +stock phrases--for the most part meaningless. As a rule, women are +less sensitive than men. There are many of your sex who are nothing +but lumps of lymph and fatty matter--women with less instinct than +the dumb beasts, and with more brutality. There are others who,-- +adding the low cunning of the monkey to the vanity of the peacock,-- +seek no other object but the furtherance of their own designs, which +are always petty even when not absolutely mean. There are obese +women whose existence is a doze between dinner and tea. There are +women with thin lips and pointed noses, who only live to squabble +over domestic grievances and interfere in their neighbours' +business. There are your murderous women with large almond eyes, +fair white hands, and voluptuous red lips, who, deprived of the +dagger or the poison-bowl, will slay a reputation in a few lazily +enunciated words, delivered with a perfectly high-bred accent. There +are the miserly woman, who look after cheese-parings and candle- +ends, and lock up the soap. There are the spiteful women whose very +breath is acidity and venom. There are the frivolous women whose +chitter-chatter and senseless giggle are as empty as the rattling of +dry peas on a drum. In fact, the delicacy of women is extremely +overrated--their coarseness is never done full justice to. I have +heard them recite in public selections of a kind that no man would +dare to undertake--such as Tennyson's 'Rizpah,' for instance. I know +a woman who utters every line of it, with all its questionable +allusions, boldly before any and everybody, without so much as an +attempt at blushing. I assure you men are far more delicate than +women--far more chivalrous--far larger in their views, and more +generous in their sentiments. But I will not deny the existence of +about four women in every two hundred and fifty, who may be, and +possibly are, examples of what the female sex was originally +intended to be--pure-hearted, self-denying, gentle and truthful-- +filled with tenderness and inspiration. Heaven knows my own mother +was all this and more! And my sister is--. But let me speak to you +of yourself. You love music, I understand--you are a professional +artist?" + +"I was," I answered, "till my state of health stopped me from +working." + +Heliobas bent his eyes upon me in friendly sympathy. + +"You were, and you will be again, an improvisatrice" he went on. "Do +you not find it difficult to make your audiences understand your +aims?" + +I smiled as the remembrance of some of my experiences in public came +to my mind. + +"Yes," I said, half laughing. "In England, at least, people do not +know what is meant by IMPROVISING. They think it is to take a little +theme and compose variations on it--the mere ABC of the art. But to +sit down to the piano and plan a whole sonata or symphony in your +head, and play it while planning it, is a thing they do not and will +not understand. They come to hear, and they wonder and go away, and +the critics declare it to be CLAP-TRAP." + +"Exactly!" replied Heliobas. "But you are to be congratulated on +having attained this verdict. Everything that people cannot quite +understand is called CLAP-TRAP in England; as for instance the +matchless violin-playing of Sarasate; the tempestuous splendor of +Rubinstein; the wailing throb of passion in Hollmann's violoncello-- +this is, according to the London press, CLAP-TRAP; while the coldly +correct performances of Joachim and the 'icily-null' renderings of +Charles Halle are voted 'magnificent' and 'full of colour.' But to +return to yourself. Will you play to me?" + +"I have not touched the instrument for two months," I said; "I am +afraid I am out of practice." + +"Then you shall not exert yourself to-day," returned Heliobas +kindly. "But I believe I can help you with your improvisations. You +compose the music as you play, you tell me. Well, have you any idea +how the melodies or the harmonies form themselves in your brain?" + +"Not the least in the world," I replied. + +"Is the act of thinking them out an effort to you?" he asked. + +"Not at all. They come as though someone else were planning them for +me." + +"Well, well! I think I can certainly be of use to you in this matter +as in others. I understand your temperament thoroughly. And now let +me give you my first prescription." + +He went to a corner of the room and lifted from the floor an ebony +casket, curiously carved and ornamented with silver. This he +unlocked. It contained twelve flasks of cut glass, stoppered with +gold and numbered in order. He next pulled out a side drawer in this +casket, and in it I saw several little thin empty glass tubes, about +the size of a cigarette-holder. Taking two of these he filled them +from two of the larger flasks, corked them tightly, and then turning +to me, said: + +"To-night, on going to bed, have a warm bath, empty the contents of +the tube marked No. 1 into it, and then immerse yourself thoroughly +for about five minutes. After the bath, put the fluid in this other +tube marked 2, into a tumbler of fresh spring water, and drink it +off. Then go straight to bed." + +"Shall I have any dreams?" I inquired with a little anxiety. + +"Certainly not," replied Heliobas, smiling. "I wish you to sleep as +soundly as a year-old child. Dreams are not for you to-night. Can +you come to me tomorrow afternoon at five o'clock? If you can +arrange to stay to dinner, my sister will be pleased to meet you; +but perhaps you are otherwise engaged?" + +I told him I was not, and explained where I had taken rooms, adding +that I had come to Paris expressly to put myself under his +treatment. + +"You shall have no cause to regret this journey," he said earnestly. +"I can cure you thoroughly, and I will. I forget your nationality-- +you are not English?" + +"No, not entirely. I am half Italian." + +"Ah, yes! I remember now. But you have been educated in England?" + +"Partly." + +"I am glad it is only partly," remarked Heliobas. "If it had been +entirely, your improvisations would have had no chance. In fact you +never would have improvised. You would have played the piano like +poor mechanical Arabella Goddard. As it is, there is some hope of +originality in you--you need not be one of the rank and file unless +you choose." + +"I do not choose," I said. + +"Well, but you must take the consequences, and they are bitter. A +woman who does not go with her time is voted eccentric; a woman who +prefers music to tea and scandal is an undesirable acquaintance; and +a woman who prefers Byron to Austin Dobson is--in fact, no measure +can gauge her general impossibility!" I laughed gaily. "I will take +all the consequences as willingly as I will take your medicines," I +said, stretching out my hand for the little vases which he gave me +wrapped in paper. "And I thank you very much, monsieur. And"--here I +hesitated. Ought I not to ask him his fee? Surely the medicines +ought to be paid for? + +Heliobas appeared to read my thoughts, for he said, as though +answering my unuttered question: + +"I do not accept fees, mademoiselle. To relieve your mind from any +responsibility of gratitude to me, I will tell you at once that I +never promise to effect a cure unless I see that the person who +comes to be cured has a certain connection with myself. If the +connection exists I am bound by fixed laws to serve him or her. Of +course I am able also to cure those who are NOT by nature connected +with me; but then I have to ESTABLISH a connection, and this takes +time, and is sometimes very difficult to accomplish, almost as +tremendous a task as the laying down of the Atlantic cable. But in +your case I am actually COMPELLED to do my best for you, so you need +be under no sense of obligation." + +Here was a strange speech--the first really inexplicable one I had +heard from his lips. + +"I am connected with you?" I asked, surprised. "How? In what way?" + +"It would take too long to explain to you just now," said Heliobas +gently; "but I can prove to you in a moment that a connection DOES +exist between YOUR inner self, and MY inner self, if you wish it." + +"I do wish it very much," I answered. + +"Then take my hand," continued Heliobas, stretching it out, "and +look steadily at me." + +I obeyed, half trembling. As I gazed, a veil appeared to fall from +my eyes. A sense of security, of comfort, and of absolute confidence +came upon me, and I saw what might be termed THE IMAGE OF ANOTHER +FACE looking at me THROUGH or BEHIND the actual form and face of +Heliobas. And that other face was his, and yet not his; but whatever +it appeared to be, it was the face of a friend to ME, one that I was +certain I had known long, long ago, and moreover one that I must +have loved in some distant time, for my whole soul seemed to yearn +towards that indistinct haze where smiled the fully recognised yet +unfamiliar countenance. This strange sensation lasted but a few +seconds, for Heliobas suddenly dropped my hand. The room swam round +me; the walls seemed to rock; then everything steadied and came +right again, and all was as usual, only I was amazed and bewildered. + +"What does it mean?" I murmured. + +"It means the simplest thing in nature," replied Heliobas quietly, +"namely, that your soul and mine are for some reason or other placed +on the same circle of electricity. Nothing more nor less. Therefore +we must serve each other. Whatever I do for you, you have it in your +power to repay me amply for hereafter." + +I met the steady glance of his keen eyes, and a sense of some +indestructible force within me gave me a sudden courage. + +"Decide for me as you please," I answered fearlessly. "I trust you +completely, though I do not know why I do so." + +"You will know before long. You are satisfied of the fact that my +touch can influence you?" + +"Yes; most thoroughly." + +"Very well. All other explanations, if you desire them, shall be +given you in due time. In the power I possess over you and some +others, there is neither mesmerism nor magnetism--nothing but a +purely scientific fact which can be clearly and reasonably proved +and demonstrated. But till you are thoroughly restored to health, we +will defer all discussion. And now, mademoiselle, permit me to +escort you to the door. I shall expect you to-morrow." + +Together we left the beautiful room in which this interview had +taken place, and crossed the hall. As we approached the entrance, +Heliobas turned towards me and said with a smile: + +"Did not the manoeuvres of my street-door astonish you?" + +"A little," I confessed. + +"It is very simple. The button you touch outside is electric; it +opens the door and at the same time rings the bell in my study, thus +informing me of a visitor. When the visitor steps across the +threshold he treads, whether he will or no, on another apparatus, +which closes the door behind him and rings another bell in my page's +room, who immediately comes to me for orders. You see how easy? And +from within it is managed in almost the same manner." + +And he touched a handle similar to the one outside, and the door +opened instantly. Heliobas held out his hand--that hand which a few +minutes previously had exercised such strange authority over me. + +"Good-bye, mademoiselle. You are not afraid of me now?" + +I laughed. "I do not think I was ever really afraid of you," I said. +"If I was, I am not so any longer. You have promised me health, and +that promise is sufficient to give me entire courage." + +"That is well," said Heliobas. "Courage and hope in themselves are +the precursors of physical and mental energy. Remember to-morrow at +five, and do not keep late hours to-night. I should advise you to be +in bed by ten at the latest." + +I agreed to this, and we shook hands and parted. I walked blithely +along, back to the Avenue du Midi, where, on my arrival indoors, I +found a letter from Mrs. Everard. She wrote "in haste" to give me +the names of some friends of hers whom she had discovered, through +the "American Register," to be staying at the Grand Hotel. She +begged me to call upon them, and enclosed two letters of +introduction for the purpose. She concluded her epistle by saying: + +"Raffaello Cellini has been invisible ever since your departure, but +our inimitable waiter, Alphonse, says he is very busy finishing a +picture for the Salon--something that we have never seen. I shall +intrude myself into his studio soon on some pretence or other, and +will then let you know all about it. In the meantime, believe me, + +"Your ever devoted friend, AMY." + +I answered this letter, and then spent a pleasant evening at the +Pension, chatting sociably with Madame Denise and another cheery +little Frenchwoman, a day governess, who boarded there, and who had +no end of droll experiences to relate, her enviable temperament +being to always see the humorous side of life. I thoroughly enjoyed +her sparkling chatter and her expressive gesticulations, and we all +three made ourselves merry till bedtime. Acting on the advice of +Heliobas, I retired early to my room, where a warm bath had been +prepared in compliance with my orders. I uncorked the glass tube No. +1, and poured the colourless fluid it contained into the water, +which immediately bubbled gently, as though beginning to boil. After +watching it for a minute or two, and observing that this seething +movement steadily continued, I undressed quickly and stepped in. +Never shall I forget the exquisite sensation I experienced! I can +only describe it as the poor little Doll's Dressmaker in "Our Mutual +Friend" described her angel visitants, her "blessed children," who +used to come and "take her up and make her light." If my body had +been composed of no grosser matter than fire and air, I could not +have felt more weightless, more buoyant, more thoroughly exhilarated +than when, at the end of the prescribed five minutes, I got out of +that marvellous bath of healing! As I prepared for bed, I noticed +that the bubbling of the water had entirely ceased; but this was +easy of comprehension, for if it had contained electricity, as I +supposed, my body had absorbed it by contact, which would account +for the movement being stilled. I now took the second little phial, +and prepared it as I had been told. This time the fluid was +motionless. I noticed it was very faintly tinged with amber. I drank +it off--it was perfectly tasteless. Once in bed, I seemed to have no +power to think any more--my eyes closed readily--the slumber of a +year-old child, as Heliobas had said, came upon me with resistless +and sudden force, and I remembered no more. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +ZARA AND PRINCE IVAN. + + +The sun poured brilliantly into my room when I awoke the next +morning. I was free from all my customary aches and pains, and a +delightful sense of vigour and elasticity pervaded my frame. I rose +at once, and, looking at my watch, found to my amazement that it was +twelve o'clock in the day! Hastily throwing on my dressing-gown, I +rang the bell, and the servant appeared. + +"Is it actually mid-day?" I asked her. "Why did you not call me?" + +The girl smiled apologetically. + +"I did knock at mademoiselle's door, but she gave me no answer. +Madame Denise came up also, and entered the room; but seeing +mademoiselle in so sound a sleep, she said it was a pity to disturb +mademoiselle." + +Which statement good Madame Denise, toiling upstairs just then with +difficulty, she being stout and short of breath, confirmed with many +smiling nods of her head. + +"Breakfast shall be served at the instant," she said, rubbing her +fat hands together; "but to disturb you when you slept--ah, Heaven! +the sleep of an infant--I could not do it! I should have been +wicked!" + +I thanked her for her care of me; I could have kissed her, she +looked so motherly, and kind, and altogether lovable. And I felt so +merry and well! She and the servant retired to prepare my coffee, +and I proceeded to make my toilette. As I brushed out my hair I +heard the sound of a violin. Someone was playing next door. I +listened, and recognised a famous Beethoven Concerto. The unseen +musician played brilliantly and withal tenderly, both touch and tone +reminding me of some beautiful verses in a book of poems I had +recently read, called "Love-Letters of a Violinist," in which the +poet [FOOTNOTE: Author of the equally beautiful idyl, "Gladys the +Singer," included in the new American copyright edition just +issued.] talks of his "loved Amati," and says: "I prayed my +prayer. I wove into my song + + Fervour, and joy, and mystery, and the bleak, + The wan despair that words could never speak. + I prayed as if my spirit did belong + To some old master who was wise and strong, + Because he lov'd and suffered, and was weak. + + "I trill'd the notes, and curb'd them to a sigh, + And when they falter'd most, I made them leap + Fierce from my bow, as from a summer sleep + A young she-devil. I was fired thereby + To bolder efforts--and a muffled cry + Came from the strings as if a saint did weep. + + "I changed the theme. I dallied with the bow + Just time enough to fit it to a mesh + Of merry tones, and drew it back afresh, + To talk of truth, and constancy, and woe, + And life, and love, and madness, and the glow + Of mine own soul which burns into my flesh." + +All my love for music welled freshly up in my heart; I, who had felt +disinclined to touch the piano for months, now longed to try my +strength again upon the familiar and responsive key-board. For a +piano has never been a mere piano to me; it is a friend who answers +to my thought, and whose notes meet my fingers with caressing +readiness and obedience. + +Breakfast came, and I took it with great relish. Then, to pass the +day, I went out and called on Mrs. Everard's friends, Mr. and Mrs. +Challoner and their daughters. I found them very agreeable, with +that easy bonhomie and lack of stiffness that distinguishes the best +Americans. Finding out through Mrs. Everard's letter that I was an +"artiste" they at once concluded I must need support and patronage, +and with impulsive large-heartedness were beginning to plan as to +the best means of organizing a concert for me. I was taken by +surprise at this, for I had generally found the exact reverse of +this sympathy among English patrons of art, who were never tired of +murmuring the usual platitudes about there being "so many +musicians," "music was overdone," "improvising was not understood or +cared for," etc., etc. + +But these agreeable Americans, as soon as they discovered that I had +not come for any professional reason to Paris, but only to consult a +physician about my health, were actually disappointed. + +"Oh, we shall persuade you to give a recital some time!" persisted +the handsome smiling mother of the family. "I know lots of people in +Paris. We'll get it up for you!" + +I protested, half laughing, that I had no idea of the kind, but they +were incorrigibly generous. + +"Nonsense!" said Mrs. Challoner, arranging her diamond rings on her +pretty white hand with pardonable pride. "Brains don't go for +nothing in OUR country. As soon as you are fixed up in health, we'll +give you a grand soiree in Paris, and we'll work up all our folks in +the place. Don't tell me you are not as glad of dollars as any one +of us." + +"Dollars are very good," I admitted, "but real appreciation is far +better." + +"Well, you shall have both from us," said Mrs. Challoner. "And now, +will you stop to luncheon?" + +I accepted this invitation, given as it was with the most friendly +affability, and enjoyed myself very much. + +"You don't look ill," said the eldest Miss Challoner to me, later +on. "I don't see that you want a physician." + +"Oh, I am getting much better now," I replied; "and I hope soon to +be quite well." + +"Who's your doctor?" + +I hesitated. Somehow the name of Heliobas would not come to my lips. +Fortunately Mrs. Challoner diverted her daughter's attention at this +moment by the announcement that a dressmaker was waiting to see her; +and in the face of such an important visit, no one remembered to ask +me again the name of my medical adviser. + +I left the Grand Hotel in good time to prepare for my second visit +to Heliobas. As I was going there to dinner I made a slightly dressy +toilette, if a black silk robe relieved with a cluster of pale pink +roses can be called dressy. This time I drove to the Hotel Mars, +dismissing the coachman, however, before ascending the steps. The +door opened and closed as usual, and the first person I saw in the +hall was Heliobas himself, seated in one of the easy-chairs, reading +a volume of Plato. He rose and greeted me cordially. Before I could +speak a word, he said: + +"You need not tell me that you slept well. I see it in your eyes and +face. You feel better?" + +My gratitude to him was so great that I found it difficult to +express my thanks. Tears rushed to my eyes, yet I tried to smile, +though I could not speak. He saw my emotion, and continued kindly: + +"I am as thankful as you can be for the cure which I see has begun, +and will soon be effected. My sister is waiting to see you. Will you +come to her room?" + +We ascended a flight of stairs thickly carpeted, and bordered on +each side by tropical ferns and flowers, placed in exquisitely +painted china pots and vases. I heard the distant singing of many +birds mingled with the ripple and plash of waters. We reached a +landing where the afterglow of the set sun streamed through a high +oriel window of richly stained glass. Turning towards the left, +Heliobas drew aside the folds of some azure satin hangings, and +calling in a low voice "Zara!" motioned me to enter. I stepped into +a spacious and lofty apartment where the light seemed to soften and +merge into many shades of opaline radiance and delicacy--a room the +beauty of which would at any other time have astonished and +delighted me, but which now appeared as nothing beside the +surpassing loveliness of the woman who occupied it. Never shall I +behold again any face or form so divinely beautiful! She was about +the medium height of women, but her small finely-shaped head was set +upon so slender and proud a throat that she appeared taller than she +actually was. Her figure was most exquisitely rounded and +proportioned, and she came across the room to give me greeting with +a sort of gliding graceful movement, like that of a stately swan +floating on calm sunlit water. Her complexion was transparently +clear--most purely white, most delicately rosy, Her eyes--large, +luminous and dark as night, fringed with long silky black lashes-- +looked like + + "Fairy lakes, where tender thoughts + Swam softly to and fro." + +Her rich black hair was arranged a la Marguerite, and hung down in +one long loose thick braid that nearly reached the end of her dress, +and she was attired in a robe of deep old gold Indian silk as soft +as cashmere, which was gathered in round her waist by an antique +belt of curious jewel-work, in which rubies and turquoises seemed to +be thickly studded. On her bosom shone a strange gem, the colour and +form of which I could not determine. It was never the same for two +minutes together. It glowed with many various hues--now bright +crimson, now lightning-blue, sometimes deepening into a rich purple +or tawny orange. Its lustre was intense, almost dazzling to the eye. +Its beautiful wearer gave me welcome with a radiant smile and a few +cordial words, and drawing me by the hand to the low couch she had +just vacated, made me sit down beside her. Heliobas had disappeared. + +"And so," said Zara--how soft and full of music was her voice!--"so +you are one of Casimir's patients? I cannot help considering that +you are fortunate in this, for I know my brother's power. If he says +he will cure you, you may be sure he means it. And you are already +better, are you not?" + +"Much better," I said, looking earnestly into the lovely star-like +eyes that regarded me with such interest and friendliness. "Indeed, +to-day I have felt so well, that I cannot realize ever having been +ill." + +"I am very glad," said Zara, "I know you are a musician, and I think +there can be no bitterer fate than for one belonging to your art to +be incapacitated from performance of work by some physical obstacle. +Poor grand old Beethoven! Can anything be more pitiful to think of +than his deafness? Yet how splendidly he bore up against it! And +Chopin, too--so delicate in health that he was too often morbid even +in his music. Strength is needed to accomplish great things--the +double strength of body and soul." + +"Are you, too, a musician?" I inquired. + +"No. I love music passionately, and I play a little on the organ in +our private chapel; but I follow a different art altogether. I am a +mere imitator of noble form--I am a sculptress." + +"You?" I said in some wonder, looking at the very small, beautifully +formed white hand that lay passively on the edge of the couch beside +me. "You make statues in marble like Michael Angelo?" + +"Like Angelo?" murmured Zara; and she lowered her brilliant eyes +with a reverential gravity. "No one in these modern days can +approach the immortal splendour of that great master. He must have +known heroes and talked with gods to be able to hew out of the rocks +such perfection of shape and attitude as his 'David.' Alas! my +strength of brain and hand is mere child's play compared to what HAS +been done in sculpture, and what WILL yet be done; still, I love the +work for its own sake, and I am always trying to render a +resemblance of--" + +Here she broke off abruptly, and a deep blush suffused her cheeks. +Then, looking up suddenly, she took my hand impulsively, and pressed +it. + +"Be my friend," she said, with a caressing inflection in her rich +voice, "I have no friends of my own sex, and I wish to love you. My +brother has always had so much distrust of the companionship of +women for me. You know his theories; and he has always asserted that +the sphere of thought in which I have lived all my life is so widely +apart from those in which other women exist--that nothing but +unhappiness for me could come out of associating us together. When +he told me yesterday that you were coming to see me to-day, I knew +he must have discovered something in your nature that was not +antipathetic to mine; otherwise he would not have brought you to me. +Do you think you can like me?--perhaps LOVE me after a little +while?" + +It would have been a cold heart indeed that would not have responded +to such a speech as this, uttered with the pleading prettiness of a +loving child. Besides, I had warmed to her from the first moment I +had touched her hand; and I was overjoyed to think that she was +willing to elect me as a friend. I therefore replied to her words by +putting my arm affectionately round her waist and kissing her. My +beautiful, tender Zara! How innocently happy she seemed to be thus +embraced! and how gently her fragrant lips met mine in that sisterly +caress! She leaned her dark head for a moment on my shoulder, and +the mysterious jewel on her breast flashed into a weird red hue like +the light of a stormy sunset. + +"And now we have drawn up, signed, and sealed our compact of +friendship," she said gaily, "will you come and see my studio? There +is nothing in it that deserves to last, I think; still, one has +patience with a child when he builds his brick houses, and you must +have equal patience with me. Come!" + +And she led the way through her lovely room, which I now noticed was +full of delicate statuary, fine paintings, and exquisite embroidery, +while flowers were everywhere in abundance. Lifting the hangings at +the farther end of the apartment, she passed, I following, into a +lofty studio, filled with all the appurtenances of the sculptor's +art. Here and there were the usual spectral effects which are always +suggested to the mind by unfinished plaster models--an arm in one +place, a head in another; a torso, or a single hand, protruding +ghost-like from a fold of dark drapery. At the very end of the room +stood a large erect figure, the outlines of which could but dimly be +seen through its linen coverings; and to this work, whatever it was, +Zara did not appear desirous of attracting my attention. She led me +to one particular corner; and, throwing aside a small crimson velvet +curtain, said: + +"This is the last thing I have finished in marble. I call it +'Approaching Evening.'" + +I stood silently before the statue, lost in admiration. I could not +conceive it possible that the fragile little hand of the woman who +stood beside me could have executed such a perfect work. She had +depicted "Evening" as a beautiful nude female figure in the act of +stepping forward on tip-toe; the eyes were half closed, and the +sweet mouth slightly parted in a dreamily serious smile. The right +forefinger was laid lightly on the lips, as though suggesting +silence; and in the left hand was loosely clasped a bunch of +poppies. That was all. But the poetry and force of the whole +conception as carried out in the statue was marvellous. + +"Do you like it?" asked Zara, half timidly. + +"Like it!" I exclaimed. "It is lovely--wonderful! It is worthy to +rank with the finest Italian masterpieces." + +"Oh, no!" remonstrated Zara; "no, indeed! When the great Italian +sculptors lived and worked--ah! one may say with the Scriptures, +'There were giants in those days.' Giants--veritable ones; and we +modernists are the pigmies. We can only see Art now through the eyes +of others who came before us. We cannot create anything new. We look +at painting through Raphael; sculpture through Angelo; poetry +through Shakespeare; philosophy through Plato. It is all done for +us; we are copyists. The world is getting old--how glorious to have +lived when it was young! But nowadays the very children are blase." + +"And you--are not you blase to talk like that, with your genius and +all the world before you?" I asked laughingly, slipping my arm +through hers. "Come, confess!" + +Zara looked at me gravely. + +"I sincerely hope the world is NOT all before me," she said; "I +should be very sorry if I thought so. To have the world all before +you in the general acceptation of that term means to live long, to +barter whatever genius you have for gold, to hear the fulsome and +unmeaning flatteries of the ignorant, who are as ready with +condemnation as praise--to be envied and maligned by those less +lucky than you are. Heaven defend me from such a fate!" + +She spoke with earnestness and solemnity; then, dropping the curtain +before her statue, turned away. I was admiring the vine-wreathed +head of a young Bacchante that stood on a pedestal near me, and was +about to ask Zara what subject she had chosen for the large veiled +figure at the farthest end of her studio, when we were interrupted +by the entrance of the little Greek page whom I had seen on my first +visit to the house. He saluted us both, and addressing himself to +Zara, said: + +"Monsieur le Comte desires me to tell you, madame, that Prince Ivan +will be present at dinner." + +Zara looked somewhat vexed; but the shade of annoyance flitted away +from her fair face like a passing shadow, as she replied quietly: + +"Tell Monsieur le Comte, my brother, that I shall be happy to +receive Prince Ivan." + +The page bowed deferentially and departed. Zara turned round, and I +saw the jewel on her breast flashing with a steely glitter like the +blade of a sharp sword. + +"I do not like Prince Ivan myself," she said; "but he is a +singularly brave and resolute man, and Casimir has some reason for +admitting him to our companionship. Though I greatly doubt if--" +Here a flood of music broke upon our ears like the sound of a +distant orchestra. Zara looked at me and smiled. "Dinner is ready!" +she announced; "but you must not imagine that we keep a band to play +us to our table in triumph. It is simply a musical instrument worked +by electricity that imitates the orchestra; both Casimir and I +prefer it to a gong!" + +And slipping her arm affectionately through mine, she drew me from +the studio into the passage, and together we went down the staircase +into a large dining-room, rich with oil-paintings and carved oak, +where Heliobas awaited us. Close by him stood another gentleman, who +was introduced to me as Prince Ivan Petroffsky. He was a fine- +looking, handsome-featured young man, of about thirty, tall and +broad-shouldered, though beside the commanding stature of Heliobas, +his figure did not show to so much advantage as it might have done +beside a less imposing contrast. He bowed to me with easy and +courteous grace; but his deeply reverential salute to Zara had +something in it of that humility which a slave might render to a +queen. She bent her head slightly in answer, and still holding me by +the hand, moved to her seat at the bottom of the table, while her +brother took the head. My seat was at the right hand of Heliobas, +Prince Ivan's at the left, so that we directly faced each other. + +There were two men-servants in attendance, dressed in dark livery, +who waited upon us with noiseless alacrity. The dinner was +exceedingly choice; there was nothing coarse or vulgar in the +dishes--no great heavy joints swimming in thin gravy a la Anglaise; +no tureens of unpalatable sauce; no clumsy decanters filled with +burning sherry or drowsy port. The table itself was laid out in the +most perfect taste, with the finest Venetian glass and old Dresden +ware, in which tempting fruits gleamed amid clusters of glossy dark +leaves. Flowers in tall vases bloomed wherever they could be placed +effectively; and in the centre of the board a small fountain played, +tinkling as it rose and fell like a very faintly echoing fairy +chime. The wines that were served to us were most delicious, though +their flavour was quite unknown to me--one in especial, of a pale +pink colour, that sparkled slightly as it was poured into my glass, +seemed to me a kind of nectar of the gods, so soft it was to the +palate. The conversation, at first somewhat desultory, grew more +concentrated as the time went on, though Zara spoke little and +seemed absorbed in her own thoughts more than once. The Prince, +warmed with the wine and the general good cheer, became witty and +amusing in his conversation; he was a man who had evidently seen a +good deal of the world, and who was accustomed to take everything in +life a la bagatelle. He told us gay stories of his life in St. +Petersburg; of the pranks he had played in the Florentine Carnival; +of his journey to the American States, and his narrow escape from +the matrimonial clutches of a Boston heiress. + +Heliobas listened to him with a sort of indulgent kindness, only +smiling now and then at the preposterous puns the young man would +insist on making at every opportunity that presented itself. + +"You are a lucky fellow, Ivan," he said at last. "You like the good +things of life, and you have got them all without any trouble on +your own part. You are one of those men who have absolutely nothing +to wish for." + +Prince Ivan frowned and pulled his dark moustache with no very +satisfied air. + +"I am not so sure about that," he returned. "No one is contented in +this world, I believe. There is always something left to desire, and +the last thing longed for always seems the most necessary to +happiness." + +"The truest philosophy," said Heliobas, "is not to long for anything +in particular, but to accept everything as it comes, and find out +the reason of its coming." + +"What do you mean by 'the reason of its coming'?" questioned Prince +Ivan. "Do you know, Casimir, I find you sometimes as puzzling as +Socrates." + +"Socrates?--Socrates was as clear as a drop of morning dew, my dear +fellow," replied Heliobas. "There was nothing puzzling about him. +His remarks were all true and trenchant--hitting smartly home to the +heart like daggers plunged down to the hilt. That was the worst of +him--he was too clear--too honest--too disdainful of opinions. +Society does not love such men. What do I mean, you ask, by +accepting everything as it comes, and trying to find out the reason +of its coming? Why, I mean what I say. Each circumstance that +happens to each one of us brings its own special lesson and meaning +--forms a link or part of a link in the chain of our existence. It +seems nothing to you that you walk down a particular street at a +particular hour, and yet that slight action of yours may lead to a +result you wot not of. 'Accept the hint of each new experience,' +says the American imitator of Plato--Emerson. If this advice is +faithfully followed, we all have enough to occupy us busily from the +cradle to the grave." + +Prince Ivan looked at Zara, who sat quietly thoughtful, only lifting +her bright eyes now and then to glance at her brother as he spoke. + +"I tell you," he said, with sudden moroseness, "there are some hints +that we cannot accept--some circumstances that we must not yield to. +Why should a man, for instance, be subjected to an undeserved and +bitter disappointment?" + +"Because," said Zara, joining in the conversation for the first +time, "he has most likely desired what he is not fated to obtain." + +The Prince bit his lips, and gave a forced laugh. + +"I know, madame, you are against me in all our arguments," he +observed, with some bitterness in his tone. "As Casimir suggests, I +am a bad philosopher. I do not pretend to more than the ordinary +attributes of an ordinary man; it is fortunate, if I may be +permitted to say so, that the rest of the word's inhabitants are +very like me, for if everyone reached to the sublime heights of +science and knowledge that you and your brother have attained---" + +"The course of human destiny would run out, and Paradise would be an +established fact," laughed Heliobas. "Come, Ivan! You are a true +Epicurean. Have some more wine, and a truce to discussions for the +present." And, beckoning to one of the servants, he ordered the +Prince's glass to be refilled. + +Dessert was now served, and luscious fruits in profusion, including +peaches, bananas, plantains, green figs, melons, pine-apples, and +magnificent grapes, were offered for our choice. As I made a +selection for my own plate, I became aware of something soft rubbing +itself gently against my dress; and looking down, I saw the noble +head and dark intelligent eyes of my old acquaintance Leo, whom I +had last met at Cannes. I gave an exclamation of pleasure, and the +dog, encouraged, stood up and laid a caressing paw on my arm. + +"You know Leo, of course," said Heliobas, turning to me. "He went to +see Raffaello while you were at Cannes. He is a wonderful animal-- +more valuable to me than his weight in gold." + +Prince Ivan, whose transient moodiness had passed away like a bad +devil exorcised by the power of good wine, joined heartily in the +praise bestowed on this four-footed friend of the family. + +"It was really through Leo," he said, "that you were induced to +follow out your experiments in human electricity, Casimir, was it +not?" + +"Yes," replied Heliobas, calling the dog, who went to him +immediately to be fondled. "I should never have been much encouraged +in my researches, had he not been at hand. I feared to +experimentalize much on my sister, she being young at the time--and +women are always frail of construction--but Leo was willing and +ready to be a victim to science, if necessary. Instead of a martyr +he is a living triumph--are you not, old boy?" he continued, +stroking the silky coat of the animal, who responded with a short +low bark of satisfaction. + +My curiosity was much excited by these remarks, and I said eagerly: + +"Will you tell me in what way Leo has been useful to you? I have a +great affection for dogs, and I never tire of hearing stories of +their wonderful intelligence." + +"I will certainly tell you," replied Heliobas. "To some people the +story might appear improbable, but it is perfectly true and at the +same time simple of comprehension. When I was a very young man, +younger than Prince Ivan, I absorbed myself in the study of +electricity--its wonderful powers, and its various capabilities. +From the consideration of electricity in the different forms by +which it is known to civilized Europe, I began to look back through +history, to what are ignorantly called 'the dark ages,' but which +might more justly be termed the enlightened youth of the world. I +found that the force of electricity was well understood by the +ancients--better understood by them, in fact, than it is by the +scientists of our day. The 'MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN' that +glittered in unearthly characters on the wall at Belshazzar's feast, +was written by electricity; and the Chaldean kings and priests +understood a great many secrets of another form of electric force +which the world to-day scoffs at and almost ignores--I mean human +electricity, which we all possess, but which we do not all cultivate +within us. When once I realized the existence of the fact of human +electric force, I applied the discovery to myself, and spared no +pains to foster and educate whatever germ of this power lay within +me. I succeeded with more ease and celerity than I had imagined +possible. At the time I pursued these studies, Leo here was quite a +young dog, full of the clumsy playfulness and untrained ignorance of +a Newfoundland puppy. One day I was very busy reading an interesting +Sanskrit scroll which treated of ancient medicines and remedies, and +Leo was gambolling in his awkward way about the room, playing with +an old slipper and worrying it with his teeth. The noise he made +irritated and disturbed me, and I rose in my chair and called him by +name, somewhat angrily. He paused in his game and looked up--his +eyes met mine exactly. His head drooped; he shivered uneasily, +whined, and lay down motionless. He never stirred once from the +position he had taken, till I gave him permission--and remember, he +was untrained. This strange behaviour led me to try other +experiments with him, and all succeeded. I gradually led him up to +the point I desired--that is, _I_ FORCED HIM TO RECEIVE MY THOUGHT +AND ACT UPON IT, as far as his canine capabilities could do, and he +has never once failed. It is sufficient for me to strongly WILL him +to do a certain thing, and I can convey that command of mine to his +brain without uttering a single word, and he will obey me." + +I suppose I showed surprise and incredulity in my face, for Heliobas +smiled at me and continued: + +"I will put him to the proof at any time you like. If you wish him +to fetch anything that he is physically able to carry, and will +write the name of whatever it is on a slip of paper, just for me to +know what you require, I guarantee Leo's obedience." + +I looked at Zara, and she laughed. + +"It seems like magic to you, does it not?" she said; "but I assure +you it is quite true." + +"I am bound to admit," said Prince Ivan, "that I once doubted both +Leo and his master, but I am quite converted. Here, mademoiselle," +he continued, handing me a leaf from his pocket-book and a pencil-- +"write down something that you want; only don't send the dog to +Italy on an errand just now, as we want him back before we adjourn +to the drawing-room." + +I remembered that I had left an embroidered handkerchief on the +couch in Zara's room, and I wrote this down on the paper, which I +passed to Heliobas. He glanced at it and tore it up. Leo was +indulging himself with a bone under the table, but came instantly to +his master's call. Heliobas took the dog's head between his two +hands, and gazed steadily into the grave brown eyes that regarded +him with equal steadiness. This interchange of looks lasted but a +few seconds. Leo left the room, walking with an unruffled and +dignified pace, while we awaited his return--Heliobas and Zara with +indifference, Prince Ivan with amusement, and I with interest and +expectancy. Two or three minutes elapsed, and the dog returned with +the same majestic demeanour, carrying between his teeth my +handkerchief. He came straight to me and placed it in my hand; shook +himself, wagged his tail, and conveying a perfectly human expression +of satisfaction into his face, went under the table again to his +bone. I was utterly amazed, but at the same time convinced. I had +not seen the dog since my arrival in Paris, and it was impossible +for him to have known where to find my handkerchief, or to recognize +it as being mine, unless through the means Heliobas had explained. + +"Can you command human beings so?" I asked, with a slight tremor of +nervousness. + +"Not all," returned Heliobas quietly. "In fact, I may say, very few. +Those who are on my own circle of power I can, naturally, draw to or +repel from me; but those who are not, have to be treated by +different means. Sometimes cases occur in which persons, at first +NOT on my circle, are irresistibly attracted to it by a force not +mine. Sometimes, in order to perform a cure, I establish a +communication between myself and a totally alien sphere of thought; +and to do this is a long and laborious effort. But it can be done." + +"Then, if it can be done," said Prince Ivan, "why do you not +accomplish it for me?" + +"Because you are being forcibly drawn towards me without any effort +on my part," replied Heliobas, with one of his steady, keen looks. +"For what motive I cannot at present determine; but I shall know as +soon as you touch the extreme edge of my circle. You are a long way +off it yet, but you are coming in spite of yourself, Ivan." + +The Prince fidgeted restlessly in his chair, and toyed with the +fruit on his plate in a nervous manner. + +"If I did not know you to be an absolutely truthful and honourable +man, Casimir," he said, "I should think you were trying to deceive +me. But I have seen what you can do, therefore I must believe you. +Still I confess I do not follow you in your circle theory." + +"To begin with," returned Heliobas, "the Universe is a circle. +Everything is circular, from the motion of planets down to the human +eye, or the cup of a flower, or a drop of dew. MY 'circle theory,' +as you call it, applied to human electric force, is very simple; but +I have proved it to be mathematically correct. Every human being is +provided INTERNALLY and EXTERNALLY with a certain amount of +electricity, which is as necessary to existence as the life-blood to +the heart or fresh air to the lungs. Internally it is the germ of a +soul or spirit, and is placed there to be either cultivated or +neglected as suits the WILL of man. It is indestructible; yet, if +neglected, it remains always a germ; and, at the death of the body +it inhabits, goes elsewhere to seek another chance of development. +If, on the contrary, its growth is fostered by a persevering, +resolute WILL, it becomes a spiritual creature, glorious and +supremely powerful, for which a new, brilliant, and endless +existence commences when its clay chrysalis perishes. So much for +the INTERNAL electrical force. The EXTERNAL binds us all by fixed +laws, with which our wills have nothing whatever to do. (Each one of +us walks the earth encompassed by an invisible electric ring--wide +or narrow according to our capabilities. Sometimes our rings meet +and form one, as in the case of two absolutely sympathetic souls, +who labour and love together with perfect faith in each other. +Sometimes they clash, and storm ensues, as when a strong antipathy +between persons causes them almost to loathe each other's presence.) +All these human electric rings are capable of attraction and +repulsion. If a man, during his courtship of a woman, experiences +once or twice a sudden instinctive feeling that there is something +in her nature not altogether what he expected or desired, let him +take warning and break off the attachment; for the electric circles +do not combine, and nothing but unhappiness would come from forcing +a union. I would say the same thing to a woman. If my advice were +followed, how many unhappy marriages would be avoided! But you have +tempted me to talk too much, Ivan. I see the ladies wish to adjourn. +Shall we go to the smoking-room for a little, and join them in the +drawing-room afterwards?" + +We all rose. + +"Well," said the Prince gaily, as he prepared to follow his host, "I +realize one thing which gives me pleasure, Casimir. If in truth I am +being attracted towards your electric circle, I hope I shall reach +it soon, as I shall then, I suppose, be more en rapport with madame, +your sister." + +Zara's luminous eyes surveyed him with a sort of queenly pity and +forbearance. + +"By the time YOU arrive at that goal, Prince," she said calmly, "it +is most probable that _I_ shall have departed." + +And with one arm thrown round my waist, she saluted him gravely, and +left the room with me beside her. + +"Would you like to see the chapel on your way to the drawing-room?" +she asked, as we crossed the hall. + +I gladly accepted this proposition, and Zara took me down a flight +of marble steps, which terminated in a handsomely-carved oaken door. +Pushing this softly open, she made the sign of the cross and sank on +her knees. I did the same, and then looked with reverential wonder +at the loveliness and serenity of the place. It was small, but +lofty, and the painted dome-shaped roof was supported by eight light +marble columns, wreathed with minutely-carved garlands of vine- +leaves. The chapel was fitted up in accordance with the rites of the +Catholic religion, and before the High Altar and Tabernacle burned +seven roseate lamps, which were suspended from the roof by slender +gilt chains. A large crucifix, bearing a most sorrowful and pathetic +figure of Christ, was hung on one of the side walls; and from a +corner altar, shining with soft blue and silver, an exquisite statue +of the Madonna and Child was dimly seen from where we knelt. A few +minutes passed, and Zara rose. Looking towards the Tabernacle, her +lips moved as though murmuring a prayer, and then, taking me by the +hand, she led me gently out. The heavy oaken door swung softly +behind us as we ascended the chapel steps and re-entered the great +hall. + +"You are a Catholic, are you not?" then said Zara to me. + +"Yes," I answered; "but--" + +"But you have doubts sometimes, you would say! Of course. One always +doubts when one sees the dissensions, the hypocrisies, the false +pretences and wickedness of many professing Christians. But Christ +and His religion are living facts, in spite of the suicide of souls +He would gladly save. You must ask Casimir some day about these +things; he will clear up all the knotty points for you. Here we are +at the drawing-room door." + +It was the same room into which I had first been shown. Zara seated +herself, and made me occupy a low chair beside her. + +"Tell me," she said, "can you not come here and stay with me while +you are under Casimir's treatment?" + +I thought of Madame Denise and her Pension. + +"I wish I could," I said; "but I fear my friends would want to know +where I am staying, and explanations would have to be given, which I +do not feel disposed to enter upon." + +"Why," went on Zara quietly, "you have only to say that you are +being attended by a Dr. Casimir who wishes to have you under his own +supervision, and that you are therefore staying in his house under +the chaperonage of his sister." + +I laughed at the idea of Zara playing the chaperon, and told her she +was far too young and beautiful to enact that character. + +"Do you know how old I am?" she asked, with a slight smile. + +I guessed seventeen, or at any rate not more than twenty. + +"I am thirty-eight," said Zara. + +Thirty-eight! Impossible! I would not believe it. I could not. I +laughed scornfully at such an absurdity, looking at her as she sat +there a perfect model of youthful grace and loveliness, with her +lustrous eyes and rose-tinted complexion. + +"You may doubt me if you choose," she said, still smiling; "but I +have told you the truth. I am thirty-eight years of age according to +the world's counting. What I am, measured by another standard of +time, matters not just now. You see I look young, and, what is more, +I am young. I enjoy my youth. I hear that women of society at +thirty-eight are often faded and blase--what a pity it is that they +do not understand the first laws of self-preservation! But to resume +what I was saying, you know now that I am quite old enough in the +eyes of the world to chaperon you or anybody. You had better arrange +to stay here. Casimir asked me to settle the matter with, you." + +As she spoke, Heliobas and Prince Ivan entered. The latter looked +flushed and excited--Heliobas was calm and stately as usual. He +addressed himself to me at once. + +"I have ordered my carriage, mademoiselle, to take you back this +evening to the Avenue du Midi. If you will do as Zara tells you, and +explain to your friends the necessity there is for your being under +the personal supervision of your doctor, you will find everything +will arrange itself very naturally. And the sooner you come here the +better--in fact, Zara will expect you here to-morrow early in the +afternoon. I may rely upon you?" + +He spoke with a certain air of command, evidently expecting no +resistance on my part. Indeed, why should I resist? Already I loved +Zara, and wished to be more in her company; and then, most probably, +my complete restoration to health would be more successfully and +quickly accomplished if I were actually in the house of the man who +had promised to cure me. Therefore I replied: + +"I will do as you wish, monsieur. Having placed myself in your +hands, I must obey. In this particular case," I added, looking at +Zara, "obedience is very agreeable to me." + +Heliobas smiled and seemed satisfied. He then took a small goblet +from a side-table and left the room. Returning, however, almost +immediately with the cup filled to the brim, he said, handing it to +me: + +"Drink this--it is your dose for to-night; and then you will go +home, and straight to bed." + +I drank it off at once. It was delicious in flavour--like very fine +Chianti. + +"Have you no soothing draught for me?" said Prince Ivan, who had +been turning over a volume of photographs in a sullenly abstracted +sort of way. + +"No," replied Heliobas, with a keen glance at him; "the draught +fitted for your present condition might soothe you too thoroughly." + +The Prince looked at Zara, but she was mute. She had taken a piece +of silk embroidery from a workbasket near her, and was busily +employed with it. Heliobas advanced and laid his hand on the young +man's arm. + +"Sing to us, Ivan," he said, in a kind tone. "Sing us one of your +wild Russian airs--Zara loves them, and this young lady would like +to hear your voice before she goes." + +The Prince hesitated, and then, with another glance at Zara's bent +head, went to the piano. He had a brilliant touch, and accompanied +himself with great taste and delicacy; but his voice was truly +magnificent--a baritone of deep and mellow quality, sonorous, and at +the same time tender. He sang a French rendering of a Slavonic love- +song, which, as nearly as I can translate it into English, ran as +follows: + + "As the billows fling shells on the shore, + As the sun poureth light on the sea, + As a lark on the wing scatters song to the spring, + So rushes my love to thee. + + "As the ivy clings close to the tower, + As the dew lieth deep in a flower, + As the shadow to light, as the day unto night, + So clings my wild soul to thee! + + "As the moon glitters coldly alone, + Above earth on her cloud-woven throne, + As the rocky-bound cave repulses a wave, + So thy anger repulseth me. + + "As the bitter black frost of a night + Slays the roses with pitiless might, + As a sharp dagger-thrust hurls a king to the dust, + So thy cruelty murdereth me. + + "Yet in spite of thy queenly disdain, + Thou art seared by my passion and pain; + Thou shalt hear me repeat, till I die for it, sweet! + 'I love thee! I dare to love THEE!'" + +He ended abruptly and with passion, and rose from the piano +directly. + +I was enthusiastic in my admiration of the song and of the splendid +voice which had given it utterance, and the Prince seemed almost +grateful for the praise accorded him both by Heliobas and myself. + +The page entered to announce that "the carriage was waiting for +mademoiselle," and I prepared to leave. Zara kissed me +affectionately, and whispering, "Come early to-morrow," made a +graceful salute to Prince Ivan, and left the room immediately. + +Heliobas then offered me his arm to take me to the carriage. Prince +Ivan accompanied us. As the hall door opened in its usual noiseless +manner, I perceived an elegant light brougham drawn by a pair of +black horses, who were giving the coachman a great deal of trouble +by the fretting and spirited manner in which they pawed the stones +and pranced. Before descending the steps I shook hands with +Heliobas, and thanked him for the pleasant evening I had passed. + +"We will try to make all your time with us pass as pleasantly," he +returned. "Good-night! What, Ivan," as he perceived the Prince +attiring himself in his great-coat and hat, "are you also going?" + +"Yes, I am off," he replied, with a kind of forced gaiety; "I am bad +company for anyone to-night, and I won't inflict myself upon you, +Casimir. Au revoir! I will put mademoiselle into the carriage if she +will permit me." + +We went down the steps together, Heliobas watching us from the open +door. As the Prince assisted me into the brougham, he whispered: + +"Are you one of them!" + +I looked at him in bewilderment. + +"One of them!" I repeated. "What do you mean?" + +"Never mind," he muttered impatiently, as he made a pretence of +covering me with the fur rugs inside the carriage: "if you are not +now, you will be, or Zara would not have kissed you. If you ever +have the chance ask her to think of me at my best. Good-night." + +I was touched and a little sorry for him. I held out my hand in +silence. He pressed it hard, and calling to the coachman, "36, +Avenue du Midi," stood on the pavement bareheaded, looking +singularly pale and grave in the starlight, as the carriage rolled +swiftly away, and the door of the Hotel Mars closed. