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by Austin Hall and Homer Eon Flint

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Title: The Blind Spot

Author: Austin Hall and Homer Eon Flint

Release Date: January, 2004  [EBook #4920]
[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule]
[This file was first posted on March 27, 2002]
[Date last updated: May 17, 2004]

Edition: 10

Language: English

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THE BLIND SPOT

AUSTIN HALL AND HOMER EON FLINT

INTRODUCTION BY FORREST J ACKERMAN




INTRODUCTION

THE LURE AND LORE OF "THE BLIND SPOT"

BY FORREST J ACKERMAN

The Blind Spot opens with the words: "Perhaps it were just as well
to start at the beginning. A mere matter of news." Suppose I use
them in the same sense:

A mere matter of news: The first instalment of this fabulous novel
was featured in Argosy-All-Story-Weekly for May 14, 1921.
Described as a "different" serial, it was introduced by a cover by
Modest Stein. In the foreground was the profile of a girl of
another dimension--ethereal, sensuous, the eternal feminine--the
Nervina of the story. Filmy crystalline earrings swept back over
her bare shoulders. Dominating the background was a huge flaming
yellow ball, like our Sun as seen from the hypothetical Vulcan--
splotched with murky, mysterious globii vitonae. There was an
ancient quay, and emerging from the ultramarine waters about it a
silhouetted metropolis of spires, domes, and minarets. It was
1921, and that generation thus received its first glimpse of the
alien landscape of The Blind Spot and the baroque beauty of an
immortal woman of fantasy fiction.

The authors? Homer Eon Flint was already a reigning favourite with
post-World-War-I enthusiasts of imaginative literature, who had
eagerly devoured his QUEEN OF LIFE and LORD OF DEATH, his KING OF
CONSERVE ISLAND and THE PLANETEER. Austin Hall was well known and
popular for his ALMOST IMMORTAL, REBEL SOUL, and INTO THE
INFINITE.

Then came this epoch-making collaboration. When Mary Gnaedinger
launched Famous Fantastic Mysteries magazine she early presented
THE BLIND SPOT, and printed it again in that magazine's companion
Fantastic Novels. These reprints are now collectors' items, almost
unobtainable, and otherwise the story has long been out of print.
Rumour says an unauthorised German version of THE BLIND SPOT, has
been published in book form. There is another book called THE
BLIND SPOT, and also a magazine story, and a major movie studio
was to produce a film of the same title. However, here is
presented the only hard-cover version of the only BLIND SPOT of
consequence to lovers of fantasy.

Who wrote the story? When I first looked into the question, as a
15 year old boy, Homer Eon Flint (he originally spelled his name
with a "d") was already dead of a fall into a canyon. In 1949 his
widow told me: "I think Homer's father contributed that middle
name"--the same name (with slightly different spelling) that the
Irish poet George Russell took as his pen-name, which became known
by its abbreviation AE. Mrs. Flindt said of Flint's father: "He
was a very deep thinker, and enjoyed reading heavy material." Like
father, like son. "Homer always talked over his ideas with me, and
although I couldn't always follow his thoughts it seemed to help
him to express them to another--it made some things come more
clearly to him."

Flint was a great admirer of H. G. Wells (this little grandmother-
schoolteacher told me) and had probably read all his works up to
the time when he (Flint) died in 1924. He had read Doyle and
Haggard, but: "Wells was his favourite--the real thinker."

Flint found a fellow-thinker in Austin Hall, whom he met in San
Jose, California, while working at a shop where shoes were
repaired electrically--"a rather new concept at the time." Hall,
learning that Flint lived in the same city, sought him out, and
they became fast friends. Each stimulated the other. As Hall told
me twenty years ago of the origin of THE BLIND SPOT:

"One day after we had lunched together, I held my finger up in
front of one of my eyes and said: 'Homer, couldn't a story be
written about that blind spot in the eye?' Not much was said about
it at the time, but four days later, again at lunch, I outlined
the whole story to him. I wrote the first eighteen chapters; Homer
took up the tale as 'Hobart Fenton' and wrote the chapters about
the house of miracles, the living death, the rousing of Aradna's
mind, and so forth, up to 'The Man from Space,' where once again I
took over."

To THE BLIND SPOT Hall contributed a great knowledge of history
and anthropology, while Flint's fortes were physics and medicine.
Both had a great fund of philosophy at their command.

When I met Hall (about four years older than Flint) he was in his
fifties: a devil-may-care old codger (old to a fifteen-year-old,
that is) full of good humour and indulgence for a youthful admirer
who had journeyed far to meet him. He casually referred to his 600
published stories, and I carried away the impression of one who
resembled both in output and in looks that other fiction-factory
of the time, Edgar Wallace.

Finally: Several years ago, before I knew anything about the
present volume, I had an unusual experience. (At that time I had
no reason to think THE BLIND SPOT would ever become available as a
book, for the location of the heirs proved a Herculean task by
itself; publishers had long wanted to present this amazing novel
but could not do so until I located Mrs. Mae Hall and Mrs. Mabel
Flindt.) While, unfortunately, I did not take careful notes at the
time, the gist of the occurrence was this:

I visited a friend whose hobby (besides reading fantasy) was the
occult, who volunteered to entertain me with automatic writing and
the ouija-board. Now, I share Lovecraft's scepticism towards the
supernatural, regarding it as at best a means of amusement. When
the question arose of what spirits we should try to lure to our
planchette, the names of Lovecraft, Merritt, Hall, and Flint
popped into my pixilated mind. So I set my fingers on the wooden
heart and, since my host was also a Flint admirer, we asked about
Flint's fatal accident. The ouija spelled out:

N-O A-C-C-I-D-E-N-T--R-O-B-B-E-R-Y

There followed something about being held up by a hitch-hiker.
Then Hall (or at least some energy-source other than my own
conscious mind) came through too, and when I asked if he had left
any work behind he replied:

Y-E-S--T-H-E L-A-S-T G-O-D-L-I-N-G

Later I asked his son about this (without revealing the title) and
Javen Hall told me of the story his father had been plotting when
he died: THE HIDDEN EMPIRE, or THE CHILD OF THE SOUTHWIND.
Whatever was pushing the planchette failed to inform me that when
I found Austin Hall's son and widow, they would put into my hands
an unknown, unpublished fantasy novel by Hall: THE HOUSE OF DAWN!
Some day it may appear in print.

Meanwhile you are getting understandably impatient to explore that
unknown realm of the Blind Spot. Be on your way, and bon voyage!

FORREST J ACKERMAN, Beverley Hills, Calif.






PROLOGUE

Perhaps it were just as well to start at the beginning. A mere
matter of news.

All the world at the time knew the story; but for the benefit of
those who have forgotten I shall repeat it. I am merely giving it
as I have taken it from the papers with no elaboration and no
opinion--a mere statement of facts. It was a celebrated case at
the time and stirred the world to wonder. Indeed, it still is
celebrated, though to the layman it is forgotten.

It has been labelled and indexed and filed away in the archives of
the profession. To those who wish to look it up it will be spoken
of as one of the great unsolved mysteries of the century. A crime
that leads two ways, one into murder--sordid, cold and
calculating; and the other into the nebulous screen that thwarts
us from the occult.

Perhaps it is the character of Dr. Holcomb that gives the latter.
He was a great man and a splendid thinker. That he should have
been led into a maze of cheap necromancy is, on the face,
improbable. He had a wonderful mind. For years he had been
battering down the scepticism that had bulwarked itself in the
material.

He was a psychologist, and up to the day the greatest, perhaps,
that we have known. He had a way of going out before his fellows--
it is the way of genius--and he had gone far, indeed, before them.
If we would trust Dr. Holcomb we have much to live for; our
religion is not all hearsay and there is a great deal in science
still unthought of. It is an unfortunate case; but there is much
to be learned in the circumstance that led the great doctor into
the Blind Spot.




I

RHAMDA AVEC


On a certain foggy morning in September, 1905, a tall man wearing
a black overcoat and bearing in one hand a small satchel of dark-
reddish leather descended from a Geary Street tram at the foot of
Market Street, San Francisco. It was a damp morning; a mist was
brooding over the city blurring all distinctness.

The man glanced about him; a tall man of trim lines and
distinctness and a quick, decided step and bearing. In the shuffle
of descending passengers he was outstanding, with a certain inborn
grace that without the blood will never come from training. Men
noticed and women out of instinct cast curious furtive glances and
then turned away; which was natural, inasmuch as the man was
plainly old. But for all that many ventured a second glance--and
wondered.

An old man with the poise of twenty, a strange face of remarkable
features, swarthy, of an Eastern cast, perhaps Indian; whatever
the certainty of the man's age there was still a lingering
suggestion of splendid youth. If one persisted in a third or
fourth look this suggestion took an almost certain tone, the man's
age dwindled, years dropped from him, and the quizzical smile that
played on the lips seemed a foreboding of boyish laughter.

We say foreboding because in this case it is not mistaken diction.
Foreboding suggests coming evil; the laughter of boys is
wholehearted. It was merely that things were not exactly as they
should be; it was not natural that age should be so youthful. The
fates were playing, and in this case for once in the world's
history their play was crosswise.

It is a remarkable case from the beginning and we are starting
from facts. The man crossed to the window of the Key Route ferry
and purchased a ticket for Berkeley, after which, with the throng,
he passed the turnstile and on to the boat that was waiting. He
took the lower deck, not from choice, apparently, but more because
the majority of his fellow passengers, being men, were bound in
this direction. The same chance brought him to the cigar-stand.
The men about him purchased cigars and cigarettes, and as is the
habit of all smokers, strolled off with delighted relish. The man
watched them. Had anyone noticed his eyes he would have noted a
peculiar colour and a light of surprise. With the prim step that
made him so distinctive he advanced to the news-stand.

"Pardon me; but I would like to purchase one of those." Though he
spoke perfect English it was in a strange manner, after the
fashion of one who has found something that he has just learned
how to use. At the same time he made a suggestion with his tapered
fingers indicating the tobacco in the case. The clerk looked up.

"A cigar, sir? Yes, sir. What will it be?"

"A cigar?" Again the strange articulation. "Ah, yes, that is it.
Now I remember. And it has a little sister, the cigarette. I think
I shall take a cigarette, if--if--if you will show me how to use
it."

It was a strange request. The clerk was accustomed to all manner
of men and their brands of humour; he was about to answer in kind
when he looked up and into the man's eyes. He started.

"You mean," he asked, "that you have never seen a cigar or
cigarette; that you do not know how to use them? A man as old as
you are."

The stranger laughed. It was rather resentful, but for all that of
a hearty taint of humour.

"So old? Would you say that I am as old as that; if you will look
again--"

The young man did and what he beheld is something that he could
not quite account for: the strange conviction of this remarkable
man; of age melting into youth, of an uncertain freshness, the
smile, not of sixty, but of twenty. The young man was not one to
argue, whatever his wonder; he was first of all a lad of business;
he could merely acquiesce.

"The first time! This is the first time you have ever seen a cigar
or cigarette?"

The stranger nodded.

"The first time. I have never beheld one of them before this
morning. If you will allow me?" He indicated a package. "I think I
shall take one of these."

The clerk took up the package, opened the end, and shook out a
single cigarette. The man lit it and, as the smoke poured out of
his mouth, held the cigarette tentatively in his fingers.

"Like it?" It was the clerk who asked.

The other did not answer, his whole face was the expression of
having just discovered one of the senses. He was a splendid man
and, if the word may be employed of the sterner sex, one of
beauty. His features were even; that is to be noted, his nose
chiselled straight and to perfection, the eyes of a peculiar
sombreness and lustre almost burning, of a black of such intensity
as to verge into red and to be devoid of pupils, and yet, for all
of that, of a glow and softness. After a moment he turned to the
clerk.

"You are young, my lad."

"Twenty-one, sir."

"You are fortunate. You live in a wonderful age. It is as
wonderful as your tobacco. And you still have many great things
before you."

"Yes, sir."

The man walked on to the forward part of the boat; leaving the
youth, who had been in a sort of daze, watching. But it was not
for long. The whole thing had been strange and to the lad almost
inexplicable. The man was not insane, he was certain; and he was
just as sure that he had not been joking. From the start he had
been taken by the man's refinement, intellect and education. He
was positive that he had been sincere. Yet--

The ferry detective happened at that moment to be passing. The
clerk made an indication with his thumb.

"That man yonder," he spoke, "the one in black. Watch him." Then
he told his story. The detective laughed and walked forward.

It was a most fortunate incident. It was a strange case. That mere
act of the cigar clerk placed the police on the track and gave to
the world the only clue that it holds of the Blind Spot.

The detective had laughed at the lad's recital--almost any one had
a patent for being queer--and if this gentleman had a whim for a
certain brand of humour that was his business. Nevertheless, he
would stroll forward.

The man was not hard to distinguish; he was standing on the
forward deck facing the wind and peering through the mist at the
grey, heavy heave of the water. Alongside of them the dim shadow
of a sister ferry screamed its way through the fogbank. That he
was a landsman was evidenced by his way of standing; he was
uncertain; at every heave of the boat he would shift sidewise. An
unusually heavy roll caught him slightly off-balance and jostled
him against the detective. The latter held up his hand and caught
him by the arm.

"A bad morning," spoke the officer. "B-r-r-r! Did you notice the
Yerbe Buena yonder? She just grazed us. A bad morning."

The stranger turned. As the detective caught the splendid face,
the glowing eyes and the youthful smile, he started much as had
done the cigar clerk. The same effect of the age melting into
youth and--the officer being much more accustomed to reading men--
a queer sense of latent and potent vision. The eyes were soft and
receptive but for all that of the delicate strength and colour
that comes from abnormal intellect. He noted the pupils, black,
glowing, of great size, almost filling the iris and the whole
melting into intensity that verged into red. Either the man had
been long without sleep or he was one of unusual intelligence and
vitality.

"A nasty morning," repeated the officer.

"Ah! Er, yes--did you say it was a nasty morning? Indeed, I do not
know, sir. However, it is very interesting."

"Stranger in San Francisco?"

"Well, yes. At least, I have never seen it."

"H-m!" The detective was a bit nonplussed by the man's evident
evasion. "Well, if you are a stranger I suppose it is up to me to
come to the defence of my city. This is one of Frisco's fogs. We
have them occasionally. Sometimes they last for days. This one is
a low one. It will lift presently. Then you will see the sun. Have
you ever seen Frisco's sun?"

"My dear sir"--this same slow articulation--"I have never seen
your sun nor any other."

"Hum!"

It was an answer altogether unexpected. Again the officer found
himself gazing into the strange, refined face and wonderful eyes.
The man was not blind, of that he was certain. Neither was his
voice harsh or testy. Rather was it soft and polite, of one merely
stating a fact. Yet how could it be? He remembered the cigar
clerk. Neither cigar nor sun! From what manner of land could the
man come? A detective has a certain gift of intuition. Though on
the face of it, outside of the man's personality, there could be
nothing to it but a joke, he chose to act upon the impulse. He
pulled back the door which had been closed behind them and re-
entered the boat. When he returned the boat had arrived at the
pier.

"You are going to Oakland?"

It was a chance question.

"No, to Berkeley. I take a train here, I understand. Do all the
trains go to Berkeley?"

"By no means. I am going to Berkeley myself. We can ride together.
My name is Jerome. Albert Jerome."

"Thanks. Mine is Avec. Rhamda Avec. I am much obliged. Your
company may be instructive."

He did not say more, but watched with unrestrained interest their
manoeuvre into the slip. A moment later they were marching with
the others down the gangways to the trains waiting. Just as they
were seated and the electric train was pulling out of the pier the
sun breaking through the mist blazed with splendid light through
the cloud rifts. The stranger was next to the window where he
could look out over the water and beyond at the citied shoreline,
whose sea of housetops extended and rose to the peaks of the first
foothills. The sun was just coming over the mountains.

The detective watched. There was sincerity in the man's actions.
It was not acting. When the light first broke he turned his eyes
full into the radiance. It was the act of a child and, so it
struck the officer, of the same trust and simplicity--and likewise
the same effect. He drew away quickly: for the moment blinded.

"Ah!" he said. "It is so. This is the sun. Your sun is wonderful!"

"Indeed it is," returned the other. "But rather common. We see it
every day. It's the whole works, but we get used to it. For myself
I cannot see anything strange in the 'sun's still shining.' You
have been blind, Mr. Avec? Pardon the question. But I must
naturally infer. You say you have never seen the sun. I suppose--"

He stopped because of the other's smile; somehow it seemed a very
superior one, as if predicting a wealth of wisdom.

"My dear Mr. Jerome," he spoke, "I have never been blind in my
life. I say it is wonderful! It is glorious and past describing.
So is it all, your water, your boats, your ocean. But I see there
is one thing even stranger still. It is yourselves. With all your
greatness you are only part of your surroundings. Do you know what
is your sun?"

"Search me," returned the officer. "I'm no astronomer. I
understand they don't know themselves. Fire, I suppose, and a hell
of a hot one! But there is one thing that I can tell."

"And this--"

"Is the truth."

If he meant it for insinuation it was ineffective. The other
smiled kindly. In the fine effect of the delicate features, and
most of all in the eyes was sincerity. In that face was the mark
of genius--he felt it--and of a potent superior intelligence. Most
of all did he note the beauty and the soft, silky superlustre of
the eyes.

We have the whole thing from Jerome, at least this part of it; and
our interest being retrospect is multiplied far above that of the
detective. The stranger had a certain call of character and of
appearance, not to say magnetism. The officer felt himself almost
believing and yet restraining himself into caution of unbelief. It
was a remark preposterous on the face of it. What puzzled Jerome
was the purpose; he could think of nothing that would necessitate
such statements and acting. He was certain that the man was sane.

In the light of what came after great stress has been laid by a
certain class upon this incident. We may say that we lean neither
way. We have merely given it in some detail because of that
importance. We have yet no proof of the mystic and until it is
proved, we must lean, like Jerome, upon the cold material. We have
the mystery, but, even at that, we have not the certainty of
murder.

Understand, it was intuition that led Jerome into that memorable
trip to Berkeley; he happened to be going off duty and was drawn
to the man by a chance incident and the fact of his personality.
At this minute, however, he thought no more of him than as an
eccentric, as some refined, strange wonderful gentleman with a
whim for his own brand of humour. Only that could explain it. The
man had an evident curiosity for everything about him, the
buildings, the street, the cars, and the people. Frequently he
would mutter: "Wonderful, wonderful, and all the time we have
never known it. Wonderful!"

As they drew into Lorin the officer ventured a question.

"You have friends in Berkeley? I see you are a stranger. If I may
presume, perhaps I may be of assistance?"

"Well, yes, if--if--do you know of a Dr. Holcomb?"

"You mean the professor. He lives on Dwight Way. At this time of
the day you would be more apt to find him at the university. Is he
expecting you?"

It was a blunt question and of course none of his business. Yet,
just what another does not want him to know is ever the pursuit of
a detective. At the same time the subconscious flashing and
wondering at the name Rhamda Avec--surely neither Teutonic nor
Sanskrit nor anything between.

"Expecting me? Ah, yes. Pardon me if I speak slowly. I am not
quite used to speech--yet. I see you are interested. After I see
Dr. Holcomb I may tell you. However, it is very urgent that I see
the doctor. He--well, I may say that we have known each other a
long time."

"Then you know him?"

"Yes, in a way; though we have never met. He must be a great man.
We have much in common, your doctor and I; and we have a great
deal to give to your world. However, I would not recognise him
should I see him. Would you by any chance--"

"You mean would I be your guide? With pleasure. It just happens
that I am on friendly terms with your friend Dr. Holcomb."




II

THE PROFESSOR OF PHILOSOPHY


And now to start in on another angle. There is hardly any
necessity for introducing Dr. Holcomb. All of us, at least, those
who read, and, most of all, those of us who are interested in any
manner of speculation, knew him quite well. He was the professor
of philosophy at the University of California: a great man and a
good one, one of those fine academic souls who, not only by their
wisdom, but by their character, have a way of stamping themselves
upon generations; a speaker of the upstanding class, walking on
his own feet and utterly fearless when it came to dashing out on
some startling philosophy that had not been borne up by his
forebears.

He was original. He believed that the philosophies of the ages are
but stepping stones, that the wisdom of the earth looked but to
the future, and that the study of the classics, however essential,
is but the ground work for combining and working out the problems
of the future. He was epigrammatic, terse, and gifted with a
quaint humour, with which he was apt, even when in the driest
philosophy, to drive in and clinch his argument.

Best of all, he was able to clothe the most abstract thoughts in
language so simple and concrete that he brought the deepest of all
subjects down to the scope of the commonest thinker. It is
needless to say that he was 'copy.' The papers about the bay were
ever and anon running some startling story of the professor.

Had they stuck to the text it would all have been well; but a
reporter is a reporter; in spite of the editors there were
numerous little elaborations to pervert the context. A great man
must be careful of his speech. Dr. Holcomb was often busy
refuting; he could not understand the need of these little
twistings of wisdom. It kept him in controversy; the brothers of
his profession often took him to task for these little distorted
scraps of philosophy. He did not like journalism. He had a way of
consigning all writers and editors to the devil.

Which was vastly amusing to the reporters. Once they had him going
they poised their pens in glee and began splashing their venomous
ink. It was tragic; the great professor standing at bay to his
tormentors. One and all they loved him and one and all they took
delight in his torture. It was a hard task for a reporter to get
in at a lecture; and yet it was often the lot of the professor to
find himself and his words featured in his breakfast paper.

On the very day before this the doctor had come out with one of
his terse startling statements. He had a way of inserting
parenthetically some of his scraps of wisdom. It was in an Ethics
class. We quote his words as near as possible:

"Man, let me tell you, is egotistic. All our philosophy is based
on ego. We live threescore years and we balance it with all
eternity. We are it. Did you ever stop and think of eternity? It
is a rather long time. What right have we to say that life, which
we assume to be everlasting, immediately becomes restrospect once
it passes out of the conscious individuality which is allotted
upon this earth? The trouble is ourselves. We are five-sensed. We
weigh everything! We so measure eternity. Until we step out into
other senses, which undoubtedly exist, we shall never arrive at
the conception of infinity. Now I am going to make a rather
startling announcement.

"The past few years have promised a culmination which has been
guessed at and yearned for since the beginning of time. It is
within, and still without, the scope of metaphysics. Those of you
who have attended my lectures have heard me call myself the
material idealist. I am a mystic sensationalist. I believe that we
can derive nothing from pure contemplation. There is mystery and
wonder in the veil of the occult. The earth, our life, is merely a
vestibule of the universe. Contemplation alone will hold us all as
inapt and as impotent as the old Monks of Athos. We have mountains
of literature behind us, all contemplative, and whatever its
wisdom, it has given us not one thing outside the abstract. From
Plato down to the present our philosophy has given us not one
tangible proof, not one concrete fact which we can place our hands
on. We are virtually where we were originally; and we can talk,
talk, talk from now until the clap of doomsday.

"What then?

"My friends, philosophy must take a step sidewise. In this modern
age young science, practical science, has grown up and far
surpassed us. We must go back to the beginning, forget our
subjective musings and enter the concrete. We are five-sensed, and
in the nature of things we must bring the proof down into the
concrete where we can understand it. Can we pierce the nebulous
screen that shuts us out of the occult? We have doubted, laughed
at ourselves and been laughed at; but the fact remains that always
we have persisted in the believing.

"I have said that we shall never, never understand infinity while
within the limitations of our five senses. I repeat it. But that
does not imply that we shall never solve some of the mystery of
life. The occult is not only a supposition, but a fact. We have
peopled it with terror, because, like our forebears before
Columbus, we have peopled it with imagination.

"And now to my statement.

"I have called myself the Material Idealist. I have adopted an
entirely new trend of philosophy. During the past years, unknown
to you and unknown to my friends, I have allied myself with
practical science. I desired something concrete. While my
colleagues and others were pounding out tomes of wonderful
sophistry I have been pounding away at the screen of the occult.
This is a proud moment. I have succeeded. Tomorrow I shall bring
to you the fact and the substance. I have lifted up the curtain
and flooded it with the light of day. You shall have the fact for
your senses. Tomorrow I shall explain it all. I shall deliver my
greatest lecture; in which my whole Me has come to a focus. It is
not spiritualism nor sophistry. It is concrete fact and common
sense. The subject of my lecture tomorrow will be: 'The Blind
Spot.'"

Here begins the second part of the mystery.

We know now that the great lecture was never delivered.
Immediately the news was scattered out of the class-room. It
became common property. It was spread over the country and was
featured in all the great metropolitan dailies. In the lecture-
room next morning seats were at a premium; students, professors,
instructors and all the prominent people who could gain admission
crowded into the hall; even the irrepressible reporters had stolen
in to take down the greatest scoop of the century. The place was
jammed until even standing room was unthought of. The crowd, dense
and packed and physically uncomfortable, waited.

The minutes dragged by. It was a long, long wait. But at last the
bell rang that ticked the hour. Every one was expectant. And then
fifteen minutes passed by, twenty--the crowd settled down to
waiting. At length one of the colleagues stepped into the doctor's
office and telephoned to his home. His daughter answered.

"Father? Why he left over two hours ago."

"About what time?"

"Why, it was about seven-thirty. You know he was to deliver his
lecture today on the Blind Spot. I wanted to hear it, but he told
me I could have it at home. He said he was to have a wonderful
guest and I must make ready to receive him. Isn't father there?"
"Not yet. Who was this guest? Did he say?"

"Oh yes! In a way. A most wonderful man. And he gave him a
wonderful name, Rhamda Avec. I remember because it is so funny. I
asked father if he was Sanskrit; and he said he was much older
than that. Just imagine!"

"Did your father have his lecture with him?"

"Oh, yes. He glanced over it at breakfast. He told me he was going
to startle the world as it had never been since the day of
Columbus."

"Indeed."

"Yes. And he was terribly impatient. He said he had to be at the
college before eight to receive the great man. He was to deliver
his lecture at ten. And afterward he would have lunch at noon and
he would give me the whole story. I'm all impatience."

"Thank you."

Then he came back and made the announcement that there was a
little delay; but that Dr. Holcomb would be there shortly. But he
was not. At twelve o'clock there were still some people waiting.
At one o'clock the last man had slipped out of the room--and
wondered. In all the country there was but one person who knew.
That one was an obscure man who had yielded to a detective's
intuition and had fallen inadvertently upon one of the greatest
mysteries of modern times.




III

"NOW THERE ARE TWO"


The rest of the story is unfortunately all too easily told. We go
back to Jerome and his strange companion.

At Centre Street station they alighted and walked up to the
university. Under the Le Conte oaks they met the professor. He was
trim and happy, his short, well-built figure clothed in black, his
snow-white whiskers trimmed to the usual square crop and his pink
skin glowing with splendid health. The fog had by this time lifted
and the sun was just beginning to overcome the chilliness of the
air. There was no necessity for an introduction.

The two men apparently recognised each other at once. So we have
it from the detective. There was sincerity in the delight of their
hand-clasp. A strange pair, both of them with the distinction and
poise that come from refinement and intellectual training; though
in physique they were almost opposite, there was still a strange,
almost mutual, bond between them. Dr. Holcomb was beaming.

"At last!" he greeted. "At last! I was sure we could not fail.
This, my dear Dr. Avec, is the greatest day since Columbus."

The other took the hand.

"So this is the great Dr. Holcomb. Yes, indeed, it is a great day;
though I know nothing about your Columbus. So far it has been
simply wonderful. I can scarcely credit my senses. So near and yet
so far. How can it be? A dream? Are you sure, Dr. Holcomb?"

"My dear Rhamda, I am sure that I am the happiest man that ever
lived. It is the culmination. I was certain we could not fail;
though, of course, to me also it is an almost impossible climax of
fact. I should never have succeeded without your assistance."

The other smiled.

"That was of small account, my dear doctor. To yourself must go
the credit; to me the pleasure. Take your sun, for instance, I--
but I have not the language to tell you."

But the doctor had gone in to abstraction.

"A great day," he was beaming. "A great day! What will the world
say? It is proved." Then suddenly: "You have eaten?"

"Not yet. You must allow me a bit of time. I thought of it; but I
had not quite the courage to venture."

"Then we shall eat," said the other man. "Afterward we shall go up
to the lecture-room. Today I shall deliver my lecture on the Blind
Spot. And when I am through you shall deliver the words that will
astonish the world."

But here it seems there was a hitch. The other shook his head
kindly. It was evident that while the doctor was the leader, the
other was a co-worker who must be considered.

"I am afraid, professor, that you have promised a bit too much. I
am not entirely free yet, you know. Two hours is the most that I
can give you; and not entirely that. There are some details that
may not be neglected. It is a far venture and now that we have
succeeded this far there is surely no reason why we cannot go on.
However, it is necessary that I return to the house on Chatterton
Place. I have but slightly over an hour left."

The doctor was plainly disappointed.

"But the lecture?"

"It means my life, professor, and the subsequent success of our
experiment. A few details, a few minutes. Perhaps if we hurry we
can get back in time."

The doctor glanced at his watch. "Twenty minutes for the train,
twenty minutes for the boat, ten minutes; that's an hour, two
hours. These details? Have you any idea how long, Rhamda?"

"Perhaps not more than fifteen minutes."

"We have still two hours. Fifteen minutes; perhaps a little bit
late. Tell you what. I shall go with you. You can get on the
boat."

We have said that the detective had intuition. He had it still.
Yet he had no rational reason for suspecting either the professor
or his strange companion. Furthermore he had never heard of the
Blind Spot in any way whatsoever; nor did he know a single thing
of philosophy or anything else in Holcomb's teaching. He knew the
doctor as a man of eminent standing and respectability. It was
hardly natural that he should suspect anything sinister to grow
out of this meeting of two refined scholars. He attached no great
importance to the trend of their conversation. It was strange, to
be sure; but he felt, no doubt, that living in their own world
they had a way and a language of their own. He was no scholar.

Still, he could think. The man Rhamda had made an assertion that
he could not quite uncover. It puzzled him. Something told him
that for the safety of his old friend it might be well for him to
shadow the strange pair to the city.

When the next train pulled out for the pier the two scholars were
seated in the forward part of the car. In the last seat was a man
deeply immersed in a morning paper.

It is rather unfortunate. In the natural delicacy of the situation
Jerome could not crowd too closely. He had no certainty of
trouble; no proof whatever; he was known to the professor. The
best he could do was to keep aloof and follow their movements. At
the ferry building they hailed a taxi and started up Market
Street. Jerome watched them. In another moment he had another
driver and was winding behind in their wheel tracks. The cab made
straight for Chatterton Place. In front of a substantial two-story
house it drew up. The two men alighted. Jerome's taxi passed them.

They were then at the head of the steps; a woman of slender beauty
with a wonderful loose fold of black hair was talking. It seemed
to the detective that her voice was fearful, of a pregnant
warning, that she was protesting. Nevertheless, the old men
entered and the door slammed behind them. Jerome slipped from the
taxi and spoke a few words to the driver. A moment later the two
men were holding the house under surveillance.

They did not have long to wait. The man called Rhamda had asked
for fifteen minutes. At the stroke of the second the front door
re-opened. Someone was laughing; a melodious enchanting laugh and
feminine. A woman was speaking. And then there were two forms in
the doorway. A man and a woman. The man was Rhamda Avec, tall,
immaculate, black clad and distinguished. The woman, Jerome was
not certain that she was the same who opened the door or not; she
was even more beautiful. She was laughing. Like her companion she
was clad in black, a beautiful shimmering material which sparkled
in the sun like the rarest silk. The man glanced carelessly up and
down the street for a moment. Then he assisted the lady down the
steps and into the taxi. The door slammed; and before the
detective could gather his scattered wits they were lost in the
city.

Jerome was expecting the professor. Naturally when the door opened
he looked for the old gentleman and his companion. It was the
doctor he was watching, not the other. Though he had no rational
reason for expecting trouble he had still his hunch and his
intuition. The man and woman aroused suspicion; and likewise upset
his calculation. He could not follow them and stay with the
professor. It was a moment for quick decision. He wondered. Where
was Dr. Holcomb? This was the day he was to deliver his lecture on
the Blind Spot. He had read the announcement in the paper on the
way back, together with certain comments by the editor. In the
lecture itself there was mystery. This strange one, Rhamda, was
mixed in the Blind Spot. Undoubtedly he was the essential fact and
substance. Until now he had not scented tragedy. Why had Rhamda
and the woman come out together? Where was the professor?

Where indeed?

At the end of a half-hour Jerome ventured across the street. He
noted the number 288. Then he ascended the steps and clanged at
the knocker. From the sounds that came from inside, the place was
but partly furnished. Hollow steps sounded down the hallway,
shuffling, like weary bones dragging slippers. The door opened and
an old woman, very old, peered out of the crack. She coughed.
Though it was not a loud cough it seemed to the detective that it
would be her last one; there was so little of her.

"Pardon me, but is Dr. Holcomb here?"

The old lady looked up at him. The eyes were of blank
expressionless blue; she was in her dotage.

"You mean--oh, yes, I think so, the old man with the white
whiskers. He was here a few minutes ago, with that other. But he
just went out, sir, he just went out."

"No, I don't think so. There was a man went out and a woman. But
not Dr. Holcomb."

"A woman? There was no woman."

"Oh, yes, there was a woman--a very beautiful one."

The old lady dropped her hand. It was trembling.

"Oh, dear," she was saying. "This makes two. This morning it was a
man and now it is a woman, that makes two."

It seemed to the man as he looked down in her eyes that he was
looking into great fear; she was so slight and frail and helpless
and so old; such a fragile thing to bear burden and trouble. Her
voice was cracked and just above a shrill whisper, almost uncanny.
She kept repeating:

"Now there are two. Now there are two. That makes two. This
morning there was one. Now there are two."

Jerome could not understand. He pitied the old lady.

"Did you say that Dr. Holcomb is here?"

Again she looked up: the same blank expression, she was evidently
trying to gather her wits.

"Two. A woman. Dr. Holcomb. Oh, yes, Dr. Holcomb. Won't you come
in?"

She opened the door.

Jerome entered and took off his hat. Judicially he repeated the
doctor's name to keep it in her mind. She closed the door
carefully and touched his arm. It seemed to him that she was
terribly weak and tottering; her old eyes, however expressionless,
were full of pitiful pleading. She was scarcely more than a
shadow.

"You are his son?"

Jerome lied; but he did it for a reason. "Yes."

"Then come."

She took him by the sleeve and led him to a room, then across it
to a door in the side wall. Her step was slow and feeble; twice
she stopped to sing the dirge of her wonder. "First a man and then
a woman. Now there is one. You are his son." And twice she stopped
and listened. "Do you hear anything? A bell? I love to hear it: and
then afterward I am afraid. Did you ever notice a bell? It always
makes you think of church and the things that are holy. This is a
beautiful bell--first--"

Either the woman was without her reason or very nearly so: she was
very frail.

"Come, mother, I know, first a bell, but Dr. Holcomb?"

The name brought her back again. For a moment she was blank trying
to recall her senses. And then she remembered. She pointed to the
door.

"In there--Dr. Holcomb. That's where they come. That's where they
go. Dr. Holcomb. The little old man with the beautiful whiskers.
This morning it was a man; now it is a woman. Now there are two.
Oh, dear; perhaps we shall hear the bell."

Jerome began to scent a tragedy. Certainly the old lady was
uncanny; the house was bare and hollow; the scant furniture was
threadbare with age and mildew; each sound was exaggerated and
fearful, even their breathing. He placed his hand on the knob and
opened the door.

"Now there are two. Now there are two."

The room was empty. Not a bit of furniture; a blank, bare
apartment with an old-fashioned high ceiling. Nothing else.
Whatever the weirdness and adventure, Jerome was getting nowhere.
The old lady was still clinging to his arm and still droning:

"Now there are two. Now there are two. This morning a man; now a
woman. Now there are two."

"Come, mother, come. This will not do. Perhaps--"

But just then the old lady's lean fingers clinched into his arm;
her eyes grew bright; her mouth opened and she stopped in the
middle of her drone. Jerome grew rigid. And no wonder. From the
middle of the room not ten feet away came the tone of a bell, a
great silvery voluminous sound--and music. A church bell. Just one
stroke, full toned, filling all the air till the whole room was
choked with music. Then as suddenly it died out and faded into
nothing. At the same time he felt the fingers on his arm relax;
and a heap was at his feet. He reached over. The life and
intelligence that was so near the line was just crossing over the
border. The poor old lady! Here was a tragedy he could not
understand. He stooped over to assist her. He was trembling. As he
did so he heard the drone of her soul as it wafted to the shadow:

"Now there are two."




IV

GONE


Jerome was a strong man, of iron nerve, and well set against
emotion; in the run of his experience he had been plumped into
many startling situations; but none like this. The croon of the
old lady thrummed in his ears with endless repetition. He picked
her up tenderly and bore her to another room and placed her on a
ragged sofa. There were still marks on her face of former beauty.
He wondered who she was and what had been her life to come to such
an ending.

"Now there are two," the words were withering with oppression.
Subconsciously he felt the load that crushed her spirit. It was as
if the burden had been shifted; he sensed the weight of an
unaccountable disaster.

The place was musty and ill-lighted. He looked about him, the
dank, close air was unwashed by daylight. A stray ray of sunshine
filtering through the broken shutter slanted across the room and
sought vainly to dispel the shadow. He thought of Dr. Holcomb and
the old lady. "Now there are two." Was it a double tragedy? First
of all he must investigate.

The place was of eleven rooms, six downstairs and five on the
upper story. With the exception of one broken chair there was no
furniture upstairs; four of the rooms on the lower floor were
partly furnished, two not at all. A rear room had evidently been
to the old lady the whole of her habitation, serving as a kitchen,
bedroom, and living-room combined. Except in this room there were
no carpets what-ever. His steps sounded hollow and ghostly; the
boards creaked and each time he opened a door he was oppressed by
the same gloom of dankness and stagnation. There was no trace of
Dr. Holcomb.

He remembered the bell and sought vainly on both floors for
anything that would give him a clue to the sound. There was
nothing. The only thing he heard was the echoing of his own
creaking footsteps and the unceasing tune that dinned in his
spirit, "Now there are two."

At last he came to the door and looked out into the street. The
sun was shining and the life and pulse was rising from the city.
It was daylight; plain, healthy day. It was good to look at. On
the threshold of the door he felt himself standing on the border
of two worlds. What had become of the doctor and who was the old
lady; and lastly and just as important, who was the Rhamda and his
beautiful companion?

Jerome telephoned to headquarters.

It was a strange case.

At the precise minute when his would-be auditors were beginning to
fidget over his absence, the police of San Francisco had started
the search for the great doctor. Jerome had followed his
intuition. It had led him into a tragedy and he was ready to swear
almost on his soul that it was twofold. The prominence of the
professor, together with his startling announcement of the day
previous and the world-wide comment that it had aroused, elevated
the case to a national interest.

What was the Blind Spot? The world conjectured, and like the world
has been since beginning, it scoffed and derided. Some there were,
however, men well up in the latest discoveries of science, who did
not laugh. They counselled forbearance; they would wait for the
doctor and his lecture.

There was no lecture. In the teeth of our expectation came the
startling word that the doctor had disappeared. Apparently when on
the very verge of announcing his discovery he had been swallowed
by the very force that he had loosened. There was nothing in known
science outside of optics, that could in any way be blended with
the Blind Spot. There were but two solutions; either the professor
had been a victim of a clever rogue, or he had been overcome by
the rashness of his own wisdom. At any rate, it was known from
that minute on as "THE BLIND SPOT."

Perhaps it is just as well to take up the findings of the police.
The police of course never entertained any suggestion of the
occult. They are material; and were convinced from the start that
the case had its origin in downright villainy. Man is complex; but
being so, is oft overbalanced by evil Some genius had made a fool
of the doctor.

In the first place a thorough search was made for the professor.
The house at No. 288 Chatterton Place was ransacked from cellar to
attic. The records were gone over and it was found that the
property had for some time been vacant; that the real ownership
was vested in a number of heirs scattered about the country.

The old lady had apparently been living on the place simply
through sufferance. No one could find out who she was. A few
tradesman in the vicinity had sold her some scant supplies and
that was all. The stress that Jerome placed upon her actions and
words was; given its due account. There were undoubtedly two
villains; but there were two victims. That the old lady was such
as well as the professor no one has doubted. The whole secret lay
in the gentleman with the Eastern cast and complexion. Who was
Rhamda Avec?

And now comes the strangest part of the story. Ever, when we re-
count the tale, there is something to overturn the theories of the
police. It has become a sort of legend in San Francisco; one to be
taken with a grain of salt, to be sure, but for all that, one at
which we may well wonder. Here the supporters of the professor's
philosophy hold their strongest point--if it is true. Of course we
can venture no private opinion, never having been a witness. It is
this:

Rhamda Avec is with us and in our city. His description and drawn
likeness have been published many times. There are those who aver
that they have seen him in reality of the flesh walking through
the crowds of Market Street.

He is easily distinguished, tall and distinctive, refined to a
high degree, and with the poise and alertness of a gentleman of
reliance and character. Women look twice and wonder; he is neither
old nor young; when he smiles it is like youth breaking in
laughter. And with him often is his beautiful companion.

Men vouch for her beauty and swear that it is of the kind that
drives to distraction. She is fire and flesh and carnal--she is
more than beauty. There is allurement about her body; sylph-like,
sinuous; the olive tint of her complexion, the wonderful glory of
her hair and the glowing night-black of her eyes. Men pause; she
is of the superlative kind that robs the reason, a supreme glory
of passion and life and beauty, at whose feet fools and wise men
would slavishly frolic and folly. She seldom speaks, but those who
have heard her say that it is like rippling water, of gentleness
and softness and of the mellow flow that comes from love and
passion and from beauty.

Of course there is nothing out of the ordinary in their walking
down the streets. Anybody might do that. The wonder comes in the
manner in which they elude the police. They come and go in the
broad, bright daylight. Hundreds have seen them. They make no
effort at concealment, nor disguise. And yet no phantoms were ever
more unreal than they to those who seek them. Who are they? The
officers have been summoned on many occasions; but each and every
time in some manner or way they had contrived to elude them. There
are some who have consigned them to the limbo of illusion. But we
do not entirely agree.

In a case like this it is well to take into consideration the
respectability and character of those who have witnessed. Phantoms
are not corporeal; these two are flesh and blood. There is mystery
about them; but they are substance, the same as we are.

And lastly:

If you will take the Key Route ferry some foggy morning you may
see something to convince you. It must be foggy and the air must
be grey and drab and sombre. Take the lower deck. Perhaps you will
see nothing. If not try again; for they say you shall be rewarded.
Watch the forward part of the boat; but do not leave the inner
deck. The great Rhamda watching the grey swirl of the water!

