CHAPTER VI
EXPERIENCES
"Let us sit round the table and talk," said Madame Riennes.
Thereon the whole party moved into the recess where was the flower-potthat has been mentioned, which Miss Ogilvy took away.
They seated themselves round the little table upon which it had stood.Godfrey, lingering behind, found, whether by design or accident, thatthe only place left for him was the arm-chair which he hesitated tooccupy.
"Be seated, young Monsieur," said the formidable Madame in bell-liketones, whereon he collapsed into the chair. "Sister Helen," she wenton, "draw the curtain, it is more private so; yes, and the blind thatthere may be no unholy glare."
Miss Ogilvy, who seemed to be entirely under Madame's thumb, obeyed.Now to all intents and purposes they were in a tiny, shadowed room cutoff from the main apartment.
"Take that talisman from your neck and give it to young MonsieurKnight," commanded Madame.
"But I gave it to her, and do not want it back," ventured Godfrey, whowas growing alarmed.
"Do what I say," she said sternly, and he found himself holding therelic.
"Now, young Monsieur, look me in the eyes a little and listen. Irequest of you that holding that black, engraved stone in your hand,you will be so good as to throw your soul, do you understand, yoursoul, back, back, _back_ and tell us where it come from, who have it,what part it play in their life, and everything about it."
"How am I to know?" asked Godfrey, with indignation.
Then suddenly everything before him faded, and he saw himself standingin a desert by a lump of black rock, at which a brown man clad only ina waist cloth and a kind of peaked straw hat, was striking with aninstrument that seemed to be half chisel and half hammer, fashionedapparently from bronze, or perhaps of greenish-coloured flint.Presently the brown man, who had a squint in one eye and a hurt toethat was bound round with something, picked up a piece of the blackrock that he had knocked off, and surveyed it with evidentsatisfaction. Then the scene vanished.
Godfrey told it with interest to the audience who were apparently alsointerested.
"The finding of the stone," said Madame. "Continue, young Monsieur."
Another vision rose before Godfrey's mind. He beheld a low room havinga kind of verandah, roofed with reeds, and beyond it a little courtyardenclosed by a wall of grey-coloured mud bricks, out of some of whichstuck pieces of straw. This courtyard opened onto a narrow street wheremany oddly-clothed people walked up and down, some of whom wore peakedcaps. A little man, old and grey, sat with the fragment of black rockon a low table before him, which Godfrey knew to be the same stone thathe had already seen. By him lay graving tools, and he was engaged inpolishing the stone, now covered with figures and writing, by help of astick, a piece of rough cloth and oil. A young man with a curly beardwalked into the little courtyard, and to him the old fellow deliveredthe engraved stone with obeisances, receiving payment in some curiouscurrency.
Then followed picture upon picture in all of which the talismanappeared in the hands of sundry of its owners. Some of these pictureshad to do with love, some with religious ceremonies, and some with war.One, too, with its sale, perhaps in a time of siege or scarcity, for asmall loaf of black-looking bread, by an aged woman who wept at partingwith it.
After this he saw an Arab-looking man finding the stone amongst thecrumbling remains of a brick wall that showed signs of having beenburnt, which wall he was knocking down with a pick-axe to allow waterto flow down an irrigation channel on his garden. Presently a personwho wore a turban and was girt about with a large scimitar, rode by,and to him the man showed, and finally presented the stone, which theSaracen placed in the folds of his turban.
The next scene was of this man engaged in battle with a knight clad inmail. The battle was a very fine one, which Godfrey described with muchgusto. It ended in the knight killing the Eastern man and hacking offhis head with a sword. This violent proceeding disarranged the turbanout of which fell the black stone. The knight picked it up and hid itabout him. Next Godfrey saw this same knight, grown into an old man andbeing borne on a bier to burial, clad in the same armour that he hadworn in the battle. Upon his breast hung the black stone which had nowa hole bored through the top of it.
Lastly there came a picture of the old sexton finding the talismanamong the bones of the knight, and giving it to himself, Godfrey, thena small boy, after which everything passed away.
