XLVIII
THE UNACCOUNTABLE
Were this account merely a work of fiction, it would harmonise things soas to have no unaccountables in it. As it is, the present writers willhave to make this quite clear:
It is not known why the Rhamda Avec failed to show himself at thecrucial moment. Perhaps he could have changed everything. We can onlysurmise; he has not been seen or heard from since.
Which also is true of Mr. Chick Watson. He disappeared immediately afterthe closing of the Spot, saying that he was going to Bertha Holcomb'shome. No trace has been found of either to date. Doubtless the readerhas noted advertisement in the papers, appealing to the authorities toreport any one of Watson's description applying for a marriage licence.
As for his two friends, Wendel and Fenton, together with the Aradna andthe Nervina, they and MacPherson and the doctor absolutely vanished fromall the knowledge, either of the Thomahlia or the earth. The Jaradosalone can tell of them.
Mme. Le Fabre, however, feels that she can explain the mattersatisfactorily. Abridged, her theory runs:
"There is but one way to explore the Occult. That way is to die.
"For all that we were so strongly impressed with the reality ofMr. Watson, I am firmly convinced that he was simply a spirit; thateverything we saw was spirit manifestation.
"Dr. Holcomb and all the rest have simply gone on to another plane. Weshall never see them again. They are dead; no other explanation willhold. They are spirits."
Giving this version to the public strictly for what it is worth, thepresent writers feel it only right to submit the conclusions reachedby Dr. Malloy and concurred in by Drs. Higgins and Hansen, also, withreservations, by Professor Herold and by Miss Clarke.
"To a certain extent, and up to a certain point, it is possibleto account for the astonishing case of the Blind Spot by means ofwell-known psychological principles. Hallucinations will cover a greatdeal of ground.
"But we feel that our personal experiences, in witnessing the interiorof the Thomahlia cannot be thus explained away. Our accounts tally tooexactly; and we are not subject to group hypnosis.
"To explain this we believe a new hypothesis is called for. We submitthat what we saw was not unreal. Assuming that a thing is real orunreal, and can never be in a third state which is neither one nor theother, then we should have to insist that what we saw was REAL.
"We stand ready and prepared to accept any theory which will fit allfacts, not merely a portion."
Again refraining from any comment we pass on to the more exhaustiveopinion of Sir Henry Hodges. Inasmuch as this seems to coincide veryclosely with the hypothesis of Professor Holcomb, and as the reputationof Sir Henry is a thing of weight, we are quoting him almost verbatim:
"There is a well-known experiment in chemistry, wherein equal quantitiesof water and alcohol are mixed. Let us say, a pint of each. Now, theresulting mixture ought to be a quart; but it is not. It is somewhatless than a quart.
"Strange, indeed, to the novice, but a commonplace to every student ofthe subject. It is strange only that, except for Dr. Holcomb andthis man Avec, science has overlooked the stupendous significance andsuggestion of this particular fact.
"Now, consider another well-known fact: No matter how you try you cannotprevent gravity from acting. It will pull every object down, regardlessof how you try to screen it from the earth.
"Why? Because gravity penetrates all things. Again, why? Why shouldgravity penetrate all things?
"The answer is, because gravity is a function of the ether. And theether is an imponderable substance, so impalpable that it passes rightthrough all solids as though they were not there.
"These are two highly suggestive points. They show us, first, that twosubstances can exist within the space formerly thought to be completelyfilled by one. Second, they show that ALL substances are porous to theether.
"Very well. Bear in mind that we know nothing whatever directly aboutthe ether; our knowledge is all indirect. Therefore--
"It may be that there is more than one ether!
"Conceive what this means. If there were another ether, how could webecome aware of it? Only through the medium of some such phenomenon asthe Blind Spot; not through ordinary channels. For the ordinary channelsare microscopes and test-tubes, every one of which, when traced to theultimate, is simply a concrete expression of THE ONE ETHER WE KNOW!
"In the nature of the case our five senses could never apprehend asecond ether.
"Yet, knowing what we do about the structure of the atom, of electronicactivity, of quantels, we must admit that there is a huge, unoccupiedspace--that is, we can't see that it is occupied--in and between theinterstices of the atom.
"It is in the region, mingled and intertwined with the electrons whichmake up the world we know so well, that--in my opinion--the Thomahlianworld exists. It is actually coexistent with our own. It is here, andso are we. At this very instant, at any given spot, there can be,and almost certainly is, more than one solid object--two systems ofmateriality, two systems of life, two systems of death. And if two, why,then, perhaps there are even more!
"Holcomb is right. We are Infinity. Only our five senses make usfinite."
Charlotte Fenton does not indulge in speculation. She seems to bear upwonderfully well in the face of Harry Wendel's affinity for theNervina, and also in the face of her brother's disappearance. And shephilosophically states:
"When Columbus returned from his search for the East Indies, hetriumphantly announced that he had found what he sought.
"He was mistaken. He had found something else--America.
"It may be that we are all mistaken. It may be that something entirelydifferent from what any one has suspected has been found. Time willtell. I am willing to wait."
To make it complete, it is felt that the following statement of GeneralHume is not only essential, but convincing to the last degree.
"My view regarding this mystery is simply this: I have eyes, and Ihave seen. I don't know whether the actors were living or dead. I amno scientist; I have no theory. I only know. And I will swear to what Isaw.
"I am a soldier. The two men who are bringing this to press have shownme their copy.
"It is correct."
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