He stands alone, in his hands the case of reddish leather, his
feet slightly apart and his face full of a great hungry wonder.
Watch his features: they are strong and aglow with a great and
wondrous wisdom; mark if you see evil. And remember. Though he is
like you he is something vastly different. He is flesh and blood;
but perhaps the master of one of the greatest laws that man can
attain to. He is the fact and the substance that was promised, but
was not delivered by the professor.

This account has been largely taken from one of the Sunday
editions of our papers. I do not agree with it entirely.
Nevertheless, it will serve as an excellent foundation for my own
adventures; and what is best of all, save labour.




V

FRIENDS


My name is Harry Wendel.

I am an attorney and until recently boasted of a splendid practice
and an excellent prospect for the future. I am still a young man;
I have had a good education and still have friends and admirers.
Such being the case, you no doubt wonder why I give a past
reference to my practice and what the future might have held for
me. Listen:

I might as well start 'way back. I shall do it completely and go
back to the fast-receding time of childhood.

There is a recollection of childish disaster. I had been making
strenuous efforts to pull the tail out of the cat that I might use
it for a feather duster. My desire was supreme logic. I could not
understand objection; the cat resisted for certain utilitarian
reasons of its own and my mother through humane sympathy. I had
been scratched and spanked in addition: it was the first storm
centre that I remember. I had been punished but not subdued. At
the first opportunity, I stole out of the house and onto the lawn
that stretched out to the pavement.

I remember the day. The sun was shining, the sky was clear, and
everything was green with springtime. For a minute I stood still
and blinked in the sunlight. It was beautiful and soft and balmy;
the world at full exuberance; the buds upon the trees, the
flowers, and the songbirds singing. I could not understand it. It
was so beautiful and soft. My heart was still beating fiercely,
still black with perversity and stricken rancour. The world had no
right to be so. I hated with the full rush of childish anger.

And then I saw.

Across the street coming over to meet me was a child of my age. He
was fat and chubby, a mass of yellow curls and laughter; when he
walked he held his feet out at angles as is the manner of fat boys
and his arms away from his body. I slid off the porch quietly.
Here was something that could suffer for the cat and my mother. At
my rush he stopped in wonder. I remember his smiling face and my
anger. In an instant I had him by the hair and was biting with all
the fury of vindictiveness.

At first he set up a great bawl for assistance. He could not
understand; he screamed and held his hands aloft to keep them out
of my reach. Then he tried to run away. But I had learned from the
cat that had scratched me. I clung on, biting, tearing. The shrill
of his scream was music: it was conflict, sweet and delicious; it
was strife, swift as instinct.

At last I stopped him; he ceased trying to get away and began to
struggle. It was better still; it was resistance. But he was
stronger than I; though I was quicker he managed to get my by the
shoulders, to force me back, and finally to upset me. Then in the
stolid way, and after the manner of fat boys, he sat upon my
chest. When our startled mothers came upon the scene they so found
us--I upon my back, clinching my teeth and threatening all the
dire fates of childhood, and he waiting either for assistance or
until my ire should retire sufficiently to allow him to release me
in safety.

"Who did it? Who started it?"

That I remember plainly.

"Hobart, did you do this?" The fat boy backed off quietly and
clung to his mother; but he did not answer.

"Hobart, did you start this?"

Still no answer.

"Harry, this was you; you started it. Didn't you try to hurt
Hobart?"

I nodded.

My mother took me by the hand and drew me away.

"He is a rascal, Mrs. Fenton, and has a temper like sin; but he
will tell the truth, thank goodness."

I am telling this not for the mere relation, but by way of
introduction. It was my first meeting with Hobart Fenton. It is
necessary that you know us both and our characters. Our lives are
so entwined and so related that without it you could not get the
gist of the story. In the afternoon I came across the street to
play with Hobart. He met me smiling. It was not in his healthy
little soul to hold resentment. I was either all smiles or anger.
I forgot as quickly as I battled. That night there were two happy
youngsters tucked into the bed and covers.

So we grew up; one with the other. We played as children do and
fought as boys have done from the beginning. I shall say right now
that the fights were mostly my fault. I started them one and all;
and if every battle had the same beginning it likewise had the
same ending. The first fight was but the forerunner of all the
others.

Please do not think hardly of Hobart. He is the kindest soul in
the world; there never was a truer lad nor a kinder heart. He was
strong, healthy, fat, and, like fat boys, forever laughing. He
followed me into trouble and when I was retreating he valiantly
defended the rear. Stronger, sturdier, and slower, he has been a
sort of protector from the beginning. I have called him the Rear
Guard; and he does not resent it.

I have always been in mischief, restless, and eager for anything
that would bring quick action; and when I got into deep water
Hobart would come along, pluck me out and pull me to shore and
safety. Did you ever see a great mastiff and a fox terrier running
together? It is a homely illustration; but an apt one.

We were boys together, with our delights and troubles, joys and
sorrows. I thought so much of Hobart that I did not shirk stooping
to help him take care of his baby sister. That is about the
supreme sacrifice of a boy's devotion. In after years, of course,
he has laughed at me and swears I did it on purpose. I do not
know, but I am willing to admit that I think a whole lot of that
sister.

Side by side we grew up and into manhood. We went to school and
into college. Even as we were at odds in our physical builds and
our dispositions, so were we in our studies. From the beginning
Hobart has had a mania for screws, bolts, nuts, and pistons. He is
practical; he likes mathematics; he can talk to you from the
binomial theorem up into Calculus; he is never so happy as when
the air is buzzing with a conversation charged with induction
coils, alternating currents, or atomic energy. The whole swing
and force of popular science is his kingdom. I will say for Hobart
that he is just about in line to be king of it all. Today he is in
South America, one of our greatest engineers. He is bringing the
water down from the Andes; and it is just about like those strong
shoulders and that good head to restore the land of the Incas.

About myself? I went into the law. I enjoy an atmosphere of strife
and contention. I liked books and discussion and I thought that I
would like the law. On the advice of my elders I entered law
college, and in due time was admitted to practice. It was while
studying to qualify that I first ran into philosophy. I was a lad
to enjoy quick, pithy, epigrammatic statements. I have always
favoured a man who hits from the shoulder. Professor Holcomb was a
man of terse, heavy thinking; he spoke what he thought and he did
not quibble. He favoured no one.

I must confess that the old white-haired professor left his stamp
upon me. I loved him like all the rest; though I was not above
playing a trick on the old fellow occasionally. Still he had a wit
of his own and seldom came out second best, and when he lost out
he could laugh like the next one. I was deeply impressed by him.
As I took course after course under him I was convinced that for
all of his dry philosophy the old fellow had a trick up his
sleeve; he had a way of expounding that was rather startling;
likewise, he had a scarcely concealed contempt for some of the
demigods of our old philosophy.

What this trick was I could never uncover. I hung on and dug into
great tomes of wisdom. I became interested and gradually took up
with his speculation; for all my love of action I found that I had
a strong subcurrent for the philosophical.

Now I roomed with Hobart. When I would come home with some dry
tome and would lose myself in it by the hour he could not
understand it. I was preparing for the law. He could see no
advantage to be derived from this digging into speculation. He was
practical and unless he could drive a nail into a thing or at
least dig into its chemical elements it was hard to get him
interested.

"Of what use is it, Harry? Why waste your brains? These old fogies
have been pounding on the question for three thousand years. What
have they got? You could read all their literature from the
pyramids down to the present sky-scrapers and you wouldn't get
enough practical wisdom to drive a dump-cart."

"That's just it," I answered. "I'm not hankering for a dump-cart.
You have an idea that all the wisdom in the world is locked up in
the concrete; unless a thing has wheels, pistons, some sort of
combustion, or a chemical action you are not interested. What
gives you the control over your machinery? Brains! But what makes
the mind go?"

Hobart blinked. "Fine," he answered. "Go on."

"Well," I answered, "that's what I am after."

He laughed. "Great. Well, keep at it. It's your funeral, Harry.
When you have found, it let me know and I'll beat you to the
patent."

With that he turned to his desk and dug into one of his
everlasting formulas. Just the same, next day when I entered
Holcomb's lecture-room I was in for a surprise. My husky room-mate
was in the seat beside me.

"What's the big idea?" I asked. "Big idea is right, Harry," he
grinned. "Just thought I would beat you to it. Had a dickens of a
time with Dan Clark, of the engineering department. Told him I
wanted to study philosophy. The old boy put up a beautiful holler.
Couldn't understand what an engineer would want with psychology or
ethics. Neither could I until I got to thinking last night when I
went to roost. Because a thing has never been done is no reason
why it never will be; is it, Harry?"

"Certainly not. I don't know just what you are driving at. Perhaps
you intend to take your notes over to the machine shop and hammer
out the Secret of the Absolute."

He grinned.

"Pretty wise head at that, Harry. What did you call it? The Secret
of the Absolute. Will remember that. I'm not much on phrases; but
I'm sure the strong boy with the hammer. You don't object to my
sitting here beside you; so that I, too, may drink in the little
drops of wisdom?"

It was in this way that Hobart entered into the study of
philosophy. When the class was over and we were going down the
steps he patted me on the shoulder.

"That's not so bad, Harry. Not so bad. The old doctor is there;
he's got them going. Likewise little Hobart has got a big idea."

Now it happened that this was just about six weeks before Dr.
Holcomb announced his great lecture on the Blind Spot. It was not
more than a week after registration. In the time ensuing Fenton
became just as great an enthusiast as myself. His idea, of course,
was chimerical and a blind; his main purpose was to get in with me
where he could argue me out of my folly.

He wound up by being a convert of the professor.

Then came the great day. The night of the announcement we had a
long discussion. It was a deep question. For all of my faith in
the professor I was hardly prepared for a thing like this. Strange
to say I was the sceptic; and stranger still, it was Hobart who
took the side of the doctor.

"Why not?" he said. "It merely comes down to this: you grant that
a thing is possible and then you deny the possibility of a proof--
outside of your abstract. That's good paradox, Harry; but almighty
poor logic. If it is so it certainly can be proven. There's not
one reason in the world why we can't have something concrete. The
professor is right. I am with him. He's the only professor in all
the ages."

Well, it turned out as it did. It was a terrible blow to us all.
Most of the world took it as a great murder or an equally great
case of abduction. There were but few, even in the university, who
embraced the side of the doctor. It was a case of villainy, of a
couple of remarkably clever rogues and a trusting scholar.

But there was one whose faith was not diminished. He had been one
of the last to come under the influence of the doctor. He was
practical and concrete, and not at all attuned to philosophy; he
had not the training for deep dry thinking. He would not recede
one whit. One day I caught him sitting down with his head between
his hands. I touched him on the shoulder.

"What's the deep study?" I asked him.

He looked up. By his eyes I could see that his thoughts had been
far away.

"What's the deep study?" I repeated.

"I was just thinking, Harry; just thinking."

"What?"

"I was just thinking, Harry, that I would like to have about one
hundred thousand dollars and about ten years' leisure."

"That's a nice thought," I answered; "I could think that myself.
What would you do with it?"

"Do? Why, there is just one thing that I would do if I had that
much money. I would solve the Blind Spot."

This happened years ago while we were still in college. Many
things have occurred since then. I am writing this on the verge of
disaster. How little do we know! What was the idea that buzzed in
the head of Hobart Fenton? He is concrete, physical, fearless. He
is in South America. I have cabled to him and expect him as fast
as steam can bring him. The great idea and discovery of the
professor is a fact, not fiction. What is it? That I cannot
answer. I have found it and I am a witness to its potency.

Some law has been missed through the ages. It is inexorable and
insidious; it is concrete. Out of the unknown comes terror.
Through the love for the great professor I have pitted myself
against it. From the beginning it has been almost hopeless. I
remember that last digression in ethics. "The mystery of the
occult may be solved. We are five-sensed. When we bring the thing
down to the concrete we may understand."

Sometimes I wonder at the Rhamda. Is he a man or a phantom? Does
he control the Blind Spot? Is he the substance and the proof that
was promised by Dr. Holcomb? Through what process and what laws
did the professor acquire even his partial control over the
phenomena? Where did the Rhamda and his beautiful companion come
from? Who are they? And lastly--what was the idea that buzzed in
the head of Hobart Fenton?

When I look back now I wonder. I have never believed in fate. I do
not believe in it now. Man is the master of his own destiny. We
are cowards else. Whatever is to be known we should know it. One's
duty is ever to one's fellows. Heads up and onward. I am not a
brave man, perhaps, under close analysis; but once I have given my
word I shall keep it. I have done my bit; my simple duty. Perhaps
I have failed. In holding myself against the Blind Spot I have
done no more than would have been done by a million others. I have
only one regret. Failure is seldom rewarded. I had hoped that my
life would be the last; I have a dim hope still. If I fail in the
end, there must be still one more to follow.

Understand I do not expect to die. It is the unknown that I am
afraid of. I who thought that we knew so much have found it still
so little. There are so many laws in the weave of Cosmos that are
still unguessed. What is this death that we are afraid of? What is
life? Can we solve it? Is it permissible? What is the Blind Spot?
If Hobart Fenton is right it has nothing to do with death. If so,
what is it?

My pen is weak. I am weary. I am waiting for Hobart. Perhaps I
shall not last. When he comes I want him to know my story. What he
knows already will not hurt repeating. It is well that man shall
have it; it may be that we shall both fail-there is no telling;
but if we do the world can profit by our blunders and guide
itself--perhaps to the mastery of the phenomenon that controls the
Blind Spot.

I ask you to bear with me. If I make a few mistakes or I am a bit
loose, remember the stress under which I am writing. I shall try
to be plain so that all may follow.




VI

CHICK WATSON


Now to go back.

In due time we were both of us graduated from college. I went into
the law and Hobart into engineering. We were both successful.
There was not a thing to foreshadow that either of us was to be
jerked from his profession. There was no adventure, but lots of
work and reward in proportion.

Perhaps I was a bit more fortunate. I was in love and Hobart was
still a confirmed bachelor. It was a subject over which he was
never done joking. It was not my fault. I was innocent. If the
blame ran anywhere it would have to be placed upon that baby
sister of his.

It happened as it happened since God first made the maiden. One
autumn Hobart and I started off for college. We left Charlotte at
the gate a girl of fifteen years and ten times as many angles. I
pulled one of her pigtails, kissed her, and told her I wanted her
to get pretty. When we came home next summer I went over to pull
the other pigtail. I did not pull it. I was met by the fairest
young woman I had ever looked on. And I could not kiss her.
Seriously, was I to blame?

Now to the incident.

It was a night in September. Hobart had completed his affairs and
had booked passage to South America. He was to sail next morning.
We had dinner that day with his family, and then came up to San
Francisco for a last and farewell bachelor night. We could take in
the opera together, have supper at our favourite cafe, and then
turn in. It was a long hark back to our childhood; but for all
that we were still boys together.

I remember that night. It was our favourite opera--"Faust." It was
the one piece that we could agree on. Looking back since, I have
wondered at the coincidence. The old myth of age to youth and the
subcurrent of sin with its stalking, laughing, subtle
Mephistopheles. It is strange that we should have gone to this one
opera on this one evening. I recall our coming out of the theatre;
our minds thrilling to the music and the subtle weirdness of the
theme.

A fog had fallen--one of those thick, heavy, grey mists that
sometimes come upon us in September. Into its sombre depths the
crowd disappeared like shadows. The lights upon the streets
blurred yellow. At the cold sheer contact we hesitated upon the
pavement.

I had on a light overcoat. Hobart, bound for the tropics, had no
such protection. It was cold and miserable, a chill wind stirring
from the north was unusually cutting. Hobart raised his collar and
dug his hands into his pockets.

"Brr," he muttered; "brr, some coffee or some wine. Something."

The sidewalks were wet and slippery, the mists settling under the
lights had the effect of drizzle. I touched Hobart's arm and we
started across the street.

"Brr is right," I answered, "and some wine. Notice the shadows,
like ghosts."

We were half across the street before he answered; then he
stopped.

"Ghosts! Did you say ghosts, Harry?" I noted a strange inflection
in his voice. He stood still and peered into the fog bank. His
stop was sudden and suggestive. Just then a passing taxicab almost
caught us and we were compelled to dodge quickly. Hobart ducked
out of the way and I side-stepped in another direction. We came up
on the sidewalk. Again he peered into the shadow.

"Confound that cab," he was saying, "now we have gone and missed
him."

He took off his hat and then put it back on his head. His
favourite trick when bewildered. I looked up and down the street.

"Didn't you see him? Harry! Didn't you see him? It was Rhamda
Avec!"

I had seen no one; that is to notice; I did not know the Rhamda.
Neither did he.

"The Rhamda? You don't know him."

Hobart was puzzled.

"No," he said; "I do not; but it was he, just as sure as I am a
fat man."

I whistled. I recalled the tale that was now a legend. The man had
an affinity for the fog mist. To come out of "Faust" and to run
into the Rhamda! What was the connection? For a moment we both
stood still and waited.

"I wonder--" said Hobart. "I was just thinking about that fellow
tonight. Strange! Well, let's get something hot--some coffee."

But it had given us something for discussion. Certainly it was
unusual. During the past few days I had been thinking of Dr.
Holcomb; and for the last few hours the tale had clung with
reiterating persistence. Perhaps it was the weirdness and the
tremulous intoxication of the music. I was one of the vast
majority who disbelieved it. Was it possible that it was, after
all, other than the film of fancy? There are times when we are
receptive; at that moment I could have believed it.

We entered the cafe and chose a table slightly to the rear. It was
a contrast to the cold outside; the lights so bright, the glasses
clinking, laughter and music. A few young people were dancing. I
sat down; in a moment the lightness and jollity had stirred my
blood. Hobart took a chair opposite. The place was full of beauty.
In the back of my mind blurred the image of Rhamda. I had never
seen him; but I had read the description. I wondered absently at
the persistence.

I have said that I do not believe in fate. I repeat it. Man should
control his own destiny. A great man does. Perhaps that is it. I
am not great. Certainly it was circumstance.

In the back part of the room at one of the tables was a young man
sitting alone. Something caught my attention. Perhaps it was his
listlessness or the dreamy unconcern with which he watched the
dancers; or it may have been the utter forlornness of his
expression. I noted his unusual pallor and his cast of
dissipation, also the continual working of his long, lean fingers.
There are certain set fixtures in the night life of any city. But
this was not one. He was not an habitue. There was a certain
greatness to his loneliness and his isolation. I wondered.

Just then he looked up. By a mere coincidence our eyes met. He
smiled, a weak smile and a forlorn one, and it seemed to me rather
pitiful. Then as suddenly his glance wandered to the door behind
me. Perhaps there was something in my expression that caught
Hobart's attention. He turned about.

"Say, Harry, who is that fellow? I know that face, I'm certain."

"Come to think I have seen him myself. I wonder--"

The young man looked up again. The same weary smile. He nodded.
And again he glanced over my shoulder toward the door. His face
suddenly hardened.

"He knows us at any rate," I ventured.

Now Hobart was sitting with his face toward the entrance. He could
see anyone coming or going. Following the young man's glance he
looked over my shoulder. He suddenly reached over and took me by
the forearm.

"Don't look round," he warned; "take it easy. As I said--on my
honour as a fat man."

The very words foretold. I could not but risk a glance. Across the
room a man was coming down the aisle--a tall man, dark, and of a
very decided manner. I had read his description many times; I had
seen his likeness drawn by certain sketch artists of the city.
They did not do him justice. He had a wonderful way and presence--
you might say, magnetism. I noticed the furtive wondering glances
that were cast, especially by the women. He was a handsome man
beyond denying, about the handsomest I had ever seen. The same
elusiveness.

At first I would have sworn him to be near sixty; the next minute
I was just as certain of his youth. There was something about him
that could not be put to paper, be it strength, force or vitality;
he was subtle. His step was prim and distinctive, light as shadow,
in one hand he carried the red case that was so often mentioned. I
breathed an exclamation.

Hobart nodded.

"Am I a fat man? The famous Rhamda! What say! Ah, ha! He has
business with our wan friend yonder. See!"

And it was so. He took a chair opposite the wan one. The young man
straightened. His face was even more familiar, but I could not
place him. His lips were set; in their grim line--determination;
whatever his exhaustion there was still a will. Somehow one had a
respect for this weak one; he was not a mere weakling. Yet I was
not so sure that he was not afraid of the Rhamda. He spoke to the
waiter. The Rhamda began talking. I noted the poise in his manner;
it was not evil, rather was it calm--and calculating. He made an
indication. The young man drew back. He smiled; it was feeble and
weary, but for all of that disdainful. Though one had a pity for
his forlornness, there was still an admiration. The waiter brought
glasses.

The young man swallowed his drink at a gulp, the other picked his
up and sipped it. Again he made the indication. The youth dropped
his hand upon the table, a pale blue light followed the movement
of his fingers. The older man pointed. So that was their
contention? A jewel? After all our phantom was material enough to
desire possession; his solicitude was calmness, but for all that
aggression. I could sense a battle, but the young man turned the
jewel to the palm side of his fingers; he shook his head.

The Rhamda drew up. For a moment he waited. Was it for surrender?
Once he started to speak, but was cut short by the other. For all
of his weakness there was spirit to the young man. He even
laughed. The Rhamda drew out a watch. He held up two fingers. I
heard Hobart mumble.

"Two minutes. Well, I'm betting on the young one. Too much soul.
He's not dead; just weary."

He was right. At exactly one hundred and twenty seconds the Rhamda
closed his watch. He spoke something. Again the young man laughed.
He lit a cigarette; from the flicker and jerk of the flame he was
trembling. But he was still emphatic. The other rose from the
table, walked down the aisle and out of the building. The youth
spread out both arms and dropped his head upon the table.

It was a little drama enacted almost in silence. Hobart and I
exchanged glances. The mere glimpse of the Rhamda had brought us
both back to the Blind Spot. Was there any connection? Who was the
young man with the life sapped out? I had a recollection of a face
strangely familiar. Hobart interrupted my thoughts.

"I'd give just about one leg for the gist of that conversation.
That was the Rhamda; but who is the other ghost?"

"Do you think it has to do with the Blind Spot?"

"I don't think," averred Hobart. "I know. Wonder what's the time."
He glanced at his watch. "Eleven thirty."

Just here the young man at the table raised up his head. The
cigarette was still between his fingers; he puffed lamely for a
minute, taking a dull note of his surroundings. In the well of
gaiety and laughter coming from all parts of the room his actions
were out of place. He seemed dazed; unable to pull himself
together. Suddenly he looked at us. He started.

"He certainly knows us," I said. "I wonder--by George, he's coming
over."

Even his step was feeble. There was exertion about every move of
his body, the wanness and effort of vanished vitality; he balanced
himself carefully. Slowly, slowly, line by line his features
became familiar, the underlines of another, the ghost of one
departed. At first I could not place him. He held himself up for
breath. Who was he? Then it suddenly came to me--back to the old
days at college--an athlete, one of the best of fellows, one of
the sturdiest of men! He had come to this!

Hobart was before me.

"By all the things that are holy!" he exclaimed. "Chick Watson!
Here, have a seat. In the name of Heavens, Chick! What on earth--"

The other dropped feebly into the chair. The body that had once
been so powerful was a skeleton. His coat was a disguise of
padding.

"Hello, Hobart; hello, Harry," he spoke in a whisper. "Not much
like the old Chick, am I? First thing, I'll take some brandy."

It was almost tragic. I glanced at Hobart and nodded to the
waiter. Could it be Chick Watson? I had seen him a year before,
hale, healthy, prosperous. And here he was--a wreck!"

"No," he muttered, "I'm not sick--not sick. Lord, boys, it's good
to meet you. I just thought I would come out for this one last
night, hear some music, see a pretty face, perhaps meet a friend.
But I am afraid--" He dropped off like one suddenly drifting into
slumber.

"Hustle that waiter," I said to Hobart. "Hurry that brandy."

The stimulant seemed to revive him. He lifted up suddenly. There
was fear in his eyes; then on seeing himself among friends--
relief. He turned to me.

"Think I'm sick, don't you?" he asked.

"You certainly are," I answered.

"Well, I'm not."

For a moment silence. I glanced at Hobart. Hobart nodded.

"You're just about in line for a doctor, Chick, old boy," I said.
"I'm going to see that you have one. Bed for you, and the care of
mother--"

He started; he seemed to jerk himself together.

"That's it, Harry; that's what I wanted. It's so hard for me to
think. Mother, mother! That's why I came downtown. I wanted a
friend. I have something for you to give to mother."

"Rats," I said. "I'll take you to her. What are you talking
about?"

But he shook his head.

"I wish that you were telling the truth, Harry. But it's no use--
not after tonight. All the doctors in the world could not save me.
I'm not sick, boys, far from it."

Hobart spoke up.

"What is it, Chick? I have a suspicion. Am I right?"

Chick looked up; he closed his eyes.

"All right, Hobart, what's your suspicion?"

Fenton leaned over. It seemed to me that he was peering into the
other's soul. He touched his forearm.

"Chick, old boy, I think I know. But tell me. Am I right? It's the
Blind Spot."

At the words Watson opened his eyes; they were full of hope and
wonder, for a moment, and then, as suddenly of a great despair.
His body went to a heap. His voice was feeble.

"Yes," he answered, "I am dying--of the Blind Spot"




VII

THE RING


It was a terrible thing; death stalking out of the Blind Spot. We
had almost forgotten. It had been a story hitherto--a wonderful
one to be sure, and one to arouse conjecture. I had never thought
that we were to be brought to its shivering contact. It was out of
the occult; it had been so pronounced by the professor; a great
secret of life holding out a guerdon of death to its votaries.
Witness Chick Watson, the type of healthy, fighting manhood--come
to this. He opened his eyes feebly; one could see the light; the
old spirit was there--fighting for life. What was this struggle of
soul and flesh? Why had the soul hung on? He made another effort.

"More drink," he asked; "more drink. Anything to hold me together.
I must tell you. You must take my place and--and--fight the Blind
Spot! Promise that--"

"Order the drinks," I told Hobart. "I see Dr. Hansen over there.
Even if we cannot save him we must hold him until we get his
story."

I went and fetched Hansen over.

"A strange case," he murmured. "Pulse normal; not a trace of
fever. Not sick, you say--" Hobart pointed to his head. "Ah, I
see! I would suggest home and a bed."

Just here Watson opened his eyes again. They rested first upon the
doctor, then upon myself, and finally upon the brandy. He took it
up and drank it with eagerness. It was his third one; it gave him
a bit more life.

"Didn't I tell you, boys, that there is not a doctor on earth that
can save me? Excuse me, doc. I am not sick. I told them. I am far
past physic; I have gone beyond medicine. All I ask is stimulant
and life enough to tell my story."

"My boy," asked the doctor kindly, "what ails you?"

Watson smiled. He touched himself on the forehead.

"Up here, doc. There are things in the world with which we may not
tamper. I tried it. Somebody had to do it and somebody has to do
it yet. You remember Dr. Holcomb; he was a great man; he was after
the secret of life. He began it."

Dr. Hansen started.

"Lord!" he exclaimed, looking at us all; "you don't mean this man
is mixed up in the Blind Spot?"

We nodded. Watson smiled; again he dropped back into inertia; the
speech he had made was his longest yet; the brandy was coming into
effect.

"Give him brandy," the doctor said; "it's as good as anything. It
will hold him together and give him life for a while. Here." He
reached into his pocket and flicked something into the glass.
"That will help him. Gentlemen, do you know what it means? I had
always thought! I knew Dr. Holcomb! Crossing over the border! It
may not be done! The secret of life is impossible. Yet--"

Watson opened his eyes again; his spirit seemed suddenly to
flicker into defiance.

"Who said it was impossible? Who said it? Gentlemen, it IS
possible. Dr. Holcomb--pardon me. I do not wish to appear a sot;
but this brandy is about the only thing to hold me together. I
have only a few hours left."

He took the glass, and at one gulp downed the contents. I do not
know what the doctor had dropped into it. Chick revived suddenly,
and a strange light blazed up in his eyes, like life rekindled.

"Ah, now I am better. So?"

He turned to us all; then to the doctor.

"So you say the secret of life is impossible?"

"I--"

Chick smiled wanly. "May I ask you: what it is that has just
flared up within me? I am weak, anaemic, fallen to pieces; my
muscles have lost the power to function, my blood runs cold, I
have been more than two feet over the border. And yet--a few
drinks of brandy, of stimulants, and you have drawn me back, my
heart beats strongly, for an hour. By means of drugs you have
infused a new life--which of course is the old--and driven the
material components of my body into correlation. You are
successful for a time; so long as nature is with you; but all the
while you are held aghast by the knowledge that the least flaw,
the least disarrangement, and you are beaten.

"It is your business to hold this life or what you may. When it
has gone your structures, your anatomy, your wonderful human
machine is worthless. Where has it come from? Where has it gone? I
have drunk four glasses of brandy; I have a lease of four short
hours. Ordinarily it would bring reaction; it is poison, to be
sure; but it is driving back my spirit, giving me life and
strength enough to tell my story--in the morning I shall be no
more. By sequence I am a dead man already. Four glasses of brandy;
they are speaking. Whence comes this affinity of substance and of
shadow?"

We all of us listened, the doctor most of all. "Go on," he said.

"Can't you see?" repeated Watson. "There is affinity between
substance and shadow; and therefore your spirit or shadow or what
you will is concrete, is in itself a substance. It is material
just as much as you are. Because you do not see it is no proof
that it is not substance. That pot palm yonder does not see you;
it is not blessed with eyes."

The doctor looked at Watson; he spoke gently.

"This is very old stuff, my boy, out of your abstract philosophy.
No man knows the secret of life. Not even yourself."

The light in Watson's eyes grew brighter, he straightened; he
began slipping the ring from his finger.

"No," he answered. "I don't. I have tried and it was like playing
with lightning. I sought for life and it is giving me death. But
there is one man living who has found it."

"And this man?"

"Is Dr. Holcomb!"

We all of us started. We had every one given the doctor up as
dead. The very presence of Watson was tragedy. We did not doubt
that he had been through some terrible experience. There are
things in the world that may not be unriddled. Some power, some
sinister thing was reaching for his vitality. What did he know
about the professor? Dr. Holcomb had been a long time dead.

"Gentlemen. You must hear my story; I haven't long to tell it.
However, before I start here is a proof for a beginning."

He tossed the ring upon the table.

It was Hobart who picked it up. A beautiful stone, like a
sapphire; blue but uncut and of a strange pellucid transparency--a
jewel undoubtedly; but of a kind we have never seen. We all of us
examined it, and were all, I am afraid, a bit disappointed. It was
a stone and nothing else.

Watson watched us. The waiter had brought more brandy, and Watson
was sipping it, not because he liked it, he said, but just to keep
himself at the proper lift.

"You don't understand it, eh? You see nothing? Hobart, have you a
match? There, that's it; now give me the ring. See--" He struck
the match and held the flame against the jewel. "Gentlemen, there
is no need for me to speak. The stone will give you a volume. It's
not trickery, I assure you, but fact. There, now, perfect. Doctor,
you are the sceptic. Take a look at the stone."

The doctor picked it up casually and held it up before his eyes.
At first he frowned; then came a look of incredulity; his chin
dropped and he rose in his chair.

"My God," he exclaimed, "the man's living! It--he--"

But Hobart and I had crowded over. The doctor held the ring so we
could see it. Inside the stone was Dr. Holcomb!

It was a strenuous moment, and the most incredible. We all of us
knew the doctor. It was not a photograph, nor a likeness; but the
man himself. It was beyond all reason that he could be in the
jewel; indeed there was only the head visible; one could catch the
expression of life, the movements of the eyelids. Yet how could it
be? What was it? It was Hobart who spoke first.

"Chick," he asked, "what's the meaning? Were it not for my own
eyes I would call it impossible. It's absurd on the face. The
doctor! Yet I can see him--living. Where is he?"

Chick nodded.

"That's the whole question. Where is he? I know and yet I know
nothing. You are now looking into the Blind Spot. The doctor
sought the secret of life--and found it. He was trapped by his own
wisdom!"




VIII

THE NERVINA


For a moment we were silent. The jewel reposed upon the table.
What was the secret of its phenomena? I could think of nothing in
science that would explain it. How had Watson come into its
possession? What was the tale he had to tell? The lean, long
finger that clutched for brandy! What force was this that had
driven him to such a verge? He was resigned; though he was defiant
he had already conceded his surrender. Dr. Hansen spoke.

"Watson," he asked, "what do you know about the Blind Spot?"

"Nothing."

We all turned to Chick. Hobart ordered more brandy. The doctor's
eyes went to slits. I could not but wonder.

"Chick," I asked, "who is Rhamda Avec?"

Watson turned.

"You saw him a few minutes ago? You saw him with me? Let me ask
you."

"Yes," I answered, "I saw him. Most people did. Is he invisible?
Is he really the phantom they say?"

Somehow the mention of the name made him nervous; he looked
cautiously about the room.

"That I don't know, Harry. It--If I can only get my wits together.
Is he a phantom? Yes, I think so. I can't understand him. At
least, he has the powers we attribute to an apparition. He is
strange and unaccountable. Sometimes you see him, sometimes you
don't. The first known of him was on the day Professor Holcomb was
to deliver his lecture on the Blind Spot. He was tracked, you
know, to the very act. Then came in the Nervina."

"And who is the Nervina?"

Watson looked at me blankly.

"The Nervina?" he asked, "The Nervina--what do you know about the
Nervina?"

"Nothing. You mentioned her just now."

His mind seemed to ramble. He looked about the room rather
fearfully. Perhaps he was afraid.

"Did I mention her? I don't know, Harry, my wits are muddled. The
Nervina? She is a goddess. Never was and never will be woman. She
loves; she never hates, and still again she does not love. She is
beautiful; too beautiful for man. I've quit trying."

"Is she Rhamda's wife?"

His eyes lit fire.

"No!"

"Do you love her?"

He went blank again; but at last he spoke slowly.

"No, I don't love her. What's the use? She's not for me. I did;
but I learned better. I was after the professor--and the Blind
Spot. She--"

Again that look of haunted pursuit. He glanced about the room.
Whatever had been his experience, it was plain that he had not
given up. He held something and he held it still. What was it?

"You say you didn't find the Blind Spot?"

"No, I did not find it."

"Have you any idea?"

"My dear Harry," he answered, "I am full of ideas. That's the
trouble. I am near it. It's the cause of my present condition. I
don't know just what it is nor where. A condition, or a
combination of phenomena. You remember the lecture that was never
delivered? Had the doctor spoken that morning the world would have
had a great fact. He had made a great discovery. It is a terrible
thing." He turned the ring so we could all see it--beyond all
doubt it was the doctor. "There he is--the professor. If he could
only speak. The secret of the ages. Just think what it means.
Where is he? I have taken that jewel to the greatest lapidaries
and they have one and all been startled. Then they all come to the
same conclusion--trickery--Chinese or Hindu work, they say; most
of them want to cut."

"Have you taken it to the police?"

"No."

"Why?"

"I would simply be laughed at."

"Have you ever reported this Rhamda?"

"A score of times. They have come and sought; but every time he
has gone out--like a shadow. It's got to be an old story now. If
you call them up and tell them they laugh."

"How do you account for it?"

"I don't. I--I--I'm just dying."

"And not one member of the force--surely?"

"Oh, yes. There's one. You have heard of Jerome. Jerome followed
the professor and the Rhamda to the house of the Blind Spot, as he
calls it. He's not a man to fool. He had eyes and he saw it. He
will not leave it till he's dead."

"But he did not see the Blind Spot, did he? How about trickery?
Did it ever occur to you that the professor might have been
murdered?"

"Take a look at that, Harry. Does that look like murder? When you
see the man living?"

Watson reached over and turned up the jewel.

Here Hobart came in.

"Just a minute, Chick. My wise friend here is an attorney. He's
always the first into everything, especially conversation. It's
been my job pulling Harry out of trouble. Just one question."

"All right."

"Didn't you--er--keep company, as they say, with Bertha Holcomb
while at college?"

A kind look came into the man's eyes; he nodded; his whole face
was soft and saddened.

"I see. That naturally brought you to the Blind Spot. You are
after her father. Am I correct?"

"Exactly."

"All right. Perhaps Bertha has taken you into some of her father's
secrets. He undoubtedly had data on this Blind Spot. Have you ever
been able to locate it?"

"No!"

"I see. This Rhamda? Has he ever sought that data?"

"Many, many times."

"Does he know you haven't got it?"

"No."

"So. I understand. You hold the whip hand through your ignorance.
Rhamda is your villain--and perhaps this Nervina? Who is she?"

"A goddess."

Hobart smiled.

"Oh, yes!" He laughed. "A goddess. Naturally! They all are. There
are about forty in this room at the present moment, my dear
fellow. Watch them dance!"

Now I had picked up the ring. It just fitted the natural finger. I
tried it on and looked into the jewel. The professor was growing
dimmer. The marvellous blue was returning, a hue of fascination;
not the hot flash of the diamond, but the frozen light of the
iceberg. It was frigid, cold, terrible, blue, alluring. To me at
the moment it seemed alive and pulselike. I could not account for
it. I felt the lust for possession. Perhaps there was something in
my face. Watson leaned over and touched me on the arm.

"Harry," he asked, "do you think you can stand up under the
burden? Will you take my place?"

I looked into his eyes; in their black depths was almost entreaty.
How haunting they were, and beseeching.

"Will you take my place?" he begged. "Are you willing to give up
all that God gives to the fortunate? Will you give up your
practice? Will you hold out to the end? Never surrender? Will--"

"You mean will I take this ring?"

He nodded.

"Exactly. But you must know beforehand. It would be murder to give
it to you without the warning. Either your death or that of Dr.
Holcomb. It is not a simple jewel. It defies description. It takes
a man to wear it. It is subtle and of destruction; it eats like a
canker; it destroys the body; it frightens the soul--"

"An ominous piece of finery," I spoke. "Wherein--"

But Watson interrupted. There was appeal in his eyes.

"Harry," he went on, "I am asking. Somebody has got to wear this
ring. He must be a man. He must be fearless; he must taunt the
devil. It is hard work, I assure you. I cannot last much longer.
You loved the old doctor. If we get at this law we have done more
for mankind than either of us may do with his profession. We must
save the old professor. He is living and he is waiting. There are
perils and forces that we do not know of. The doctor went at it
alone and fearless; he succumbed to his own wisdom. I have
followed after, and I have been crushed down--perhaps by my
ignorance. I am not afraid. But I don't want my work to die.
Somebody has got to take it on and you are the man."

They were all of them looking at me. I studied the wonderful blue
and its light. The image of the great professor had dimmed almost
completely. It was a sudden task and a great one. Here was a law;
one of the great secrets of Cosmos. What was it? Somehow the lure
caught into my vitals. I couldn't picture myself ever coming to
the extremity of my companion. Besides, it was a duty. I owed it
to the old doctor. It seemed somehow that he was speaking. Though
Watson did the talking I could feel him calling. Would I be
afraid? Besides, there was the jewel. It was calling; already I
could feel it burning into my spirit. I looked up.

"Do you take it, Harry?"

I nodded.

"I do. God knows I am worthless enough. I'll take it up. It may
give me a chance to engage with this famous Rhamda."

"Be careful of Rhamda, Harry. And above all don't let him have the
ring."

"Why?"

"Because. Now listen. I'm not laying this absolutely, understand.
Nevertheless the facts all point in one direction. Hold the ring.
Somewhere in that lustre lies a great secret; it controls the
Blind Spot. The Rhamda himself may not take it off your finger.
You are immune from violence. Only the ring itself may kill you."

He coughed.

"God knows," he spoke, "it has killed me."

It was rather ominous. The mere fact of that cough and his
weakness was enough. One would come to this. He had warned me, and
he had besought me with the same voice as the warning.

"But what is the Blind Spot?"

"Then you take the ring? What is the time? Twelve. Gentlemen--"

Now here comes in one of the strange parts of my story--one that I
cannot account for. Over the shoulder of Dr. Hansen I could watch
the door. Whether it was the ring or not I do not know. At the
time I did not reason. I acted upon impulse. It was an act beyond
good breeding. I had never done such a thing before. I had never
even seen the woman.

The woman? Why do I say it? She was never a woman--she was a girl--
far, far transcendent. It was the first time I had ever seen her--
standing there before the door. I had never beheld such beauty,
such profile, poise--the witching, laughing, night-black of her
eyes; the perfectly bridged nose and the red, red lips that
smiled, it seemed to me, in sadness. She hesitated, and as if
puzzled, lifted a jewelled hand to her raven mass of hair. To this
minute I cannot account for my action, unless, perchance, it was
the ring. Perhaps it was. Anyway I had risen.

How well do I remember.

It seemed to me that I had known her a long, long time. There was
something about her that was not seduction; but far, far above it.
Somewhere I had seen her, had known her. She was looking and she
was waiting for me. There was something about her that was super
feminine. I thought it then, and I say it now.

Just then her glance came my way. She smiled, and nodded; there
was a note of sadness in her voice.

"Harry Wendel!"

There is no accounting for my action, nor my wonder; she knew me.
Then it was true! I was not mistaken! Somewhere I had seen her. I
felt a vague and dim rush of dreamy recollections. Ah, that was
the answer! She was a girl of dreams and phantoms. Even then I
knew it; she was not a woman; not as we conceive her; she was some
materialisation out of Heaven. Why do I talk so? Ah! this strange
beauty that is woman! From the very first she held me in the
thrall that has no explanation.

"Do we dance?" she asked simply.

The next moment I had her in my arms and we were out among the
dancers. That my actions were queer and entirely out of reason
never occurred to me. There was a call about her beautiful body
and in her eyes that I could not answer. There was a fact between
us, some strange bond that was beyond even passion. I danced, and
in an extreme emotion of happiness. A girl out of the dreams and
the ether--a sprig of life woven out of the moonbeams!

"Do you know me?" she asked as we danced.

"Yes," I answered, "and no. I have seen you; but I do not
remember; you come from the sunshine."

She laughed prettily.

"Do you always talk like this?"

"You are out of my dreams," I answered: "it is sufficient. But who
are you?"

She held back her pretty head and looked at me; her lips drooped
slightly at the corners, a sad smile, and tender, in the soft
wonderful depths of her eyes--a pity.

"Harry," she asked, "are you going to wear this ring?"

So that was it. The ring and the maiden. What was the bond? There
was weirdness in its colour, almost cabalistic--a call out of the
occult. The strange beauty of the girl, her remarkable presence,
and her concern. Whoever and whatever she was her anxiety was not
personal. In some way she was woven up with this ring and poor
Watson.

"I think I shall," I answered.

Again the strange querulous pity and hesitation; her eyes grew
darker, almost pleading.

"You won't give it to me?"

How near I came to doing it I shall not tell. It would be hard to
say it. I knew vaguely that she was playing; that I was the
plaything. It is hard for a man to think of himself as being toyed
with. She was certain; she was confident of my weakness. It was
resentment, perhaps, and pride of self that gave the answer.

"I think I shall keep it."

"Do you know the danger, Harry? It is death to wear it. A thousand
perils--"

"Then I shall keep it. I like peril. You wish for the ring. If I
keep it I may have you. This is the first time I have danced with
the girl out of the moonbeams."