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +A SYMPHONY IN THE AIR. + + +Within a very short time I became a temporary resident in the house +of Heliobas, and felt myself to be perfectly at home there. I had +explained to Madame Denise the cause of my leaving her comfortable +Pension, and she had fully approved of my being under a physician's +personal care in order to ensure rapid recovery; but when she heard +the name of that physician, which I gave (in accordance with Zara's +instructions) as Dr. Casimir, she held up her fat hands in dismay. + +"Oh, mademoiselle," she exclaimed, "have you not dread of that +terrible man? Is it not he that is reported to be a cruel mesmerist +who sacrifices everybody--yes, even his own sister, to his medical +experiments? Ah, mon Dieu! it makes me to shudder!" + +And she shuddered directly, as a proof of her veracity. I was +amused. I saw in her an example of the common multitude, who are +more ready to believe in vulgar spirit-rapping and mesmerism than to +accept an established scientific fact. + +"Do you know Dr. Casimir and his sister?" I asked her. + +"I have seen them, mademoiselle; perhaps once--twice--three times! +It is true madame is lovely as an angel; but they say"--here she +lowered her voice mysteriously--"that she is wedded to a devil! It +is true, mademoiselle--all people say so. And Suzanne Michot--a very +respectable young person, mademoiselle, from Auteuil--she was +employed at one time as under-housemaid at Dr. Casimir's, and she +had things to say--ah, to make the blood like ice!" + +"What did she say?" I asked with a half smile. + +"Well," and Madame Denise came close to me and looked confidential, +"Suzanne--I assure you a most respectable girl--said that one +evening she was crossing the passage near Madame Casimir's boudoir, +and she saw a light like fire coming through the curtains of the +portiere. And she stopped to listen, and she heard a strange music +like the sound of harps. She ventured to go nearer--Suzanne is a +brave girl, mademoiselle, and most virtuous--and to raise the +curtain the smallest portion just to permit the glance of an eye. +And--imagine what she saw." + +"Well!" I exclaimed impatiently. "WHAT did she see?" + +"Ah, mademoiselle, you will not believe me--but Suzanne Michot has +respectable parents, and would not tell a lie--well, Suzanne saw her +mistress, Madame Casimir, standing up near her couch with both arms +extended as to embrace the air. Round her there was--believe it or +not, mademoiselle, as you please--a ring of light like a red fire, +which seemed to grow larger and redder always. All suddenly, madame +grew pale and more pale, and then fell on her couch as one dead, and +all the red fire went out. Suzanne had fear, and she tried to call +out--but now see what happened to Suzanne! She was PUSHED from the +spot, mademoiselle, pushed along as though by some strong personage; +yet she saw no one till she reached her own door, and in her room +she fainted from alarm. The very next morning Dr. Casimir dismissed +her, with her full wages and a handsome present besides; but he +LOOKED at her, Suzanne said, in a manner to make her tremble from +head to foot. Now, mademoiselle, judge yourself whether it is fit +for one who is suffering with nerves to go to so strange a house!" + +I laughed. Her story had not the least effect upon me. In fact, I +made up my mind that the so respectable and virtuous Suzanne Michot +had been drinking some of her master's wine. I said: + +"Your words only make me more desirous to go, Madame Denise. +Besides, Dr. Casimir has already done me a great deal of good. You +must have heard things of him that are not altogether bad, surely?" + +The little woman reflected seriously, and then said, as with some +reluctance: + +"It is certainly true, mademoiselle, that in the quarter of the poor +he is much beloved. Jean Duclos--he is a chiffonnier--had his one +child dying of typhoid fever, and he was watching it struggling for +breath; it was at the point to die. Monsieur le Comte Casimir, or +Dr. Casimir--for he is called both--came in all suddenly, and in +half an hour had saved the little one's life. I do not deny that he +may have some good in him, and that he understands medicine; but +there is something wrong--" And Madame Denise shook her head +forlornly a great number of times. + +None of her statements deterred me from my intention, and I was +delighted when I found myself fairly installed at the Hotel Mars. +Zara gave me a beautiful room next to her own; she had taken pains +to fit it up herself with everything that was in accordance with my +particular tastes, such as a choice selection of books; music, +including many of the fascinating scores of Schubert and Wagner; +writing materials; and a pretty, full-toned pianette. My window +looked out on a small courtyard, which had been covered over with +glass and transformed into a conservatory. I could enter it by going +down a few steps, and could have the satisfaction of gathering roses +and lilies of the valley, while outside the east wind blew and the +cold snowflakes fell over Paris. I wrote to Mrs. Everard from my +retreat, and I also informed the Challoners where they could find me +if they wanted me. These duties done, I gave myself up to enjoyment. +Zara and I became inseparables; we worked together, read together, +and together every morning gave those finishing-touches to the +ordering and arrangement of the household which are essentially +feminine, and which not the wisest philosopher in all the world has +been, or ever will be, able to accomplish successfully. We grew to +love each other dearly, with that ungrudging, sympathizing, +confiding friendship that is very rarely found between two women. In +the meantime my cure went on rapidly. Every night on retiring to +rest Heliobas prepared a medicinal dose for me, of the qualities of +which I was absolutely ignorant, but which I took trustingly from +his hand. Every morning a different little phial of liquid was +placed in the bathroom for me to empty into the water of my daily +bath, and every hour I grew better, brighter, and stronger. The +natural vivacity of my temperament returned to me; I suffered no +pain, no anxiety, no depression, and I slept as soundly as a child, +unvisited by a single dream. The mere fact of my being alive became +a joy to me; I felt grateful for everything--for my eyesight, my +speech, my hearing, my touch--because all my senses seemed to be +sharpened and invigorated and braced up to the keenest delight. This +happy condition of my system did not come suddenly--sudden cures +mean sudden relapses; it was a gradual, steady, ever-increasing, +reliable recovery. + +I found the society of Heliobas and his sister very fascinating. +Their conversation was both thoughtful and brilliant, their manners +were evenly gracious and kindly, and the life they led was a model +of perfect household peace and harmony. There was never a fuss about +anything: the domestic arrangements seemed to work on smoothly oiled +wheels; the different repasts were served with quiet elegance and +regularity; the servants were few, but admirably trained; and we all +lived in an absolutely calm atmosphere, unruffled by so much as a +breath of worry. Nothing of a mysterious nature went on, as far as I +could see. + +Heliobas passed the greater part of the day in his study--a small, +plainly furnished room, the facsimile of the one I had beheld him in +when I had dreamed those three dreams at Cannes. Whether he received +many or few patients there I could not tell; but that some applied +to him for advice I knew, as I often met strangers crossing the hall +on their way in and out. He always joined us at dinner, and was +invariably cheerful, generally entertaining us with lively converse +and sparkling narrative, though now and then the thoughtful tendency +of his mind predominated, and gave a serious tone to his remarks. + +Zara was uniformly bright and even in her temperament. She was my +very ideal of the Greek Psyche, radiant yet calm, pensive yet +mirthful. She was full of beautiful ideas and poetical fancies, and +so thoroughly untouched by the world and its aims, that she seemed +to me just to poise on the earth like a delicate butterfly on a +flower; and I should have been scarcely surprised had I seen her +unfold a pair of shining wings and fly away to some other region. +Yet in spite of this spirituelle nature, she was physically stronger +and more robust than any other woman I ever saw. She was gay and +active; she was never tired, never ailing, and she enjoyed life with +a keen zest such as is unknown to the tired multitudes who toil on +hopelessly and wearily, wondering, as they work, why they were born. +Zara evidently had no doubts or speculations of this kind; she drank +in every minute of her existence as if it were a drop of honey-dew +prepared specially for her palate. I never could believe that her +age was what she had declared it to be. She seemed to look younger +every day; sometimes her eyes had that limpid, lustrous innocence +that is seen in the eyes of a very little child; and, again, they +would change and glow with the earnest and lofty thought of one who +had lived through years of study, research, and discovery. For the +first few days of my visit she did not work in her studio at all, +but appeared to prefer reading or talking with me. One afternoon, +however, when we had returned from a short drive in the Bois de +Boulogne, she said half hesitatingly: + +"I think I will go to work again to-morrow morning, if you will not +think me unsociable." + +"Why, Zara dearest!" I replied. "Of course I shall not think you +unsociable. I would not interfere with any of your pursuits for the +world." + +She looked at me with a sort of wistful affection, and continued: + +"But you must know I like to work quite alone, and though it may +look churlish, still not even you must come into the studio. I never +can do anything before a witness; Casimir himself knows that, and +keeps away from me." + +"Well!" I said, "I should be an ungrateful wretch if I could not +oblige you in so small a request. I promise not to disturb you, +Zara; and do not think for one moment that I shall be dull. I have +books, a piano, flowers--what more do I want? And if I like I can go +out; then I have letters to write, and all sorts of things to occupy +me. I shall be quite happy, and I shall not come near you till you +call me." + +Zara kissed me. + +"You are a dear girl," she said; "I hate to appear inhospitable, but +I know you are a real friend--that you will love me as much away +from you as near you, and that you have none of that vulgar +curiosity which some women give way to, when what they desire to see +is hidden from them. You are not inquisitive, are you?" + +I laughed. + +"The affairs of other people have never appeared so interesting to +me that I have cared to bother myself about them," I replied. "Blue- +Beard's Chamber would never have been unlocked had I been that +worthy man's wife." + +"What a fine moral lesson the old fairy-tale teaches!" said Zara. "I +always think those wives of Blue-Beard deserved their fate for not +being able to obey him in his one request. But in regard to your +pursuits, dear, while I am at work in my studio, you can use the +grand piano in the drawing-room when you please, as well as the +little one in your own room; and you can improvise on the chapel +organ as much as you like." + +I was delighted at this idea, and thanked her heartily. She smiled +thoughtfully. + +"What happiness it must be for you to love music so thoroughly!" she +said. "It fills you with enthusiasm. I used to dislike to read the +biographies of musical people; they all seemed to find so much fault +with one another, and grudged each other every little bit of praise +wrung from the world's cold, death-doomed lips. It is to me +pathetically absurd to see gifted persons all struggling along, and +rudely elbowing each other out of the way to win--what? A few +stilted commonplace words of approbation or fault-finding in the +newspapers of the day, and a little clapping and shouting from a +gathering of ordinary minded persons, who only clap and shout +because it is possibly the fashion to do so. It is really ludicrous. +If the music the musician offers to the public be really great, it +will live by itself and defy praise or blame. Because Schubert died +of want and sorrow, that does not interfere with the life of his +creations. Because Wagner is voted impossible and absurd by many who +think themselves good judges of musical art, that does not offer any +obstacle to the steady spread of his fame, which is destined to +become as universal as that of Shakespeare. Poor Joachim, the +violinist, has got a picture in his private house, in which Wagner +is painted as suffering the tortures of hell; can anything be more +absurd, when we consider how soon the learned fiddler, who has +occupied his life in playing other people's compositions, will be a +handful of forgotten dust, while multitudes yet to come will shout +their admiration of 'Tristran' and 'Parsifal.' Yes, as I said, I +never cared for musical people much, till I met a friend of my +brother's--a man whose inner life was an exquisite harmony." + +"I know!" I interrupted her. "He wrote the 'Letters of a Dead +Musician.'" + +"Yes," said Zara. "I suppose you saw the book at Raffaello's studio. +Good Raffaello Cellini! his is another absolutely ungrudging and +unselfish spirit. But this musician that I speak of was like a child +in humility and reverence. Casimir told me he had never sounded so +perfect a nature. At one time he, too, was a little anxious for +recognition and praise, and Casimir saw that he was likely to wreck +himself on that fatal rock of poor ambition. So he took him in hand, +and taught him the meaning of his work, and why it was especially +given him to do; and that man's life became 'one grand sweet song.' +But there are tears in your eyes, dear! What have I said to grieve +you?" + +And she caressed me tenderly. The tears were indeed thick in my +eyes, and a minute or two elapsed before I could master them. At +last I raised my head and endeavoured to smile. + +"They are not sad tears, Zara," I said; "I think they come from a +strong desire I have to be what you are, what your brother is, what +that dead musician must have been. Why, I have longed, and do long +for fame, for wealth, for the world's applause, for all the things +which you seem to think so petty and mean. How can I help it? Is not +fame power? Is not money a double power, strong to assist one's self +and those one loves? Is not the world's favour a necessary means to +gain these things?" + +Zara's eyes gleamed with a soft and pitying gentleness. + +"Do you understand what you mean by power?" she asked. "World's +fame? World's wealth? Will these things make you enjoy life? You +will perhaps say yes. I tell you no. Laurels of earth's growing +fade; gold of earth's getting is good for a time, but it palls +quickly. Suppose a man rich enough to purchase all the treasures of +the world--what then? He must die and leave them. Suppose a poet or +musician so famous that all nations know and love him: he too must +die, and go where nations exist no longer. And you actually would +grasp ashes and drink wormwood, little friend? Music, the heaven- +born spirit of pure sound, does not teach you so!" + +I was silent. The gleam of the strange jewel Zara always wore +flashed in my eyes like lightning, and anon changed to the +similitude of a crimson star. I watched it, dreamily fascinated by +its unearthly glitter. + +"Still," I said, "you yourself admit that such fame as that of +Shakespeare or Wagner becomes a universal monument to their +memories. That is something, surely?" + +"Not to them," replied Zara; "they have partly forgotten that they +ever were imprisoned in such a narrow gaol as this world. Perhaps +they do not care to remember it, though memory is part of +immortality." + +"Ah!" I sighed restlessly; "your thoughts go beyond me, Zara. I +cannot follow your theories." + +Zara smiled. + +"We will not talk about them any more," she said; "you must tell +Casimir--he will teach you far better than I can." + +"What shall I tell him?" I asked; "and what will he teach me?" + +"You will tell him what a high opinion you have of the world and its +judgments," said Zara, "and he will teach you that the world is no +more than a grain of dust, measured by the standard of your own +soul. This is no mere platitude--no repetition of the poetical +statement 'THE MIND'S THE STANDARD OF THE MAN;' it is a fact, and +can be proved as completely as that two and two make four. Ask +Casimir to set you free." + +"To set me free?" I asked, surprised. + +"Yes!" and Zara looked at me brightly. "He will know if you are +strong enough to travel!" And, nodding her head gaily to me, she +left the room to prepare for the dinner-hour which was fast +approaching. + +I pondered over her words a good deal without arriving at any +satisfactory conclusion as to the meaning of them. I did not resume +the conversation with her, nor did I speak to Heliobas as yet, and +the days went on smoothly and pleasantly till I had been nearly a +week in residence at the Hotel Mars. I now felt perfectly well and +strong, though Heliobas continued to give me his remedies regularly +night and morning. I began an energetic routine of musical practice: +the beautiful piano in the drawing-room answered readily to my +touch, and many a delightful hour slipped by as I tried various new +difficulties on the key-board, or worked out different combinations +of harmony. I spent a great deal of my time at the organ in the +little chapel, the bellows of which were worked by electricity, in a +manner that gave not the least trouble, and was perfectly simple of +management. + +The organ itself was peculiarly sweet in tone, the "vox humana" stop +especially producing an entrancingly rich and tender sound. The +silence, warmth, and beauty of the chapel, with the winter sunlight +streaming through its stained windows, and the unbroken solitude I +enjoyed there, all gave fresh impetus to the fancies of my brain, +and a succession of solemn and tender melodies wove themselves under +my fingers as a broidered carpet is woven on the loom. + +One particular afternoon, I was sitting at the instrument as usual, +and my thoughts began to busy themselves with the sublime tragedy of +Calvary. I mused, playing softly all the while, on the wonderful, +blameless, glorious life that had ended in the shame and cruelty of +the Cross, when suddenly, like a cloud swooping darkly across the +heaven of my thoughts, came the suggestive question: "Is it all +true? Was Christ indeed Divine--or is it all a myth, a fable--an +imposture?" Unconsciously I struck a discordant chord on the organ-- +a faint tremor shook me, and I ceased playing. An uncomfortable +sensation came over me, as of some invisible presence being near me +and approaching softly, slowly, yet always more closely; and I +hurriedly rose from my seat, shut the organ, and prepared to leave +the chapel, overcome by a strange incomprehensible terror. I was +glad when I found myself safely outside the door, and I rushed into +the hall as though I were being pursued; yet the oddest part of my +feeling was, that whoever thus pursued me, did so out of love, not +enmity, and that I was almost wrong in running away. I leaned for a +moment against one of the columns in the hall, trying to calm the +excited beating of my heart, when a deep voice startled me: + +"So! you are agitated and alarmed! Unbelief is easily scared!" + +I looked up and met the calm eyes of Heliobas. He appeared to be +taller, statelier, more like a Chaldean prophet or king than I had +ever seen him before. There was something in his steady scrutiny of +my face that put me to a sort of shame, and when he spoke again it +was in a tone of mild reproof. + +"You have been led astray, my child, by the conflicting and vain +opinions of mankind. You, like many others in the world, delight to +question, to speculate, to weigh this, to measure that, with little +or no profit to yourself or your fellow-creatures. And you have come +freshly from a land where, in the great Senate-house, a poor +perishable lump of clay calling itself a man, dares to stand up +boldly and deny the existence of God, while his compeers, less bold +than he, pretend a holy displeasure, yet secretly support him--all +blind worms denying the existence of the sun; a land where so-called +Religion is split into hundreds of cold and narrow sects, gatherings +assembled for the practice of hypocrisy, lip-service and lies--where +Self, not the Creator, is the prime object of worship; a land, +mighty once among the mightiest, but which now, like an over-ripe +pear, hangs loosely on its tree, awaiting but a touch to make it +fall! A land--let me not name it;--where the wealthy, high-fed +ministers of the nation slowly argue away the lives of better men +than themselves, with vain words of colder and more cruel force than +the whirling spears of untaught savages! What have you, an ardent +disciple of music, to do in such a land where favouritism and +backstair influence win the day over even the merits of a Schubert? +Supposing you were a second Beethoven, what could you do in that +land without faith or hope? that land which is like a disappointed, +churlish, and aged man with tottering feet and purblind eyes, who +has long ago exhausted all enjoyment and sees nothing new under the +sun. The world is wide--faith is yet extant--and the teachings of +Christ are true. 'Believe and live; doubt and die!' That saying is +true also." + +I had listened to these words in silence; but now I spoke eagerly +and impatiently, remembering what Zara had told me. + +"Then," I said, "if I have been misguided by modern opinions--if I +have unconsciously absorbed the doctrines of modern fashionable +atheism--lead me right. Teach me what you know. I am willing to +learn. Let me find out the reason of my life. SET ME FREE!" + +Heliobas regarded me with earnest solemnity. + +"Set you free!" he murmured, in a low tone. "Do you know what you +ask?" + +"No," I answered, with reckless fervour. "I do not know what I ask; +but I feel that you have the power to show me the unseen things of +another world. Did you not yourself tell me in our first interview +that you had let Raffaello Cellini 'go on a voyage of discovery, and +that he came back perfectly satisfied?' Besides, he told me his +history. From you he has gained all that gives him peace and +comfort. You possess electric secrets undreamt of by the world. +Prove your powers upon me; I am not afraid." + +Heliobas smiled. "Not afraid! And you ran out of the chapel just now +as if you were pursued by a fiend! You must know that the only WOMAN +I ever tried my greatest experiment upon is my sister Zara. She was +trained and prepared for it in the most careful manner; and it +succeeded. Now"--and Heliobas looked half-sad, half-triumphant--"she +has passed beyond my power; she is dominated by one greater than I. +But she cannot use her force for others; she can only employ it to +defend herself. Therefore, I am willing to try you if you indeed +desire it--to see if the same thing will occur to you as to Zara; +and I firmly believe it will." + +A slight tremor came over me; but I said with an attempt at +indifference: + +"You mean that I shall be dominated also by some great force or +influence?" + +"I think so," replied Heliobas musingly. "Your nature is more prone +to love than to command. Try and follow me in the explanation I am +going to give you. Do you know some lines by Shelley that run-- + + "'Nothing in the world is single, + All things by a law divine + In one another's being mingle-- + Why not I with thine?'" + +"Yes," I said. "I know the lines well. I used to think them very +sentimental and pretty." + +"They contain," said Heliobas, "the germ of a great truth, as many +of the most fanciful verses of the poets do. As the 'image of a +voice' mentioned in the Book of Job hinted at the telephone, and as +Shakespeare's 'girdle round the earth' foretold the electric +telegraph, so the utterances of the inspired starvelings of the +world, known as poets, suggest many more wonders of the universe +than may be at first apparent. Poets must always be prophets, or +their calling is in vain. Put this standard of judgment to the +verse-writers of the day, and where would they be? The English +Laureate is no seer: he is a mere relater of pretty stories. +Algernon Charles Swinburne has more fire in him, and more wealth of +expression, but he does not prophesy; he has a clever way of +combining Biblical similes with Provengal passion--et voila tout! +The prophets are always poor--the sackcloth and ashes of the world +are their portion; and their bodies moulder a hundred years or more +in the grave before the world finds out what they meant by their +ravings. But apropos of these lines of Shelley. He speaks of the +duality of existence. 'Nothing in the world is single.' He might +have gone further, and said nothing in the universe is single. Cold +and heat, storm and sunshine, good and evil, joy and sorrow--all go +in pairs. This double life extends to all the spheres and above the +spheres. Do you understand?" + +"I understand what you say," I said slowly; "but I cannot see your +meaning as applied to myself or yourself." + +"I will teach you in a few words," went on Heliobas. "You believe in +the soul?" + +"Yes." + +"Very well. Now realize that there is no soul on this earth that is +complete, ALONE. Like everything else, it is dual. It is like half a +flame that seeks the other half, and is dissatisfied and restless +till it attains its object. Lovers, misled by the blinding light of +Love, think they have reached completeness when they are united to +the person beloved. Now, in very, very rare cases, perhaps one among +a thousand, this desirable result is effected; but the majority of +people are content with the union of bodies only, and care little or +nothing about the sympathy or attachment between souls. There are +people, however, who do care, and who never find their Twin-Flame or +companion Spirit at all on earth, and never will find it. And why? +Because it is not imprisoned in clay; it is elsewhere." + +"Well?" I asked eagerly. + +"Well, you seem to ask me by your eyes what this all means. I will +apply it at once to myself. By my researches into human electrical +science, I discovered that MY companion, MY other half of existence, +though not on earth, was near me, and could be commanded by me; and, +on being commanded, obeyed. With Zara it was different. She could +not COMMAND--she OBEYED; she was the weaker of the two. With you, I +think it will be the same thing. Men sacrifice everything to +ambition; women to love. It is natural. I see there is much of what +I have said that appears to have mystified you; it is no good +puzzling your brain any more about it. No doubt you think I am +talking very wildly about Twin-Flames and Spiritual Affinities that +live for us in another sphere. You do not believe, perhaps, in the +existence of beings in the very air that surrounds us, invisible to +ordinary human eyes, yet actually akin to us, with a closer +relationship than any tie of blood known on earth?" + +I hesitated. Heliobas saw my hesitation, and his eyes darkened with +a sombre wrath. + +"Are you one of those also who must see in order to believe?" he +said, half angrily. "Where do you suppose your music comes from? +Where do you suppose any music comes from that is not mere +imitation? The greatest composers of the world have been mere +receptacles of sound; and the emptier they were of self-love and +vanity, the greater quantity of heaven-born melody they held. The +German Wagner--did he not himself say that he walked up and down in +the avenues, 'trying to catch the harmonies as they floated in the +air'? Come with me--come back to the place you left, and I will see +if you, like Wagner, are able to catch a melody flying." + +He grasped my unresisting arm, and led me, half-frightened, half- +curious, into the little chapel, where he bade me seat myself at the +organ. + +"Do not play a single note," he said, "till you are compelled." + +And standing beside me, Heliobas laid his hands on my head, then +pressed them on my ears, and finally touched my hands, that rested +passively on the keyboard. + +He then raised his eyes, and uttered the name I had often thought of +but never mentioned--the name he had called upon in my dream. + +"Azul!" he said, in a low, penetrating voice, "open the gateways of +the Air that we may hear the sound of Song!" + +A soft rushing noise of wind answered his adjuration. This was +followed by a burst of music, transcendently lovely, but unlike any +music I had ever heard. There were sounds of delicate and entrancing +tenderness such as no instrument made by human hands could produce; +there was singing of clear and tender tone, and of infinite purity +such as no human voices could be capable of. I listened, perplexed, +alarmed, yet entranced. Suddenly I distinguished a melody running +through the wonderful air-symphonies--a melody like a flower, fresh +and perfect. Instinctively I touched the organ and began to play it; +I found I could produce it note for note. I forgot all fear in my +delight, and I played on and on in a sort of deepening rapture. +Gradually I became aware that the strange sounds about me were dying +slowly away; fainter and fainter they grew--softer--farther--and +finally ceased. But the melody--that one distinct passage of notes I +had followed out--remained with me, and I played it again and again +with feverish eagerness lest it should escape me. I had forgotten +the presence of Heliobas. But a touch on my shoulder roused me. I +looked up and met his eyes fixed upon, me with a steady and earnest +regard. A shiver ran through, me, and I felt bewildered. + +"Have I lost it?" I asked. + +"Lost what?" he demanded. + +"The tune I heard--the harmonies." + +"No," he replied; "at least I think not. But if you have, no matter. +You will hear others. Why do you look so distressed?" + +"It is lovely," I said wistfully, "all that music; but it is not +MINE;" and tears of regret filled my eyes. "Oh, if it were only +mine--my very own composition!" + +Heliobas smiled kindly. + +"It is as much yours as any thing belongs to anyone. Yours? why, +what can you really call your own? Every talent you have, every +breath you draw, every drop of blood flowing in your veins, is lent +to you only; you must pay it all back. And as far as the arts go, it +is a bad sign of poet, painter, or musician, who is arrogant enough +to call his work his own. It never was his, and never will be. It is +planned by a higher intelligence than his, only he happens to be the +hired labourer chosen to carry out the conception; a sort of +mechanic in whom boastfulness looks absurd; as absurd as if one of +the stonemasons working at the cornice of a cathedral were to vaunt +himself as the designer of the whole edifice. And when a work, any +work, is completed, it passes out of the labourer's hands; it +belongs to the age and the people for whom it was accomplished, and, +if deserving, goes on belonging to future ages and future peoples. +So far, and only so far, music is your own. But are you convinced? +or do you think you have been dreaming all that you heard just now?" + +I rose from the organ, closed it gently, and, moved by a sudden +impulse, held out both my hands to Heliobas. He took them and held +them in a friendly clasp, watching me intently as I spoke. + +"I believe in YOU," I said firmly; "and I know thoroughly well that +I was not dreaming; I certainly heard strange music, and entrancing +voices. But in acknowledging your powers over something unseen, I +must explain to you the incredulity I at first felt, which I believe +annoyed you. I was made sceptical on one occasion, by attending a +so-called spiritual seance, where they tried to convince me of the +truth of table-turning--" + +Heliobas laughed softly, still holding my hands. + +"Your reason will at once tell you that disembodied spirits never +become so undignified as to upset furniture or rap on tables. +Neither do they write letters in pen and ink and put them under +doors. Spiritual beings are purely spiritual; they cannot touch +anything human, much less deal in such vulgar display as the +throwing about of chairs, and the opening of locked sideboards. You +were very rightly sceptical in these matters. But in what I have +endeavoured to prove to you, you have no doubts, have you?" + +"None in the world," I said. "I only ask you to go on teaching me +the wonders that seem so familiar to you. Let me know all I may; and +soon!" I spoke with trembling eagerness. + +"You have been only eight days in the house, my child," said +Heliobas, loosening my hands, and signing me to come out of the +chapel with him; "and I do not consider you sufficiently strong as +yet for the experiment you wish me to try upon you. Even now you are +agitated. Wait one week more, and then you shall be--" + +"What?" I asked impatiently. + +"Lifted up," he replied. "Lifted up above this little speck called +earth. But now, no more of this. Go to Zara; keep your mind well +employed; study, read, and pray--pray much and often in few and +simple words, and with as utterly unselfish a heart as you can +prepare. Think that you are going to some high festival, and attire +your soul in readiness. I do not say to you 'Have faith;' I would +not compel your belief in anything against your own will. You wish +to be convinced of a future existence; you seek proofs; you shall +have them. In the meantime avoid all conversation with me on the +subject. You can confide your desires to Zara if you like; her +experience may be of use to you. You had best join her now. Au +revoir!" and with a kind parting gesture, he left me. + +I watched his stately figure disappear in the shadow of the passage +leading to his own study, and then I hastened to Zara's room. The +musical episode in the chapel had certainly startled me, and the +words of Heliobas were full of mysterious meaning; but, strange to +say, I was in no way rendered anxious or alarmed by the prospect I +had before me of being "lifted up," as my physician had expressed +it. I thought of Raffaello Cellini and his history, and I determined +within myself that no cowardly hesitation or fear should prevent me +from making the attempt to see what he professed to have seen. I +found Zara reading. She looked up as I entered, and greeted me with +her usual bright smile. + +"You have had a long practice," she began; "I thought you were never +coming." + +I sat down beside her, and related at once all that had happened to +me that afternoon. Zara listened with deep and almost breathless +interest. + +"You are quite resolved," she said, when I had concluded, "to let +Casimir exert his force upon you?" + +"I am quite resolved," I answered. + +"And you have no fear?" + +"None that I am just now conscious of." + +Zara's eyes became darker and deeper in the gravity of her intense +meditation. At last she said: + +"I can help you to keep your courage firmly to the point, by letting +you know at once what Casimir will do to you. Beyond that I cannot +go. You understand the nature of an electric shock?" + +"Yes," I replied. + +"Well, there are different kinds of electric shocks--some that are +remedial, some that are fatal. There are cures performed by a +careful use of the electric battery--again, people are struck dead +by lightning, which is the fatal result of electric force. But all +this is EXTERNAL electricity; now what Casimir will use on you will +be INTERNAL electricity." + +I begged her to explain more clearly. She went on: + +"You have internally a certain amount of electricity, which has been +increased recently by the remedies prescribed for you by Casimir. +But, however much you have, Casimir has more, and he will exert his +force over your force, the greater over the lesser. You will +experience an INTERNAL electric shock, which, like a sword, will +separate in twain body and spirit. The spiritual part of you will be +lifted up above material forces; the bodily part will remain inert +and useless, till the life, which is actually YOU, returns to put +its machinery in motion once more." + +"But shall I return at all?" I asked half doubtfully. + +"You must return, because God has fixed the limits of your life on +earth, and no human power can alter His decree. Casimir's will can +set you free for a time, but only for a time. You are bound to +return, be it never so reluctantly. Eternal liberty is given by +Death alone, and Death cannot be forced to come." + +"How about suicide?" I asked. + +"The suicide," replied Zara, "has no soul. He kills his body, and by +the very act proves that whatever germ of an immortal existence he +may have had once, has escaped from its unworthy habitation, and +gone, like a flying spark, to find a chance of growth elsewhere. +Surely your own reason proves this to you? The very animals have +more soul than a man who commits suicide. The beasts of prey slay +each other for hunger or in self-defence, but they do not slay +themselves. That is a brutality left to man alone, with its +companion degradation, drunkenness." + +I mused awhile in silence. + +"In all the wickedness and cruelty of mankind," I said, "it is +almost a wonder that there is any spiritual existence left on earth +at all. Why should God trouble Himself to care for such few souls as +thoroughly believe in and love Him?--they can be but a mere +handful." + +"Such a mere handful are worth more than the world to him," said +Zara gravely. "Oh, my dear, do not say such things as why should God +trouble Himself? Why do you trouble yourself for the safety and +happiness of anyone you love?" + +Her eyes grew soft and tender, and the jewel she wore glimmered like +moonlight on the sea. I felt a little abashed, and, to change the +subject, I said: + +"Tell me, Zara, what is that stone you always wear? Is it a +talisman?" + +"It belonged to a king," said Zara,--"at least, it was found in a +king's coffin. It has been in our family for generations. Casimir +says it is an electric stone--there are such still to be found in +remote parts of the sea. Do you like it?" + +"It is very brilliant and lovely," I said. + +"When I die," went on Zara slowly, "I will leave it to you." + +"I hope I shall have to wait a long time before I get it, then," I +exclaimed, embracing her affectionately. "Indeed, I will pray never +to receive it." + +"You will pray wrongly," said Zara, smiling. "But tell me, do you +quite understand from my explanation what Casimir will do to you?" + +"I think I do." + +"And you are not afraid?" + +"Not at all. Shall I suffer any pain?" + +"No actual pang. You will feel giddy for a moment, and your body +will become unconscious. That is all." + +I meditated for a few moments, and then looking up, saw Zara's eyes +watching me with a wistful inquiring tenderness. I answered her look +with a smile, and said, half gaily: + +"L'audace, l'audace, et toujours l'audace! That must be my motto, +Zara. I have a chance now of proving how far a woman's bravery can +go, and I assure you I am proud of the opportunity. Your brother +uttered some very cutting remarks on the general inaptitude of the +female sex when I first made his acquaintance; so, for the honour of +the thing, I must follow the path I have begun to tread. A plunge +into the unseen world is surely a bold step for a woman, and I am +determined to take it courageously." + +"That is well," said Zara. "I do not think it possible for you ever +to regret it. It is growing late--shall we prepare for dinner?" + +I assented, and we separated to our different rooms. Before +commencing to dress I opened the pianette that stood near my window, +and tried very softly to play the melody I had heard in the chapel. +To my joy it came at once to my fingers, and I was able to remember +every note. I did not attempt to write it down--somehow I felt sure +it would not escape me now. A sense of profound gratitude filled my +heart, and, remembering the counsel given by Heliobas, I knelt +reverently down and thanked God for the joy and grace of music. As I +did so, a faint breath of sound, like a distant whisper of harps +played in unison, floated past my ears,--then appeared to sweep +round in ever-widening circles, till it gradually died away. But it +was sweet and entrancing enough for me to understand how glorious +and full of rapture must have been the star-symphony played on that +winter's night long ago, when the angels chanted together, "Glory to +God in the highest, and on earth peace and good-will to Man!" + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +AN ELECTRIC SHOCK. + + +Prince Ivan Petroffsky was a constant visitor at the Hotel Mars, and +I began to take a certain interest in him, not unmingled with pity, +for it was evident that he was hopelessly in love with my beautiful +friend Zara. She received him always with courtesy and kindness; but +her behaviour to him was marked by a somewhat cold dignity, which, +like a barrier of ice, repelled the warmth of his admiration and +attention. Once or twice, remembering what he had said to me, I +endeavoured to speak to her concerning him and his devotion; but she +so instantly and decisively turned the conversation that I saw I +should displease her if I persisted in it. Heliobas appeared to be +really attached to the Prince, at which I secretly wondered; the +worldly and frivolous young nobleman was of so entirely different a +temperament to that of the thoughtful and studious Chaldean +philosopher. Yet there was evidently some mysterious attraction +between them--the Prince appeared to be profoundly interested in +electric theories and experiments, and Heliobas never wearied of +expounding them to so attentive a listener. The wonderful +capabilities of the dog Leo also were brought into constant +requisition for Prince Ivan's benefit, and without doubt they were +most remarkable. This animal, commanded--or, I should say, brain- +electrified--by Heliobas, would fetch anything that was named to him +through his master's force, providing it was light enough for him to +carry; and he would go into the conservatory and pluck off with his +teeth any rare or common flower within his reach that was described +to him by the same means. Spoken to or commanded by others, he was +simply a good-natured intelligent Newfoundland; but under the +authority of Heliobas, he became more than human in ready wit and +quick obedience, and would have brought in a golden harvest to any +great circus or menagerie. + +He was a never-failing source of wonder and interest to me, and even +more so to the Prince, who made him the subject of many an abstruse +and difficult discussion with his friend Casimir. I noticed that +Zara seemed to regret the frequent companionship of Ivan Petroffsky +and her brother, and a shade of sorrow or vexation often crossed her +fair face when she saw them together absorbed in conversation or +argument. + +One evening a strange circumstance occurred which startled and +deeply impressed me. Prince Ivan had dined with us; he was in +extraordinarily high spirits--his gaiety was almost boisterous, and +his face was deeply flushed. Zara glanced at him half indignantly +more than once when his laughter became unusually uproarious, and I +saw that Heliobas watched him closely and half-inquiringly, as if he +thought there was something amiss. + +The Prince, however, heedless of his host's observant eye, tossed +off glass after glass of wine, and talked incessantly. After dinner, +when we all assembled in the drawing-room, he seated himself at the +piano without being asked, and sang several songs. Whether he were +influenced by drink or strong excitement, his voice at any rate +showed no sign of weakness or deterioration. Never had I heard him +sing so magnificently. He seemed possessed not by an angel but by a +demon of song. It was impossible not to listen to him, and while +listening, equally impossible not to admire him. Even Zara, who was +generally indifferent to his music, became, on this particular +night, fascinated into a sort of dreamy attention. He perceived +this, and suddenly addressed himself to her in softened tones which +bore no trace of their previous loudness. + +"Madame, you honour me to-night by listening to my poor efforts. It +is seldom I am thus rewarded!" + +Zara flushed deeply, and then grew very pale. + +"Indeed, Prince," she answered quietly, "you mistake me. I always +listen with pleasure to your singing--to-night, perhaps, my mood is +more fitted to music than is usual with me, and thus I may appear to +you to be more attentive. But your voice always delights me as it +must delight everybody who hears it." + +"While you are in a musical mood then," returned Prince Ivan, "let +me sing you an English song--one of the loveliest ever penned. I +have set it to music myself, as such words are not of the kind to +suit ordinary composers or publishers; they are too much in earnest, +too passionate, too full of real human love and sorrow. The songs +that suit modern drawing-rooms and concert-halls, as a rule, are +those that are full of sham sentiment--a real, strong, throbbing +HEART pulsing through a song is too terribly exciting for +lackadaisical society. Listen!" And, playing a dreamy, murmuring +prelude like the sound of a brook flowing through a hollow cavern, +he sang Swinburne's "Leave-Taking," surely one of the saddest and +most beautiful poems in the English language. + +He subdued his voice to suit the melancholy hopelessness of the +lines, and rendered it with so much intensity of pathetic expression +that it was difficult to keep tears from filling the eyes. When he +came to the last verse, the anguish of a wasted life seemed to +declare itself in the complete despair of his low vibrating tones: + + "Let us go hence and rest; she will not love. + She shall not hear us if we sing hereof, + Nor see love's ways, how sore they are and steep. + Come hence, let be, lie still; it is enough. + Love is a barren sea, bitter and deep; + And though she saw all heaven in flower above, + She would not love!" + +The deep melancholy of the music and the quivering pathos of the +deep baritone voice were so affecting that it was almost a relief +when the song ceased. I had been looking out of the window at the +fantastic patterns of the moonlight on the garden walk, but now I +turned to see in Zara's face her appreciation of what we had just +heard. To my surprise she had left the room. Heliobas reclined in +his easy-chair, glancing up and down the columns of the Figaro; and +the Prince still sat at the piano, moving his fingers idly up and +down the keys without playing. The little page entered with a letter +on a silver salver. It was for his master. Heliobas read it quickly, +and rose, saying: + +"I must leave you to entertain yourselves for ten minutes while I +answer this letter. Will you excuse me?" and with the ever-courteous +salute to us which was part of his manner, he left the room. + +I still remained at the window. Prince Ivan still dumbly played the +piano. There were a few minutes of absolute silence. Then the Prince +hastily got up, shut the piano, and approached me. + +"Do you know where Zara is?" he demanded in a low, fierce tone. + +I looked at him in surprise and a little alarm--he spoke with so +much suppressed anger, and his eyes glittered so strangely. + +"No," I answered frankly. "I never saw her leave the room." + +"I did," he said. "She slipped out like a ghost, or a witch, or an +angel, while I was singing the last verse of Swinburne's song. Do +you know Swinburne, mademoiselle?" + +"No," I replied, wondering at his manner more and more. "I only know +him, as you do, to be a poet." + +"Poet, madman, or lover--all three should be one and the same +thing," muttered the Prince, clenching and unclenching that strong +right hand of his on which sparkled a diamond like a star. "I have +often wondered if poets feel what they write--whether Swinburne, for +instance, ever felt the weight of a dead cold thing within him +HERE," slightly touching the region of his heart, "and realized that +he had to drag that corpse of unburied love with him everywhere-- +even to the grave, and beyond--O God!