"I guess that either our young friend here has got the vision, or thathe will make a first-class novelist," said Colonel Josiah Smith. "Anyway, if you care to part with that talisman, Miss Ogilvy, I will beglad to give you five hundred dollars for it on the chance of hisintegrity."
She smiled and shook her head, stretching out her hand to recover theGnostic charm.
"Be silent, Brother Josiah Smith," exclaimed Madame Riennes, angrily."If this were imposture, should I not have discovered it? It is goodvision--psychometry is the right term--though of a humbler order suchas might be expected from a beginner. Still, there is hope, there ishope. Let us see, now. Young gentleman, be so good as to look me in theeye."
Much against his will Godfrey found himself bound to obey, and lookedher "in the eye." A few moments later he felt dizzy, and after that heremembered no more.
When Godfrey awoke again the curtain was drawn, the blinds were pulledup and the butler was bringing in tea. Miss Ogilvy sat by his side,looking at him rather anxiously, while the others were conversingtogether in a somewhat excited fashion.
"It is splendid, splendid!" Madame was saying. "We have discovered apearl beyond price, a great treasure. Hush! he awakes."
Godfrey, who experienced a curious feeling of exhaustion and ofemptiness of brain, yawned and apologized for having fallen asleep,whereon the professor and the colonel both assured him that it wasquite natural on so warm a day. Only Madame Riennes smiled like asphinx, and asked him if his dreams were pleasant. To this he repliedthat he remembered none.
Miss Ogilvy, however, who looked rather anxious and guilty, did notspeak at all, but busied herself with the tea which Godfrey thoughtvery strong when he drank it. However, it refreshed him wonderfully,which, as it contained some invigorating essence, was not strange. Sodid the walk in the beautiful garden which he took afterwards, justbefore the carriage came to drive him back to Kleindorf.
Re-entering the drawing-room to say goodbye, he found the party engagedlistening to the contents of a number of sheets of paper closelywritten in pencil, which were being read to them by Colonel JosiahSmith, who made corrections from time to time.
"_Au revoir_, my young brother," said Madame Riennes, making somemysterious sign before she took his hand in her fat, cold fingers, "youwill come again next Sunday, will you not?"
"I don't know," he answered awkwardly, for he felt afraid of this lady,and did not wish to see her next Sunday.
"Oh! but I do, young brother. You will come, because it gives me somuch pleasure to see you," she replied, staring at him with her strangeeyes.
Then Godfrey knew that he would come because he must.
"Why does that lady call me 'young brother'?" he asked Miss Ogilvy, whoaccompanied him to the hall.
"Oh! because it is a way she has. You may have noticed that she calledme 'sister'."
"I don't think that I shall call _her_ sister," he remarked withdecision. "She is too alarming."
"Not really when you come to know her, for she has the kindest heartand is wonderfully gifted."
"Gifts which make people tell others that they are going to die are notpleasant, Miss Ogilvy."
She shivered a little.
"If her spirit--I mean the truth--comes to her, she must speak it, Isuppose. By the way, Godfrey, don't say anything about this talismanand the story you told of it, at Kleindorf, or in writing home."
"Why not?"
"Oh! because people like your dear old Pasteur, and clergymengenerally, are so apt to misunderstand. They think that there is onlyone way of learning things bey
ond, and that every other must be wrong.Also I am sure that your friend, Isobel Blake, would laugh at you."
"I don't write to Isobel," he exclaimed setting his lips.
"But you may later," she said smiling. "At any rate you will promise,won't you?"
"Yes, if you wish it, Miss Ogilvy, though I can't see what it matters.That kind of nonsense often comes into my head when I touch old things.Isobel says that it is because I have too much imagination."
"Imagination! Ah! what is imagination? Well, goodbye, Godfrey, thecarriage will come for you at the same time next Sunday. Perhaps, too,I shall see you before then, as I am going to call upon Madame Boiset."