Her eyes snapped, and she stopped dancing. I don't think my words
displeased her. She was still a woman.

"Is this final? You're a fine young man, Mr. Wendel. I know you. I
stepped in to save you. You are playing with something stranger
than the moonbeams. No man may wear that ring and hold to life.
Again, Harry, I ask you; for your own sake."

At this moment we passed Watson. He was watching; as our eyes
glanced he shook his head. Who was this girl? She was as beautiful
as sin and as tender as a virgin. What interest had she in myself?

"That's just the reason," I laughed. "You are too interested. You
are too beautiful to wear it. I am a man; I revel in trouble; you
are a girl. It would not be honourable to allow you to take it. I
shall keep it."

She had overreached herself, and she knew it. She bit her lip. But
she took it gracefully; so much so, in fact, that I thought she
meant it.

"I'm sorry," she answered slowly. "I had hopes. It is terrible to
look at Watson and then to think of you. It is, really"--a faint
tremor ran through her body; her hand trembled--"it is terrible.
You young men are so unafraid. It's too bad."

Just then the door was opened; outside I could see the bank of
fog; someone passed. She turned a bit pale.

"Excuse me. I must be going. Don't you see I'm sorry--"

She held out her hand--the same sad little smile. On the impulse
of the moment, unmindful of place, I drew it to my lips and kissed
it. She was gone.

I returned to the table. The three men were watching me: Watson
analytically, the doctor with wonder, and Hobart with plain
disgust. Hobart spoke first.

"Nice for sister Charlotte, eh, Harry?"

I had not a word to say. In the full rush of the moment I knew
that he was right. It was all out of reason. I had no excuse
outside of sheer insanity--and dishonour. The doctor said nothing.
It was only in Watson's face that there was a bit of
understanding.

"Hobart," he said, "I have told you. It is not Harry's fault. It
is the Nervina. No man may resist her. She is beauty incarnate;
she weaves with the hearts of men, and she loves no one. It is the
ring. She, the Rhamda, the Blind Spot, and the ring. I have never
been able to unravel them. Please don't blame Harry. He went to
her even as I. She has but to beckon. But he kept the ring. I
watched them. This is but the beginning."

But Hobart muttered: "She's a beauty all right--a beauty. That's
the rub. I know Harry--I know him as a brother, and I want him so
in fact. But I'd hate to trust that woman."

Watson smiled.

"Never fear, Hobart, your sister is safe enough. The Nervina is
not a woman. She is not of the flesh."

"Brr," said the doctor, "you give me the creeps."

Watson reached for the brandy; he nodded to the doctor.

"Just a bit more of that stuff if you please. Whatever it is, on
the last night one has no fear of habit. There--Now, gentlemen, if
you will come with me, I shall take you to the house of the Blind
Spot."




IX

"NOW THERE ARE THREE"


I shall never forget that night. When we stepped to the pavement
the whole world was shrouded. The heavy fog clung like depression;
life was gone out--a foreboding of gloom and disaster. It was
cold, dank, miserable; one shuddered instinctively and battered
against the wall with steaming columns of breath. Just outside the
door we were detained.

"Dr. Hansen?"

Someone stepped beside us.

"Dr. Hansen?"

"Yes, sir."

"A message, sir."

The doctor made a gesture of impatience.

"Bother!" he spoke. "Bother! A message. Nothing in the world would
stop me! I cannot leave."

Nevertheless he stepped back into the light.

"Just a minute, gentlemen."

He tore open the envelope. Then he looked up at the messenger and
then at us. His face was startled--almost frightened.

"Gentlemen," he said, "I am sorry. Not a thing in the world would
detain me but this. I would go with you, but I may not. My duty as
a physician. I had hopes." He came over to me and spoke softly. "I
am going to send you one of the greatest specialists in the city
in my stead. This young man should have attention. Have you the
address?"

"288 Chatterton Place," I answered.

"Very well. I am sorry, very much disappointed. However, it is my
daughter, and I cannot do otherwise. Continue the brandy for a
while--and this." He slipped an envelope into my hand. "By that
time Dr. Higgins will be with you."

"You think there is hope?" I asked.

"There's always hope," replied the doctor.

I returned to my companions. They were walking slowly. It was work
for poor Watson. He dragged on, leaning on Hobart's arm. But at
last he gave up.

"No," he said, "I can't make it. I'm too far gone. I had thought--
Oh, what a lapse it has been! I am eighty years of age; one year
ago I was a boy. If only I had some more brandy. I have some at
the house. We must make that. I must show you; there I can give
you the details."

"Hail a cab," I said. "Here's one now."

A few minutes later we were before the House of the Blind Spot. It
was a two storey drab affair, much like a thousand others, old-
fashioned, and might have been built in the early nineties. It had
been outside of the fire limits of 1906, and so had survived the
great disaster. Chatterton Place is really a short street running
lengthwise along the summit of the hill. A flight of stone steps
descended to the pavement.

Watson straightened up with an effort.

"This is the house," he spoke. "I came here a year ago. I go away
tonight. I had hoped to find it. I promised Bertha. I came alone.
I had reasons to believe I had solved it. I found the Rhamda and
the Nervina. I had iron will and courage--also strength. The
Rhamda was never able to control me. My life is gone but not my
will. Now I have left him another. Do not surrender, Harry. It is
a gruesome task; but hold on to the end. Help me up the steps.
There now. Just wait a minute till I fetch a stimulant."

He did not ring for a servant. That I noticed. Instead he groped
about for a key, unlocked the door and stumbled into a room. He
fumbled for a minute among some glasses.

"Will you switch on a light?" he asked.

Hobart struck a match; when he found it he pressed the switch.

The room in which we were standing was a large one, fairly well
furnished, and lined on two sides with bookshelves; in the centre
was an oak table cluttered with papers, a couple of chairs, and on
one of them, a heavy pipe, which, somehow, I did not think of as
Watson's. He noticed my look.

"Jerome's," he explained. "We live here--Jerome, the detective,
and myself. He has been here since the day of the doctor's
disappearance. I came here a year ago. He is in Nevada at present.
That leaves me alone. You will notice the books, mostly occult:
partly mine, partly the detective's. We have gone at it
systematically from the beginning. We have learned almost
everything but what would help us. Mostly sophistry--and
guesswork. Beats all how much ink has been wasted to say nothing.
We were after the Blind Spot."

"But what is it? Is it in this house?"

"I can answer one part of your question," he answered, "but not
the other. It is here somewhere, in some place. Jerome is positive
of that. You remember the old lady? The one who died? Her actions
were rather positive even if feeble. She led Jerome to this next
room." He turned and pointed; the door was open. I could see a
sofa and a few chairs; that was all.

"It was in here. The bell. Jerome never gets tired of telling. A
church bell. In the centre of the room. At first I didn't believe;
but now I accept it all. I know, but what I know is by intuition."

"Sort of sixth sense?'

"Yes. Or foresight."

"You never saw this bell nor found it? Never were able to arrive
at an explanation?"

"No."

"How about the Rhamda? The Nervina? Do they come to this house?"

"Not often."

"How do they come in? Through the window?"

He smiled rather sadly. "I don't know. At least they come. You
shall see them yourself. The Rhamda still has something to do with
Dr. Holcomb. Somehow his very concern tells me the doctor is safe.
Undoubtedly the professor made a great discovery. But he was not
alone. He had a co-worker--the Rhamda. For reasons of his own the
Rhamda wishes to control the Blind Spot."

"Then the professor is in this Blind Spot?"

"We think so. At least it is our conjecture. We do not know."

"Then you don't think it trickery?"

"No, hardly. Harry, you know better than that. Can you imagine the
great doctor the dupe of a mere trickster? The professor was a man
of great science and was blessed with an almighty sound head. But
he had one weakness."

Hobart spoke up.

"What is it, Chick? I think I know what you mean. The old boy was
honest?"

"Exactly. He had been a scholar all his life. He taught ethics. He
believed in right. He practised his creed. When he came to the
crucial experiment he found himself dealing with a rogue. The
Rhamda helped him just so far; but once he had the professor in
his power it was not his purpose to release him until he was
secure of the Blind Spot."

"I see," I spoke. "The man is a villain. I think we can handle
him."

But Watson shook his head.

"That's just it, Harry! The man! If he were a man I could have
handled him in short order. That's what I thought at first. Don't
make any mistake. Don't try violence. That's the whole crux of the
difficulty. If he were only a man! Unfortunately, he is not."

"Not a man!" I exclaimed. "What do you mean? Then, what is he?"

"He is a phantom."

I glanced at Hobart and caught his eye. Hobart believed him! The
poor pallid face of Watson, the athlete; there was nothing left to
him but his soul! I shall not forget Watson as he sat there, his
lean, long fingers grasping the brandy glass, his eyes burning and
his life holding back from the pit through sheer will and courage.
Would I come to this? Would I have the strength to measure up to
his standard?

Hobart broke the tension.

"Chick's right. There is something in it, Harry. Not all the
secrets of the universe have been unlocked by any means. Now,
Chick, about details. Have you any data--any notes?"

Watson rose. I could see he was grateful.

"You believe me, don't you, Hobart? It is good. I had hoped to
find someone, and I found you two. Harry, remember what I have
told you. Hold the ring. You take my place. Whatever happens,
stick out to the end. You have Hobart here to help you. Now just a
minute. The library is here; you can look over my books. I shall
return in a moment."

He stepped out into the hall; we could hear his weary feet
dragging down the hallway--a hollow sound and a bit uncanny.
Somehow my mind rambled back to that account I had read in the
newspaper--Jerome's story--"Like weary bones dragging slippers."
And the old lady. Who was she? Why was everyone in this house
pulled down to exhaustion--the words of the old lady, I could
almost hear them; the dank air murmuring their recollection. "Now
there are two. Now there are two!"

"What's the matter, Harry?"

Perhaps I was frightened. I do not know. I looked around. The
sound of Watson's footsteps had died away; there was a light in
the back of the building coming toward us.

"Nothing! Only--damn this place, Hobart. Don't you notice it? It's
enough to eat your heart out."

"Rather interesting," said Hobart. It was too interesting for me.
I stepped over to the shelves and looked at the titles. Sanskrit
and Greek; German and French--the Vedas, Sir Oliver Lodge, Besant,
Spinoza, a conglomeration of all ages and tongues; a range of
metaphysics that was as wide as Babel, and about as enlightening.
As Babel? Over my shoulders came the strangest sound of all, weak,
piping, tremulous, fearful--"Now there are two. Now there are
two." My heart gave a fearful leap. "Soon there will be three!
Soon--"

I turned suddenly about. I had a fearful thought. I looked at
Hobart. A strange, insidious fear clutched at me. Was the thought
intrinsic? If not, where had it come from? Three? I strained my
ears to hear Watson's footsteps. He was in the back part of the
building. I must have some air.

"I'm going to open the door, Hobart," I spoke. "The front door,
and look out into the street."

"Don't blame you much. Feel a bit that way myself. About time for
Dr. Higgins. Here comes Chick again. Take a look outside and see
if the doc is coming."

I opened the door and looked out into the dripping fog bank. What
a pair of fools we were! We both knew it, and we were both seeking
an excuse. In the next room through the curtains I could see the
weak form of Watson; he was bearing a light.

Suddenly the light went out.

I was at high tension; the mere fact of the light was nothing, but
it meant a world at that moment--a strange sound--a struggle--then
the words of Watson--Chick Watson's:

"Harry! Harry! Hobart! Harry! Come here! It's the Blind Spot!"

It was in the next room. The despair of that call is
unforgettable, like that of one suddenly falling into space. Then
the light dropped to the floor. I could see the outlines of his
figure and a weird, single string of incandescence. Hobart turned
and I leaped. It was a blur, the form of a man melting into
nothing. I sprang into the room, tearing down the curtains. Hobart
was on top of me. But we were too late. I could feel the vibrancy
of something uncanny as I rushed across the space intervening.
Through my mind darted the thrill of terror. It had come suddenly,
and in climax. It was over before it had commenced. The light had
gone out. Only by the gleam from the other room could we make out
each others' faces. The air was vibrant, magnetic. There was no
Watson. But we could hear his voice. Dim and fearful, coming down
the corridors of time.

"Hold that ring, Harry! Hold that ring!" Then the faint despair
out of the weary distance, faint, but a whole volume:

"The Blind Spot!"

It was over as quickly as that. The whole thing climaxed into an
instant. It is difficult to describe. One cannot always analyse
sensations. Mine, I am afraid, were muddled. A thousand insistent
thoughts clashed through my brain. Horror, wonder, doubt! I have
only one persistent and predominating recollection. The old lady!
I could almost feel her coming out of the shadows. There was
sadness and pity; out of the stillness and the corners. What had
been the dirge of her sorrow?

"NOW THERE ARE THREE!"




X

MAN OR PHANTOM


It was Hobart who came to first. His voice was good to hear. It
was natural; it was sweet and human, but it was pregnant with
disappointment: "We are fools, Harry; we are fools!"

But I could only stare. I remember saying: "The Blind Spot?"

"Yes," returned Hobart, "the Blind Spot. But what is it? We saw him
go. Did you see it?"

"It gets me," I answered. "He just vanished into space. It--"
Frankly I was afraid.

"It tallies well with the reports. The old lady and Jerome.
Remember?"

"And the bell?" I looked about the room.

"Exactly. Phenomena! Watson was right. I just wonder--but the
bell? Remember the doctor? 'The greatest day since Columbus.' No,
don't cross the room, Harry, I'm a bit leery: A great discovery! I
should say it was. How do you account for it?"

"Supernatural."

Fenton shook his head.

"By no means! It's the gateway to the universe--into Cosmos." His
eyes sparkled. "My Lord, Harry! Don't you see! Once we control it.
The Blind Spot! What is beyond? We saw Chick Watson go. Before our
eyes. Where did he go to? It beats death itself."

I started across the room, but Hobart caught me with both arms:
"No, no, no, Harry. My Lord! I don't want to lose you. No! You
foolhardly little cuss--stand back!"

He threw me violently against the wall. The impact quite took my
breath.

On the instant the old rush of temper surged up in me. From
boyhood we had these moments. Hobart settled himself and awaited
the rush that he knew was coming. In his great, calm, brute
strength there was still a greatness of love.

"Harry," he was saying, "for the love of Heaven, listen to reason!
Have we got to have a knock-down and drag-out on this of all
nights? Have I got to lick you again? Do you want to roll into the
Blind Spot?"

Why did God curse me with such a temper? On such moments as this I
could feel something within me snapping. It was fury and unreason.
How I loved him! And yet we had fought a thousand times over just
such provocation. Over his shoulders I could see the still open
door that led into the street. A heavy form was looming through
the opening; out of the corner of my eye I caught the lines of the
form stepping out of the shadows--it crossed the room and stood
beside Hobart Fenton. It was Rhamda Avec!

I leaped. The fury of a thousand conflicts--and the exultation.
For the glory of such moments it is well worth dying. One minute
flying through the air--the old catapult tackle--and the next a
crashing of bone and sinew. We rolled over, head on, and across
the floor. Curses and execrations; the deep bass voice of Hobart:

"Hold him, Harry! Hold him! That's the way! Hold him! Hold him!"

We went crashing about the room. He was the slipperiest thing I
had ever laid hold of. But he was bone--bone and sinew; he was a
man! I remember the wild thrill of exultation at the discovery. It
was battle! And death! The table went over, we went spinning
against the wall, a crash of falling bookcases, books and broken
glass, a scurry and a flying heap of legs and arms. He was
wonderfully strong and active, like a panther. Each time I held
him he would twist out like a cat, straighten, and throw me out of
hold. I clung on, fighting, striving for a grip, working for the
throat. He was a man--a man! I remembered that he must never get
away. He must account for Watson.

In the first rush I was a madman. The mere force of my onslaught
had borne him down. But in a moment he had recovered and was
fighting systematically. As much as he could he kept over on one
side of me, always forcing me toward the inner room where Watson
had disappeared. In spite of my fury he eluded every effort that I
made for a vital part. We rolled, fought, struck and struggled.

I could hear Hobart's bass thundering: "Over! Over! Under! Look
out! Now you've got him! Harry! Harry! Look out! Hold him, for the
love of Heaven I see his trick. That's his trick. The Blind Spot!"

We were rolled clear over, picked, heaved, shoved against the
front wall. There were three! The great heaving bulk of Fenton;
the fighting tiger between us; and myself! Surely such strength
was not human; we could not pin him; his quickness was uncanny; he
would uncoil, twist himself and throw us loose. Gradually he
worked us away from the front wall and into the centre of the
room.

Could any mere man fight so? Hobart was as good as a ton; I was as
much for action. Slowly, slowly in spite of our efforts, he was
working us towards the Blind Spot. Confident of success, he was
over, around, and in and under. In a spin of a second he went into
the attack. He fairly bore us off our feet. We were on the last
inch of our line; the stake was--

What was it? We all went down. A great volume of sound! We were
inside a bell! My whole head buzzed to music and a roar; the whir
of a thousand vibrations; the inside of sound. I fell face
downwards; the room went black.

What was it? How long I lay there I don't know. A dim light was
burning. I was in a room. The ceiling overhead was worked in a
grotesque pattern; I could not make it out. My clothes were in
tatters and my hand was covered with blood. Something warm was
trickling down my face. What was it? The air was still and sodden.
Who was this man beside me? And what was this smell of roses?

I lay still for a minute, thinking. Ah, yes! It came back.
Watson--Chick Watson! The Blind Spot! The Rhamda and the bell!

Surely it was a dream. How could all this be in one short night?
It was like a nightmare and impossible. I raised up on my elbow
and looked at the form beside me. It was Hobart Fenton. He was
unconscious.

For a moment my mind was whirring; I was too weak and unsteady. I
dropped back and wondered absently at the roses. Roses meant
perfume, and perfume meant a woman. What could--something touched
my face--something soft; it plucked tenderly at my tangled hair
and drew it away from my forehead. It was the hand of a woman!

"You poor, foolish boy! You foolish boy!"

Somewhere I had heard that voice; it held a touch of sadness; it
was familiar; it was soft and silken like music that might have
been woven out of the moonbeams. Who was it that always made me
think of moonbeams? I lay still, thinking.

"He dared; he dared; he dared!" she was saying. "As if there were
not two! He shall pay for this! Am I to be a plaything? You poor
boy!"

Then I remembered. I looked up. It was the Nervina. She was
stooping over with my head against her. How beautiful her eyes
were! In their depths was a pathos and a tenderness that was past
a woman's, the same slight droop at the corners of the mouth, and
the wistfulness; her features were relaxed like a mother's--a
wondrous sweetness and pity.

"Harry," she asked, "where is Watson? Did he go?"

I nodded.

"Into the Blind Spot?"

"Yes. What is the Blind Spot?"

She ignored the question.

"I am sorry" she answered. "So sorry. I would have saved him. And
the Rhamda; was he here, too?"

I nodded. Her eyes flashed wickedly.

"And--and you--tell me, did you fight with the Rhamda? You--"

"It was Watson," I interrupted. "This Rhamda is behind it all. He
is the villain. He can fight like a tiger; whoever he is he can
fight."

She frowned slightly; she shook her head.

"You young men," she said. "You young men! You are all alike! Why
must it be? I am so sorry. And you fought with the Rhamda? You
could not overcome him, of course. But tell me, how could you
resist him? What did you do?"

What did she mean? I had felt his flesh and muscle. He was a man.
Why could he not be conquered--not be resisted?

"I don't understand," I answered. "He is a man. I fought him. He
was here. Let him account for Watson. We fought alone at first,
until he tried to throw me into this Thing. Then Hobart stepped
in. Once I thought we had him, but he was too slippery. He came
near putting us both in. I don't know. Something happened--a
bell."

Her hand was on my arm, she clutched it tightly, she swallowed
hard; in her eyes flashed the fire that I had noticed once before,
the softness died out, and their glint was almost terrible.

"He! The bell saved you? He would dare to throw you into the Blind
Spot!"

I lay back. I was terribly weak and uncertain. This beautiful
woman! What was her interest in myself?

"Harry," she spoke, "let me ask you. I am your friend. If you only
knew! I would save you. It must not be. Will you give me the ring?
If I could only tell you! You must not have it. It is death--yes,
worse than death. No man may wear it."

So that was it. Again and so soon I was to be tempted. Was her
concern feigned or real? Why did she call me Harry? Why did I not
resent it? She was wonderful; she was beautiful; she was pure. Was
it merely a subtle act for the Rhamda? I could still hear Watson's
voice ringing out of the Blind Spot; "Hold the ring! Hold the
ring!" I could not be false to my friend.

"Tell me first," I asked. "Who is this Rhamda? What is he? Is he a
man?"

"No."

Not a man! I remembered Watson's words: "A phantom!" How could it
be? At least I would find out what I could.

"Then tell me, what is he?"

"She smiled faintly; again the elusive tenderness lingered about
her lips, the wistful droop at the corners.

"That I may not tell you, Harry. You couldn't understand. If only
I could."

Certainly I couldn't understand her evasion. I studied and watched
her--her wondrous hair, the perfection of her throat, the curve of
her bosom.

"Then he is supernatural."

"No, not that, Harry. That would explain everything. One cannot go
above Nature. He is living just as you are."

I studied a moment.

"Are you a woman?" I asked suddenly.

Perhaps I should not have asked it; she was so sad and beautiful,
somehow I could not doubt her sincerity. There was a burden at the
back of her sadness, some great yearning unsatisfied,
unattainable. She dropped her head. The hand upon my arm quivered
and clutched spasmodically; I caught the least sound of a sob.
When I looked up her eyes were wet and sparkling.

"Oh," she said. "Harry, why do you ask it? A woman! Harry, a
woman! To live and love and to be loved. What must it be? There is
so much of life that is sweet and pure. I love it--I love it! I
can have everything but the most exalted thing of all. I can live,
see, enjoy, think, but I cannot have love. You knew it from the
first. How did you know it? You said--Ah, it is true! I am out of
the moonbeams." She controlled herself suddenly. "Excuse me," she
said simply. "But you can never understand. May I have the ring?"

It was like a dream--her beauty, her voice, everything. But I
could still hear Watson. I was to be tempted, cajoled, flattered.
What was this story out of the moonbeams? Certainly she was the
most beautiful girl I had ever seen. Why had I asked such a
question?

"I shall keep the ring," I answered.

She sighed. A strange weakness came over me; I was drowsy; I
lapsed again into unconsciousness; just as I was fading away I
heard her speaking: "I am so sorry!"




XI

BAFFLED


Was it a dream? The next I knew somebody was dousing water down my
neck. It was Hobart Fenton. "Lord," he was saying, "I thought you
were never coming to. What hit us? You are pretty well cut up.
That was some fight. This Rhamda, who is he? Can you figure him
out? Did you hear that bell? What was it?"

I sat up. "Where is the Nervina?" I asked. "The who?" He was
bewildered. "Oh, down at the cafe, I suppose. Thought you had
forgotten her. Wasn't her mate enough? It might be healthy to
forget his Nervina."

He was a fine sight; his clothes were in ribbons; his plump figure
was breaking out at the seams. He regarded me critically.

"What d'you think of the Blind Spot?" he asked. "Who is the
Rhamda? He put us out pretty easily."

"But the girl?" I interrupted. "The girl? Confound it, the girl?"

It was sometime before I could make him understand; even then he
refused to believe me.

"It was all a dream," he said; "all a dream."

But I was certain.

Fenton began prodding about the room. I do not believe any
apartment was ever so thoroughly ransacked. We even tore up the
carpet. When we were through he sat in the midst of the debris and
wiped his forehead.

"It's no use, Harry--no use. We might have known better. It can't
be done. Yet you say you saw a string of incandescence."

"A single string; the form of Watson; a blur--then nothing," I
answered.

He thought. He quoted the professor:

"'Out of the occult I shall bring you the proof and the substance.
It will be concrete--within the reach of your senses.' Isn't that
what the doctor said?"

"Then you believe Professor Holcomb?"

"Why not? Didn't we see it? I know a deal of material science; but
nothing like this. I always had faith in Dr. Holcomb. After all,
it's not impossible. First we must go over the house thoroughly."

We did. Most of all, we were interested in that bell. We did not
think, either of us, that so much noise could come out of nothing.
It was too material. The other we could credit to the occult; but
not the sound. It had drowned our consciousness; perhaps it had
saved us from the Rhamda. But we found nothing. We went over the
house systematically. It was much as it had been previously
described, only now a bit more furnished. The same dank, musty
smell and the same suggestive silence. We returned to the lower
floor and the library. It was a sorry sight. We straightened up
the shelves and returned the books to their places.

It was getting along toward morning. Hobart sailed at nine
o'clock. We must have new clothing and some coffee; likewise we
must collect our wits. I had the ring, and had given my pledge to
Watson. I was muddled. We must get down to sane action. First of
all we must return to our rooms.

The fog had grown thicker; one could almost taste it. I couldn't
suppress a shudder. It was cold, dank, repressive. Neither of us
spoke a word on our way downtown. Hobart opened the door to our
apartment; he turned on the lights.

In a few moments we had hot, steaming cups of coffee. Still we did
not speak. Hobart sat in his chair, his elbows on the table and
his head between his hands. My thoughts ran back to that day in
college when he said "I was just thinking, Harry, if I had one
hundred thousand dollars, I would solve the Blind Spot."

That was long ago. We had neither of us thought that we would come
to the fact.

"Well," I spoke, "have you got that hundred thousand dollars? You
had an idea once."

He looked up. "I've got it yet. I am not certain. It is merely a
theory. But it's not impossible."

"Well, what is it?"

He took another drink of coffee and settled back in his chair.

"It is energy, Harry--force. Nothing but energy--and Nature."

"Then it's not occult?" I asked.

"Certainly it is. I didn't say that. It is what the professor
promised. Something concrete for our senses. If the occult is, it
can certainly be proven. The professor was right. It is energy,
force, vibration. It has a law. The old doctor was caught somehow.
We must watch our step and see that we aren't swallowed up also.
Perhaps we shall go the way of Watson."

I shuddered.

"I hope not. But explain. You speak in volumes. Come back to
earth."

"That's easy, Harry. I can give you my theory in a few short
words. You've studied physiology, haven't you? Well, that's where
you can get your proof--or rather let me say my theory. What is
the Blind Spot?"

"In optics?"

"We'll forgo that," he answered. "I refer to this one."

I thought for a moment.

"Well," I said, "I don't know. It was something I couldn't see.
Watson went out before our eyes. He was lost."

"Exactly. Do you get the point?"

"No."

"It is this. What you see is merely energy. Your eye is merely a
machine. It catches certain colours. Which in turn are merely
rates of vibration. There is nothing to matter but force, Harry;
if we could get down deep enough and know a few laws, we could
transmute it."

"What has it to do with the occult?" "Merely a fact. The eye
machine catches only certain vibration speeds of energy. There are
undoubtedly any number of speeds; the eye cannot see them."

"Then this would account for the Blind Spot?"

"Exactly. A localised spot, a condition, a combination of
phenomena, anything entering it becomes invisible."

"Where does it go to?"

"That's it. Where? It's one of the things that man has been
guessing at down the ages. The professor is the first philosopher
with sound sense. He went after it. It's a pity he was trapped."

"By the Rhamda?"

"Undoubtedly."

"Who is he?"

Hobart smiled.

"How do I know? Where did he come from? If we knew that, we would
know everything. 'A phantom,' so Watson says. If so, it only
strengthens our theory. It would make a man and matter only a part
of creation. Certainly it would clear up a lot of doubts."

"And the ring?"

"It controls the Blind Spot."

"In what way?"

"That's for us to find out."

"And Watson? He is in this land of doubt?"

"At least he is in the Blind Spot. Let me try the ring."

He struck a match.

It was much as it had been in the restaurant, only a bit more
startling. Then the blue faded, the colour went out, and it became
transparent. For a moment. There was an effect of space and
distance that I had not noted before, almost marvellous. If I
could describe it at all, I would say a crystal corridor of a
vastness that can scarcely be imagined. It made one dizzy, even in
that bit of jewel: one lost proportion, it was height, distance,
space immeasurable. For an instant. Then the whole thing blurred
and clouded. Something passed across the face; the transparency
turned to opaqueness, and then--two men. It was as sudden as a
flash--the materialisation. There was no question. They were
alive. Watson was with the professor.

It was a strange moment. Only an hour before one of them had been
with us. It was Watson, beyond a doubt. He was alive; one could
almost believe him in the jewel. We had heard his story: "The
screen of the occult; the curtain of shadow." We had seen him go.
There was an element of horror in the thing, and of fascination.
The great professor! The faithful Watson! Where had they gone?

It was not until the colour had come back and the blue had
regained its lustre that either of us looked up. Could such a
thing be unravelled? Fenton turned the stone over thoughtfully. He
shook his head.

"In that jewel, Harry, lies the secret. I wish I knew a bit more
about physics, light, force, energy, vibration. We have got to
know."

"Your theory?"

"It still holds good."

I thought.

"Let me get it clear, Hobart. You say that we catch only certain
vibrations."

"That's it. Our eyes are instruments, nothing else. We can see
light, but we cannot hear it. We hear sound, but we cannot see it.
Of course they are not exactly parallel. But it serves the point.
Let's go a bit further. The eye picks up certain vibrations. Light
is nothing but energy vibrating at a tremendous speed. It has to
be just so high for the eye to pick it up. A great deal we do not
get. For instance, we can only catch one-twelfth of the solar
spectrum. Until recently we have believed only what we could see.
Science has pulled us out of the rut. It may pull us through the
Blind Spot."

"And beyond."

Hobart held up his hands.

"It is almost too much to believe. We have made a discovery. We
must watch our step. We must not lose. The work of Dr. Holcomb
shall not go for nothing."

"And the ring?"

He consulted his watch.

"We have only a short time left. We must map our action. We have
three things to work on--the ring, the house, Bertha Holcomb. It's
all up to you, Harry. Find out all that is possible; but go slow.
Trace down that ring; find out everything that you can. Go and see
Bertha Holcomb. Perhaps she can give you some data. Watson said
no; but perhaps you may uncover it. Take the ring to a lapidary;
but don't let him cut it. Last of all, and most important, buy the
house of the Blind Spot. Draw on me. Let me pay half, anyway."

"I shall move into it," I answered.

He hesitated a bit.

"I am afraid of that," he answered. "Well, if you wish. Only be
careful. Remember I shall return just as soon as I can get loose.
If you feel yourself slipping or anything happens, send me a
cable."

The hours passed all too quickly. When day came we had our
breakfast and hurried down to the pier. It was hard to have him
go. His last words were like Hobart Fenton. He repeated the
warning.

"Watch your step, Harry; watch your step. Take things easy; be
cautious. Get the house. Trace down the ring. Be sure of yourself.
Keep me informed. If you need me, cable. I'll come if I have to
swim."

His last words; and not a year ago. It seems now like a lifetime.
As I stood upon the pier and watched the ship slipping into the
water, I felt it coming upon me. It had grown steadily, a gloom
and oppression not to be thwarted; it is silent and subtle and
past defining--like shadow. The grey, heavy heave of the water;
the great hull of the steamer backing into the bay; the gloom of
the fog bank. A few uncertain lines, the shrill of the siren, the
mist settling; I was alone. It was isolation.

I had been warned by Watson. But I had not guessed. At the moment
I sensed it. It was the beginning. Out of my heart I could feel
it--solitude.

In the great and populous city I was to be alone, in all its
teeming life I was to be a stranger. It has been almost a year--a
year! It has been a lifetime. A breaking down of life!

I have waited and fought and sought to conquer. One cannot fight
against shadow. It is merciless and inexorable. There are secrets
that may be locked forever. It was my duty, my pledge to Watson,
what I owed to the professor. I have hung on grimly; what the end
will be I do not know. I have cabled for Fenton.




XII

A DEAL IN PROPERTY


But to return. There was work that I should do--much work if I was
going after the solution. In the first place, there was the house.
I turned my back to the waterfront and entered the city. The
streets were packed, the commerce of man jostled and threaded
along the highways; there was life and action, hope, ambition. It
was what I had loved so well. Yet now it was different.

I realised it vaguely, and wondered. This feeling of aloofness? It
was intrinsic, coming from within, like the withering of one's
marrow. I laughed at my foreboding; it was not natural; I tried to
shake myself together.

I had no difficulty with the records. In less than an hour I
traced out the owners, "an estate," and had located the agent. It
just so happened that he was a man with whom I had some
acquaintance. We were not long in coming to business.

"The house at No. 288 Chatterton Place?"

I noticed that he was startled; there was a bit of wonder in his
look--a quizzical alertness. He motioned me to a chair and closed
the door.

"Sit down, Mr. Wendel; sit down. H-m! The house at No. 288
Chatterton Place? Did I hear you right?"

Again I noted the wonder; his manner was cautious and curious. I
nodded.

"Want to buy it or just lease it? Pardon me, but you are sort of a
friend. I would not like to lose your friendship for the sake of a
mere sale. What is your--"

"Just for a residence," I insisted. "A place to live in."

"I see. Know anything about this place?"

"Do you?"

He fumbled with some papers. For an agent he did not strike me as
being very solicitous for a commission.

"Well," he said, "in a way, yes. A whole lot more than I'd like
to. It all depends. One gets much from hearsay. What I know is
mostly rumour." He began marking with a pencil. "Of course I don't
believe it. Nevertheless I would hardly recommend it to a friend
as a residence."

"And these rumours?"

He looked up; for a moment he studied; then:

"Ever hear of the Blind Spot? Perhaps you remember Dr. Holcomb--in
1905, before the 'quake. It was a murder. The papers were full of
it at the time; since then it has been occasionally featured in
the supplements. I do not believe in the story; but I can trust to
facts. The last seen of Dr. Holcomb was in this house. It is
called the Blind Spot."

"Then you believe in the story?" I asked.

He looked at me.

"Oh, you know it, eh? No, I do not. It's all bunkum; reporters'
work and exaggeration. If you like that kind of stuff, it's weird
and interesting. But it hurts property. The man was undoubtedly
murdered. The tale hangs over the house. It's impossible to
dispose of the place."

"Then why not sell it to me?"

He dropped his pencil; he was a bit nervous.

"A fair question, Mr. Wendel--a very fair question. Well, now, why
don't I? Perhaps I shall. There's no telling. But I'd rather not.
Do you know, a year ago I would have jumped at an offer. Fact is,
I did lease it--the lease ran out yesterday--to a man named
Watson. I don't believe a thing in this nonsense; but what I have
seen during the past year has tested my nerve considerably."

"What about Watson?"

"Watson? A year ago he came to see me in regard to this Chatterton
property. Wanted to lease it. Was interested in the case of Dr.
Holcomb; asked for a year's rental and the privilege of renewal. I
don't know. I gave it to him; but when he drops in again I am
going to fight almighty hard against letting him hold it longer."

"Why?"

"Why? Why, because I don't believe in murder. A year ago he came
to me the healthiest and happiest man I ever saw; today he is a
shadow. I watched that boy go down. Understand, I don't believe a
damn word I'm saying; but I have seen it. It's that cursed house.
I say no, when I reason; but it keeps on my nerves; it's on my
conscience. It is insidious. Every month when he came here I could
see disintegration. It's pitiful to see a young man stripped of
life like that; forlorn, hopeless, gone. He has never told me what
it is; but I have wondered. A battle; some conflict with--there I
go again. It's on my nerves, I tell you, on my nerves. If this
keeps up I'll burn it."

It was a bit foreboding. Already I could feel the tugging at my
heart that had done for Watson. This man had watched my friend
slipping into the shadow; I had come to take his place.

"Watson has gone," I said simply; "and that's why I am here."

He straightened up.

"You know him then. He was not--"

"He went last night; he has left the country. He was in very poor
health. That's why I am here. I know very well the cloud that
hangs over the property; it is my sole reason for purchasing."

"You don't believe in this nonsense?"

I smiled. Certainly the man was perverse in his agnosticism; he
was stubborn in disbelief. It was on his nerves; on his
conscience; he was afraid.

"I believe nothing," I answered; "neither do I disbelieve. I know
all the story that has been told or written. I am a friend of
Watson. You need not scruple in making me out a bill of sale. It's
my own funeral. I abide by the consequences."

He gave a sigh of relief. After all, he was human. He had honour;
but it was after the brand of Pontius Pilate. He wished nothing on
his conscience.

Armed with the keys and the legal title, I took possession. In the
daylight it was much as it had been the night before. Once across
its threshold, one was in dank and furtive suppression; the air
was heavy; a mould of age had streaked the walls and gloomed the
shadows. I put up all the curtains to let in the rush of sunlight,
likewise I opened the windows. If there is anything to beat down
sin, it is the open measure of broad daylight.

The house was well situated; from the front windows one could look
down the street and out at the blue bay beyond the city. The fog
had lifted and the sun was shining upon the water. I could make
out the ferryboats, the islands, and the long piers that lead to
Oakland, and still farther beyond the hills of Berkeley. It was a
long time since those days in college. Under the shadow of those
hills I had first met the old doctor. I was only a boy then.

I turned into the building. Even the sound of my footsteps was
foreign; the whole place was pregnant with stillness and shadow;
life was gone out. It was fearful; I felt the terror clutching
upon me, a grimness that may not be spoken; there was something
breaking within me. I had pledged myself for a year. Frankly I was
afraid.

But I had given my word. I returned to my apartments and began
that very day the closing down of my practice. In a fortnight I
had completed everything and had moved my things to the room of
Chick Watson.




XIII

ALBERT JEROME


Just as soon as possible I hurried over to Berkeley. I went
straight to the bungalow on Dwight Way; I inquired for Miss
Holcomb. She was a woman now in her late twenties, decidedly
pretty, a blonde, and of intelligent bearing.

Coming on such an errand, I was at a loss just how to approach
her. I noted the little lines about the corners of her eyes, the
sad droop of her pretty mouth. Plainly she was worried. As I was
removing my hat she caught sight of the ring upon my finger.

"Oh," she said; "then you come from Mr. Watson. How is Chick?"

"Mr. Watson"--I did not like lying, but I could not but feel for
her; she had already lost her father--"Mr. Watson has gone on a
trip up-country--with Jerome. He was not feeling well. He has left
this ring with me. I have come for a bit of information."

She bit her lips; her mouth quivered.

"Couldn't you get this from Mr. Watson? He knows about the stone.
Didn't he tell you? How did it come into your possession? What has
happened?"

Her voice was querulous and suspicious. I had endeavoured to
deceive her for her own sake; she had suffered enough already. I
could not but wince at the pain in her eyes. She stood up.

"Please, Mr. Wendel; don't be clumsy. Don't regard me as a mere
baby. Tell me what has happened to Chick. Please--"

She stopped in a flow of emotion. Tears came to her eyes; but she
held control. She sat down.

"Tell me all, Mr. Wendel. It is what I expected." She blinked to
hold back her tears. "It is my fault. You wouldn't have the ring
had nothing happened. Tell me. I can be brave."

And brave she was--splendid. With the tug at my own heart I could
understand her. What uncertainty and dread she must have been
under! I had been in it but a few days; already I could feel the
weight. At no time could I surmount the isolation; there was
something going from me minute by minute. With the girl there
could be no evasion; it were better that she have the truth. I
made a clean breast of the whole affair.

"And he told you no more about the ring?"

"That is all," I answered. "He would have told us much more,
undoubtedly, had he not--"

"You saw him go--you saw this thing?"

"That is just it, Miss Holcomb. We saw nothing. One minute we were
looking at Chick, and the next at nothing. Hobart understood it
better than I. At least he forbade my crossing the room. There is
a danger point, a spot that may not be crossed. He threw me back.
It was then that the Rhamda came upon the scene." She frowned
slightly.

"Tell me about the Nervina. When Chick spoke of her, I could
always feel jealous. Is she beautiful?"

"Most beautiful, the most wonderful girl I have ever seen, though
I would hardly class her as one to be jealous of. But she wants
the ring. I've promised Watson, and of course I shall keep it. But
I would like its history."

"I think I can give you some information there," she answered.
"The ring, or rather the jewel, was given to father about twenty
years ago by a Mr. Kennedy. He had been a pupil of father's when
father taught at a local school. He came here often to talk over
old times. Father had the jewel set in a ring; but he never wore
it."

"Why?"

"I do not know."

"How did Watson come to link it up with the Blind Spot?"

"That, I think, was an accident. He was in college, you know, at
the time of father's disappearance. In fact, he was in the Ethics
class. He came here often, and during one of his visits I showed
him the ring. That was several years ago."

"I see."

"Well, about a year ago he was here again, and asked to see the
jewel. We were to be married, you understand; but I had always put
it off because of father. Somehow I felt that he would return. It
was in late summer, about September; it was in the evening; it was
getting dark. I gave Chick the ring, and stepped into the garden
to cut some flowers. I remember that Chick struck a match in the
parlour. When I came back he seemed to be excited."

"Did he ask you for the ring?"

"Yes. He wanted to wear it. And he suddenly began to talk of
father. It was that night that he took it upon himself to find
him."

"I see. Not before that night? Did he take the ring then?"

"Yes. We went to the opera. I remember it well, because that night
was the first time I ever knew Chick to be gloomy."

"Ah!"

"Yes. You know how jolly he always was. When we returned that
night he would scarcely say a word. I thought he was sick; but he
said he was not; said he just felt that way."

"I understand. And he kept getting glummer? Did you suspect the
jewel? Did he ever tell you anything?"

She shook her head.

"No. He told me nothing, except that he would find father. Of
course, I became excited and wanted to know. But he insisted that
I couldn't help; that he had a clue, and that it might take time.
From that night I saw very little of him. He leased the house on
Chatterton Place. He seemed to lose interest in myself; when he
did come over he would act queerly. He talked incoherently, and
would often make rambling mention of a beautiful girl called
Nervina. You say it is the ring? Tell me, Mr. Wendel, what is it?
Has it really anything to do with father?"

I nodded.

"I think it has, Miss Holcomb. And I can understand poor Chick. He
is a very brave man. It's a strange jewel and of terrible potency;
that much I know. It devitalises; it destroys. I can feel it
already. It covers life with a fog of decay. The same solitude has
come upon myself. Nevertheless I am certain it has much to do with
the Blind Spot. It is a key of some sort. The very interest of the
Rhamda and the Nervina tells us that. I think it was through this
stone that your father made his discovery."

She thought a moment.

"Hadn't you better return it? While you still have health? If you
keep it, it will be only one more."

"You forget, Miss Holcomb, my promise to Chick. I loved your
father, and I was fond of Watson. It's a great secret and, if the
professor is right, one which man has sought through the ages. I'd
be a coward to forgo my duty. If I fail, I have another to take my
place."

"Oh," she said, "it's horrible. First father; then Chick; now you;
and afterwards it will be Mr. Fenton."

"It is our duty," I returned. "One by one. Though we may fail,
each one of us may pass a bit more on to his successor. In the end
we win. It is the way of man."