--beyond the grave!" I touched +him gently on the arm. I was full of pity for him--his despair was +so bitter and keen. + +"Prince Ivan," I said, "you are excited and overwrought. Zara meant +no slight to you in leaving the room before your song was finished. +I am quite sure of that. She is kindness itself--her nature is all +sweetness and gentleness. She would not willingly offend you--" + +"Offend me!" he exclaimed; "she could not offend me if she tried. +She could tread upon me, stab me, slay me, but never offend me. I +see you are sorry for me--and I thank you. I kiss your hand for your +gentle pity, mademoiselle." + +And he did so, with a knightly grace that became him well. I thought +his momentary anger was passing, but I was mistaken. Suddenly he +raised his arm with a fierce gesture, and exclaimed: + +"By heaven! I will wait no longer. I am a fool to hesitate. I may +wait a century before I draw out of Casimir the secret that would +enable me to measure swords with my rival. Listen!" and he grasped +my shoulder roughly. "Stay here, you! If Casimir returns, tell him I +have gone for a walk of half an hour. Play to him--keep him +occupied--be my friend in this one thing--I trust you. Let him not +seek for Zara, or for me. I shall not be long absent." + +"Stay!" I whispered hurriedly, "What are you going to do? Surely you +know the power of Heliobas. He is supreme here. He could find out +anything he chose. He could---" + +Prince Ivan looked at me fixedly. + +"Will you swear to me that you actually do not know?" + +"Know what?" I asked, perplexed. + +He laughed bitterly, sarcastically. + +"Did you ever hear that line of poetry which speaks of 'A woman +wailing for her demon-lover'? That is what Zara does. Of one thing I +am certain--she does not wail or wait long; he comes quickly." + +"What do you mean?" I exclaimed, utterly mystified. "Who comes +quickly? I am sure you do not know what you are talking about." + +"I DO know," he replied firmly; "and I am going to prove my +knowledge. Remember what I have asked you." And without another word +or look, he threw open the velvet curtains of the portiere, and +disappeared behind them. + +Left to myself, I felt very nervous and excited. All sorts of odd +fancies came into my head, and would not go away, but danced about +like Will-o'-the-wisps on a morass. What did Prince Ivan mean? Was +he mad? or had he drunk too much wine? What strange illusion had he +in his mind about Zara and a demon? Suddenly a thought flashed upon +me that made me tremble from head to foot. I remembered what +Heliobas had said about twin flames and dual affinities; and I also +reflected that he had declared Zara to be dominated by a more +powerful force than his own. But then, I had accepted it as a matter +of course that, whatever the force was, it must be for good, not +evil, over a being so pure, so lovely and so intelligent as Zara. + +I knew and felt that there were good and evil forces. Now, suppose +Zara were commanded by some strange evil thing, unguessed at, +undreamt of in the wildest night-mare? I shuddered as with icy cold. +It could not be. I resolutely refused to admit such a fearful +conjecture. Why, I thought to myself, with a faint smile, I was no +better in my imaginings than the so virtuous and ever-respectable +Suzanne Michot of whom Madame Denise had spoken. Still the hateful +thought came back again and again, and refused to go away. + +I went to my old place at the window and looked out. The moonlight +fell in cold slanting rays; but an army of dark clouds were hurrying +up from the horizon, looking in their weird shapes like the mounted +Walkyres in Wagner's "Niebelungen Ring," galloping to Walhalla with +the bodies of dead warriors slung before them. A low moaning wind +had arisen, and was beginning to sob round the house like the +Banshee. Hark! what was that? I started violently. Surely that was a +faint shriek? I listened intently. Nothing but the wind rustling +among some creaking branches. + + "A woman wailing for her demon-lover." + +How that line haunted me! And with, it there slowly grew up in my +mind a black looming horror; an idea, vague and ghastly, that froze +my blood and turned me faint and giddy. Suppose, when I had +consented to be experimented upon by Heliobas--when my soul in the +electric trance was lifted up to the unseen world--suppose an evil +force, terrible and all-compelling, were to dominate ME and hold me +forever and ever! I gasped for breath! Oh, so much the more need of +prayer! + +"Pray much and often, with as unselfish a heart as you can prepare." + +Thus Heliobas had said; and I thought to myself, if all those who +were on the brink of great sin or crime could only be brought to +feel beforehand what I felt when facing the spectral dread of +unknown evil, then surely sins would be fewer and crimes never +committed. And I murmured softly, "Lead us not into temptation, but +deliver us from evil." + +The mere utterance of these words seemed to calm and encourage me; +and as I gazed up at the sky again, with its gathering clouds, one +star, like a bright consoling eye, looked at me, glittering +cheerfully amid the surrounding darkness. + +More than ten minutes had elapsed since Prince Ivan had left the +room, and there was no sound of returning footsteps. And where was +Zara? I determined to seek her. I was free to go anywhere in the +house, only avoiding her studio during her hours of work; and she +never worked at night. I would go to her and confide all my strange +thoughts and terrors to her friendly sympathy. I hurried through the +hall and up the staircase quickly, and should have gone straight +into Zara's boudoir had I not heard a sound of voices which caused +me to stop precipitately outside the door. Zara was speaking. Her +low, musical accents fell like a silver chime on the air. + +"I have told you," she said, "again and again that it is impossible. +You waste your life in the pursuit of a phantom; for a phantom I +must be to you always--a mere dream, not a woman such as your love +would satisfy. You are a strong man, in sound health and spirits; +you care for the world and the things that are in it. I do not. You +would make me happy, you say. No doubt you would do your best--your +wealth and influence, your good looks, your hospitable and friendly +nature would make most women happy. But what should _I_ care for +your family diamonds? for your surroundings? for your ambitions? The +society of the world fills me with disgust and prejudice. Marriage, +as the world considers it, shocks and outrages my self-respect; the +idea of a bodily union without that of souls is to me repulsive and +loathsome. Why, therefore, waste your time in seeking a love which +does not exist, which never will exist for you?" + +I heard the deep, passionate tones of Prince Ivan in answer: + +"One light kindles another, Zara! The sunlight melts the snow! I +cannot believe but that a long and faithful love may--nay, MUST-- +have its reward at last. Even according to your brother's theories, +the emotion of love is capable of powerful attraction. Cannot I hope +that my passion--so strong, so great, so true, Zara!--will, with +patience, draw you, star of my life, closer and closer, till I at +last call you mine?" + +I heard the faint rustle of Zara's silk robe, as though she were +moving farther from him. + +"You speak ignorantly, Prince. Your studies with Casimir appear to +have brought you little knowledge. Attraction! How can you attract +what is not in your sphere? As well ask for the Moons of Jupiter or +the Ring of Saturn! The laws of attraction and repulsion, Prince +Ivan, are fixed by a higher authority than yours, and you are as +powerless to alter or abate them by one iota, as a child is +powerless to repel the advancing waves of the sea." + +Prince Ivan spoke again, and his voice quivered, with suppressed +anger. + +"You may talk as you will, beautiful Zara; but you shall never +persuade me against my reason. I am no dreamer; no speculator in +aerial nothings; no clever charlatan like Casimir, who, because he +is able to magnetize a dog, pretends to the same authority over +human beings, and dares to risk the health, perhaps the very sanity, +of his own sister, and that of the unfortunate young musician whom +he has inveigled in here, all for the sake of proving his dangerous, +almost diabolical, experiments. Oh, yes; I see you are indignant, +but I speak truth. I am a plain man;--and if I am deficient in +electric germs, as Casimir would say, I have plenty of common sense. +I wish to rescue you, Zara. You are becoming a prey to morbid +fancies; your naturally healthy mind is full of extravagant notions +concerning angels and demons and what not; and your entire belief +in, and enthusiasm for, your brother is a splendid advertisement for +him. Let me tear the veil of credulity from your eyes. Let me teach +you how good a thing it is to live and love and laugh like other +people, and leave electricity to the telegraph-wires and the lamp- +posts." + +Again I heard the silken rustle of Zara's dress, and, impelled by a +strong curiosity and excitement, I raised a corner of the curtain +hanging over the door, and was able to see the room distinctly. The +Prince stood, or rather lounged, near the window, and opposite to +him was Zara; she had evidently retreated from him as far as +possible, and held herself proudly erect, her eyes flashing with +unusual brilliancy contrasted with the pallor of her face. + +"Your insults to my brother, Prince," she said calmly, "I suffer to +pass by me, knowing well to what a depth of wilful blind ignorance +you are fallen. I pity you--and--I despise you! You are indeed a +plain man, as you say--nothing more and nothing less. You can take +advantage of the hospitality of this house, and pretend friendship +to the host, while you slander him behind his back, and insult his +sister in the privacy of her own apartment. Very manlike, truly; and +perfectly in accordance with a reasonable being who likes to live +and love and laugh according to the rule of society--a puppet whose +wires society pulls, and he dances or dies as society pleases. I +told you a gulf existed between us--you have widened it, for which I +thank you! As I do not impose any of my wishes upon you, and +therefore cannot request you to leave the room, you must excuse me +if _I_ retire elsewhere." + +And she approached the entrance of her studio, which was opposite to +where I stood; but the Prince reached it before her, and placed his +back against it. His face was deathly pale, and his dark eyes blazed +with wrath and love intermingled. + +"No, Zara!" he exclaimed in a sort of loud whisper. "If you think to +escape me so, you are in error. I came to you reckless and resolved! +You shall be mine if I die for it!" And he strove to seize her in +his arms. But she escaped him and stood at bay, her lips quivering, +her bosom heaving, and her hands clenched. + +"I warn you!" she exclaimed. "By the intense loathing I have for +you; by the force which makes my spirit rise in arms against you, I +warn you! Do not dare to touch me! If you care for your own life, +leave me while there is time!" + +Never had she looked so supremely, terribly beautiful. I gazed at +her from my corner of the doorway, awed, yet fascinated. The jewel +on her breast glowed with an angry red lustre, and shot forth +dazzling opaline rays, as though it were a sort of living, breathing +star. Prince Ivan paused--entranced no doubt, as I was, by her +unearthly loveliness. His face flushed--he gave a low laugh of +admiration. Then he made two swift strides forward and caught her +fiercely in his embrace. His triumph was brief. Scarcely had his +strong arm clasped her waist, when it fell numb and powerless-- +scarcely had his eager lips stooped towards hers, when he reeled and +sank heavily on the ground, senseless! The spell that had held me a +silent spectator of the scene was broken. Terrified, I rushed into +the room, crying out: + +"Zara, Zara! What have you done?" + +Zara turned her eyes gently upon me--they were soft and humid as +though recently filled with tears. All the burning scorn and +indignation had gone out of her face--she looked pityingly at the +prostrate form of her admirer. + +"He is not dead," she said quietly. "I will call Casimir." + +I knelt beside the Prince and raised his hand. It was cold and +heavy. His lips were blue, and his closed eyelids looked as though, +in the words of Homer, "Death's purple finger" had shut them fast +forever. No breath--no pulsation of the heart. I looked fearfully at +Zara. She smiled half sadly. + +"He is not dead," she repeated. + +"Are you sure?" I murmured. "What was it, Zara, that made him fall? +I was at the door--I saw and heard everything." + +"I know you did," said Zara gently; "and I am glad of it. I wished +you to see and hear all." + +"Is it a fit, do you think?" I asked again, looking sorrowfully at +the sad face of the unfortunate Ivan, which seemed to me to have +already graven upon it the stern sweet smile of those who have +passed all passion and pain forever. "Oh, Zara! do you believe he +will recover?" And tears choked my voice--tears of compassion and +regret. + +Zara came and kissed me. + +"Yes, he will recover--do not fret, little one. I have rung my +private bell for Casimir; he will be here directly. The Prince has +had a shock--not a fatal one, as you will see. You look doubtful-- +are you afraid of me, dear?" + +I gazed at her earnestly. Those clear childlike eyes--that frank +smile--that gentle and dignified mien--could they accompany evil +thoughts? No! I was sure Zara was good as she was lovely. + +"I am not afraid of you, Zara," I said gravely; "I love you too well +for that. But I am sorry for the poor Prince; and I cannot +understand---" + +"You cannot understand why those who trespass against fixed laws +should suffer?" observed Zara calmly. "Well, you will understand +some day. You will know that in one way or another it is the reason +of all suffering, both physical and mental, in the world." + +I said no more, but waited in silence till the sound of a firm +approaching footstep announced Heliobas. He entered the room +quickly--glanced at the motionless form of the Prince, then at me, +and lastly at his sister. + +"Has he been long thus?" he asked in a low tone. + +"Not five minutes," replied Zara. + +A pitying and affectionate gentleness of expression filled his keen +eyes. + +"Reckless boy!" he murmured softly, as he stooped and laid one hand +lightly on Ivan's breast. "He is the very type of misguided human +bravery. You were too hard upon him, Zara!" + +Zara sighed. + +"He spoke against you," she said. "Of course he did," returned her +brother with a smile. "And it was perfectly natural he should do so. +Have I not read his thoughts? Do not I know that he considers me a +false pretender and CHARLATAN? And have I not humoured him? In this +he is no worse than any one of his race. Every great scientific +discovery is voted impossible at the first start. Ivan is not to +blame because he is like the rest of the world. He will be wiser in +time." + +"He attempted to force his desires," began Zara again, and her +cheeks flushed indignantly. + +"I know," answered her brother. "I foresaw how it would be, but was +powerless to prevent it. He was wrong--but bold! Such boldness +compels a certain admiration. This fellow would scale the stars, if +he knew how to do it, by physical force alone." + +I grew impatient, and interrupted these remarks. + +"Perhaps he is scaling the stars now," I said; "or at any rate he +will do so if death can show him the way." + +Heliobas gave me a friendly glance. + +"You also are growing courageous when you can speak to your +physician thus abruptly," he observed quietly. "Death has nothing to +do with our friend as yet, I assure you. Zara, you had better leave +us. Your face must not be the first for Ivan's eyes to rest upon. +You," nodding to me, "can stay." + +Zara pressed my hand gently as she passed me, and entered her +studio, the door of which closed behind her, and I heard the key +turn in the lock. I became absorbed in the proceedings of Heliobas. +Stooping towards the recumbent form of Prince Ivan, he took the +heavy lifeless hands firmly in his own, and then fixed his eyes +fully and steadily on the pale, set features with an expression of +the most forcible calm and absolutely undeniable authority. Not one +word did he utter, but remained motionless as a statue in the +attitude thus assumed--he seemed scarcely to breathe--not a muscle +of his countenance moved. Perhaps twenty or thirty seconds might +have elapsed, when a warm tinge of colour came back to the +apparently dead face--the brows twitched--the lips quivered and +parted in a heavy sigh. The braised appearance of the eyelids gave +place to the natural tint--they opened, disclosing the eyes, which +stared directly into those of the compelling Master who thus forced +their obedience. A strong shudder shook the young man's frame; his +before nerveless hands grasped those of Heliobas with force and +fervour, and still meeting that steady look which seemed to pierce +the very centre of his system, Prince Ivan, like Lazarus of old, +arose and stood erect. As he did so, Heliobas withdrew his eyes, +dropped his hands and smiled. + +"You are better, Ivan?" he inquired kindly. + +The Prince looked about him, bewildered. He passed one hand across +his forehead without replying. Then he turned slightly and perceived +me in the window-embrasure, whither I had retreated in fear and +wonderment at the marvellous power of Heliobas, thus openly and +plainly displayed. + +"Tell me," he said, addressing me, "have I been dreaming?" + +I could not answer him. I was glad to see him recover, yet I was a +little afraid. Heliobas pushed a chair gently towards him. + +"Sit down, Ivan," he said quietly. + +The Prince obeyed, and covered his face with his hand as though in +deep and earnest meditation. I looked on in silence and wonderment. +Heliobas spoke not another word, and together we watched the pensive +figure in the chair, so absorbed in serious thought. Some minutes +passed. The gentle tick of the clock in the outer hall grew almost +obtrusive, so loud did it seem in the utter stillness that +surrounded us. I longed to speak--to ask questions--to proffer +sympathy--but dared not move or utter a syllable. Suddenly the +Prince rose; his manner was calm and dignified, yet touched with a +strange humility. He advanced to Heliobas, holding out his hand. + +"Forgive me, Casimir!" he said simply. + +Heliobas at once grasped the proffered palm within his own, and +looked at the young man with an almost fatherly tenderness. + +"Say no more, Ivan," he returned, his rich voice sounding more than +usually mellow in its warmth and heartiness. "We must all learn +before we can know, and some of our lessons are sharp and difficult. +Whatever you have thought of me, remember I have not, and do not, +blame you. To be offended with unbelievers is to show that you are +not yourself quite sure of the faith to which you would compel +them." + +"I would ask you one thing," went on the Prince, speaking in a low +tone. "Do not let me stay to fall into fresh errors. Teach me--guide +me, Casimir; I will be the most docile of your pupils. As for Zara--" + +He paused, as if overcome. + +"Come with me," said Heliobas, taking his arm; "a glass of good wine +will invigorate you. It is better to see Zara no more for a time. +Let me take charge of you. You, mademoiselle," turning to me, "will +be kind enough to tell Zara that the Prince has recovered, and sends +her a friendly good-night. Will that message suffice?" he inquired +of Ivan, with a smile. + +The Prince looked at me with a sort of wistful gravity as I came +forward to bid him farewell. + +"You will embrace her," he said slowly, "without fear. Her eyes will +rain sunshine upon you; they will not dart lightning. Her lips will +meet yours, and their touch will be warm--not cold, as sharp steel. +Yes; bid her good-night for me; tell her that an erring man kisses +the hem of her robe, and prays her for pardon. Tell her that I +understand; tell her I have seen her lover!" + +"With these words, uttered distinctly and emphatically, he turned +away with. Heliobas, who still held him by the arm in a friendly, +half-protecting manner. The tears stood in my eyes. I called softly: + +"Good-night, Prince Ivan!" + +He looked back with a faint smile. + +"Good-night, mademoiselle!" + +Heliobas also looked back and gave me an encouraging nod, which +meant several things at once, such as "Do not be anxious," "He will +be all right soon," and "Always believe the best." I watched their +two figures disappear through the doorway, and then, feeling almost +cheerful again, I knocked at the door of Zara's studio. She opened +it at once, and came out. I delivered the Prince's message, word for +word, as he had given it. She listened, and sighed deeply. + +"Are you sorry for him, Zara?" I asked. + +"Yes," she replied; "I am sorry for him as far as I can be sorry for +anything. I am never actually VERY sorry for any circumstances, +however grievous they may appear." + +I was surprised at this avowal. + +"Why, Zara," I said, "I thought you were so keenly sympathetic?" + +"So I am sympathetic, but only with suffering ignorance--a dying +bird that knows not why it should die--a withering rose that sees +not the reason for its withering; but for human beings who wilfully +blind themselves to the teachings of their own instincts, and are +always doing what they know they ought not to do in spite of +warning, I cannot say I am sorry. And for those who DO study the +causes and ultimate results of their existence, there is no occasion +to be sorry, as they are perfectly happy, knowing everything that +happens to them to be for their advancement and justification." + +"Tell me," I asked with a little hesitation, "what did Prince Ivan +mean by saying he had seen your lover, Zara?" + +"He meant what he said, I suppose," replied Zara, with sudden +coldness. "Excuse me, I thought you said you were not inquisitive." + +I could not bear this change of tone in her, and I clasped my arms +tight about her and smiled in her face. + +"You shall not get angry with ME, Zara. I am not going to be treated +like poor Ivan. I have found out what you are, and how dangerous it +is to admire you; but I do admire and love you. And I defy you to +knock me down as unceremoniously as you did the Prince--you +beautiful living bit of Lightning!" + +Zara moved restlessly in my embrace, but I held her fast. At the +last epithet I bestowed on her, she grew very pale; but her eyes +resembled the jewels on her breast in their sheeny glitter. + +"What have you found out?" she murmured. "What do you know?" + +"I cannot say I KNOW," I went on boldly, still keeping my arms round +her; "but I have made a guess which I think comes near the truth. +Your brother has had the care of you ever since you were a little +child, and I believe he has, by some method known only to himself, +charged you with electricity. Yes, Zara," for she had started and +tried to loosen my hold of her; "and it is that which keeps you +young and fresh as a girl of sixteen, at an age when other women +lose their bloom and grow wrinkles. It is that which gives you the +power to impart a repelling shock to people you dislike, as in the +case of Prince Ivan. It is that which gives you such an attractive +force for those with whom you have a little sympathy--such as +myself, for instance; and you cannot, Zara, with all your electric +strength, unclasp my arms from your waist, because you have not the +sentiment of repulsion towards me which would enable you to do it. +Shall I go on guessing?" + +Zara made a sign of assent--the expression of her face had softened, +and a dimpling smile played round the corners of her mouth. + +"Your lover," I went on steadily and slowly, "is a native of some +other sphere--perhaps a creation of your own fancy--perhaps (for I +will not be sceptical any more) a beautiful and all-powerful angelic +spirit. I will not discuss this with you. I believe that when Prince +Ivan fell senseless, he saw, or fancied he saw, that nameless being. +And now," I added, loosening my clasp of her, "have I guessed well?" + +Zara looked meditative. + +"I do not know," she said, "why you should imagine--" + +"Stop!" I exclaimed; "there is no imagination in the case. I have +reasoned it out. Here is a book I found in the library on electric +organs as they are discovered to exist in certain fish. Listen: +'They are nervous apparatuses which in the arrangement of their +parts may be compared to a Voltaic pile. They develop electricity +and give electrical discharges.'" + +"Well!" said Zara. + +"You say 'Well!' as if you did not know!" I exclaimed half-angrily, +half-laughingly. "These fish have helped me to understand a great +deal, I assure you. Your brother must have discovered the seed or +commencement of electrical organs like those described, in the human +body; and he has cultivated them in you and in himself, and has +brought them to a high state of perfection. He has cultivated them +in Raffaello Cellini, and he is beginning to cultivate them in me, +and I hope most sincerely he will succeed. I think his theory is a +magnificent one!" + +Zara gazed seriously at me, and her large eyes seemed to grow darker +with the intensity of her thought. + +"Supposing you had reasoned out the matter correctly," she said-- +"and I will not deny that you have done a great deal towards the +comprehension of it--have you no fear? do you not include some +drawbacks in even Casimir's learning such a secret, and being able +to cultivate and educate such a deadly force as that of electricity +in the human being?" + +"If it is deadly, it is also life-giving," I answered. "Remedies are +also poisons. You laid the Prince senseless at your feet, but your +brother raised him up again. Both these things were done by +electricity. I can understand it all now; I see no obscurity, no +mystery. And oh, what a superb discovery it is!" + +Zara smiled. + +"You enthusiast!" she said, "it is nothing new. It was well known to +the ancient Chaldeans. It was known to Moses and his followers; it +was practised in perfection by Christ and His disciples. To modern +civilization it may seem a discovery, because the tendency Of all +so-called progress is to forget the past. The scent of the human +savage is extraordinarily keen--keener than that of any animal--he +can follow a track unerringly by some odour he is able to detect in +the air. Again, he can lay back his ears to the wind and catch a +faint, far-off sound with, certainty and precision, and tell you +what it is. Civilized beings have forgotten all this; they can +neither smell nor hear with actual keenness. Just in the same way, +they have forgotten the use of the electrical organs they all +indubitably possess in large or minute degree. As the muscles of the +arm are developed by practice, so can the wonderful internal +electrical apparatus of man be strengthened and enlarged by use. The +world in its youth knew this; the world in its age forgets, as an +old man forgets or smiles disdainfully at the past sports of his +childhood. But do not let us talk any more to-night. If you think +your ideas of me are correct---" + +"I am sure they are!" I cried triumphantly. + +Zara held out her arms to me. + +"And you are sure you love me?" she asked. + +I nestled into her embrace and kissed her. + +"Sure!" I answered. "Zara, I love and honour you more than any woman +I ever met or ever shall meet. And you love me--I know you do!" + +"How can I help it?" she said. "Are you not one of us? Good-night, +dearest! Sleep well!" + +"Good-night!" I answered. "And remember Prince Ivan asked for your +pardon." + +"I remember!" she replied softly. "I have already pardoned him, and +I will pray for him." And a sort of radiant pity and forbearance +illumined her lovely features, as we parted for the night. So might +an angel look on some repentant sinner pleading for Heaven's +forgiveness. + +I lay awake for some time that night, endeavouring to follow out the +track of thought I had entered upon in my conversation with Zara. +With such electricity as Heliobas practised, once admitting that +human electric force existed, a fact which no reasoning person could +deny, all things were possible. Even a knowledge of superhuman +events might be attained, if there were anything in the universe +that WAS superhuman; and surely it would be arrogant and ignorant to +refuse to contemplate such a probability. At one time people mocked +at the wild idea that a message could flash in a moment of time from +one side of the Atlantic to the other by means of a cable laid under +the sea; now that it is an established fact, the world has grown +accustomed to it, and has ceased to regard it as a wonder. Granting +human electricity to exist, why should not a communication be +established, like a sort of spiritual Atlantic cable, between man +and the beings of other spheres and other solar systems? The more I +reflected on the subject the more lost I became in daring +speculations concerning that other world, to which I was soon to be +lifted. Then in a sort of half-doze, I fancied I saw an interminable +glittering chain of vivid light composed of circles that were all +looped one in another, which seemed to sweep round the realms of +space and to tie up the sun, moon, and stars like flowers in a +ribbon of fire. After much anxious and humble research, I found +myself to be one of the smallest links in this great chain. I do not +know whether I was grateful or afraid at this discovery, for sleep +put an end to my drowsy fancies, and dropped a dark curtain over my +waking dreams. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +MY STRANGE DEPARTURE. + + +The next morning brought me two letters; one from Mrs. Everard, +telling me that she and the Colonel had resolved on coming to Paris. + +"All the nice people are going away from here," she wrote. "Madame +Didier and her husband have started for Naples; and, to crown our +lonesomeness, Raffaello Cellini packed up all his traps, and left us +yesterday morning en route for Rome. The weather continues to be +delicious; but as you seem to be getting on so well in Paris, in +spite of the cold there, we have made up our minds to join you, the +more especially as I want to renovate my wardrobe. We shall go +straight to the Grand Hotel; and I am writing to Mrs. Challoner by +this post, asking her to get us rooms. We are so glad you are +feeling nearly recovered--of course, you must not leave your +physician till you are quite ready. At any rate, we shall not arrive +till the end of next week." + +I began to calculate. During that strange interview in the chapel, +Heliobas had said that in eight days more I should be strong enough +to undergo the transmigration he had promised to effect upon me. +Those eight days were now completed on this very morning. I was glad +of this; for I did not care to see Mrs. Everard or anyone till the +experiment was over. The other letter I received was from Mrs. +Challoner, who asked me to give an "Improvisation" at the Grand +Hotel that day fortnight. + +When I went down to breakfast, I mentioned both these letters, and +said, addressing myself to Heliobas: + +"Is it not rather a sudden freak of Raffaello Cellini's to leave +Cannes? We all thought he was settled for the winter there. Did you +know he was going to Rome?" + +"Yes," replied Heliobas, as he stirred his coffee abstractedly. "I +knew he was going there some day this month; his presence is +required there on business." + +"And are you going to give the Improvisation this Mrs. Challoner +asks you for?" inquired Zara. + +I glanced at Heliobas. He answered for me. + +"I should certainly give it if I were you," he said quietly: "there +will be nothing to prevent your doing so at the date named." + +I was relieved. I had not been altogether able to divest myself of +the idea that I might possibly never come out alive from the +electric trance to which I had certainly consented; and this +assurance on the part of Heliobas was undoubtedly comforting. We +were all very silent that morning; we all wore grave and preoccupied +expressions. Zara was very pale, and appeared lost in thought. +Heliobas, too, looked slightly careworn, as though he had been up +all night, engaged in some brain-exhausting labour. No mention was +made of Prince Ivan; we avoided his name by a sort of secret mutual +understanding. When the breakfast was over, I looked with a fearless +smile at the calm face of Heliobas, which appeared nobler and more +dignified than ever with that slight touch of sadness upon it, and +said softly: + +"The eight days are accomplished!" + +He met my gaze fully, with a steady and serious observation of my +features, and replied: + +"My child, I am aware of it. I expect you in my private room at +noon. In the meantime speak to no one--not even to Zara; read no +books; touch no note of music. The chapel has been prepared for you; +go there and pray. When you see a small point of light touch the +extreme edge of the cross upon the altar, it will be twelve o'clock, +and you will then come to me." + +With these words, uttered in a grave and earnest tone, he left me. A +sensation of sudden awe stole upon me. I looked at Zara. She laid +her finger on her lips and smiled, enjoining silence; then drawing +my hand close within her own, she led me to the door of the chapel. +There she took a soft veil of some white transparent fabric, and +flung it over me, embracing and kissing me tenderly as she did so, +but uttering no word. Taking my hand again, she entered the chapel +with me, and accompanied me through what seemed a blaze of light and +colour to the high altar, before which was placed a prie-dieu of +crimson velvet. Motioning me to kneel, she kissed me once more +through the filmy veil that covered me from head to foot; then +turning noiselessly away she disappeared, and I heard the heavy +oaken door close behind her. Left alone, I was able to quietly take +note of everything around me. The altar before which I knelt was +ablaze with lighted candles, and a wealth of the purest white +flowers decorated it, mingling their delicious fragrance with the +faintly perceptible odour of incense. On all sides of the chapel, in +every little niche, and at every shrine, tapers were burning like +fireflies in a summer twilight. At the foot of the large crucifix, +which occupied a somewhat shadowy corner, lay a wreath of +magnificent crimson roses. It would seem as though some high +festival were about to be celebrated, and I gazed around me with a +beating heart, half expecting some invisible touch to awaken the +notes of the organ and a chorus of spirit-voices to respond with the +"Gloria in excelsis Deo!" But there was silence--absolute, +beautiful, restful silence. I strove to collect my thoughts, and +turning my eyes towards the jewelled cross that surmounted the high +altar, I clasped my hands, and began to wonder how and for what I +should pray. Suddenly the idea struck me that surely it was selfish +to ask Heaven for anything; would it not be better to reflect on all +that had already been given to me, and to offer up thanks? Scarcely +had this thought entered my mind when a sort of overwhelming sense +of unworthiness came over me. Had I ever been unhappy? I wondered. +If so, why? I began to count up my blessings and compare them with +my misfortunes. Exhausted pleasure-seekers may be surprised to hear +that I proved the joys of my life to have far exceeded my sorrows. I +found that I had sight, hearing, youth, sound limbs, an appreciation +of the beautiful in art and nature, and an intense power of +enjoyment. For all these things, impossible of purchase by mere +wealth, should I not give thanks? For every golden ray of sunshine, +for every flower that blooms, for the harmonies of the wind and sea, +for the singing of birds and the shadows of trees, should I not-- +should we not all give thanks? For is there any human sorrow so +great that the blessing of mere daylight on the earth does not far +exceed? We mortals are spoilt and petted children--the more gifts we +have the more we crave; and when we burn or wound ourselves by our +own obstinacy or carelessness, we are ungratefully prone to blame +the Supreme Benefactor for our own faults. We don black mourning +robes as a sort of sombre protest against Him for having removed +some special object of our choice and love, whereas, if we believed +in Him and were grateful to Him, we should wear dazzling white in +sign of rejoicing that our treasure is safe in the land of perfect +joy where we ourselves desire to be. Do we suffer from illness, loss +of money, position, or friends, we rail against Fate--another name +for God--and complain like babes who have broken their toys; yet the +sun shines on, the seasons come and go, the lovely panorama of +Nature unrolls itself all for our benefit, while we murmur and fret +and turn our eyes away in anger. + +Thinking of these things and kneeling before the altar, my heart +became filled with gratitude; and no petition suggested itself to me +save one, and that was, "Let me believe and love!" I thought of the +fair, strong, stately figure of Christ, standing out in the world's +history, like a statue of pure white marble against a dark +background; I mused on the endurance, patience, forgiveness, and +perfect innocence of that most spotless life which was finished on +the cross, and again I murmured, "Let me believe and love!" And I +became so absorbed in meditation that the time fled fast, till a +sudden sparkle of flame flashing across the altar-steps caused me to +look up. The jewelled cross had become a cross of fire. The point of +light I had been, told to watch for had not only touched the extreme +edge, but had crept down among all the precious stones and lit them +up like stars. I afterwards learned that this effect was produced by +means of a thin, electric wire, which, communicating with a +timepiece constructed on the same system, illuminated the cross at +sunrise, noon, and sunset. It was time for me to join Heliobas. I +rose gently, and left the chapel with a quiet and reverent step, for +I have always thought that to manifest hurry and impatience in any +place set apart for the worship of the Creator is to prove yourself +one of the unworthiest things created. Once outside the door I laid +aside my veil, and then, with a perfectly composed and fearless +mind, went straight to the Electrician's study. I shall never forget +the intense quiet of the house that morning. The very fountain in +the hall seemed to tinkle in a sort of subdued whisper. I found +Heliobas seated at his table, reading. How my dream came vividly +back to me, as I saw him in that attitude! I felt that I knew what +he was reading. He looked up as I entered, and greeted me with a +kindly yet grave smile. I broke silence abruptly. + +"Your book is open," I said, "at a passage commencing thus: 'The +universe is upheld solely by the Law of Love. A majestic invisible +Protectorate governs the winds, the tides.' Is it not so?" + +"It is so," returned Heliobas. "Are you acquainted with the book?" + +"Only through the dream I had of you at Cannes," I answered. "I do +think Signor Cellini had some power over me." + +"Of course he had in your then weak state. But now that you are as +strong as he is, he could not influence you at all. Let us be brief +in our converse, my child. I have a few serious things to say to you +before you leave me, on your celestial journey." + +I trembled slightly, but took the chair he pointed out to me--a +large easy-chair in which one could recline and sleep. + +"Listen," continued Heliobas; "I told you, when you first came here, +that whatever I might do to restore you to health, you would have it +in your power to repay me amply. You ARE restored to health; will +you give me my reward?" + +"I would and will do anything to prove my gratitude to you," I said +earnestly. "Only tell me how." + +"You are aware," he went on, "of my theories respecting the Electric +Spirit or Soul in Man. It is progressive, as I have told you--it +begins as a germ--it goes on increasing in power and beauty for +ever, till it is great and pure enough to enter the last of all +worlds--God's World. But there are sometimes hindrances to its +progression--obstacles in its path, which cause it to recoil and +retire a long way back--so far back occasionally that it has to +commence its journey over again. Now, by my earnest researches, I am +able to study and watch the progress of my own inner force or soul. +So far, all has been well--prayerfully and humbly I may say I +believe all has been well. But I foresee an approaching shadow--a +difficulty--a danger--which, if it cannot be repelled or passed in +some way, threatens to violently push back my advancing spiritual +nature, so that, with much grief and pain, I shall have to re- +commence the work that I had hoped was done. I cannot, with all my +best effort, discover WHAT this darkening obstacle is--but YOU, yes, +YOU"--for I had started up in surprise--"you, when you are lifted up +high enough to behold these things, may, being perfectly unselfish +in this research, attain to the knowledge of it and explain it to +me, when you return. In trying to probe the secret for myself, it is +of course purely for my own interest; and nothing clear, nothing +satisfactory can be spiritually obtained, in which selfishness has +ever so slight a share. You, if indeed I deserve your gratitude for +the aid I have given you--you will be able to search out the matter +more certainly, being in the position of one soul working for +another. Still, I cannot compel you to do this for me--I only ask, +WILL you?" + +His entreating and anxious tone touched me keenly; but I was amazed +and perplexed, and could not yet realize what strange thing was +going to happen to me. But whatever occurred I was resolved to give +a ready consent to his request, therefore I said firmly: + +"I will do my best, I promise you. Remember that I do not know, I +cannot even guess where I am going, or what strange sensations will +overcome me; but if I am permitted to have any recollection of earth +at all, I will try to find out what you ask." + +Heliobas seemed satisfied, and rising from his chair, unlocked a +heavily-bound iron safe. From this he took a glass flask of a +strange, ever-moving, glittering fluid, the same in appearance as +that which Raffaello Cellini had forbidden me to drink. He then +paused and looked searchingly at me. + +"Tell me," he said in an authoritative tone, "tell me WHY you wish +to see what to mortals is unseen? What motive have you? What +ulterior plan?" + +I hesitated. Then I gathered my strength together and answered +decisively: + +"I desire to know why this world, this universe exists; and also +wish to prove, if possible, the truth and necessity of religion. And +I think I would give my life, if it were worth anything, to be +certain of the truth of Christianity." + +Heliobas gazed in my face with a sort of half-pity, half-censure. + +"You have a daring aim," he said slowly, "and you are a bold seeker. +But shame, repentance and sorrow await you where you are going, as +well as rapture and amazement. '_I_ WOULD GIVE MY LIFE IF IT WERE +WORTH ANYTHING.' That utterance has saved you--otherwise to soar +into an unexplored wilderness of spheres, weighted by your own +doubts and guided solely by your own wild desires, would be a +fruitless journey." + +I felt abashed as I met his steady, scrutinizing eyes. + +"Surely it is well to wish to know the reason of things?" I asked, +with some timidity. + +"The desire of knowledge is a great virtue, certainly," he replied; +"it is not truly felt by one in a thousand. Most persons are content +to live and die, absorbed in their own petty commonplace affairs, +without troubling themselves as to the reasons of their existence. +Yet it is almost better, like these, to wallow in blind ignorance +than wantonly to doubt the Creator because He is unseen, or to put a +self-opiniated construction on His mysteries because He chooses to +veil them from our eyes." + +"I do not doubt!" I exclaimed earnestly. "I only want to make sure, +and then perhaps I may persuade others." + +"You can never compel faith," said Heliobas calmly. "You are going +to see wonderful things that no tongue or pen can adequately +describe. Well, when you return to earth again, do you suppose you +can make people believe the story of your experiences? Never! Be +thankful if you are the possessor of a secret joy yourself, and do +not attempt to impart it to others, who will only repel and mock +you." + +"Not even to one other?" I asked hesitatingly. + +A warm, kindly smile seemed to illuminate his face as I put this +question. + +"Yes, to one other, the other half of yourself--you may tell all +things," he said. "But now, no more converse. If you are quite +ready, drink this." + +He held out to me a small tumbler filled with the sparkling volatile +liquid he had poured from the flask. For one moment my courage +almost forsook me, and an icy shiver ran through my veins. Then I +bethought myself of all my boasted bravery; was it possible that I +should fail now at this critical moment? I allowed myself no more +time for reflection, but took the glass from his hand and drained +its contents to the last drop. It was tasteless, but sparkling and +warm on the tongue. Scarcely had I swallowed it, when a curiously +light, dizzy sensation overcame me, and the figure of Heliobas +standing before me seemed to assume gigantic proportions. I saw his +hands extend--his eyes, like lamps of electric flame, burned through +and through me--and like a distant echo, I heard the deep vibrating +tones of his voice uttering the following words: + +"Azul! Azul! Lift up this light and daring spirit unto thyself; be +its pioneer upon the path it must pursue; suffer it to float +untrammelled through the wide and glorious Continents of Air; give +it form and force to alight on any of the vast and beautiful spheres +it may desire to behold; and if worthy, permit it to gaze, if only +for a brief interval, upon the supreme vision of the First and Last +of worlds. By the force thou givest unto me, I free this soul; do +thou, Azul, quickly receive it!" + +A dense darkness now grew thickly around me---I lost all power over +my limbs--I felt myself being lifted up forcibly and rapidly, up, +up, into some illimitable, terrible space of blackness and +nothingness. I could not think, move, or cry out--I could only feel +that I was rising, rising, steadily, swiftly, breathlessly ... when +suddenly a long quivering flash of radiance, like the fragment of a +rainbow, struck dazzlingly across my sight. Darkness? What had I to +do with darkness? I knew not the word--I was only conscious of +light--light exquisitely pure and brilliant--light through which I +stepped as easily as a bird flies in air. Perfectly awake to my +sensations, I felt somehow that there was nothing remarkable in +them--I seemed to be at home in some familiar element. Delicate +hands held mine--a face far lovelier than the loveliest face of +woman ever dreamed by poet or painter, smiled radiantly at me, and I +smiled back again. A voice whispered in strange musical murmurs, +such as I well seemed to know and comprehend: + +"Gaze behind thee ere the picture fades." + +I obeyed, half reluctantly, and saw as a passing shadow in a glass, +or a sort of blurred miniature painting, the room where Heliobas +stood, watching some strange imperfect shape, which I seemed faintly +to recognise. It looked like a small cast in clay, very badly +executed, of the shape I at present wore; but it was incomplete, as +though the sculptor had given it up as a failure and gone away, +leaving it unfinished. + +"Did I dwell in that body?" I mused to myself, as I felt the +perfection of my then state of being. "How came I shut in such a +prison? How poor a form--how destitute of faculties--how full of +infirmities--how limited in capabilities--how narrow in all +intelligence--how ignorant--how mean!" + +And I turned for relief to the shining companion who held me, and +obeying an impulse suddenly imparted, I felt myself floating higher +and higher till the last limits of the atmosphere surrounding the +Earth were passed, and fields of pure and cloudless ether extended +before us. Here we met myriads of creatures like ourselves, all +hastening in various directions--all lovely and radiant as a dream +of the fairies. Some of these beings were quite tiny and delicate-- +some of lofty stature and glorious appearance: their forms were +human, yet so refined, improved, and perfected, that they were +unlike, while so like humanity. + +"Askest thou nothing?" whispered the voice beside me. + +"Tell me," I answered, "what I must know." + +"These spirits that we behold," went on the voice, "are the +guardians of all the inhabitants of all the planets. Their labours +are those of love and penitence. Their work is to draw other souls +to God--to attract them by warnings, by pleading, by praying. They +have all worn the garb of mortality themselves, and they teach +mortals by their own experience. For these radiant creatures are +expiating sins of their own in thus striving to save others--the +oftener they succeed the nearer they approach to Heaven. This is +what is vaguely understood on your earth as purgatory; the +sufferings of spirits who love and long for the presence of their +Creator, and who yet are not pure enough to approach Him. Only by +serving and saving others can they obtain at last their own joy. +Every act of ingratitude and forgetfulness and wickedness committed +by a mortal, detains one or another of these patient workers longer +away from Heaven--imagine then what a weary while many of them have +to wait." + +I made no answer, and we floated on. Higher and higher--higher and +higher--till at last my guide, whom I knew to be that being whom +Heliobas had called Azul, bade me pause. We were floating close +together in what seemed a sea of translucent light. From this point +I could learn something of the mighty workings of the Universe. I +gazed upon countless solar systems, that like wheels within wheels +revolved with such rapidity that they seemed all one wheel. I saw +planets whirl around and around with breathless swiftness, like +glittering balls flung through the air--burning comets flared +fiercely past like torches of alarm for God's wars against Evil--a +marvellous procession of indescribable wonders sweeping on for ever +in circles, grand, huge, and immeasurable. And as I watched the +superb pageant, I was not startled or confused--I looked upon it as +anyone might look on any quiet landscape scene in what we know of +Nature. I scarcely could perceive the Earth from whence I had come-- +so tiny a speck was it--nothing but a mere pin's point in the +burning whirl of immensities. I felt, however, perfectly conscious +of a superior force in myself to all these enormous forces around +me--I knew without needing any explanation that I was formed of an +indestructible essence, and that were all these stars and systems +suddenly to end in one fell burst of brilliant horror, I should +still exist--I should know and remember and feel--should be able to +watch the birth of a new Universe, and take my part in its growth +and design. + +"Remind me why these wonders exist," I said, turning to my guide, +and speaking in those dulcet sounds which were like music and yet +like speech; "and why amid them all the Earth is believed by its +inhabitants to have merited destruction, and yet to have been found +worthy of redemption?" + +"Thy last question shall be answered first," replied Azul. "Seest +thou yonder planet circled with a ring? It is known to the dwellers +on Earth, of whom when in clay thou art one, as Saturn. Descend with +me!" + +And in a breath of time we floated downwards and alighted on a broad +and beautiful plain, where flowers of strange shape and colour grew +in profusion. Here we were met by creatures of lofty stature and +dazzling beauty, human in shape, yet angelic in countenance. They +knelt to us with reverence and joy, and then passed on to their toil +or pleasure, whichever invited them, and I looked to Azul for +explanation. + +"To these children of the Creator," said that radiant guide, "is +granted the ability to see and to converse with the spirits of the +air. They know them and love them, and implore their protection. +In this planet sickness and old age are unknown, and death comes +as a quiet sleep. The period of existence is about two hundred years, +according to the Earth's standard of time; and the process of decay +is no more unlovely than the gentle withering of roses. The influence +of the electric belt around their world is a bar to pestilence and +disease, and scatters health with light. All sciences, arts, and +inventions known on Earth are known here, only to greater perfection. +The three important differences between the inhabitants of this planet +and those who dwell on Earth are these: first they have no rulers in +authority, as each one perfectly governs himself; second, they do not +marry, as the law of attraction which draws together any two of +opposite sexes, holds them fast in inviolable fidelity; thirdly, there is +no creature in all the immensity of this magnificent sphere who has +ever doubted, or who ever will doubt, the existence of the Creator." + +A thrill of fiery shame seemed to dart through my spiritual being as +I heard this, and I made no answer. Some fairy-like little +creatures, the children of the Saturnites, as I supposed, here came +running towards us and knelt down, reverently clasping their hands +in prayer. They then gathered flowers and flung them on that portion +of ground where we stood, and gazed at us fearlessly and lovingly, +as they might have gazed at some rare bird or butterfly. + +Azul signed to me, and we rose while yet in their sight, and soaring +through the radiance of the ring, which was like a sun woven into a +circle, we soon left Saturn far behind us, and alighted on Venus. +Here seas, mountains, forests, lakes, and meadows were one vast +garden, in which the bloom and verdure of all worlds seemed to find +a home. Here were realized the dreams of sculptors and painters, in +the graceful forms and exquisite faces of the women, and the +splendid strength and godlike beauty of the men. A brief glance was +sufficient to show me that the moving spring of all the civilization +of this radiant planet was the love of Nature and Art united. There +were no wars--for there were no different nations. All the +inhabitants were like one vast family; they worked for one another, +and vied with each other in paying homage to those of the loftiest +genius among them. They had one supreme Monarch to whom they all +rendered glad obedience; and he was a Poet, ready to sacrifice his +throne with joy as soon as his people should discover a greater than +he. For they all loved not the artist but the Art; and selfishness +was a vice unknown. Here, none loved or were wedded save those who +had spiritual sympathies, and here, too, no creature existed who did +not believe in and worship the Creator. The same state of things +existed in Jupiter, the planet we next visited, where everything was +performed by electricity. Here persons living hundreds of miles +apart could yet converse together with perfect ease through an +electric medium; ships ploughed the seas by electricity; printing, +an art of which the dwellers on Earth are so proud, was accomplished +by electricity--in fact, everything in the way of science, art, and +invention known to us was also known in Jupiter, only to greater +perfection, because tempered and strengthened by an electric force +which never failed. From Jupiter, Azul guided me to many other fair +and splendid worlds--yet none of them were Paradise; all had some +slight drawback--some physical or spiritual ailment, as it were, +which had to be combated with and conquered. All the inhabitants of +each star longed for something they had not--something better, +greater, and higher--and therefore all had discontent. They could +not realize their best desires in the state of existence they then +were, therefore they all suffered disappointment. They were all +compelled to work in some way or another; they were all doomed to +die. Yet, unlike the dwellers on Earth, they did not, because their +lives were more or less constrained and painful, complain of or deny +the goodness of God--on the contrary, they believed in a future +state which should be as perfect as their present one was imperfect; +and the chief aim and object of all their labours was to become +worthy of attaining that final grand result--Eternal Happiness and +Peace. + +"Readest thou the lesson in these glowing spheres, teeming with life +and learning?" murmured Azul to me, as we soared swiftly on +together. "Know that not one smallest world in all the myriad +systems circling before thee, holds a single human creature who +doubts his Maker. Not one! except thine own doomed star! Behold it +yonder--sparkling feebly, like a faint flame amid sunshine--how poor +a speck it is--how like a scarcely visible point in all the +brilliancy of the ever-revolving wheel of Life! Yet there dwell the +dwarfs of clay--the men and women who pretend to love while they +secretly hate and despise one another. There, wealth is a god, and +the greed of gain a virtue. There, genius starves, and heroism dies +unrewarded. There, faith is martyred, and unbelief elected sovereign +monarch of the people. There, the sublime, unreachable mysteries of +the Universe are haggled over by poor finite minds who cannot call +their lives their own. There, nation wars against nation, creed +against creed, soul against soul. Alas, fated planet! how soon shalt +thou be extinct, and thy place shall know thee no more!" + +I gazed earnestly at my radiant guide. "If that is true," I said, +"why then should we have a legend that God, in the person of one +called Christ, came to die for so miserable and mean a race of +beings?" + +Azul answered not, but turned her luminous eyes upon me with a sort +of wide dazzling wonder. Some strange impelling force bore me +onward, and before I could realize it I was alone. Alone, in a vast +area of light through which I floated, serene and conscious of +power. A sound falling from a great height reached me; it was first +like a grand organ-chord, and then like a voice, trumpet-clear and +far-echoing. + +"Spirit that searchest for the Unseen," it said, "because I will not +that no atom of true worth should perish, unto thee shall be given a +vision--unto thee shall be taught a lesson thou dreamest not of. +THOU shalt create; THOU shalt design and plan; THOU shalt be +worshipped, and THOU shalt destroy! Rest therefore in the light and +behold the things that are in the light, for the tune cometh when +all that seemeth clear and visible now shall be but darkness. And +they that love me not shall have no place of abode in that hour!" + +The voice ceased. Awed, yet consoled, I listened for it again. There +was no more sound. Around me was illimitable light--illimitable +silence. But a strange scene unfolded itself swiftly before me--a +sort of shifting dream that was a reality, yet so wonderfully +unreal--a vision that impressed itself on every portion of my +intelligence; a kind of spirit-drama in which I was forced to enact +the chief part, and where a mystery that I had deemed impenetrable +was made perfectly clear and simple of comprehension. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +A MINIATURE CREATION. + + +In my heaven-uplifted dream, I thought I saw a circular spacious +garden in which all the lovely landscapes of a superior world +appeared to form themselves by swift degrees. The longer I looked at +it, the more beautiful it became, and a little star shone above it +like a sun. Trees and flowers sprang up under my gaze, and all +stretched themselves towards me, as though for protection. Birds +flew about and sang; some of them tried to get as near as possible +to the little sun they saw; and other living creatures began to move +about in the shadows of the groves, and on the fresh green grass. +All the wonderful workings of Nature, as known to us in the world, +took place over again in this garden, which seemed somehow to belong +to me; and I watched everything with a certain satisfaction and +delight. Then the idea came to me that the place would be fairer if +there were either men or angels to inhabit it; and quick as light a +whisper came to me: + + "CREATE!" + +And I thought in my dream that by the mere desire of my being, +expressed in waves of electric warmth that floated downwards from me +to the earth I possessed, my garden was suddenly filled with men, +women and children, each of whom had a small portion of myself in +them, inasmuch as it was I who made them move and talk and occupy +themselves in all manner of amusements. Many of them knelt down to +me and prayed, and offered thanksgivings for having been created; +but some of them went instead to the little star, which they called +a sun, and thanked that, and prayed to that instead. Then others +went and cut down the trees in the garden, and dug up stones, and +built themselves little cities, where they all dwelt together like +flocks of sheep, and ate and drank and made merry with the things I +had given them. Then I thought that I increased their intelligence +and quickness of perception, and by-and-by they grew so proud that +they forgot everything but themselves. They ceased to remember how +they were created, and they cared no more to offer praises to their +little sun that through me gave them light and heat. But because +something of my essence still was in them, they always instinctively +sought to worship a superior creature to themselves; and puzzling +themselves in their folly, they made hideous images of wood and +clay, unlike anything in heaven or earth, and offered sacrifices and +prayer to these lifeless puppets instead of to me. Then I turned +away my eyes in sorrow and pity, but never in anger; for I could not +be wrathful with these children of my own creation. And when I thus +turned away my eyes, all manner of evil came upon the once fair +scene--pestilence and storm, disease and vice. A dark shadow stole +between my little world and me--the shadow of the people's own +wickedness. And as every delicate fibre of my spiritual being +repelled evil by the necessity of the pure light in which I dwelt +serene. I waited patiently for the mists to clear, so that I might +again behold the beauty of my garden. Suddenly a soft clamour smote +upon my sense of hearing, and a slender stream of light, like a +connecting ray, seemed to be flung upwards through the darkness that +hid me from the people I had created and loved. I knew the sound--it +was the mingled music of the prayers of children. An infinite pity +and pleasure touched me, my being thrilled with love and tenderness; +and yielding to these little ones who asked me for protection, I +turned my eyes again towards the garden I had designed for fairness +and pleasure. But alas! how changed it had become! No longer fresh +and sweet, the people had turned it into a wilderness; they had +divided it into small portions, and in so doing had divided +themselves into separate companies called nations, all of whom +fought with each other fiercely for their different little parterres +or flower-beds. Some haggled and talked incessantly over the mere +possession of a stone which they called a rock; others busied +themselves in digging a little yellow metal out of the earth, which, +when once obtained, seemed to make the owners of it mad, for they +straightway forgot everything else. As I looked, the darkness +between me and my creation grew denser, and was only pierced at last +by those long wide shafts of radiance caused by the innocent prayers +of those who still remembered me. And I was full of regret, for I +saw my people wandering hither and thither, restless and +dissatisfied, perplexed by their own errors, and caring nothing for +the love I bore them. Then some of them advanced and began to +question why they had been created, forgetting completely how their +lives had been originally designed by me for happiness, love and +wisdom. Then they accused me of the existence of evil, refusing to +see that where there is light there is also darkness, and that +darkness is the rival force of the Universe, whence cometh silently +the Unnamable Oblivion of Souls. They could not see, my self-willed +children, that they had of their own desire sought the darkness and +found it; and now, because it gloomed above them like a pall, they +refused to believe in the light where still I was loving and +striving to attract them still. Yet it was not all darkness, and I +knew that even what there was might be repelled and cleared away if +only my people would turn towards me once more. So I sent down upon +them all possible blessings--some they rejected angrily, some they +snatched at and threw away again, as though they were poor and +trivial--none of them were they thankful for, and none did they +desire to keep. And the darkness above them deepened, while my +anxious pity and love for them increased. For how could I turn +altogether away from them, as long as but a few remembered me? There +were some of these weak children of mine who loved and honoured me +so well that they absorbed some of my light into themselves, and +became heroes, poets, musicians, teachers of high and noble thought, +and unselfish, devoted martyrs for the sake of the reverence they +bore me. There were women pure and sweet, who wore their existence +as innocently as lilies, and who turned to me to seek protection, +not for themselves, but for those they loved. There were little +children, whose asking voices were like waves of delicious music to +my being, and for whom I had a surpassing tenderness. And yet all +these were a mere handful compared to the numbers who denied my +existence, and who had wilfully crushed out and repelled every spark +of my essence in themselves. And as I contemplated this, the voice I +had heard at the commencement of my dream rushed towards me like a +mighty wind broken through by thunder: + + "DESTROY!" + +A great pity and love possessed me. In deep awe, yet solemn +earnestness, I pleaded with that vast commanding voice. + +"Bid me not destroy!" I implored. "Command me not to disperse into +nothingness these children of my fancy, some of whom yet love and +trust to me for safety. Let me strive once more to bring them out of +their darkness into the light--to bring them to the happiness I +designed them to enjoy. They have not all forgotten me--let me give +them more time for thought and recollection!" + +Again the great voice shook the air: + +"They love darkness rather than light; they love the perishable +earth of which they are in part composed, better than the germ of +immortality with which they were in the beginning endowed. This +garden of thine is but a caprice of thy intelligence; the creatures +that inhabit it are soulless and unworthy, and are an offence to +that indestructible radiance of which thou art one ray. Therefore I +say unto thee again--DESTROY!" + +My yearning love grew stronger, and I pleaded with renewed force. + +"Oh, thou Unseen Glory!" I cried; "thou who hast filled me with this +emotion of love and pity which permeates and supports my existence, +how canst thou bid me take this sudden revenge upon my frail +creation! No caprice was it that caused me to design it; nothing but +a thought of love and a desire of beauty. Even yet I will fulfil my +plan--even yet shall these erring children of mine return to me in +time, with patience. While one of them still lifts a hand in prayer +to me, or gratitude, I cannot destroy! Bid me rather sink into the +darkness of the uttermost deep of shadow; only let me save these +feeble little ones from destruction!" + +The voice replied not. A flashing opal brilliancy shot across the +light in which I rested, and I beheld an Angel, grand, lofty, +majestic, with a countenance in which shone the lustre of a myriad +summer mornings. + +"Spirit that art escaped from the Sorrowful Star," it said in +accents clear and sonorous, "wouldst thou indeed be content to +suffer the loss of heavenly joy and peace, in order to rescue thy +perishing creation?" + +"I would!" I answered; "if I understood death, I would die to save +one of those frail creatures, who seek to know me and yet cannot +find me through the darkness they have brought upon themselves." + +"To die," said the Angel, "to understand death, thou wouldst need to +become one of them, to take upon thyself their form--to imprison all +that brilliancy of which thou art now composed, into a mean and +common case of clay; and even if thou couldst accomplish this, would +thy children know thee or receive thee?" + +"Nay, but if I could suffer shame by them," I cried impetuously, "I +could not suffer sin. My being would be incapable of error, and I +would show these creatures of mine the bliss of purity, the joy of +wisdom, the ecstasy of light, the certainty of immortality, if they +followed me. And then I would die to show them death is easy, and +that in dying they would come to me and find their happiness for +ever!" + +The stature of the Angel grew more lofty and magnificent, and its +star-like eyes flashed fire. + +"Then, oh thou wanderer from the Earth!" it said, "understandest +thou not the Christ?" + +A deep awe trembled through me. Meanwhile the garden I had thought a +world appeared to roll up like a cloudy scroll, and vanished, and I +knew that it had been a vision, and no more. + +"Oh doubting and foolish Spirit!" went on the Angel--"thou who art +but one point of living light in the Supreme Radiance, even THOU +wouldst consent to immure thyself in the darkness of mortality for +sake of thy fancied creation! Even THOU wouldst submit to suffer and +to die, in order to show the frail children of thy dream a purely +sinless and spiritual example! Even THOU hast had the courage to +plead with the One All-Sufficing Voice against the destruction of +what to thee was but a mirage floating in this ether! Even THOU hast +had love, forgiveness, pity! Even THOU wouldst be willing to dwell +among the creatures of thy fancy as one of them, knowing in thy +inner self that by so doing, thy spiritual presence would have +marked thy little world for ever as sanctified and impossible to +destroy. Even THOU wouldst sacrifice a glory to answer a child's +prayer--even thou wouldst have patience! And yet thou hast dared to +deny to God those attributes which thou thyself dost possess--He is +so great and vast--thou so small and slight! For the love thou +feelest throbbing through thy being, He is the very commencement and +perfection of all love; if thou hast pity, He has ten thousand times +more pity; if THOU canst forgive, remember that from Him flows all +thy power of forgiveness! There is nothing thou canst do, even at +the highest height of spiritual perfection, that He cannot surpass +by a thousand million fold! Neither shalt thou refuse to believe +that He can also suffer. Know that nothing is more godlike than +unselfish sorrow--and the grief of the Creator over one erring human +soul is as vast as He Himself is vast. Why wouldst thou make of Him +a being destitute of the best emotions that He Himself bestows upon +thee? THOU wouldst have entered into thy dream-world and lived in it +and died in it, if by so doing thou couldst have drawn one of thy +creatures back to the love of thee; and wilt thou not receive the +Christ?" + +I bowed my head, and a flood of joy rushed through me. + +"I believe--I believe and I love!" I murmured. "Desert me not, O +radiant Angel! I feel and know that all these wonders must soon pass +away from my sight; but wilt thou also go?" + +The Angel smiled and touched me. + +"I am thy guardian," it said. "I have been with thee always. I can +never leave thee so long as thy soul seeks spiritual things. Asleep +or awake on the Earth, wherever thou art, I also am. There have been +times when I have warned thee and thou wouldst not listen, when I +have tried to draw thee onward and thou wouldst not come; but now I +fear no more thy disobedience, for thy restlessness is past. Come +with me; it is permitted thee to see far off the vision of the Last +Circle." + +The glorious figure raised me gently by the hand, and we floated on +and on, higher and higher, past little circles which my guide told +me were all solar systems, though they looked nothing but slender +garlands of fire, so rapidly did they revolve and so swiftly did we +pass them. Higher and higher we went, till even to my untiring +spirit the way seemed long. Beautiful creatures in human shape, but +as delicate as gossamer, passed us every now and then, some in bands +of twos and threes, some alone; and the higher we soared the more +dazzlingly lovely these inhabitants of the air seemed to be. + +"They are all born of the Great Circle," my guardian Angel explained +to me: "and to them is given the power of communicating high thought +or inspiration. Among them are the Spirits of Music, of Poesy, of +Prophecy, and of all Art ever known in all worlds. The success of +their teaching depends on how much purity and unselfishness there is +in the soul to which they whisper their divine messages--messages as +brief as telegrams which must be listened to with entire attention +and acted upon at once, or the lesson is lost and may never come +again." + +Just then I saw a Shape coming towards me as of a lovely fair-haired +child, who seemed to be playing softly on a strange glittering +instrument like a broken cloud strung through with sunbeams. +Heedless of consequences, I caught at its misty robe in a wild +effort to detain it. It obeyed my touch, and turned its deeply +luminous eyes first upon me, and then upon the Angel who accompanied +my flight. + +"What seekest thou?" it asked in a voice like the murmuring of the +wind among flowers. + +"Music!" I answered. "Sing me thy melodies--fill me with harmonies +divine and unreachable--and I will strive to be worthy of thy +teachings!" + +The young Shape smiled and drew closer towards me. + +"Thy wish is granted, Sister Spirit!" it replied. "The pity I shall +feel for thy fate when thou art again pent in clay, shall be taught +thee in minor music--thou shalt possess the secret of unwritten +sound, and I will sing to thee and bring thee comfort. On Earth, +call but my name--Aeon! and thou shalt behold me. For thy longing +voice is known to the Children of Music, and hath oft shaken the +vibrating light wherein they dwell. Fear not! As long as thou dost +love me, I am thine." And parting slowly, still smiling, the lovely +vision, with its small radiant hands ever wandering among the starry +strings of its cloud-like lyre, floated onward. + +Suddenly a clear voice said "Welcome!" and looking up I saw my first +friend, Azul. I smiled in glad recognition--I would have spoken--but +lo! a wide immensity of blazing glory broke like many-coloured +lightning around me--so dazzling, so overpowering, that I +instinctively drew back and paused--I felt I could go no further. + +"Here," said my guardian gently--"here ends thy journey. Would that +it were possible, poor Spirit, for thee to pass this boundary! But +that may not be--as yet. In the meanwhile thou mayest gaze for a +brief space upon the majestic sphere which mortals dream of as +Heaven. Behold and see how fair is the incorruptible perfection of +God's World!" + +I looked and trembled--I should have sunk yet further backward, had +not Azul and my Angel-guide held me with their light yet forcible +clasp. My heart fails me now as I try to write of that tremendous, +that sublime scene--the Centre of the Universe--the Cause of all +Creation. How unlike Heaven such as we in our ignorance have tried +to depict! though it is far better we should have a mistaken idea +than none at all. What I beheld was a circle, so huge that no mortal +measurements could compass it--a wide Ring composed of seven +colours, rainbow-like, but flashing with perpetual motion and +brilliancy, as though a thousand million suns were for ever being +woven into it to feed its transcendent lustre. From every part of +this Ring darted long broad shafts of light, some of which stretched +out so far that I could not see where they ended; sometimes a +bubbling shower of lightning sparks would be flung out on the pure +ether, and this would instantly form into circles, small or great, +and whirl round and round the enormous girdle of flame from which +they had been cast, with the most inconceivable rapidity. But +wonderful as the Ring was, it encompassed a Sphere yet more +marvellous and dazzling; a great Globe of opal-tinted light, +revolving as it were upon its own axis, and ever surrounded by that +scintillating, jewel-like wreath of electricity, whose only motion +was to shine and burn within itself for ever. I could not bear to +look upon the brightness of that magnificent central World--so large +that multiplying the size of the sun by a hundred thousand millions, +no adequate idea could be formed of its vast proportions. And ever +it revolved--and ever the Rainbow Ring around it glittered and cast +forth those other rings which I knew now were living solar systems +cast forth from that electric band as a volcano casts forth fire and +lava. My Angel-guide motioned me to look towards that side of the +Ring which was nearest to the position of the Earth. I looked, and +perceived that there the shafts of descending light formed +themselves as they fell into the shape of a Cross. At this, such +sorrow, love, and shame overcame me, that I knew not where to turn. +I murmured: + +"Send me back again, dear Angel--send me back to that Star of Sorrow +and Error! Let me hasten to make amends there for all my folly--let +me try to teach others what now I know. I am unworthy to be here +beside thee--I am unfit to look on yonder splendid World--let me +return to do penance for my sins and shortcomings; for what am I +that God should bless me? and though I should consume myself in +labour and suffering, how can I ever hope to deserve the smallest +place in that heavenly glory I now partly behold?" And could spirits +shed tears, I should have wept with remorse and grief. + +Azul spoke, softly and tenderly: + +"Now thou dost believe--henceforth thou must love! Love alone can +pass yon flaming barrier--love alone can gain for thee eternal +bliss. In love and for love were all things made--God loveth His +creatures, even so let His creatures love Him, and so shall the +twain be drawn together." + +"Listen!" added my Angel-guide. "Thou hast not travelled so far as +yet to remain in ignorance. That burning Ring thou seest is the +result of the Creator's ever-working Intelligence; from it all the +Universe hath sprung. It is exhaustless and perpetually creative; it +is pure and perfect Light. The smallest spark of that fiery essence +in a mortal frame is sufficient to form a soul or spirit, such as +mine, or that of Azul, or thine, when thou art perfected. The huge +world rolling within the Ring is where God dwells. Dare not thou to +question His shape, His look, His mien! Know that He is the Supreme +Spirit in which all Beauty, all Perfection, all Love, find +consummation. His breath is the fire of the Ring; His look, His +pleasure, cause the motion of His World and all worlds. There where +He dwells, dwell also all pure souls; there all desires have +fulfilment without satiety, and there all loveliness, wisdom or +pleasure known in any or all of the other spheres are also known. +Speak, Azul, and tell this wanderer from Earth what she will gain in +winning her place in Heaven." + +Azul looked tenderly upon me and said: + +"When thou hast slept the brief sleep of death, when thou art +permitted to throw off for ever thy garb of clay, and when by thine +own ceaseless love and longing thou hast won the right to pass the +Great Circle, thou shalt find thyself in a land where the glories of +the natural scenery alone shall overpower thee with joy--scenery +that for ever changes into new wonders and greater beauty. Thou +shalt hear music such as thou canst not dream of. Thou shalt find +friends, beyond all imagination fair and faithful. Thou shalt read +and see the history of all the planets, produced for thee in an +ever-moving panorama. Thou shalt love and be beloved for ever by +thine own Twin Soul; wherever that spirit may be now, it must join +thee hereafter. The joys of learning, memory, consciousness, sleep, +waking, and exercise shall all be thine. Sin, sorrow, pain, disease +and death thou shalt know no more. Thou shalt be able to remember +happiness, to possess it, and to look forward to it. Thou shalt have +full and pleasant occupation without fatigue--thy food and substance +shall be light and air. Flowers, rare and imperishable, shall bloom +for thee; birds of exquisite form and tender voice shall sing to +thee; angels shall be thy companions. Thou shalt have fresh and glad +desires to offer to God with every portion of thy existence, and +each one shall be granted as soon as asked, for then thou wilt not +be able to ask anything that is displeasing to Him. But because it +is a joy to wish, thou shalt wish! and because it is a joy to grant, +so also will He grant. No delight, small or great, is wanting in +that vast sphere; only sorrow is lacking, and satiety and +disappointment have no place. Wilt thou seek for admittance there or +wilt thou faint by the way and grow weary?" + +I raised my eyes full of ecstasy and reverence. + +"My mere efforts must count as nothing," I said; "but if Love can +help me, I will love and long for God's World until I die!" + +My guardian Angel pointed to those rays of light I had before +noticed, that slanted downwards towards Earth in the form of a +Cross. + +"That is the path by which THOU must travel. Mark it well! All +pilgrims from the Sorrowful Star must journey by that road. Woe to +them that turn aside to roam mid spheres they know not of, to lose +themselves in seas of light wherein they cannot steer! Remember my +warning! And now, Spirit who art commended to my watchful care, thy +brief liberty is ended. Thou hast been lifted up to the outer edge +of the Electric Circle, further we dare not take thee. Hast thou +aught else to ask before the veil of mortality again enshrouds +thee?" + +I answered not, but within myself I formed a wild desire. The +Electric Ring flashed fiercely on my uplifted eyes, but I kept them +fixed hopefully and lovingly on its intensely deep brilliancy. + +"If Love and Faith can avail me," I murmured, "I shall see what I +have sought." + +I was not disappointed. The fiery waves of light parted on either +side of the spot where I with my companions rested; and a Figure,-- +majestic, unutterably grand and beautiful,--approached me. At the +same moment a number of other faces and forms shone hoveringly out +of the Ring; one I noticed like an exquisitely lovely woman, with +floating hair and clear, earnest, unfathomable eyes. Azul and the +Angel sank reverently down and drooped their radiant heads like +flowers in hot sunshine. I alone, daringly, yet with inexpressible +affection welling up within me, watched with unshrinking gaze the +swift advance of that supreme Figure, upon whose broad brows rested +the faint semblance of a Crown of Thorns. A voice penetratingly +sweet addressed me: + +"Mortal from the Star I saved from ruin, because thou hast desired +Me, I come! Even as thy former unbelief, shall be now thy faith. +Because thou lovest Me, I am with thee. For do I not know thee +better than the Angels can? Have I not dwelt in thy clay, suffered +thy sorrows, wept thy tears, died thy deaths? One with My Father, +and yet one with thee, I demand thy love, and so through Me shalt +thou attain immortal life!" + +I felt a touch upon me like a scorching flame--a thrill rushed +through my being--and then I knew that I was sinking down, down, +further and further away. I saw that wondrous Figure standing serene +and smiling between the retiring waves of electric radiance. I saw +the great inner sphere revolve, and glitter as it rolled, like an +enormous diamond encircled with gold and sapphire, and then all +suddenly the air grew dim and cloudy, and the sensation of falling +became more and more rapid. Azul was beside me still, and I also +perceived the outline of my guardian Angel's form, though that was +growing indistinct. I now recalled the request of Heliobas, and +spoke: + +"Azul, tell me what shadow rests upon the life of him to whom I am +now returning?" + +Azul looked at me earnestly, and replied: + +"Thou daring one! Seekest thou to pierce the future fate of others? +Is it not enough for thee to have heard the voice that maketh the +Angel's singing silent, and wouldst thou yet know more?" + +I was full of a strange unhesitating courage, therefore I said +fearlessly: + +"He is thy Beloved one, Azul--thy Twin Soul; and wilt thou let him +fall away from thee when a word or sign might save him?" + +"Even as he is my Beloved, so let him not fail to hear my voice," +replied Azul, with a tinge of melancholy. "For though he has +accomplished much, he is as yet but mortal. Thou canst guide him +thus far; tell him, when death lies like a gift in his hand, let him +withhold it, and remember me. And now, my friend--farewell!" + +I would have spoken again, but could not. An oppressed sensation +came over me, and I seemed to plunge coldly into a depth of +inextricable blackness. I felt cramped for room, and struggled for +existence, for motion, for breath. What had happened to me? I +wondered indignantly. Was I a fettered prisoner? had I lost the use +of my light aerial limbs that had borne me so swiftly through the +realms of space? What crushing weight overpowered me? why such want +of air and loss of delightful ease? I sighed restlessly and +impatiently at the narrow darkness in which I found myself--a +sorrowful, deep, shuddering sigh .... and WOKE! That is to say, I +languidly opened mortal eyes to find myself once more pent up in +mortal frame, though I retained a perfect remembrance and +consciousness of everything I had experienced during my spirit- +wanderings. Heliobas stood in front of me with outstretched hands, +and his eyes were fixed on mine with a mingled expression of anxiety +and authority, which changed into a look of relief and gladness as I +smiled at him and uttered his name aloud. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +SECRETS OF THE SUN AND MOON. + + +"Have I been long away?" I asked, as I raised myself upright in the +chair where I had been resting. + +"I sent you from hence on Thursday morning at noon," replied +Heliobas. "It is now Friday evening, and within a few minutes of +midnight. I was growing alarmed. I have never known anyone stay +absent for so long; and you resisted my authority so powerfully, +that I began to fear you would never come back at all." + +"I wish I had not been compelled to do so!" I said regretfully. + +He smiled. + +"No doubt you do. It is the general complaint. Will you stand up now +and see how you feel?" + +I obeyed. There was still a slight sensation about me as of being +cramped for space; but this was passing, and otherwise I felt +singularly strong, bright and vigorous. I stretched out my hands in +unspeakable gratitude to him through whose scientific power I had +gained my recent experience. + +"I can never thank you enough!" I said earnestly. "I dare say you +know something of what I have seen on my journey?" + +"Something, but not all," he replied. "Of course I know what worlds +and systems you saw, but what was said to you, or what special +lessons were given you for your comfort, I cannot tell." "Then I +will describe everything while it is fresh upon me," I returned. "I +feel that I must do so in order that you may understand how glad I +am,--how grateful I am to you." + +I then related the different scenes through which I had passed, +omitting no detail. Heliobas listened with profound interest and +attention. When I had finished, he said: + +"Yours has been a most wonderful, I may say almost exceptional, +experience. It proves to me more than ever the omnipotence of WILL. +Most of those who have been placed by my means in the Uplifted or +Electric state of being, have consented to it simply to gratify a +sense of curiosity--few therefore have gone beyond the pure ether, +where, as in a sea, the planets swim. Cellini, for instance, never +went farther than Venus, because in the atmosphere of that planet he +met the Spirit that rules and divides his destiny. Zara--she was +daring, and reached the outer rim of the Great Circle; but even she +never caught a glimpse of the great Central Sphere. YOU, differing +from these, started with a daring aim which you never lost sight of +till you had fulfilled it. How true are those words: 'Ask, and it +shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be +opened unto you'! It is not possible," and here he sighed, "that +amid such wonders you could have remembered me--it were foolish on +my part to expect it." + +"I confess I thought nothing of you," I said frankly, "till I was +approaching Earth again; but then my memory prompted me in time, and +I did not forget your request." + +"And what did you learn?" he asked anxiously. + +"Simply this. Azul said that I might deliver you this message: When +death lies like a gift in your hand, withhold it, and remember her." + +"As if I did not always guide myself by her promptings!" exclaimed +Heliobas, with a tender smile. + +"You might forget to do so for once," I said. + +"Never!" he replied fervently. "It could not be. But I thank you, my +child, for having thought of me--the message you bring shall be +impressed strongly on my mind. Now, before you leave me to-night, I +must say a few necessary words." + +He paused, and appeared to consider profoundly for some minutes. At +last he spoke. + +"I have selected certain writings for your perusal," he said. "In +them you will find full and clear instructions how to cultivate and +educate the electric force within you, and thus continue the work I +have begun. With these you will also perceive that I have written +out the receipt for the volatile fluid which, if taken in a small +quantity every day, will keep you in health, strength, and +intellectual vigour, while it will preserve your youth and enjoyment +of life to a very much longer extent than that usually experienced +by the majority. Understand me well--this liquid of itself cannot +put you into an uplifted state of existence; you need HUMAN electric +force applied strongly to your system to compass this; and as it is +dangerous to try the experiment too often--dangerous to the body, I +mean--it will be as well, as you have work to do yet in this life, +not to attempt it again. But if you drink the fluid every morning of +your life, and at the same time obey my written manual as to the +cultivation of your own inner force, which is already existent in a +large degree, you will attain to certain advantages over the rest of +the people you meet, which will give you not only physical, but +mental power." + +He paused a minute or two, and again went on: + +"When you have educated your Will to a certain height of electric +command, you can at your pleasure see at any time, and see plainly, +the spirits who inhabit the air; and also those who, descending to +long distances below the Great Circle, come within the range of +human electricity, or the attractive matter contained in the Earth's +atmosphere. You can converse with them, and they with you. You will +also be able, at your desire, to see the parted spirits of dead +persons, so long as they linger within Earth's radius, which they +seldom do, being always anxious to escape from it as soon as +possible. Love may sometimes detain them, or remorse; but even these +have to yield to the superior longings which possess them the +instant they are set free. You will, in your intercourse with your +fellow-mortals, be able to discern their motives quickly and +unerringly--you will at once discover where you are loved and where +you are disliked; and not all the learning and logic of so-called +philosophers shall be able to cloud your instinct. You will have a +keener appreciation of good and beautiful things--a delightful sense +of humour, and invariable cheerfulness; and whatever you do, unless +you make some mistake by your own folly, will carry with it its +success. And, what is perhaps a greater privilege, you will find +that all who are brought into very close contact with you will be +beneficially influenced, or the reverse, exactly as you choose to +exert your power. I do not think, after what you have seen, you will +ever desire to exert a malign influence, knowing that the Creator of +your being is all love and forgiveness. At any rate, the greatest +force in the universe, electricity, is yours--that is, it has begun +to form itself in you--and you have nothing to do but to encourage +its growth, just as you would encourage a taste for music or the +fine arts. Now let me give you the writings." + +He unlocked a desk, and took from it two small rolls of parchment, +one tied with a gold ribbon, the other secured in a kind of case +with a clasp. This last he held up before my eyes, and said: + +"This contains my private instructions to you. Never make a single +one of them public. The world is not ready for wisdom, and the +secrets of science can only be explained to the few. Therefore keep +this parchment safely under lock and key, and never let any eye but +your own look upon its contents." + +I promised, and he handed it to me. Then taking the other roll, +which was tied with ribbon, he said, + +"Here is written out what I call the Electric Principle of +Christianity. This is for your own study and consideration; still, +if you ever desire to explain my theory to others, I do not forbid +you. But as I told you before, you can never compel belief--the +goldfish in a glass bowl will never understand the existence of the +ocean. Be satisfied if you can guide yourself by the compass you +have found, but do not grieve if you are unable to guide others. You +may try, but it will not be surprising if you fail. Nor will it be +your fault. The only sorrow that might happen to you in these +efforts would be in case you should love someone very dearly, and +yet be unable to instil the truth of what yon know into that +particular soul. You would then have to make a discovery, which is +always more or less painful--namely, that your love was misplaced, +inasmuch as the nature you had selected as worthy of love had no +part with yours; and that separation utter and eternal must +therefore occur, if not in this life, then in the future. So I would +say beware of loving, lest you should not love rightly--though I +believe you will soon be able to discern clearly the spirit that is +by fate destined to complete and perfect your own. And now, though I +know you are scarcely fatigued enough to sleep, I will say good- +night." + +I took the second roll of parchment from his hand, and opening it a +little way, I saw that it was covered with very fine small writing. +Then I said: + +"Does Zara know how long I have been absent?" + +"Yes," replied Heliobas; "and she, like myself, was surprised and +anxious. I think she went to bed long ago; but you may look into her +room and see if she is awake, before you yourself retire to rest." + +As he spoke of Zara his eyes grew melancholy and his brow clouded. +An instinctive sense of fear came upon me. + +"Is she not well?" I asked. + +"She is perfectly well," he answered. "Why should you imagine her to +be otherwise?" + +"Pardon me," I said; "I fancied that you looked unhappy when I +mentioned her." + +Heliobas made no answer. He stepped to the window, and throwing back +the curtain, called me to his side. + +"Look out yonder." he said in low and earnest tones; "look at the +dark blue veil strewn with stars, through which so lately your +daring soul pierced its flight! See how the small Moon hangs like a +lamp in Heaven, apparently outshining the myriad worlds around her, +that are so much vaster and fairer! How deceptive is the human eye! +--nearly as deceptive as the human reason. Tell me--why did you not +visit the Moon, or the Sun, in your recent wanderings?" + +This question caused me some surprise. It was certainly very strange +that I had not thought of doing so. Yet, on pondering the matter in +my mind, I remembered that during my aerial journey suns and moons +had been no more to me than flowers strewn on a meadow. I now +regretted that I had not sought to know something of those two fair +luminaries which light and warm our earth. + +Heliobas, after watching my face intently, resumed: + +"You cannot guess the reason of your omission? I will tell you. +There is nothing to see in either Sun or Moon. They were both +inhabited worlds once; but the dwellers in the Sun have ages ago +lived their lives and passed to the Central Sphere. The Sun is +nothing now but a burning world, burning rapidly, and surely, away: +or rather, IT IS BEING ABSORBED BACK INTO THE ELECTRIC CIRCLE FROM +WHICH IT ORIGINALLY SPRANG, TO BE THROWN OUT AGAIN IN SOME NEW AND +GRANDER FORM. And so with all worlds, suns and systems, for ever and +ever. Hundreds of thousands of those brief time-breathings called +years may pass before this consummation of the Sun; but its +destruction is going on now, or rather its absorption--and we on our +cold small star warm ourselves, and are glad, in the light of an +empty world on fire!" + +I listened with awe and interest. + +"And the Moon?" I asked eagerly. + +"The Moon does not exist. What we see is the reflection or the +electrograph of what she once was. Atmospherical electricity has +imprinted this picture of a long-ago living world upon the heavens, +just as Raphael drew his cartoons for the men of to-day to see." + +"But," I exclaimed in surprise, "how about the Moon's influence on +the tides? and what of eclipses?" + +"Not the Moon, but the electric photograph of a once living but now +absorbed world, has certainly an influence on the tides. The sea is +impregnated with electricity. Just as the Sun will absorb colours, +so the electricity in the sea is repelled or attracted by the +electric picture of the Moon in Heaven. Because, as a painting is +full of colour, so is that faithful sketch of a vanished sphere, +drawn with a pencil of pure light, full of immense electricity; and +to carry the simile further, just as a painting may be said to be +formed of various dark and light tints, so the electric portrait of +the Moon contains various degrees of electric force--which, coming +in contact with the electricity of the Earth's atmosphere, produces +different effects on us and on the natural scenes amid which we +dwell. As for eclipses--if you slowly pass a round screen between +yourself and a blazing fire, you will only see the edges of the +fire. In the same way the electrograph of the Moon passes at stated +intervals between the Earth and the burning world of the Sun." + +"Yet surely," I said, "the telescope has enabled us to see the Moon +as a solid globe--we have discerned mountains and valleys on its +surface; and then it revolves round us regularly--how do you account +for these facts?" + +"The telescope," returned Heliobas, "is merely an aid to the human +eye; and, as I told you before, nothing is so easily deceived as our +sense of vision, even when assisted by mechanical appliances. The +telescope, like the stereoscope, simply enables us to see the +portrait of the Moon more clearly; but all the same, the Moon, as a +world, does not exist. Her likeness, taken by electricity, may last +some thousands of years, and as long as it lasts it must revolve +around us, because everything in the universe moves, and moves in a +circle. Besides which, this portrait of the moon being composed of +pure electricity, is attracted and forced to follow the Earth by the +compelling influence of the Earth's own electric power. Therefore, +till the picture fades, it must attend the Earth like the haunting +spectre of a dead joy. You can understand now why we never see what +we imagine to be the OTHER SIDE of the Moon. It simply has NO other +side, except space. Space is the canvas--the Moon is a sketch. How +interested we are when a discovery is made of some rare old +painting, of which the subject is a perfectly beautiful woman! It +bears no name--perhaps no date--but the face that smiles at us is +exquisite--the lips yet pout for kisses--the eyes brim over, with +love! And we admire it tenderly and reverently--we mark it 'Portrait +of a lady,' and give it an honoured place among our art collections. +With how much more reverence and tenderness ought we to look up at +the 'Portrait of a Fair Lost Sphere,' circling yonder in that dense +ever-moving gallery of wonders where the hurrying throng of +spectators are living and dying worlds!" + +I had followed the speaker's words with fascinated attention, but +now I said: + +"Dying, Heliobas? There is no death." + +"True!" he answered, with hesitating slowness. "But there is what we +call death--transition--and it is always a parting." + +"But not for long!" I exclaimed, with all the gladness and eagerness +of my lately instructed soul. "As worlds are absorbed into the +Electric Circle and again thrown out in new and more glorious forms, +so are we absorbed and changed into shapes of perfect beauty, having +eyes that are strong and pure enough to look God in the face. The +body perishes--but what have WE to do with the body--our prison and +place of experience, except to rejoice when we shake off its weight +for ever!" + +Heliobas smiled gravely. + +"You have learned your high lesson well," he said. "You speak with +the assurance and delight of a spirit satisfied. But when I talk of +DEATH, I mean by that word the parting asunder of two souls who love +each other; and though such separation may be brief, still it is +always a separation. For instance, suppose--" he hesitated: "suppose +Zara were to die?" + +"Well, you would soon meet her again," I answered. "For though you +might live many years after her, still you would know in yourself +that those years were but minutes in the realms of space--" + +"Minutes that decide our destinies," he interrupted with solemnity. +"And there is always this possibility to contemplate--suppose Zara +were to leave me now, how can I be sure that I shall be strong +enough to live out my remainder of life purely enough to deserve to +meet her again? And if not then Zara's death would mean utter and +almost hopeless separation for ever--though perhaps I might begin +over again in some other form, and so reach the goal." + +He spoke so musingly and seriously that I was surprised, for I had +thought him impervious to such a folly as the fear of death. + +"You are melancholy, Heliobas," I said. "In the first place, Zara is +not going to leave you yet; and secondly, if she did, you know your +strongest efforts would be brought to bear on your career, in order +that no shadow of obstinacy or error might obstruct your path. Why, +the very essence of our belief is in the strength of Will-power. +What we WILL to do, especially if it be any act of spiritual +progress, we can always accomplish." + +Heliobas took my hand and pressed it warmly. + +"You are so lately come from the high regions," he said, "that it +warms and invigorates me to hear your encouraging words. Pray do not +think me capable of yielding long to the weakness of foreboding. I +am, in spite of my advancement in electric science, nothing but a +man, and am apt to be hampered oftentimes by my mortal trappings. We +have prolonged our conversation further than I intended. I assure +you it is better for you to try to sleep, even though, as I know, +you feel so wide awake. Let me give you a soothing draught; it will +have the effect of composing your physical nerves into steady +working order." + +He poured something from a small phial into a glass, and handed it +to me. I drank it at once, obediently, and with a smile. + +"Good-night, my Master!" I then said. "You need have no fear of your +own successful upward progress. For if there were the slightest +chance of your falling into fatal error, all those human souls you +have benefited would labour and pray for your rescue; and I know now +that prayers reach Heaven, so long as they are unselfish. I, though +I am one of the least of your disciples, out of the deep gratitude +of my heart towards you, will therefore pray unceasingly for you, +both here and hereafter." + +He bent his head. + +"I thank you!" he said simply. "More deeds are wrought by prayer +than this world dreams of! That is a true saying. God bless you, my +child. Good-night!" + +And he opened the door of his study for me to pass out. As I did so, +he laid his hand lightly on my head in a sort of unspoken +benediction--then he closed his door, and I found myself alone in +the great hall. A suspended lamp was burning brightly, and the +fountain was gurgling melodiously to itself in a subdued manner, as +if it were learning a new song for the morning. I sped across the +mosaic pavement with a light eager step, and hurried up the stairs, +intent on finding Zara to tell her how happy I felt, and how +satisfied I was with my wonderful experience. I reached the door of +her bedroom--it was ajar. I softly pushed it farther open, and +looked in. A small but exquisitely modelled statue of an "Eros" +ornamented one corner. His uplifted torch served as a light which +glimmered faintly through a rose-coloured glass, and shed a tender +lustre over the room; but especially upon the bed, ornamented with +rich Oriental needlework, where Zara lay fast asleep. How beautiful +she looked! Almost as lovely as any one of the radiant spirits I had +met in my aerial journey! Her rich dark hair was scattered loosely +on the white pillows; her long silky lashes curled softly on the +delicately tinted cheeks; her lips, tenderly red, like the colour on +budding apple-blossoms in early spring, were slightly parted, +showing the glimmer of the small white teeth within; her night-dress +was slightly undone, and half displayed and half disguised her neck +and daintily rounded bosom, on which the electric jewel she always +wore glittered brilliantly as it rose and sank with her regular and +quiet breathing. One fair hand lay outside the coverlet, and the +reflection from the lamp of the "Eros" flickered on a ring which +adorned it, making its central diamond flash like a wandering star. + +I looked long and tenderly on this perfect ideal of a "Sleeping +Beauty," and then thought I would draw closer and see if I could +kiss her without awaking her. I advanced a few steps into the room-- +when suddenly I was stopped. Within about a yard's distance from the +bed a SOMETHING opposed my approach! I could not move a foot +forward--I tried vigorously, but in vain! I could step backward, and +that was all. Between me and Zara there seemed to be an invisible +barrier, strong, and absolutely impregnable. There was nothing to be +seen--nothing but the softly-shaded room--the ever-smiling "Eros," +and the exquisite reposeful figure of my sleeping friend. Two steps, +and I could have touched her; but those two steps I was forcibly +prevented from making--as forcibly as though a deep ocean had rolled +between her and me. I did not stop long to consider this strange +occurrence--I felt sure it had something to do with her spiritual +life and sympathy, therefore it neither alarmed nor perplexed me. +Kissing my hand tenderly towards my darling, who lay so close to me, +and who was yet so jealously and invisibly guarded during her +slumbers, I softly and reverently withdrew. On reaching my own +apartment, I was more than half inclined to sit up reading and +studying the parchments Heliobas had given me; but on second +thoughts I resolved to lock up these precious manuscripts and go to +bed. I did so, and before preparing to sleep I remembered to kneel +down and offer up praise and honour, with a loving and believing +heart, to that Supreme Glory, of which I had been marvellously +permitted to enjoy a brief but transcendent glimpse. And as I knelt, +absorbed and happy, I heard, like a soft echo falling through the +silence of my room, a sound like distant music, through which these +words floated towards me: "A new commandment give I unto you, that +you love one another, even as I have loved you!" + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +SOCIABLE CONVERSE. + + +The next morning Zara came herself to awaken me, looking as fresh +and lovely as a summer morning. She embraced me very tenderly, and +said: + +"I have been talking for more than an hour with Casimir. He has told +me everything. What wonders you have seen! And are you not happy, +dearest? Are you not strong and satisfied?" + +"Perfectly!" I replied. "But, O Zara! what a pity that all the world +should not know what we know!" + +"All have not a desire for knowledge," replied Zara. "Even in your +vision of the garden you possessed, there were only a few who still +sought you; for those few you would have done anything, but for the +others your best efforts were in vain." + +"They might not have been always in vain," I said musingly. + +"No, they might not," agreed Zara. "That is just the case of the +world to-day. While there is life in it, there is also hope. And +talking of the world, let me remind you that you are back in it now, +and must therefore be hampered with tiresome trivialities. Two of +these are as follows; First, here is a letter for you, which has +just come; secondly, breakfast will be ready in twenty minutes!" + +I looked at her smiling face attentively. She was the very +embodiment of vigorous physical health and beauty; it seemed like a +dream to remember her in the past night, guarded by that invincible +barrier, the work of no mortal hand. I uttered nothing, however, of +these thoughts, and responding to her evident gaiety of heart, I +smiled also. + +"I will be down punctually at the expiration of the twenty minutes," +I said. "I assure you, Zara, I am quite sensible of the claims of +earthly existence upon me. For instance, I am very hungry, and I +shall enjoy breakfast immensely if you will make the coffee." + +Zara, who among her other accomplishments had the secret of making +coffee to perfection, promised laughingly to make it extra well, and +flitted from the room, singing softly as she went a fragment of the +Neapolitan Stornello: + + "Fior di mortelle + Queste manine tue son tanto belle! + Fior di limone + Ti voglio far morire di passione + Salta! lari--lira." + +The letter Zara had brought me was from Mrs. Everard, announcing +that she would arrive in Paris that very day, Sunday. + +"By the time you get this note," so ran her words, "we shall have +landed at the Grand Hotel. Come and see us at once, if you can. The +Colonel is anxious to judge for himself how you are looking. If you +are really recovered sufficiently to leave your medical pension, we +shall be delighted to have you with us again. I, in particular, +shall be glad, for it is real lonesome when the Colonel is out, and +I do hate to go shopping by myself, So take pity upon your +affectionate + +"AMY." + +Seated at breakfast, I discussed this letter with Heliobas and Zara, +and decided that I would call at the Grand Hotel that morning. + +"I wish you would come with me, Zara," I said wistfully. + +To my surprise, she answered: + +"Certainly I will, if you like. But we will attend High Mass at +Notre Dame first. There will be plenty of time for the call +afterwards." + +I gladly agreed to this, and Heliobas added with cheerful +cordiality: + +"Why not ask your friends to dine here to-morrow? Zara's call will +be a sufficient opening formality; and you yourself have been long +enough with us now to know that any of your friends will be welcome +here. We might have a pleasant little party, especially if you add +Mr. and Mrs. Challoner and their daughters to the list. And I will +ask Ivan." + +I glanced at Zara when the Prince's name was uttered, but she made +no sign of either offence or indifference. + +"You are very hospitable," I said, addressing Heliobas; "but I +really see no reason why you should throw open your doors to my +friends, unless, indeed, you specially desire to please me." + +"Why, of course I do!" he replied heartily; and Zara looked up and +smiled. + +"Then," I returned, "I will ask them to come. What am I to say about +my recovery, which I know is little short of miraculous?" + +"Say," replied Heliobas, "that you have been cured by electricity. +There is nothing surprising in such a statement nowadays. But say +nothing of the HUMAN electric force employed upon you--no one would +believe you, and the effort to persuade unpersuadable people is +always a waste of time." + +An hour after this conversation Zara and I were in the cathedral of +Notre Dame. I attended the service with very different feelings to +those I had hitherto experienced during the same ceremony. Formerly +my mind had been distracted by harassing doubts and perplexing +contradictions; now everything had a meaning for me--high, and +solemn, and sweet. As the incense rose, I thought of those rays of +connecting light I had seen, on which prayers travel exactly as +sound travels through the telephone. As the grand organ pealed +sonorously through the fragrant air, I remembered the ever youthful +and gracious Spirits of Music, one of whom, Aeon, had promised to be +my friend. Just to try the strength of my own electric force, I +whispered the name and looked up. There, on a wide slanting ray of +sunlight that fell directly across the altar was the angelic face I +well remembered!