Then he went, feeling rather uncomfortable, and yet interested, thoughwhat it was that interested him he did not quite know. That night hedreamed that Madame Riennes stood by his bed watching him with herburning eyes. It was an unpleasant dream.
He kept his word. When the Boiset family, especially Madame,cross-examined him as to the details of his visit to Miss Ogilvy, hemerely described the splendours of that opulent establishment and theintellectual character of its guests. Of their mystic attributes hesaid nothing at all, only adding that Miss Ogilvy proposed to doherself the honour of calling at the Maison Blanche, as the Boisets'house was called.
About the middle of the week Miss Ogilvy arrived and, as Madame hadtaken care to be at home in expectation of her visit, was entertainedto tea. Afterwards she visited the observatory, which interested hermuch, and had a long talk with the curious old Pasteur, who alsointerested her in his way, for as she afterwards remarked to Godfrey,one does not often meet an embodiment of human goodness and charity.When he replied that the latter quality was lacking to the Pasteurwhere Roman Catholics were concerned, she only smiled and said thatevery jewel had its flaw; nothing was quite perfect in the world.
In the end she asked Madame and Juliette to come to lunch with her,leaving out Godfrey, because, as she said, she knew that he would beengaged at his studies with the Pasteur. She explained also that shedid not ask them to come with him on Sunday because they would be takenup with their religious duties, a remark at which Juliette made whatthe French call a "mouth," and Madame smiled faintly.
In due course she and her daughter went to lunch and returneddelighted, having found themselves fellow-guests of some of the mostnotable people in Lucerne, though not those whom Miss Ogilvyentertained on Sundays. Needless to say from that time forwardGodfrey's intimacy with this charming and wealthy hostess was in everyway encouraged by the Boiset family.
The course of this intimacy does not need any very long description.Every Sunday after church the well-appointed carriage and pair appearedand bore Godfrey away to luncheon at the Villa Ogilvy. Here he alwaysmet Madame Riennes, Colonel Josiah Smith, and Professor Petersen; alsooccasionally one or two others with whom these seemed to besufficiently intimate to admit of their addressing them as "Brother" or"Sister."
Soon Godfrey came to understand that they were all members of some kindof semi-secret society, though what this might be he could not quiteascertain. All he made sure of was that it had to do with matters whichwere not of this world. Nothing concerning mundane affairs, howeverimportant or interesting, seemed to appeal to them; all theirconversation was directed towards what might be called spiritualproblems, reincarnations, Karmas (it took him a long time to understandwhat a Karma is), astral shapes, mediumship, telepathic influences,celestial guides, and the rest.
At first this talk with its jargon of words which he did notcomprehend, bored him considerably, but by degrees he felt that he wasbeing drawn into a vortex, and began to understand its drift. Evenwhile it was enigmatic it acquired a kind of unholy attraction for him,and he began to seek out its secret meaning in which he found thatcompany ready instructors.
"Young brother," said Madame Riennes, "we deal with the things not ofthe body, but of the soul. The body, what is it? In a few years it willbe dust and ashes, but the soul--it is eternal--and all those stars youstudy are its inheritance, and you and I, if we cultivate our spiritualparts, shall rule in them."
Then she would roll her big eyes and become in a way magnificent, sothat Godfrey forgot her ugliness and the repulsion with which sheinspired him.
In the end his outlook on life and the world became different, and thisnot so much because of what he learned from his esoteric teachers, asthrough some change in his internal self. He grew to appreciate thevastness of things and the infinite possibilities of existence. Indeed,his spiritual education was a fitting pendant to his physical study ofthe heavens, peopled with unnumbered worlds, each of them the home,doubtless, of an infinite variety of life, and each of them keeping itsawful secrets locked in its floating orb. He trembled in presence ofthe stupendous Whole, of which thus by degrees he became aware, andthough it frightened him, thought with pity of the busy millions ofmankind to whom such mysteries are nothing at all; who are lost intheir business or idleness, in their eating, drinking, sleeping,love-making, and general satisfaction of the instincts which theypossess in common with every other animal. The yearning for wisdom, thedesire to know, entered his young heart and possessed it, as once thesedid that of Solomon, to such a degree indeed, that standing on thethreshold of his days, he would have paid them all away, and with themhis share in this warm and breathing world, could he have been assuredthat in exchange he would receive the key of the treasure-house of theInfinite.