I had my way. She turned over all the data and notes that had been
left by the professor; but I never found a thing in them that
could be construed to an advantage. My real quest was to trace
down the jewel. The man Kennedy's full name was, I learned, Budge
Kennedy. He had lived in Oakland. It was late in the afternoon
when I parted with Miss Holcomb and started for the city.

I remember it well because of a little incident that occurred
immediately after our parting. I was just going down the steps
when I looked up one of the side streets. A few students were
loitering here and there. But there was one who was not a student.
I recognised him instantly, and I wondered. It was the Rhamda.
This was enough to make me suspicious. But there was one thing
more. Farther up the street was another figure.

When I came down the steps the Rhamda moved, and his move was
somehow duplicated by the other. In itself this was enough to
clear up some of my doubts concerning the phantom. His actions
were too simple for an apparition. Only a man would act like that,
and a crude one. I didn't know then the nerve of the Rhamda. There
was no doubt that I was being shadowed.

To make certain, I took the by-streets and meandered by a devious
route to the station. There was no question; one and two they
followed. I knew the Rhamda; but who was the other?

At the station we purchased tickets, and when the train pulled in
I boarded a smoker. The other two took another coach--the stranger
was a thick-set individual with a stubby, grey moustache. On the
boat I didn't see them; but at the ferry building I made a test to
see that I was followed. I hailed a taxi and gave specific
instructions to the driver.

"Drive slowly," I told him. "I think we shall be followed."

And I was right; in a few minutes there were two cars dogging our
wheel-tracks. I had no doubt concerning the Rhamda; but I couldn't
understand the other. At No. 288 Chatterton Place we stopped and I
alighted. The Rhamda's car passed, then the other. Neither
stopped. Both disappeared round the corner. I took the numbers;
then I went into the house. In about a half hour a car drew up at
the curb. I stepped to the window. It was the car that had tracked
the Rhamda's. The stubby individual stepped out; without ceremony
he ran up the steps and opened the door. It was a bit
disconcerting, I think, for both. He was plain and blunt--and
honest.

"Well," he said, "where's Watson? Who are you? What do you want?"

"That," I answered, "is a question for both of us. Who are you,
and what do you want? Where is Watson?"

Just then his eyes dropped and his glance fell and eyes widened.

"My name is Jerome," he said simply. "Has something happened to
Watson? Who are you?"

We were standing in the library; I made an indication towards the
other room. "In there," I said. "My name is Wendel."

He took off his hat and ran the back of his hand across his
forehead.

"So that pair got him, too! I was afraid of them all the while.
And I had to be away. Do you know how they did it? What's the
working of their game? It's devilish and certainly clever. They
played that boy for a year; they knew they would get him in the
end. So did I.

"He was a fine lad, a fine lad. I knew this morning when I came
down from Nevada that they had him. Found your duds. A stranger.
House looked queer. But I had hopes he might have gone over to see
his girl. Just thought I'd wander over to Berkeley. Found that
bird Rhamda under a palm tree watching the Holcomb bungalow. It
was the first time I'd seen him since that day things went amiss
with the professor. In about ten minutes you came out. I stayed
with him while he tracked you back here; I followed him back down
town and lost him. Tell me about Watson."

He sat down; during my recital he spoke not a word. He consumed
one cigar after another; when I stopped for a moment he merely
nodded his head and waited until I continued. He was sturdy and
frank, of an iron way and vast common sense. I liked him. When I
had finished he remained silent; his grief was of a solid kind! he
had liked poor Watson.

"I see," he said. "It is as I thought. He told you more than he
ever told me."

"He never told you?"

"Not much. He was a strange lad--about the loneliest one I've ever
seen. There was something about him from the very first that was
not natural; I couldn't make him out. You say it is the ring. He
always wore it. I laid it to this Rhamda. He was always meeting
him. I could never understand it. Try as I would, I could not get
a trace of the phantom."

"The phantom?"

"Most assuredly. Would you call him human?" His grey eyes were
flecked with light. "Come now, Mr. Wendel, would you?"

"Well," I answered, "I don't know. Not after what I have seen. But
for all that, I have proof of his sinews. I am inclined to blend
the two. There is a law somewhere, a very natural one. The Blind
Spot is undoubtedly a combination of phenomena; it has a control.
We do not know what it is, or where it leads to; neither do we
know the motive of the Rhamda. Who is he? If we knew that, we
would know everything."

"And this ring?"

"I shall wear it."

"Then God help you. I watched Watson. It's plain poison. You have
a year; but you had better count on half a year; the first six
months aren't so bad; but the last--it takes a man! Wendel, it
takes a man! Already you're eating your heart out. Oh, I know--you
have opened the windows; you want sunshine and air. In six months
I shall have to fight to get one open. It gets into the soul; it
is stagnation; you die by inches. Better give me the ring."

"This Budge Kennedy," I evaded, "we must find him. We have time.
One clue may lead us on. Tell me what you know of the Blind Spot."

"Very easy," he answered; "you have it all. I have been here a
number of years. You will remember I fell into the case through
intuition. I never had any definite proof, outside the professor's
disappearance, the old lady, and that bell; unless perhaps it is
the Rhamda. But from the beginning I've been positive.

"Taking that lecture in ethics as a starter, I built up my theory.
All the clues lead to this building. It's something that I cannot
understand. It's out of the occult. It's a bit too much for me. I
moved into the place and waited. I've never forgotten that bell,
nor that old lady. You and Fenton are the only ones who have seen
the Blind Spot."

I had a sudden thought.

"The Rhamda! I have read that he has the manner of inherent
goodness. Is it true? You have conversed with him. I haven't."

"He has. He didn't strike me as a villain. He's intrinsic, noble,
out of self. I have often wondered."

I smiled. "Perhaps we are thinking the same thing. Is this it? The
Blind Spot is a secret that man may not attain to. It is
unknowable and akin to death. The Rhamda knows it. He couldn't
head off the professor. He simply employed Dr. Holcomb's wisdom to
trap him; now that he has him secure, he intends to hold him. It
is for our own good."

"Exactly. Yet--"

"Yet?"

"He was very anxious to put you and Fenton into this very Spot."

"That is so. But may it not be that we, too, knew a bit too much?"

He couldn't answer that.

Nevertheless, we were both of us convinced concerning the Rhamda.
It was merely a digression of thought, a conjecture. He might be
good; but we were both positive of his villainy. It was his
motive, of course, that weighed up his character; could we find
that, we would uncover everything.




XIV

A NEW ELEMENT


Budge Kennedy was not so easily found. There were many Kennedys.
About two-thirds of Ireland had apparently migrated to San
Francisco under that name and had lodged in the directory. We went
through the lists on both sides of the bay, but found nothing; the
old directories had mostly been destroyed by fire or had been
thrown away as worthless; but at last we unearthed one. In it we
found the name of Budge Kennedy.

He had two sons--Patrick and Henry. One of these, Henry, we ran
down in the Mission. He was a great, red-headed, broad-shouldered
Irishman. He was just eating supper when we called; there were
splotches of white plaster on his trousers.

I came right to the point: "Do you know anything about this?" I
held out the ring.

He took it in his fingers; his eyes popped. "What, that! Well, I
guess I do! Where'd you get it?" He called out to the kitchen:
"Say, Mollie, come here. Here's the old man's jool!" He looked at
me a bit fearfully. "You aren't wearing it?"

"Why not?" I asked.

"Why? Well, I don't know exactly. I wouldn't wear it for a million
dollars. It ain't a jool; it's a piece of the divil. The old man
gave it to Dr. Holcomb--or sold it, I don't know which. He carried
it in his pocket once, and he came near dying."

"Unlucky?" I asked.

"No, it ain't unlucky; it just rips your heart out. It would make
you hate your grandmother. Lonesome! Lonesome! I've often heard
the old man talking."

"He sold it to Dr. Holcomb? Do you know why?"

"Well, yes. 'Twas that the old doc had some scientific work. Dad
told him about his jool. One day he took it over to Berkeley. It
was some kind of thing that the professor just wanted. He kept it.
Dad made him promise not to wear it."

"I see. Did your father ever tell you where he got it?"

"Oh, yes. He often spoke about that. The old man wasn't a
plasterer, you know--just a labourer. He was digging a basement.
It was a funny basement--a sort of blind cellar. There was a stone
wall right across the middle, and then there was a door of wood to
look like stone. You can go down into the back cellar, but not
into the front. If you don't know about the door, you'll never
find it. Dad often spoke about that. He was working in the back
cellar when he found this. 'Twas sticking in some blue clay."

"Where was this place? Do you remember?"

"Sure. 'Twas in Chatterton Place. Pat and I was kids then; we took
the old man's dinner."

"Do you know the number?"

"It didn't have no number; but I know the place. 'Tis a two-story
house, and was built in 'ninety-one."

I nodded. "And afterwards you moved to Oakland?"

"Yes."

"Did your father ever speak of the reason for this partition in
the cellar?"

"He never knew of one. It was none of his business. He was merely
a labourer, and did what he was paid for."

"Do you know who built it?"

"Some old guy. He was a cranky cuss with side-whiskers. He used to
wear a stove-pipe hat. I think he was a chemist. Whenever he
showed up he would run us kids out of the building. I think he was
a bachelor."

This was all the information he could give, but it was a great
deal. Certainly it was more than I had hoped for. The house had
been built by a chemist; even in the construction there was
mystery. I had never thought of a second cellar; when I had
explored the building I had taken the stone wall for granted. It
was so with Jerome. It was the first definite clue that really
brought us down to earth. What had this chemist to do with the
phenomena?

After all, behind everything was lurking the mind of man.

We hastened back to the house and into the cellar. By merely
sounding along the wall we discovered the door; it was cleverly
constructed and for a time defied our efforts; but Jerome got it
open by means of a jemmy and a pick. The outside was a clever
piece of sham work shaped like stone and smeared over with cement.
In the dim light we had missed it.

We had high expectations. But we were disappointed. The space
contained nothing; it was smeared with cobwebs and hairy mould;
but outside of a few empty bottles and the gloomy darkness there
was nothing. We tapped the walls and floor and ceiling. Beyond all
doubt the place once held a secret; if it held it still, it was
cleverly hidden. After an hour or two of search we returned to the
upper part of the building.

Jerome was not discouraged.

"We're on the right track, Mr. Wendel; if we can only get started.
I have an idea. The chemist--it was in 'ninety-one--that's more
than twenty years."

"What is your idea?"

"The Rhamda. What is the first thing that strikes you? His age.
With everyone that sees him it's the same. At first you take him
for an old man; if you study him long enough, you are positive
that he is in his twenties. May he not be this chemist?"

"What becomes of the doctor and his Blind Spot?"

"The Blind Spot," answered Jerome, "is merely a part of the
chemistry."

Next day I hunted up a jeweller. I was careful to choose one with
whom I was acquainted. I asked for a private consultation. When we
were alone I took the ring from my finger.

"Just an opinion," I asked. "You know gems. Can you tell me
anything about this one?"

He picked it up casually, and turned it over; his mouth puckered.
For a minute he studied.

"That? Well, now." He held it up. "Humph. Wait a minute."

"Is it a gem?"

"I think it is. At first I thought I knew it right off; but now--
wait a minute."

He reached in the drawer for his glass. He held the stone up for
some minutes. His face was a study; queer little wrinkles twisting
from the corners of his eyes told his wonder. He did not speak;
merely turned the stone round and round. At last he removed his
glass and held up the ring. He was quizzical.

"Where did you get this?" he asked.

"That is something I do not care to answer. I wish to know what it
is. Is it a gem? If so, what kind?"

He thought a moment and shook his head.

"I thought I knew every gem on earth. But I don't. This is a new
one. It is beautiful--just a moment." He stepped to the door. In a
moment another man stepped in. The jeweller motioned towards the
ring. The man picked it up and again came the examination. At last
he laid the glass and ring both upon the table.

"What do you make of it, Henry?" asked the jeweller.

"Not me," answered the second one. "I never saw one like it."

It was as Watson had said. No man had ever identified the jewel.
The two men were puzzled; they were interested. The jeweller
turned to me.

"Would you care to leave it with us for a bit; you have no
objection to us taking it out of the ring?"

I had not thought of that. I had business down the street. I
consulted my watch.

"In half an hour I shall be back. Will that be enough time?"

"I think so."

It was an hour before I returned. The assistant was standing at
the door of the office. He spoke something to the one inside and
then made an indication to myself. He seemed excited; when I came
closer I noted that his face was full of wonder.

"We've been waiting," said he. "We didn't examine the stone; it
wasn't necessary. It is truly wonderful." He was a short, squat
man with a massive forehead. "Just step inside."

Inside the office the jeweller was sitting beside a table; he was
leaning back in his chair; he had his hands clasped over his
stomach. He was gazing toward the ceiling; his face was a study,
full of wonder and speculation.

"Well?" I asked.

For an answer he merely raised his finger, pointed towards the
ceiling.

"Up there," he spoke. "Your jewel or whatever it is. A good thing
we weren't in open air. 'Twould be going yet."

I looked up. Sure enough, against the ceiling was the gem. It was
a bit disconcerting, though I will confess that in the first
moment I did not catch the full significance.

The jeweller closed one eye and studied first myself and then the
beautiful thing against the ceiling.

"What do you make of it?" he asked.

Really I had not made anything; it was a bit of a shock; I hadn't
grasped the full impossibility. I didn't answer.

"Don't you see, Mr. Wendel? Impossible! Contrary to nature!
Lighter than air. We took it out of the ring and it shot out like
a bullet. Thought I'd dropped it. Began looking on the floor.
Couldn't find it; looked up and saw Reynolds, here, with his eyes
popping out like marbles. He was looking at the ceiling."

I thought for a moment.

"Then it is not a gem?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "Not if I'm a jeweller. Whoever heard
of a stone without weight? It has no gravity, that is, apparently.
I doubt whether it is a substance. I don't know what it is."

It was puzzling. I would have given a good deal just then for a
few words with Dr. Holcomb. The man, Kennedy, had kept it in his
pocket. How had he held it a prisoner? The professor had use for
it in some scientific work! No wonder! Certainly it was not a
jewel. What could it be? It was solid. It was lighter than air.
Could it be a substance? If not; what is it?

"What would you advise?"

In answer the jeweller reached for the telephone. He gave a
number.

"Hello. Say, is Ed there? This is Phil. Tell him to step to the
phone. Hello! Say, Ed, I want you to come over on the jump.
Something to show you. Too busy! No, you're not. Not for this. I'm
going to teach you some chemistry. No; this is serious. What is
it? I don't know. What's lighter than air? Lots of things? Oh, I
know. But what solid? That's why I'm asking. Come over. All right.
At once."

He hung up the receiver.

"My brother," he spoke. "It has passed beyond my province and into
his. He is a chemist. As an expert he may give you a real
opinion."

Surely we needed one. It was against reason. It had taken me
completely off my balance. I took a chair and joined the others in
the contemplation of the blue dot on the ceiling. We could
speculate and conjecture; but there was not one of us deep enough
even to start a theory. Plainly it was what should not be. We had
been taught physics and science; we had been drilled to
fundamentals. If this thing could be, then the foundations upon
which we stood were shattered. But one little law! Back in my mind
was buzzing the enigma of the Blind Spot. They were woven
together. Some law that had eluded the ken of mankind.

The chemist was a tall man with a hook nose and black eyes that
clinched like rivets. He was a bit impatient. He looked keenly at
his brother.

"Well, Phil, what is it?" He pulled out a watch, "I haven't much
time."

There was a contrast between them. The jeweller was fat and
complacent. He merely sat in his chair, his hand on his waistband
and a stubby finger elevated toward the jewel. He seemed to enjoy
it.

"You're a chemist, Ed. Here's a test for your wisdom. Can you
explain that? No, over here. Above your head. That jewel?"

The other looked up.

"What's the idea? New notion for decoration? Or"?--a bit testily--
"is this a joke?" He was a serious man; his black eyes and the
nose spoke his character.

The jeweller laughed gently.

"Listen, Ed--" Then he went into explanation; when he was through
the chemist was twitching with excitement.

"Get me a ladder. Here, let me get on the table; perhaps I can
reach it. Sounds impossible, but if it's so, it's so; it must have
an explanation."

Without ado and in spite of the protests of his brother he stepped
upon the polished surface of the table. He was a tall man; he
could just barely reach it with the tip of his finger. He could
move it; but each time it clung as to a magnet. After a minute of
effort he gave it up. When he looked down he was a different man;
his black eyes glowed with wonder.

"Can't make it," he said. "Get a step-ladder. Strange!"

With the ladder it was easy. He plucked it off the ceiling. We
pressed about the table. The chemist turned it about with his
fingers.

"I wonder," he was saying. "It's a gem. Apparently. You say it has
no gravity. It can't be. Whoop!" He let it slip out of his
fingers. Again it popped on its way to the ceiling. He caught it
with a deft movement of his hand. "The devil! Did you ever see!
And a solid! Who owns this?"

That brought it back to me. I explained what I could of the manner
of my possession.

"I see. Very interesting. Something I've never seen--and--frankly--
something strictly against what I've been taught. Nevertheless,
it's not impossible. We are witnesses at least. Would you care if
I take this over to the laboratory?"

It was a new complication. If it were not a jewel there was a
chance of its being damaged. I was as anxious as he; but I had
been warned as to its possession.

"I shan't harm it. I'll see to that. I have suspicions and I'd
like to verify them. A chemist doesn't blunder across such a thing
every day. I am a chemist." His eyes glistened.

"Your suspicions?" I asked.

"A new element."

This gem. A new element. Perhaps that would explain the Blind
Spot. It was not exactly of earth. Everything had confirmed it.

"You--A new element? How do you account for it? It defies your
laws. Most of your elements are evolved through tedious process.
This is picked up by chance."

"That is so. But there are still a thousand ways. A meteor,
perhaps; a bit of cosmic dust--there are many shattered comets.
Our chemistry is earthly. There are undoubtedly new elements that
we don't know of. Perhaps in enormous proportion."

I let him have it. It was the only night I had been away from the
ring. I may say that it is the only time I have been free from its
isolation.

When I called at his office next day I found he had merely
confirmed his suspicions. It defied analysis; there was no
reaction. Under all tests it was a stranger. The whole science
that had been built up to explain everything had here explained
nothing. However there was one thing that he had uncovered--heat.
Perhaps I should say magnetism. It was cold to man. I have spoken
about the icy blue of its colour. It was cold even to look at. The
chemist placed it in my hand.

"Is it not so?"

It was. The minute it touched my palm I could sense the weird
horror of the isolation; the stone was cold. Just like a piece of
ice.

This was the first time I had ever had it in direct contact with
the flesh. Set in the ring its impulse had always been secondary.

"You notice it? It is so with me. Now then. Just a minute."

He pressed a button. A young lady answered his ring; she glanced
first at myself and then at the chemist.

"Miss Mills, this is Mr. Wendel. He is the owner of the gem. Would
you take it in your hand? And please tell Mr. Wendel how it feels--"

She laughed; she was a bit perplexed.

"I don't understand"--she turned to me--"we had the same dispute
yesterday. See, Mr. White says that it's cold; but it is not. It
is warm; almost burning. All the other girls think just as I do."

"And all the men as I do," averred the chemist, "even Mr. Wendel."

"Is it cold to you?" she asked. "Really--"

It was a turn I hadn't looked for. It was akin to life--this
relation to sex. Could it account for the strange isolation and
the weariness? I was a witness to its potency. Watson! I could
feel myself dragging under. I had just one question:

"Tell me, Miss Mills. Can you sense anything else; I mean beyond
its temperature?"

She smiled a bit. "I don't know what you mean exactly. It is a
beautiful stone. I would like to have it."

"You think its possession would make you happy?"

Her eyes sparkled.

"Oh," she exclaimed. "I know it would! I can feel it!"

It was so. Whatever there was in the bit of sapphirine blue, it
had life. What was it? It had relation to sex. In the strict line
of fact it was impossible.

When we were alone again I turned to the chemist.

"Is there anything more you uncovered? Did you see anything in the
stone?"

He frowned. "No. Nothing else. This magnetism is the only thing.
Is there anything more?"

Now I hadn't said anything about its one great quality. He hadn't
stumbled across the image of the two men. I couldn't understand
it. I didn't tell him. Perhaps I was wrong. Down inside me I
sensed a subtle reason for secrecy. It is hard to explain. It was
not perverseness; it was a finer distinction; perhaps it was the
influence of the gem. I took it back to the jeweller again and had
it reset.




XV

AGAIN THE NERVINA


It was at this point that I began taking notes. There is something
psychological to the Blind Spot, weird and touching on the spirit.
I know not what it is; but I can feel it. It impinges on to life.
I can sense the ecstasy of horror. I am not afraid. Whatever it is
that is dragging me down, it is not evil. My sensations are not
normal.

For the benefit of my successor, if there is to be one, I have
made an elaborate detail of notes and comments. After all, the
whole thing, when brought down to the end, must fall to the
function of science. When Hobart arrives, whatever my fate, he
will find a complete and comprehensive record of my sensations. I
shall keep it up to the end. Such notes being dry and sometimes
confusing I have purposely omitted them from this narrative. But
there are some things that must be given to the world. I shall
pick out the salient parts and give them chronologically.

Jerome stayed with me. Rather I should say he spent the nights
with me. Most of the time he was on the elusive trail of the
Rhamda. From the minute of our conversation with Kennedy he held
to one conviction. He was positive of that chemist back in the
nineties. He was certain of the Rhamda. Whatever the weirdness of
his theory it would certainly bear investigation. When he was not
on the trail over the city he was at work in the cellar. Here we
worked together.

We dug up the concrete floor and did a bit of mining. I was
interested in the formation.

From the words of Budge Kennedy the bit of jewel had been
discovered at the original excavation. We found the blue clay that
he spoke of, but nothing else. Jerome dissected every bit of earth
carefully. We have spent many hours in that cellar.

But most of the time I was alone. When not too worn with the
loneliness and weariness I worked at my notes. It has been a hard
task from the beginning. Inertia, lack of energy! How much of our
life is impulse! What is the secret that backs volition? It has
been will--will-power from the beginning. I must thank my
ancestors. Without the strength and character built up through
generations, I would have succumbed utterly.

Even as it is I sometimes think I am wrong in following the
dictates of Watson. If I were only sure. I have pledged my word
and my honour. What did he know? I need all the reserve of
character to hold up against the Nervina. From the beginning she
has been my opponent. What is her interest in the Blind Spot and
myself? Who is she? I cannot think of her as evil. She is too
beautiful, too tender; her concern is so real. Sometimes I think
of her as my protector, that it is she, and she alone who holds
back the power which would engulf me. Once she made a personal
appeal.

Jerome had gone. I was alone. I had dragged myself to the desk and
my notes and data. It was along toward spring and in the first
shadows of the early evening. I had turned on the lights. It was
the first labour I had done for several days. I had a great deal
of work before me. I had begun sometime before to take down my
temperature. I was careful of everything now, as much as I could
be under the depression. So far I had discerned nothing that could
be classed as pathological.

There is something subtle about the Nervina. She is much like the
Rhamda. Perhaps they are the same. I hear no sound, I have no
notion of a door or entrance. Watson had said of the Rhamda,
"Sometimes you see him, sometimes you don't." It is so with the
Nervina. I remember only my working at the data and the sudden
movement of a hand upon my desk--a girl's hand. It was
bewildering. I looked up.

I had not seen her since that night. It was now eight months--did
I not know, I would have recorded them as years. Her expression
was a bit more sad--and beautiful. The same wonderful glow of her
eyes, night-black and tender; the softness that comes from
passion, and love, and virtue. The same wistful droop of the
perfect mouth. What a wondrous mass of hair she had! I dropped my
pen. She took my hand. I could sense the thrill of contact; cool
and magnetic.

"Harry!"

She said no more; I did not answer; I was too taken by surprise
and wonder. I could feel her concern as I would a mother's. What
was her interest in myself? The contact of her hand sent a strange
pulse through my vitals; she was so beautiful. Could it be? Watson
said he loved her. Could I blame him?

"Harry," she asked, "how long is it to continue?"

So that was it. Merely an envoy to accept surrender. I was worn
utterly, weary of the world, lonely. But I hadn't given up. I had
strength still, and will enough to hold out to the end. Perhaps I
was wrong. If I gave her the ring? what then?

"I am afraid," I answered, "that I must go on. I have given my
word. It has been much harder than I expected. This jewel? What
has it to do with the Blind Spot?"

"It controls it."

"Does the Rhamda desire it?"

"He does."

"Why doesn't he call for it personally? Why doesn't he make a
clean breast of it? It would be much easier. He knows and you know
that I am after Dr. Holcomb and Watson. I might even forego the
secret. Would he release the doctor?"

"No, Harry, he would not."

"I see. If I gave up the ring it would be merely for my personal
safety. I am a coward--"

"Oh," she said, "don't say that. You must give the ring to me--not
to the Rhamda. He must not control the Blind Spot."

"What is the Blind Spot? Tell me."

"Harry," she spoke, "I cannot. It is not for you or any other
mortal. It is a secret that should never have been uncovered. It
might be the end. In the hands of the Rhamda it would certainly be
the end of mankind."

"Who is the Rhamda? Who are you? You are too beautiful to be
merely woman. Are you a spirit?"

She pressed my hand ever so slightly. "Do I feel like a spirit? I
am material as much as you are. We live, see--everything."

"But you are not of this world?"

Her eyes grew sadder; a soft longing.

"Not exactly, Harry, not exactly. It is a long story and a very
strange one. I may not tell you. It is for your own good. I am
your friend"--her eyes were moist--"I--don't you see? Oh, I would
save you!"

I did not doubt it. Somehow she was like a girl of dreams, pure as
an angel; her wistfulness only deepened her beauty. It came like a
shock at the moment. I could love this woman. She was--what was I
thinking? My guilty mind ran back to Charlotte. I had loved her
since boyhood. I would be a coward--then a wild fear. Perhaps of
jealousy.

"The Rhamda? Is he your husband? You are the same--"

"Oh," she answered, "why do you say it?" Her eyes snapped and she
grew rigid. "The Rhamda! My husband! If you only knew. I hate him!
We are enemies. It was he who opened the Blind Spot. I am here
because he is evil. To watch him. I love your world, I love it
all. I would save it. I love--"

She dropped her head. Whatever she was, she was not above sobbing.

I touched her hair; it was of the softest texture I have ever
seen; the lustre was like all the beauty of night woven into silk.
She loved, loved; I could love--I was on the point of surrender.

"Tell me," I asked, "just one thing more. If I gave you this ring
would you save the doctor and Chick Watson?"

She raised her head; her eyes glistened; but she did not answer.

"Would you?"

She shook her head. "I cannot," she answered. "That cannot be. I
can only save you for--for--Charlotte."

Was it vanity in myself? I don't know. It seemed to me that it was
hard for her to say it. Frankly, I loved her. I knew it. I loved
Charlotte. I loved them both. But I held to my purpose.

"Are the professor and Watson living?"

"They are."

"Are they conscious?"

She nodded. "Harry," she said, "I can tell you that. They are
living and conscious. You have seen them. They have only one
enemy--the Rhamda. But they must never come out of the Blind Spot.
I am their friend and yours."

A sudden courage came upon me. I remembered my word to Watson. I
had loved the old professor. I would save them. If necessary I
would follow to the end. Either myself or Fenton. One of us would
solve it!

"I shall keep the ring," I said. "I shall avenge them. Somehow,
somewhere, I feel that I shall do it. Even if I must follow--"

She straightened at that. Her eyes were frightened.

"Oh," she said, "why do you say it? It must not be! You would
perish! You shall not do it! I must save you. You must not go
alone. Three--it may not be. If you go, I go with you. Perhaps--
oh, Harry!"

She dropped her head again; her body shook with her sobbing;
plainly she was a girl. No real man is ever himself in the
presence of a woman's tears. I was again on the point of
surrender. Suddenly she looked up.

"Harry," she spoke sadly, "I have just one thing to ask. You must
see Charlotte. You must forget me; we can never--you love
Charlotte. I have seen her; she's a beautiful girl. You haven't
written. She is worried. Remember what you mean to her happiness.
Will you go?"

That I could promise.

"Yes, I shall see Charlotte."

She rose from her chair. I held her hand. Again, as in the
restaurant, I lifted it to my lips. She flushed and drew it away.
She bit her lip. Her beauty was a kind I could not understand.

"You must see Charlotte," she said, "and you must do as she says."

With that she was gone. There was a car waiting; the last I saw
was its winking tail-light dimming into the darkness.




XVI

CHARLOTTE


Left alone, I began thinking of Charlotte. I loved her; of that I
was certain. I could not compare her with the Nervina. She was
like myself, human. I had known her since boyhood. The other was
out of the ether; my love for her was something different; she was
of dreams and moonbeams; there was a film about her beauty,
illusion; she was of spirit.

I wrote a note to the detective and left it upon my desk. After
that I packed a suitcase and hurried to the station. If I was
going I would do it at once, I could not trust myself too far.
This visit had been like a breath of air; for the moment I was
away from the isolation. The loneliness and the weariness! How I
dreaded it! I was only free from it for a few moments. On the
train it came back upon me and in a manner that was startling.

I had purchased my ticket. When the conductor came through he
passed me. He gathered tickets all about me; but he did not notice
me. At first I paid no attention; but when he had gone through the
car several times I held up my ticket. He did not stop. It was not
until I had touched him that he gave me a bit of attention.

"Where have you been sitting?" he asked.

I pointed to the seat. He frowned slightly.

"There?" he asked. "Did you say you were sitting in that seat?
Where did you get on?"

"At Townsend."

"Queer," he answered; he punched the ticket. "Queer. I passed that
seat several times. It was empty!"

Empty! It was almost a shock. Could it be that my isolation was
becoming physical as well as mental? What was this gulf that was
widening between myself and my fellows?

It was the beginning of another phase. I have noticed it many
times; on the street, in public places, everywhere. I thread in
and out among men. Sometimes they see me, sometimes they don't. It
is strange. I feel at times as though I might be vanishing out of
the world!

It was late when I reached my old home; but the lights were still
burning. My favourite dog, Queen, was on the veranda. As I came up
the steps she growled slightly, but on recognition went into a
series of circles about the porch. My father opened the door. I
stepped inside. He touched me on the shoulder, his jaw dropped.

"Harry!" he exclaimed.

Was it as bad as that? How much meaning may be placed in a single
intonation! I was weary to the point of exhaustion. The ride upon
the train had been too much.

My mother came in. For some moments I was busy protesting my
health. But it was useless; it wasn't until I had partaken of a
few of the old nostrums that I could placate her.

"Work, work, work, my boy," said my father, "nothing but work. It
really won't do. You're a shadow. You must take a vacation. Go to
the mountains; forget your practice for a short time."

I didn't tell them. Why should I? I decided right then it was my
own battle. It was enough for me without casting the worry upon
others. Yet I could not see Charlotte without calling on my
parents.

As soon as possible I crossed the street to the Fentons'. Someone
had seen me in town. Charlotte was waiting. She was the same
beautiful girl I had known so long; the blue eyes, the blonde,
wavy mass of hair, the laughing mouth and the gladness. But she
was not glad now. It was almost a repetition of what had happened
at home, only here a bit more personal. She clung to me almost in
terror. I didn't realise I had gone down so much. I knew my
weariness; but I hadn't thought my appearance so dejected. I
remembered Watson. He had been wan, pale, forlorn. After what
brief explanation I could give, I proposed a stroll in the
moonlight.

It was a full moon; a wonderful night; we walked down the avenue
under the elm trees. Charlotte was beautiful, and worried; she
clung to my arm with the eagerness of possession. I could not but
compare her with Nervina. There was a contrast; Charlotte was
fresh, tender, affectionate, the girl of my boyhood. I had known
her all my life; there was no doubt of our love.

Who was the other? She was something higher, out of mystery, out
of life--almost--out of the moonbeams. I stopped and looked up.
The great full orb was shining. I didn't know that I spoke.

"Harry," asked Charlotte, "who is the Nervina?"

Had I spoken?

"What do you know about the Nervina?" I asked.

"She has been to see me. She told me. She said you would be here
tonight. I was waiting. She is very beautiful. I never saw anyone
like her. She is wonderful!"

"What did she say?"

"She! Oh, Harry. Tell me. I have waited. Something has happened.
Tell me. You have told me nothing. You are not like the old
Harry."

"Tell me about the Nervina. What did she say? Charlotte, tell me
everything. Am I so much different from the old Harry?"

She clutched at my arm fearfully; she looked into my eyes.

"Oh," she said, "how can you say it? You haven't laughed once. You
are melancholy; you are pale, drawn, haggard. You keep muttering.
You are not the old Harry. Is it this Nervina? At first I thought
she loved you; but she does not. She wanted to know all about you,
and about our love. She was so interested. What is this danger?"

I didn't answer.

"You must tell me. This ring? She said that you must give it to
me. What is it?" she insisted.

"Did she ask that? She told you to take the ring? My dear," I
asked, "if it were the ring and it were so sinister would I be a
man to give it to my loved one?"

"It would not hurt me."

But I would not. Something warned me. It was a ruse to get it out
of my possession. The whole thing was haunting, weird, ghostly.
Always I could hear Watson. I still had a small quota of courage
and will-power. I clung steadfastly to my purpose.

It was a sad three hours. Poor Charlotte! I shall never forget it.
It is the hardest task on earth to deny one's loved one.

She had grown into my heart and into its possession. She clung to
me tenderly, tearfully. I could not tell her. Her feminine
instinct sensed disaster. In spite of her tears I insisted. When I
kissed her goodnight she did not speak. But she looked up at me
through her tears. It was the hardest thing of all for me to bear.




XVII

THE SHEPHERD


When I returned to the city next morning I took my dog. It was a
strange whim; but one which was to lead to a remarkable
development. I have always been a lover of dogs. I was lonely.
There is a bond between a dog and his master. It goes beyond
definition; it roots down into nature. I was to learn much.

She was an Australian shepherd. She was of a tawny black and bob-
tailed from birth.

What is the power that lies behind instinct? How far does it go? I
had a notion that the dog would be outside the sinister clutch
that was dragging me under.

Happily Jerome was fond of dogs. He was reading. When I entered
with Queen tugging at the chain he looked up. The dog recognised
the heart of the man; when he stooped to pet her she moved her
stub tail in an effusion of affectionate acceptance. Jerome had
been reading Le Bon's theory on the evolution of force. His
researches after the mystery had led him into the depths of
speculation; he had become quite a scholar. After our first
greeting I unhooked the chain and let Queen have the freedom of
the house. I related what had happened. The detective closed the
book and sat down. The dog waited a bit for further petting; but
missing that she began sniffing about the room. There was nothing
strange about it of course. I myself paid not the slightest
attention. But the detective was watching. While I was telling my
story he was following every movement of the shepherd. Suddenly he
held up one finger. I turned.

It was Queen. A low growl, guttural and suspicious. She was
standing about a foot from the portieres that separated the
library from the other room--where we had lost Watson, and where
Jerome had had his experience with the old lady. Tense and rigid,
one forepaw held up stealthily, her stub tail erect and the hair
along her back bristled. Again the low growl. I caught Jerome's
eyes. It was queer.

"What is it, Queen?" I spoke.

At the sound of my voice she wagged her tail and looked round,
then stepped between the curtains. Just her head. She drew back;
her lips drawn from her teeth, snarling. She was rigid, alert,
vitalised. Somehow it made me cold. She was a brave dog; she
feared nothing. The detective stepped forward and pulled the
curtains apart. The room was empty. We looked into each other's
faces. What is there to instinct? What is its range? We could see
nothing.

But not to the dog. Her eyes glowed. Hate, fear, terror, her whole
body rigid.

"I wonder," I said. I stepped into the room. But I hadn't counted
on the dog. With a yelp she was upon me, had me by the calf of the
leg and was drawing me back. She stepped in front of me; a low,
guttural growl of warning. But there was nothing in that room; of
that we were certain.

"Beats me," said the detective. "How does she know? Wonder if she
would stop me?" He stepped forward. It was merely a repetition.
She caught him by the trouser-leg and drew him back. She crowded
us away from the curtain. It was almost magnetic. We could see
nothing, neither could we feel; was it possible that the dog could
see beyond us? The detective spoke first:

"Take her out of the room. Put her in the hall; tie her up."

"What's the idea?"

"Merely this; I am going to examine the room. No, I am not afraid.
I'll be mighty glad if it does catch me. Anything so long as I get
results."

But it did us no good. We examined the room many times that night;
both of us. In the end there was nothing, only the weirdness and
uncertainty and the magnetic undercurrent which we could feel, but
could not fathom. When we called in the dog she stepped to the
portieres and commenced her vigil. She crouched slightly behind
the curtains, alert, ready, waiting, at her post of honour. From
that moment she never left the spot except under compulsion. We
could hear her at all times of the night; the low growl, the
snarl, the defiance.

But there was a great deal more that we were to learn from the
dog. It was Jerome who first called my attention. A small fact at
the beginning; but of a strange sequence. This time it was the
ring. Queen had the habit that is common to most dogs; she would
lick my hand to show her affection. It was nothing in itself; but
for one fact--she always chose the left hand. It was the detective
who first noticed it. Always and every opportunity she would lick
the jewel. We made a little test to try her. I would remove the
ring from one hand to the other; then hold it behind me. She would
follow.

It was a strange fact; but of course not inexplicable. A scent or
the attraction of taste might account for it. However, these
little tests led to a rather remarkable discovery.

One night we had called the dog from her vigil. As usual she came
to the jewel; by chance I pressed the gem against her head. It was
a mere trifle; yet it was of consequence. A few minutes before I
had dropped a handkerchief on the opposite side of the room; I was
just thinking about picking it up. It was only a small thing, yet
it put us on the track of the gem's strangest potency. The dog
walked to the handkerchief. She brought it back in her mouth. At
first I took it for a pure coincidence. I repeated the experiment
with a book. The same result. I looked up at Jerome.

"What's the matter?" Then when I explained: "The dickens! Try it
again."

Over and over again we repeated it, using different articles,
pieces of which I was certain she didn't know the name. There was
a strange bond between the gem and the intelligence, some strange
force emanating from its lustre. On myself it was depressing; on
the dog it was life itself. At last Jerome had an inspiration.

"Try the Rhamda," he said; "think of him. Perhaps--"

It was most surprising. Certainly it was remarkable. It was too
much like intelligence; a bit too uncanny. At the instant of the
thought the dog leaped backward.

Such a strange transformation; she was naturally gentle. In one
instant she had gone mad. Mad? Not in the literal interpretation;
but figuratively. She sprang back, snapping; her teeth bared, her
hair bristled. Her nostrils drawn. With one bound she leaped
between the curtains.

Jerome jumped up. With an exclamation he drew the portieres. I was
behind him. The dog was standing at the edge of the room,
bristling.

The room was empty. What did she see? What?

One thing was certain. Though we were sure of nothing else we were
certain of the Rhamda. We could trust the canine's instinct. Every
previous experiment we had essayed had been crowned with success.
We had here a fact but no explanation. If we could only put things
together and extract the law.

It was late when we retired. I could not sleep. The restlessness
of the dog held back my slumber. She would growl sullenly, then
stir about for a new position; she was never quite still. I could
picture her there in the library, behind the curtains, crouched,
half resting, half slumbering, always watching. I would awaken in
the night and listen; a low guttural warning, a sullen whine--then
stillness. It was the same with my companion. We could never quite
understand it. Perhaps we were a bit afraid.

But one can become accustomed to almost anything. It went on for
many nights without anything happening, until one night.

It was dark, exceedingly dark, with neither moon nor starlight;
one of those nights of inky intenseness. I cannot say just exactly
what woke me. The house was strangely silent and still; the air
seemed stretched and laden. It was summer. Perhaps it was the
heat. I only knew that I woke suddenly and blinked in the
darkness.

In the next room with the door open I could hear the heavy
breathing of the detective. A heavy feeling lay against my heart.
I had grown accustomed to dread and isolation; but this was
different. Perhaps it was premonition. I do not know. And yet I
was terribly sleepy; I remember that.

I struck a match and looked at my watch on the bureau--twelve
thirty-five. No sound--not even Queen--not even a rumble from the
streets. I lay back and dropped into slumber. Just as I drifted
off to sleep I had a blurring fancy of sound, guttural, whining,
fearful--then suddenly drifting into incoherent rumbling
phantasms--a dream. I awoke suddenly. Someone was speaking. It was
Jerome.

"Harry!"

I was frightened. It was like something clutching out of the
darkness. I sat up. I didn't answer. It wasn't necessary. The
incoherence of my dream had been external. The library was just
below me. I could hear the dog pacing to and fro, and her
snarling. Snarling? It was just that. It was something to arouse
terror.

She had never growled like that--I was positive, I could hear her
suddenly leap back from the curtains. She barked. Never before had
she come to that. Then a sudden lunge into the other room--a
vicious series of snapping barks, yelps--pandemonium--I could
picture her leaping--at what? Then suddenly I leaped out of bed.
The barks grew faint, faint, fainter--into the distance.

In the darkness I couldn't find the switch. I bumped into Jerome.
We were lost in our confusion. It was a moment before we could
find either a match or a switch to turn on the lights. But at
last--I shall not forget that moment; nor Jerome. He was rigid;
one arm held aloft, his eyes bulged out. The whole house was full
of sound--full-toned--vibrant--magnetic. It was the bell.

I jumped for the stairway, but not so quick as Jerome. With three
bounds we were in the library with the lights on. The sound was
running down to silence. We tore down the curtains and rushed into
the room. It was empty!

There was not even the dog. Queen had gone! In a vain rush of
grief I began calling and whistling. It was an overwhelming
moment. The poor, brave shepherd. She had seen it and rushed into
its face.

It was the last night I was to have Jerome. We sat up until
daylight. For the thousandth time we went over the house in
detail, but there was nothing. Only the ring. At the suggestion of
the detective I touched the match to the sapphire. It was the
same. The colour diminishing, and the translucent corridors
deepening into the distance; then the blur and the coming of
shadows--the men, Watson and the professor--and my dog.

Of the men, only the heads showed; but the dog was full figure;
she was sitting, apparently on a pedestal, her tongue was lolling
out of her mouth and her face of that gentle intelligence which
only the Australian shepherd is heir to. That is all--no more--
nothing. If we had hoped to discover anything through her medium
we were disappointed. Instead of clearing up, the whole thing had
grown deeper.

I have said that it was the last night I was to have Jerome. I
didn't know it then. Jerome went out early in the morning. I went
to bed. I was not afraid in the daylight. I was certain now that
the danger was localised. As long as I kept out of that apartment
I had nothing to fear. Nevertheless, the thing was magnetic. A
subtle weirdness pervaded the building. I did not sleep soundly. I
was lonely; the isolation was crowding on me. In the afternoon I
stepped out on the streets.