--the delicate hands holding the semblance of a harp +in air! It was but for an instant I saw it--one brief breathing- +space in which its smile mingled with the sunbeams and then it +vanished. But I knew I was not forgotten, and the deep satisfaction +of my soul poured itself in unspoken praise on the flood of the +"Sanctus! Sanctus!" that just then rolled triumphantly through the +aisles of Notre Dame. Zara was absorbed in silent prayer throughout +the Mass; but at its conclusion, when we came out of the cathedral, +she was unusually gay and elate. She conversed vivaciously with me +concerning the social merits and accomplishments of the people we +were going to visit; while the brisk walk through the frosty air +brightened her eyes and cheeks into warmer lustre, so that on our +arrival at the Grand Hotel she looked to my fancy even lovelier than +usual. + +Mrs. Everard did not keep us waiting long in the private salon to +which we were shown. She fluttered down, arrayed in a wonderful +"art" gown of terra-cotta and pale blue hues cunningly intermixed, +and proceeded to hug me with demonstrative fervour. Then she held me +a little distance off, and examined me attentively. + +"Do you know," she said, "you are simply in lovely condition! I +never would have believed it. You are actually as plump and pink as +a peach. And you are the same creature that wailed and trembled, and +had palpitations and headaches and stupors! Your doctor must be a +perfect magician. I think I must consult him, for I am sure I don't +look half as well as you do." + +And indeed she did not. I thought she had a tired, dragged +appearance, but I would not say so. I knew her well, and I was +perfectly aware that though she was fascinating and elegant in every +way, her life was too much engrossed in trifles ever to yield her +healthy satisfaction. + +After responding warmly to her affectionate greeting, I said: + +"Amy, you must allow me to introduce the sister of my doctor to you. +Madame Zara Casimir--Mrs. Everard." + +Zara, who had moved aside a little way out of delicacy, to avoid +intruding on our meeting, now turned, and with her own radiant smile +and exquisite grace, stretched out her little well-gloved hand. + +"I am delighted to know you!" she said, in those sweet penetrating +accents of hers which were like music. "YOUR friend," here +indicating me by a slight yet tender gesture, "has also become mine; +but I do not think we shall be jealous, shall we?" + +Mrs. Everard made some attempt at a suitable reply, but she was so +utterly lost in admiration of Zara's beauty, that her habitual self- +possession almost deserted her. Zara, however, had the most perfect +tact, and with it the ability of making herself at home anywhere, +and we were soon all three talking cheerfully and without +constraint. When the Colonel made his appearance, which he did very +shortly, he too was "taken off his feet," as the saying is, by +Zara's loveliness, and the same effect was produced on the +Challoners, who soon afterwards joined us in a body. Mrs. Challoner, +in particular, seemed incapable of moving her eyes from the +contemplation of my darling's sweet face, and I glowed with pride +and pleasure as I noted how greatly she was admired. Miss Effie +Challoner alone, who was, by a certain class of young men, +considered "doocid pretty, with go in her," opposed her stock of +physical charms to those of Zara, with a certain air of feminine +opposition; but she was only able to keep this barrier up for a +little time. Zara's winning power of attraction was too much for +her, and she, like all present, fell a willing captive to the +enticing gentleness, the intellectual superiority, and the +sympathetic influence exercised by the evenly balanced temperament +and character of the beautiful woman I loved so well. + +After some desultory and pleasant chat, Zara, in the name of her +brother and herself, invited Colonel and Mrs. Everard and the +Challoner family to dine at the Hotel Mars next day--an invitation +which was accepted by all with eagerness. I perceived at once that +every one of them was anxious to know more of Zara and her +surroundings--a curiosity which I could not very well condemn. Mrs. +Everard then wanted me to remain with her for the rest of the +afternoon; but an instinctive feeling came upon me, that soon +perhaps I should have to part from Heliobas and Zara, and all the +wonders and delights of their household, in order to resume my own +working life--therefore I determined I would drain my present cup of +pleasure to the last drop. So I refused Amy's request, pleading as +an excuse that I was still under my doctor's authority, and could +not indulge in such an excitement as an afternoon in her society +without his permission. Zara bore me out in this assertion, and +added for me to Mrs. Everard: + +"Indeed, I think it will be better for her to remain perfectly quiet +with us for a day or two longer; then she will be thoroughly cured, +and free to do as she likes." + +"Well!" said Mrs. Challoner; "I must say she doesn't look as if +anything were the matter with her. In fact, I never saw two more +happy, healthy-looking girls than you both. What secret do you +possess to make yourselves look so bright?" + +"No secret at all," replied Zara, laughing; "we simply follow the +exact laws of health, and they suffice." + +Colonel Everard, who had been examining me critically and asking me +a few questions, here turned to Zara and said: + +"Do you really mean to say, Madame Casimir, that your brother cured +this girl by electricity?" + +"Purely so!" she answered earnestly. + +"Then it's the most wonderful recovery _I_ ever saw. Why, at Cannes, +she was hollow-eyed, pale, and thin as a willow-wand; now she looks-- +well, she knows how she is herself--but if she feels as spry as she +looks, she's in first-rate training!" + +I laughed. + +"I DO feel spry, Colonel," I said. "Life seems to me like summer +sunshine." + +"Brava!" exclaimed Mr. Challoner. He was a staid, rather slow +Kentuckian who seldom spoke; and when he did, seemed to find it +rather an exertion. "If there's one class of folk I detest more than +another, it is those all-possessed people who find life unsuited to +their fancies. Nobody asked them to come into it--nobody would miss +them if they went out of it. Being in it, it's barely civil to +grumble at the Deity who sent them along here. I never do it myself +if I can help it." + +We laughed, and Mrs. Challoner's eyes twinkled. + +"In England, dear, for instance," she said, with a mischievous +glance at her spouse--"in England you never grumbled, did you?" + +Mr. Challoner looked volumes--his visage reddened, and he clenched +his broad fist with ominous vigour. + +"Why, by the Lord!" he said, with even more than his usual +deliberate utterance, "in England the liveliest flea that ever gave +a triumphal jump in air would find his spirits inclined to droop! I +tell you, ma'am," he continued, addressing himself to Zara, whose +merry laugh rang out like a peal of little golden bells at this last +remark--"I tell you that when I walked in the streets of London I +used to feel as if I were one of a band of criminals. Every person I +met looked at me as if the universe were about to be destroyed next +minute, and they had to build another up right away without God to +help 'em!" + +"Well, I believe I agree with you," said Colonel Everard. "The +English take life too seriously. In their craze for business they +manage to do away with pleasure altogether. They seem afraid to +laugh, and they even approach the semblance of a smile with due +caution." + +"I'm free to confess," added his wife, "that I'm not easily chilled +through. But an English 'at home' acts upon me like a patent +refrigerator--I get regularly frozen to the bone!" + +"Dear me!" laughed Zara; "you give very bad accounts of +Shakespeare's land! It must be very sad!" + +"I believe it wasn't always so," pursued Colonel Everard; "there are +legends which speak of it as Merrie England. I dare say it might +have been merry once, before it was governed by shopkeepers; but +now, you must get away from it if you want to enjoy life. At least +such is my opinion. But have you never been in England, Madame +Casimir? You speak English perfectly." + +"Oh, I am a fairly good linguist," replied Zara, "thanks to my +brother. But I have never crossed the Channel." + +The Misses Challoner looked politely surprised; their father's +shrewd face wore an expression of grim contentment. + +"Don't cross it, ma'am," he said emphatically, "unless you have a +special desire to be miserable. If you want to know how Christians +love one another and how to be made limply and uselessly wretched, +spend a Sunday in London." + +"I think I will not try the experiment, Mr. Challoner," returned +Zara gaily. "Life is short, and I prefer to enjoy it." + +"Say," interrupted Mrs. Challoner, turning to me at this juncture, +"now you are feeling so well, would it be asking you too much to +play us a piece of your own improvising?" + +I glanced at the grand piano, which occupied a corner of the salon +where we sat, and hesitated. But at a slight nod from Zara, I rose, +drew off my gloves, and seated myself at the instrument. Passing my +hands lightly over the keys, I wandered through a few running +passages; and as I did so, murmured a brief petition to my aerial +friend Aeon. Scarcely had I done this, when a flood of music seemed +to rush to my brain and thence to my fingers, and I played, hardly +knowing what I played, but merely absorbed in trying to give +utterance to the sounds which were falling softly upon my inner +sense of hearing like drops of summer rain on a thirsty soil. I was +just aware that I was threading the labyrinth of a minor key, and +that the result was a network of delicate and tender melody +reminding me of Heinrich Heine's words: + +"Lady, did you not hear the nightingale sing? A beautiful silken +voice--a web of happy notes--and my soul was taken in its meshes, +and strangled and tortured thereby." + +A few minutes, and the inner voice that conversed with me so +sweetly, died away into silence, and at the same time my fingers +found their way to the closing chord. As one awaking from a dream, I +looked up. The little group of friendly listeners were rapt in the +deepest attention; and when I ceased, a murmur of admiration broke +from them all, while Zara's eyes glistened with sympathetic tears. + +"How can you do it?" asked Mrs. Challoner in good-natured amazement. +"It seems to me impossible to compose like that while seated at the +piano, and without taking previous thought!" + +"It is not MY doing," I began; "it seems to come to me from--" + +But I was checked by a look from Zara, that gently warned me not to +hastily betray the secret of my spiritual communion with the unseen +sources of harmony. So I smiled and said no more. Inwardly I was +full of a great rejoicing, for I knew that however well I had played +in past days, it was nothing compared to the vigour and ease which +were now given to me--a sort of unlocking of the storehouse of +music, with freedom to take my choice of all its vast treasures. + +"Well, it's what WE call inspiration," said Mr. Challoner, giving my +hand a friendly grasp; "and wherever it comes from, it must be a +great happiness to yourself as well as to others." + +"It is," I answered earnestly. "I believe few are so perfectly happy +in music as I am." + +Mrs. Everard looked thoughtful. + +"No amount of practice could make ME play like that," she said; "yet +I have had two or three masters who were supposed to be first-rate. +One of them was a German, who used to clutch his hair like a walking +tragedian whenever I played a wrong note. I believe he got up his +reputation entirely by that clutch, for he often played wrong notes +himself without minding it. But just because he worked himself into +a sort of frenzy when others went wrong, everybody praised him, and +said he had such an ear and was so sensitive that he must be a great +musician. He worried me nearly to death over Bach's 'Well-tempered +Klavier'--all to no purpose, for I can't play a note of it now, and +shouldn't care to if I could. I consider Bach a dreadful old bore, +though I know it is heresy to say so. Even Beethoven is occasionally +prosy, only no one will be courageous enough to admit it. People +would rather go to sleep over classical music than confess they +don't like it." + +"Schubert would have been a grander master than Beethoven, if he had +only lived long enough," said Zara; "but I dare say very few will +agree with me in such an assertion. Unfortunately most of my +opinions differ from those of everyone else." + +"You should say FORTUNATELY, madame," said Colonel Everard, bowing +gallantly; "as the circumstance has the happy result of making you +perfectly original as well as perfectly charming." + +Zara received this compliment with her usual sweet equanimity, and +we rose to take our leave. As we were passing out, Amy Everard drew +me back and crammed into the pocket of my cloak a newspaper. + +"Read it when you are alone," she whispered; "and you will see what +Raffaello Cellini has done with the sketch he made of you." + +We parted from these pleasant Americans with cordial expressions of +goodwill, Zara reminding them of their engagement to visit her at +her own home next day, and fixing the dinner-hour for half-past +seven. + +On our return to the Hotel Mars, we found Heliobas in the drawing- +room, deep in converse with a Catholic priest--a fine-looking man of +venerable and noble features. Zara addressed him as "Father Paul," +and bent humbly before him to receive his blessing, which he gave +her with almost parental tenderness. He seemed, from his familiar +manner with them, to be a very old friend of the family. + +On my being introduced to him, he greeted me with gentle courtesy, +and gave me also his simple unaffected benediction. We all partook +of a light luncheon to-gether, after which repast Heliobas and +Father Paul withdrew together. Zara looked after their retreating +figures with a sort of meditative pathos in her large eyes; and then +she told me she had something to finish in her studio--would I +excuse her for about an hour? I readily consented, for I myself was +desirous of passing a little time in solitude, in order to read the +manuscripts Heliobas had given me. "For," thought I, "if there is +anything in them not quite clear to me, he will explain it, and I +had better take advantage of his instruction while I can." + +As Zara and I went upstairs together, we were followed by Leo--a +most unusual circumstance, as that faithful animal was generally in +attendance on his master. Now, however, he seemed to have something +oppressive on his mind, for he kept close to Zara, and his big brown +eyes, whenever he raised them to her face, were full of intense +melancholy. His tail drooped in a forlorn way, and all the vivacity +of his nature seemed to have gone out of him. + +"Leo does not seem well," I said, patting the dog's beautiful silky +coat, an attention to which he responded by a heavy sigh and a +wistful gaze approaching to tears. Zara looked at him. + +"Poor Leo!" she murmured caressingly. "Perhaps he feels lonely. Do +you want to come with your mistress to-day, old boy? So you shall. +Come along--cheer up, Leo!" + +And, nodding to me, she passed into her studio, the dog following +her. I turned into my own apartment, and then bethought myself of +the newspaper Mrs. Everard had thrust into my pocket. It was a Roman +journal, and the passage marked for my perusal ran as follows: + +"The picture of the Improvisatrice, painted by our countryman Signor +Raffaello Cellini, has been purchased by Prince N----for the sum of +forty thousand francs. The Prince generously permits it to remain on +view for a few days longer, so that those who have not yet enjoyed +its attraction, have still time to behold one of the most wonderful +pictures of the age. The colouring yet remains a marvel to both +students and connoisseurs, and the life-like appearance of the +girl's figure, robed in its clinging white draperies ornamented with +lilies of the valley, is so strong, that one imagines she will step +out of the canvas and confront the bystanders. Signor Cellini must +now be undoubtedly acknowledged as one of the greatest geniuses of +modern times." + +I could see no reason, as I perused this, to be sure that _I_ had +served as the model for this successful work of art, unless the +white dress and the lilies of the valley, which I had certainly worn +at Cannes, were sufficient authority for forming such a conclusion. +Still I felt quite a curiosity about the picture--the more so as I +could foresee no possible chance of my ever beholding it. I +certainly should not go to Rome on purpose, and in a few days it +would be in the possession of Prince N----, a personage whom in all +probability I should never know. I put the newspaper carefully by, +and then turned my mind to the consideration of quite another +subject--namely, the contents of my parchment documents. The first +one I opened was that containing the private instructions of +Heliobas to myself for the preservation of my own health, and the +cultivation of the electric force within me. These were so +exceedingly simple, and yet so wonderful in their simplicity, that I +was surprised. They were based upon the plainest and most reasonable +common-sense arguments--easy enough for a child to understand. +Having promised never to make them public, it is impossible for me +to give the slightest hint of their purport; but I may say at once, +without trespassing the bounds of my pledged word, that if these few +concise instructions were known and practised by everyone, doctors +would be entirely thrown out of employment, and chemists' shops +would no longer cumber the streets. Illness would be very difficult +of attainment--though in the event of its occurring each individual +would know how to treat him or herself--and life could be prolonged +easily and comfortably to more than a hundred years, barring, of +course, accidents by sea, rail and road, or by deeds of violence. +But it will take many generations before the world is UNIVERSALLY +self-restrained enough to follow such plain maxims as those laid +down for me in the writing of my benefactor, Heliobas--even if it be +ever self-restrained at all, which, judging from the present state +of society, is much to be doubted. Therefore, no more of the +subject, on which, indeed, I am forbidden to speak. + +The other document, called "The Electric Principle of Christianity," +I found so curious and original, suggesting so many new theories +concerning that religion which has civilized a great portion of +humanity, that, as I am not restrained by any promise on this point, +I have resolved to give it here in full. My readers must not be rash +enough to jump to the conclusion that I set it forward as an +explanation or confession of my own faith; my creed has nothing to +do with anyone save myself. I simply copy the manuscript I possess, +as the theory of a deeply read and widely intelligent man, such as +Heliobas undoubtedly WAS and IS; a man, too, in whose veins runs the +blood of the Chaldean kings--earnest and thoughtful Orientals, who +were far wiser in their generation perhaps than we, with all our +boasted progress, are in ours. The coincidences which have to do +with electrical science will, I believe, be generally admitted to be +curious if not convincing. To me, of course, they are only fresh +proofs of WHAT _I_ KNOW, because _I_ HAVE SEEN THE GREAT ELECTRIC +CIRCLE, and know its power (guided as it is by the Central +Intelligence within) to be capable of anything, from the sending +down of a minute spark of instinct into the heart of a flower, to +the perpetual manufacture and re-absorption of solar systems by the +million million. And it is a circle that ever widens without end. +What more glorious manifestation can there be of the Creator's +splendour and wisdom! But as to how this world of ours span round in +its own light littleness farther and farther from the Radiant Ring, +till its very Sun began to be re-absorbed, and till its Moon +disappeared and became a mere picture--till it became of itself like +a small blot on the fair scroll of the Universe, while its +inhabitants grew to resent all heavenly attraction; and how it was +yet thought worth God's patience and tender consideration, just for +the sake of a few human souls upon it who still remembered and loved +Him, to give it one more chance before it should be drawn back into +the Central Circle like a spark within a fire--all this is +sufficiently set forth in the words of Heliobas, quoted in the next +chapter. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +THE ELECTRIC CREED. + + +The "Electric Principle of Christianity" opened as follows: + +"From all Eternity God, or the SUPREME SPIRIT OF LIGHT, existed, and +to all Eternity He will continue to exist. This is plainly stated in +the New Testament thus: 'God is a SPIRIT, and they that worship Him +must worship Him IN SPIRIT and in truth.' + +"He is a Shape of pure Electric Radiance. Those who may be inclined +to doubt this may search the Scriptures on which they pin their +faith, and they will find that all the visions and appearances of +the Deity there chronicled were electric in character. + +"As a poet forms poems, or a musician melodies, so God formed by a +Thought the Vast Central Sphere in which He dwells, and peopled it +with the pure creations of His glorious fancy. And why? Because, +being pure Light, He is also pure Love; the power or capacity of +Love implies the necessity of Loving; the necessity of loving points +to the existence of things to be loved--hence the secret of +creation. From the ever-working Intelligence of this Divine Love +proceeded the Electric Circle of the Universe, from whence are born +all worlds. + +"This truth vaguely dawned upon the ancient poets of Scripture when +they wrote: 'Darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit +of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be +light. And there was light.' + +"These words apply SOLELY to the creation or production of OUR OWN +EARTH, and in them we read nothing but a simple manifestation of +electricity, consisting in a HEATING PASSAGE OF RAYS from the +Central Circle to the planet newly propelled forth from it, which +caused that planet to produce and multiply the wonders of the +animal, vegetable, and mineral kingdoms which we call Nature. + +"Let us now turn again to the poet-prophets of Scripture: 'And God +said, Let us make man in our image.' The word 'OUR' here implies an +instinctive idea that God was never alone. This idea is correct. +Love cannot exist in a chaos; and God by the sheer necessity of His +Being has for ever been surrounded by radiant and immortal Spirits +emanating from His own creative glory--beings in whom all beauty and +all purity are found. In the IMAGES, therefore (only the IMAGES), of +these Children of Light and of Himself, He made Man--that is, He +caused the Earth to be inhabited and DOMINATED by beings composed of +Earth's component parts, animal, vegetable, and mineral, giving them +their superiority by placing within them His 'LIKENESS' in the form +of an ELECTRIC FLAME or GERM of spiritual existence combined with +its companion working-force of WILL-POWER. + +"Like all flames, this electric spark can either be fanned into a +fire or it can be allowed to escape in air--IT CAN NEVER BE +DESTROYED. It can be fostered and educated till it becomes a living +Spiritual Form of absolute beauty--an immortal creature of thought, +memory, emotion, and working intelligence. If, on the contrary, he +is neglected or forgotten, and its companion Will is drawn by the +weight of Earth to work for earthly aims alone, then it escapes and +seeks other chances of development in OTHER FORMS on OTHER PLANETS, +while the body it leaves, SUPPORTED ONLY BY PHYSICAL SUSTENANCE +DRAWN FROM THE EARTH ON WHICH IT DWELLS, becomes a mere lump of clay +ANIMATED BY MERE ANIMAL LIFE SOLELY, full of inward ignorance and +corruption and outward incapacity. Of such material are the majority +of men composed BY THEIR OWN FREE-WILL AND CHOICE, because they +habitually deaden the voice of conscience and refuse to believe in +the existence of a spiritual element within and around them. + +"To resume: the Earth is one of the smallest of planets; and not +only this, but, from its position in the Universe, receives a less +amount of direct influence from the Electric Circle than other +worlds more happily situated. Were men wise enough to accept this +fact, they would foster to the utmost the germs of electric sympathy +within themselves, in order to form a direct communication, or +system of attraction, between this planet and the ever-widening +Ring, so that some spiritual benefit might accrue to them thereby. +But as the ages roll on, their chances of doing this diminish. The +time is swiftly approaching when the invincible Law of Absorption +shall extinguish Earth as easily as we blow out the flame of a +candle. True, it may be again reproduced, and again thrown out on +space; but then it will be in a new and grander form, and will +doubtless have more godlike inhabitants. + +"In the meantime--during those brief cycles of centuries which are +as a breath in the workings of the Infinite, and which must yet +elapse before this world, as we know it, comes to an end--God has +taken pity on the few, very few souls dwelling here, pent up in +mortal clay, who have blindly tried to reach Him, like plants +straining up to the light, and has established a broad stream of +sympathetic electric communication with Himself, which all who care +to do so may avail themselves of. + +"Here it may be asked: Why should God take pity? Because that +Supreme Shape of Light finds a portion of Himself in all pure souls +that love Him, and HE CANNOT DESPISE HIMSELF. Also because He is +capable of all the highest emotions known to man, in a far larger +and grander degree, besides possessing other sentiments and desires +unimaginable to the human mind. It is enough to say that all the +attributes that accompany perfect goodness He enjoys; therefore He +can feel compassion, tenderness, forgiveness, patience--all or any +of the emotions that produce pure, unselfish pleasure. + +"Granting Him, therefore, these attributes (and it is both +blasphemous and unreasonable to DENY HIM THOSE VIRTUES WHICH +DISTINGUISH THE BEST OF MEN), it is easily understood how He, the +All-Fair Beneficent Ruler of the Central Sphere, perceiving the long +distance to which the Earth was propelled, like a ball flung too far +out, from the glory of His Electric Ring, saw also that the +creatures He had made in His image were in danger of crushing that +image completely out, and with it all remembrance of Him, in the +fatal attention they gave to their merely earthly surroundings, +lacking, as they did, and not possessing sufficient energy to seek, +electric attraction. In brief, this Earth and God's World were like +America and Europe before the Atlantic Cable was laid. Now the +messages of goodwill flash under the waves, heedless of the storms. +So also God's Cable is laid between us and His Heaven in the person +of Christ. + +"For ages (always remembering that our ages are with God a moment) +the idea of WORSHIP was in the mind of man. With this idea came also +the sentiment of PROPITIATION. The untamed savage has from time +immemorial instinctively felt the necessity of looking up to a Being +greater than Himself, and also of seeking a reconciliation with that +Being for some fault or loss in himself which he is aware of, yet +cannot explain. This double instinct--worship and propitiation--is +the key-note of all the creeds of the world, and may be called God's +first thought of the cable to be hereafter laid--a lightning-thought +which He instilled into the human race to prepare it, as one might +test a telegraph-wire from house to house, before stretching it +across a continent. + +"All religions, as known to us, are mere types of Christianity. It +is a notable fact that some of the oldest and most learned races in +the world, such as the Armenians and Chaldeans, were the first to be +convinced of the truth of Christ's visitation. Buddhism, of which +there are so many million followers, is itself a type of Christ's +teaching; only it lacks the supernatural element. Buddha died a +hermit at the age of eighty, as any wise and ascetic man might do +to-day. The death and resurrection of Christ were widely different. +Anyone can be a Buddha again; anyone can NOT be a Christ. That there +are stated to be more followers of Buddhism than of Christianity is +no proof of any efficacy in the former or lack of power in the +latter. Buddhists help to swell that very large class of persons who +prefer a flattering picture to a plain original; or who, sheep-like +by nature, finding themselves all together in one meadow, are too +lazy, as well as too indifferent, to seek pastures fresher and +fairer. + +"Through the divine influence of an Electric Thought, then, the +world unconsciously grew to expect SOMETHING--they knew not what. +The old creeds of the world, like sunflowers, turned towards that +unknown Sun; the poets, prophets, seers, all spoke of some +approaching consolation and glory; and to this day the fated Jews +expect it, unwilling to receive as their Messiah the Divine Martyr +they slew, though their own Scriptures testify to His identity. + +"Christ came, born of a Virgin; that is, a radiant angel from God's +Sphere was in the first place sent down to Earth to wear the form of +Mary of Bethlehem, in Judea. Within that vessel of absolute purity +God placed an Emanation of His own radiance--no germ or small flame +such as is given to us in our bodies to cultivate and foster, but a +complete immortal Spirit, a portion of God Himself, wise, sinless, +and strong. This Spirit, pent up in clay, was born as a helpless +babe, grew up as man--as man taught, comforted, was slain and +buried; but as pure Spirit rose again and returned in peace to +Heaven, His mission done. + +"It was necessary, in order to establish what has been called an +electric communication between God's Sphere and this Earth, that an +actual immortal, untainted Spirit in the person of Christ should +walk this world, sharing with men sufferings, difficulties, danger, +and death. Why? In order that we might first completely confide in +and trust Him, afterwards realizing His spiritual strength and glory +by His resurrection. And here may be noted the main difference +between the Electric Theory of Christianity and other theories. +CHRIST DID NOT DIE BECAUSE GOD NEEDED A SACRIFICE. The idea of +sacrifice is a relic of heathen barbarism; God is too infinitely +loving to desire the sacrifice of the smallest flower. He is too +patient to be ever wrathful; and barbaric ignorance confronts us +again in the notion that He should need to be appeased. And the +fancy that He should desire Himself or part of Himself to become a +sacrifice to Himself has arisen out of the absurd and conflicting +opinions of erring humanity, wherein right and wrong are so jumbled +together that it is difficult to distinguish one from the other. +Christ's death was not a sacrifice; it was simply a means of +confidence and communion with the Creator. A sinless Spirit suffered +to show us how to suffer; lived on earth to show us how to live; +prayed to show us how to pray; died to show us how to die; rose +again to impress strongly upon us that there was in truth a life +beyond this one, for which He strove to prepare our souls. Finally, +by His re-ascension into Heaven He established that much-needed +electric communication between us and the Central Sphere. + +"It can be proved from the statements of the New Testament that in +Christ was an Embodied Electric Spirit. From first to last His +career was attended by ELECTRIC PHENOMENA, of which eight examples +are here quoted; and earnest students of the matter can find many +others if they choose to examine for themselves. + +"1. The appearance of the Star and the Vision of Angels on the night +of His birth. The Chaldeans saw His 'star in the east,' and they +came to worship Him. The Chaldeans were always a learned people, and +electricity was an advanced science with them. They at once +recognized the star to be no new planet, but simply a star-shaped +flame flitting through space. They knew what this meant. Observe, +too, that they had no doubts upon the point; they came 'to worship +him,' and provided themselves with gifts to offer to this radiant +Guest, the offspring of pure Light. The vision of the angels +appearing to the shepherds was simply a joyous band of the Singing +Children of the Electric Ring, who out of pure interest and pleasure +floated in sight of Earth, drawn thither partly by the already +strong attractive influence of the Radiance that was imprisoned +there in the form of the Babe of Bethlehem. + +"2. When Christ was baptized by John the Baptist, 'THE HEAVENS +OPENED.' + +"3. The sympathetic influence of Christ was so powerful that when He +selected His disciples, He had but to speak to them, and at the +sound of His voice, though they were engaged in other business, +'THEY LEFT ALL AND FOLLOWED HIM." + +"4. Christ's body was charged with electricity. Thus He was easily +able to heal sick and diseased persons by a touch or a look. The +woman who caught at His garment in the crowd was cured of her long- +standing ailment; and we see that Christ was aware of His own +electric force by the words He used on that occasion: 'WHO TOUCHED +ME? FOR I FEEL THAT SOME VIRTUE IS GONE OUT OF ME'--which is the +exact feeling that a physical electrician experiences at this day +after employing his powers on a subject. The raising of Jairus's +daughter, of the widow's son at Nain, and of Lazarus, were all +accomplished by the same means. + +"5. The walking on the sea was a purely electric effort, AND CAN BE +ACCOMPLISHED NOW BY ANYONE who has cultivated sufficient inner +force. The sea being full of electric particles will support anybody +sufficiently and similarly charged--the two currents combining to +procure the necessary equilibrium. Peter, who was able to walk a +little way, lost his power directly his will became vanquished by +fear--because the sentiment of fear disperses electricity, and being +purely HUMAN emotion, does away with spiritual strength for the +time. + +"6. The Death of Christ was attended by electric manifestations--by +the darkness over the land during the Crucifixion; the tearing of +the temple veil in twain; and the earthquake which finally ensued. + +"7. The Resurrection was a most powerful display of electric force. +It will be remembered that the angel who was found sitting at the +entrance of the empty sepulchre 'had a countenance like LIGHTNING,' +i.e., like electric flame. It must also be called to mind how the +risen Christ addressed Mary Magdalene: 'TOUCH ME NOT, for I am but +newly risen!' Why should she not have touched Him? Simply because +His strength then was the strength of concentrated in-rushing +currents of electricity; and to touch him at that moment would have +been for Magdalene instant death by lightning. This effect of +embodied electric force has been shadowed forth in the Greek legends +of Apollo, whose glory consumed at a breath the mortal who dared to +look upon him. + +"8. The descent of the Holy Ghost, by which term is meant an ever- +flowing current of the inspired working Intelligence of the Creator, +was purely electric in character: 'Suddenly there came a sound from +Heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house +where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them CLOVEN TONGUES +LIKE AS OF FIRE, and sat upon each of them.' It may here be noted +that the natural electric flame is DUAL or 'cloven' in shape. + +"Let us now take the Creed as accepted to-day by the Christian +Church, and see how thoroughly it harmonizes with the discoveries of +spiritual electricity. 'I believe in one God the Father Almighty, +Maker of Heaven and Earth, and of all things VISIBLE AND INVISIBLE.' +This is a brief and simple description of the Creator as He exists-- +a Supreme Centre of Light, out of whom MUST spring all life, all +love, all wisdom. + +"'And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, born +of the Father before all ages.' This means that the only absolute +Emanation of His own PERSONAL Radiance that ever wore such mean garb +as our clay was found in Christ--who, as part of God, certainly +existed 'BEFORE ALL AGES.' For as the Creed itself says, He was 'God +of God, LIGHT OF LIGHT. Then we go on through the circumstances of +Christ's birth, life, death, and resurrection, and our profession of +faith brings us to 'I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver +of Life, who proceedeth from the Father and the Son,' etc. This, as +already stated, means that we believe that since Christ ascended +into Heaven, our electric communication with the Creator has been +established, and an ever-flowing current of divine inspiration is +turned beneficially in the direction of our Earth, 'proceeding from +the Father and the Son.' We admit in the Creed that this inspiration +manifested itself before Christ came and 'SPAKE BY THE PROPHETS;' +but, as before stated, this only happened at rare and difficult +intervals, while now Christ Himself speaks through those who most +strongly adhere to His teachings. + +"It may here be mentioned that few seem to grasp the fact of the +SPECIAL MESSAGE TO WOMEN intended to be conveyed in the person of +the Virgin Mary. She was actually one of the radiant Spirits of the +Central Sphere, imprisoned by God's will in woman's form. After the +birth of Christ, she was still kept on earth, to follow His career +to the end. There was a secret understanding between Himself and +her. As for instance, when she found Him among the doctors of the +law, she for one moment suffered her humanity to get the better of +her in anxious inquiries; and His reply, 'Why sought ye Me? Wist ye +not that I must be about My Father's business?' was a sort of +reminder to her, which she at once accepted. Again, at the marriage +feast in Cana of Galilee, when Christ turned the water into wine, He +said to His mother, 'WOMAN, what have I to do with thee?' which +meant simply: What have I to do with thee as WOMAN merely?