XXXI
UP FOR BREATH
Rhamda Geos, instead of showing the concern and uneasiness that mostmen would show in the presence of an avowed ghost, evinced nothing buta deep and reverent happiness. He took Watson's hand almost shyly. Andwhile his manner was not effusive, it had the warmth that comes from theheart of a scholar.
"As a Rhamda," he declared, "I must commend myself for being the firstto speak to you. And I must congratulate you, my dear sir, on havingfallen, not into the hands of Bar Senestro, but into those of my ownkind. It is a proof of the prophecy, and a vindication of the wisdom ofthe Ten Thousand.
"I bid you welcome to the Thomahlia, and I offer you my services, asguide and sponsor."
Chick did not reply at once. The chance he had taken was one of thoserare decisions that come to genius; the whole balance of his fate mightswing upon his sudden impulse. Not that he had any compunction; but hefelt that it tied him down. It restricted him. Certainly almost any rolewould be easier than that of a spirit.
He didn't feel like a ghost. He wondered just how a ghost would act,anyhow. What was more, he could not understand such a queer assumptionon the Rhamda's part. Why had he seemed to WANT Chick a ghost? Watsonwas natural, human, embodied, just like the Rhamda. This was scarcelyhis idea of a phantom's life. Most certainly, the two of them were men,nothing else; if one was a wraith, so was the other. But--how to accountfor it?
Again he thought of Rhamda Avec. The words of Geos, "The Fact and theSubstance," had been exactly synonymous with what had been said of Avecby Dr. Holcomb, "The proof of the occult."
Was it indeed possible that these two great ones, from opposite poles,had actually torn away the veil of the shadow? And was this the placewhere he, Watson, must pose as a spirit, if he were to be accepted asgenuine?
The thought was a shock. He must play the same part here that the Rhamdahad played on the other side of the Spot; but he would have to doit without the guiding wisdom of Avec. Besides, there was somethingsinister in the unknown force that had engulfed so strong a mind as theprofessor's; for while Watson's fate had been of his own seeking, thatof the doctor smacked too much of treachery.
He turned to the Rhamda Geos with a new question:
"This Rhamda Avec--was he a man like yourself?"
The other brightened again, and asked in return:
"Then you have seen him!"
"I--I do not know," answered Watson, caught off his guard. "But the nameis familiar. I don't remember well. My mind is vague and confused. Irecall a world, a wonderful world it was from which I came, and a greatmany people. But I can't place myself; I hardly--let me see--"
The other nodded sympathetic approval.
"I understand. Don't exert yourself. It is hardly to be expected thatone forced out of the occult could come among us with his facultiesunimpaired. We have had many communications with your world, and havealways been frustrated by this one gulf which may not be crossed. Whenreal thought gets across the border, it is often indefinite,sometimes mere drivel. Such answers as come from the void are usuallydisappointing, no matter how expert our mediums may be in communicatingwith the dead."
"The dead! Did you say--the dead?"
"Certainly; the dead. Are you not of the dead?"
Watson shook his head emphatically.
"Absolutely not! Not where I came from. We are all very much alive!"
The other watched him curiously, his great eyes glowing with enthusiasm;the enthusiasm of the born seeker of the truth.
"You don't mean," he asked, "that you have the same passions that wehave here in life?"
"I mean," said Watson, "that we hate, love, swear; we are good and weare evil; and we play games and go fishing."
Geos rubbed his hands in a dignified sort of glee. What had been saidcoincided, apparently, with another of his pet theories.
"It is splendid," he exulted, "splendid! And just in line with mythesis. You shall tell it before the Council of the Rhamdas. It will bethe greatest day since the speaking of the Jarados!"
Watson wondered just who this Jarados might be; but for the moment hewent back to the previous question.
"This Rhamda Avec: you were about to tell me about him. Let me have asmuch as I can understand, sir."
"Ah, yes! The great Rhamda Avec. Perhaps you may recall him when yourmind clears a little more. My dear sir, he is, or was, the chief of theRhamdas of all the Thomahlia."
"What is the 'Thomahlia'?"
"The Thomahlia! Why, it is called the world; our name for the world.It comprises, physically, land, water and air; politically, it embracesD'Hartia, Kospia and a few minor nations."
"Who are the Rhamdas?"
"They are the heads of--of the Thomahlia; not the nominal norpolitical nor religious heads--they are neither judicial, executive norlegislative; but the real heads, still above. They might be called thesupreme college of wisdom, of science and of research. Also, they arethe keepers of the bell and its temple, and the interpreters of theProphecy of the Jarados."
"I see. You are a sort of priesthood."
"No. The priesthood is below us. The priests take what orders we chooseto give, and are purely--"
"Superstitious?"