I have spoken of my experience with the conductor. On this day I
had the certainty of my isolation; it was startling. In the face
of what I was and what I had seen it was almost terrifying. It was
the first time I thought of sending for Hobart. I had thought I
could hold out. The complete suddenness of the thing set me to
thinking. I thought of Watson. It was the last phase, the
feebleness, the wanness, the inertia! He had been a far stronger
man than I in the beginning.

I must cable Fenton. While I had still an ego in the presence of
men, I must reach out for help. It was a strange thing and
inexplicable. I was not invisible. Don't think that. I simply did
not individualise. Men didn't notice me--till I spoke. As if I was
imperceptibly losing the essence of self. I still had some hold on
the world. While it remained I must get word to Hobart. I did not
delay. Straight to the office I went and paid for the cable.

CANNOT HOLD OUT MUCH LONGER. COME AT ONCE.--HARRY.

I was a bit ashamed. I had hoped. I had counted upon myself. I had
trusted in the full strength of my individuality. I had been
healthy--strong--full blooded. On the fullness of vitality one
would live forever. There is no tomorrow. It was not a year ago. I
was eighty. It had been so with Watson. What was this subtle thing
that ate into one's marrow? I had read of banshees, lemures and
leprechauns; they were the ghosts and the fairies of ignorance but
they were not like this. It was impersonal, hidden, inexorable. It
was mystery. And I believed that it was Nature.

I know it now. Even as I write I can sense the potency of the
force about me. Some law, some principle, some force that science
has not uncovered.

What is that law that shall bridge the chaos between the mystic
and the substantial? I am standing on the bridge; and I cannot see
it. What is the great law that was discovered by Dr. Holcomb? Who
is the Rhamda? Who is the Nervina?

Jerome has not returned. I cannot understand it. It has been a
week. I am living on brandy--not much of anything else--I am
waiting for Fenton. I have taken all my elaborations and notes and
put them together. Perhaps I--

(This is the last of the strange document left by Harry Wendel.
The following memorandum is written by Charlotte Fenton.)




XVIII

CHARLOTTE'S STORY


I do not know. It is hard to write after what has happened.

Hobart says that it is why I am to write it. It is to be a plain
narrative. Besides, he is very busy and cannot do it himself.
There must be some record. I shall do my best and hold out of my
writing as much as I can of my emotion. I shall start with the
Nervina.

It was the first I knew; the first warning. Looking back I cannot
but wonder. No person I think who has ever seen the Nervina can do
much else; she is so beautiful! Beautiful? Why do I say it? I
should be jealous and I should hate her. Yet I do not. Why is it?

It was about eight months after Hobart had left for South America.
I remember those eight months as the longest in my life; because
of Harry. I am a girl and I like attention; all girls do.
Ordinarily he would come over every fortnight at least. After
Hobart had gone he came once only, and of course I resented the
inattention.

It seemed to me that no business could be of enough importance if
he really loved me. Even his letters were few and far between.
What he wrote were slow and weary and of an undertone that I could
not fathom. I--loved Harry. I could not understand it. I had a
thousand fearful thoughts and jealousies; but they were feminine
and in no way approximated even the beginning of the truth.
Inattention was not like Harry. It was not until the coming of the
Nervina that I was afraid.

Afraid? I will not say that--exactly. It was rather a suspicion, a
queer undercurrent of wonder and doubt. The beauty of the girl,
her interest in Harry and myself, her concern over this ring, put
me a bit on guard. I wondered what this ring had to do with Harry
Wendel.

She did not tell me in exact words or in literal explanation; but
she managed to convey all too well a lurking impression of its
sinister potency. It was something baleful, something the very
essence of which would break down the life of one who wore it.
Harry had come into its possession by accident and she would save
him. She had failed through direct appeal. Now she had come to me.
She did not say a word of the Blind Spot.

And the next day came Harry. It was really a shock, though I had
been warned by the girl. He was not Harry at all, but another. His
eyes were dim and they had lost their lustre; when they did show
light at all, it was a kind that was a bit fearful. He was wan,
worn, and shrunk to a shadow, as if he had gone through a long
illness.

He said he had not been sick. He maintained that he was quite well
physically. And on his finger was the ring of which the girl had
spoken. Its value must have been incalculable. Wherever he moved
his hand its blue flame cut a path through the darkness. But he
said nothing about it. I waited and wondered and was afraid. It
was not until our walk under the elm trees that it was mentioned.

It was a full moon; a wonderful, mellow moon of summer. He stopped
suddenly and gazed up at the orb above us. It seemed to me that
his mind was wandering, he held me closely--tenderly. He was not
at all like Harry. There was a missing of self, of individuality;
he spoke in abstractions.

"The maiden of the moonbeams?" he said. "What can it mean?"

And then I asked him. He has already told of our conversation. It
was the ring of which the Nervina had told me. It had to do with
the Blind Spot--the great secret that had taken Dr. Holcomb. He
would not give it to me. I worked hard, for even then I was not
afraid of it. Something told me--I must do it to save him. It was
weird, and something I could not understand--but I must do it for
Harry.

I failed. Though he was broken in every visible way there was one
thing as strong as ever--his honour. He was not afraid; he had
been the same in his boyhood. When we parted that night he kissed
me. I shall never forget how long he looked into my eyes, nor his
sadness. That is all. The next morning he left for San Francisco.

And then came the end. A message; abrupt and sudden. It was some
time after and put a period to my increasing stress and worry. It
read:

CITY OF PERU DOCKS TONIGHT AT EIGHT. MEET ME AT THE PIER. HOBART
COMING,--HARRY.

It was a short message and a bit twisted. In ordinary
circumstances he would have motored down and brought me back to
greet Hobart. It was a bit strange that I should meet him at the
pier. However, I had barely time to get to the city if I hurried.

I shall never forget that night.

It was dark when I reached San Francisco. I was a full twenty
minutes early at the pier. A few people were waiting. I looked
about for Harry. He was to meet me and I was certain that I would
find him. But he was not there. Of course there was still time. He
was sure to be on hand to greet Hobart.

Nevertheless, I had a vague mistrust. Since that strange visit I
had not been sure. Harry wasn't well. There was something to this
mystery that he had not told me. Why had he asked me to meet him
at the pier? Why didn't he come? When the boat docked and he was
still missing I was doubly worried.

Hobart came down the gangplank. He was great, strong, healthy, and
it seemed to me in a terrible hurry. He scanned the faces
hurriedly and ran over to me.

"Where's Harry?" He kissed me and in the same breath repeated,
"Where's Harry?"

"Oh, Hobart!" I exclaimed. "What's the matter with Harry? Tell me.
It's something terrible!"

He was afraid. Plainly I could see that! There were lines of
anxiety about his eyes. He clutched me by the arm and drew me
away.

"He was to meet me here," I said. "He didn't come. He was to meet
me here! Oh, Hobart, I saw him some time ago. He was--it was not
Harry at all! Do you know anything about it?"

For a minute he stood still, looking at me. I had never seen
Hobart frightened; but at that moment there was that in his eyes
which I could not understand. He caught me by the arm and started
out almost at a run. There were many people and we dodged in and
out among them. Hobart carried a suitcase. He hailed a taxi.

I don't know how I got into the car. It was a blur. I was
frightened. Some terrible thing had occurred, and Hobart knew it.
I remember a few words spoken to the driver. "Speed, speed, no
limit; never mind the law--and Chatterton Place!" After that the
convulsive jerking over the cobbled streets, a climbing over hills
and twisted corners. And Hobart at my side. "Faster--faster," he
was saying; "faster! My lord, was there ever a car so slow! Harry!
Harry!" I could hear him breathing a prayer. Another hill; the car
turned and came suddenly to a stop! Hobart leaped out.

A sombre two-storey house; a light burning in one of the windows,
a dim light, almost subdued and uncanny. I had never seen anything
so lonely as that light; it was grey, uncertain, scarcely a
flicker. Perhaps it was my nerves. I had scarcely strength to
climb the steps. Hobart grasped the knob and thrust open the door;
I can never forget it.

It is hard to write. The whole thing! The room; the walls lined
with books; the dim, pale light, the faded green carpet, and the
man. Pale, worn, almost a shadow of his former self. Was it Harry
Wendel? He had aged forty years. He was stooped, withered,
exhausted. A bottle of brandy on the desk before him. In his weak,
thin hand an empty wineglass. The gem upon his finger glowed with
a flame that was almost wicked; it was blue, burning, giving out
sparkles of light--like a colour out of hell. The path of its
light was unholy--it was too much alive.

We both sprang forward. Hobart seized him by the shoulders.

"Harry, old boy; Harry! Don't you know us? It's Hobart and
Charlotte."

It was terrible. He didn't seem to know. He looked right at us.
But he spoke in abstractions.

"Two," he said. And he listened. "Two! Don't you hear it?" He
caught Hobart by the arm. "Now, listen. Two! No, it's three. Did I
say three? Can't you hear? It's the old lady. She speaks out of
the shadows. There! There! Now, listen. She has been counting to
me. Always she says three! Soon it will be four."

What did he mean? What was it about? Who was the old lady? I
looked round. I saw no one. Hobart stooped over. Harry began
slowly to recognise us. It was as if his mind had wandered and was
coming back from a far place. He spoke slowly; his words were
incoherent and rambling.

"Hobart," he said; "you know her. She is the maiden out of the
moonbeams. The Rhamda, he is our enemy. Hobart, Charlotte. I know
so much. I cannot tell you. You are two hours late. It's a strange
thing. I have found it and I think I know. It came suddenly. The
discovery of the great professor. Why didn't you come two hours
earlier? We might have conquered."

He dropped his head upon his arms; then as suddenly he looked up.
He drew the ring from his finger.

"Give it to Charlotte," he said. "It won't hurt her. Don't touch
it yourself. Had I only known. Watson didn't know--"

He straightened; he was tense, rigid, listening.

"Do you hear anything? Listen! Can you hear? It's the old lady.
There--"

But there was not a sound; only the rumble of the streets, the
ticking of the clock, and our heart-beats. Again he went through
the counting.

"Hobart!"

"Yes, Harry."

"And Charlotte! The ring--ah, yet it was there, Keep it. Give it
to no one. Two hours ago we might have conquered. But I had to
keep the ring. It was too much, too powerful; a man may not wear
it. Charlotte"--he took my hand and ran the ring upon my finger.
"Poor Charlotte. Here is the ring. The most wonderful--"

Again he dropped over. He was weak--there was something going from
him minute by minute.

"Water," he asked. "Hobart, some water."

It was too pitiful. Harry, our Harry--come to a strait like this!
Hobart rushed to another room with the tumbler. I could hear him
fumbling. I stooped over Harry. But he held up his hand.

"No, Charlotte, no. You must not. If--"

He stopped. Again the strange attention, as if he was listening to
something far off in the distance; the pupils of his hollow, worn,
lustreless eyes were pin-points. He stood on his feet rigid,
quivering; then he held up his hand. "Listen!"

But there was nothing. It was just as before; merely the murmuring
of the city night, and the clock ticking.

"It's the dog! D'you hear her? And the old lady. Now listen, 'Two!
Now there are two! Three! Three! Now there are three!' There--
now." He turned to me. "Can you hear it, Charlotte? No? How
strange. Perhaps--" He pointed to the corner of the room. "That
paper. Will you--"

I shall always go over that moment. I have thought over it many
times and have wondered at the sequence. Had I not stepped across
the library, what would have happened?

What was it.

I had stooped to pick up the piece of paper. There came a queer,
cracking, snapping sound, almost audible, I have a strange
recollection of Harry standing up by the side of the desk--a
flitting vision. An intuition of some terrible force. It was out
of nothing--nowhere--approaching. I turned about. And I saw it--
the dot of blue.

Blue! That is what it was at first. Blue and burning, like the
flame of a million jewels centred into a needlepoint. On the
ceiling directly above Harry's head. It was scintillating,
coruscating, opalescent; but it was blue most of all. It was the
colour of life and of death; it was burning, throbbing,
concentrated. I tried to scream. But I was frozen with horror. The
dot changed colour and went to a dead-blue. It seemed to grow
larger and to open. Then it turned to white and dropped like a
string of incandescence, touching Harry on the head.

What was it? It was all so sudden. A door flung open and a swish
of rushing silk. A woman! A beautiful girl! The Nervina! It was
she!

Never have I seen anyone like her. She was so beautiful. In her
face all the compassion a woman is heir to. For scarcely a second
she stopped.

"Charlotte," she called. "Charlotte--oh, why didn't you save him!
He loves you!" Then she turned to Harry. "It shall not be. He
shall not go alone. I shall save him, even beyond--"

With that she rushed upon Harry. It was all done in an instant.
Her arms were outstretched to the dimming form of Harry and the
incandescence. The splendid impassioned girl. Their forms
intermingled. A blur of her beautiful body and Harry's wan, weary
face. A flash of light, a thread of incandescence, a quiver--and
they were gone.

The next I knew was the strong arms of my brother Hobart. He gave
me the water he had fetched for Harry. He was terribly upset, but
very calm. He held the glass up to my lips. He was speaking.

"Don't worry. Don't worry. I know now. I think I know. I was just
in time to see them go. I heard the bell. Harry is safe. It is the
Nervina. I shall get Harry. We'll solve the Blind Spot."




XIX

HOBART FENTON TAKES UP THE TALE


Right here at the outset, I had better make a clean breast of
something which the reader will very soon suspect, anyhow: I am a
plain, unpoetic, blunt-speaking man, trained as a civil engineer,
and in most respects totally dissimilar from the man who wrote the
first account of the Blind Spot.

Harry had already touched upon this. He came of an artistic
family. I think he must have taken up law in the hope that the old
saying would prove true: "The only certain thing about law is its
uncertainty." For he dearly loved the mysterious, the unknowable;
he liked uncertainty for its excitement: and it is a mighty good
thing that he was honest, for he would have made a highly
dangerous crook.

Observe that I use the past tense in referring to my old friend. I
do this in the interests of strict, scientific accuracy, to
satisfy those who would contend that, having utterly vanished from
sight and sound of man, Harry Wendel is no more.

But in my own heart is the firm conviction that he is still very
much alive.

Within an hour of his astounding disappearance, my sister,
Charlotte, and I made our way to an hotel; and despite the
terrible nature of what had happened, we managed to get a few
hours rest. The following morning Charlotte declared herself quite
strong enough to discuss the situation. We lost no time.

It will be remembered that I had spent nearly the whole of the
preceding year in South America, putting through an irrigation
scheme. Thus, I knew little of what had occurred in that interval.
On the other hand, Harry and I had never seen fit to take
Charlotte into our confidence as, I now see, we should have done.

So we fairly pounced upon the manuscript which Harry had left
behind. And by the time we had finished reading it, I for one, had
reached one solid conclusion.

"I'm convinced," I said, "that the stranger--Rhamda Avec--is an
out-and-out villain. Despite his agreeable ways, I think he was
solely and deliberately to blame for Professor Holcomb's
disappearance. Consequently, this Rhamda is, in himself, a very
valuable clue as to Harry's present predicament."

Referring to Harry's notes, I pointed out the fact that, although
Avec had often been seen on the streets of San Francisco, yet the
police had never been able to lay hands on him. This seemed to
indicate that the man might possess the power of actually making
himself visible or invisible, at will.

"Only"--I was careful to add--"understand, I don't rank him as a
magician, or sorcerer; nothing like that. I'd rather think that
he's merely in possession of a scientific secret, no more
wonderful in itself than, say, wireless. He's merely got hold of
it in advance of the others; that's all."

"Then you think that the woman, too, is human?"

"The Nervina?" I hesitated. "Perhaps you know more of this part of
the thing than I do."

"I only know"--slowly--"that she came and told me that Harry was
soon to call. And somehow, I never felt jealous of her, Hobart."
Then she added: "At the same time, I can understand that Harry
might--might have fallen in love with her. She--she was very
beautiful."

Charlotte is a brave girl. She kept her voice as steady as my own.

We next discussed the disappearance of Chick Watson. These details
are already familiar to the reader of Harry's story; likewise what
happened to Queen, his Australian shepherd. Like the other
vanishings, it was followed by a single stroke on that prodigious,
invisible bell--what Harry calls "The Bell of the Blind Spot." And
he has already mentioned my opinion, that this phenomenon
signifies the closing of the portal of the unknown--the end of the
special conditions which produce the bluish spot on the ceiling,
the incandescent streak of light, and the vanishing of whoever
falls into the affected region. The mere fact that no trace of the
bell ever was found has not shaken my opinion.

And thus we reached the final disappearance, that which took away
Harry. Charlotte contrived to keep her voice as resolute as
before, as she said:

"He and the Nervina vanished together. I turned round just as she
rushed in, crying out, 'I can't let you go alone! I'll save you,
even beyond.' That's all she said, before--it happened."

"You saw nothing of the Rhamda then?"

"No."

And we had neither seen nor heard of him since. Until we got in
touch with him, one important clue as to Harry's fate was out of
our reach. There remained to us just one thread of hope--the ring,
which Charlotte was now wearing on her finger.

I lit a match and held it to the face of the gem. As happened many
times before, the stone exhibited its most astounding quality. As
soon as faintly heated, the surface at first clouded, then cleared
in a curious fashion, revealing a startling distinct, miniature
likeness of the four who had vanished into the Blind Spot.

I make no attempt to explain this. Somehow or other, that stone
possesses a telescopic quality which brings to a focus, right in
front of the beholder's eyes, a tiny "close-up" of our vanished
friends. Also, the gem magnifies what it reveals, so that there is
not the slightest doubt that Dr. Holcomb, Chick Watson, Queen and
Harry Wendel are actually reproduced--I shall not say, contained--
in that gem. Neither shall I say that they are reflected; they are
simply reproduced there.

Also, it should be understood that their images are living. Only
the heads and shoulders of the men are to be seen; but there is
animation of the features, such as cannot be mistaken. Granted
that these four vanished in the Blind Spot--whatever that is--and
granted that this ring is some inexplicable window or vestibule
between that locality and this commonplace world of ours, then,
manifestly, it would seem that all four are still alive.

"I am sure of it!" declared Charlotte, managing to smile,
wistfully, at the living reproduction of her sweetheart. "And I
think Harry did perfectly right, in handing it to me to keep."

"Why?"

"Well, if for no other reason than because it behaves so
differently with me, than it did with him.

"Hobart, I am inclined to think that this fact is very
significant. If Chick had only known of it, he wouldn't have
insisted that Harry should wear it; and then--"

"Can't be helped," I interrupted quickly. "Chick didn't know; he
was only certain that someone--SOMEONE--must wear the ring; that
it mustn't pass out of the possession of humans. Moreover, much as
Rhamda Avec may desire it--and the Nervina, too--neither can
secure it through the use of force. Nobody knows why."

Charlotte shivered. "I'm afraid there's something spooky about it,
after all."

"Nothing of the sort," with a conviction that has never left me.
"This ring is a perfectly sound fact, as indisputable as the
submarine. There's nothing supernatural about it; for that matter,
I personally doubt if there's ANYTHING supernatural. Every
phenomenon which seems, at first, so wonderful, becomes
commonplace enough as soon as explained. Isn't it true that you
yourself are already getting used to that ring?"

"Ye--es," reluctantly. "That is, partly. If only it were someone
other than Harry!"

"Of course," I hurried to say, "I only wanted to make it clear
that we haven't any witchcraft to deal with. This whole mystery
will become plain as day, and that damned soon!"

"You've got a theory?"--hopefully.

"Several; that's the trouble!" I had to admit. "I don't know which
is best to follow out.--It may be a spiritualistic thing after
all. Or it may fall under the head of 'abnormal psychology'.
Nothing but hallucinations, in other words."

"Oh, that won't do!"--evidently distressed. "I know what I saw!
I'd doubt my reason if I thought I'd only fancied it!"

"So would I. Well, laying aside the spiritualistic theory, there
remains the possibility of some hitherto undiscovered scientific
secret. And if the Rhamda is in possession of it, then the matter
simmers down to a plain case of villainy."

"But how does he do it?"

"That's the whole question. However, I'm sure of this"--I was
fingering the ring as I spoke. The reproduction of our friends had
faded, now, leaving that dully glowing pale blue light once more.
"This ring is absolutely real; it's no hallucination. It performs
as well in broad daylight as in the night; no special conditions
needed. It's neither a fraud nor an illusion.

"In short, this ring is merely a phenomenon which science has not
YET explained! That it can and will be explained is strictly up to
us! Once we understand its peculiar properties, we can mighty soon
rescue Harry!"

And it was just then that a most extraordinary thing occurred. It
happened so very unexpectedly, so utterly without warning, that it
makes me shaky to this day whenever I recall it.

From the gem on Charlotte's finger--or rather, from the air
surrounding the ring--came an unmistakable sound. We saw nothing
whatever; we only heard. And it was clear, as loud and as
startling as though it had occurred right in the room where we
were discussing the situation.

It was the sharp, joyous bark of a dog.




XX

THE HOUSE OF MIRACLES


Looking back over what has just been written, I am sensible of a
profound gratitude. I am grateful, both because I have been given
the privilege of relating these events, and because I shall not
have to leave this wilderness of facts for someone else to
explain.

Really, if I did not know that I shall have the pleasure of
piecing together these phenomena and of setting my finger upon the
comparatively simple explanation; if I had to go away and leave
this account unfinished, a mere collection of curiosity-provoking
mysteries, I should not speak at all. I should leave the whole
affair for another to finish, as it ought to be finished.

All of which, it will soon appear, I am setting forth largely in
order to brace and strengthen myself against what I must now
relate.

Before resuming, however, I should mention one detail which Harry
was too modest to mention. He was--or is--unusually good-looking.
I don't mean to claim that he possessed any Greek-god beauty; such
wouldn't gibe with a height of five foot seven. No; his good looks
were due to the simple outward expression, through his features,
of a certain noble inward quality which would have made the
homeliest face attractive. Selfishness will spoil the handsomest
features; unselfishness will glorify.

Moreover, simply because he had given his word to Chick Watson
that he would wear the ring, Harry took upon himself the most
dangerous task that any man could assume, and he had lost. But had
he known in advance exactly what was going to happen to him, he
would have stuck to his word, anyhow. And since there was a
sporting risk attached to it, since the thing was not perfectly
sure to end tragically, he probably enjoyed the greater part of
his experience.

But I'm not like that. Frankly, I'm an opportunist; essentially, a
practical sort of fellow. I have a great admiration for idealists,
but a much greater admiration for results. For instance, I have
seldom given my word, even though the matter is unimportant; for I
will cheerfully break my word if, later on, it should develop that
the keeping of my word would do more harm than good.

I realise perfectly well that it is dangerous ground to tread
upon; yet I must refer the reader to what I have accomplished in
this world, as proof that my philosophy is not as bad as it looks.

I beg nobody's pardon for talking about myself so much at the
outset. This account will be utterly incomprehensible if I am not
understood. My method of solving the Blind Spot mystery is, when
analysed, merely the expression of my personality. My sole idea
has been to get RESULTS.

As Harry has put it, a proposition must be reduced to concrete
form before I will have anything to do with it. If the Blind Spot
had been a totally occult affair, demanding that the investigation
be conducted under cover of darkness, surrounded by black velvet,
crystal spheres and incense; demanding the aid of a clairvoyant or
other "medium," I should never have gone near it. But as soon as
the mystery began to manifest itself in terms that I could
understand, appreciate and measure, then I took interest.

That is why old Professor Holcomb appealed to me; he had proposed
that we prove the occult by physical means. "Reduce it to the
scope of our five senses," he had said, in effect. From that
moment on I was his disciple.

I have told of hearing that sharp, welcoming bark, emitted either
from the gem or from the air surrounding it. This event took place
on the front porch of the house at 288 Chatterton Place, as
Charlotte and I sat there talking it over. We had taken a suite at
the hotel, but had come to the house of the Blind Spot in order to
decide upon a course of action. And, in a way, that mysterious
barking decided it for us.

We returned to the hotel, and gave notice that we would leave the
next day. Next, we began to make preparations for moving into the
Chatterton Place dwelling.

That afternoon, while in the midst of giving orders for
furnishings and the like, there at the hotel, I was called to the
telephone. It was from a point outside the building.

"Mr. Fenton?"--in a man's voice. And when I had assured him; "You
have no reason to recognise my voice. I am--Rhamda Avec."

"The Rhamda! What do you want?"

"To speak with your sister, Mr. Fenton." Odd how very agreeable
the man's tones! "Will you kindly call her to the telephone?"

I saw no objection. However, when Charlotte came to my side I
whispered for her to keep the man waiting while I darted out into
the corridor and slipped downstairs, where the girl at the
switchboard put an instrument into the circuit for me. Money
talks. However--

"My dear child," the voice of Avec was saying, "you do me an
injustice. I have nothing but your welfare at heart. I assure you
that if anything should happen to you and your brother while at
Chatterton Place, it will be through no fault of mine.

"At the same time I can positively assure you that, if you stay
away from there, no harm will come to either of you; absolutely
none! I can guarantee that. Don't ask me why; but, if you value
your safety, stay where you are, or go elsewhere, anywhere other
than to the house in Chatterton Place."

"I can hardly agree with you, Mr. Avec." Plainly Charlotte was
deeply impressed with the man's sincerity and earnestness. "My
brother's judgment is so much better than mine, that I--" and she
paused regretfully.

"I only wish," with his remarkable gracefulness, "that your
intuition were as strong as your loyalty to your brother. If it
were, you would know that I speak the truth when I say that I have
only your welfare at heart."

"I--I am sorry, Mr. Avec."

"Fortunately, there is one alternative," even more agreeable than
before. "If you prefer not to take my advice, but cling to your
brother's decision, you can still avoid the consequences of his
determination to live in that house. As I say, I cannot prevent
harm from befalling you, under present conditions; but these
conditions can be completely altered if you will make a single
concession, Miss Fenton."

"What is it?" eagerly.

"That you give me the ring!"

He paused for a very tense second. I wished I could see his
peculiar, young-old face--the face with the inscrutable eyes; the
face that urged, rather than inspired, both curiosity and
confidence.

Then he added:

"I know why you wear it; I realise that the trinket carries some
very tender associations. And I would never ask such a concession
did I not know, were your beloved here at this moment, he would
endorse every word that I say, and--"

"Harry!" cried Charlotte, her voice shaking. "He would tell me to
give it to you?"

"I am sure of it! It is as though he, through me, were urging you
to do this!"

For some moments there was silence. Charlotte must have been
tremendously impressed. It certainly was amazing the degree of
confidence that Avec's voice induced. I wouldn't have been greatly
surprised had my sister--

"Mr. Avec," came Charlotte's voice, hesitatingly, almost
sorrowfully. "I--I would like to believe you; but--but Harry
himself gave me the ring, and I feel--oh, I'm sure that my brother
would never agree to it!"

"I understand." Somehow the fellow managed to conceal any
disappointment he may have felt. He contrived to show only a deep
sympathy for Charlotte as he finished: "If I find it possible to
protect you, I shall, Miss Fenton."

After it was all over, and I returned to the rooms, Charlotte and
I concluded that it might have been better had we made some sort
of compromise. If we had made a partial concession, he might have
told us something of the mystery. We ought to have bargained. We
decided that if he made any attempt to carry out what I felt sure
were merely a thinly veiled threat to punish us for keeping the
gem, we must not only be ready for whatever he might do, but try
to trap and keep him as well.

That same day found us back at Chatterton Place. Inside, there was
altogether too much evidence that the place had been bachelors'
quarters.

The first step was to clean up. We hired lots of help, and made a
quick thorough job of both floors. The basement we left untouched.
And the next day we put a force of painters and decorators to
work; whereby hangs the tale.

"Mr. Fenton," called the head painter, as he varnished the "trim"
in the parlour, "I wish you'd come and see what to make of this."

I stepped into the front room. He was pointing to the long piece
of finish which spanned the doorway leading into the dining-room.
And he indicated a spot almost in the exact middle, a spot
covering a space about five inches broad and as high as the width
of the wood. In outline it was roughly octagonal.

"I've been trying my best," stated Johnson, "to varnish that spot
for the past five minutes. But I'll be darned if I can do it!"

And he showed what he meant. Every other part of the door
glistened with freshly applied varnish; but the octagonal region
remained dull, as though no liquid had ever touched it. Johnson
dipped his brush into the can, and applied a liberal smear of the
fluid to the place. Instantly the stuff disappeared.

"Blamed porous piece of wood," eyeing me queerly. "Or--do you
think it's merely porous, Mr. Fenton?"

For answer I took a brush and repeatedly daubed the place. It was
like dropping ink on a blotter. The wood sucked up the varnish as
a desert might suck up water.

"There's about a quart of varnish in the wood already," observed
Johnson, as I stared and pondered. "Suppose we take it down and
weigh it?"

Inside of a minute we had that piece of trim down from its place.
First, I carefully examined the timber framework behind, expecting
to see traces of the varnish where, presumably, it had seeped
through. There was no sign. Then I inspected the reverse side of
the finish, just behind the peculiar spot. I thought I might see a
region of wide open pores in the grain of the pine. But the back
looked exactly the same as the front, with no difference in the
grain at any place.

Placing the finish right side up, I proceeded to daub the spot
some more. There was no change in the results. At last I took the
can, and without stopping, poured a quart and a half of the fluid
into that paradoxical little area.

"Well I'll be darned!"--very loudly from Johnson. But when I
looked up I saw his face was white, and his lips shaking.

His nerves were all a-jangle. To give his mind a rest, I sent him
for a hatchet. When he came back his face had regained its colour.
I directed him to hold the pine upright, while I, with a single
stroke, sank the tool into the end of the wood.

It split part way. A jerk, and the wood fell in two halves.

"Well?" from Johnson, blankly.

"Perfectly normal wood, apparently." I had to admit that it was
impossible to distinguish the material which constituted the
peculiar spot from that which surrounded it.

I sent Johnson after more varnish. Also, I secured several other
fluids, including water, milk, ink, and machine oil. And when the
painter returned we proceeded with a very thorough test indeed.

Presently it became clear that we were dealing with a phenomenon
of the Blind Spot. All told, we poured about nine pints of liquid
into an area of about twenty square inches; all on the outer
surface, for the split side would absorb nothing. And to all
appearances we might have continued to pour indefinitely.

Ten minutes later I went down into the basement to dispose of some
rubbish. (Charlotte didn't know of this defection in our
housekeeping.) It was bright sunlight outside. Thanks to the
basement windows, I needed no artificial luminant. And when my
gaze rested upon the ground directly under the parlour, I saw
something there that I most certainly had never noticed before.

The fact is, the basement at 288 Chatterton Place never did
possess anything worthy of special notice. Except for the
partition which Harry Wendel and Jerome, the detective, were the
first in years to penetrate--except for that secret doorway, there
was nothing down there to attract attention. To be sure, there was
a quantity of up-turned earth, the result of Jerome's vigorous
efforts to see whether or not there was any connection between the
Blind Spot phenomena which he had witnessed and the cellar. He had
secured nothing but an appetite for all his digging.

However, it was still too dark for me to identify what I saw at
once. I stood for a few moments, accustoming my eyes to the light.
Except that the thing gleamed oddly like a piece of glass, and
that it possessed a nearly circular outline about two feet across,
I couldn't tell much about it.

Then I stooped and examined it closely. At once I became conscious
of a smell which, somehow, I had hitherto not noticed. Small
wonder; it was as indescribable a smell as one could imagine. It
seemed to be a combination of several that are not generally
combined.

Next instant it flashed upon me that the predominating odour was a
familiar one. I had been smelling it, in fact, all the morning.

But this did not prevent me from feeling very queer, indeed, as I
realised what lay before me. A curious chill passed around my
shoulders, and I scarcely breathed.

At my feet lay a pool, composed of all the various liquids that
had been poured, upstairs, into that baffling spot in the wood.




XXI

OUT OF THIN AIR


Except for the incident just related, when several pints of very
real fluids were somehow "materialised" at a spot ten feet below
where they had vanished, nothing worth recording occurred during
the first seven days of our stay at Chatterton Place.

Seemingly nothing was to come of the Rhamda's warning.

On the other hand we succeeded, during that week, in working a
complete transformation of the old house. It became one of the
brightest spots in San Francisco. It cost a good deal of money,
all told, but I could well afford it. I possessed the hundred
thousand with which, I had promised myself and Harry, I should
solve the Blind Spot. That was what the money was for.

On the seventh day after the night of Harry's going, our household
was increased to three members. For it was then that Jerome
returned from Nevada, whence he had gone two weeks before on a
case.

"Not at all surprised," he commented, when I told him of Harry's
disappearance. "Sorry I wasn't here. That crook, Rhamda Avec, in
at the end?"

He gnawed stolidly at his cigar as I told him the story. Then,
after briefly approving what I had done to brighten the house, he
announced:

"Tell you what. I've got a little money out of that Nevada case;
I'm going to take another vacation and see this thing through."

We shook hands on this, and he moved right into his old room. I
felt, in fact, mighty glad to have Jerome with us. Although he
lacked a regular academic training, he was fifteen years my
senior, and because of contact with a wide variety of people in
his work, both well-informed and reserved in his judgment. He
could not be stampeded; he had courage; and, above everything
else, he had the burning curiosity of which Harry has written.

I was upstairs when he unpacked. And I noted among his belongings
a large, rather heavy automatic pistol. He nodded when I asked if
he was willing to use it in this case.

"Although"--unbuttoning his waistcoat--"I don't pin as much faith
to pistols as I used to.

"The Rhamda is, I'm convinced, the very cleverest proposition that
ever lived. He has means to handle practically anything in the way
of resistance." Jerome knew how the fellow had worsted Harry and
me. "I shouldn't wonder if he can read the mind to some extent; he
might be able to foresee that I was going to draw a gun, and beat
me to it with some new weapon of his own."

Having unbuttoned his waistcoat, Jerome then displayed a curious
contrivance mounted upon his breast. It consisted of a broad metal
plate, strapped across his shirt, and affixed to this plate was a
flat-springed arrangement for firing, simultaneously, the contents
of a revolver cylinder. To show how it worked, Jerome removed the
five cartridges and then faced me.

"Tell me to throw up my hands," directed he. I did so; his palms
flew into the air; and with a steely snap the mechanism was
released.

Had there been cartridges in it, I should have been riddled, for I
stood right in front. And I shuddered as I noted the small straps
around Jerome's wrists, running up his sleeves, so disposed that
the act of surrendering meant instant death to him who might
demand.

"May not be ethical, Fenton"--quietly--"but it certainly is good
sense to shoot first and explain later when you're handling a chap
like Avec. Better make preparations, too."

I objected. I pointed out what I have already mentioned; that,
together with the ring, the Rhamda offered our only clues to the
Blind Spot. Destroy the man and we would destroy one of our two
hopes of rescuing our friends from the unthinkable fate that had
overtaken them.

"No"--decisively. "We don't want to kill; we want to KEEP him.
Bullets won't do. I see no reason, however, why you shouldn't load
that thing with cartridges containing chemicals which would have
an effect similar to that of a gas bomb. Once you can make him
helpless, so that you can put those steel bracelets on him, we'll
see how dangerous he is with his hands behind him!"

"I get you"--thoughtfully. "I know a chemist who will make up
'Paralysis' gas for me, in the form of gelatine capsules. Shoot
'em at the Rhamda; burst upon striking. Safe enough for me, and
yet put him out of business long enough to fit him with the
jewellery."

"That's the idea."

But I had other notions about handling the Rhamda. Being satisfied
that mere strength and agility were valueless against him, I
concluded that he, likewise realising this, would be on the
lookout for any possible trap.

Consequently, if I hoped to keep the man, and force him to tell us
what we wanted to know, then I must make use of something other
than physical means. Moreover, I gave him credit for an
exceptional amount of insight. Call it super-instinct, or what you
will, the fellow's intellect was transcendental.

Once having decided that it must be a battle of wits I took a step
which may seem, at first, a little peculiar.

I called upon a certain lady to whom I shall give the name of
Clarke, since that is not the correct one. I took her fully and
frankly into my confidence. It is the only way, when dealing with
a practitioner. And since, like most of my fellow citizens, she
had heard something of the come and go, elusive habits of our men,
together with the Holcomb affair, it was easy for her to
understand just what I wanted.

"I see," she mused. "You wish to be surrounded by an influence
that will not so much protect you, as vitalise and strengthen you
whenever you come in contact with Avec. It will be a simple
matter. How far do you wish to go?" And thus it was arranged, the
plan calling for the co-operation of some twenty of her
colleagues.

My fellow engineers may sneer, if they like. I know the usual
notion: that the "power of mind over matter" is all in the brain
of the patient. That the efforts of the practitioner are merely
inductive, and so on.

But I think that the most sceptical will agree that I did quite
right in seeking whatever support I could get before crossing
swords with a man as keen as Avec.

Nevertheless, before an opportunity arrived to make use of the
intellectual machinery which my money had started into operation,
something occurred which almost threw the whole thing out of gear.

It was the evening after I had returned from Miss Clarke's office.
Both Charlotte and I had a premonition, after supper, that things
were going to happen. We all went into the parlour, sat down, and
waited.

Presently we started the gramophone. Jerome sat nearest the
instrument, where he could without rising, lean over and change
the records. And all three of us recall that the selection being
played at the moment was "I Am Climbing Mountains," a sentimental
little melody sung by a popular tenor. Certainly the piece was far
from being melancholy, mysterious, or otherwise likely to attract
the occult.

I remember that we played it twice, and it was just as the singer
reached the beginning of the final chorus that Charlotte, who sat
nearest the door, made a quick move and shivered, as though with
cold.

From where I sat, near the dining-room door, I could see through
into the hall. Charlotte's action made me think that the door
might have become unlatched, allowing a draught to come through.
Afterwards she said that she had felt something rather like a
breeze pass her chair.

In the middle of the room stood a long, massive table, of
conventional library type. Overhead was a heavy, burnished copper
fixture, from which a cluster of electric bulbs threw their
brilliance upward, so that the room was evenly lighted with the
diffused rays as reflected from the ceiling. Thus, there were no
shadows to confuse the problem.

The chorus of the song was almost through when I heard from the
direction of the table a faint sound, as though someone had drawn
fingers lightly across the polished oak. I listened; the sound was
not repeated, at least not loud enough for me to catch it above
the music. Next moment, however, the record came to an end; Jerome
leaned forward to put on another, and Charlotte opened her mouth
as though to suggest what the new selection might be. But she
never said the words.

It began with a scintillating iridescence, up on the ceiling, not
eight feet from where I sat. As I looked the spot grew, and
spread, and flared out. It was blue like the elusive blue of the
gem; only, it was more like flame--the flame of electrical
apparatus.

Then, down from that blinding radiance there crept, rather than
dropped a single thread of incandescence, vivid, with a tinge of
the colour from which it had surged. Down it crept to the floor;
it was like an irregular streak of lightning, hanging motionless
between ceiling and floor, just for the fraction of a second. All
in total silence.

And then the radiance vanished, disappeared, snuffed out as one
might snuff out a candle. And in its stead--

There appeared a fourth person in the room.




XXII

THE ROUSING OF A MIND


It was a girl. Not the Nervina. No; this girl was quite another
person.

Even now I find it curiously hard to describe her. For me to say
that she was the picture of innocence, of purity, and of youth, is
still to leave unsaid the secret of her loveliness.

For this stranger, coming out of the thin air into our midst, held
me with a glorious fascination. From the first I felt no
misgivings, such as Harry confesses he experienced when he fell
under the Nervina's charm. I knew as I watched the stranger's
wondering, puzzled features, that I had never before seen anyone
so lovely, so attractive, and so utterly beyond suspicion.

It was only later that I noted her amazingly delicate complexion,
fair as her hair was golden; her deep blue eyes, round face, and
the girlish supple figure; or her robe-like garments of very soft,
white material. For she commenced almost instantly to talk.

But we understood only with the greatest of difficulty. She spoke
as might one who, after living in perfect solitude for a score of
years, is suddenly called upon to use language. And I remembered
that Rhamda Avec had told Jerome that he had only BEGUN the use of
language.

"Who are you?" was her first remark, in the sweetest voice
conceivable. But there was both fear and anxiety in her manner.
"How--did I--get--here?"

"You came out of the Blind Spot!" I spoke, jerking out the words
nervously and, as I saw, too rapidly. I repeated them more slowly.
But she did not comprehend.

"The--Blind--Spot," she pondered. "What--is that?"

Next instant, before I could think to warn her, the room trembled
with the terrific clang of the Blind Spot bell. Just one
overwhelming peal; no more. At the same time there came a revival
of the luminous spot in the ceiling. But, with the last tones of
the bell, the spot faded to nothing.

The girl was pitifully frightened. I sprang to my feet and
steadied her with one hand--something that I had not dared to do
as long as the Spot remained open. The touch of my fingers, as she
swayed, had the effect of bringing her to herself. She listened
intelligently to what I said.

"The Blind Spot"--speaking with the utmost care--"is the name we
have given to a certain mystery. It is always marked by the sound
you have just heard; that bell always rings when the phenomenon is
at an end."

"And--the--phenomenon," uttering the word with difficulty, "what
is that?"

"You," I returned. "Up till now three human beings have
disappeared into what we call the Blind Spot. You are the first to
be seen coming out of it."

"Hobart," interrupted Charlotte, coming to my side. "Let me."

I stepped back, and Charlotte quietly passed an arm round the
girl's waist. Together they stepped over to Charlotte's chair.

I noted the odd way in which the newcomer walked, unsteadily,
uncertainly, like a child taking its first steps. I glanced at
Jerome, wondering if this tallied with what he recalled of the
Rhamda; and he gave a short nod.

"Don't be frightened," said Charlotte softly, "we are your
friends. In a way we have been expecting you, and we shall see to
it that no harm comes to you.

"Which would you prefer--to ask questions, or to answer them?"

"I"--the girl hesitated--"I--hardly--know. Perhaps--you had--
better--ask something first."

"Good. Do you remember where you came from? Can you recall the
events just prior to your arrival here?"

The girl looked helplessly from the one to the other of us. She
seemed to be searching for some clue. Finally she shook her head
in a hopeless, despairing fashion.

"I can't remember," speaking with a shade less difficulty. "The
last thing--I recall is--seeing--you three--staring--at me."

This was a poser. To think, a person who, before our very eyes,
had materialised out of the Blind Spot, was unable to tell us
anything about it!

Still this lack of memory might be only a temporary condition,
brought on by the special conditions under which she had emerged;
an after-effect, as it were, of the semi-electrical phenomena. And
it turned out that I was right.

"Then," suggested Charlotte, "suppose you ask us something."

The girl's eyes stopped roving and rested definitely, steadily,
upon my own. And she spoke; still a little hesitantly:

"Who are you? What is your name?"

"Name?" taken wholly by surprise. "Ah--it is Hobart Fenton. And"--
automatically--"this is my sister Charlotte. The gentleman over
there is Mr. Jerome."