--which +was another reminder to her of her spiritual origin, causing her at +once to address the servants who stood by as follows: 'Whatsoever He +saith unto you, do it.' And why, it may be asked, if Mary was really +an imprisoned immortal Spirit, sinless and joyous, should she be +forced to suffer all the weaknesses, sorrows, and anxieties of any +ordinary woman and mother? SIMPLY AS AN EXAMPLE TO WOMEN who are the +mothers of the human race; and who, being thus laid under a heavy +responsibility, need sympathetic guidance. Mary's life teaches women +that the virtues they need are--obedience, purity, meekness, +patience, long-suffering, modesty, self-denial, and endurance. She +loved to hold a secondary position; she placed herself in willing +subjection to Joseph--a man of austere and simple life, advanced in +years, and weighted with the cares of a family by a previous +marriage--who wedded her by AN INFLUENCE WHICH COMPELLED HIM to +become her protector in the eyes of the world. Out of these facts, +simple as they are, can be drawn the secret of happiness for women-- +a secret and a lesson that, if learned by heart, would bring them +and those they love out of storm and bewilderment into peace and +safety. + +"FOR THOSE WHO HAVE ONCE BECOME AWARE OF THE EXISTENCE OF THE +CENTRAL SPHERE AND OF THE ELECTRIC RING SURROUNDING IT, AND WHO ARE +ABLE TO REALISE TO THE FULL THE GIGANTIC AS WELL AS MINUTE WORK +PERFORMED BY THE ELECTRIC WAVES AROUND US AND WITHIN US, there can +no longer be any doubt as to all the facts of Christianity, as none +of them, VIEWED BY THE ELECTRIC THEORY, are otherwise than in +accordance with the Creator's love and sympathy with even the +smallest portion of His creation. + +"Why then, if Christianity be a Divine Truth, are not all people +Christians? As well ask, if music and poetry are good things, why +all men are not poets and musicians. Art seeks art; in like manner +God seeks God--that is, He seeks portions of His own essence among +His creatures. Christ Himself said, 'Many are called, but few are +chosen;' and it stands to reason that very few souls will succeed in +becoming pure enough to enter the Central Sphere without hindrance. +Many, on leaving Earth, will be detained in the Purgatory of Air, +where thousands of spirits work for ages, watching over others, +helping and warning others, and in this unselfish labour succeed in +raising themselves, little by little, higher and ever higher, till +they at last reach the longed-for goal. It must also be remembered +that not only from Earth, but from ALL WORLDS, released souls seek +to attain final happiness in the Central Sphere where God is; so +that, however great the number of those that are permitted to +proceed thither from this little planet, they can only form, as it +were, one drop in a mighty ocean. + +"It has been asked whether the Electric Theory of Christianity +includes the doctrine of Hell, or a place of perpetual punishment. +Eternal Punishment is merely a form of speech for what is really +Eternal Retrogression. For as there is a Forward, so there must be a +Backward. The electric germ of the Soul--delicate, fiery, and +imperishable as it is--can be forced by its companion Will to take +refuge in a lower form of material existence, dependent on the body +it first inhabits. For instance, a man who is obstinate in pursuing +ACTIVE EVIL can so retrograde the progress of any spiritual life +within him, that it shall lack the power to escape, as it might do, +from merely lymphatic and listless temperaments, to seek some other +chance of development, but shall sink into the form of quadrupeds, +birds, and other creatures dominated by purely physical needs. But +there is one thing it can never escape from--MEMORY. And in that +faculty is constituted Hell. So that if a man, by choice, forces his +soul DOWNWARD to inhabit hereafter the bodies of dogs, horses, and +other like animals, he should know that he does so at the cost of +everything except Remembrance. Eternal Retrogression means that the +hopelessly tainted electric germ recoils further and further from +the Pure Centre whence it sprang, ALWAYS BEARING WITHIN ITSELF the +knowledge of WHAT IT WAS ONCE and WHAT IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN. There is +a pathetic meaning in the eyes of a dog or a seal; in the +melancholy, patient gaze of the oxen toiling at the plough; there is +an unuttered warning in the silent faces of flowers; there is more +tenderness of regret in the voice of the nightingale than love; and +in the wild upward soaring of the lark, with its throat full of +passionate, shouting prayer, there is shadowed forth the yearning +hope that dies away in despair as the bird sinks to earth again, his +instincts not half satisfied. There is no greater torture than to be +compelled to remember, in suffering, joys and glorious opportunities +gone for ever. + +"Regarding the Electric Theory of Religion, it is curious to observe +how the truth of it has again and again been dimly shadowed forth in +the prophecies of Art, Science, and Poesy. The old painters who +depicted a halo of light round the head of their Virgins and Saints +did so out of a correct impulse which they did not hesitate to obey. +[Footnote: An impulse which led them vaguely to foresee, though, not +to explain, the electric principle of spiritual life.] The +astronomers who, after years of profound study, have been enabled to +measure the flames of the burning sun, and to find out that these +are from two to four thousand miles high, are nearly arrived at the +conclusion that it is a world in a state of conflagration, in which +they will be perfectly right. Those who hold that this Earth of ours +was once self-luminous are also right; for it was indeed so when +first projected from the Electric Ring. The compilers or inventors +of the 'Arabian Nights' also hit upon a truth when they described +human beings as forced through evil influences to take the forms of +lower animals--a truth just explained in the Law of Retrogression. +All art, all prophecy, all poesy, should therefore be accepted +eagerly and studied earnestly, for in them we find ELECTRIC +INSPIRATION out of which we are able to draw lessons for our +guidance hereafter. The great point that scientists and artists have +hitherto failed to discover, is the existence of the Central Sphere +and its Surrounding Electric Circle. Once realize these two great +facts, and all the wonders and mysteries of the Universe are +perfectly easy of comprehension. + +"In conclusion, I offer no opinion as to which is Christ's Church, +or the Fountain-head of spirituality in the world. In all Churches +errors have intruded through unworthy and hypocritical members. In a +crowded congregation of worshippers there may perhaps be only one or +two who are free from self-interest and personal vanity. In +Sectarianism, for instance, there is no shred of Christianity. +Lovers of God and followers of Christ must, in the first place, have +perfect Unity; and the bond uniting them must be an electric one of +love and faith. No true Christian should be able to hate, despise, +or envy the other. Were I called upon to select among the churches, +I should choose that which has most electricity working within it, +and which is able to believe in a positive electrical communication +between Christ and herself taking place daily on her altars--a +Church which holds, as it were, the other end of the telegraphic ray +between Earth and the Central Sphere, and which is, therefore, able +to exist among the storms of modern opinions, affording refuge and +consolation to the few determined travellers who are bound onward +and upward. I shall not name the Church I mean, because it is the +duty of everyone to examine and find it out for himself or herself. +And even though this Church instinctively works in the right +direction, it is full of errors introduced by ignorant and unworthy +members--errors which must be carefully examined and cast aside by +degrees. But, as I said before, it is the only Church which has +Principles of Electricity within it, and is therefore destined to +live, because electricity is life. + +"Now I beseech the reader of this manuscript to which I, Heliobas, +append my hand and seal, to remember and realize earnestly the +following invincible facts: first that God and His Christ EXIST; +secondly, that while the little paltry affairs of our temporal state +are being built up as crazily as a child's house of cards, the huge +Central Sphere revolves, and the Electric Ring, strong and +indestructible, is ever at its work of production and re-absorption; +thirdly, that every thought and word of EVERY HABITANT ON EVERY +PLANET is reflected in lightning language before the Creator's eyes +as easily as we receive telegrams; fourthly, that this world is THE +ONLY SPOT IN THE UNIVERSE where His existence is actually questioned +and doubted. And the general spread of modern positivism, +materialism and atheism is one of the most terrific and meaning +signs of the times. The work of separating the wheat from the chaff +is beginning. Those who love and believe in God and Spiritual Beauty +are about to be placed on one side; the millions who worship Self +are drawing together in vast opposing ranks on the other; and the +moment approaches which is prophesied to be 'as the lightning that +lighteneth out of the one part under heaven, and shineth even to the +other part.' In other words, the fiery whirlpool of the Ring is +nearly ready to absorb our planet in its vortex; and out of all who +dwell upon its surface, how many shall reach the glorious Central +World of God? Of two men working in the same field, shall it not be +as Christ foretold--'the one shall be taken, and the other left'? + +"Friend, or Pupil, Reader! Whoever thou art, take heed and foster +thine own soul! For know that nothing can hinder the Immortal Germ +within us from taking the form imposed upon it by our WILLS. Through +Love and Faith, it can become an Angel, and perform wonders even +while in its habitation of clay; through indifference and apathy, it +can desert us altogether and for ever; through mockery and +blasphemous disbelief, it can sink into even a lower form than that +of snake or toad. In our own unfettered hand lies our eternal +destiny. Wonderful and terrible responsibility! Who shall dare to +say we have no need of prayer?" + +This document was signed "Casimir Heliobas," and bore a seal on +which the impression seemed to consist of two Arabic or Sanskrit +words, which I could not understand. I put it carefully away with +its companion MS. under lock and key, and while I was yet pausing +earnestly on its contents, Zara came into my room. She had finished +her task in the studio, she said, and she now proposed a drive in +the Bois as an agreeable way of passing the rest of the afternoon. + +"I want to be as long as possible in your company," she added, with +a caressing sweetness in her manner; "for now your friends have come +to Paris, I expect you will soon be leaving us, so I must have as +much of you as I can." + +My heart sank at the thought of parting from her, and I looked +wistfully at her lovely face. Leo had followed her in from the +studio, and seemed still very melancholy. + +"We shall always be good friends, Zara dearest," I said, "shall we +not? Close, fond friends, like sisters?" + +"Sisters are not always fond of each other," remarked Zara, half +gaily. "And you know 'there is a friend that sticketh closer than a +brother'!" + +"And what friend is that in YOUR case?" I asked, half jestingly, +half curiously. + +"Death!" she replied with a strange smile, in which there was both +pathos and triumph. + +I started at her unexpected reply, and a kind of foreboding chilled +my blood. I endeavoured, however, to speak cheerfully as I said: + +"Why, of course, death sticks more closely to us than any friend or +relative. But you look fitter to receive the embraces of life than +of death, Zara." + +"They are both one and the same thing," she answered; "or rather, +the one leads to the other. But do not let us begin to philosophize. +Put on your things and come. The carriage is waiting." + +I readily obeyed her, and we enjoyed an exhilarating drive together. +The rest of the day passed with us all very pleasantly and our +conversation had principally to do with the progress of art and +literature in many lands, and maintained itself equably on the level +of mundane affairs. Among other things, we spoke of the Spanish +violinist Sarasate, and I amused Heliobas by quoting to him some of +the criticisms of the London daily papers on this great artist, such +as, "He plays pieces which, though adapted to show his wonderful +skill, are the veriest clap-trap;" "He lacks breadth and colour;" "A +true type of the artist virtuoso," etc., etc. + +"Half these people do not know in the least what they mean by +'breadth and colour' or 'virtuosity,'" said Heliobas, with a smile. +"They think emotion, passion, all true sentiment combined with +extraordinary TECHNIQUE, must be 'clap-trap.' Now the Continent of +Europe acknowledges Pablo de Sarasate as the first violinist living, +and London would not be London unless it could thrust an obtuse +opposing opinion in the face of the Continent. England is the last +country in the world to accept anything new. Its people are tired +and blase; like highly trained circus-horses, they want to trot or +gallop always in the old grooves. It will always be so. Sarasate is +like a brilliant meteor streaming across their narrow bit of the +heaven of music; they stare, gape, and think it is an unnatural +phenomenon--a 'virtuosity' in the way of meteors, which they are +afraid to accept lest it set them on fire. What would you? The +meteor shines and burns; it is always a meteor!" + +So, talking lightly, and gliding from subject to subject, the hours +wore away, and we at last separated for the night. + +I shall always be glad to remember how tenderly Zara kissed me and +wished me good repose; and I recall now, with mingled pain, wonder, +and gratitude, how perfectly calm and contented I felt as, after my +prayers, I sank to sleep, unwarned, and therefore happily +unconscious, of what awaited me on the morrow. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +DEATH BY LIGHTNING. + + +The morning of the next day dawned rather gloomily. A yellowish fog +obscured the air, and there was a closeness and sultriness in the +atmosphere that was strange for that wintry season. I had slept +well, and rose with the general sense of ease and refreshment that I +always experienced since I had been under the treatment of Heliobas. +Those whose unhappy physical condition causes them to awake from +uneasy slumber feeling almost more fatigued than when they retired +to rest, can scarcely have any idea of the happiness it engenders to +open untired, glad eyes with the morning light; to feel the very air +a nourishment; to stand with lithe, rested limbs in the bath of +cool, pure water, rinding that limpid element obediently adding its +quota to the vigour of perfect health; to tingle from head to foot +with the warm current of life running briskly through the veins, +making the heart merry, the brain clear, and all the powers of body +and mind in active working condition. This is indeed most absolute +enjoyment. Add to it the knowledge of the existence of one's own +inner Immortal Spirit--the beautiful germ of Light in the fostering +of which no labour is ever taken in vain--the living, wondrous thing +that is destined to watch an eternity of worlds bloom and fade to +bloom again, like flowers, while itself, superior to them all, shall +become ever more strong and radiant--with these surroundings and +prospects, who shall say life is not worth living? + +Dear Life! sweet Moment! gracious Opportunity! brief Journey so well +worth the taking! gentle Exile so well worth enduring!--thy +bitterest sorrows are but blessings in disguise; thy sharpest pains +are brought upon us by ourselves, and even then are turned to +warnings for our guidance; while above us, through us, and around us +radiates the Supreme Love, unalterably tender! + +These thoughts, and others like them, all more or less conducive to +cheerfulness, occupied me till I had finished dressing. Melancholy +was now no part of my nature, otherwise I might have been depressed +by the appearance of the weather and the murkiness of the air. But +since I learned the simple secrets of physical electricity, +atmospheric influences have had no effect upon the equable poise of +my temperament--a fact for which I cannot be too grateful, seeing +how many of my fellow-creatures permit themselves to be affected by +changes in the wind, intense heat, intense cold, or other things of +the like character. + +I went down to breakfast, singing softly on my way, and I found Zara +already seated at the head of her table, while Heliobas was occupied +in reading and sorting a pile of letters that lay beside his plate. +Both greeted me with their usual warmth and heartiness. + +During the repast, however, the brother and sister were strangely +silent, and once or twice I fancied that Zara's eyes filled with +tears, though she smiled again so quickly and radiantly that I felt +I was mistaken. + +A piece of behaviour on the part of Leo, too, filled me with dismay. +He had been lying quietly at his master's feet for some time, when +he suddenly arose, sat upright, and lifting his nose in air, uttered +a most prolonged and desolate howl. Anything more thoroughly +heartbroken and despairing than that cry I have never heard. After +he had concluded it, the poor animal seemed ashamed of what he had +done, and creeping meekly along, with drooping head and tail, he +kissed his master's hand, then mine, and lastly Zara's. Finally, he +went into a distant corner and lay down again, as if his feelings +were altogether too much for him. + +"Is he ill?" I asked pityingly. + +"I think not," replied Heliobas. "The weather is peculiar to-day-- +close, and almost thunderous; dogs are very susceptible to such +changes." + +At that moment the page entered bearing a silver salver, on which +lay a letter, which he handed to his master and immediately retired. + +Heliobas opened and read it. + +"Ivan regrets he cannot dine with us to-day," he said, glancing at +his sister; "he is otherwise engaged. He says, however, that he +hopes to have the pleasure of looking in during the latter part of +the evening." + +Zara inclined her head gently, and made no other reply. + +A few seconds afterwards we rose from table, and Zara, linking her +arm through mine, said: + +"I want to have a talk with you while we can be alone. Come to my +room." + +We went upstairs together, followed by the wise yet doleful Leo, who +seemed determined not to let his mistress out of his sight. When we +arrived at our destination, Zara pushed me gently into an easy- +chair, and seated herself in another one opposite. + +"I am going to ask a favour of you," she began; "because I know you +will do anything to please me or Casimir. Is it not so?" + +I assured her she might rely upon my observing; with the truest +fidelity any request of hers, small or great. + +She thanked me and resumed: + +"You know I have been working secretly in my studio for some time +past. I have been occupied in the execution of two designs--one is +finished, and is intended as a gift to Casimir. The other"--she +hesitated--"is incomplete. It is the colossal figure which was +veiled when you first came in to see my little statue of 'Evening'. +I made an attempt beyond my powers--in short, I cannot carry out the +idea to my satisfaction. Now, dear, pay great attention to what I +say. I have reason to believe that I shall be compelled to take a +sudden journey--promise me that when I am gone you will see that +unfinished statue completely destroyed--utterly demolished." + +I could not answer her for a minute or two, I was so surprised by +her words. + +"Going on a journey, Zara?" I said. "Well, if you are, I suppose you +will soon return home again; and why should your statue be destroyed +in the meantime? You may yet be able to bring it to final +perfection." + +Zara shook her head and smiled half sadly. + +"I told you it was a favour I had to ask of you," she said; "and now +you are unwilling to grant it." + +"I am not unwilling--believe me, dearest, I would do anything to +please you," I assured her; "but it seems so strange to me that you +should wish the result of your labour destroyed, simply because you +are going on a journey." + +"Strange as it seems, I desire it most earnestly," said Zara; +"otherwise--but if you will not see it done for me, I must preside +at the work of demolition myself, though I frankly confess it would +be most painful to me." + +I interrupted her. + +"Say no more, Zara!" I exclaimed; "I will do as you wish. When you +are gone, you say--" + +"When I am gone," repeated Zara firmly, "and before you yourself +leave this house, you will see that particular statue destroyed. You +will thus do me a very great service." + +"Well," I said, "and when are you coming back again? Before I leave +Paris?" + +"I hope so--I think so," she replied evasively; "at any rate, we +shall meet again soon." + +"Where are you going?" I asked. + +She smiled. Such a lovely, glad, and triumphant smile! + +"You will know my destination before to-night has passed away," she +answered. "In the meanwhile I have your promise?" + +"Most certainly." + +She kissed me, and as she did so, a lurid flash caught my eyes and +almost dazzled them. It was a gleam of fiery lustre from the +electric jewel she wore. + +The day went on its usual course, and the weather seemed to grow +murkier every hour. The air was almost sultry, and when during the +afternoon I went into the conservatory to gather some of the +glorious Marechal Niel roses that grew there in such perfection, the +intense heat of the place was nearly insupportable. I saw nothing of +Heliobas all day, and, after the morning, very little of Zara. She +disappeared soon after luncheon, and I could not find her in her +rooms nor in her studio, though I knocked at the door several times. +Leo, too, was missing. After being alone for an hour or more, I +thought I would pay a visit to the chapel. But on attempting to +carry out this intention I found its doors locked--an unusual +circumstance which rather surprised me. Fancying that I heard the +sound of voices within, I paused to listen. But all was profoundly +silent. Strolling into the hall, I took up at random from a side- +table a little volume of poems, unknown to me, called "Pygmalion in +Cyprus;" and seating myself in one of the luxurious Oriental easy- +chairs near the silvery sparkling fountain, I began to read. I +opened the book I held at "A Ballad of Kisses," which ran as +follows: + + "There are three kisses that I call to mind, + And I will sing their secrets as I go,-- + The first, a kiss too courteous to be kind, + Was such a kiss as monks and maidens know, + As sharp as frost, as blameless as the snow. + + "The second kiss, ah God! I feel it yet,-- + And evermore my soul will loathe the same,-- + The toys and joys of fate I may forget, + But not the touch of that divided shame; + It clove my lips--it burnt me like a flame. + + "The third, the final kiss, is one I use + Morning and noon and night, and not amiss. + Sorrow be mine if such I do refuse! + And when I die, be Love enrapt in bliss + Re-sanctified in heaven by such a kiss!" + +This little gem, which I read and re-read with pleasure, was only +one of many in the same collection, The author was assuredly a man +of genius. I studied his word-melodies with intense interest, and +noted with some surprise how original and beautiful were many of his +fancies and similes. I say I noted them with surprise, because he +was evidently a modern Englishman, and yet unlike any other of his +writing species. His name was not Alfred Tennyson, nor Edwin Arnold, +nor Matthew Arnold, nor Austin Dobson, nor Martin Tupper. He was +neither plagiarist nor translator--he was actually an original man. +I do not give his name here, as I consider it the duty of his own +country to find him out and acknowledge him, which, as it is so +proud of its literary standing, of course it will do in due season. +On this, my first introduction to his poems, I became speedily +absorbed in them, and was repeating to myself softly a verse which I +remember now: + + "Hers was sweetest of sweet faces, + Hers the tenderest eyes of all; + In her hair she had the traces + Of a heavenly coronal, + Bringing sunshine to sad places + Where the sunlight could not fall." + +Then I was startled by the sound of a clock striking six. I +bethought myself of the people who were coming to dinner, and +decided to go to my room and dress. Replacing the "Pygmalion" book +on the table whence I had taken it, I made my way upstairs, thinking +as I went of Zara and her strange request, and wondering what +journey she was going upon. + +I could not come to any satisfactory conclusion on this point, +besides, I had a curious disinclination to think about it very +earnestly, though the subject kept recurring to my mind. Yet always +some inward monitor seemed to assure me, as plainly as though the +words were spoken in my ear: + +"It is useless for you to consider the reason of this, or the +meaning of that. Take things as they come in due order: one +circumstance explains the other, and everything is always for the +best." + +I prepared my Indian crepe dress for the evening, the same I had +worn for Madame Didier's party at Cannes; only, instead of having +lilies of the valley to ornament it with, I arranged some clusters +of the Marechal Niel roses I had gathered from the conservatory-- +lovely blossoms, with their dewy pale-gold centres forming perfect +cups of delicious fragrance. These, relieved by a few delicate +sprays of the maiden-hair fern, formed a becoming finish to my +simple costume. As I arrayed myself, and looked at my own reflection +in the long mirror, I smiled out of sheer gratitude. For health, +joyous and vigorous, sparkled in my eyes, glowed on my cheeks, +tinted my lips, and rounded my figure. The face that looked back at +me from the glass was a perfectly happy one, ready to dimple into +glad mirth or bright laughter. No shadow of pain or care remained +upon it to remind me of past suffering, and I murmured half aloud: +"Thank God!" + +"Amen!" said a soft voice, and, turning round, I saw Zara. + +But how shall I describe her? No words can adequately paint the +glorious beauty in which, that night, she seemed to move as in an +atmosphere of her own creating. She wore a clinging robe of the +richest, softest white satin, caught in at the waist by a zone of +pearls--pearls which, from their size and purity, must have been +priceless. Her beautiful neck and arms were bare, and twelve rows of +pearls were clasped round her slender throat, supporting in their +centre the electric stone, which shone with a soft, subdued +radiance, like the light of the young moon. Her rich, dark hair was +arranged in its usual fashion--that is, hanging down in one thick +plait, which on this occasion was braided in and out with small +pearls. On her bosom she wore a magnificent cluster of natural +orange-blossoms; and of these, while I gazed admiringly at her, I +first spoke: + +"You look like a bride, Zara! You have all the outward signs of one +--white satin, pearls, and orange-blossoms!" + +She smiled. + +"They are the first cluster that has come out in our conservatory," +she said; "and I could not resist them. As to the pearls, they +belonged to my mother, and are my favourite ornaments; and white +satin is now no longer exclusively for brides. How soft and pretty +that Indian crepe is! Your toilette is charming, and suits you to +perfection. Are you quite ready?" + +"Quite," I answered. + +She hesitated and sighed. Then she raised her lovely eyes with a +sort of wistful tenderness. + +"Before we go down I should like you to kiss me once," she said. + +I embraced her fondly, and our lips met with a lingering sisterly +caress. + +"You will never forget me, will you?" she asked almost anxiously; +"never cease to think of me kindly?" + +"How fanciful you are to-night, Zara dear!" I said. "As if I COULD +forget you! I shall always think of you as the loveliest and +sweetest woman in the world." + +"And when I am out of the world--what then?" she pursued. + +Remembering her spiritual sympathies, I answered at once: + +"Even then I shall know you to be one of the fairest of the angels. +So you see, Zara darling, I shall always love you." + +"I think you will," she said meditatively; "you are one of us. But +come! I hear voices downstairs. I think our expected guests have +arrived, and we must be in the drawing-room to receive them. Good- +bye, little friend!" And she again kissed me. + +"Good-bye!" I repeated in astonishment; "why 'good-bye'?" + +"Because it is my fancy to say the word," she replied with quiet +firmness. "Again, dear little friend, good-bye!" + +I felt bewildered, but she would not give me time to utter another +syllable. She took my hand and hurried me with her downstairs, and +in another moment we were both in the drawing-room, receiving and +saying polite nothings to the Everards and Challoners, who had all +arrived together, resplendent in evening costume. Amy Everard, I +thought, looked a little tired and fagged, though she rejoiced in a +superb "arrangement" by Worth of ruby velvet and salmon-pink. But, +though a perfect dress is consoling to most women, there are times +when even that fails of its effect; and then Worth ceases to loom +before the feminine eye as a sort of demi-god, but dwindles +insignificantly to the level of a mere tailor, whose prices are +ruinous. And this, I think, was the state of mind in which Mrs. +Everard found herself that evening; or else she was a trifle jealous +of Zara's harmonious grace and loveliness. Be this as it may, she +was irritable, and whisperingly found fault with, me for being in +such good health. + +"You will have too much colour if you don't take care," she said +almost pettishly, "and nothing is so unfashionable." + +"I know!" I replied with due meekness. "It is very bad style to be +quite well--it is almost improper." + +She looked at me, and a glimmering smile lighted her features. But +she would not permit herself to become good-humoured, and she furled +and unfurled her fan of pink ostrich feathers with some impatience. + +"Where did that child get all those pearls from?" she next inquired, +with a gesture of her head towards Zara. + +"They belonged to her mother," I answered, smiling as I heard Zara +called a CHILD, knowing, as I did, her real age. + +"She is actually wearing a small fortune on her person," went on +Amy; "I wonder her brother allows her. Girls never understand the +value of things of that sort. They should be kept for her till she +is old enough to appreciate them." + +I made no reply; I was absorbed in watching Heliobas, who at that +moment entered the room accompanied by Father Paul. He greeted his +guests with warmth and unaffected heartiness, and all present were, +I could see, at once fascinated by the dignity of his presence and +the charm of his manner. To an uninstructed eye there was nothing +unusual about him; but to me there was a change in his expression +which, as it were, warned and startled me. A deep shadow of anxiety +in his eyes made them look more sombre and less keen; his smile was +not so sweet as it was stern, and there was an undefinable SOMETHING +in his very bearing that suggested--what? Defiance? Yes, defiance; +and it was this which, when I had realized it, curiously alarmed me. +For what had he, Heliobas, to do with even the thought of defiance? +Did not all his power come from the knowledge of the necessity of +obedience to the spiritual powers within and without? Quick as light +the words spoken to me by Aztul regarding him came back to my +remembrance: "Even as he is my Beloved, so let him not fail to hear +my voice." What if he SHOULD fail? A kind of instinct came upon me +that some immediate danger of this threatened him, and I braced +myself up to a firm determination, that, if this was so, I, out of +my deep gratitude to him, would do my utmost best to warn him in +time. While these thoughts possessed me, the hum of gay conversation +went on, and Zara's bright laughter ever and again broke like music +on the air. Father Paul, too, proved himself to be of quite a +festive and jovial disposition, for he made himself agreeable to +Mrs. Challoner and her daughters, and entertained them with the ease +and bonhomie of an accomplished courtier and man of the world. + +Dinner was announced in the usual way--that is, with the sound of +music played by the electric instrument devoted to that purpose, a +performance which elicited much admiration from all the guests. +Heliobas led the way into the dining-room with Mrs. Everard; Colonel +Everard followed, with Zara on one arm and the eldest Miss Challoner +on the other; Mr. Challoner and myself came next; and Father Paul, +with Mrs. Challoner and her other daughter Effie, brought up the +rear. There was a universal murmur of surprise and delight as the +dinner-table came in view; and its arrangement was indeed a triumph +of art. In the centre was placed a large round of crystal in +imitation of a lake, and on this apparently floated a beautiful +gondola steered by the figure of a gondolier, both exquisitely +wrought in fine Venetian glass. The gondolier was piled high with a +cargo of roses; but the wonder of it all was, that the whole design +was lit up by electricity. Electric sparkles, like drops of dew, +shone on the leaves of the flowers; the gondola was lit from end to +end with electric stars, which were reflected with prismatic +brilliancy in the crystal below; the gondolier's long pole glittered +with what appeared to be drops of water tinged by the moonlight, but +which was really an electric wire, and in his cap flashed an +electric diamond. The whole ornament scintillated and glowed like a +marvellous piece of curiously contrived jewel-work. And this was not +all. Beside every guest at table a slender vase, shaped like a long- +stemmed Nile lily, held roses and ferns, in which were hidden tiny +electric stars, causing the blossoms to shine with a transparent and +almost fairy-like lustre. + +Four graceful youths, clad in the Armenian costume, stood waiting +silently round the table till all present were seated, and then they +commenced the business of serving the viands, with swift and +noiseless dexterity. As soon as the soup was handed round, tongues +were loosened, and the Challoners, who had been gazing at everything +in almost open-mouthed astonishment, began to relieve their feelings +by warm expressions of unqualified admiration, in which Colonel and +Mrs. Everard were not slow to join. + +"I do say, and I will say, this beats all I've ever seen," said good +Mrs. Challoner, as she bent to examine the glittering vase of +flowers near her plate. + +"And this is real electric light? And is it perfectly harmless?" + +Heliobas smilingly assured her of the safety of his table +decorations. "Electricity," he said, "though the most powerful of +masters, is the most docile of slaves. It is capable of the smallest +as well as of the greatest uses. It can give with equal certainty +life or death; in fact, it is the key-note of creation." + +"Is that your theory, sir?" asked Colonel Everard. + +"It is not only my theory," answered Heliobas, "it is a truth, +indisputable and unalterable, to those who have studied the +mysteries of electric science." + +"And do you base all your medical treatment on this principle?" +pursued the Colonel. + +"Certainly. Your young friend here, who came to me from Cannes, +looking as if she had but a few months to live, can bear witness to +the efficacy of my method." + +Every eye was now turned upon me, and I looked up and laughed. + +"Do you remember, Amy," I said, addressing Mrs. Everard, "how you +told me I looked like a sick nun at Cannes? What do I look like +now?" + +"You look as if you had never been ill in your life," she replied. + +"I was going to say," remarked Mr. Challoner in his deliberate +manner, "that you remind me very much of a small painting of Diana +that I saw in the Louvre the other day. You have the same sort of +elasticity in your movements, and the same bright healthy eyes." + +I bowed, still smiling. "I did not know you were such a flatterer, +Mr. Challoner! Diana thanks you!" + +The conversation now became general, and turned, among other +subjects, upon the growing reputation of Raffaello Cellini. + +"What surprises me in that young man," said Colonel Everard, "is his +colouring. It is simply marvellous. He was amiable enough to present +me with a little landscape scene; and the effect of light upon it is +so powerfully done that you would swear the sun was actually shining +through it." + +The fine sensitive mouth of Heliobas curved in a somewhat sarcastic +smile. + +"Mere trickery, my dear sir--a piece of clap-trap," he said lightly. +"That is what would be said of such pictures--in England at least. +And it WILL be said by many oracular, long-established newspapers, +while Cellini lives. As soon as he is dead--ah! c'est autre chose!-- +he will then most probably be acknowledged the greatest master of +the age. There may even be a Cellini 'School of Colouring,' where a +select company of daubers will profess to know the secret that has +died with him. It is the way of the world!" + +Mr. Challoner's rugged face showed signs of satisfaction, and his +shrewd eyes twinkled. + +"Right you are, sir!" he said, holding up his glass of wine. "I +drink to you! Sir, I agree with you! I calculate there's a good many +worlds flying round in space, but a more ridiculous, feeble-minded, +contrary sort of world than this one, I defy any archangel to find!" + +Heliobas laughed, nodded, and after a slight pause resumed: + +"It is astonishing to me that people do not see to what an infinite +number of uses they could put the little re-discovery they have made +of LUMINOUS PAINT. In that simple thing there is a secret, which as +yet they do not guess--a wonderful, beautiful, scientific secret, +which may perhaps take them a few hundred years to find out. In the +meantime they have got hold of one end of the thread; they can make +luminous paint, and with it they can paint light-houses, and, what +is far more important--ships. Vessels in mid-ocean will have no more +need of fog-signals and different-coloured lamps; their own coat of +paint will be sufficient to light them safely on their way. Even +rooms can be so painted as to be perfectly luminous at night. A +friend of mine, residing in Italy, has a luminous ballroom, where +the ceiling is decorated with a moon and stars in electric light. +The effect is exceedingly lovely; and though people think a great +deal of money must have been laid out upon it, it is perhaps the +only great ballroom in Italy that has been really cheaply fitted up. +But, as I said before, there is another secret behind the invention +or discovery of luminous paint--a secret which, when once unveiled, +will revolutionize all the schools of art in the world." + +"Do you know this secret?" asked Mrs. Challoner. + +"Yes, madame--perfectly." + +"Then why don't you disclose it for the benefit of everybody?" +demanded Erne Challoner. + +"Because, my dear young lady, no one would believe me if I did. The +time is not yet ripe for it. The world must wait till its people are +better educated." + +"Better educated!" exclaimed Mrs. Everard. "Why, there is nothing +talked of nowadays but education and progress! The very children are +wiser than their parents!" + +"The children!" returned Heliobas, half inquiringly, half +indignantly. "At the rate things are going, there will soon be no +children left; they will all be tired little old men and women +before they are in their teens. The very babes will be born old. +Many of them are being brought up without any faith in God or +religion; the result will be an increase of vice and crime. The +purblind philosophers, miscalled wise men, who teach the children by +the light of poor human reason only, and do away with faith in +spiritual things, are bringing down upon the generations to come an +unlooked-for and most terrific curse. Childhood, the happy, +innocent, sweet, unthinking, almost angelic age, at which Nature +would have us believe in fairies and all the delicate aerial fancies +of poets, who are, after all, the only true sages--childhood, I say, +is being gradually stamped out under the cruel iron heel of the +Period--a period not of wisdom, health, or beauty, but one of +drunken delirium, in which the world rushes feverishly along, its +eyes fixed on one hard, glittering, stony-featured idol--Gold. +Education! Is it education to teach the young that their chances of +happiness depend on being richer than their neighbours? Yet that is +what it all tends to. Get on!--be successful! Trample on others, but +push forward yourself! Money, money!--let its chink be your music; +let its yellow shine be fairer than the eyes of love or friendship! +Let its piles accumulate and ever accumulate! There are beggars in +the streets, but they are impostors! There is poverty in many +places, but why seek to relieve it? Why lessen the sparkling heaps +of gold by so much as a coin? Accumulate and ever accumulate! Live +so, and then--die! And then--who knows what then?" + +His voice had been full of ringing eloquence as he spoke, but at +these last words it sank into a low, thrilling tone of solemnity and +earnestness. We all looked at him, fascinated by his manner, and +were silent. + +Mr. Challoner was the first to break the impressive pause. + +"I'm not a speaker, sir," he observed slowly, "but I've got a good +deal of feeling somewheres; and you'll allow me to say that I feel +your words--I think they're right true. I've often wanted to say +what you've said, but haven't seen my way clear to it. Anyhow, I've +had a very general impression about me that what we call Society has +of late years been going, per express service, direct to the devil-- +if the ladies will excuse me for plain speaking. And as the journey +is being taken by choice and free-will, I suppose there's no +hindrance or stoppage possible. Besides, it's a downward line, and +curiously free from obstructions." + +"Bravo, John!" exclaimed Mrs. Challoner. "You are actually corning +out! I never heard you indulge in similes before." + +"Well, my dear," returned her husband, somewhat gratified, "better +late than never. A simile is a good thing if it isn't overcrowded. +For instance, Mr. Swinburne's similes are laid on too thick +sometimes. There is a verse of his, which, with all my admiration +for him, I never could quite fathom. It is where he earnestly +desires to be as 'Any leaf of any tree;' or, failing that, he +wouldn't mind becoming 'As bones under the deep, sharp sea.' I tried +hard to see the point of that, but couldn't fix it." + +We all laughed. Zara, I thought, was especially merry, and looked +her loveliest. She made an excellent hostess, and exerted herself to +the utmost to charm--an effort in which she easily succeeded. + +The shadow on the face of her brother had not disappeared, and once +or twice I noticed that Father Paul looked at him with a certain +kindly anxiety. + +The dinner approached its end. The dessert, with its luxurious +dishes of rare fruit, such as peaches, plantains, hothouse grapes, +and even strawberries, was served, and with it a delicious, +sparkling, topaz-tinted wine of Eastern origin called Krula, which +was poured out to us in Venetian glass goblets, wherein lay diamond- +like lumps of ice. The air was so exceedingly oppressive that +evening that we found this beverage most refreshing. When Zara's +goblet was filled, she held it up smiling, and said: + +"I have a toast to propose." + +"Hear, hear!" murmured the gentlemen, Heliobas excepted. + +"To our next merry meeting!" and as she said this she kissed the rim +of the cup, and made a sign as though wafting it towards her +brother. + +He started as if from a reverie, seized his glass, and drained off +its contents to the last drop. + +Everyone responded with heartiness to Zara's toast and then Colonel +Everard proposed the health of the fair hostess, which was drunk +with enthusiasm. + +After this Zara gave the signal, and all the ladies rose to adjourn +to the drawing-room. As I passed Heliobas on my way out, he looked +so sombre and almost threatening of aspect, that I ventured to +whisper: + +"Remember Azul!" + +"She has forgotten ME!" he muttered. + +"Never--never!" I said earnestly. "Oh, Heliobas! what is wrong with +you?" + +He made no answer, and there was no opportunity to say more, as I +had to follow Zara. But I felt very anxious, though I scarcely knew +why, and I lingered at the door and glanced back at him. As I did +so, a low, rumbling sound, like chariot-wheels rolling afar off, +broke suddenly on our ears. + +"Thunder," remarked Mr. Challoner quietly. "I thought we should have +it. It has been unnaturally warm all day. A good storm will clear +the air." + +In my brief backward look at Heliobas, I noted that when that far- +distant thunder sounded, he grew very pale. Why? He was certainly +not one to have any dread of a storm--he was absolutely destitute of +fear. I went into the drawing-room with a hesitating step--my +instincts were all awake and beginning to warn me, and I murmured +softly a prayer to that strong, invisible majestic spirit which I +knew must be near me--my guardian Angel. I was answered instantly-- +my foreboding grew into a positive certainty that some danger +menaced Heliobas, and that if I desired to be his friend, I must be +prepared for an emergency. Receiving this, as all such impressions +should be received, as a direct message sent me for my guidance, I +grew calmer, and braced up my energies to oppose SOMETHING, though I +knew not what. + +Zara was showing her lady-visitors a large album of Italian +photographs, and explaining them as she turned the leaves. As I +entered the room, she said eagerly to me: + +"Play to us, dear! Something soft and plaintive. We all delight in +your music, you know." + +"Did you hear the thunder just now?" I asked irrelevantly. + +"It WAS thunder? I thought so!" said Mrs. Everard. "Oh, I do hope +there is not going to be a storm! I am so afraid of a storm!" + +"You are nervous?" questioned Zara kindly, as she engaged her +attention with some very fine specimens among the photographs, +consisting of views from Venice. + +"Well, I suppose I am," returned Amy, half laughing. "Yet I am +plucky about most things, too. Still I don't like to hear the +elements quarrelling together--they are too much in earnest about +it--and no person can pacify them." + +Zara smiled, and gently repeated her request to me for some music--a +request in which Mrs. Challoner and her daughters eagerly joined. As +I went to the piano I thought of Edgar Allan Poe's exquisite poem: + + "In Heaven a spirit doth dwell, + Whose heart-strings are a lute; + None sing so wildly well + As the angel Israfel, + And the giddy stars, so legends tell, + Ceasing their hymns, attend the spell + Of his voice--all mute." + +As I poised my fingers above the keys of the instrument, another +long, low, ominous roll of thunder swept up from the distance and +made the room tremble. + +"Play--play, for goodness' sake!" exclaimed Mrs. Everard; "and then +we shall not be obliged to fix our attention on the approaching +storm!" + +I played a few soft opening arpeggio passages, while Zara seated +herself in an easy-chair near the window, and the other ladies +arranged themselves on sofas and ottomans to their satisfaction. The +room was exceedingly close: and the scent of the flowers that were +placed about in profusion was almost too sweet and overpowering. + + "And they say (the starry choir + And the other listening things) + That Israfeli's fire + Is owing to that lyre, + By which lie sits and sings,-- + The trembling living wire + Of those unusual strings." + +How these verses haunted me! With them floating in my mind, I +played--losing myself in mazes of melody, and travelling +harmoniously in and out of the different keys with that sense of +perfect joy known only to those who can improvise with ease, and +catch the unwritten music of nature, which always appeals most +strongly to emotions that are unspoilt by contact with the world, +and which are quick to respond to what is purely instinctive art. I +soon became thoroughly absorbed, and forgot that there were any +persons present. In fancy I imagined myself again in view of the +glory of the Electric Ring--again I seemed to behold the opaline +radiance of the Central Sphere: + + "Where Love's a grown-up God, + Where the Houri glances are + Imbued with all the beauty + Which we worship in a star." + +By-and-by I found my fingers at the work of tenderly unravelling a +little skein of major melody, as soft and childlike as the innocent +babble of a small brooklet flowing under ferns. I followed this airy +suggestion obediently, till it led me of itself to its fitting end, +when I ceased playing. I was greeted by a little burst of applause, +and looking up, saw that all the gentlemen had come in from the +dining-room, and were standing near me. The stately figure of +Heliobas was the most prominent in the group; he stood erect, one +hand resting lightly on the framework of the piano, and his eyes met +mine fixedly. + +"You were inspired," he said with a grave smile, addressing me; "you +did not observe our entrance." + +I was about to reply, when a loud, appalling crash of thunder +rattled above us, as if some huge building had suddenly fallen into +ruins. It startled us all into silence for a moment, and we looked +into each other's faces with a certain degree of awe. + +"That was a good one," remarked Mr. Challoner. "There was nothing +undecided about that clap. Its mind was made up." + +Zara suddenly rose from her seat, and drew aside the window- +curtains. + +"I wonder if it is raining," she said. + +Amy Everard uttered a little shriek of dismay. + +"Oh, don't open the blinds!" she exclaimed. "It is really +dangerous!" + +Heliobas glanced at her with a little sarcastic smile. + +"Take a seat on the other side of the room, if you are alarmed, +madame," he said quietly, placing a chair in the position he +suggested, which Amy accepted eagerly. + +She would, I believe, have gladly taken refuge in the coal-cellar +had he offered it. Zara, in the meantime, who had not heard Mrs. +Everard's exclamation of fear, had drawn up one of the blinds, and +stood silently looking out upon the night. Instinctively we all +joined her, with the exception of Amy, and looked out also. The +skies were very dark; a faint moaning wind stirred the tops of the +leafless trees; but there was no rain. A dry volcanic heat pervaded +the atmosphere--in fact we all felt the air so stifling, that +Heliobas threw open the window altogether, saying, as he did so: + +"In a thunderstorm, it is safer to have the windows open than shut; +besides, one cannot suffocate." + +A brilliant glare of light flashed suddenly upon our vision. The +heavens seemed torn open from end to end, and a broad lake of pale +blue fire lay quivering in the heart of the mountainous black +clouds--for a second only. An on-rushing, ever-increasing, rattling +roar of thunder ensued, that seemed to shake the very earth, and all +was again darkness. + +"This is magnificent!" cries Mrs. Challoner, who, with her family, +had travelled a great deal, and was quite accustomed to hurricanes +and other inconveniences caused by the unaccommodating behaviour of +the elements. "I don't think I ever saw anything like it, John dear, +even that storm we saw at Chamounix was not any better than this." + +"Well," returned her husband meditatively, "you see we had the snow +mountains there, and the effect was pretty lively. Then there were +the echoes--those cavernous echoes were grand! What was that passage +in Job, Effie, that I used to say they reminded me of?" + +"'The pillars of heaven tremble, and are astonished at His reproof +... The thunder of His power, who can understand?'" replied Effie +Challoner reverently. + +"That's it!" he replied. "I opine that Job was pretty correct in his +ideas--don't you, reverend sir?" turning to Father Paul. + +The priest nodded, and held up his finger warningly. + +"That lady--Mrs. Everard--is going to sing or play, I think," he +observed. "Shall we not keep silence?" + +I looked towards Amy in some surprise. I knew she sang very +prettily, but I had thought she was rendered too nervous by the +storm to do aught but sit quiet in her chair. However, there she was +at the piano, and in another moment her fresh, sweet mezzo-soprano +rang softly through the room in Tosti's plaintive song, "Good-bye!" +We listened, but none of us moved from the open window where we +still inhaled what air there was, and watched the lowering sky. + + "Hush! a voice from the far-away, + 'Listen and learn,' it seems to say; + 'All the to-morrows shall be as to-day,'" + +sang Amy with pathetic sweetness. Zara suddenly moved, as if +oppressed, from her position among us as we stood clustered +together, and stepped out through the French window into the outside +balcony, her head uncovered to the night. + +"You will catch cold!" Mrs. Challoner and I both called to her +simultaneously. She shook her head, smiling back at us; and folding +her arms lightly on the stone balustrade, leaned there and looked up +at the clouds. + + "The link must break, and the lamp must die; + Good-bye to Hope! Good-bye--good-bye!" + +Amy's voice was a peculiarly thrilling one, and on this occasion +sounded with more than its usual tenderness. What with her singing +and the invisible presence of the storm, an utter silence possessed +us--not one of us cared to move. + +Heliobas once stepped to his sister's side in the open balcony, and +said something, as I thought, to warn her against taking cold; but +it was a very brief whisper, and he almost immediately returned to +his place amongst us. Zara looked very lovely out there; the light +coming from the interior of the room glistened softly on the sheen +of her satin dress and its ornaments of pearls; and the electric +stone on her bosom shone faintly, like a star on a rainy evening. +Her beautiful face, turned upwards to the angry sky, was half in +light and half in shade; a smile parted her lips, and her eyes were +bright with a look of interest and expectancy. Another sudden glare, +and the clouds were again broken asunder; but this time in a jagged +and hasty manner, as though a naked sword had been thrust through +them and immediately withdrawn. + +"That was a nasty flash," said Colonel Everard, with an observant +glance at the lovely Juliet-like figure on the balcony. +"Mademoiselle, had you not better come in?" + +"When it begins to rain I will come in," she said, without changing +her posture. "I hear the singing so well out here. Besides, I love +the storm." + +A tumultuous crash of thunder, tremendous for its uproar and the +length of time it was prolonged, made us look at each other again +with anxious faces. + + "What are we waiting for? Oh, my heart! + Kiss me straight on the brows and part! + Again! again, my heart, my heart! + What are we waiting for, you and I? + A pleading look--a stifled cry! + Good-bye for ever---" + +Horror! what was that? A lithe swift serpent of fire twisting +venomously through the dark heavens! Zara raised her arms, looked +up, smiled, and fell--senseless! With such appalling suddenness that +we had scarcely recovered from the blinding terror of that forked +lightning-flash, when we saw her lying prone before us on the +balcony where one instant before she had stood erect and smiling! +With exclamations of alarm and distress we lifted and bore her +within the room and laid her tenderly down upon the nearest sofa. At +that moment a deafening, terrific thunder-clap--one only--as if a +huge bombshell had burst in the air, shook the ground under our +feet; and then with a swish and swirl of long pent-up and suddenly- +released wrath, down came the rain. + +Amy's voice died away in a last "Good-bye!" and she rushed from the +piano, with pale face and trembling lips, gasping out: + +"What has happened? What is the matter?" + +"She has been stunned by a lightning-flash," I said, trying to speak +calmly, while I loosened Zara's dress and sprinkled her forehead +with eau-de-Cologne from a scent-bottle Mrs. Challoner had handed to +me. "She will recover in a few minutes." + +But my limbs trembled under me, and tears, in spite of myself, +forced their way into my eyes. + +Heliobas meanwhile--his countenance white and set as a marble mask-- +shut the window fiercely, pulled down the blind, and drew the heavy +silken curtains close. He then approached his sister's senseless +form, and, taking her wrist tenderly, felt for her pulse. We looked +on in the deepest anxiety. The Challoner girls shivered with terror, +and began to cry. Mrs. Everard, with more self-possession, dipped a +handkerchief in cold water and laid it on Zara's temples; but no +faint sigh parted the set yet smiling lips--no sign of life was +visible. All this while the rain swept down in gusty torrents and +rattled furiously against the window-panes; while the wind, no +longer a moan, had risen into a shriek, as of baffled yet vindictive +anger. At last Heliobas spoke. + +"I should be glad of other medical skill than my own," he said, in +low and stifled accents. "This may be a long fainting-fit." + +Mr. Challoner at once proffered his services. + +"I'll go for you anywhere you like," he said cheerily; "and I think +my wife and daughters had better come with me. Our carriage is sure +to be in waiting. It will be necessary for the lady to have perfect +quiet when she recovers, and visitors are best away. You need not be +alarmed, I am sure. By her colour it is evident she is only in a +swoon. What doctor shall I send?" + +Heliobas named one Dr. Morini, 10, Avenue de l'Alma. + +"Right! He shall be here straight. Come, wife--come, girls! Mrs. +Everard, we'll send back our carriage for you and the Colonel. Good- +night! We'll call to-morrow and inquire after mademoiselle." + +Heliobas gratefully pressed his hand as he withdrew, and his wife +and daughters, with whispered farewells, followed him. We who were +left behind all remained near Zara, doing everything we could think +of to restore animation to that senseless form. + +Some of the servants, too, hearing what had happened, gathered in a +little cluster at the drawing-room door, looking with pale and +alarmed faces at the death-like figure of their beautiful mistress. +Half an hour or more must have passed in this manner; within the +room there was a dreadful silence--but outside the rain poured down +in torrents, and the savage wind howled and tore at the windows like +a besieging army. Suddenly Amy Everard, who had been quietly and +skilfully assisting me in rubbing Zara's hands and bathing her +forehead, grew faint, staggered, and would have fallen had not her +husband caught her on his arm. + +"I am frightened," she gasped. "I cannot bear it--she looks so +still, and she is growing--rigid, like a corpse! Oh, if she should +be dead!" And she hid her face on her husband's breast. + +At that moment we heard the grating of wheels on the gravel outside; +it was the Challoners' carriage returned. The coachman, after +depositing his master and family at the Grand Hotel, had driven +rapidly back in the teeth of the stinging sleet and rain to bring +the message that Dr. Morini would be with us as soon as possible. + +"Then," whispered Colonel Everard gently to me, "I'll take Amy home. +She is thoroughly upset, and it's no use having her going off into +hysterics. I'll call with Challoner to-morrow;" and with a kindly +parting nod of encouragement to us all, he slipped softly out of the +room, half leading, half carrying his trembling wife; and in a +couple of minutes we heard the carriage again drive away. + +Left alone at last