Such an attitude was neither healthy nor natural to a normal, vigorouslad just entering upon manhood, and, as will be seen, it did notendure. Like everything else, it had its causes. His astronomicalstudies were one of these, but a deeper reason was to be found in thoseSunday seances at the Villa Ogilvy. For a long while Godfrey did notknow what happened to him on these occasions. The party sat round thelittle table, talking of wonderful things; Madame Riennes looked at himand sometimes took his hand, which he did not like, and then heremembered no more until he woke up, feeling tired, and yet in a wayexhilarated, for with the mysteries of hypnotic sleep he was not yetacquainted. Nor did it occur to him that he was being used a medium bycertain of the most advanced spiritualists in the world.
By degrees, however, inklings of the truth began to come. Thus, one dayhis consciousness awoke while his body seemed still to be wrapt intrance, and he saw that there was a person present who had not been ofthe party when he went to sleep. A young woman, clad in a white robe,with lovely hair flowing down her back, stood by his side and held hissupine fingers in her hand.
She was beautiful, and yet unearthly, she wore ornaments also, but ashe watched, to his amazement these seemed to change. What had been afillet of white stones, like diamonds, which bound her hair, turned toone of red stones, like rubies, and as it did so the colour of hereyes, which were large and very tranquil, altered.
She was speaking in a low, rich voice to Miss Ogilvy, who answered,addressing her as Sister Eleanor, but what she said Godfrey could notunderstand. Something of his inner shock and fear must have reflecteditself upon his trance-bound features, for suddenly he heard MadameRiennes exclaim:
"Have done! the medium awakes, and I tell you it is dangerous while ourGuide is here. Back to his breast, Eleanor! Thence to your place!"
The tall figure changed; it became misty, shapeless. It seemed to fallon him like a cloud of icy vapour, chilling him to the heart, andthrough that vapour he could see the ormolu clock which stood on abracket in the recess, and even note the time, which was thirteenminutes past four. After this he became unconscious, and in due coursewoke up as usual. The first thing his eyes fell on was the clock, ofwhich the hands now pointed to a quarter to five, and the sight of itbrought everything back to him. Then he observed that all the circleseemed much agitated, and distinctly heard Madame Riennes say toProfessor Petersen in English:--
"The thing was very near. Had it not been for that medicine ofyours----! It was because that speerit do take his hand. She grow fondof him; it happen sometimes if the medium be of the other sex andattractive. She want to c
arry him away with her, that Control, and Iexpect she never quite leave him all his life, because, you see, shematerialize out of him, and therefore belong to him. Next time shecome, I give her my mind. Hush! Our wonderful little brother wakeup--quite right this time."
Then Godfrey really opened his eyes; hitherto he had been feigning tobe still in trance, but thought it wisest to say nothing. At thismoment Miss Ogilvy turned very pale and went into a kind of light faint.
The Professor produced some kind of smelling-bottle from his pocket,which he held to her nostrils. She came to at once, and began to laughat her own silliness, but begged them all to go away and leave herquiet, which they did. Godfrey was going too, but she stopped him,saying that the carriage would not be ready till after tea, and that itwas too wet for him to walk in the garden, for now autumn had come inearnest. The tea arrived, a substantial tea, with poached eggs, ofwhich she made him eat two, as she did always after these sittings.Then suddenly she asked him if he had seen anything. He told her all,adding:
"I am frightened. I do not like this business, Miss Ogilvy. Who andwhat was that lady in white, who stood by me and held my hand? Myfingers are still tingling, and a cold wind seems to blow upon me."
"It was a spirit, Godfrey, but there is no need to be afraid, she willnot do you any harm."