"I am glad to know you, Hobart," with perfect simplicity and
apparent pleasure; "and you, Charlotte," passing an arm round my
sister's neck; "and you--Mister." Evidently she thought the title
of "mister" to be Jerome's first name.

Then she went on to say, her eyes coming back to mine:

"Why do you look at me that way, Hobart?"

Just like that! I felt my cheeks go hot and cold by turns. For a
moment I was helpless; then I made up my mind to be just as frank
and candid as she.

"Because you're so good to look at!" I blurted out. "I never
appreciated my eyesight as I do right now!"

"I am glad," she returned, simply and absolutely without a trace
of confusion or resentment. "I know that I rather like to look at
you--too."

Another stunned silence. And this time I didn't notice any change
in the temperature of my face; I was too busily engaged in
searching the depths of those warm blue eyes.

She didn't blush, or even drop her eyes. She smiled, however, a
gentle, tremulous smile that showed some deep feeling behind her
unwavering gaze.

I recovered myself with a start, drew my chair up in front of her
and took both her hands firmly in mine. Whereupon my resolution
nearly deserted me. How warm and soft, and altogether adorable
they were. I drew a long breath and began:

"My dear--By the way, what is your name?"

"I"--regretfully, after a moment's thought--"I don't know,
Hobart."

"Quite so," as though the fact was commonplace. "We will have to
provide you with a name. Any suggestions?"

Charlotte hesitated only a second. "Let's call her Ariadne; it was
Harry's mother's name."

"That's so; fine! Do you like the name--Ariadne?"

"Yes," both pleased and relieved. At the same time she looked
oddly puzzled, and I could see her lips moving silently as she
repeated the name to herself.

Not for an instant did I let go of those wonderful fingers. "What
I want you to know, Ariadne, is that you have come into a world
that is, perhaps, more or less like the one that you have just
left. For all I know it is one and the same world, only, in some
fashion not yet understood, you may have transported yourself to
this place. Perhaps not.

"Now, we call this a room, a part of the house. Outside is a
street. That street is one of hundreds in a vast city, which
consists of a multitude of such houses together with other and
vastly larger structures. And these structures all rest upon a
solid material which we call the ground or earth.

"The fact that you understand our language indicates that either
you have fallen heir to a body and a brain which are thoroughly in
tune with ours, or else--and please understand that we know very
little of this mystery--or else your own body has somehow become
translated into a condition which answers the same purpose.

"At any rate, you ought to comprehend what I mean by the term
'earth.' Do you?"

"Oh, yes," brightly. "I seem to understand everything you say,
Hobart."

"Then there is a corresponding picture in your mind to each
thought I have given you?"

"I think so," not so positively.

"Well," hoping that I could make it clear, "this earth is formed
in a huge globe, part of which is covered by another material,
which we term water. And the portions which are not so covered,
and are capable of supporting the structures which constitute the
city, we call by still another name. Can you supply that name?"

"Continents," without hesitation.

"Fine!" This was a starter anyhow. "We'll soon have your memory
working!

"However, what I really began to say is this; each of these
continents--and they are several in number--is inhabited by people
more or less like ourselves. There is a vast number, all told.
Each is either male or female, like ourselves--you seem to take
this for granted, however--and you will find them all exceedingly
interesting.

"Now, in all fairness," letting go her hands at last "you must
understand that there are, among the people whom you have yet to
see, great numbers who are far more--well, attractive, than I am.

"And you must know," even taking my gaze away, "that not all
persons are as friendly as we. You will find some who are
antagonistic to you, and likely to take advantage of--well, your
unsophisticated viewpoint. In short"--desperately--"you must learn
right away not to accept people without question; you must form
the habit of reserving judgment, of waiting until you have more
facts, before reaching an opinion of others.

"You must do this as a matter of self-protection, and in the
interests of your greatest welfare."

And I stopped.

She seemed to be thinking over what I said. In the end she
observed: "This seems reasonable. I feel sure that wherever I came
from such advice would have fitted.

"However"--smiling at me in a manner to which I can give no
description other than affectionate--"I have no doubts about you,
Hobart. I know you are absolutely all right."

And before I could recover from the bliss into which her statement
threw me, she turned to Charlotte with "You too, Charlotte; I know
I can trust you."

But when she looked at Jerome she commented: "I can trust you,
Mister, too; almost as much, but not quite. If you didn't suspect
me I could trust you completely."

Jerome went white. He spoke for the first time since the girl's
coming.

"How--how did you know that I suspected you?"

"I can't explain; I don't know myself." Then wistfully: "I wish
you would stop suspecting me, Mister. I have nothing to conceal
from you."

"I know it!" Jerome burst out, excitedly, apologetically. "I know
it now! You're all right, I'm satisfied of that from now on!"

She sighed in pure pleasure. And she offered one hand to Jerome.
He took it as though it were a humming-bird's egg, and turned
almost purple. At the same time the honest, fervid manliness which
backed the detective's professional nature shone through for the
first time in my knowledge of him. From that moment his devotion
to the girl was as absolute as that of the fondest father who ever
lived.

Well, no need to detail all that was said during the next hour.
Bit by bit we added to the girl's knowledge of the world into
which she had emerged, and bit by bit there unfolded in her mind a
corresponding image of the world from which she had come. And
when, for an experiment, we took her out on the front porch and
showed her the stars, we were fairly amazed at the thoughts they
aroused.

"Oh!" she cried, in sheer rapture. "I know what those are!" By now
she was speaking fairly well. "They are stars!" Then: "They don't
look the same. They're not outlined in the same way as I know. But
they can't be anything else!"

NOT OUTLINED THE SAME. I took this to be a very significant fact.
What did it mean?

"Look"--showing her the constellation Leo, on the ecliptic, and
therefore visible to both the northern and southern hemispheres--
"do you recognise that?"

"Yes," decisively. "That is, the arrangement; but not the
appearance of the separate stars."

And we found this to be true of the entire sky. Nothing was
entirely familiar to her; yet, she assured us, the stars could be
nothing else. Her previous knowledge told her this without
explaining why, and without a hint as to the reason for the
dissimilarity.

"Is it possible," said I, speaking half to myself, "that she has
come from another planet?"

For we know that the sky, as seen from any of the eight planets in
this solar system, would present practically the same appearance;
but if viewed from a planet belonging to any other star-sun, the
constellations would be more or less altered in their arrangement,
because of the vast distance involved. As for the difference in
the appearance of the individual stars, that might be accounted
for by a dissimilarity in the chemical make-up of the atmosphere.

"Ariadne, it may be you've come from another world!"

"No," seemingly quite conscious that she was contradicting me. For
that matter there wasn't anything offensive about her kind of
frankness. "No, Hobart. I feel too much at home to have come from
any other world than this one."

Temporarily I was floored. How could she, so ignorant of other
matters, feel so sure of this? There was no explaining it.

We went back into the house. As it happened, my eye struck first
the gramophone. And it seemed a good idea to test her knowledge
with this.

"Is this apparatus familiar to you?"

"No. What is it for?"

"Do you understand what is meant by the term 'music'?"

"Yes," with instant pleasure. "This is music." She proceeded,
without the slightest self-consciousness, to sing in a sweet clear
soprano, and treated us to the chorus of "I Am Climbing
Mountains!"

"Good heavens!" gasped Charlotte. "What can it mean?"

For a moment the explanation evaded me. Then I reasoned: "She must
have a sub-conscious memory of what was being played just before
she materialised."

And to prove this I picked out an instrumental piece which we had
not played all the evening. It was the finale of the overture to
"Faust"; a selection, by the way, which was a great favourite of
Harry's and is one of mine. Ariadne listened in silence to the
end.

"I seem to have heard something like it before," she decided
slowly. "The melody, not the--the instrumentation. But it reminds
me of something that I like very much." Whereupon she began to
sing for us. But this time her voice was stronger and more
dramatic; and as for the composition--all I can say is it had a
wild, fierce ring to it, like "Men of Harlech"; only the notes did
not correspond to the chromatic scale. SHE SANG IN AN ENTIRELY NEW
MUSICAL SYSTEM.

"By George!" when she had done. "Now we HAVE got something! For
the first time, we've heard some genuine, unadulterated Blind Spot
stuff!"

"You mean," from Charlotte, excitedly, "that she has finally
recovered her memory?"

It was the girl herself who answered. She shot to her feet, and
her face became transfigured with a wonderful joy. At the same
time she blinked hurriedly, as though to shut off a sight that
staggered her.

"Oh, I remember! I"--she almost sobbed in her delight--"it is all
plain to me, now! I know who I am!"




XXIII

THE RHAMDA AGAIN


I could have yelled for joy. We were about to learn something of
the Blind Spot--something that might help us to save Harry, and
Chick, and the professor!

Ariadne seemed to know that a great deal depended upon what she
was about to tell us. She deliberately sat down, and rested her
chin upon her hand, as though determining upon the best way of
telling something very difficult to express.

As for Charlotte, Jerry, and myself, we managed somehow to
restrain our curiosity enough to keep silence. But we could not
help glancing more or less wonderingly at our visitor. Presently I
realised this, and got up and walked quietly about, as though
intent upon a problem of my own.

Which was true enough. I had come to a very startling conclusion--
I, Hobart Fenton, had fallen in love!

What was more, this affection of the heart had come to me, a very
strong man, just as an affection of the lungs is said to strike
such men--all of a sudden and hard. One moment I had been a
sturdy, independent soul, intent upon scientific investigation,
the only symptoms of sentimental potentialities being my perfectly
normal love for my sister and for my old friend. Then, before my
very eyes, I had been smitten thus!

And the worst part of it was, I found myself ENJOYING the
sensation. It made not the slightest difference to me that I had
fallen in love with a girl who was only a step removed from a
wraith. Mysteriously she had come to me; as mysteriously she might
depart. I had yet to know from what sort of country she had come!

But that made no difference. She was HERE, in the same house with
me; I had held her hands; and I knew her to be very, very real
indeed just then. And when I considered the possibility of her
disappearing just as inexplicably as she had come--well, my face
went cold, I admit. But at the same time I felt sure of this
much--I should never love any other woman.

The thought left me sober. I paused in my pacing and looked at
her. As though in answer to my gaze she glanced up and smiled so
affectionately that it was all I could do to keep from leaping
forward and taking her right into my arms.

I turned hastily, and to cover my confusion I began to hum a
strain from the part of "Faust" to which I have referred. I hummed
it through, and was beginning again, when I was startled to hear
this from the girl: "Oh, then you are Hobart!"

I wheeled, to see her face filled with a wonderful light.

"Hobart," she repeated, as one might repeat the name of a very
dear one. "That--that music you were humming! Why, I heard Harry
Wendel humming that yesterday!"

I suppose we looked very stupid, the three of us, so dumbfounded
that we could do nothing but gape incredulously at that
extraordinary creature and her equally extraordinary utterance.
She immediately did her best to atone for her sensation.

"I'm not sure that I can make it clear," she said, smiling
dubiously, "but if you will use your imaginations and try to fill
in the gaps in what I say you may get a fair idea of the place I
have come from, and where Harry is."

We leaned forward, intensely alert. I shall never forget the
pitiful eagerness in poor Charlotte's face. It meant more to her,
perhaps, than to anyone else.

At the precise instant I heard a sound, off in the breakfast room.
It seemed to be a subdued knocking, or rather a pounding at the
door.

Frowning at the interruption, I stepped through the dining-room
into the breakfast room, where the sounds came from. And I was not
a little puzzled to note that the door to the basement was
receiving the blows.

Now I had been the last to visit the basement and had locked the
door--from force of habit, I suppose--leaving the key in the lock.
It was still there. And there is but one way to enter that
basement: through this one door, and no other.

"Who is it?" I called out peremptorily. No answer; only a
repetition of the pounds.

"What do you want?"--louder.

"Open this door, quick!" cane a muffled reply.

The voice was unrecognisable. I stood and thought quickly; then
shouted:

"Wait a minute, until I get a key!"

I motioned to Charlotte. She tip-toed to my side. I whispered
something in her ear; and she slipped off into the kitchen, there
to phone Miss Clarke and warn her to notify her colleagues at
once. And so, as I unlocked the door, I was fortified by the
knowledge that I would be assisted by the combined mind-force of a
score of highly developed intellects.

I was little surprised, a second later, to see that the intruder
was Rhamda Avec. What reason to expect anyone else?

"How did you get down there?" I demanded. "Don't you realise that
you are liable to arrest for trespass?"

I said it merely to start conversation but it served only to bring
a slight smile to the face of this professed friend of ours, for
whom we felt nothing but distrust and fear.

"Let us not waste time in trivialities, Fenton," he rejoined
gently. He brushed a fleck of cobweb from his coat. "By this time
you ought to know that you cannot deal with me in any ordinary
fashion."

I made no comment as, without asking my leave or awaiting an
invitation, he stepped through into the dining-room and thence
into the parlour. I followed, half tempted to strike him down from
behind, but restrained more by the fact that I must spare him than
from any compunctions. Seemingly he knew this as well as I, he was
serenely at ease.

And thus he stood before Jerome and Ariadne. The detective made a
single exclamation, and furtively shifted his coat sleeves. He was
getting that infernal breast gun into action. As for Ariadne, she
stared at the new arrival as though astonished at first.

When Charlotte returned, a moment later, she showed only mild
surprise. She quietly took her chair and as quietly moved her hand
so that the gem shone in full view of our visitor.

But he gave her and the stone only a single glance, and then
rested his eyes upon our new friend. To my anxiety, Ariadne was
gazing fixedly at him now, her expression combining both agitation
and a vague fear.

It could not have been due entirely to his unusual appearance; for
there was no denying that this grey-haired yet young-faced man
with the distinguished, courteous bearing, looked even younger
that night than ever before. No; the girl's concern was deeper,
more acute. I felt an unaccountable alarm.

From Ariadne to me the Rhamda glanced, then back again; and a
quick satisfied smile came to his mouth. He gave an almost
imperceptible nod. And, keeping his gaze fixed upon her eyes, he
remarked carelessly:

"Which of these chairs shall I sit in, Fenton?"

"This one," I replied instantly, pointing to the one I had just
quit.

Smiling, he selected a chair a few feet away.

Whereupon I congratulated myself. The man feared me, then; yet he
ranked my mentality no higher than that! In other words,
remarkably clever though he might be, and as yet unthwarted, he
could by no means be called omnipotent.

"For your benefit, Mr. Jerome, let me say that I phoned Miss
Fenton and her brother a few days ago, and urged them to give up
their notion of occupying this house or of attempting to solve the
mystery that you are already acquainted with. And I prophesied,
Mr. Jerome, that their refusal to accept my advice would be
followed by events that would justify me.

"They refused, as you know; and I am here tonight to make a final
plea, so that they may escape the consequences of their
wilfulness."

"You're a crook! And the more I see of you, Avec, the more easily
I can understand why they turned you down!"

"So you too, are prejudiced against me. I cannot understand this.
My motives are quite above question, I assure you."

"Really!" I observed sarcastically. I stole a glance at Ariadne;
her eyes were still riveted, in a rapt yet half-fearful
abstraction, upon the face of the Rhamda. It was time I took her
attention away.

I called her name. She did not move her head, or reply. I said it
louder: "Ariadne!"

"What is it, Hobart?"--very softly.

"Ariadne, this gentleman possesses a great deal of knowledge of
the locality from which you came. We are interested in him,
because we feel sure that, if he chose to, he could tell us
something about our friends who--about Harry Wendel." Why not lay
the cards plainly on the table? The Rhamda must be aware of it
all, anyhow. "And as this man has said, he has tried to prevent us
from solving the mystery. It occurs to me, Ariadne, that you might
recognise this man. But apparently--"

She shook her head just perceptibly. I proceeded:

"He is pleased to call his warning a prophecy; but we feel that a
threat is a threat. What he really wants is that ring."

Ariadne had already, earlier in the hour, given the gem several
curious glances. Now she stirred and sighed, and was about to turn
her eyes from the Rhamda to the ring when he spoke again; this
time in a voice as sharp as a steel blade:

"I do not enjoy being misunderstood, much less being
misrepresented, Mr. Fenton. At the same time, since you have seen
fit to brand me in such uncomplimentary terms, suppose I state
what I have to say very bluntly, so that there may be no mistake
about it. If you do not either quit this house, or give up the
ring--NOW--you will surely regret it the rest of your lives!"

From the corner of my eye I saw Jerome moving slowly in his chair,
so that he could face directly towards the Rhamda. His hands were
ready for the swift, upward jerk which, I knew, would stifle our
caller.

As for my sister, she merely turned the ring so that the gem no
longer faced the Rhamda; and with the other hand she reached out
and grasped Ariadne's firmly.

Avec sat with his two hands clasping the arms of his chair. His
fingers drummed nervously but lightly on the wood. And then,
suddenly, they stopped their motion.

"Your answer, Fenton," in his usual gentle voice. "I can give you
no more time," I did not need to consult Charlotte or Jerome. I
knew what they would have said.

"You are welcome to my answer. It is--no!"

As I spoke the last word my gaze was fixed on the Rhamda's eyes.
He, on the other hand, was looking towards Ariadne. And at the
very instant an expression, as of alarm and sorrow, swept into the
man's face.

My glance jumped to Ariadne. Her eyes were closed, her face
suffused; she seemed to be suffocating. She gave a queer little
sound, half gasp and half cry.

Simultaneously Jerome's hands shot into the air. The room shivered
with the stunning report of his breast gun. And every pellet
struck the Rhamda and burst.

A look of intense astonishment came into his face. He gave Jerome
a fleeting glance, almost of admiration; then his nostrils
contracted with pain as the gas attacked his lungs.

Another second, and each of us were reeling with the fumes. Jerome
started toward the window, to raise it, then sank back into his
chair. And when he turned round--

He and I and Charlotte saw an extraordinary thing. Instead of
succumbing to the gas, Rhamda Avec somehow recovered himself. And
while the rest of us remained still too numbed to move or speak,
he found power to do both.

"I warned you plainly, Fenton," as though nothing in particular
had happened. "And now see what you have brought upon the poor
child!"

I could only roll my head stupidly, to stare at Ariadne's now
senseless form.

"As usual, Fenton, you will blame me for it. I cannot help that.
But it may still be possible for you to repent of your folly and
escape your fate. You are playing with terrible forces. If you do
repent, just follow these instructions"--laying a card on the
table--"and I will see what I can do for you. I wish you all good
night."

And with that, pausing only to make a courtly bow to Charlotte,
Rhamda Avec turned and walked deliberately, dignifiedly from the
room, while the two men and a woman stared helplessly after him
and allowed him to go in peace.




XXIV

THE LIVING DEATH


As soon as the fresh air had revived us somewhat, we first of all
examined Ariadne. She still lay unconscious, very pale, and
alarmingly limp. I picked her up and carried her into the next
room, where there was a sofa, while Jerome went for water and
Charlotte brought smelling-salts.

Neither of these had any effect. Ariadne seemed to be scarcely
breathing; her heart beat only faintly, and there was no response
to such other methods as friction, slapping, or pinching of
fingernails.

"We had better call a doctor," decided Charlotte promptly, and
went to the phone.

I picked up the card which the Rhamda had left. It contained
simply his name, together with one other word--the name of a
morning newspaper. Evidently he meant for us to insert an
advertisement as soon as we were ready to capitulate.

"Not yet!" the three of us decided, after talking it over. And we
waited as patiently as we could during the fifteen minutes that
elapsed before the telephoning got results.

It brought Dr. Hansen, who, it may be remembered, was closely
identified with the Chick Watson disappearance. He made a rapid
but very careful examination.

"It has all the appearance of a mild electric shock. What caused
it, Fenton?"

I told him. His eyes narrowed when I mentioned Avec, then widened
in astonishment and incredulity as I related the man's
inexplicable effect upon the girl, and his strange immunity to the
poison gas. But the doctor asked nothing further about our
situation, proceeding at once to apply several restoratives. All
were without result. As a final resort, he even rigged up an
electrical connection, making use of some coils which I had
upstairs, and endeavoured to arouse the girl in that fashion.
Still without result.

"Good Lord, Hansen!" I finally burst out, when he stood back,
apparently baffled. "She's simply GOT to be revived! We can't
allow her to succumb to that scoundrel's power, whatever it is!"

"Why not a blood transfusion?" I asked eagerly, as an idea came to
me. "I'm in perfect condition. What about it? Go to it, doc!"

He slowly shook his head. And beyond a single searching glance
into my eyes, wherein he must have read something more than I had
said, he regretfully replied:

"This is a case for a specialist, Fenton. Everything considered, I
should say that she is suffering from a purely mental condition;
but whether it had a physical or a psychic origin, I can't say."

In short, he did not feel safe about going ahead with any really
heroic measures until a brain specialist was called in.

I had a good deal of confidence in Hansen. And what he said
sounded reasonable. So we agreed to his calling in a Dr. Higgins--
the same man, in fact, who was too late in reaching the house to
save Chick on that memorable night a year before.

His examination was swift and convincingly competent. He went over
the same ground that Hansen had covered, took the blood pressure
and other instrumental data, and asked us several questions
regarding Ariadne's mentality as we knew it. Scarcely stopping to
think it over, Higgins decided:

"The young woman is suffering from a temporary dissociation of
brain centres. Her cerebrum does not co-act with her cerebellum.
In other words, her conscious mind, for lack of means to express
itself, is for the time being dormant as in sleep.

"But it is not like ordinary sleep. Such is induced by fatigue of
the nerve channels. This young woman's condition is produced by
shock; and since there was no physical violence, we must conclude
that the shock was psychic.

"In that case, the condition will last until one of two things
occurs; either she must be similarly shocked back into
sensibility--and I can't see how this can happen, Fenton, unless
you can secure the co-operation of the man to whom you attribute
the matter--or she must lie that way indefinitely."

"Indefinitely!" I exclaimed, sensing something ominous. "You mean--"

"That there is no known method of reviving a patient in such a
condition. It might be called psychic catalepsy. To speak plainly,
Fenton, unless this man revives her, she will remain unconscious
until her death."

I shuddered. What horrible thing had come into our lives to
afflict us with so dreadful a prospect?

"Is--is there no hope, Dr. Higgins?"

"Very little"--gently but decisively. "All I can assure you is
that she will not die immediately. From the general state of her
health, she will live at least seventy-two hours. After that--you
must be prepared for the worst at any moment."

I turned away quickly, so that he could not see my face. What an
awful situation! Unless we could somehow lay hands on the Rhamda--

I hunted up Jerome. I said:

"Jerry, the thing is plainly up to you and me. Higgins gives us
three days. Day after tomorrow morning, if we haven't got results
by that time, we've got to give in and put that ad in the paper.
But I don't mean to give in, Jerry! Not until I've exhausted every
other possibility!"

"What're you going to do?" he asked thoughtfully.

"Work on that ring. I was a fool not to get busy sooner. As for
the rest, that's up to you! You've got to get yourself on the
Rhamda's trail as soon as you can, and camp there! The first
chance you get, ransack his room and belongings, and bring me
every bit of data you find. Between him and the ring, the truth
ought to come out."

"All right. But don't forget that--" pointing to the unexplained
spot on the wood of the doorway. "You've got a mighty important
clue there, waiting for you to analyse it."

And he went and got his hat, and left the house. His final remark
was that we wouldn't see him back until he had something to report
about our man.

Five o'clock the next morning found my sister and me out of our
beds and desperately busy. She spent a good deal of time, of
course in caring for Ariadne. The poor girl showed no improvement
at all; and we got scant encouragement from the fact that she
looked no worse.

Not a sound escaped her lips; her eyes remained closed; she gave
no sign of life, save her barely perceptible breathing. It made me
sick at heart just to look at her; so near, and yet so fearfully
far away.

But when Charlotte could spare any time she gave me considerable
help in what I was trying to do. One great service she was
rendering has already been made clear: she wore the ring
constantly, thus relieving me of the anxiety of caring for it. I
was very cautious not to have it in my possession for more than a
few minutes at a time.

My first move was to set down, in orderly fashion, the list of the
gem's attributes. I grouped together the fluctuating nature of its
pale blue colour, its power of reproducing those who had gone into
the Blind Spot, its combination of perfect solidity with extreme
lightness; its quality of coldness to the touch of a male, and
warmth to that of a female; and finally its ability to induct--I
think this is the right term--to induct sounds out of the unknown.
This last quality might be called spasmodic or accidental, whereas
the others were permanent and constant.

Now, to this list I presently was able to add that the gem
possessed no radioactive properties that I could detect with the
usual means. It was only when I began dabbling in chemistry that I
learned things.

By placing the gem inside a glass bell, and exhausting as much air
as possible from around it, the way was cleared for introducing
other forms of gases. Whereupon I discovered this:

The stone will absorb any given quantity of hydrogen gas.

In this respect it behaves analogously to that curious place on
the door-frame. Only, it absorbs gas, no liquid; and not any gas,
either--none but hydrogen.

Now, obviously this gem cannot truly absorb so much material, in
the sense of retaining it as well. The simple test of weighing it
afterwards proves this; for its weight remains the same in any
circumstances.

Moreover, unlike the liquids which I poured into the wood and saw
afterwards in the basement, the gas does not escape back into the
air. I kept it under the Dell long enough to be sure of that. No;
that hydrogen is, manifestly, translated into the Blind Spot.

Learning nothing further about the gem at that time, I proceeded
to investigate the trim of the door. I began by trying to find out
the precise thickness of that liquid-absorbing layer.

To do this I scraped off the "skin" of the air-darkened wood. This
layer was .02 of an inch thick. And--that was the total amount of
the active material!

I put these scrapings through a long list of experiments. They
told me nothing valuable. I learned only one detail worth
mentioning; if a fragment of the scrapings be brought near to the
Holcomb gem--say, to within two inches--the scrapings will burst
into flame. It is merely a bright, pinkish flare, like that made
by smokeless rifle-powder. No ashes remain. After that we took
care not to bring the ring near the remaining material on the
board.

All this occurred on the first day after Ariadne was stricken.
Jerome phoned to say that he had engaged the services of a dozen
private detectives, and expected to get wind of the Rhamda any
hour. Both Dr. Hansen and Dr. Higgins called twice, without being
able to detect any change for the better or otherwise in their
patient.

That evening Charlotte and I concluded that we could not hold out
any longer. We must give in to the Rhamda. I phoned for a
messenger, and sent an advertisement to the newspaper which Avec
had indicated.

The thing was done. We had capitulated.

The next development would be another and triumphant call from the
Rhamda, and this time we would have to give up the gem to him if
we were to save Ariadne.

The game was up.

But instead of taking the matter philosophically, I worried about
it all night. I told myself again and again that I was foolish to
think about something that couldn't be helped. Why not forget it,
and go to sleep?

But somehow I couldn't. I lay wide awake till long past midnight,
finding myself growing more and more nervous. At last, such was
the tension of it all, I got up and dressed. It was then about
one-thirty, and I stepped out on the street for a walk.

Half an hour later I returned, my lungs full of fresh air, hoping
that I could now sleep. It was only a hope. Never have I felt
wider awake than I did then.

Once more--about three--I took another stroll outside. I seemed
absolutely tireless.

Each time that I had turned back home I seemed to feel stronger
than ever, more wakeful. Finally I dropped the idea altogether,
went to the house, and left a note for Charlotte, then walked down
to the waterfront and watched some ships taking advantage of the
tide. Anything to pass the time.

And thus it happened, that, about eight o'clock--breakfast time at
288 Chatterton Place--I returned to the house, and sat down at the
table with Charlotte. First, however, I opened the morning paper
to read our little ad.

It was not there. It had not been printed.




XXV

AT THE ELEVENTH HOUR


I dropped the paper in dismay. Charlotte looked up, startled, gave
me a single look, and turned pale,

"What--what's the matter?" she stammered fearfully.

I showed her. Then I ran to the phone. In a few seconds I was
talking to the very man who had taken the note from the messenger
the day before.

"Yes, I handed it in along with the rest," he replied to my
excited query. Then--"Wait a minute," said he; and a moment later
added: "Say, Mr. Fenton, I've made a mistake! Here's the darned ad
on the counter; it must have slipped under the blotter."

I went back and told Charlotte. We stared at one another blankly.
Why in the name of all that was baffling had our ad "slipped"
under that blotter? And what were we to do?

This was the second day!

Well, we did what we could. We arranged for the insertion of the
same notice in each of the three afternoon papers. There would
still be time for the Rhamda to act, if he saw it.

The hours dragged by. Never did time pass more slowly; and yet, I
begrudged every one. So much for being absolutely helpless.

About ten o'clock the next morning--that is to say, today; I am
writing this the same evening--the front door bell rang. Charlotte
answered and in a moment came back with a card. It read:

SIR HENRY HODGES

I nearly upset the table in my excitement. I ran into the hall.
Who wouldn't? Sir Henry Hodges! The English scientist about whom
the whole world was talking! The most gifted investigator of the
day; the most widely informed; of all men on the face of the
globe, the best equipped, mentally, to explore the unknown!
Without the slightest formality I grabbed his hand and shook it
until he smiled at my enthusiasm.

"My dear Sir Henry," I told him, "I'm immensely glad to see you!
The truth is, I've been hoping you'd be interested in our case;
but I didn't have the nerve to bother you with it!"

"And I," he admitted in his quiet way, "have been longing to take
a hand in it, ever since I first heard of Professor Holcomb's
disappearance. Didn't like to offer myself; understood that the
matter had been hushed up and--"

"For the very simple reason," I explained, "that there was nothing
to be gained by publicity. If we had given the public the facts,
we would have been swamped with volunteers to help us. I didn't
know whom to confide in, Sir Henry; couldn't make up my mind. I
only knew that one such man as yourself was just what I needed."

He overlooked the compliment, and pulled out the newspaper from
his pocket. "Bought this a few minutes ago. Saw your ad, and
jumped to the conclusion that matters had reached an acute stage.
Let me have the whole story, my boy, as briefly as you can."

He already knew the published details. Also, he seemed to be
acquainted--in some manner which puzzled me--with much that had
not been printed. I sketched the affair as quickly as I could,
making it clear that we were face to face with a crisis. When I
wound up by saying that it was Dr. Higgins who gave Ariadne three
days, ending about midnight, in which she might recover if we
could secure Rhamda Avec, he said kindly:

"I'm afraid you made a mistake, my boy, in not seeking some help.
The game has reached a point where you cannot have too many brains
on your side. Time is short for reinforcements!"

He heartily approved of my course in enlisting the aid of Miss
Clarke and her colleagues. "That is the sort of thing you need!
People with mentality; plenty of intellectual force!" And he went
on to make suggestions.

As a result, within an hour and a half our house was sheltering
five more persons.

Miss Clarke has already been introduced. She was easily one of the
ten most advanced practitioners in her line. And she had the
advantage of a curiosity that was interested in everything odd,
even though she labelled it "non-existent." She said it helped her
faith in the real truths to be conversant with the unreal.

Dr. Malloy was from the university, an out-and-out materialist, a
psychologist who made life interesting for those who agreed with
William James. His investigations of abnormal psychology are
world-acknowledged.

Mme. Le Fabre, we afterwards learned, had come from Versailles
especially to investigate the matter that was bothering us. She
possessed no mediumistic properties of her own but was a staunch
proponent of spiritualism, believing firmly in immortality and the
omnipotence of "translated" souls.

Professor Herold is most widely known as the inventor of certain
apparatus connected with wireless. But he is also considered the
West's most advanced student of electrical and radio-active
subjects.

I was enormously glad to have this man's expert, high-tension
knowledge right on tap.

The remaining member of the quintet which Sir Henry advised me to
summon requires a little explanation. Also, I am obliged to give
him a name not his own; for it is not often that brigadier-
generals of the United States army can openly lend their names to
anything so far removed apparently from militarism as the
searching of the occult.

Yet we knew that this man possessed a power that few scientists
have developed; the power of co-ordination, of handling and
balancing great facts and forces, and of deciding promptly how
best to meet any given situation. Not that we looked for anything
militaristic out of the Blind Spot; far from it. We merely knew
not what to expect, which was exactly why we wanted to have him
with us; his type of mind is, perhaps, the most solidly comforting
sort that any mystery-bound person can have at his side.

By the time these five had gathered, Jerome had neither returned
nor telephoned. There was not the slightest trace of Rhamda Avec;
no guessing as to whether he had seen the ad. It was then one
o'clock in the afternoon. Only six hours ago! It doesn't seem
possible.

So there were eight of us--three women and five men--who went
upstairs and quietly inspected the all but lifeless form of
Ariadne and afterwards gathered in the library below.

All were thoroughly familiar with the situation. Miss Clarke
calmly commented to the effect that the entire Blind Spot affair
was due wholly and simply to the cumulative effects of so many,
many subjects; the result, in other words, of error.

Dr. Malloy was equally outspoken in his announcement that he
proposed to deal with the matter from the standpoint of psychic
aberration. He mentioned dissociated personalities, group
hypnosis, and so on. But he declared that he was open to
conviction, and anxious to get any and all facts.

Sir Henry had a good deal of difficulty in getting Mme. Le Fabre
to commit herself. Probably she felt that, since Sir Henry had
gone on record as being doubtful of the spiritistic explanation of
psychic phenomena, she might get into a controversy with him. But
in the end she stated that she expected to find our little mystery
simply a novel variation on what was so familiar to her.

As might be supposed, General Hume had no opinion. He merely
expressed himself as being prepared to accept any sound theory, or
portions of such theories as might be advanced, and arrive at a
workable conclusion therefrom. Which was exactly what we wanted of
him.

Of them all, Professor Herold showed the most enthusiasm. Perhaps
this was because, despite his attainments, he is still young. At
any rate, he made it clear that he was fully prepared to learn
something entirely new in science. And he was almost eager to
adjust his previous notions and facts to the new discoveries.

When all these various viewpoints had been cleared up, and we felt
that we understood each other, it was inevitable that we should
look to Sir Henry to state his position. This one man combined a
large amount of the various, specialised abilities for which the
others were noted, and they all knew and respected him
accordingly. Had he stood and theorised half the afternoon, they
would willingly have sat and listened. But instead he glanced at
his watch, and observed:

"To me, the most important development of all was hearing the
sound of a dog's bark coming from the ring. As I recall the
details, the sound was emitted just after the gem had been
submitted to considerable handling, from Miss Fenton's fingers to
her brother's and back again. In other words, it was subjected to
a mixture of opposing animal magnetisms. Suppose we experiment
further with it now."

Charlotte slipped the gem from her finger and passed it around.
Each of us held it for a second or two; after which Charlotte
clasped the ring tightly in her palm, while we all joined hands.

It was, as I have said, broad daylight; the hour, shortly after
one. Scarcely had our hands completed the circuit than something
happened.

From out of Charlotte's closed hand there issued an entirely new
sound. At first it was so faint and fragmentary that only two of
us heard it. Then it became stronger and more continuous, and
presently we were all gazing at each other in wonderment.

For the sound was that of footsteps.




XXVI

DIRECT FROM PARADISE


The sound was not like that of the walking of the human. Nor was
it such as an animal would make. It was neither a thud nor a
pattering, but more like a scratching shuffle, such as reminded me
of nothing that I had ever heard before.

Next moment, however, there came another sort of sound, plainly
audible above the footsteps. This was a thin, musical chuckle
which ended in a deep, but faint, organ-like throb. It happened
only once.

Immediately it was followed by a steady clicking, such as might be
made by gently striking a stick against the pavement; only
sharper. This lasted a minute, during which the other sounds
ceased.

Once more the footsteps. They were not very loud, but in the
stillness of that room they all but resounded.

Presently Charlotte could stand it no longer. She placed the ring
on the table, where it continued to emit those unplaceable sounds.

"Well! Do--do you people," stammered Dr. Malloy, "do you people
all hear THAT?"

Miss Clarke's face was rather pale. But her mouth was firm. "It is
nothing," said she, with theosophical positiveness. "You must not
believe it--it is not the truth of--"

"Pardon me," interrupted Sir Henry, "but this isn't something to
argue about! It is a reality; and the sooner we all admit it, the
better. There is a living creature of some kind making that
sound!"

"It is the spirit of some two-footed creature," asserted Mme. Le
Fabre, plainly at her ease. She was on familiar ground now. "If
only we had a medium!"

Abruptly the sounds left the vicinity of the ring. At first we
could not locate their new position. Then Herold declared that
they came from under the table; and presently we were all gathered
on the floor, listening to those odd little sounds, while the ring
remained thirty inches above, on the top of the table!

It may be that the thing, whatever it was, did not care for such a
crowd. For shortly the shuffling ceased. And for a while we stared
and listened, scarcely breathing, trying to locate the new
position.

Finally we went back to our chairs. We had heard nothing further.
Nevertheless, we continued to keep silence, with our ears alert
for anything more.

"Hush!" whispered Charlotte all of a sudden. "Did you hear that?"
And she looked up toward the ceiling.

In a moment I caught the sound. It was exceedingly faint, like the
distant thrumming of a zither. Only it was a single note, which
did not rise and fall, although there seemed a continual variation
in its volume.

Unexpectedly the other sounds came again, down under the table.
This time we remained in our seats and simply listened. And
presently Sir Henry, referring to the ring, made this suggestion:

"Suppose we seal it up, and see whether it inducts the sound then
as well as when exposed."

This appealed to Herold very strongly; the others were agreeable;
so I ran upstairs to my room and secured a small screw-top metal
canister, which I knew to be airtight. It was necessary to remove
the stone from the ring, in order to get it into the opening in
the can. Presently this was done; and while our invisible visitor
continued his scratchy little walking as before, I screwed the top
of the can down as tightly as I could.

Instantly the footsteps halted.

I unscrewed the top a trifle. As instantly the stepping was
resumed.

"Ah!" cried Herold. "It's a question of radioactivity, then!
Remember Le Bon's experiments, Sir Henry?"

But Miss Clarke was sorely mystified by this simple matter, and
herself repeated the experiments. Equally puzzled was Mme. Le
Fabre. According to her theory, a spirit wouldn't mind a little
thing like a metal box. Of them all, Dr. Malloy was the least
disturbed; so decidedly so that General Hume eyed him quizzically.

"Fine bunch of hallucinations, doctor."

"Almost commonplace," retorted Malloy.

Presently I mentioned that the Rhamda had come from the basement
on the night that Ariadne had materialised; and I showed that the
only possible route into the cellar was through the locked door in
the breakfast room, since the windows were all too small, and
there was no other door. Query: How had the Rhamda got there?
Immediately they all became alert. As Herold said:

"One thing or the other is true; either there is something
downstairs which has escaped you, Fenton, or else Avec is able to
materialise in any place he chooses. Let's look!"

We all went down except Charlotte, who went upstairs to stay with
Ariadne. By turns, each of us held the ring. And as we unlocked
the basement door we noted that the invisible, walking creature
had reached there before us.

Down the steps went those unseen little feet, jumping from one
step to the next just ahead of us all the way. When within three
or four steps of the bottom, the creature made one leap do for
them all.

I had previously run an extension cord down into the basement, and
both compartments could now be lighted by powerful electric lamps.
We gave the place a quick examination.

"What's all this newly turned earth mean?" inquired Sir Henry,
pointing to the result of Jerome's efforts a few months before.
And I explained how he and Harry, on the chance the basement might
contain some clue as to the localisation of the Blind Spot, had
dug without result in the bluish clay.

Sir Henry picked up the spade, which had never been moved from
where Jerome had dropped it. And while I went on to tell about the
pool of liquids, which for some unknown reason had not seeped into
the soil since forming there, the Englishman proceeded to dig
vigorously into the heap I had mentioned.

The rest of us watched him thoughtfully. We remembered that
Jerome's digging had been done after Queen's disappearance. And
the dog had vanished in the rear room, the one in which Chick and
Dr. Holcomb had last been seen. Now, when Jerome had dug the clay
from the basement under this, the dining-room, he had thrown it
through the once concealed opening in the partition; had thrown
the clay, that is, in a small heap under the library. And--after
Jerome had done this the phenomena had occurred in the library,
not in the dining-room.

"By Jove!" ejaculated General Hume, as I pointed this out. "This
may be something more, you know, that mere coincidence!"

Sir Henry said nothing, but continued his spading. He paid
attention to nothing save the heap that Jerome had formed. And
with each spadeful he bent over and examined the clay very
carefully.

Miss Clarke and Mme. Le Fabre both remained very calm about it
all. Each from her own viewpoint regarded the work as more or less
a waste of time. But I noticed that they did not take their eyes
from the spade.

Sir Henry stopped to rest. "Let me," offered Herold; and went on
as the Englishman had done, holding up each spadeful for
inspection. And it was thus that we made a strange discovery.

We all saw it at the same time. Embedded in the bluish earth was a
small, egg-shaped piece of light-coloured stone. And protruding
from its upper surface was a tiny, blood-red pebble, no bigger
than a good-sized shot.

Herold thrust the point of his spade under the stone, to lift it
up. Whereupon he gave a queer exclamation.

"Well, that's funny!" holding the stone up in front of us. "That
little thing's as heavy as--as--it's HEAVIER than lead!"

Sir Henry picked the stone off the spade. Immediately the material
crumbled in his hands, as though rotting, so that it left only the
small, red pebble intact. Sir Henry weighed this thoughtfully in
his palm, then without a word handed it around.

We all wondered at the pebble. It was most astonishingly heavy. As
I say, it was no bigger than a fair-sized shot, yet it was vastly
heavier.

Afterward we weighed it, upstairs, and found that the trifle
weighed over half a pound. Considering its very small bulk, this
worked out to be a specific gravity of 192.6 or almost ten times
as heavy as the same bulk of pure gold. And gold is heavy.

Inevitably we saw that there must be some connection between this
unprecedentedly heavy speck of material and that lighter-than-air
gem of mystery. For the time being we were careful to keep the two
apart. As for the unexplained footsteps, they were still slightly
audible, as the invisible creatures moved around the cellar.

At last we turned to go. I let the others lead the way. Thus I was
the last to approach the steps; and it was at that moment that I
felt something brush against my foot.

I stooped down. My hands collided with the thing that had touched
me. And I found myself clutching--

Something invisible--something which, in that brilliant light,
showed absolutely nothing to my eyes. But my hands told me I was
grasping a very real thing, as real as my fingers themselves.

I made some sort of incoherent exclamation. The others turned and
peered at me.

"What is it?" came Herold's excited voice.

"I don't know!" I gasped. "Come here."

But Sir Henry was the first to reach me. Next instant he, too, was
fingering the tiny, unseen object. And such was his iron nerve and
superior self-control, he identified it almost at once.

"By the lord!"--softly. "Why, it's a small bird! Come here."

Another second and they were all there. I was glad enough of it;
for, like a flash, with an unexpectedness that startles me even
now as I think of it--

The thing became visible. Right in my grasp, a little fluttering
bird came to life.




XXVII

SOLVED


It was a tiny thing, and most amazingly beautiful. It could not
have stood as high as a canary; and had its feathers been made of
gleaming silver they could not have been lovelier. And its black-
plumed head, and long, blossom-like tail, were such as no man on
earth ever set eyes on.