with Heliobas and Father Paul, I, kneeling at the +side of my darling Zara, looked into their faces for comfort, but +found none. The dry-eyed despair on the countenance of Heliobas +pierced me to the heart; the pitying, solemn expression of the +venerable priest touched me as with icy cold. The lovely, marble- +like whiteness and stillness of the figure before me filled me with +a vague terror. Making a strong effort to control my voice, I +called, in a low, clear tone: + +"Zara! Zara!" + +No sign--not the faintest flicker of an eyelash! Only the sound of +the falling rain and the moaning wind--the thunder had long ago +ceased. Suddenly a something attracted my gaze, which first +surprised and then horrified me. The jewel--the electric stone on +Zara's bosom no longer shone! It was like a piece of dull unpolished +pebble. Grasping at the meaning of this, with overwhelming +instinctive rapidity, I sprang up and caught the arm of Heliobas. + +"You--you!" I whispered hurriedly. "YOU can restore her! Do as you +did with Prince Ivan; you can--you must! That stone she wears--the +light has gone out of it. If that means--and I am sure it does--that +life has for a little while gone out of HER, YOU can bring it back. +Quick--Quick! You have the power!" + +He looked at me with burning grief-haunted eyes; and a sigh that was +almost a groan escaped his lips. + +"I have NO power," he said. "Not over her. I told you she was +dominated by a higher force than mine. What can _I_ do? Nothing-- +worse than nothing--I am utterly helpless." + +I stared at him in a kind of desperate horror. + +"Do you mean to tell me," I said slowly, "that she is dead--really +dead?" + +He was about to answer, when one of the watching servants announced +in a low tone: "Dr. Morini." + +The new-comer was a wiry, keen-eyed little Italian; his movements +were quick, decisive, and all to the point of action. The first +thing he did was to scatter the little group of servants right and +left, and send them about their business. The next, to close the +doors of the room against all intrusion. He then came straight up to +Heliobas, and pressing his hand in a friendly manner, said briefly: + +"How and when did this happen?" + +Heliobas told him in as few words as possible. Dr. Morini then bent +over Zara's lifeless form, and examined her features attentively. He +laid his car against her heart and listened. Finally, he caught +sight of the round, lustreless pebble hanging at her neck suspended +by its strings of pearls. Very gently he moved this aside; looked, +and beckoned us to come and look also. Exactly on the spot where the +electric stone had rested, a small circular mark, like a black +bruise, tainted the fair soft skin--a mark no larger than a small +finger-ring. + +"Death by electricity," said Dr. Morini quietly. "Must have been +instantaneous. The lightning-flash, or downward electric current, +lodged itself here, where this mark is, and passed directly through +the heart. Perfectly painless, but of course fatal. She has been +dead some time." + +And, replacing the stone ornament in its former position, he stepped +back with a suggestive glance at Father Paul. I listened and saw-- +but I was in a state of stupefaction. Dead? My beautiful, gay, +strong Zara DEAD? Impossible! I knelt beside her; I called her again +and again by every endearing and tender name I could think of; I +kissed her sweet lips. Oh, they were cold as ice, and chilled my +blood! As one in a dream, I saw Heliobas advance; he kissed her +forehead and mouth; he reverently unclasped the pearls from about +her throat, and with them took off the electric stone. Then Father +Paul stepped slowly forward, and in place of that once brilliant +gem, now so dim and destitute of fire, he laid a crucifix upon the +fair and gentle breast, motionless for ever. + +At sight of this sacred symbol, some tense cord seemed to snap in my +brain, and I cried out wildly: + +"Oh, no, no! Not that! That is for the dead; Zara is not dead! It is +all a mistake--a mistake! She will be quite well presently; and she +will smile and tell you how foolish you were to think her dead! +Dead? She cannot be dead; it is impossible--quite impossible!" And I +broke into a passion of sobs and tears. + +Very gently and kindly Dr. Morini drew me away, and by dint of +friendly persuasion, in which there was also a good deal of firm +determination, led me into the hall, where he made me swallow a +glass of wine. As I could not control my sobs, he spoke with some +sternness: + +"Mademoiselle, you can do no good by giving way in this manner. +Death is a very beautiful and solemn thing, and it is irreverent to +show unseemly passion in such a great Presence. You loved your +friend--let it be a comfort to you that she died painlessly. Control +yourself, in order to assist in rendering her the last few gentle +services necessary; and try to console the desolate brother, who +looks in real need of encouragement." + +These last words roused me. I forced back my tears, and dried my +eyes. + +"I will, Dr. Morini," I said, in a trembling voice. "I am ashamed to +be so weak. I know what I ought to do, and I will do it. You may +trust me." + +He looked at me approvingly. + +"That is well," he said briefly. "And now, as I am of no use here, I +will say good-night. Remember, excessive grief is mere selfishness; +resignation is heroism." + +He was gone. I nerved myself to the task I had before me, and within +an hour the fair casket of what had been Zara lay on an open bier in +the little chapel, lights burning round it, and flowers strewn above +it in mournful profusion. + +We left her body arrayed in its white satin garb; the cluster of +orange-blossoms she had gathered still bloomed upon the cold breast, +where the crucifix lay; but in the tresses of the long dark hair I +wove a wreath of lilies instead of the pearls we had undone. + +And now I knelt beside the bier absorbed in thought. Some of the +weeping servants had assembled, and knelt about in little groups. +The tall candles on the altar were lit, and Father Paul, clad in +mourning priestly vestments, prayed there in silence. The storm of +rain and wind still raged without, and the windows of the chapel +shook and rattled with the violence of the tempest. + +A distant clock struck ONE! with a deep clang that echoed throughout +the house. I shuddered. So short a time had elapsed since Zara had +been alive and well; now, I could not bear to think that she was +gone from me for ever. For ever, did I say? No, not for ever--not so +long as love exists--love that shall bring us together again in that +far-off Sphere where--- + +Hush! what was that? The sound of the organ? I looked around me in +startled wonderment. There was no one seated at the instrument; it +was shut close. The lights on the altar and round the bier burnt +steadily; the motionless figure of the priest before the tabernacle; +the praying servants of the household--all was unchanged. But +certainly a flood of music rolled grandly on the ear--music that +drowned for a moment the howling noise of the battering wind. I rose +softly, and touched one of the kneeling domestics on the shoulder. + +"Did you hear the organ?" I said. + +The woman looked up at me with tearful, alarmed eyes. + +"No, mademoiselle." + +I paused, listening. The music grew louder and louder, and surged +round me in waves of melody. Evidently no one in the chapel heard it +but myself. I looked about for Heliobas, but he had not entered. He +was most probably in his study, whither he had retired to grieve in +secret when we had borne Zara's body to its present couch of +dreamless sleep. + +These sounds were meant for me alone, then? I waited, and the music +gradually died away; and as I resumed my kneeling position by the +bier all was again silence, save for the unabated raging of the +storm. + +A strange calmness now fell on my spirits. Some invisible hand +seemed to hold me still and tearless. Zara was dead. I realized it +now. I began to consider that she must have known her fate +beforehand. This was what she had meant when she said she was going +on a journey. The more I thought of this the quieter I became, and I +hid my face in my hands and prayed earnestly. + +A touch roused me--an imperative, burning touch. An airy brightness, +like a light cloud with sunshine falling through it, hovered above +Zara's bier! I gazed breathlessly; I could not move my lips to utter +a sound. A face looked at me--a face angelically beautiful! It +smiled. I stretched out my hands; I struggled for speech, and +managed to whisper: + +"Zara, Zara! you have come back!" + +Her voice, so sweetly familiar, answered me: "To life? Ah, never, +never again! I am too happy to return. But save him--save my +brother! Go to him; he is in danger; to you is given the rescue. +Save him; and for me rejoice, and grieve no more!" + +The face vanished, the brightness faded, and I sprang up from my +knees in haste. For one instant I looked at the beautiful dead body +of the friend I loved, with its set mouth and placid features, and +then I smiled. This was not Zara--SHE was alive and happy; this fair +clay was but clay doomed to perish, but SHE was imperishable. + +"Save him--save my brother!" These words rang in my ears. I +hesitated no longer--I determined to seek Heliobas at once. Swiftly +and noiselessly I slipped out of the chapel. As the door swung +behind me I heard a sound that first made me stop in sudden alarm, +and then hurry on with increased eagerness. There was no mistaking +it--it was the clash of steel! + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +A STRUGGLE FOR THE MASTERY. + + +I rushed to the study-door, tore aside the velvet hangings, and +faced Heliobas and Prince Ivan Petroffsky. They held drawn weapons, +which they lowered at my sudden entrance, and paused irresolutely. + +"What are you doing?" I cried, addressing myself to Heliobas. "With +the dead body of your sister in the house you can fight! You, too!" +and I looked reproachfully at Prince Ivan; "you also can desecrate +the sanctity of death, and yet--you LOVED her!" + +The Prince spoke not, but clenched his sword-hilt with a fiercer +grasp, and glared wildly on his opponent. His eyes had a look of +madness in them--his dress was much disordered--his hair wet with +drops of rain--his face ghastly white, and his whole demeanour was +that of a man distraught with grief and passion. But he uttered no +word. Heliobas spoke; he was coldly calm, and balanced his sword +lightly on his open hand as if it were a toy. + +"This GENTLEMAN," he said, with deliberate emphasis, "happened, on +his way thither, to meet Dr. Morini, who informed him of the fatal +catastrophe which has caused my sister's death. Instead of +respecting the sacredness of my solitude under the circumstances, he +thrust himself rudely into my presence, and, before I could address +him, struck me violently in the face, and accused me of being my +sister's murderer. Such conduct can only meet with one reply. I gave +him his choice of weapons: he chose swords. Our combat has just +begun--we are anxious to resume it; therefore if you, mademoiselle, +will have the goodness to retire---" + +I interrupted him. + +"I shall certainly not retire," I said firmly. "This behaviour on +both your parts is positive madness. Prince Ivan, please to listen +to me. The circumstances of Zara's death were plainly witnessed by +me and others--her brother is as innocent of having caused it as I +am." + +And I recounted to him quietly all that had happened during that +fatal and eventful evening. He listened moodily, tracing out the +pattern of the carpet with the point of his sword. When I had +finished he looked up, and a bitter smile crossed his features. + +"I wonder, mademoiselle," he said, "that your residence in this +accursed house has not taught you better. I quite believe all you +say, that Zara, unfortunate girl that she was, received her death by +a lightning-flash. But answer me this: Who made her capable of +attracting atmospheric electricity? Who charged her beautiful +delicate body with a vile compound of electrical fluid, so that she +was as a living magnet, bound to draw towards herself electricity in +all its forms? Who tampered with her fine brain and made her imagine +herself allied to a spirit of air? Who but HE--HE!--yonder +unscrupulous wretch!--he who in pursuit of his miserable science, +practised his most dangerous experiments on his sister, regardless +of her health, her happiness, her life! I say he is her murderer-- +her remorseless murderer, and a thrice-damned villain!" + +And he sprang forward to renew the combat. I stepped quietly, +unflinchingly between him and Heliobas. + +"Stop!" I exclaimed; "this cannot go on. Zara herself forbids it!" + +The Prince paused, and looked at me in a sort of stupefaction. + +"Zara forbids it!" he muttered. "What do you mean?" + +"I mean," I went on, "that I have seen Zara since her death; I have +spoken to her. She herself sent me here." + +Prince Ivan stared, and then burst into a fit of wild laughter. + +"Little fool!" he cried to me; "he has maddened you too, then! You +are also a victim! Miserable girl! out of my path! Revenge--revenge! +while I am yet sane!" + +Then pushing me roughly aside, he cast away his sword, and shouted +to Heliobas: + +"Hand to hand, villain! No more of these toy-weapons! Hand to hand!" + +Heliobas instantly threw down his sword also, and rushing forward +simultaneously, they closed together in savage conflict. Heliobas +was the taller and more powerful of the two, but Prince Ivan seemed +imbued with the spirit of a hundred devils, and sprang at his +opponent's throat with the silent breathless ferocity of a tiger. At +first Heliobas appeared to be simply on the defensive, and his +agile, skilful movements were all used to parry and ward off the +other's grappling eagerness. But as I watched the struggle, myself +speechless and powerless, I saw his face change. Instead of its calm +and almost indifferent expression, there came a look which was +completely foreign to it--a look of savage determination bordering +on positive cruelty. In a moment I saw what was taking place in his +mind. The animal passions of the mere MAN were aroused--the +spiritual force was utterly forgotten. The excitement of the contest +was beginning to tell, and the desire of victory was dominant in the +breast of him whose ideas were generally--and should have been now-- +those of patient endurance and large generosity. The fight grew +closer, hotter, and more terrible. Suddenly the Prince swerved aside +and fell, and within a second Heliobas held him down, pressing one +knee firmly against his chest. From my point of observation I noted +with alarm that little by little Ivan ceased his violent efforts to +rise, and that he kept his eyes fixed on the overshadowing face of +his foe with an unnatural and curious pertinacity. I stepped +forward. Heliobas pressed his whole weight heavily down on the young +man's prostrate body, while with both hands he held him by the +shoulders, and gazed with terrific meaning into his fast-paling +countenance. Ivan's lips turned blue; his eyes appeared to start +from their sockets; his throat rattled. The spell that held me +silent was broken; a flash of light, a flood of memory swept over my +intelligence. I knew that Heliobas was exciting the whole battery of +his inner electric force, and that thus employed for the purposes of +vengeance, it must infallibly cause death. I found my speech at +last. + +"Heliobas!" I cried "Remember, remember Azul! When Death lies like a +gift in your hand, withhold it. Withhold it, Heliobas; and give Life +instead!" + +He started at the sound of my voice, and looked up. A strong shudder +shook his frame. Very slowly, very reluctantly, he relaxed his +position; he rose from his kneeling posture on the Prince's breast-- +he left him and stood upright. Ivan at the same moment heaved a deep +sigh, and closed his eyes, apparently insensible. + +Gradually one by one the hard lines faded out of the face of +Heliobas, and his old expression of soft and grave beneficence came +back to it as graciously as sunlight after rain. He turned to me, +and bent his head in a sort of reverential salutation. + +"I thank and bless you," he said; "you reminded me in time! Another +moment and it would have been too late. You have saved me." + +"Give him his life," I said, pointing to Ivan. + +"He has it," returned Heliobas; "I have not taken it from him, thank +God! He provoked me; I regret it. I should have been more patient +with him. He will revive immediately. I leave him to your care. In +dealing with him, I ought to have remembered that human passion like +his, unguided by spiritual knowledge, was to be met with pity and +forbearance. As it is, however, he is safe. For me, I will go and +pray for Zara's pardon, and that of my wronged Azul." + +As he uttered the last words, he started, looked up, and smiled. + +"My beautiful one! Thou HAST pardoned me? Thou wilt love me still? +Thou art with me, Azul, my beloved? I have not lost thee, oh my best +and dearest! Wilt thou lead me? Whither? Nay--no matter whither--I +come!" + +And as one walking in sleep, he went out of the room, and I heard +his footsteps echoing in the distance on the way to the chapel. + +Left alone with the Prince, I snatched a glass of cold water from +the table, and sprinkled some of it on his forehead and hands. This +was quite sufficient to revive him; and he drew a long breath, +opened his eyes, and stared wildly about him. Seeing no one but me +he grew bewildered, and asked: + +"What has happened?" + +Then catching sight of the drawn swords lying still on the ground +where they had been thrown, he sprang to his feet, and cried: + +"Where is the coward and murderer?" + +I made him sit down and hear with patience what I had to say. I +reminded him that Zara's health and happiness had always been +perfect, and that her brother would rather have slain himself than +her. I told him plainly that Zara had expected her death, and had +prepared for it--had even bade me good-bye, although then I had not +understood the meaning of her words. I recalled to his mind the day +when Zara had used her power to repulse him. + +"Disbelieve as you will in electric spiritual force," I said. "Your +message to her then through me was--TELL HER I HAVE SEEN HER LOVER." + +At these words a sombre shadow flitted over the Prince's face. + +"I tell you," he said slowly, "that I believe I was on that occasion +the victim of an hallucination. But I will explain to you what I +saw. A superb figure, like, and yet unlike, a man, but of a much +larger and grander form, appeared to me, as I thought, and spoke. +'Zara is mine,' it said--'mine by choice; mine by freewill; mine +till death; mine after death; mine through eternity. With her thou +hast naught in common; thy way lies elsewhere. Follow the path +allotted to thee, and presume no more upon an angel's patience.' +Then this Strange majestic-looking creature, whose face, as I +remember it, was extraordinarily beautiful, and whose eyes were like +self-luminous stars, vanished. But, after all, what of it? The whole +thing was a dream." + +"I am not so sure of that," I said quietly, "But, Prince Ivan, now +that you are calmer and more capable of resignation, will you tell +me why you loved Zara?" + +"Why!" he broke out impetuously. "Why, because it was impossible to +help loving her." + +"That is no answer," I replied. "Think! You can reason well if you +like--I have heard you hold your own in an argument. What made you +love Zara?" + +He looked at me in a sort of impatient surprise, but seeing I was +very much in earnest, he pondered a minute or so before replying. + +"She was the loveliest woman I have ever seen!" he said at last, and +in his voice there was a sound of yearning and regret. + +"Is THAT all?" I queried, with a gesture of contempt. "Because her +body was beautiful--because she had sweet kissing lips and a soft +skin; because her hand was like a white flower, and her dark hair +clustering over her brow reminded one of a misty evening cloud +hiding moonlight; because the glance of her glorious eyes made the +blood leap through your veins and sting you with passionate desire-- +are these the reasons of your so-called love? Oh, give it some other +and lower name! For the worms shall feed on the fair flesh that won +your admiration--their wet and slimy bodies shall trail across the +round white arms and tender bosom--unsightly things shall crawl +among the tresses of the glossy hair; and nothing, nothing shall +remain of what you loved, but dust. Prince Ivan, you shudder; but I +too loved Zara--I loved HER, not the perishable casket in which, +like a jewel, she was for a time enshrined. I love her still--and +for the being I love there is no such thing as death." + +The Prince was silent, and seemed touched. I had spoken with real +feeling, and tears of emotion stood in my eyes. + +"I loved her as a man generally loves," he said, after a little +pause. "Nay--more than most men love most women!" + +"Most men are too often selfish in both their loves and hatreds," I +returned. "Tell me if there was anything in Zara's mind and +intelligence to attract you? Did you sympathize in her pursuits; did +you admire her tastes; had you any ideas in common with her?" + +"No, I confess I had not," he answered readily. "I considered her to +be entirely a victim to her brother's scientific experiments. I +thought, by making her my wife, to release her from such tyranny and +give her rescue and refuge. To this end I found out all I could +from--HIM"--he approached the name of Heliobas with reluctance--"and +I made up my mind that her delicate imagination had been morbidly +excited; but that marriage and a life like that led by other women +would bring her to a more healthy state of mind." + +I smiled with a little scorn. + +"Your presumption was almost greater than your folly, Prince," I +said, "that with such ideas as these in your mind you could dream of +winning Zara for a wife. Do you think she could have led a life like +that of other women? A frivolous round of gaiety, a few fine dresses +and jewels, small-talk, society scandal, stale compliments--you +think such things would have suited HER? And would she have +contented herself with a love like yours? Come! Come and see how +well she has escaped you!" + +And I beckoned him towards the door. He hesitated. + +"Where would you take me?" he asked. + +"To the chapel. Zara's body lies there." + +He shuddered. + +"No, no--not there! I cannot bear to look upon her perished +loveliness--to see that face, once so animated, white and rigid-- +death in such a form is too horrible!" + +And he covered his eyes with his hand--I saw tears slowly drop +through his fingers. I gazed at him, half in wonder, half in pity. + +"And yet you are a brave man!" I said. + +These words roused him. He met my gaze with such a haggard look of +woe that my heart ached for him. What comfort had he now? What joy +could he ever expect? All his happiness was centred in the fact of +BEING ALIVE--alive to the pleasures of living, and to the joys the +world could offer to a man who was strong, handsome, rich, and +accomplished--how could he look upon death as otherwise than a +loathsome thing--a thing not to be thought of in the heyday of +youthful blood and jollity--a doleful spectre, in whose bony hands +the roses of love must fall and wither! With a sense of deep +commiseration in me, I spoke again with great gentleness. + +"You need not look upon Zara's corpse unless you wish it, Prince," I +said. "To you, the mysteries of the Hereafter have not been +unlocked, because there is something in your nature that cannot and +will not believe in God. Therefore to you, death must be repellent. +I know you are one of those for whom the present alone exists--you +easily forget the past, and take no trouble for the future. Paris is +your heaven, or St. Petersburg, or Vienna, as the fancy takes you; +and the modern atheistical doctrines of French demoralization are in +your blood. Nothing but a heaven-sent miracle could make you other +than you are, and miracles do not exist for the materialist. But let +me say two words more before you go from this house. Seek no more to +avenge yourself for your love-disappointment on Heliobas--for you +have really nothing to avenge. By your own confession you only cared +for Zara's body--that body was always perishable, and it has +perished by a sudden but natural catastrophe. With her soul, you +declare you had nothing in common--that was herself--and she is +alive to us who love her as she sought to be loved. Heliobas is +innocent of having slain her body; he but helped to cultivate and +foster that beautiful Spirit which he knew to be HER--for that he is +to be honored and commended. Promise me, therefore, Prince Ivan, +that you will never approach him again except in friendship--indeed, +you owe him an apology for your unjust accusation, as also your +gratitude for his sparing your life in the recent struggle." + +The Prince kept his eyes steadily fixed upon me all the time I was +speaking, and as I finished, he sighed and moved restlessly. + +"Your words are compelling, mademoiselle," he said; "and you have a +strange attraction for me. I know I am not wrong in thinking that +you are a disciple of Heliobas, whose science I admit, though I +doubt his theories. I promise you willingly what you ask--nay, I +will even offer him my hand if he will accept it." + +Overjoyed at my success, I answered: "He is in the chapel, but I +will fetch him here." + +Over the Prince's face a shadow of doubt, mingled with dread, passed +swiftly, and he seemed to be forming a resolve in his own mind which +was more or less distasteful to him. Whatever the feeling was he +conquered it by a strong effort, and said with firmness: + +"No; I will go to him myself. And I will look again upon--upon the +face I loved. It is but one pang the more, and why should I not +endure it?" + +Seeing him thus inclined, I made no effort to dissuade him, and +without another word I led the way to the chapel. I entered it +reverently, he following me closely, with slow hushed footsteps. All +was the same as I had left it, save that the servants of the +household had gone to take some needful rest before the morning +light called them to their daily routine of labour. Father Paul, +too, had retired, and Heliobas alone knelt beside all that remained +of Zara, his figure as motionless as though carved in bronze, his +face hidden in his hands. As we approached, he neither stirred nor +looked up, therefore I softly led the Prince to the opposite side of +the bier, that he might look quietly on the perished loveliness that +lay there at rest for ever. Ivan trembled, yet steadfastly gazed at +the beautiful reposeful form, at the calm features on which the +smile with which death had been received, still lingered--at the +folded hands, the fading orange-blosoms--at the crucifix that lay on +the cold breast like the final seal on the letter of life. +Impulsively he stooped forward, and with a tender awe pressed his +lips on the pale forehead, but instantly started back with the +smothered, exclamation: + +"O God! how cold!" + +At the sound of his voice Heliobas rose up erect, and the two men +faced each other, Zara's dead body lying like a barrier betwixt +them. + +A pause followed--a pause in which I heard my own heart beating +loudly, so great was my anxiety. Heliobas suffered a few moments to +elapse, then stretched his hand across his sister's bier. + +"In HER name, let there be peace between us, Ivan," he said in +accents that were both gentle and solemn. + +The Prince, touched to the quick, responded to these kindly words +with eager promptness, and they clasped hands over the quiet and +lovely form that lay there--a silent, binding witness of their +reconciliation. + +"I have to ask your pardon, Casimir," then whispered Ivan. "I have +also to thank you for my life." + +"Thank the friend who stands beside you," returned Heliobas, in the +same low tone, with a slight gesture towards me. "She reminded me of +a duty in time. As for pardon, I know of no cause of offence on your +part save what was perfectly excusable. Say no more; wisdom comes +with years, and you are yet young." + +A long silence followed. We all remained looking wistfully down upon +the body of our lost darling, in thought too deep for words or +weeping. I then noticed that another humble mourner shared our +watch--a mourner whose very existence I had nearly forgotten. It was +the faithful Leo. He lay couchant on the stone floor at the foot of +the bier, almost as silent as a dog of marble; the only sign of +animation he gave being a deep sigh which broke from his honest +heart now and then. I went to him and softly patted his shaggy coat. +He looked up at me with big brown eyes full of tears, licked my hand +meekly, and again laid his head down upon his two fore-paws with a +resignation that was most pathetic. + +The dawn began to peer faintly through the chapel windows--the dawn +of a misty, chilly morning. The storm of the past night had left a +sting in the air, and the rain still fell, though gently. The wind +had almost entirely sunk into silence. I re-arranged the flowers +that were strewn on Zara's corpse, taking away all those that had +slightly faded. The orange-blossom was almost dead, but I left that +where it was--where the living Zara had herself placed it. As I +performed this slight service, I thought, half mournfully, half +gladly-- + + "Yes, Heaven is thine, but this + Is a world of sweets and sours-- + Our flowers are merely FLOWERS; + And the shadow of thy perfect bliss + Is the sunshine of ours." + +Prince Ivan at last roused himself as from a deep and melancholy +reverie, and, addressing himself to Heliobas, said softly: + +"I will intrude no longer on your privacy, Casimir. Farewell! I +shall leave Paris to-night." + +For all answer Heliobas beckoned him and me also out of the chapel. +As soon as its doors closed behind us, and we stood in the centre +hall, he spoke with affectionate and grave earnestness: + +"Ivan, something tells me that you and I shall not meet again for +many years, if ever. Therefore, when you say 'farewell,' the word +falls upon my ears with double meaning. We are friends--our +friendship is sanctified by the dead presence of one whom we both +loved, in different ways; therefore you will take in good part what +I now say to you. You know, you cannot disguise from yourself that +the science I study is fraught with terrible truth and marvellous +discoveries; the theories I deduce from it you disbelieve, because +you are nearly a materialist. I say NEARLY--not quite. That 'not +quite' makes me love you, Ivan: I would save the small bright spark +that flickers within you from both escape and extinction. But I +cannot--at least, not as yet. Still, in order that you may know that +there is a power in me higher than ordinary human reason, before you +go from me to-night hear my prophecy of your career. The world waits +for you, Ivan--the world, all agape and glittering with a thousand +sparkling toys; it waits greedy for your presence, ready to fawn +upon you for a smile, willing to cringe to you for a nod of +approval. And why? Because wealth is yours--vast, illimitable +wealth. Aye--you need not start or look incredulous--you will find +it as I say. You, whose fortune up to now has barely reached a poor +four thousand per annum--you are at this moment the possessor of +millions. Only last night a relative of yours, whose name you +scarcely know, expired, leaving all his hoarded treasures to you. +Before the close of this present day, on whose threshold we now +stand, you will have the news. When you receive it remember me, and +acknowledge that at least for once I knew and spoke the truth. +Follow the broad road, Ivan, laid out before you--a road wide enough +not only for you to walk in, but for the crowd of toadies and +flatterers also, who will push on swiftly after you and jostle you +on all sides; be strong of heart and merry of countenance! Gather +the roses; press the luscious grapes into warm, red wine that, as +you quaff it, shall make your blood dance a mad waltz in your veins, +and fair women's faces shall seem fairer to you than ever, their +embraces more tender, their kisses more tempting! Spin the ball of +Society like a toy in the palm of your hand! I see your life +stretching before me like a brilliant, thread-like ephemeral ray of +light! But in the far distance across it looms a shadow--a shadow +that your power alone can never lift. Mark me, Ivan! When the first +dread chill of that shadow makes itself felt, come to me--I shall +yet be living. Come; for then no wealth can aid you--at that dark +hour no boon companions can comfort. Come; and by our friendship so +lately sworn--by Zara's pure soul--by God's existence, I will not +die till I have changed that darkness over you into light eternal!-- +Fare you well!" + +He caught the Prince's hand, and wrung it hard; then, without +further word, look, or gesture, turned and disappeared again within +the chapel. + +His words had evidently made a deep impression on the young +nobleman, who gazed after his retreating figure with a certain awe +not unmingled with fear. + +I held out my hand in silent farewell. Ivan took it gently, and +kissed it with graceful courtesy. + +"Casimir told me that your intercession saved my life, +mademoiselle," he said. "Accept my poor thanks. If his present +prophet-like utterances be true---" + +"Why should you doubt him?" I asked, with some impatience. "Can you +believe in NOTHING?" + +The Prince, still holding my hand, looked at me in a sort of grave +perplexity. + +"I think you have hit it," he observed quietly. "I doubt everything +except the fact of my own existence, and there are times when I am +not even sure of that. But if, as I said before, the prophecy of my +Chaldean friend, whom I cannot help admiring with all my heart, +turns out to be correct, then my life is more valuable to me than +ever with such wealth to balance it, and I thank you doubly for +having saved it by a word in time." + +I withdrew my hand gently from his. + +"You think the worth of your life increased by wealth?" Tasked. + +"Naturally! Money is power." + +"And what of the shadow also foretold as inseparable from your +fate?" + +A faint smile crossed his features. + +"Ah, pardon me! That is the only portion of Casimir's fortune- +telling that I am inclined to disbelieve thoroughly." + +"But," I said, "if you are willing to accept the pleasant part of +his prophecy, why not admit the possibility of the unpleasant +occurring also?" + +He shrugged his shoulders. + +"In these enlightened times, mademoiselle, we only believe what is +agreeable to us, and what suits our own wishes, tastes, and +opinions. Ca va sans dire. We cannot be forced to accept a Deity +against our reason. That is a grand result of modern education." + +"Is it?" and I looked at him with pity. "Poor human reason! It will +reel into madness sometimes for a mere trifle--an overdose of +alcohol will sometimes upset it altogether--what a noble omnipotent +thing is human reason! But let me not detain you. Good-bye, and--as +the greeting of olden times used to run--God save you!" + +He bent his head with a light reverence. + +"I believe you to be a good, sweet woman," he said, "therefore I am +grateful for your blessing. My mother," and here his eyes grew +dreamy and wistful--"poor soul! she died long ago--my mother would +never let me retire to rest without signing the cross on my brow. Ah +well, that is past! I should like, mademoiselle," and his voice sank +very low, "to send some flowers for--her--you understand?" + +I did understand, and readily promised to lay whatever blossoms he +selected tenderly above the sacred remains of that earthly beauty he +had loved, as he himself said, "more than most men love most women." + +He thanked me earnestly, and seemed relieved and satisfied. Casting +a look of farewell around the familiar hall, he wafted a parting +kiss towards the chapel--an action which, though light, was full of +tenderness and regret. Then, with a low salute, he left me. The +street-door opened and closed after him in its usual noiseless +manner. He was gone. + +The morning had now fairly dawned, and within the Hotel Mars the +work of the great mansion went on in its usual routine; but a sombre +melancholy was in the atmosphere--a melancholy that not all my best +efforts could dissipate. The domestics looked sullen and heavy-eyed; +the only ones in their number who preserved their usual equanimity +were the Armenian men-servants and the little Greek page. +Preparations for Zara's funeral went on apace; they were exceedingly +simple, and the ceremony was to be quite private in character. +Heliobas issued his orders, and saw to the carrying out of his most +minute instructions in his usual calm manner; but his eyes looked +heavy, and his fine countenance was rendered even more majestic by +the sacred, resigned sorrow that lay upon it like a deep shadow. His +page served him with breakfast in his private room: but he left the +light meal untasted. One of the women brought me coffee; but the +very thought of eating and drinking seemed repulsive, and I could +not touch anything. My mind was busy with the consideration of the +duty I had to perform--namely, to see the destruction of Zara's +colossal statue, as she had requested. After thinking about it for +some time, I went to Heliobas and told him what I had it in charge +to do. He listened attentively. + +"Do it at once," he said decisively. "Take my Armenians; they are +discreet, obedient, and they ask no questions--with strong hammers +they will soon crush the clay. Stay! I will come with you." Then +looking at me scrutinizingly, he added kindly: "You have eaten +nothing, my child? You cannot? But your strength will give way-- +here, take this." And lie held out a small glass of a fluid whose +revivifying properties I well knew to be greater than any sustenance +provided by an ordinary meal. I swallowed it obediently, and as I +returned the empty glass to him he said: "I also have a commission +in charge from Zara. You know, I suppose, that she was prepared for +her death?" + +"I did not know; but I think she must have been," I answered. + +"She was. We both were. We remained together in the chapel all day, +saying what parting words we had to say to one another. We knew her +death, or rather her release, was to occur at some hour that night; +but in what way the end was destined to come, we knew not. Till I +heard the first peals of thunder, I was in suspense; but after that +I was no longer uncertain. You were a witness of the whole ensuing +scene. No death could have been more painless than hers. But let me +not forget the message she gave me for you." Here he took from a +secret drawer the electric stone Zara had always worn. "This jewel +is yours," he said. "You need not fear to accept it--it contains no +harm! it will bring you no ill-fortune. You see how all the +sparkling brilliancy has gone out of it? Wear it, and within a few +minutes it will be as lustrous as ever. The life throbbing in your +veins warms the electricity contained in it; and with the flowing of +your blood, its hues change and glow. It has no power to attract; it +can simply absorb and shine. Take it as a remembrance of her who +loved you and who loves you still." + +I was still in my evening dress, and my neck was bare. I slipped the +chain, on which hung the stone, round my throat, and watched the +strange gem with some curiosity. In a few seconds a pale streak of +fiery topaz flashed through it, which deepened and glowed into a +warm crimson, like the heart of a red rose; and by the time it had +become thoroughly warmed against my flesh, it glittered as +brilliantly as ever. + +"I will always wear it," I said earnestly. "I believe it will bring +me good fortune." + +"I believe it will," returned Heliobas simply. "And now let us +fulfil Zara's other commands." + +On our way across the hall we were stopped by the page, who brought +us a message of inquiry after Zara's health from Colonel Everard and +his wife, and also from the Challoners. Heliobas hastily wrote a few +brief words in pencil, explaining the fatal result of the accident, +and returned it to the messenger, giving orders at the same time +that all the blinds should be pulled down at the windows of the +house, that visitors might understand there was no admittance. We +then proceeded to the studio, accompanied by the Armenians carrying +heavy hammers. Reverently, and with my mind full of recollections of +Zara's living presence, I opened the familiar door. The first thing +that greeted us was a most exquisitely wrought statue in white +marble of Zara herself, full length, and arrayed in her customary +graceful Eastern costume. The head was slightly raised: a look of +gladness lighted up the beautiful features; and within the loosely +clasped hands was a cluster of roses. Bound the pedestal were carved +the words, "Omnia vincit Amor," with Zara's name and the dates of +her birth and death. A little slip of paper lay at the foot of the +statue, which Heliobas perceived, and taking it he read and passed +it to me. The lines were in Zara's handwriting, and ran as follows: + +"To my beloved Casimir--my brother, my friend, my guide and teacher, +to whom I owe the supreme happiness of my life in this world and the +next--let this poor figure of his grateful Zara be a memento of +happy days that are gone, only to be renewed with redoubled +happiness hereafter." + +I handed back the paper silently, with tears in my eyes, and we +turned our attention to the colossal figure we had come to destroy. +It stood at the extreme end of the studio, and was entirely hidden +by white linen drapery. Heliobas advanced, and by a sudden dexterous +movement succeeded in drawing off the coverings with a single +effort, and then we both fell back and gazed at the clay form +disclosed in amazement. What did it represent? A man? a god? an +angel? or all three united in one vast figure? + +It was an unfinished work. The features of the face were undeclared, +save the brow and eyes; and these were large, grand, and full of +absolute wisdom and tranquil consciousness of power. I could have +gazed on this wonderful piece of Zara's handiwork for hours, but +Heliobas called to the Armenian servants, who stood near the door +awaiting orders, and commanded them to break it down. For once these +well-trained domestics showed signs of surprise, and hesitated. +Their master frowned. Snatching a hammer from one of them, he +himself attacked the great statue as if it were a personal foe. The +Armenians, seeing he was in earnest, returned to their usual habits +of passive obedience, and aided him in his labour. Within a few +minutes the great and beautiful figure lay in fragments on the +floor, and these fragments were soon crushed into indistinguishable +atoms. I had promised to witness this work of destruction, and +witness it I did, but it was with pain and regret. When all was +finished, Heliobas commanded his men to carry the statue of Zara's +self down to his own private room, and then to summon all the +domestics of the household in a body to the great hall, as he wished +to address them. I heard him give this order with some surprise, and +he saw it. As the Armenians slowly disappeared, carrying with great +care the marble figure of their late mistress, he turned to me, as +he locked up the door of the studio, and said quietly: + +"These ignorant folk, who serve me for money and food--money that +they have eagerly taken, and food that they have greedily devoured-- +they think that I am the devil or one of the devil's agents, and I +am going to prove their theories entirely to their satisfaction. +Come and see!" + +I followed him, somewhat mystified. On the way downstairs he said: + +"Do you know why Zara wished that statue destroyed?" + +"No," I said frankly; "unless for the reason that it was +incomplete." + +"It always would have been incomplete," returned Heliobas; "even had +she lived to work at it for years. It was a daring attempt, and a +fruitless one. She was trying to make a clay figure of one who never +wore earthly form--the Being who is her Twin-Soul, who dominates her +entirely, and who is with her now. As well might she have tried to +represent in white marble the prismatic hues of the rainbow!" + +We had now reached the hall, and the servants were assembling by +twos and threes. They glanced at their master with looks of awe, as +he took up a commanding position near the fountain, and faced them +with a glance of calm scrutiny and attention. I drew a chair behind +one of the marble columns and seated myself, watching everything +with interest. Leo appeared from some corner or other, and laid his +rough body down close at his master's feet. + +In a few minutes all the domestics, some twenty in number, were +present, and Heliobas, raising his voice, spoke with a clear +deliberate enunciation: + +"I have sent for you all this morning, because I am perfectly aware +that you have all determined to give me notice." + +A stir of astonishment and dismay ensued on the part of the small +audience, and I heard one voice near me whisper: + +"He IS the devil, or how could he have known it?" + +The lips of Heliobas curled in a fine sarcastic smile. He went on: + +"I spare you this trouble. Knowing your intentions, I take upon +myself to dismiss you at once. Naturally, you cannot risk your +characters by remaining in the service of the devil. For my own +part, I wonder the devil's money has not burnt your hands, or his +food turned to poison in your mouths. My sister, your kind and ever- +indulgent mistress, is dead. You know this, and it is your opinion +that I summoned up the thunderstorm which caused her death. Be it +so. Report it so, if you will, through Paris; your words do not +affect me. You have been excellent machines, and for your services +many thanks! As soon as my sister's funeral is over, your wages, +with an additional present, will be sent to you. You can then leave +my house when you please; and, contrary to the usual custom of +accepted devils, I am able to say, without perishing in the effort-- +God speed you all!" + +The faces of those he addressed exhibited various emotions while he +spoke--fear contending with a good deal of shame. The little Greek +page stepped forward timidly. + +"The master knows that I will never leave him," he murmured, and his +large eyes were moist with tears. + +Heliobas laid a gentle hand on the boy's dark curls, but said +nothing. One of the four Armenians advanced, and with a graceful +rapid gesture of his right hand, touched his head and breast. + +"My lord will not surely dismiss US who desire to devote ourselves +to his service? We are willing to follow my lord to the death if +need be, for the sake of the love and honour we bear him." + +Heliobas looked at him very kindly. + +"I am richer in friends than I thought myself to be," he said +quietly. "Stay then, by all means, Afra, you and your companions, +since you have desired it. And you, my boy," he went on, addressing +the tearful page, "think you that I would turn adrift an orphan, +whom a dying mother trusted to my care? Nay, child, I am as much +your servant as you are mine, so long as your love turns towards +me." + +For all answer the page kissed his hand in a sort of rapture, and +flinging back his clustering hair from his classic brows, surveyed +the domestics, who had taken their dismissal in silent acquiescence, +with a pretty scorn. + +"Go, all of you, scum of Paris!" he cried in his clear treble tones-- +"you who know neither God nor devil! You will have your money--more +than your share--what else seek you? You have served one of the +noblest of men; and because he is so great and wise and true, you +judge him a fiend! Oh, so like the people of Paris--they who pervert +all things till they think good evil and evil good! Look you! you +have worked for your wages; but I have worked for HIM--I would +starve with him, I would die for him! For to me he is not fiend, but +Angel!" + +Overcome by his own feelings the boy again kissed his master's hand, +and Heliobas gently bade him be silent. He himself looked round on +the still motionless group of servants with an air of calm surprise. + +"What are you waiting for?" he asked. "Consider yourselves +dismissed, and at liberty to go where you please. Any one of you +that chooses to apply to me for a character shall not lack the +suitable recommendation. There is no more to say." + +A lively-looking woman with quick restless black eyes stepped +forward. + +"I am sure," she said, with a mincing curtsey, "that we are very +sorry if we have unintentionally wronged monsieur; but monsieur, who +is aware of so many things, must know that many reports are +circulated about monsieur that make one to shudder; that madame his +sister's death so lamentable has given to all, what one would say, +the horrors; and monsieur must consider that poor servants of +virtuous reputation--" + +"So, Jeanne Claudet!" interrupted Heliobas, in a thrilling low tone. +"And what of the child--the little waxen-faced helpless babe left to +die on the banks of the Loire? But it did not die, Jeanne--it was +rescued; and it shall yet live to loathe its mother!" + +The woman uttered a shriek, and fainted. + +In the feminine confusion and fuss that ensued, Heliobas, +accompanied by his little page and the dog Leo, left the hall and +entered his own private room, where for some time I left him +undisturbed. + +In the early part of the afternoon a note was brought to me. It was +from Colonel Everard, entreating me to come as soon as possible to +his wife, who was very ill. + +"Since she heard of the death of that beautiful young lady, a death +so fearfully sudden and unexpected," wrote the Colonel, "she has +been quite unlike herself--nervous, hysterical, and thoroughly +unstrung. It will be a real kindness to her if you will come as soon +as you can--she has such, a strong desire for your company." + +I showed this note at once to Heliobas. He read it, and said: + +"Of course you must go. Wait till our simple funeral ceremony is +over, and then--we part. Not for ever; I shall see you often again. +For now I have lost Zara, you are my only female disciple, and I +shall not willingly lose sight of you. You will correspond with me?" + +"Gladly and gratefully," I replied. + +"You shall not lose by it. I can initiate you into many secrets that +will be useful to you in your career. As for your friend Mrs. +Everard, you will find that your presence will cure her. You have +progressed greatly in electric force: the mere touch of your hand +will soothe her, as you will find. But never be tempted to try any +of the fluids of which you have the recipes on her, or on anybody +but yourself, unless you write to me first about it, as Cellini did +when he tried an experiment on you. As for your own bodily and +spiritual health, you know thoroughly what to do--KEEP THE SECRET; +and make a step in advance every day. By-and-by you will have double +work." + +"How so?" I asked. + +"In Zara's case, her soul became dominated by a Spirit whose destiny +was fulfilled and perfect, and who never could descend to +imprisonment in earthly clay. Now, you will not be dominated--you +will be simply EQUALIZED; that is, you will find the exact +counterpart of your own soul dwelling also in human form, and you +will have to impart your own force to that other soul, which will, +in its turn, impart to yours a corresponding electric impetus. There +is no union so lovely as such an one--no harmony so exquisite; it is +like a perfect chord, complete and indissoluble. There are sevenths +and ninths in music, beautiful and effective in their degrees; but +perhaps none of them are so absolutely satisfying to the ear as the +perfect chord. And this is your lot in life and in love, my child-- +be grateful for it night and morning on your bended knees before the +Giver of all good. And walk warily--your own soul with that other +shall need much thought and humble prayer. Aim onward and upward-- +you know the road--you also know, and you have partly seen, what +awaits you at the end." + +After this conversation we spoke no more in private together. The +rest of the afternoon was entirely occupied with the final +preparations for Zara's funeral, which was to take place at Pere-la- +Chaise early the next morning. A large and beautiful wreath of white +roses, lilies, and maiden-hair arrived from Prince Ivan; and, +remembering my promise to him, I went myself to lay it in a +conspicuous place on Zara's corpse. That fair body was now laid in +its coffin of polished oak, and a delicate veil of filmy lace draped +it from head to foot. The placid expression of the features remained +unchanged, save for a little extra rigidity of the flesh; the hands, +folded over the crucifix, were stiff, and looked as though they were +moulded in wax. I placed the wreath in position and paused, looking +wistfully at that still and solemn figure. Father Paul, slowly +entering from a side-door, came and stood beside me. + +"She is happy!" he said; and a cheerful expression irradiated his +venerable features. + +"Did you also know she would die that night?" I asked softly. + +"Her brother sent for me, and told me of her expected dissolution. +She herself told me, and made her last confession and communion. +Therefore I was prepared." + +"But did you not doubt--were you not inclined to think they might be +wrong?" I inquired, with some astonishment. + +"I knew Heliobas as a child," the priest returned. "I knew his +father and mother before him; and I have been always perfectly aware +of the immense extent of his knowledge, and the value of his +discoveries. If I were inclined to be sceptical on spiritual +matters, I should not be of the race I am; for I am also a +Chaldean." + +I said no more, and Father Paul trimmed the tapers burning round the +coffin in devout silence. Again I looked at the fair dead form +before me; but somehow I could not feel sad again. All my impulses +bade me rejoice. Why should I be unhappy on Zara's account?