"I don't know, and I don't think that you have any right to bringspirits to me, or out of me, as I heard that dreadful Madame say hadhappened. It is a great liberty."
"Oh! don't be angry with me," she said piteously. "If only youunderstood. You are a wonderful medium, the most wonderful that any ofus has ever known, and through you we have learned things; holy,marvellous things, which till now have not been heard of in the world.Your fame is already great among leading spiritualists of the earth,though of course they do not know who you are."
"That does not better matters," said Godfrey, "you know it is notright."
"Perhaps not, but my dear boy, if only you guessed all it means to me!Listen; I will tell you; you will not betray me, will you? Once I wasvery fond of someone; he was all my life, and he died, and my heartbroke. I only hope and pray that such a thing may never happen to you.Well, from that hour to this I have been trying to find him and failed,always failed, though once or twice I thought----. And now through youI have found him. Yes, he has spoken to me telling me much which provesto me that he still lives elsewhere and awaits me. And oh! I am happy,and do not care how soon I go to join him. And it is all through you.So you will forgive me, will you not?"
"Yes, I suppose so," said Godfrey, "but all the same I don't want tohave anything more to do with that white lady who is called Eleanor andchanges her jewels so often; especially as Madame said she was growingfond of me and would never leave me. So please don't ask me here againon Sundays."
Miss Ogilvy tried to soothe him.
"You shouldn't be frightened of her," she said. "She is really adelightful spirit, and declares that she knew you very intimatelyindeed, when you were an early Egyptian, also much before that on thelost continent, which is called Atlantis, to say nothing of deepfriendships which have existed between you in other planets."
"I say!" exclaimed Godfrey, "do you believe all this?"
"Well, if you ask me, I must say that I do. I am sure that we have allof us lived many lives, here and elsewhere, and if this is so, it isobvious that in the course of them we must have met an enormous numberof people, with certain of whom we have been closely associated in thevarious relationships of life. Some of these, no doubt, come round withus again, but others do not, though we can get into touch with themunder exceptional circumstances. That is your case and Eleanor's. Atpresent you are upon different spheres, but in the future, no doubt,you will find yourselves side by side again, as you have often been, indue course to be driven apart once more by the winds of Destiny, andperhaps, after ages, finally to be united. Meanwhile she plays the partof one of your guardian angels."
"Then I wish she wouldn't," said Godfrey, with vigour. "I don't carefor a guardian angel of whom I have no memory, and who seems to fall onyou like snow upon a hot day. If anybody does that kind of thing Ishould prefer a living woman."
"Which doubtless she has been, and will be again. For you see, whereshe is, she has memory and foreknowledge, which are lacking to theincarnated. Meanwhile, through you, and because of you, she can tell usmuch. You are the wire which connects us to her in the Unseen."
"Then I hope you will find another wire; I really do, for it upsets meand makes me feel ill. I know that I shall be afraid to go to bedto-night, and even for you, Miss Ogilvy, I won't come next Sunday."
Then, as the carriage was now at the door, he jumped into it anddeparted without waiting for an answer.
Moreover, on the next Sunday, when, as usual, it arrived to fetch himat Kleindorf, Godfrey kept his word, so that it went back empty. By thecoachman he sent an awkwardly worded note to Miss Ogilvy, saying thathe was suffering from toothache which had prevented him from sleepingfor several nights, and was not well enough to come out.
This note she answered by post, telling him that she had beendisappointed not to see him as she was also ill. She added that shewould send the carriage on the following Sunday on the chance of histoothache being better, but that if it was not, she would understandand trouble him no more.
During all that week Godfrey fought with himself. He did not wish tohave anything more to do with the white and ghostly Eleanor, whochanged her gems so constantly, and said that she had known himmillenniums ago. Indeed, he felt already as though she were much toonear him, especially at night, when he seemed to become aware of herbending over his bed, and generally making her presence known in otheruncomfortable ways that caused his hair to stand up and frightened him.