Like a flash it was gone. Not more than a half a second was this
enchanting apparition visible to us. Before we could discern any
more than I have mentioned, it not only vanished but it ceased to
make any sounds whatever. And each of us drew a long breath, as
one might after being given a glimpse of an angel.

Right now, five or six hours after the events I have just
described, it is very easy for me to smile at my emotions of the
time. How startled and mystified I was! And--why not confess it?--
just a trifle afraid. Why? Because I didn't understand! Merely
that.

At this moment I sit in my laboratory upstairs in that house,
rejoicing in having reached the end of the mystery. For the enigma
of the Blind Spot is no more. I have solved it!

Now twenty feet away, in another room, lies Ariadne. Already there
is a faint trace of colour in her cheeks, and her heart is beating
more strongly. Another hour, says Dr. Higgins, and she will be
restored to us!

The time is seven p.m. I didn't sleep at all last night; I haven't
slept since. For the past five hours we have been working steadily
on the mystery, ever since our finding that little, red pebble in
the basement. The last three hours of the time I have been
treating Ariadne, using means which our discoveries indicated. And
in order to keep awake I have been dictating this account to a
stenographer.

This young lady, a Miss Dibble, is downstairs, where her
typewriter will not bother. Yes, put that down, too, Miss Dibble;
I want people to know everything! She has a telephone clamped to
her ears, and I am talking into a microphone which is fixed to a
stand on my desk.

On that desk are four switches. All are of the four-way two-pole
type; and from them run several wires, some going to one end of
the room, where they are attached to the Holcomb gem. Others,
running to the opposite end, making contact with the tiny heavy
stone we found in the basement. Other wires run from the switches
to lead bands around my wrists. Also, between switches are several
connections--one circuit containing an amplifying apparatus. By
throwing these switches in various combinations, I can secure any
given alteration of forces, and direct them where I choose.

For there are two other wires. These run from my own lead
bracelets to another room; a pair clamped around the wrists of
Ariadne.

For I, Hobart Fenton, am now a living, human transforming station.
I am converting the power of the Infinite into the Energy of Life.
And I am transmitting that power directly out of the ether, as
conduced through these two marvellous stones, back into the
nervous system of the girl I love. Another hour, and she will
Exist!

It was all so very simple, now that I understand it. And yet--
well, an absolutely new thing is always very hard to put into
words.

To begin with, I must acknowledge the enormous help which I have
had from my friends: Miss Clarke, Mme. Le Fabre, General Hume, Dr.
Malloy, and Herold. These people are still in the house with me; I
think they are eating supper. I've already had mine. Really, I
can't take much credit to myself for what I have found out. The
others supplied most of the facts. I merely happened to fit them
together; and, because of my relationship to the problem, am now
doing the heroic end of the work.

As for Harry--he and Dr. Holcomb, Chick Watson and even the dog--I
shall have them out of the Blind Spot inside of twelve hours. All
I need is a little rest. I'll go straight to bed as soon as I
finish reviving Ariadne; and when I wake up, we'll see who's who,
friend Rhamda!

I'm too exuberant to hold myself down to the job of telling what
I've discovered. But it's got to be done. Here goes!

I practically took my life in my hands when I first made
connection. However, I observed the precaution of rigging up a
primary connection direct from the ring to the pebble, running the
wire along the floor some distance away from where I sat. No ill
effects when I ventured into the line of force; so I began to
experiment with the switches.

That precautionary circuit was Herold's idea. His, also, the
amplifying apparatus. The mental attitude was Miss Clarke's,
modified by Dr. Malloy. The lead bracelets were Mme. Le Fabre's
suggestion; they work fine. Sir Henry was the one who pointed out
the advantage of the microphone I am using. If my hands become
paralysed I can easily call for help to my side.

Well, the first connection I tried resulted in nothing. Perfectly
blank. Then I tried another and another, meanwhile continually
adjusting the amplifier; and as a result I am now able, at will,
to do either or all of the following:

(1) I can induct sounds from the Blind Spot; (2) I can induct
light, or visibility; or (3) any given object or person, in toto.

And now to tell how. No, I'm just sleepy, not weak.

Let's see; where was I? Oh, yes; those connections. They've got to
be done just right, with the proper tension in the coils, and the
correct mental attitude, to harmonise. I wish I wasn't so tired!

One moment! No, no; I'm all right. I--Queer! By Jove, that's a
funny thing just now! I must have got an inducted current from
another wire, mixed with these! And--I got a glimpse into the
Blind Spot!

A great--No; it's a--What a terrific crowd! Wonder what they're
all--By Jove, it's--Good Lord, it's he! And Chick! No, I'm not
wandering! I'm having the experience of my life!

Now--THAT'S the boy! Don't let 'em bluff you! Good! Good! Tell 'em
where to head in! That's the boy! Rub it in! I don't know what
you're up to, but I'm with you!

Er--there's a big crowd of ugly looking chaps there, and I can't
make it out--Just a moment--a moment. What does it mean, anyway?
Just--I--

DANGER, by Heaven! THAT'S what it means!

No; I'm all right. The--thing came to an end, abruptly. That's
all; everything normal again; the room just the same as it was a
moment ago. Hello! I seem to have started something! The wire down
on the floor has commenced to hum! Oh, I've got my eye on it, and
if anything--

Miss Dibble! Tell Herold to come! On the run! Quick! Did you?
Good! don't stop writing! I--

There's Chick! CHICK! How did you get here? What? YOU CAN'T SEE
ME! Why--

Chick! Listen! Listen, man! I've gone into the Blind Spot! Write
this down! The connection--

That's Herold! Herold, this is Chick Watson! Listen, now, you two!
The--the--I can hardly--it's from No. 4 to--to--to the ring--then--coil--

Both switches, Chick! Ah! I've--

NOTE BY MISS L. DIBBLE.--Just as Mr. Fenton made the concluding
remark as above, there came a loud crash, followed by the voice of
Mr. Herold. Then, there came a very loud clang from a bell; just
one stroke. After which I caught Mr. Fenton's voice:

"Herold--Chick can tell you what IT wants us to do--"

And with that, his voice trailed off into nothing, and died away.
As for Mr. Fenton himself, I am informed that he has utterly
disappeared; and in his stead there now exists a man who is known
to Dr. Hansen as Chick Watson.




XXVIII

THE MAN FROM SPACE


Before starting the conclusion of the Blind Spot mystery it may be
just as well for the two publicists who are bringing it to the
press to follow Hobart Fenton's example and go into a bit of
explanation.

The two men who wrote the first two parts were participants, and
necessarily writing almost in the present tense. While they could
give an accurate and vivid account of their feelings and
experiences, they could only guess at what lay in the future, at
the events that would unravel it all.

But the present writers have the advantage of working, of seeing,
of weighing in the retrospect. They know just where they are
going.

The coming of Chick Watson brought new perspective. Hitherto we
had been looking into the darkness. Whatever had been caught in
the focus of the Spot had become lost to our five senses.

Yet, facts are facts. It was no mere trickery that had caught Dr.
Holcomb in the beginning. One by one, men of the highest standards
and character had been either victims or witness to its reality
and power.

So the coming of Watson may well be set down as one of the
deciding moments of history. He who had been the victim a year
before was returning through the very Spot that had engulfed him.
He was the herald of the great unknown, an ambassador of the
infinite itself.

It will be remembered that of all the inmates of the house, Dr.
Hansen was the only one who had a personal acquaintance with
Watson. One year before the doctor had seen him a shadow--wasted,
worn, exhausted. He had talked with him on that memorable night in
the cafe. Well he remembered the incident, and the subject of that
strange conversation--the secret of life that had been discovered
by the missing Dr. Holcomb. And Dr. Hansen had pondered it often
since.

What was the force that was pulsing through the Blind Spot? It had
reached out on the earth, and had plucked up youth as well as
wisdom. THIS was the first time it had ever given up that which it
had taken!

It was Watson, sure enough; but it was not the man he had known
one year before. Except for the basic features Hansen would not
have recognized him; the shadow was gone, the pallor, the touch of
death. He was hale and radiant; his skin had the pink glow of
alert fitness; except for being dazed, he appeared perfectly
natural. In the tense moment of his arrival the little group
waited in silence. What had he to tell them?

But he did not see them at first. He groped about blindly, moving
slowly and holding his hands before him. His face was calm and
settled; its lines told decision. There was not a question in any
mind present but that the man had come for a purpose.

Why could he not see? Perhaps the light was too dim. Some one
thought to turn on the extra lights.

It brought the first word from Watson. He threw up both arms
before his face; like one shutting out the lightning.

"Don't!" he begged. "Don't! Shut off the lights; you will blind
me! Please; please! Darken the room!"

Sir Henry sprang to the switch. Instantly the place went to
shadow; there was just enough light from the moon to distinguish
the several forms grouped in the middle of the room. Dr. Hansen
proffered a chair.

"Thank you! Ah! Dr. Hansen! You are here--I had thought--This is
much better! I can see fairly well now. You came very near to
blinding me permanently! You didn't know. It's the transition."
Then: "And yet--of course! It's the moon! THE MOON!"

He stopped. There was a strange wistfulness in the last word. And
suddenly he rose to his feet. He turned in gladness, as though to
drink in the mellow flow of the radiance.

"The moon! Gentlemen--doctor--who are these people? This is the
house of the Blind Spot! And it is the moon--the good old earth!
And San Francisco!"

He stopped again. There was a bit of indecision and of wonder
mixed with his gladness. The stillness was only broken by the
scarcely audible voice of Mme. Le Fabre.

"Now we KNOW! It is proven. The sceptics have always asked why the
spirits work only in the half light. We know now."

Watson looked to Dr. Hansen. "Who is this lady? Who are these
others?"

"Can you see them?"

"Perfectly. It is the lady in the corner; she thinks--"

"That you are a spirit!"

Watson laughed. "I a spirit? Try me and see!"

"Certainly," asserted Mme. Le Fabre. "You are out of the Blind
Spot. I know; it will prove everything!"

"Ah, yes; the Spot." Watson hesitated. Again the indecision. There
was something latent that he could not recall; though conscious,
part of his mind was still in the apparent fog that lingers back
into slumber.

"I don't understand," he spoke. "Who are you?"

It was Sir Henry this time. "Mr. Watson, we are a sort of
committee. This is the house at 288 Chatterton Place. We are after
the great secret that was discovered by Dr. Holcomb. We were
summoned by Hobart Fenton."

Consciousness is an enigma. Hitherto Watson had been almost inert;
his actions and manner of speech had been mechanical. That it was
the natural result of the strange force that had thrown him out,
no one doubted. The mention of Hobart Fenton jerked him into the
full vigour of wide-awake thinking; he straightened himself.

"Hobart! Hobart Fenton! Where is he?"

"That we do not know," answered Sir Henry. "He was here a moment
ago. It is almost too impossible for belief. Perhaps you can tell
us."

"You mean--"

"Exactly. Into the Blind Spot. One and the other; your coming was
coincident with his going!"

Chick raised up. Even in that faint light they could appreciate
the full vigour of his splendid form. He was even more of an
athlete than in his college days, before the Blind Spot took him.
And when he realised what Sir Henry had said he held up one
magnificent arm, almost in the manner of benediction:

"Hobart has gone through? Thank Heaven for that!"

It was a puzzle. True, in that little group there was represented
the accumulated wisdom of human effort. With the possible
exception of the general, there was not a sceptic among them. They
were ready to explain almost anything--but this.

In the natural weakness of futility they had come to associate the
aspect of death or terror with the Blind Spot. Yet, here was
Watson! Watson, alive and strong; he was the reverse of what they
had subconsciously expected.

"What is this Blind Spot?" inquired Sir Henry evenly. "And what do
you mean by giving thanks that Fenton has gone into it?"

"Not now. Not one word of explanation until--What time is it?"
Watson broke off to demand.

They told him. He began to talk rapidly, with amazing force and
decision, and in a manner whose sincerity left no chance for
doubt.

"Then we have five hours! Not one second to lose. Do what I say,
and answer my questions!" Then: "We must not fail; one slip, and
the whole world will be engulfed--in the unknown! Turn on the
lights."

There was that in the personality and the vehemence of the man
that precluded opposition. Out of the Blind Spot had come a
dynamic quality, along with the man; a quickening influence that
made Watson swift, sure, and positive. Somehow they knew it was a
moment of Destiny.

Watson went on:

"First, did Hobart Fenton open the Spot? Or was it a period? By
'period' I mean, did it open by chance, as it did when it caught
Harry and me? Just what did Hobart do? Tell me!"

It was a singular question. How could they answer it? However, Dr.
Malloy related as much as he knew of what Hobart had done; his
wires and apparatus were now merely a tangled mass of fused
metals. Nothing remained intact but the blue gem and the red
pebble.

"I see. And this pebble: you found it by digging in the cellar, I
suppose."

How did he know that? Dr. Hansen brought that curiously heavy
little stone and laid it in Watson's hand. The newcomer touched it
with his finger, and for a brief moment he studied it. Then he
looked up.

"It's the small one," he stated. "And you found it in the cellar.
It was very fortunate; the opening of the Spot was perhaps a
little more than half chance. But it was wonderfully lucky. It let
me out. And with the help of God and our own courage we may open
it again, long enough to rescue Hobart, Harry, and Dr. Holcomb.
Then--we must break the chain--we must destroy the revelation; we
must close the Spot forever!"

Small wonder that they couldn't understand what he meant. Dr.
Hansen thought to cut in with a practical question:

"My dear Chick, what's inside the Spot? We want to know!"

But it was not Watson who answered. It was Mme. Le Fabre.

"Spirits, of course."

Watson gave a sudden laugh. This time he answered:

"My dear lady, if you know what I know, and what Dr. Holcomb has
discovered, you would ask YOURSELF a question or so. Possibly you
yourself are a spirit!"

"What!" she gasped. "I--a spirit!"

"Exactly. But there is no time for questions. Afterwards--not now.
Five hours, and we must--"

Someone came to the door. It was Jerome. At the sight of Watson he
stopped, clutching the stub of his cigar between his teeth. His
grey eyes took in the other's form from head to shoe leather.

"Back?" he inquired. "What did you find out, Watson? They must
have fed you well over yonder!"

And Jerome pointed toward the ceiling with his thumb. It wasn't in
his dour nature to give way to enthusiasm; this was merely his
manner of welcome. Watson smiled.

"The eats were all right, Jerome, but not all the company. You're
just the man I want. We have little time; none to spare for talk.
Are you in touch with Bertha Holcomb?"

The detective nodded.

Watson took the chair that Fenton had so strangely vacated and
reached for paper and pencil. Once or twice he stopped to draw a
line, but mostly he was calculating. He referred constantly to a
paper he took from his pocket. When he was through he spread his
palm over what he had written.

"Jerome!"

"Yes."

"You are no longer connected with headquarters, I presume. But--
can you get men?"

"If need be."

"You will need them!" Just then Watson noticed the uniform of
General Hume. "Jerome, can you give this officer a bodyguard?"

It was both unusual and lightning-sudden. Nevertheless, there was
something in Watson's manner that called for no challenge;
something that would have brooked no refusal. And the general,
although a sceptic, was acting solely from force of habit when he
objected:

"It seems to me, Watson, that you--"

Those who were present are not likely to forget it. Some men are
born, some rise, to the occasion; but Watson was both. He was
clear-cut, dominant, inexorable. He levelled his pencil at the
general.

"It SEEMS to you! General, let me ask you: If your country's
safety were at stake, would you hesitate to throw reinforcements
into the breach?"

"Hardly."

"All right. It's settled. Take care of your red tape AFTERWARDS."

He wheeled to the detective. "Jerome, this is a sketch of the
compartments of Dr. Holcomb's safe. Not the large one in his
house, but the small one in his laboratory. Go straight to Dwight
Way. Give this note," indicating another paper, "to Bertha
Holcomb. Tell her that her father is safe, and that I am out of
the Blind Spot. Tell her you have come to open the laboratory
safe. I've written down the combination. If it doesn't work use
explosives; there's nothing inside which force can harm. In the
compartment marked 'X' you will find a small particle about the
size of a pea, wrapped in tin-foil, and locked in a small metal
box. You will have to break the box. As for the contents, once you
see the stone you can't mistake it; it will weigh about six
pounds. Get it, and guard it with your life!"

"All right."

Jerome put Watson's instructions in his wallet, at the same time
glancing about the room.

"Where is Fenton?" he asked.

It was Watson who answered. He gave us the first news that had
ever come from the Blind Spot. He spoke with firm deliberation, as
though in full realisation of the sensation:

"Hobart Fenton has gone through the Blind Spot. Just now he is
right here in this room."

Sir Henry jumped.

"In this room! Is that what you said, Watson?"

The other ignored him.

"Jerome, you haven't a minute to lose! You and the general; bring
that stone back to this house at ANY cost! Hurry!"

In another moment Jerome and Hume were gone. And few people, that
day, suspected the purport of that body of silent men who crossed
over the Bay of San Francisco. They were grim, and trusted, and
under secret orders. They had a mission, did they but know it, as
important as any in history. But they knew only that they were to
guard Jerome and the general at all hazards. One peculiarly heavy
stone, "the size of a pea"! How are we ever to calculate its
value?

As for the group remaining with Watson, not one of them ever
dreamed that any danger might come out of the Blind Spot. Its
manifestations had been local and mostly negative. No; the main
incentive of their interest had been simply curiosity.

But apparently Watson was above them all. He paid no further
attention to them for a while; he bent at Fenton's desk and worked
swiftly. At length he thrust his papers aside.

"I want to see that cellar," he announced. "That is, the point
where you found that red pebble!"

Down in the basement, Sir Henry gave the details. When he came to
mention the various liquids which Fenton had poured into the
woodwork upstairs Watson examined the pool intently.

"Quite so. They would come out here--naturally."

"Naturally!"

Sir Henry could not understand. His perplexity was reflected in
the faces of Herold, the two physicians, Dr. Malloy, Miss Clarke,
and Mme. Le Fabre--and Charlotte spoke for them all:

"Can't you explain, Mr. Watson? The woodwork had nothing whatever
to do with the cellar. There was the floor between, just as you
see it now."

"Naturally," Watson repeated. "It could be no other place! It was
on its way to the other side, but it could go only half-way.
Simply a matter of focus, you know. I beg pardon; you must hold
your curiosity a little longer."

He began measuring. First he located the line across the
floorjoists overhead, where rested the partition separating the
dining-room from the parlour. Finding the middle of this line, he
dropped an improvised plumb-line to the ground; and from this spot
as centre, using a string about ten feet long, he described a
circle on the earth. Then, referring to his calculations, he
proceeded to locate several points with small stakes pressed into
the soil. Then he checked them off and nodded.

"It's even better than the professor thought. His theory is all
but proven. If Jerome and Hume can deliver the other stone without
accident, we can save those now inside the Spot." Then, very
solemnly: "But we face a heavy task. It will be another
Thermopylae. We must hold the gate against an occult Xerxes,
together with all his horde."

"The hosts of the dead!" exclaimed Mme. Le Fabre.

"No; the living! Just give me time, Madame, and you will see
something hitherto undreamed of. As for your theory--tomorrow you
may doubt whether you are living or dead! In other words, Dr.
Holcomb has certainly proved the occult by material means. He has
done it with a vengeance. In so doing he has left us in doubt as
to ourselves; and unless he discovers the missing factor within
the next few hours we are going to be in the anomalous position of
knowing plenty about the next world, but nothing about ourselves."

He paused. He must have known that their curiosity could not hold
out much longer. He said:

"Now, just one thing more, friends, and I can tell you everything,
while we are waiting for Jerome and the general to return. But
first I must see the one who preceded me out of the spot."

"Ariadne!" from Charlotte, in wonder.

"Ariadne!" exclaimed Watson. He was both puzzled and amazed. "Did
you call her--Ariadne?"

"She is upstairs," cut in Dr. Higgins.

"I must see her!"

A minute or two later they stood in the room where the girl lay.
The coverlet was thrown back somewhat revealing the bare left arm
and shoulder, and the delicately beautiful face upon the pillow.
Her golden hair was spread out in riotous profusion. The other
hand was just protruding from the coverlet, and displayed a faint
red mark, showing where Hobart's bracelet had been fastened at the
moment he disappeared.

Charlotte stepped over and laid her hand against the girl's cheek.
"Isn't she wonderful!" she murmured.

But Dr. Higgins looked to Watson.

"Do you know her?"

The other nodded. He stooped over and listened to her breathing.
His manner was that of reverence and admiration. He touched her
hand.

"I see how it must have happened. Precisely what I experienced,
only--" Then: "You call her Ariadne?"

"We had to call her something," replied Charlotte. "And the name--
it just came, I suppose."

"Perhaps. Anyhow, it was a remarkably good guess. Her true name is
the Aradna."

"THE Aradna? Who--what is she?"

"Just that: the Aradna. She is one of the factors that may save
us. And on earth we would call her queen." Then, without waiting
for the inevitable question, Watson said:

"Your professional judgment will soon come to the supreme test,
Dr. Higgins. She is simply numbed and dazed from coming through
the Spot." Charlotte had already described to him the girl's
arrival. "The mystery is that she was permitted an hour of
rationality before this came upon her. I wonder if Hobart's
vitality had anything to do with it?"--half to himself. "As for
the Rhamda"--he smiled--"he is merely interested in the Spot; that
is all. He would never harm the Aradna; he had nothing whatever to
do with her condition. We were mistaken about the man. Anyway, it
is the Spot of Life that interests us now."

"The Spot of Life," repeated Sir Henry. "Is that--"

"Yes; the Blind Spot, as it is known from the other side. It
overtops all your sciences, embraces every cult, and lies at the
base of all truth. It is--it is everything." ^

"Explain!"

Watson turned to the head upon the pillow. He ventured to touch
the cheek, with a trace of tenderness in his action and of
wistfulness near to reverence. It was not love; it was rather as
one might touch a fairy. In both spirit and substance she was
truly of another world. Watson gave a soft sigh and looked up at
the Englishman.

"Yes, I can explain. Now that I know she is well, I shall tell you
all I know from the beginning. It's certainly your turn to ask
questions. I may not be able to tell you all that you want to
know; but at least I know more than any other person this side of
the Spot. Let us go down to the library."

He glanced at a clock. "We have nearly five hours remaining. Our
test will come when we open the Spot. We must not only open it,
but we must close it at all costs."

They had reached the lower hall. At the front door Watson paused
and turned to the others.

"Just a moment. We may fail tonight. In case we do, I would like
one last look at my own world--at San Francisco."

He opened the door. The rest hung back; though they could not
understand, they could sense, vaguely, the emotion of this strange
man of brave adventure. The scene, the setting, the beauty, were
all akin to the moment. Watson, stood bareheaded, looking down at
the blinking lights of the city of the Argonauts. The moon in a
starlit sky was drifting through a ragged lace of cloud. And over
it all was a momentary hush, as though the man's emotion had
called for it.

No one spoke. At last Watson closed the door. And there was just
the trace of tears in his eyes as he spoke:

"Now my friends--" And led the way into the parlour.




XXIX

THE OCCULT WORLD


"In telling what I know," began Watson, "I shall use a bit of a
preface. It's necessary, in a way, if you are to understand me;
besides, it will give you the advantage of looking into the Blind
Spot with the clear eyes of reason. I intend to tell all, to omit
nothing. My purpose in doing this is that, in case we should fail
tonight, you will be able to give my account to the world."

It was a strange introduction. His listeners exchanged thoughtful
glances. But they all affirmed, and Sir Henry hitched his chair
almost impatiently.

"All right, Mr. Watson. Please proceed."

"To begin with," said Watson, "I assume that you all know of Dr.
Holcomb's announcement concerning the Blind Spot. You remember
that he promised to solve the occult; how he foretold that he
would prove it not by immaterial but by the very material means;
that he would produce the fact and the substance.

"Now, the professor had promised to deliver something far greater
than he had thought it to be. At the same time, what he knew of
the Blind Spot was part conjecture and part fact. Like his
forebears and contemporaries, he looked upon man as the real
being.

"But it's a question, now, as to which is reality and which is
not. There is not a branch of philosophy that looks upon the
question in that light. Bishop Berkeley came near and he has been
followed by others; but they all have been deceived by their own
sophistry. However, except for the grossest materialists, all
thinkers take cognizance of a hereafter.

"No one dreamed of a Blind Spot and what it may lead to, what it
might contain. We are five-sensed; we interpret the universe by
the measure of five yardsticks. Yet, the Blind Spot takes even
those away; the more we know, it seems, the less certain we are of
ourselves. As I said to Mme. Le Fabre, it is a difficult question
to determine, after all, just who are the ghosts. At any rate, I
KNOW"--and he paused for effect--"I know that there are uncounted
millions who look upon us and our workings as entirely
supernatural!

"Remember that what I have to tell you is just as real as your own
lives have been since babyhood.

"It was slightly over a year ago that my last night on the earth
arrived.

"I had gone out for the evening, in the forlorn hope of meeting a
friend, of having some slight taste of pleasure before the end
came.

"For several days I had been labouring under a sort of
premonition, knowing that my life was slowly seeping away and that
my vitality was slipping, bit by bit, to what I thought must be
death. Had I then known what I know now, I could have saved
myself. But if I had done it, if I had saved myself, we would
never have found Dr. Holcomb.

"Perhaps it was the same fate that led me to Harry, that night. I
don't know. Nevertheless, if there is any truth in what I have
learned on the other side of the Blind Spot, it would seem that
there is something higher than mere fate. I had never believed in
luck; but when everything works out to a fraction of a breath, one
ceases to be sceptical on the question of destiny and chance. _I_
say, everything that happened that night was FORCED from the other
side. In short, my giving that ring to Harry was simply a link in
the chain of circumstances. It just had to be; the PROPHECY would
not have had it otherwise."

Without stopping to explain what he meant by the word "prophecy,"
Watson went on:

"That's what makes it puzzling. I have never been able to
understand how every bit has dovetailed with such exactness. We--
you and I--are certainly not supernatural; and yet, on the other
side of the Spot, the proof is overwhelmingly convincing.

"I was very weak that night. So weak that it is difficult for me
to remember. The last I recollect was my going to the back of the
house; to the kitchen, I think. I had a light in my hands. The
boys were in the front room, waiting. One of them had opened a
door some yards away from where I stood.

"Coming as it did, on the instant, it is difficult to describe.
But I knew it instinctively for what it was: the dot of blue on
the ceiling, and the string of light. Then, a sensation of
falling, like dropping into space itself. It is hard to describe
the horrifying terror of plunging head on from an immense height
to a plain at a vastly lower level.

"And that's all that I remember--from this side." [Footnote:
NOTE.--In justice to Mr. Watson, the present writers have thought
it best at this stage to transpose the story from the first to the
third person. Any narrative, unless it is negative in its
material, is hard to give in the first person; for where the
narrator has played an active, positive part, he must either curb
himself or fall under the slur of braggadocio. Yet, the world
wants the details exactly as they happened; hence the
transposition. EDITORS.]

Watson opened his eyes.

The first thing was light and a sense of great pain. There was a
pressure at the back of the eyeballs, a poignant sensation not
unlike a knife-thrust; that, and a sudden fear of madness, of
drivelling helplessness.

The abrupt return of consciousness in such a condition is not easy
to imagine. After all he had gone through, this strange sequel
must have been terribly puzzling to him. He was a man of good
education, well versed in psychology; in the first rush of
consciousness he tried, as best he could, to weigh himself up in
the balance of aberration. And it was this very fact that gave him
his reassurance; for it told him that he could think, could
reason, could count on a mind in full function.

But he could not see. The pain in his eyeballs was blinding. There
was nothing he could distinguish; everything was woven together, a
mere blaze of wonderful, iridescent, blazing coloration.

But if he could not see, he could feel. The pain was excruciating.
He closed his eyes and fell to thinking, curiously enough, that
the experience was similar to what he had gone through when upon
learning to swim, he had first opened his eyes under the water. It
had been under a blazing sun. The pain and the colour--it was much
the same, only intensified.

Then he knew that he was very tired. The mere effort of that one
thought had cost him vitality. He dropped back into
unconsciousness, such as was more insensibility than slumber. He
had strange dreams, of people walking, of women, and of many
voices. It was blurred and indistinct, yet somehow not unreal.
Then, after an unguessable length of time--he awoke.

He was much stronger. The lapse may have been very long; he could
not know. But the pain in his eyes was gone; and he ventured to
open the lids again in the face of the light that had been so
baffling. This time he could see; not distinctly, but still enough
to assure him of reality. By closing his eyes at intervals he was
able to rest them and to accustom them gradually to the new degree
of light. And after a bit he could see plainly.

He was on a cot, and in a room almost totally different from any
that he had ever seen before. The colour of the walls, even, was
dissimilar; likewise the ceiling. It was white, in a way, and yet
unlike it; neither did it resemble any of the various tints; to
give it a name that he afterward learned--alna--implies but
little. It was utterly new to him.

Apparently he was alone. The room was not large; about the size of
an ordinary bedroom. And after the first novelty of the
unplaceable colour had worn off he began to take stock of his own
person.

First, he was covered by the finest of bed clothing, thick but
exceedingly light. There was no counterpane, but two blankets and
two sheets; and none of them corresponded to any colour or
material he had ever known. He only knew that their tints were
light rather than dark.

Next, he moved his hands out from under the coverings, and held
them up before his eyes. He was immensely puzzled. He naturally
expected to see the worn, emaciated hands which had been his on
that dramatic night; but the ones before him were plump, normal,
of a healthy pink. The wrists likewise were in perfect condition,
also his arms. He could not account for this sudden return to
health, of the vigour he had known before he began to wear the
ring. He lay back pondering.

Presently he fell to examining his clothes. There were two
garments made of a silk-like textile, rather heavy as to weight,
but exceedingly soft as to touch. They were slightly darker than
the bed clothing. In a way they were much like pyjamas, except
that both were designed to be merely slipped into place, without
buttons or draw-strings. That is, they were tailored to fit snugly
over the shoulders and waist, while loose enough elsewhere.

Then he noticed the walls of the room. They were after a simple,
symmetrical style; coved--to use an architectural expression--or
curved, where the corner would come with a radius much larger than
common, amounting to four or five feet; so that a person of
ordinary height could not stand close to the wall without
stooping. Where the coved portion flowed into the perpendicular of
the wall there was a broad moulding, like a plate rail, which
acted as a support for the hanging pictures.

Watson counted four of these pictures. Instinctively he felt that
they might give him a valuable clue as to his whereabouts. For,
while his mind had cleared enough for him to feel sure that he had
truly come through the Spot, he knew nothing more. Where was he?
What would the pictures tell?

The first was directly before his eyes. In size perhaps two by
three feet, with its greater length horizontal, it was more of a
landscape than a portrait. And Watson's eagerness for the subject
itself made him forget to note whether the work was mechanically
or manually executed.

For it revealed a girl--about ten or twelve--very slightly draped,
enjoying a wild romp with a most extraordinary creature. It was
this animal that made the picture amazing; there was no subtle
significance in the scene--there was nothing remarkable about the
technique. The whole interest, for Watson, was in the animal.

It was a deer; perfect and beautiful, but cast in a Lilliputian
mould. It stood barely a foot high, the most delicate thing he had
ever looked upon. Mature in every detail of its proportion, the
dainty hoofs, the fragile legs, smooth-coated body, and small,
wide-antlered head--a miniature eight-pointer--made such a vision
as might come to the dreams of a hunter.

Chick rose up in bed, in order to examine it more closely.
Immediately he fell back again slightly dizzy. He closed his eyes.

Shortly he began examining the other pictures. Two of these were
simple flower studies. Watson scarcely knew which puzzled him
most; the blossoms or their containers. For the vases were like
large-sized loving cups, broad as to body, and provided with a
handle on either side. Their colours were unfamiliar. As for the
blossoms--in one study the blooms were a half-dozen in number, and
more like Shasta daisies than anything else. But their colour was
totally unlike, while they possessed wide, striped stamens that
gave the flowers an identity all their own. In the other vase were
several varieties, and every one absolutely unrecognisable.

On the opposite side of the room was something fairly familiar. At
first glance it seemed a simple basket of kittens, done in black
and white--something like crayon, and yet resembling sepia.
Alongside the basket, however, was a spoon, one end resting on the
edge of a saucer. And it was the size of the spoon that commanded
Chick's attention; rather, the size of the kittens, any one of
which could have curled up comfortably in the bowl of the spoon!
Judging relatively, if it were an ordinary tablespoon, then the
kittens were smaller than the smallest of mice.

Chick gave it up. Presently he began speculating about the time.
He decided that, whatever the hour might be, it was still
daylight. In one wall of the room was a large, oval window, of a
material which may as well be called glass, frosted, so as to
permit no view of what might lie outside. But it allowed plenty of
light to enter.

Cut in the opposite wall was a doorway, hung with a curtain
instead of a door. This curtain was a gauzy material, but its
maroonlike shade completely hid all view of whatever lay beyond.

Chick waited and listened. Hitherto he had not heard a sound.
There was not even that subtle, mixed hum from the distance that
we are accustomed to associate with silence. He felt certain that
he was inside the Blind Spot; but as to just where that locality
might lie, he knew as little as before. He knew only that he in a
building of some sort. Where, and what, was the building?

Just then he noticed a cord dangling from the ceiling. It came
down to within six inches of his head. He gave it a pull.

Whereupon he heard a faint, musical jangling in the distance. He
tried to analyse the sound. It was not bell-like; perhaps the word
"tinkling" would serve better. Provisionally, Chick placed the key
at middle D.

A moment later he heard steps outside the curtain. They were very
soft and light and deliberate; and almost at the same instant a
delicate white hand moved the curtain aside.

It was a woman. Chick lay back and wondered. Although not
beautiful she was very good to look at, with large blue eyes of a
deep tenderness and sympathy, even features, and a wonderful fold
of rich brown hair held in place by a satiny net.

She started when she saw Chick's wide open eyes; then smiled, a
motherly smile and compassionate. She was dressed in a manner at
once becoming and odd, to one unaccustomed, in a gown that draped
the entire figure, yet left the right arm and shoulder bare. Chick
noticed that arm especially; it was white as marble, moulded full,
and laced with fine blue veins. He had never seen an arm like
that. Nor such a woman. She might have been forty.

She came over to the bed and placed a hand on Chick's forehead.
Again she smiled, and nodded.

"How do you feel?" she asked.

Now this is a strange thing; Watson could not account for it. For,
although she did not speak English, yet he could understand her
quite well. At the moment it seemed perfectly obvious; afterward,
the fact became amazing.

He answered in the same way, his thoughts directing his lips. And
he found that as long as he made no conscious attempt to select
the words for his thought, he could speak unhesitatingly.

"Where am I?"

She smiled indulgently, but did not answer.

"Is this the--Blind Spot?"

"The Blind Spot! I do not understand."

"Who are you?"

"Your nurse. Perhaps," soothingly, "you would like to talk to the
Rhamda."

"The Rhamda!"

"Yes. The Rhamda Geos."




XXX

THE PLUNGE


The woman left him. For a while Chick reflected upon what she had
said. In full rush of returning vigour his mind was working
clearly and with analytical exactness.

For the first time he noticed a heaviness in the air, overladen,
pregnant. He became aware of a strange, undercurrent of life; of
an exceedingly faint, insistent sound, pulse-like and rhythmical,
like the breathing undertones of multitudes. He was a city man,
and accustomed to the murmuring throbs of a metropolitan heart.
But this was very different.

Presently, amid the strangeness, he could distinguish the tinkle
of elfin bells, almost imperceptible, but musical. The whole air
was laden with a subdued music, lined, as it were, with a golden
vibrancy of tintinnabulary cadence--distant, subdued, hardly more
than a whisper, yet part of the air itself.

It gave him the feeling that he was in a dream. In the realms of
the subconscious he had heard just such sounds--exotic and
unearthly--fleeting and evanescent.

The notion of dreams threw his mind into sudden alertness. In an
instant he was thinking systematically, and in the definite
realisation of his plight.

The woman had spoken of "the Rhamda." True, she had added a
qualifying "Geos," but that did not matter. Whether Geos or Avec,
it was still the Rhamda. By this time Watson was convinced that
the word indicated some sort of title--whether doctor, or lord, or
professor, was not important. What interested Chick was identity.
If he could solve that he could get at the crux of the Blind Spot.

He thought quickly. Apparently, it was Rhamda Avec who had trapped
Dr. Holcomb. Why? What had been the man's motive? Watson could not
say. He only knew the ethics of the deed was shaded with the
subtleness of villainy. That behind it all was a purpose, a
directing force and intelligence that was inexorable and
irresistible.

One other thing he knew; the Rhamda Avec came out of the region in
which he, Watson, now found himself. Rather, he could have come
from nowhere else. And Watson could feel certain that somewhere,
somehow, he would find Dr. Holcomb.

In that moment Watson determined upon his future course of action.
He decided to state nothing, intimate nothing, either by word or
deed, that might in any manner incriminate or endanger the
professor. It was for him to learn everything possible and to do
all he could to gain his points, without giving a particle of
information in return. He must play a lone hand and a cautious
one--until he found Dr. Holcomb.

The fact of his position didn't appall him. Somehow, it had just
the opposite effect. Perhaps it was because his strength had come
back, and had brought with it the buoyancy that is natural to
health. He could sense the vitality that surrounded him, poised,
potential, waiting only the proper attitude on his part to become
an active force. Something tremendous had happened to him, to make
him feel like that. He was ready for anything.

Five minutes passed. Watson was alert and ready when the woman
returned, together with a companion. She smiled kindly, and
announced:

"The Rhamda Geos."

At first Chick was startled. There was a resemblance to Rhamda
Avec that ran almost to counterpart. The same refinement and
elegance, the fleeting suggestion of youth, the evident age
mingled with the same athletic ease and grace of carriage. Only he
was somewhat shorter. The eyes were almost identical, with the
peculiar quality of the iris and pupil that suggested, somehow, a
culture inherited out of the centuries. He was dressed in a black
robe, such as would befit a scholar.

He smiled, and held out a hand. Watson noted the firm clasp, and
the cold thrill of magnetism.

"You wish to speak with me?"

The voice was soft and modulated, resonant, of a tone as rich as
bronze.

"Yes. Where am I--sir?"

"You do not know?"

It seemed to Watson that there was real astonishment in the man's
eyes. As yet it had not come to Chick that he himself might be
just as much a mystery as the other. The only question in his mind
at the moment was locality.

"Is this the Blind Spot?"

"The Blind Spot!"--with the same lack of comprehension that the
woman had shown. "I do not understand you."

"Well, how did I get here?"

"Oh, as to that, you were found in the Temple of the Leaf. You
were lying unconscious on the floor."

"A temple! How did I get there, sir? Do you know?"

"We only know that a moment before there was nothing; next
instant--you."

Watson thought. There was a subconscious sound that still
lingered in his memory; a sound full-toned, flooding, enveloping.
Was there any connection--

"'The Temple of the Leaf,' you call it, sir. I seem to remember
having heard a bell. Is there such a thing in that temple?"

The Rhamda Geos smiled, his eyes brightening. "It is sometimes
called the Temple of the Bell."

"Ah!" A pause, and Watson asked, "Where is this temple? And is
this room a part of the building?"

"No. You are in the Sar-Amenive Hospital, an institution of the
Rhamdas."

The Rhamdas! So there were several of them. A sort of society,
perhaps.

"In San Francisco?"

"No. San Francisco! Again I fail to understand. This locality is
known as the Mahovisal."

"The Mahovisal!" Watson thought in silence for a moment. He noted
the extremely keen interest of the Rhamda, the ultra-intelligent
flicker of the eyes, the light of query and critical analysis.
"You call this the Mahovisal, sir? What is it: town, world or
institution?"

The other smiled again. The lines about his sensitive mouth were
susceptible of various interpretations: emotion, or condescension,
or the satisfying feeling that comes from the simple vindication
of some inner conviction. His whole manner was that of interest
and respectful wonder.

"You have never heard of the Mahovisal? Never?"

"Not until this minute," answered Watson.

"You have no knowledge of anything before? Do you know WHO YOU
ARE?"

"I"--Watson hesitated, wondering whether he had best withhold this
information. He decided to chance the truth. "My name is Chick
Watson. I am--an American."

"An American?"

The Rhamda pronounced the word with a roll of the "r" that sounded
more like the Chinese "Mellican" than anything else. It was
evident that the sounds were totally unfamiliar to him. And his
manner was a bit indefinite, doubtful, yet weighted with care, as
he slowly repeated the question:

"An American? Once more I don't understand. I have never heard the
word, my dear sir. You are neither D'Hartian nor Kospian; although
there are some--materialists for the most part--who contend that
you are just as any one else. That is--a man."

"Perhaps I am," returned Watson, utterly confounded. He did not
know what to say. He had never heard of a Kospian or a D'Hartian,
nor of the Mahovisal. It made things difficult; he couldn't get
started. Most of all, he wanted information; and, instead, he was
being questioned. The best he could do was to equivocate.

As for the Rhamda, he frowned. Apparently his eager interest had
been dashed with disappointment. But only slightly, as Watson
could see; the man was of such culture and intellect as to have
perfect control over his emotions. In his balance and poise he was
very like Avec, and he had the same pleasing manner.

"My dear sir," he began, "if you are really a man, then you can
tell me something of great importance."

"I" Chick retorted, "can tell you nothing until you first let me
know just where I stand!"

Certainly there was a lack of common ground. Until one of them
supplied it, there could be no headway. Watson realised that his
whole future might revolve about the axis of his next words.

The Rhamda thought a moment, dubiously, like one who has had a pet
theory damaged, though not shattered. Suddenly he spoke to the
woman.

"Open the portal," said he.

She stepped to the oval window, touched a latch, and swung the
pane horizontally upon two pivots. Immediately the room was
flooded with a strange effulgence, amber-like, soft and mellow, as
real sunshine.

But it was NOT real sunshine!

The window was set in a rather thick wall, beyond which Watson
could see a royal sapphiric sky, flecked with white and purple and
amethyst-threaded clouds poised above a great amber sleeping sun.

It was the sun that challenged attention. It was so mild, and yet
so utterly beyond what might be expected. In diameter it would
have made six of the one Watson had known; in the blue distance,
touching the rim of the horizon, it looked exactly like a huge
golden plate set edgewise on the end of the earth.

And--he could look straight at it without blinking!

His thoughts ran back to the first account of the Rhamda. The man
had looked straight at the sun and had been blinded. This
accounted for it! The man had been accustomed to this huge, soft-
glowing beauty. An amberous sun, deep yellow, sleeping; could it
be, after all, dreamland?

But there were other things: the myriad tintinnabulations of these
microscopic bells, never ceasing, musically throbbing; and now,
the exotic delight of the softest of perfumes, an air barely
tinted with violet and rose, and the breath of woodland wild
flowers. He could not comprehend it. He looked at the purple
clouds above the lotus sun, hardly believing, and deeply in doubt.