The Rhamda's eyes snapped, just a trifle.
"Not at all, my dear sir! They are good, sincere men. Only, not beingintellectually adept enough to be admitted to the real secrets, the realknowledge, they give to all things a provisional explanation based upona settled policy. Not being Rhamdas, they are simply not aware thateverything has an exact and absolute explanation."
"In other words," put in Watson, "they are scientists; they have notlifted themselves up to the plane of inquisitive doubt."
Still the Rhamda shook his head.
"Not quite that, either, my dear sir. Those below us are not ignorant;they are merely nearer to the level of the masses than we are. In fact,they are the people's rulers; these priests and other similar classes.But we, the Rhamdas, are the rulers of the rulers. We differ from themin that we have no material ends to subserve. Being at the top, with nomotive save justice and advancement, our judgments are never questioned,and for the same reason, seldom passed.
"But we are far above the plane of doubt that you speak of; we passedout of it long ago. That is the first stage of true science; afterwardscomes the higher levels where all things have a reason; ethics,inspiration, thought, emotion--"
"And--the judgment of the Jarados?"
Watson could not have told why he said it. It was impulse, and theimpromptu suggestion of a half-thought. But the effect of his words uponthe Rhamda and the nurse told him that, inadvertently, he had struck akeynote. Both started, especially the woman. Watson took note of thisin particular, because of the ingrained acceptance of the feminine inmatter of belief.
"What do you know?" was her eager interruption. "You have seen theJarados?"
As for the Rhamda, he looked at Watson with shrewd, calculating eyes.But they were still filled with wonder.
"Can you tell us?" he asked. "Try and think!"
Chick knew that he had gained a point. He had been dealt a trumpcard; but he was too clever to play it at once. He was on his ownresponsibility and was carrying a load that required the finestequilibrium.
"I really do not know," he said. "I--I must have time to think. Comingacross the border that way you must give me time. You were telling meabout the Rhamdas in general; now tell me about Avec in particular."
Geos nodded as though he could understand the fog that becloudedWatson's mind.
"The Rhamda Avec is, or was, the wisest of them all; the head and thechief, and by far the most able. Few beside his own fellows knew it,however; another than he was the nominal head, and officiated forhim whenever necessary. Avec had little social intercourse; he was aprodigious student.
"We are a body of learned men, you understand, and we stand at thepeak of all that has been discovered through hundreds upon hundredsof centuries, so that at the present day we are the culmination o
f thecombined effort and thought of man since the beginning of time. Eachgeneration of Rhamdas must be greater than the one preceding. When I dieand pass on to your world I must leave something new and worth-whileto my successor; some thought, wisdom, or deed that may be of use tomankind. I cannot be a Rhamda else. We are a set of supreme priests, whoserve man at the shrine of intelligence, not of dogma.
"Of course, we are not to be judged too highly. All research, when itsteps forward must go haltingly; there are many paths into the unknownthat look like the real one. Hence, we have among us various schools ofthought, and each following a different trail.
"I myself am a spiritist. I believe that we can, and often have,communicated with your world at various times. There are others who donot grant it; there are Rhamdas who are inclined to lean more to thematerialist's side of things, who rely entirely, when it comes toquestions of this kind, upon their faith in the teachings of theJarados. There are some, too, who believe in the value of speculation,and who contend that only through contemplation can man lift himself tothe full fruits of realisation. At the head of us all--the Rhamda Avec!"
"What was his belief?"
"Let us say he believed ALL. He was eclectic. He held that we wereall of us a bit right, and each of us a whole lot wrong. It was hiscontention, however, that there was not one thing that could not beproven; that the secret of life, while undoubtedly a secret in everysense of the word, is still very concrete, it could be proven!"
Watson nodded. He remembered hearing another man make just such astatement--Dr. Holcomb.
"For years he worked in private," went on Geos. "We never knew just whathe was doing; until, one day, he called us together and delivered hislecture."
"His lecture?"
"Rather, his prophecy. For it was all that. Not that he spoke at greatlength; it was but a talk. He announced that he believed the time hadcome to prove the occult. That it could be done, and done only throughconcrete, material means; and that whatever existed, certainly could bedemonstrated. He was going to pull aside the curtain that had hithertocut off the shadow.
"'I am going to prove the occult,' he said. 'In three days I shallreturn with the fact and the substance. And then I propose to deliver mygreatest lecture, my final thesis, in which my whole life shall cometo a focus. I shall bring the proof for your eyes and ears, for yourfingers to explore and be satisfied. You shall behold the living truth."
"'And the subject of my lecture--the subject of my lecture will be TheSpot of Life.'"