At the same time he was really fond of Miss Ogilvy, and what she saidabout being ill touched him. Also there was something that drew him; itmight be Eleanor, or it might be Madame Riennes. At any rate he felt agreat longing to go. Putting everything else aside, theseinvestigations had their delights. What other young fellow of his agecould boast an Eleanor, who said she had been fond of him tens ofthousands of years before?
Moreover, here was one of the gates to that knowledge which he desiredso earnestly, and how could he find the strength to shut it in his ownface?
Of course the end of the matter was that by the following Sunday, histoothache had departed, and the carriage did not return empty to theVilla Ogilvy.
He found his hostess looking white and ethereal, an appearance that shehad acquired increasingly ever since their first meeting. Her delightat seeing him was obvious, as was that of the others. For this he soondiscovered the reason. It appeared that the sitting on the previousSunday, when he was overcome by toothache, had been an almost totalfailure. Professor Petersen had tried to fill his place as medium, withthe result that when he fell under the influence, the only spirit thatbroke through his lips was one which discoursed interminably aboutlager beer and liqueurs of some celestial brew, which, as MadameRiennes, a lady not given to mince her words, told him to his faceafterwards, was because he drank too much. Hence the joy of theseenthusiasts at the re-appearance of Godfrey.
With considerable reluctance that youth consented to play his usualrole, and to be put into a charmed sleep by Madame. This time he saw noEleanor, and knew nothing of what happened until he awoke to be greetedby the horrific spectacle of Miss Ogilvy lying back in her chair bathedin blood. General confusion reigned in the midst of which MadameRiennes alone was calm.
"It is haemorrhage from the lungs," she said, "which is common among_poitrinaires_. Brother Petersen, do what you can, and you, BrotherSmith, fly for Mademoiselle's doctor, and if he is not at home, bringanother."
Later Godfrey heard what had chanced. It seemed that the wraith, oremanation, or the sprite, good or evil, or whatever it may have been,which called itself Eleanor, materialized in a very ugly temper. Itcomplained that it had not been allowed to appear upon the previousSunday and had been kept away from
its brother, i.e. Godfrey. Then itproceeded to threaten all the circle, except Godfrey, who was the realculprit, with divers misfortunes, especially directing its wrathagainst Miss Ogilvy.
"You will die soon," it said, "and in the spirit world I will pay youback." Thrice it repeated this: "You will die," to which Miss Ogilvyanswered with calm dignity:
"I am not afraid to die, nor am I at all afraid of you, Eleanor, who,as I now see, are not good but evil."
While she spoke a torrent of blood burst from her lips, Eleanordisappeared, and almost immediately Godfrey awoke.
In due course the doctor came and announced that the haemorrhage hadceased, and that the patient was in no imminent danger. As to thefuture, he could say nothing, except that having been Miss Ogilvy'smedical attendant for some years, he had expected something of thissort to happen, and known that her life could not be very long.
Then Godfrey went home very terrified and chastened, blaming himselfalso for this dreadful event, although in truth no one could have beenmore innocent. He had grown very fond of Miss Ogilvy, and shuddered tothink that she must soon leave the world to seek a dim Unknown, wherethere were bad spirits as well as good.
He shuddered, too, at the thought of this Eleanor, who made use of himto appear in human form, and on his knees prayed God to protect himfrom her. This indeed happened, if she had any real existence and wasnot some mere creation of the brain of Madame Riennes, made visible bythe working of laws whereof we have no knowledge. Never again, duringall his life, did he actually see any more of Eleanor, and theprobability is that he never will, either here or elsewhere.
Three days later Godfrey received a letter from the doctor, saying thatMiss Ogilvy wished to see him, and that he recommended him not to delayhis visit. Having obtained the permission of the Pasteur, he went in atonce by the diligence, and on arrival at the villa, where evidently hewas expected, was shown up to a bedroom which commanded a beautifulview of the lake and Mount Pilatus. Here a nurse met him and told himthat he must not stay long; a quarter of an hour at the outside. Heasked how Mademoiselle was, whereon she answered with an expressiveshrug:
"Soon she will be further from the earth than the top of that mountain."