--more +especially when the glories of the Central Sphere were yet fresh in +my memory, and when I knew as a positive fact that her happiness was +now perfect. I left the chapel with a light step and lighter heart, +and went to my own room to pack up my things that all might be in +readiness for my departure on the morrow. On my table I found a +volume whose quaint binding I at once recognised--"The Letters of a +Dead Musician." A card lay beside it, on which was written in +pencil: + +"Knowing of your wish to possess this book, I herewith offer it for +your acceptance. It teaches you a cheerful devotion to Art, and an +indifference to the world's opinions--both of which are necessary to +you in your career.--HELIOBAS." + +Delighted with this gift, I opened the book, and found my name +written on the fly-leaf, with the date of the month and year, and +the words: + +"La musica e il lamento dell' amore o la preghiera a gli Dei." +(Music is the lament of love, or a prayer to the Gods.) + +I placed this treasure carefully in a corner of my portmanteau, +together with the parchment scrolls containing "The Electric +Principle of Christianity," and the valuables recipes of Heliobas; +and as I did so, I caught sight of myself in the long mirror that +directly faced me. I was fascinated, not by my own reflection, but +by the glitter of the electric gem I wore. It flashed and glowed +like a star, and was really lovely--far more brilliant than the most +brilliant cluster of fine diamonds. I may here remark that I have +been asked many questions concerning this curious ornament whenever +I have worn it in public, and the general impression has been that +it is some new arrangement of ornamental electricity. It is, +however, nothing of the kind; it is simply a clear pebble, common +enough on the shores of tropical countries, which has the property +of absorbing a small portion of the electricity in a human body, +sufficient to make it shine with prismatic and powerful lustre--a +property which has only as yet been discovered by Heliobas, who +asserts that the same capability exists in many other apparently +lustreless stones which have been untried, and are therefore +unknown. The "healing stones," or amulets, still in use in the East, +and also in the remote parts of the Highlands (see notes to +Archibald Clerk's translation of 'Ossian'), are also electric, but +in a different way--they have the property of absorbing DISEASE and +destroying it in certain cases; and these, after being worn a +suitable length of time, naturally exhaust what virtue they +originally possessed, and are no longer of any use. Stone amulets +are considered nowadays as a mere superstition of the vulgar and +uneducated; but it must be remembered that superstition itself has +always had for it a foundation some grain, however small and remote, +of fact. I could give a very curious explanation of the formation of +ORCHIDS, those strange plants called sometimes "Freaks of Nature," +as if Nature ever indulged in a "freak" of any kind! But I have +neither time nor space to enter upon the subject now; indeed, if I +were once to begin to describe the wonderful, amazing and beautiful +vistas of knowledge that the wise Chaldean, who is still my friend +and guide, has opened up and continues to extend before my admiring +vision, a work of twenty volumes would scarce contain all I should +have to say. But I have written this book merely to tell those who +peruse it, about Heliobas, and what I myself experienced in his +house; beyond this I may not go. For, as, I observed in my +introduction, I am perfectly aware that few, if any, of my readers +will accept my narrative as more than a mere visionary romance--or +that they will admit the mysteries of life, death, eternity, and all +the wonders of the Universe to be simply the NATURAL AND SCIENTIFIC +OUTCOME OF A RING OF EVERLASTING ELECTRIC HEAT AND LIGHT; but +whether they agree to it or no, I can say with Galileo, "E pur si +muove!" + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +CONCLUSION. + + +It was a very simple and quiet procession that moved next day from +the Hotel Mars to Pere-la-Chaise. Zara's coffin was carried in an +open hearse, and was covered with a pall of rich white velvet, on +which lay a royal profusion of flowers--Ivan's wreath, and a +magnificent cross of lilies sent by tender-hearted Mrs. Challoner, +being most conspicuous among them. The only thing a little unusual +about it was that the funeral car was drawn by two stately WHITE +horses; and Heliobas told me this had been ordered at Zara's special +request, as she thought the solemn pacing through the streets of +dismal black steeds had a depressing effect on the passers-by. + +"And why," she had said, "should anybody be sad, when _I_ in reality +am so thoroughly happy?" + +Prince Ivan Petroffsky had left Paris, but his carriage, drawn by +two prancing Russian steeds, followed the hearse at a respectful +distance, as also the carriage of Dr. Morini, and some other private +persons known to Heliobas. A few people attended it on foot, and +these were chiefly from among the very poor, some of whom had +benefited by Zara's charity or her brother's medical skill, and had +heard of the calamity through rumour, or through the columns of the +Figaro, where it was reported with graphic brevity. The weather was +still misty, and the fiery sun seemed to shine through tears as +Father Paul, with his assistants, read in solemn yet cheerful tones +the service for the dead according to the Catholic ritual. One of +the chief mourners at the grave was the faithful Leo; who, without +obtruding himself in anyone's way, sat at a little distance, and +seemed, by the confiding look with which he turned his eyes upon his +master, to thoroughly understand that he must henceforth devote his +life entirely to him alone. The coffin was lowered, the "Requiem +aeternam" spoken--all was over. Those assembled shook hands quietly +with Heliobas, saluted each other, and gradually dispersed. I +entered a carriage and drove back to the Hotel Mars, leaving +Heliobas in the cemetery to give his final instructions for the +ornamentation and decoration of his sister's grave. + +The little page served me with some luncheon in my own apartment, +and by the time all was ready for my departure, Heliobas returned. I +went down to him in his study, and found him sitting pensively in +his arm-chair, absorbed in thought. He looked sad and solitary, and +my whole heart went out to him in gratitude and sympathy. I knelt +beside him as a daughter might have done, and softly kissed his +hand. + +He started as though awakened suddenly from sleep, and seeing me, +his eyes softened, and he smiled gravely. + +"Are you come to say 'Good-bye,' my child?" he asked, in a kind +tone. "Well, your mission here is ended!" + +"Had I any mission at all," I replied, with a grateful look, "save +the very selfish one which was comprised in the natural desire to be +restored to health?" + +Heliobas surveyed me for a few moments in silence. + +"Were I to tell you," he said at last, "by what mystical authority +and influence you were compelled to come here, by what a +marvellously linked chain of circumstances you became known to me +long before I saw you; how I was made aware that you were the only +woman living to whose companionship I could trust my sister at a +time when the society of one of her own sex became absolutely +necessary to her; how you were marked out to me as a small point of +light by which possibly I might steer my course clear of the +darkness which threatened me--I say, were I to tell you all this, +you would no longer doubt the urgent need of your presence here. It +is, however, enough to tell you that you have fulfilled all that was +expected of you, even beyond my best hopes; and in return for your +services, the worth of which you cannot realize, whatever guidance I +can give you in the future for your physical and spiritual life, is +yours. I have done something for you, but not much--I will do more. +Only, in communicating with me, I ask you to honour me with your +full confidence in all matters pertaining to yourself and your +surroundings--then I shall not be liable to errors of judgment in +the opinions I form or the advice I give." + +"I promise most readily," I replied gladly, for it seemed to me that +I was rich in possessing as a friend and counsellor such a man as +this student of the loftiest sciences. + +"And now one thing more," he resumed, opening a drawer in the table +near which he sat. "Here is a pencil for you to write your letters +to me with. It will last about ten years, and at the expiration of +that time you can have another. Write with it on any paper, and the +marks will be like those of an ordinary drawing-pencil; but as fast +as they are written they disappear. Trouble not about this +circumstance--write all you have to say, and when you have finished +your letter your closely covered pages shall seem blank. Therefore, +were the eye of a stranger to look at them, nothing could be learned +therefrom. But when they reach me, I can make the writing appear and +stand out on these apparently unsullied pages as distinctly as +though your words had been printed. My letters to you will also, +when you receive them, appear blank; but you will only have to press +them for about ten minutes in this"--and he handed me what looked +like an ordinary blotting-book--"and they will be perfectly legible. +Cellini has these little writing implements; he uses them whenever +the distances are too great for us to amuse ourselves with the +sagacity of Leo--in fact the journeys of that faithful animal have +principally been to keep him in training." + +"But," I said, as I took the pencil and book from his hand, "why do +you not make these convenient writing materials public property? +They would be so useful." + +"Why should I build up a fortune for some needy stationer?" he +asked, with a half-smile. "Besides, they are not new things. They +were known to the ancients, and many secret letters, laws, +histories, and poems were written with instruments such as these. In +an old library, destroyed more than two centuries ago, there was a +goodly pile of apparently blank parchment. Had I lived then and +known what I know now, I could have made the white pages declare +their mystery." + +"Has this also to do with electricity?" I asked. + +"Certainly--with what is called vegetable electricity. There is not +a plant or herb in existence, but has almost a miracle hidden away +in its tiny cup or spreading leaves--do you doubt it?" + +"Not I!" I answered quickly. "I doubt nothing!" + +Heliobas smiled gravely. + +"You are right!" he said. "Doubt is the destroyer of beauty--the +poison in the sweet cup of existence--the curse which mankind have +brought on themselves. Avoid it as you would the plague. Believe in +anything or everything miraculous and glorious--the utmost reach of +your faith can with difficulty grasp the majestic reality and +perfection of everything you can see, desire, or imagine. Mistrust +that volatile thing called Human Reason, which is merely a name for +whatever opinion we happen to adopt for the time--it is a thing +which totters on its throne in a fit of rage or despair--there is +nothing infinite about it. Guide yourself by the delicate Spiritual +Instinct within you, which tells you that with God all things are +possible, save that He cannot destroy Himself or lessen by one spark +the fiery brilliancy of his ever-widening circle of productive +Intelligence. But make no attempt to convert the world to your way +of thinking--it would be mere waste of time." + +"May I never try to instruct anyone in these things?" I asked. + +"You can try, if you choose; but you will find most human beings +like the herd of swine in the Gospel, possessed by devils that drive +them headlong into the sea. You know, for instance, that angels and +aerial spirits actually exist; but were you to assert your belief in +them, philosophers (so-called) would scout your theories as absurd, +--though their idea of a LONELY God, who yet is Love, is the very +acme of absurdity. For Love MUST have somewhat to love, and MUST +create the beauty and happiness round itself and the things beloved. +But why point out these simple things to those who have no desire to +see? Be content, child, that YOU have been deemed worthy of +instruction--it is a higher fate for you than if you had been made a +Queen." + +The little page now entered, and told me that the carriage was at +the door in waiting. As he disappeared again after delivering this +message, Heliobas rose from his chair, and taking my two hands in +his, pressed them kindly. + +"One word more, little friend, on the subject of your career. I +think the time will come when you will feel that music is almost too +sacred a thing to be given away for money to a careless and +promiscuous public. However this may be, remember that scarce one of +the self-styled artists who cater for the crowd deserves to be +called MUSICIAN in the highest sense of the word. Most of them seek +not music, but money and applause; and therefore the art they +profess is degraded by them into a mere trade. But you, when you +play in public, must forget that PERSONS with little vanities and +lesser opinions exist. Think of what you saw in your journey with +Azul; and by a strong effort of your will, you can, if you choose, +COMPEL certain harmonies to sound in your ears--fragments of what is +common breathing air to the Children of the Ring, some of whom you +saw--and you will be able to reproduce them in part, if not in +entirety. But if you once admit a thought of Self to enter your +brain, those aerial sounds will be silenced instantly. By this +means, too, you can judge who are the true disciples of music in +this world--those who, like Schubert and Chopin, suffered the +heaven-born melodies to descend THROUGH them as though they were +mere conductors of sound; or those who, feebly imitating other +composers, measure out crotchets and quavers by rule and line, and +flood the world with inane and perishable, and therefore useless, +productions. And now,--farewell." + +"Do you remain in Paris?" I asked. + +"For a few days only. I shall go to Egypt, and in travelling +accustom myself to the solitude in which I must dwell, now Zara has +left me." + +"You have Azul," I ventured to remark. + +"Ah! but how often do I see her? Only when my soul for an instant is +clear from all earthly and gross obstruction; and how seldom I can +attain to this result while weighted with my body! But she is near +me--that I know--faithful as the star to the mariner's compass!" + +He raised his head as he spoke, and his eyes flashed. Never had I +seen him look more noble or kingly. The inspired radiance of his +face softened down into his usual expression of gentleness and +courtesy, and he said, offering me his arm: + +"Let me see you to the carriage. You know, it is not an actual +parting with us--I intend that we shall meet frequently. For +instance, the next time we exchange pleasant greetings will be in +Italy." + +I suppose I looked surprised; I certainly felt so, for nothing was +further from my thoughts than a visit to Italy. + +Heliobas smiled, and said in a tone that was almost gay: + +"Shall I draw the picture for you? I see a fair city, deep embowered +in hills and sheltered by olive-groves. Over it beams a broad sky, +deeply blue; many soft bells caress the summer air. Away in the +Cascine Woods a gay party of people are seated on the velvety moss; +they have mandolins, and they sing for pure gaiety of heart. One of +them, a woman with fair hair, arrayed in white, with a red rose at +her bosom, is gathering the wild flowers that bloom around her, and +weaving them into posies for her companions. A stranger, pacing +slowly, book in hand, through the shady avenue, sees her--her eyes +meet his. She springs up to greet him; he takes her hand. The woman +is yourself; the stranger no other than your poor friend, who now, +for a brief space, takes leave of you!" + +So rapidly had he drawn up this picture, that the impression made on +me was as though a sudden vision had been shown to me in a magic +glass. I looked at him earnestly. + +"Then our next meeting will be happy?" I said inquiringly. + +"Of course. Why not? And the next--and the next after that also!" he +answered. + +At this reply, so frankly given, I was relieved, and accompanied him +readily through the hall towards the street-door. Leo met us here, +and intimated, as plainly as a human being could have done, his wish +to bid me good-bye. I stooped and kissed his broad head and patted +him affectionately, and was rewarded for these attentions by seeing +his plume-like tail wave slowly to and fro--a sign of pleasure the +poor animal had not betrayed since Zara's departure from the scene +of her earthly imprisonment. + +At the door the pretty Greek boy handed me a huge basket of the +loveliest flowers. + +"The last from the conservatory," said Heliobas. "I shall need no +more of these luxuries." + +As I entered the carriage he placed the flowers beside me, and again +took my hand. + +"Good-bye, my child!" he said, in earnest and kindly tones. "I have +your address, and will write you all my movements. In any trouble, +small or great, of your own, send to me for advice without +hesitation. I can tell you already that I foresee the time when you +will resign altogether the precarious and unsatisfactory life of a +mere professional musician. You think no other career would be +possible to you? Well, you will see! A few months will decide all. +Good-bye again; God bless you!" + +The carriage moved off, and Heliobas stood on the steps of his +mansion watching it out of sight. To the last I saw his stately +figure erect in the light of the winter sunshine--a figure destined +from henceforth to occupy a prominent position in my life and +memory. The regret I felt at parting from him was greatly mitigated +by the assurance he gave me of our future meeting, a promise which +has since been fulfilled, and is likely soon to be fulfilled again. +That I have such a friend is an advantageous circumstance for me, +for through his guidance I am able to judge accurately of many +things occurring in the course of the daily life around me--things +which, seemingly trivial, are the hints of serious results to come, +which, I am thus permitted in part to foresee. There is a drawback, +of course, and the one bitter drop in the cup of knowledge is, that +the more I progress under the tuition of Heliobas, the less am I +deceived by graceful appearances. I perceive with almost cruel +suddenness the true characters of all those whom I meet. No smile of +lip or eye can delude me into accepting mere surface-matter for real +depth, and it is intensely painful for me to be forced to behold +hypocrisy in the expression of the apparently devout--sensuality in +the face of some radiantly beautiful and popular woman--vice under +the mask of virtue--self-interest in the guise of friendship, and +spite and malice springing up like a poisonous undergrowth beneath +the words of elegant flattery or dainty compliment. I often wish I +could throw a rose-coloured mist of illusion over all these things +and still more earnestly do I wish I could in a single instance find +myself mistaken. But alas! the fatal finger of the electric instinct +within me points out unerringly the flaw in every human diamond, and +writes "SHAM" across many a cunningly contrived imitation of +intelligence and goodness. Still, the grief I feel at this is +counterbalanced in part by the joy with which I quickly recognize +real virtue, real nobility, real love; and when these attributes +flash out upon me from the faces of human beings, my own soul warms, +and I know I have seen a vision as of angels. The capability of +Heliobas to foretell future events proved itself in his knowledge of +the fate of the famous English hero, Gordon, long before that brave +soldier met his doom. At the time the English Government sent him +out on his last fatal mission, a letter from Heliobas to me +contained the following passage: + +"I see Gordon has chosen his destiny and the manner of his death. +Two ways of dying have been offered him--one that is slow, painful, +and inglorious; the other sudden, and therefore sweeter to a man of +his temperament. He himself is perfectly aware of the approaching +end of his career; he will receive his release at Khartoum. England +will lament over him for a little while, and then he will be +declared an inspired madman, who rushed recklessly on his own doom; +while those who allowed him to be slain will be voted the wisest, +the most just and virtuous in the realm." + +This prophecy was carried out to the letter, as I fully believe +certain things of which I am now informed will also be fulfilled. +But though there are persons who pin their faith on "Zadkiel," I +doubt if there are any who will believe in such a thing as ELECTRIC +DIVINATION. The one is mere vulgar imposture, the other is performed +on a purely scientific basis in accordance with certain existing +rules and principles; yet I think there can be no question as to +which of the two the public en masse is likely to prefer. On the +whole, people do not mind being deceived; they hate being +instructed, and the trouble of thinking for themselves is almost too +much for them. Therefore "Zadkiel" is certain to flourish for many +and many a long day, while the lightning instinct of prophecy +dormant in every human being remains unused and utterly forgotten +except by the rare few. + +***** + +I have little more to say. I feel that those among my readers who +idly turn over these pages, expecting to find a "NOVEL" in the true +acceptation of the term, may be disappointed. My narrative is simply +an "experience:" but I have no wish to persuade others of the +central truth contained in it--namely, THE EXISTENCE OF POWERFUL +ELECTRIC ORGANS IN EVERY HUMAN BEING, WHICH WITH PROPER CULTIVATION +ARE CAPABLE OF MARVELLOUS SPIRITUAL FORCE. The time is not yet ripe +for this fact to be accepted. + +The persons connected with this story may be dismissed in a few +words. When I joined my friend Mrs. Everard, she was suffering from +nervous hysteria. My presence had the soothing effect Heliobas had +assured me of, and in a very few days we started from Paris in +company for England. She, with her amiable and accomplished husband, +went back to the States a few months since to claim an immense +fortune, which they are now enjoying as most Americans enjoy wealth. +Amy has diamonds to her heart's content, and toilettes galore from +Worth's; but she has no children, and from the tone of her letters +to me, I fancy she would part with one at least of her valuable +necklaces to have a small pair of chubby arms round her neck, and a +soft little head nestling against her bosom. + +Raffaello Cellini still lives and works; his paintings are among the +marvels of modern Italy for their richness and warmth of colour-- +colour which, in spite of his envious detractors, is destined to +last through ages. He is not very rich, for he is one of those who +give away their substance to the poor and the distressed; but where +he is known he is universally beloved. None of his pictures have yet +been exhibited in England, and he is in no hurry to call upon the +London critics for their judgment. He has been asked several times +to sell his large picture, "Lords of our Life and Death," but he +will not. I have never met him since our intercourse at Cannes, but +I hear of him frequently through Heliobas, who has recently +forwarded me a proof engraving of the picture "L'Improvisatrice," +for which I sat as model. It is a beautiful work of art, but that it +is like ME I am not vain enough to admit. I keep it, not as a +portrait of myself, but as a souvenir of the man through whose +introduction I gained the best friend I have. + +News of Prince Ivan Petroffsky reaches me frequently. He is +possessor of the immense wealth foretold by Heliobas; the eyes of +Society greedily follows his movements; his name figures +conspicuously in the "Fashionable Intelligence;" and the +magnificence of his recent marriage festivities was for some time +the talk of the Continent. He has married the only daughter of a +French Duke--a lovely creature, as soulless and heartless as a +dressmaker's stuffed model; but she carries his jewels well on her +white bosom, and receives his guests with as much dignity as a +well-trained major-domo. These qualities suffice to satisfy her +husband at present; how long his satisfaction will last is another +matter. He has not quite forgotten Zara; for on every recurring Jour +des Morts, or Feast of the Dead, he sends a garland or cross of +flowers to the simple grave in Pere-la-Chaise. Heliobas watches his +career with untiring vigilance; nor can I myself avoid taking a +certain interest in the progress of his fate. At the moment I write +he is one of the most envied and popular noblemen in all the Royal +Courts of Europe; and no one thinks of asking him whether he is +happy. He MUST be happy, says the world; he has everything that is +needed to make him so. Everything? yes--all except one thing, for +which he will long when the shadow of the end draws near. + +And now what else remains? A brief farewell to those who have +perused this narrative, or a lingering parting word? + +In these days of haste and scramble, when there is no time for +faith, is there time for sentiment? I think not. And therefore there +shall be none between my readers and me, save this--a friendly +warning. Belief--belief in God--belief in all things noble, +unworldly, lofty, and beautiful, is rapidly being crushed underfoot +by--what? By mere lust of gain! Be sure, good people, be very sure +that you are RIGHT in denying God for the sake of man--in abjuring +the spiritual for the material--before you rush recklessly onward. +The end for all of you can be but death; and are you quite positive +after all that there is NO Hereafter? Is it sense to imagine that +the immense machinery of the Universe has been set in motion for +nothing? Is it even common reason to consider that the Soul of man, +with all its high musings, its dreams of unseen glory, its longings +after the Infinite, is a mere useless vapour, or a set of shifting +molecules in a perishable brain? The mere fact of the EXISTENCE OF A +DESIRE clearly indicates an EQUALLY EXISTING CAPACITY for the +GRATIFICATION of that desire; therefore, I ask, would the WISH for a +future state of being, which is secretly felt by every one of us, +have been permitted to find a place in our natures, IF THERE WERE NO +POSSIBLE MEANS OF GRANTING IT? Why all this discontent with the +present--why all this universal complaint and despair and world- +weariness, if there be NO HEREAFTER? For my own part, I have told +you frankly WHAT I HAVE SEEN and WHAT I KNOW; but I do not ask you +to believe me. I only say, IF--IF you admit to yourselves the +possibility of a future and eternal state of existence, would it not +be well for you to inquire seriously how you are preparing for it in +these wild days? Look at society around you, and ask yourselves: +Whither is our "PROGRESS" tending--Forward or Backward--Upward or +Downward? Which way? Fight the problem out. Do not glance at it +casually, or put it away as an unpleasant thought, or a +consideration involving too much trouble--struggle with it bravely +till you resolve it, and whatever the answer may be, ABIDE BY IT. If +it leads you to deny God and the immortal destinies of your own +souls, and you find hereafter, when it is too late, that both God +and immortality exist, you have only yourselves to blame. We are the +arbiters of our own fate, and that fact is the most important one of +our lives. Our WILL is positively unfettered; it is a rudder put +freely into our hands, and with it we can steer WHEREVER WE CHOOSE. +God will not COMPEL our love or obedience. We must ourselves DESIRE +to love and obey--DESIRE IT ABOVE ALL THINGS IN THE WORLD. + +As for the Electric Origin of the Universe, a time is coming when +scientific men will acknowledge it to be the only theory of Creation +worthy of acceptance. All the wonders of Nature are the result of +LIGHT AND HEAT ALONE--i.e., are the work of the Electric Ring I have +endeavoured to describe, which MUST go on producing, absorbing and +reproducing worlds, suns and systems for ever and ever. The Ring, in +its turn, is merely the outcome of God's own personality--the +atmosphere surrounding the World in which He has His existence--a +World created by Love and for Love alone. I cannot force this theory +on public attention, which is at present claimed by various learned +professors, who give ingenious explanations of "atoms" and +"molecules;" yet, even regarding these same "atoms," the mild +question may be put: Where did the FIRST "atom" come from? Some may +answer: "We call the first atom GOD." Surely it is as well to call +Him a Spirit of pure Light as an atom? However, the fact of one +person's being convinced of a truth will not, I am aware, go very +far to convince others. I have related my "experience" exactly as it +happened at the time, and my readers can accept or deny the theories +of Heliobas as they please. Neither denial, acceptance, criticism, +nor incredulity can affect ME personally, inasmuch as I am not +Heliobas, but simply the narrator of an episode connected with him; +and as such, my task is finished. + +APPENDIX. + +[In publishing these selections from letters received concerning the +"Romance," I am in honour bound not to disclose the names of my +correspondents, and this necessary reticence will no doubt induce +the incredulous to declare that they are not genuine epistles, but +mere inventions of my own. I am quite prepared for such a possible +aspersion, and in reply, I can but say that I hold the originals in +my possession, and that some of them have been read by my friend Mr. +George Bentley, under whose auspices this book has been successfully +launched on the sea of public favour. I may add that my +correspondents are all strangers to me personally--not one of them +have I ever met. A few have indeed asked me to accord them +interviews, but this request I invariably deny, not wishing to set +myself forward in any way as an exponent of high doctrine in which I +am as yet but a beginner and student.--AUTHOR.] + +LETTER I. + +"DEAR MADAM, + +"You must receive so many letters that I feel it is almost a shame +to add to the number, but I cannot resist writing to tell you how +very much your book, 'The Romance of Two Worlds,' has helped me. My +dear friend Miss F----, who has written to you lately I believe, +first read it to me, and I cannot tell you what a want in my life it +seemed to fill up. I have been always interested in the so-called +Supernatural, feeling very conscious of depths in my own self and in +others that are usually ignored. ... I have been reading as many +books as I could obtain upon Theosophy, but though thankful for the +high thoughts I found in them, I still felt a great want--that of +combining this occult knowledge with my own firm belief in the +Christian religion. Your book seemed to give me just what I wanted-- +IT HAS DEEPENED AND STRENGTHENED MY BELIEF IN AND LOVE TO GOD AND +HAS MADE THE NEW TESTAMENT A NEW BOOK TO ME. Things which I could +not understand before seem clear in the light which your 'Vision' +has thrown upon them, and I cannot remain satisfied without +expressing to you my sincere gratitude. May your book be read by all +who are ready to receive the high truths that it contains! With +thanks, I remain, dear Madam, + +"Yours sincerely, M. S." + + + +LETTER II. + +"MADAM, + +"I am afraid you will think it very presumptuous of a stranger to +address you, but I have lately read your book, 'A Romance of Two +Worlds,' and have been much struck with it. It has opened my mind to +such new impressions, and seems to be so much what I have been +groping for so long, that I thought if you would be kind enough to +answer this, I might get a firmer hold on those higher things and be +at anchor at last. If you have patience to read so far, you will +imagine I must be very much in earnest to intrude myself on you like +this, but from the tone of your book I do not believe you would +withdraw your hand where you could do good. ... I never thought of +or read of the electric force (or spirit) in every human being +before, but I do believe in it after reading your book, and YOU HAVE +MADE THE NEXT WORLD A LIVING THING TO ME, and raised my feelings +above the disappointments and trials of this life. ... Your book was +put into my hands at a time when I was deeply distressed and in +trouble about my future; but you have shown me how small a thing +this future of OUR life is. ... Would it be asking too much of you +to name any books you think might help me in this new vein of +thought you have given me? Apologizing for having written, believe +me yours sincerely, + +"B. W. L." + +[I answered to the best of my ability the writer of the above, and +later on received another letter as follows:] + +"Forgive my writing to you again on the subject of your 'Romance,' +but I read it so often and think of it so much. I cannot say the +wonderful change your book has wrought in my life, and though very +likely you are constantly hearing of the good it has done, yet it +cannot but be the sweetest thing you can hear--that the seed you +have planted is bringing forth so much fruit. ... The Bible is a new +book to me since your work came into my hands." + + + +LETTER III. + +[The following terribly pathetic avowal is from a clergyman of the +Church of England: ] + +"MADAM, + +"Your book, the 'Romance of Two Worlds,' has stopped me on the brink +of what is doubtless a crime, and yet I had come to think it the +only way out of impending madness. I speak of self-destruction-- +suicide. And while writing the word, I beg of you to accept my +gratitude for the timely rescue of my soul. Once I believed in the +goodness of God--but of late years the cry of modern scientific +atheism, 'There is NO God,' has rung in my ears till my brain has +reeled at the desolation and nothingness of the Universe. No good, +no hope, no satisfaction in anything--this world only with all its +mockery and failure--and afterwards annihilation! Could a God design +and create so poor and cruel a jest? So I thought--and the misery of +the thought was more than I could bear. I had resolved to make an +end. No one knew, no one guessed my intent, till one Sunday +afternoon a friend lent me your book. I began to read, and never +left it till I had finished the last page--then I knew I was saved. +Life smiled again upon me in consoling colours, and I write to tell +you that whatever other good your work may do and is no doubt doing, +you have saved both the life and reason of one grateful human being. +If you will write to me a few lines I shall be still more grateful, +for I feel you can help me. I seem to have read Christ's mission +wrong--but with patience and prayer it is possible to redeem my +error. Once more thanking you, I am, + +"Yours with more thankfulness than I can write, + +"L. E. F." + +[I lost no time in replying to this letter, and since then have +frequently corresponded with the writer, from whose troubled mind +the dark cloud has now entirely departed. And I may here venture to +remark that the evils of "modern scientific atheism" are far more +widely spread and deeply rooted than the majority of persons are +aware of, and that many of the apparently inexplicable cases of +self-slaughter on which the formal verdict, "Suicide during a state +of temporary insanity," is passed, have been caused by long and +hopeless brooding on the "nothingness of the Universe"--which, if it +were a true theory, would indeed make of Creation a bitter, nay, +even a senseless jest. The cruel preachers of such a creed have much +to answer for. The murderer who destroys human life for wicked +passion and wantonness is less criminal than the proudly learned, +yet egotistical, and therefore densely ignorant scientist, who, +seeking to crush the soul by his feeble, narrow-minded arguments, +and deny its imperishable nature, dares to spread his poisonous and +corroding doctrines of despair through the world, draining existence +of all its brightness, and striving to erect barriers of distrust +between the creature and the Creator. No sin can be greater than +this; for it is impossible to estimate the measure of evil that may +thus be brought into otherwise innocent and happy lives. The +attitude of devotion and faith is natural to Humanity, while nothing +can be more UNnatural and disastrous to civilization, morality and +law, than deliberate and determined Atheism.--AUTHOR.] + + + +LETTER IV. + +"DEAR MADAM, + +"I dare say you have had many letters, but I must add mine to the +number to thank you for your book, the 'Romance of Two Worlds.' I am +deeply interested in the wonderful force we possess, all in a +greater or lesser degree--call it influence, electricity, or what +you will. I have thought much on Theosophy and Psychical Research-- +but what struck me in your book was the glorious selflessness +inculcated and the perfect Majesty of the Divinity clear throughout +--no sweeping away of the Crucified One. I felt a better woman for +the reading of it twice: and I know others, too, who are higher and +better women for such noble thoughts and teaching. ... People for +the most part dream away their lives; one meets so few who really +believe in electrical affinity, and I have felt it so often and for +so long. Forgive my troubling you with this letter, but I am +grateful for your labour of love towards raising men and women. + +"Sincerely yours, + +"R. H." + + + +LETTER V. + +"I should like to know if Marie Corelli honestly believes the theory +which she enunciates in her book, 'The Romance of Two Worlds:' and +also if she has any proof on which to found that same theory?--if +so, the authoress will greatly oblige an earnest seeker after Truth +if she will give the information sought to + +"A. S." + +[I sent a brief affirmative answer to the above note; the "proof" of +the theories set forth in the "Romance" is, as I have already +stated, easily to be found in the New Testament. But there are those +who do not and will not believe the New Testament, and for them +there are no "proofs" of any existing spirituality in earth or +heaven. "Having eyes they see not, and hearing they do not +understand."--AUTHOR.] + + + +LETTER VI. + +"DEAR MADAM, + +"I have lately been reading with intense pleasure your 'Romance of +Two Worlds,' and I must crave your forbearance towards me when I +tell you that it has filled me with envy and wonder. I feel sure +that many people must have plied you with questions on the subject +already, but I am certain that you are too earnest and too +sympathetic to feel bored by what is in no sense idle curiosity, but +rather a deep and genuine longing to know the truth. ... To some +minds it would prove such a comfort and such, a relief to have their +vague longings and beliefs confirmed and made tangible, and, as you +know, at the present day so-called Religion, which is often a mere +mixture of dogma and superstition, is scarcely sufficient to do +this. ... I might say a great deal more and weary your patience, +which has already been tried, I fear. But may I venture to hope that +you have some words of comfort and assurance out of your own +experience to give me? With your expressed belief in the good +influence which each may exert over the other, not to speak of a +higher and holier incentive in the example of One (in whom you also +believe) who bids us for His sake to 'Bear one another's burdens,' +you cannot, I think, turn away in impatience from the seeking of a +very earnest soul. + +"Yours sincerely, + +"B. D." + +[I have received about fifty letters written in precisely the same +tone as the above--all more or less complaining of the insufficiency +of "so-called Religion, which is often a mere mixture of dogma and +superstition"--and I ask--What are the preachers of Christ's clear +message about that there should be such plaintively eager anxious +souls as these, who are evidently ready and willing to live noble +lives if helped and encouraged ever so little? Shame on those men +who presume to take up the high vocation of the priesthood for the +sake of self-love, self-interest, worldly advancement, money or +position! These things are not among Christ's teachings. If there +are members of the clergy who can neither plant faith, nor +consolation, nor proper comprehension of God's infinite Beauty and +Goodness in the hearts of their hearers, I say that their +continuance in such sacred office is an offence to the Master whom +they profess to serve. "It must needs be that offences come, but woe +to that man by whom the offence cometh!" To such may be addressed +the words, "Hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against +men; ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are +entering to go in."--AUTHOR.] + + + +LETTER VII. + +"MADAM, + +"I hope you will not think it great presumption my writing to you. +My excuse must be that I so much want to believe in he great Spirit +that 'makes for righteousness,' and I cannot! Your book puts it all +so clearly that if I can only know it to be a true experience of +your own, it will go a long way in dispersing the fog that modern +writings surround one with. ... + +"Apologizing for troubling you, I am faithfully yours, + +"C.M.E." + + + +LETTER VIII. + +"MADAM, + +"I trust you will pardon the liberty I take in writing to you. My +excuse must be the very deep interest your book, 'A Romance of Two +Worlds,' has excited in me. I, of course, understand that the STORY +itself is a romance, but in reading it carefully it seems to me that +it is a book written with a purpose. ... The Electric Creed +respecting Religion seems to explain so much in Scripture which has +always seemed to me impossible to accept blindly without explanation +of any kind; and the theory that Christ came to die and to suffer +for us as an Example and a means of communication with God, and not +as a SACRIFICE, clears up a point which has always been to me +personally a stumbling-block. I cannot say how grateful I shall be +if you can tell me any means of studying this subject further; and +trusting you will excuse me for troubling you, I am, Madam, + +"Yours truly, + +"H. B." + +[Once more I may repeat that the idea of a sacrifice to appease +God's anger is purely JEWISH, and has nothing whatever to do with +Christianity according to Christ. He Himself says, "I am the WAY, +the Truth, and the Life; no man cometh to the Father but BY ME" +Surely these words are plain enough, and point unmistakably to a +MEANS OF COMMUNICATION through Christ between the Creator and this +world. Nowhere does the Divine Master say that God is so furiously +angry that he must have the bleeding body of his own messenger, +Christ, hung up before Him as a human sacrifice, as though He could +only be pacified by the scent of blood! Horrible and profane idea! +and one utterly at variance with the tenderness and goodness of "Our +Father" as pictured by Christ in these gentle words--"Fear not, +little flock; it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the +Kingdom." Whereas that Christ should come to draw us closer to God +by the strong force of His own Divinity, and by His Resurrection +prove to us the reality of the next life, is not at all a strange or +ungodlike mission, and ought to make us understand more surely than +ever how infinitely pitying and forbearing is the All-Loving One, +that He should, as it were, with such extreme affection show us a +way by which to travel through darkness unto light. To those who +cannot see this perfection of goodness depicted in Christ's own +words, I would say in the terse Oriental maxim: + + "Diving, and finding no pearls in the sea, + Blame not the ocean, the fault is in THEE." + AUTHOR.] + + + +LETTER IX. + +"DEAR MADAM, + +"I have lately been reading your remarkable book, 'A Romance of Two +Worlds,' and I feel that I must write to you about it. I have never +viewed Christianity in the broadly transfigured light you throw upon +it, and I have since been studying carefully the four Gospels and +comparing them with the theories in your book. The result has been a +complete and happy change in my ideas of religion, and I feel now as +if I had, like a leper of old, touched the robe of Christ and been +healed of a long-standing infirmity. Will you permit me to ask if +you have evolved this new and beneficent lustre from the Gospel +yourself? or whether some experienced student in mystic matters has +been your instructor? I hear from persons who have seen you that you +are quite young, and I cannot understand how one of your sex and age +seems able so easily to throw light on what to many has been, and is +still, impenetrable darkness. I have been a preacher for some years, +and I thought the Testament was old and familiar to me; but you have +made it a new and marvellous book full of most precious meanings, +and I hope I may be able to impart to those whom it is my duty to +instruct, something of the great consolation and hope your writing +has filled me with. + +"Believe me, + +"Gratefully yours, + +"T.M." + + + +LETTER X. + +"MADAM, + +"Will you tell me what ground you have for the foundation of the +religious theory contained in your book, 'A Romance of Two Worlds'? +Is it a part of your own belief? I am MOST anxious to know this, and +I am sure you will be kind enough to answer me. Till I read your +book I thought myself an Agnostic, but now I am not quite sure of +this. I do not believe in the Deity as depicted by the Churches. I +CANNOT. Over and over again I have asked myself--If there is a God, +why should He be angry? It would surely be easy for Him to destroy +this world entirely as one would blow away an offending speck of +dust, and it would be much better and BRAVER for Him to do this than +to torture His creation. For I call life a torture and certainly a +useless and cruel torture if it is to end in annihilation. I know I +seem to be blasphemous in these remarks, yet if you only knew what I +suffer sometimes! I desire, I LONG to believe. YOU seem so certain +of your Creed--a Creed so noble, reasonable and humane--the God you +depict so worthy of the adoration of a Universe. I BEG of you to +tell me--DO you feel sure of this beneficent all-pervading Love +concerning which you write so eloquently? I do not wish to seem an +intruder on your most secret thought. I want to believe that YOU +believe--and if I felt this, the tenor of my whole life might +change. Help me if you can--I stand in real need of help. You may +judge I am very deeply in earnest, or I should not have written to +you. + +"Yours faithfully, + +"A. W. L." + +***** + +Of such letters as these I have received enough to make a volume of +themselves; but I think the ten I have selected are sufficient to +show how ardent and inextinguishable is the desire or STRAINING +UPWARD, like a flower to the light, of the human Soul for those +divine things which nourish it. Scarcely a day passes without my +receiving more of these earnest and often pathetic appeals for a +little help, a little comfort, a little guidance, enough to make +one's heart ache at the thought of so much doubt and desolation +looming cloud-like over the troubled minds of many who would +otherwise lead not only happy but noble and useful lives. When will +the preachers learn to preach Christ simply--Christ without human +dogmas or differences? When shall we be able to enter a building set +apart for sacred worship--a building of finest architectural beauty, +"glorious without and within," like the "King's Daughter" of David's +psalm--glorious with, light, music, flowers, and art of the noblest +kind (for Art is God's own inspiration to men, and through it He +should be served), there to hear the pure, unselfish doctrine of +Christ as He Himself preached it? For such a temple, the time has +surely come--a nook sacred to God, and untainted by the breath of +Mammon, where we could adore our Creator "in spirit and in truth." +The evils of nineteeth-century cynicism and general flippancy of +thought--great evils as they are and sure prognostications of worse +evils to come--cannot altogether crush out the Divine flame burning +in the "few" that are "chosen," though these few are counted as +fools and dreamers. Yet they shall be proved wise and watchful ere +long. The signs of the times are those that indicate an approaching +great upheaval and change in human destinies. This planet we call +ours is in some respects like ourselves: it was born; it has had its +infancy, its youth, its full prime; and now its age has set in, and +with age the first beginnings of decay. Absorbed once more into the +Creative Circle IT MUST BE; and when again thrown forth among its +companion-stars, our race will no more inhabit it. We shall have had +our day--our little chance--we shall have lost or won. Christ said, +"This generation shall not pass away till all My words be +fulfilled," the word "generation" thus used meaning simply the human +race. We put a very narrow limit to the significance of the +Saviour's utterance when we imagine that the generation He alluded +to implied merely the people living in His own day. In the depths of +His Divine wisdom He was acquainted with all the secrets of the Past +and Future; He had no doubt seen this very world peopled by widely +different beings to ourselves, and knew that what we call the human +race is only a passing tribe permitted for a time to sojourn here. +What a strangely presumptuous idea is that which pervades the minds +of the majority of persons--namely, that Mankind, as we know it, +must be the highest form of creation, simply because it is the +highest form WE can see! How absurd it is to be so controlled by our +limited vision, when we cannot even perceive the minute wonders that +a butterfly beholds, or pierce the sunlit air with anything like the +facility possessed by the undazzled eyes of an upward-soaring bird! +Nay, we cannot examine the wing of a common house-fly without the +aid of a microscope--to observe the facial expression of our own +actors on the stage we look through opera-glasses--to form any idea +of the wonders of the stars we construct telescopes to assist our +feeble and easily deluded sight; and yet--yet we continue to parcel +out the infinite gradations of creative Force and Beauty entirely to +suit our own private opinions, and conclude that WE are the final +triumph of the Divine Artist's Supreme Intelligence! Alas! in very +truth we are a sorry spectacle both to our soberly thinking selves +and the Higher Powers, invited, as it were, to spend our life's +brief day in one of God's gardens as His friends and guests, who +certainly are not expected to abuse their Host's hospitality, and, +ignoring Him, call themselves the owners and masters of the ground! +For we are but wanderers beneath the sun; a "generation" which must +most surely and rapidly "pass away" to make room for another; and as +the work of the Universe is always progressive, that other will be +of nobler capacity and larger accomplishment. So while we are here, +let us think earnestly of the few brief chances remaining to us-- +they grow fewer every hour. On one side is the endless, glorious +heritage of the purely aspiring, Immortal Spirit; on the other the +fleeting Mirage of this our present Existence; and, midway between +the two, the swinging pendulum of HUMAN WILL, which decides our +fate. God does not choose for us, or compel our love--we are free to +fashion out our own futures; but in making our final choice we +cannot afford to waste one moment of our precious, unreturning +time. + +MARIE CORELLI. + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's A Romance Of Two Worlds, by Marie Corelli + diff --git a/old/twwrl10.zip b/old/twwrl10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..13f7c13 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/twwrl10.zip |