Then she took him to another smaller room, and there upon the bed,looking whiter than the sheets, lay his friend. She smiled very sweetlywhen she caught sight of him.
"Dear Godfrey," she said, "it is kind of you to come. I wanted to seeyou very much, for three reasons. First, I wish to beg your pardon forhaving drawn you into this spiritualism without your knowing that I wasdoing so. I have told you what my motive was, and therefore I will notrepeat it, as my strength is small. Secondly, I wish you to promise methat you will never go to another seance, since now I am quite surethat it is dangerous for the young. To me spiritualism has brought muchgood and joy, but with others it may be different, especially as amongspirits, as on the earth, there are evil beings. Do you promise?"
"Yes, yes," answered Godfrey, "only I am afraid of Madame Riennes."
"You must stand up against her if she troubles you, and seek the helpof religion; if necessary consult your old Pasteur, for he is a goodman. There is no danger in the world that cannot be escaped if only oneis bold enough, or so I think, though, alas! myself I have lackedcourage," she added with a gentle sigh.
"Now, dear boy," she went on after pausing to recover strength, "I havea third thing to say to you. I have left you some money, as I know thatyou will have little. It is not every much, but enough, allowing foraccidents and the lessening of capital values, to give you L260 a yearclear. I might have given you more, but did not, for two reasons. Thefirst is, that I have observed that young men who have what is called acompetence, say L500 or L600 a year, very often are content to try andlive on it, and to do nothing for themselves, so that in the end itbecomes, not a blessing, but a curse. The second is, that to do so Ishould be obliged to take away from certain charities and institutionswhich I wish to benefit. That is all I have to say about money. Oh! no,there is one more thing. I have also left you the talisman you gave me,and with it this house and grounds. Perhaps one day you might like tolive here. I have a sort of feeling that it will be useful to you atsome great crisis of your fate, and at least it will remind you of me,who have loved and tried to beautify the place. In any case it willalways let, and if it becomes a white elephant, you can sell it and thefurniture, which is worth something."
Godfrey began to stammer his thanks, but she cut him short with a waveof her hand, murmuring:
"Don't let us waste more time on such things, for soon you must goaway. Already I see that nurse looking at me from the doorway of theother room, and I have something more to say to you. You will come tothink that all this spiritualism, as it is called, is nothing but adangerous folly. Well, it is dangerous, like climbing the Alps, but onegets a great view from the top. And, oh! from there how small men lookand how near are the heavens. I mean, my dear boy, that although I haveasked you to abjure seances and so forth, I do pray of you to cultivatethe spiritual. The physical, of course, is always with us, for that isNature's law, without which it could not continue. But around andbeyond it broods the spirit, as once it did upon the face of thewaters, encircling all things; the beginning of all things, and theend. Only, as wine cannot be poured into a covered cup, so the spiritcannot flow into a world-sealed heart, and what is the cup without thewine? Open your heart, Godfrey, and receive the spirit, so that whenthe mortal perishes the immortal may remain and everlastingly increase.For you know, if we choose death we shall die, and if we choose life weshall live; we, and all that is dear to us."
Miss Ogilvy paused a little to get her breath, then went on: "Now, myboy, kiss me and go. But first--one word more. I have taken a strangeaffection for you, perhaps because we were associated in otherexistences, I do not know. Well, I want to say that from the landwhither I am about to be borne, it shall be my great endeavour, if itis so allowed, to watch over you, to help you if there be need, and inthe end to be among the first to greet you there, you, or any whom youmay love in this journey of yours through life. Look, the sun issinking. Now, goodbye till the dawn."
He bent down and kissed her and she kissed him back, throwing her thinand feeble arm about his neck, after which the nurse came and hurriedhim away weeping. At the door he turned back and saw her smile at him,and, oh! on her wasted face were peace and beauty.
Next day she died.