A great white bird dived suddenly out of the heavens and flew into
the focus of his vision. In all the tales of his boyhood, of large
and beautiful rocs and other birds, he had come across nothing
like this. From the perspective it must have measured a full three
hundred feet from tip to tip; it was shaped like a swan and flew
like an eagle, with magnificent, lazy sweeps of the wings; while
its plumage was as white as the snow, new fallen on the mountains.
And right behind it, in pursuit, hurtled a huge black thing, fully
as large and just as swift; a tremendous black crow, so black that
its sides gave off a greenish shimmer.

Just then the woman closed the window. It was as well; Watson was
only human, and he could hide his curiosity just so long and no
longer. He turned to the Rhamda.

The man nodded. "I thought so," said he with satisfaction, as one
might who has proven a pet and previous theory.

Watson tried from another angle.

"Just who do you think I am, sir?"

The other smiled as before. "It is not what I may think," he
replied: "but what I know. You are the proof that was promised us
by the great Rhamda Avec. You are--THE FACT AND THE SUBSTANCE!"

He waited for Watson's answer. Stupefaction delayed it. After a
moment the Rhamda continued:

"Is it not so? Am I not right? You are surely out of the occult,
my dear sir. You are a spirit!"

It took Chick wholly by surprise. He had been ready to deal with
anything--but this. It was unreal, weird, impossible. And yet, why
not? The professor had set out to remove forever the screen that
had hitherto shrouded the shadow: but what had he revealed? What
had the Spot disclosed? Unreality or REALITY? Which is which?

In the inspiration of the moment, Chick saw that he had reached
the crossroads of the occult. There was no time to think; there
was time only for a plunge. And, like all strong men, Watson chose
the deeper water.

He turned to the Rhamda Geos.

"Yes," said he quietly. "I--am a spirit."




XXXI

UP FOR BREATH


Rhamda Geos, instead of showing the concern and uneasiness that
most men would show in the presence of an avowed ghost, evinced
nothing but a deep and reverent happiness. He took Watson's hand
almost shyly. And while his manner was not effusive, it had the
warmth that comes from the heart of a scholar.

"As a Rhamda," he declared, "I must commend myself for being the
first to speak to you. And I must congratulate you, my dear sir,
on having fallen, not into the hands of Bar Senestro, but into
those of my own kind. It is a proof of the prophecy, and a
vindication of the wisdom of the Ten Thousand.

"I bid you welcome to the Thomahlia, and I offer you my services,
as guide and sponsor."

Chick did not reply at once. The chance he had taken was one of
those rare decisions that come to genius; the whole balance of his
fate might swing upon his sudden impulse. Not that he had any
compunction; but he felt that it tied him down. It restricted him.
Certainly almost any role would 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
assumption on the Rhamda's part. Why had he seemed to WANT Chick a
ghost? Watson was natural, human, embodied, just like the Rhamda.
This was scarcely his 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 account for it?

Again he thought of Rhamda Avec. The words of Geos, "The Fact and
the Substance," had been exactly synonymous with what had been
said of Avec by 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 place where he, Watson, must pose as a spirit, if he were to
be accepted as genuine?

The thought was a shock. He must play the same part here that the
Rhamda had played on the other side of the Spot; but he would have
to do it without the guiding wisdom of Avec. Besides, there was
something sinister in the unknown force that had engulfed so
strong a mind as the professor's; for while Watson's fate had been
of his own seeking, that of 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 name is familiar. I don't remember well. My mind is vague and
confused. I recall a world, a wonderful world it was from which
I came, and a great many 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
that one forced out of the occult could come among us with his
faculties unimpaired. We have had many communications with your
world, and have always been frustrated by this one gulf which may
not be crossed. When real thought gets across the border, it is
often indefinite, sometimes mere drivel. Such answers as come from
the void are usually disappointing, no matter how expert our
mediums may be in communicating with 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
we have here in life?"

"I mean," said Watson, "that we hate, love, swear; we are good and
we are evil; and we play games and go fishing."

Geos rubbed his hands in a dignified sort of glee. What had been
said coincided, apparently, with another of his pet theories.

"It is splendid," he exulted, "splendid! And just in line with my
thesis. You shall tell it before the Council of the Rhamdas. It
will be the greatest day since the speaking of the Jarados!"

Watson wondered just who this Jarados might be; but for the moment
he went back to the previous question.

"This Rhamda Avec: you were about to tell me about him. Let me
have as much as I can understand, sir."

"Ah, yes! The great Rhamda Avec. Perhaps you may recall him when
your mind clears a little more. My dear sir, he is, or was, the
chief of the Rhamdas 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 embraces D'Hartia, Kospia and a few minor nations."

"Who are the Rhamdas?"

"They are the heads of--of the Thomahlia; not the nominal nor
political nor religious heads--they are neither judicial,
executive nor legislative; but the real heads, still above. They
might be called the supreme college of wisdom, of science and of
research. Also, they are the keepers of the bell and its temple,
and the interpreters of the Prophecy of the Jarados."

"I see. You are a sort of priesthood."

"No. The priesthood is below us. The priests take what orders we
choose to 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
being intellectually adept enough to be admitted to the real
secrets, the real knowledge, they give to all things a provisional
explanation based upon a settled policy. Not being Rhamdas, they
are simply not aware that everything has an exact and absolute
explanation."

"In other words," put in Watson, "they are scientists; they have
not lifted 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 them in that we have no material ends to
subserve. Being at the top, with no motive 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
passed out of it long ago. That is the first stage of true
science; afterwards comes 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 the
impromptu suggestion of a half-thought. But the effect of his
words upon the Rhamda and the nurse told him that, inadvertently,
he had struck a keynote. Both started, especially the woman.
Watson took note of this in particular, because of the ingrained
acceptance of the feminine in matter of belief.

"What do you know?" was her eager interruption. "You have seen the
Jarados?"

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 trump
card; but he was too clever to play it at once. He was on his own
responsibility and was carrying a load that required the finest
equilibrium.

"I really do not know," he said. "I--I must have time to think.
Coming across the border that way you must give me time. You were
telling me about the Rhamdas in general; now tell me about Avec in
particular."

Geos nodded as though he could understand the fog that beclouded
Watson's mind.

"The Rhamda Avec is, or was, the wisest of them all; the head and
the chief, and by far the most able. Few beside his own fellows
knew it, however; another than he was the nominal head, and
officiated for him whenever necessary. Avec had little social
intercourse; he was a prodigious student.

"We are a body of learned men, you understand, and we stand at the
peak of all that has been discovered through hundreds upon
hundreds of centuries, so that at the present day we are the
culmination of the combined effort and thought of man since the
beginning of time. Each generation of Rhamdas must be greater than
the one preceding. When I die and pass on to your world I must
leave something new and worth-while to my successor; some thought,
wisdom, or deed that may be of use to mankind. I cannot be a
Rhamda else. We are a set of supreme priests, who serve man at the
shrine of intelligence, not of dogma.

"Of course, we are not to be judged too highly. All research, when
it steps forward must go haltingly; there are many paths into the
unknown that look like the real one. Hence, we have among us
various schools of thought, 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 do not grant it; there are Rhamdas who are inclined to lean
more to the materialist's side of things, who rely entirely, when
it comes to questions of this kind, upon their faith in the
teachings of the Jarados. There are some, too, who believe in the
value of speculation, and who contend that only through
contemplation can man lift himself to the 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 were
all of us a bit right, and each of us a whole lot wrong. It was
his contention, however, that there was not one thing that could
not be proven; that the secret of life, while undoubtedly a secret
in every sense of the word, is still very concrete, it could be
proven!"

Watson nodded. He remembered hearing another man make just such a
statement--Dr. Holcomb.

"For years he worked in private," went on Geos. "We never knew
just what he was doing; until, one day, he called us together and
delivered his lecture."

"His lecture?"

"Rather, his prophecy. For it was all that. Not that he spoke at
great length; it was but a talk. He announced that he believed the
time had come to prove the occult. That it could be done, and done
only through concrete, material means; and that whatever existed,
certainly could be demonstrated. He was going to pull aside the
curtain that had hitherto cut off the shadow.

"'I am going to prove the occult,' he said. 'In three days I shall
return with the fact and the substance. And then I propose to
deliver my greatest lecture, my final thesis, in which my whole
life shall come to a focus. I shall bring the proof for your eyes
and ears, for your fingers to explore and be satisfied. You shall
behold the living truth"

"'And the subject of my lecture--the subject of my lecture will be
The Spot of Life.'"




XXXII

THROUGH UNKNOWN WATERS


The SPOT of Life! And the subject of Dr. Holcomb's lecture,
promised but never delivered, had been announced as--The Blind
SPOT!

To Watson it was fairly astounding to discover that the two--
Holcomb and Avec--had reached simultaneously for the curtain of
the shadow. The professor had said that it would be "the greatest
day since Columbus." And so it had proven, did the world but know
it.

"And--the Rhamda Avec never returned?" asked Chick.

"No."

"But he sent back something within three days?" Watson was
thinking, of course, of the doctor who had disappeared on the day
which, Jerome overheard the Rhamda to say, was the last of his
stay.

But Geos did not reply. Why, Chick could not guess. He thought it
best not to press the question; in good time, if he went at it
carefully, he could gain his end with safety. At the moment he
must not arouse suspicion. He chose another query.

"Did Avec go alone?"

"No. The Nervina went with him. Rather, she followed within a few
hours."

"Ah!"

It was out before Watson could think. The Rhamda looked up
suddenly.

"Then you have seen the Nervina! You know her?"

Chick lied. It was not his intention, just at present, to tie
himself down to anything that might prove compromising or
restraining.

"The name is--familiar. Who is this Nervina?"

"She is one of the queens. I thought--My dear sir, she is one of
the queens of Thomahlia, half Kospian, half D'Hartian; of the
first royal line running through from the day of the Jarados."

Chick cogitated for a moment. Then, taking an entirely new tack:

"You say the Rhamda and this Nervina, independently, solved the
mystery of the Spot of Life, I believe you call it. And that Spot
leads, apparently, into the occult?"

"Apparently, if not positively. It was the wisdom of Avec, mostly.
He had been in communication with your world by means of his own
discovery and application. It was all in line with the prophecy.

"Since he and the Nervina left, the people of the world have been
in a state of ferment. For it was foretold that in the last days
we would get in communication with the other side; that some would
come and some would go. For example, your own coming was foretold
by the Jarados, almost to the hour and minute."

"Then it was fortuitous," spoke Watson. "It was NOT the wisdom and
science of Avec, in my case."

"Quite so. However, it is proof that the Rhamdas have fulfilled
their duty. We knew of the Spot of Life, all the while; it was to
be closed until we, through the effort of our intellect and
virtues, could lift ourselves up to the plane of the world beyond
us--your world. It could not be opened by ourselves alone,
however. The Rhamda Avec had first to get in touch with your side,
before he could apply the laws he had discovered."

Somehow, Chick admired this Rhamda. Men of his type could form but
one kind of priesthood: exalted, and devoted to the advance of
intelligence. If Rhamda Avec were of the same sort, then he was a
man to be looked up to, not to hate. As for the Jarados--Watson
could not make out who he had been; a prophet or teacher,
seemingly, looming out of the past and reverenced from antiquity.

The Blind Spot became a shade less sinister. Already Watson had
the Temple of the Leaf, or Bell, the Rhamdas and their philosophy,
the great amber sun, the huge birds, the musical cadence of the
perfumed air, and the counter-announcement of Rhamda Avec to weigh
against the work and words of Dr. Holcomb.

The world of the Blind Spot!

As if in reaction from the unaccustomed train of thought, Watson
suddenly became conscious of extreme hunger. He gave an uneasy
glance round, a glance which the Rhamda Geos smilingly
interpreted. At a word the woman left the room and returned with a
crimson garment, like a bath-robe. When Chick had donned it and a
pair of silken slippers, Geos bade him follow.

They stepped out into the corridor.

This was formed and coloured much as the room they had quitted;
and it led to another apartment, much larger--about fifty feet
across--coloured a deep, cool green. Its ceiling, coved like the
other, seemed made of some self-radiating substance from which
came both light and heat. Four or five tables, looking like ebony
work, were arranged along the side walls. When they were seated at
one of these, the Rhamda placed his fingers on some round alna-
white buttons ranged along the edge of the table.

"In your world," he apologised, "our clumsy service would
doubtless amuse you; but it is the best we have been able to
devise so far."

He pressed the button. Instantly, without the slightest sound or
anything else to betray just how the thing had been accomplished,
the table was covered with golden dishes, heaped with food, and
two flagon-like goblets, full to the brim with a dark, greenish
liquid that gave off an aroma almost exhilarating; not alcoholic,
but something just above that. The Rhamda, disregarding or not
noticing Watson's gasp of wonder, lifted his goblet in the manner
of the host in health and welcome.

"You may drink it," he offered, "without fear. It is not liquor--
if I may use a word which I believe to be current in your world. I
may add that it is one of the best things that we shall be able to
offer you while you are with us."

Indeed it wasn't liquor. Watson took a sip; and he made a mental
note that if all things in the Thomahlia were on a par with this,
then he certainly was in a world far above his own. For the one
sip was enough to send a thrill through his veins, a thrill not
unlike the ecstasy of supreme music--a sparkling exuberance,
leaving the mind clear and scintillating, glorified to the quick
thinking of genius.

Later Watson experienced no reaction such as would have come from
drinking alcohol or any other drug.

It was the strangest meal ever eaten by Watson. The food was very
savoury, and perfectly cooked and served. Only one dish reminded
him of meat.

"You have meats?" he asked. "This looks like flesh."

Geos shook his head. "No. Do you have flesh to eat, on the other
side? We make all our food."

MAKE food. Watson thought best simply to answer the question:

"As I remember it, Rhamda Geos, we had a sort of meat called 
beef--the flesh of certain animals."

The Rhamda was intensely interested. "Are they large? Some
interpret the Jarados to that effect. Tell me, are they like
this?" And he pulled a silver whistle from his pocket and, placing
it to his lips, blew two short, shrill notes.

Immediately a peculiar patter sounded down the corridor; a ka-
tuck, ka-tuck, ka-tuck, not unlike galloping hoof-beats. Before
Watson could do any surmising a little bundle of shining black,
rounded the entrance to the room and ran up to them. Geos picked
it up.

It was a horse. A horse, beautifully formed, perfect as an Arab,
and not more than nine inches high!

Now, Chick had been in the Blind Spot, conscious, but a short
while. He knew that he was in the precise position that Rhamda
Avec had occupied that morning on the ferry-boat. Chick recalled
the pictures of the Lilliputian deer and the miniature kittens;
yet he was immensely surprised.

The little fellow began to neigh, a tiny, ridiculous sound as
compared with the blast of a normal-sized horse, and began to paw
for the edge of the table.

"What does he want?"

"A drink. They will do anything for it." Geos pressed a button,
and in a moment he had another goblet. This he held before the
little stallion, who thrust his head in above his nostrils and
drank as greedily as a Percheron weighing a ton. Watson stroked
his sides; the mane was like spun silk, he felt the legs
symmetrical, perfectly shaped, not as large above the fetlocks as
an ordinary pencil.

"Are they all of this size?"

"Yes; all of them. Why do you ask?"

"Because"--seeing no harm in telling this--"as I remember them, a
horse on the other side would make a thousand of this one. People
ride them."

The Rhamda nodded.

"So it is told in the books of Jarados. We had such beasts, once,
ourselves. We would have them still, but for the brutality and
stupidity of our ancestors. It is the one great sin of the
Thomahlia. Once we had animals, great and small, and all the
blessings of Nature; we had horses and, I think, what you call
beef; a thousand other creatures that were food and help and
companions to man. And for the good they had done our ancestors
destroyed them!"

"Why?"

"It was neglect, unthinking and selfish. A time came when our
civilisation made it possible to live without other creatures.
When machinery came into vogue we put aside the animals as
useless; those we had no further use for we denied the right to
reproduce. The game of the forest was hunted down with powerful
weapons of destruction; all went, in a century or two; everything
that could be killed. And with them went the age of our highest
art, that age of domesticated animals.

"Our greatest paintings, our noblest sculpture, came from that
age; all the priceless relics that we call classic. And in its
stead we had the mechanical age. Man likewise became a mechanism,
emotionless, with no taste for Nature. Meat was made
synthetically, and so was milk."

"You don't mean to say they did not preserve cows for the sake of
their milk?"

"No; that kind of milk became old-fashioned; men regarded it as
unsanitary, fit only for the calves. What they wanted was
something chemically pure; they waged war on bacteria, microbes,
and Nature in general; a cow was merely a relic whose product was
always an uncertainty. With no reason for the meat and no use for
the milk, our vegetarians and our purists gradually eliminated
them altogether. It was a strange age; utilitarian, scientific,
selfish; it was then headed straight for destruction."

And he went on to relate how men began to lose the power of
emotion; there were no dependent beasts to leaven his nature with
the salt of kindness; he thought only of his own aggrandisement.
He became like his machine, a fine thing of perfectly correlated
parts, but with no higher nature, no soul, no feeling; he was less
than a brute. The animals disappeared one by one, passing through
the channel of death, into the world beyond the Spot of Life,
leaving behind only these tiny survivors, playthings, kept in
existence longer than all others because of a mere fad.

"Does your spiritism include animals as well as men?"

"Naturally; everything that is endowed with life."

"I see. Let me ask you: why didn't the Rhamdas interfere and put a
stop to this wanton sacrilege against Nature?"

The Rhamda smiled. "You forget," replied he, "that these events
belong far in the past. At that time the Rhamdas were not. It was
even before the coming of the Jarados."

Watson asked no more questions for a while. He wanted to think.
How could this man Rhamda Geos, if indeed he were a man, accept
him, Watson, as a spirit? Solid flesh was not exactly in line with
his idea of the unearthly. How to explain it? He had to go back to
Holcomb again. The doctor had accepted without question Avec's
naturalness, his body, his appetite. Reasonably enough, Geos, with
some smattering of his superior's wisdom, should accept Watson in
the same way.

And then, the Jarados: at every moment his name had cropped up.
Who was he? So far he had heard no word that might be construed as
a clue. The great point, just now, was that the Rhamda Geos
accepted him as a spirit, as the fact and substance promised by
Avec. But--where was the doctor?

Chick ventured this question:

"My coming was foretold by the Rhamda Avec, I understand. Is this
in accord with the words of the Jarados?"

The Rhamda looked up expectantly and spoke with evident anxiety.

"Can you tell me anything about the Jarados?"

"Let us forgo that," side-stepped Watson. "Possibly I can tell you
much that you would like to know. What I want to know is, just how
well prepared you are to receive me?"

"Then you come from the Jarados!"

"Perhaps."

"What do you know about him?"

"This: someone should have preceded me! The fact and the
substance-you were to have it inside three days! It has been
several hundred times the space allotted! Is it not so?"

The Rhamda's eyes were pin-pointed with eagerness.

"Then it IS true! You are from the Jarados! You know the great
Rhamda Avec--you have seen him!"

"I have," declared Watson.

"In the other world? You can remember?"

"Yes," again committing himself. "I have seen Avec--in another
world. But tell me, before we go on I would have an answer to my
question: did anyone precede me?"

"No."

Watson was nonplussed, but he concealed the fact.

"Are you sure?"

"Quite, my dear sir. The Spot of Life was watched continually from
the moment the Rhamda left us."

"You mean, he and the Nervina?"

"Quite so; she followed him after an interval of a few hours."

"I know. But you say that no one came out ahead of me. Who was it
that guarded this--this Spot of Life? The Rhamdas?"

"They and the Bars."

"Ah! And who are the Bars?"

"The military priesthood. They are the Mahovisal, and of the
Temple of the Bell. They are led by the great Bar Senestro."

"And there were times when these Bars, led by this Senestro, held
guard over the Spot of Life?" To this Geos nodded; and Watson went
on: "And who is this great Senestro?"

"He is the chief of the Bars, and a prince of D'Hartia. He is the
affianced of the two queens, the Aradna and the Nervina."

"The TWO of them?"

Whereupon Watson learned something rather peculiar. It seemed that
the princes of D'Hartia had always married the queens. This
Senestro had had a brother, but he died. And in such an event it
was the iron custom that the surviving brother marry both queens.
It had happened only once before in all history; but the precedent
was unbreakable.

"Then, there is nothing against it?"

"Nothing; except, perhaps the prophecy of the Jarados. We now
know--the whole world knows--that we are fast approaching the Day
of Life."

"Of course; the Day of Life." Watson decided upon another chance
shot. "It has to do with the marriage of the two queens!"

"You DO know!" cried the Rhamda joyously. "Tell me!"

"No; it is I who am asking the questions."

Watson's mind was working like lightning. Whether it was the
influence of the strange drink, or the equally strange influence
of ordinary inspiration, he was never more self-assured in his
life. It seemed a day for taking long chances.

"Tell me," he inquired, "what has the Day of Life to do with the
two queens and their betrothal?"

The Rhamda throttled his eagerness. "It is one of the obscure
points of the prophecy. There are some scholars who hold that such
a problem as this presages the coming of the end and the advent of
the chosen. But others oppose this interpretation, for reasons
purely material: for if the Bar Senestro should marry both queens
it would make him the sole ruler of the Thomahlia. Only once
before have we had a single ruler; for centuries upon centuries we
have had two queens; one of the D'Hartians, and the other of the
Kospians, enthroned here in the Mahovisal."

Watson would have liked to learn far more. But the time seemed one
for action on his part; bold action, and positive.

"Rhamda Geos--I do not know what is your version of the prophecy.
But you are positive that no one preceded me out of the Spot?"

"I am. Why do you persist?"

"Because"--speaking slowly and with the greatest care--"because
there was one greater than I, who came before me!"

The Rhamda rose excitedly to his feet, and then sank back into his
chair again. In his eyes was nothing save eagerness, wonder and
respect. He leaned forward.

"Who was it? Who was he?"

Watson's voice was steady as stone.

"The great Jarados himself!"




XXXIII

A LONG WAY FROM SHORE


Once more Watson had taken the kind of chance he preferred--a
slender one. He took the chance that these people, however occult
and advanced they might be, were still human enough to build their
prophecy out of an old foundation. If he were right, then the
person of the Jarados would be inviolable. If the professor were
prisoner, held somewhere in secret, and it got noised about that
he was the true prophet returned--it would not only give Holcomb
immense prestige, but at the same time render the position of his
captors untenable.

Chick needed no great discernment to see that he had touched a
vital spot. The philosophy of the Rhamdas was firmly bound up with
spiritism; they had gone far in science, and had passed out of
mere belief into the deeper, finer understanding that went behind
the shadow for proof. Certainly Watson inwardly rejoiced to see
Rhamda Geos incredulous, his keen face whitening like that of one
who has just heard sacrilege uttered--to see Geos rise in his
place, grip the table tightly, and hear him exclaim:

"The Jarados! Did you say--the Jarados? He has come amongst us,
and we have not known? You are perfectly sure of this?"

"I am," stated Watson, and met the other's keen scrutiny without
flinching.

Would the game work? At least it promised action; and now that he
had the old feeling of himself he was anxious to get under way.
Any feeling of fear was gone now. He calmly nodded his head.

"Yes, it is so. But sit down. I have still a bit more to tell
you."

The Rhamda resumed his seat. Clearly, his reverence had been
greatly augmented in the past few seconds. From that time on there
was a marked difference in his manner; and his speech, when he
addressed Chick, contained the expression "my lord"--an expression
that Watson found it easy enough to become accustomed to.

"Did you doubt, Rhamda Geos, that I came from the Jarados?"

"We did not doubt. We were certain."

"I see. You were not expecting the Jarados."

"Not yet, my lord. The coming of the Jarados shall be close to the
Day of the Judgment. But it could not be so soon; there were to be
signs and portents. We were to solve the problem first; we were to
know the reason of the shadow and the why of the spirit. The
wisdom of the Rhamda Avec told that the day approaches; he had
opened the Spot of Life and gone through it; but he had NOT sent
the fact and the substance." Watson smiled. There was just enough
superstition, it seemed, beneath all the Rhamda's wisdom to make
him tractable. However, Chick asked:

"Tell me: as a learned man, as a Rhamda, do you believe in the
prophecy implicitly?"

"Yes, my lord. I am a spiritist; and if spiritism is truth, then
the Jarados was genuine, and his prophecy is true. After all, my
lord, it is not a case of legend, but of history. The Jarados came
at a time of high civilisation, when men would see and understand
him; he gave us his teaching in records, and imposed his laws upon
the Thomahlia. Then he departed--through the Spot of Life."

And the Rhamda Geos went on to say that the teachings of the
Jarados had been moral as well as intellectual. Moreover, after he
had formulated his laws, he wrote out his judgment.

"What was that?"

"An exhortation, my lord, that we were to give proof of our
appreciation of intelligence. We were to use it, and to prove
ourselves worthy of it by lifting ourselves up to the level of the
Spot of Life. In other words, the spot would be opened when, and
only when, we had learned the secrets of the occult, and--had
opened the Spot ourselves!"

Watson thought he understood partly. He asked:

"And that is why you doubt me?"

"You, my lord? Not so! You were found in the Temple of the Bell
and Leaf; not on the Spot itself, to be sure, but on the floor of
the temple. You were, both in your person and in your dress, of
another world; you had been promised by the Rhamda Avec; and, in a
sense, you were a part of the prophecy. We accepted you!"

"But I speak your language. Account for that, Geos."

"It need not be accounted for, my lord. We accept it as fact. The
affinity of spirit would not be bound by the limitation of
artificial speech. That you should talk the Thomahlia language is
no more strange than that Rhamda Avec, when he passed into your
world, should speak your tongue."

"We call our language English," supplied Watson. "It is the tongue
of the Jarados and of myself."

"Tell me of the Jarados, my lord!" with renewed eagerness. "In the
other world--what is he?"

It was Chick's opportunity. By telling the simple truth about Dr.
Holcomb he would enhance himself in the eyes of Rhamda Geas.

"In the other world--we call it America--the Jaradas is a Rhamda
much like yourself, the head and chief of many Rhamdas sitting in
a great institution devoted to intelligence. It is called the
University of California."

"And this California; what is it, my lord?"

"A name," returned Chick. "Immediately on the other side of the
Spot is a region called California."

"The promised land, my lord!"

"The promised land indeed. There are some who call it paradise,
even there." And for good measure he proceeded to tell much of his
own land, of the woods, the rivers, the cities, animals,
mountains, the sky, the moon, and the sun. When he came to the sun
he explained that no man dared to look at it continuously with the
bare eyes. Its great heat and splendour astounded Geos.

Concerning himself he nonchalantly stated that he was the fiance
of Holcomb's daughter; that is, son-in-law-to-be of the prophet
Jarados; that he was sort of Junior Rhamda. He declared that he
had come from the occult Rhamdas, through the other side of the
Spot, in search of the Jarados who had gone before. As to his
blankness up to now, and his perplexity--he was but a Junior; and
the Spot had naturally benumbed his senses. Even now, he
apologised, it was difficult to know and to recall everything
clearly.

Through it all the Rhamda Geos Listened in something like awe. He
was hearing of wonders never before guessed in the Thomahlia. As
the prospective son-in-law of the Jarados, Watson automatically
lifted himself to a supreme height, so great that, could he only
hold himself up to it, he would have a prestige second only to
that of the prophet himself.

All of a sudden he thought of a question. It gripped him with
dread, the dread of the unknown. The question was one of TIME.
"How long have I been here, Rhamda Geos?"

"Over eleven months, by our system of reckoning. You were found on
the floor of the temple three hundred and fifty-seven days ago;
you were in a lifeless condition; you must have been there some
hours, my lord, before we discovered you."

"Eleven months!" It had seemed but that many minutes. "And I was
unconscious--"

"All the time, my lord. Had we caught you immediately upon your
coming, we could have brought you around within three days, but in
the circumstances it was impossible to restore you before we did.
You have been under the care of the greatest specialists in all
Thomahlia."

Geos himself had been one of these. "The council of Rhamdas went
into special session, my lord, immediately after your
materialisation, and has been sitting almost continually since.
And now that you are revived, they are waiting in person for you
to show yourself.

"They accept you. They do not know who you are, my lord; none of
us has guessed even a part of the truth. The entire council
awaits!"

But Chick wanted more. Besides, he looked at his clothing.

"I would have my own garments, Geos; also, whatever else was found
on my person."

For Watson was thinking of a small but powerful pistol, an
automatic, that he had carried on the night when he fell through
the Blind Spot. This question of materiality was still a puzzle;
if he himself had survived there was a chance that the firearm had
done the same. It might and it might not preclude the occult.
Anyway, he treasured the thought of that automatic; with it in his
possession he would not be bare-handed in case of emergency.

They returned to the room in which Chick had awakened. The Rhamda
left him. A few moments later he came back with a squad of men.
Chick noted their discipline, movement, and uniforms, and classed
them as soldiers. Two men were stationed outside the door--one, a
stout, dark individual in a blue uniform; and the other a lithe,
athletic chap, blond and blue-eyed, wearing a bright crimson
dress. Chick instinctively preferred both man and garb in crimson;
there was a touch of honour, of lightness and strength that just
suited him. The other was dark, heavy and sinister.

Both wore sandals, and upon their heads curious shakos, made of
the finest down, not fur. Both displayed a heavy silken braid
looped from one shoulder. Each carried a spear-like weapon, of
some shining black material, straight-tapered to a needle-point;
but no other arms.

Watson pointed to the two uniforms.

"What is the significance, Geos?"

"One is from the queen, my lord; the other from Bar Senestro. The
blue is the cloth of the Bars; the red, that of the queens. The
Bar and the queen send this bodyguard with their respective
compliments."

Chick took the bundle that Geos had brought, and proceeded to don
his own clothes, finding deep satisfaction in the fact that they
had arrived as intact as he. He felt carefully in his hip pocket;
the automatic was still there, likewise the extra magazine of
cartridges that he had carried about with him on that night.

In his other pockets he found two packets of cigarettes, a pouch
of tobacco, some papers, a few coins, a little money and two
photographs, one of Bertha and the other of her father. Not a
thing had been disturbed.

He announced himself ready.

The Rhamda conducted him down the corridor, which he found to be
lined with guards; red on one side, blue on the other. These men
fell in behind in two parallel files, one of the one colour and
one of the other.

It was a building of great size. The corridors were long and high,
all with the wide-coved ceiling, and of colours that melted from
one shade to another as they turned, not corners, but curves.
Apparently each colour had its own suggestive reason. Such rooms
as Chick could look into were uniformly large, beautiful, and
distinctly lighted.

The guard moved in silent rhythm; the chief sound was that made by
Watson's leather-heeled shoes, drowning out, for once, the
everlasting tinkling undertone of those unseen fairy-bells; that
running cadence, never ceasing, silver, liquid, like the soul of
sound.

Though Watson walked with head erect, he had eyes for every little
thing he passed. He noted the material of the structure and tried
to name it; neither plaster nor stone, the walls were highly
polished and, somehow or other, capable of emitting perfume--light
and wholesome, not heavy and oppressive. And in dark passages the
walls glowed.

The corridor widened, and with a graceful curve opened upon a wide
stairway that descended, or rather sank--to use Watson's own words
for the feeling--into the depths of the building. To the right of
one landing was a large window reaching to the floor; its panes
were clear and not frosted as had been the others.

Chick got his first glimpse here of what lay outside--an
iridescent landscape, at first view astonishingly like an ocean of
opals; for it was of many hues, red and purple and milky white,
splashed violantin blue and fluorescence--a maze and shimmer of
dancing, joyful colours, whirring in an uncertainty of
polychromatic harmony. Such was his first fleeting impression.

At the next landing he looked closer. It was not unlike a monster
bowl of bubbles; the same illusion of movement, the same delicacy
and witchery of colour, only here the sensation was not that of
decomposition but of life; of flowers, delicate as the rainbow,
tenuous, sinuous, breathing--weaving in a serpentine maze of
daedalian hues; long tendrils of orchidian beauty, lifting,
weaving, drooping--a vast sea of equatorial bloom; but--no trees.

"This is our landscape," spoke the Rhamda. "According to the
Jarados, it is not like that of the next world--your world, my
lord. After you meet the Rhamdas, I shall take you into the
Mahovisal for a closer view of it all."

They reached the bottom of the stairway. Chick noted the
architecture in the entrance-way at this point; the seeming
solidness of structure, as if the whole had been chiselled, not
built. The vestibule was really a hall, domed and high, large
enough to shelter a hundred. Like the corridor outside Chick's
room, it was lined with a row each of red and blue uniformed
guards.

Invariably the one belonged to the blond, lithe, quick-feeling
type, the others heavy, sturdy, formidable. The extremities of the
two lines converged on an oval-topped doorway, very large, having
above it a design conventionalised from the three-leafed clover.
One leaf was scarlet, one blue, the other green.

The door opened. The guards halted. Geos stepped aside with a bow,
and Watson strode forward into the presence of the Council of the
Rhamdas.




XXXIV

THE BAR SENESTRO


It was a critical moment for Chick. Out of the impulse of his
inner nature he had chosen the odds that he must now uphold
against the combined wisdom of these intellectuals. He was alone,
with no one to guide him save Geos, who undoubtedly was his
friend, but who as undoubtedly would desert him upon the slightest
inkling of imposture.

He found himself in a great, round room, or rather an oval one,
domed at the top but tinted in a far more beautiful colouring--
lazuli blue. The walls were cut by long, narrow windows reaching
far up into the sweep where the side melted into the ceiling. The
material of the windows was of the same translucent substance
already noted, but slightly tinged with green, so that they shed a
soft light, cooled and quiet, over the whole assembly.

On the wall opposite the doorway was a large replica of the
clover-leaf design outside, even more gem-like in brilliance; its
three colours woven into a trinity almost of flame. Whether the
light was artificial or intrinsic, Chick could not say. The floor
of the place accommodated some three hundred tables, of the
library type, and the same number of men bearing the distinguished
stamp of the Rhamda. All were smooth-shaven, comparatively tall,
and possessing the same aesthetic manner which impressed one with
the notion of inherited, inherent culture. The entire hall had the
atmosphere of learning, justice and the supreme tribunal.

For a moment Watson felt weak and uncertain. He could hold up
against Geos and Avec, but in the face of such an array he wasn't
so sure. There was but one thing to encourage him; the faces into
which he looked. All were full of wonder and reverence.

Then he looked about him more carefully. He had come out upon a
wide platform, or rostrum. He now noticed that he was flanked on
either side by thrones--two of them; they seemed made of golden
amber. The one on the right was occupied by a man, the other by a
woman. In the pause that was vouchsafed him Chick took note of
these two, and wondered.

In the first place, the man was not a Rhamda. The jewelled semi-
armour that he wore was more significant than the dignified garb
of the Intellectuals; at the same time, his accoutrements
cheapened him, by contrast. He was executive, princely, with the
bearing that comes of worldly ambitions and attainments; a man
strangely handsome, vital, athletic; curling hair, dark, quick
eyes and even features; except only for the mouth he might have
been taken as a model of the Greek Alexander.

The clothes he wore were classic, as was everything else about
him, even to his sandals, his bare arms and his jewelled
breastplate.

Watson had studied history. He had a quick impression of a
composite--of genius, cruelty and sensuality. Here was one with
three strong natures, a sort of Nero, Caligula and Alexander
combined: the sensuality of the first, the cruelty of the second,
and the instinctive fire and greatness of the immortal Macedonian.
The man was smiling; not an amused smile, but one of interest,
humorous tolerance.

When their eyes met, Chick caught the magnetic current of
personality, the same sense of illusiveness that he and Harry
Wendel had noted in the Nervina; only here it was negative,
resisting instead of aiding. A number of the blue guard surrounded
the throne, their faces dark, strong, and of unconquerable
resolution, though slow to think.

On the other throne was a girl. Chick had heard enough from the
Geos to guess her identity: one of the queens, the Aradna; frail,
delicate, a blue-eyed maiden, with a waving mass of straw-gold
hair hanging loosely about her shoulders. She too was classically
attired, although there were touches of modernity here and there
in the arrangement of ribbons; the garment matched her guards'
crimson, and was draped about her shoulders so as to leave one
bare, together with that arm. Across her forehead was a band of
dark-blue gems, and she wore no other jewels.

She was not more than seventeen or eighteen, with eyes like
bluebells, lips as red as poppies, features that danced with
delight and laughter and all the innocence that one would
associate with elfin royalty. Instinctively Chick compared her
with the Nervina.

The senior queen had the subtle magnetism, the uncountable
fascination, the poise and decision that held and dictated all
things to her fancy.

Not so the Aradna. Hers was the strength of simplicity, the frank,
open delight of the maiden, and at the same time all the charm and
suggestion of coming womanhood. When she caught Watson's eye she
smiled; a smile free and unrestrained, out of an open, happy
heart. She made a remark to one of her guards, who nodded a reply
after the manner of a friend, rather than a courtier.

Watson turned to the Geos, who stood somewhat to one side, and a
little to the rear.

"The Aradna?"

"Yes. The queen of D'Hartia. The man on the other side is the Bar
Senestro."

Whatever feeling Chick entertained for the one was offset by what
he felt for the other. He was between two forces; his instinct
warned him of the Bar, sceptical, powerful, ruthless, a man to be
reckoned with; but his better nature went out to the young queen.

At a motion from Geos, the whole assembly of Rhamdas stood up. The
action was both dignified and reverent. Though Chick was, in their
eyes, a miracle, there was no unseemly staring nor jarring of
curiosity; all was quietness, ease, poise; the only sound was that
of the constant subtle music of those invisible bells.

Rhamda Geos began speaking. At the same time he placed a friendly
hand on Watson's shoulder, a signal for every other Rhamda to
resume his seat.

"The Fact and the Substance, my brothers."

Geos paused as he made use of the ultra-significant phrase. And
then, in a few rapid sentences, he ran over the synopsis of that
affair, beginning with some philosophy and other details that
Watson could only half understand, making frequent allusions to
the Jarados and other writers of prophecy; then he made some
mention of his own particular brand of spiritism and its stand on
materialisation. This he followed with an account of the finding
of Watson in the temple, his long sleep and ultimate reviving. At
greater length he repeated the gist of their conversation.

Not until then was there a stir among the Rhamdas. Chick glanced
over at the Aradna. She was listening eagerly, her chin cupped in
her hand, her blue eyes full of interest and wonder, and natural,
unfeigned, child-like delight.

Then the Bar caught Chick's glance; the newcomer felt the cold
chill of calculation, the cynical weight of the sceptic, and a
queer foreboding of the future; no light glance, but one like fire
and ice and iron. He wondered at the man's beauty and genius, and
at his emotional preponderance manifest even here before the
Rhamdas.

The Geos went on. His words, now, were simple and direct. Watson
felt himself almost deified by that reverent manner. The Rhamdas
listened with visibly growing interest; the Aradna leaned slightly
forward; even the Bar dropped his interest in Watson to pay closer
attention to the speaker. For Geos had come to the Jarados; he was
an orator as well as a mystic, and he was advancing Chick's words
with all the skill of a master of language, ascending effect--
climax--the Jarados had come among them, and--They had missed him!

For a moment there was silence, then a rustle of general comment.
Chick watched the Rhamdas, leaning over to whisper to each other.
Could he stand up against them?

But none of them spoke. After the first murmur of comment they
lapsed into silence again. It was the Bar Senestro who broke the
tension.

"May I ask, Rhamda Geos, why you make such an assertion? What
proof have you, to begin with, that this man," indicating Watson
with a nod, "is not merely one of ourselves: a D'Hartian or a
Kospian?"

The Geos replied instantly: "You know the manner of his discovery,
Bar Senestro. Have you not eyes?" Geos seemed to think he had said
the last word.

"Surely," rejoined the Bar good-humouredly. "I have very good
eyes, Rhamda Geos. Likewise I have a mind to reason with; but my
imagination, I fear, is defective. What I behold is just such a
creature as myself; not otherwise. How hold you that this one is
proof out of the occult?"

"You are sceptical," returned the Rhamda, evenly. "Even as you
behold him, you are full of doubt. But do you not recall the words
of the great Avec? Do you not know the Prophecy of the Jarados?"

"Truly, Geos; I remember them both. Especially the writing on the
wall of the temple. Does not the prophet himself say: 'And behold,
in the last days there shall come among ye--the false ones. Them
ye shall slay'?"

"All very true, Bar Senestro. But you well know--we all know--that
the true prophecy was to be fulfilled when the Spot was opened.
Did not the fulfilment begin when the Avec and the Nervina passed
through to the other side?"

"The fulfilment, Geos? Perhaps it was the sign of the coming of
impostors! The end may not be until ALL the conditions are
complied with!"

But at this moment Aradna saw fit to speak.

"Senestro, would you condemn this one without allowing him a word
in his own defence? Is it fair? Besides, he does not look like an
impostor to me. I like his face. Perhaps he is one of the chosen!"

At the last word the Bar frowned. His glance shifted suddenly to
Watson, a swift look of ice-cold calculation.

"Very, very true, O Aradna. I, too, would have him speak in his
own behalf. Let him amuse us with his tongue. What would your
majesty care to hear, O Aradna, from this phantom?"

The words were of biting satire. Chick wheeled upon the Bar. Their
eyes clashed; an encounter not altogether to Watson's credit. He
was a bit unsteady, a trifle uncertain of his power. He had
calculated on the superstition of the Rhamdas to hold him up until
he caught his footing, and this unexpected scepticism was
disconcerting. However, he was no coward; the feeling passed away
almost at once. He strode straight up to the throne of the Bar;
and once more he spoke from sheer impulse:

"The Aradna has spoken true, O Senestro, or sinister, or whatever
you may be called. I demand fair hearing! It is my due; for I have
come from another world. I follow--the Jarados!"

If Watson had supposed that he had taken the Bar's measure, he was
mistaken. The prince's eyes suddenly glinted with a fierce
pleasure. Like a flash his antagonism shifted to something
astonishingly like admiration.

"Well spoken! Incidentally, you are well made and sound looking,
stranger."

"Passably," replied Watson. "I do not care to discuss my
appearance, however. I am certainly no more ill-favoured than some
others."

"And impertinent," continued the other, quite without malice. "Do
you know anything about the Bar, to whom you speak so saucily?"

"I know that you have intimated that I may be an impostor. You
have done this, after hearing what the learned Rhamda Geos has
said. You know the facts; you know that I have come from the
Jarados. I--"

But it wasn't Watson's words that held the Bar's attention.
Chick's straight, well-knit form, his quick-trained actions,
overbalanced the question of the prophet in the mind of the man on
the throne. His delight was self-evident.

"Truly you are soundly built, stranger; you are made of iron and
whipcord, finely formed, quick and alert." He threw a word to one
of his heavy-faced attendants, then suddenly stood up and
descended from his throne. He came up and stood beside Watson.

Chick straightened. The prince was an inch the taller; his bare
arms long-muscled, lithe, powerful; under the pink skin Chick
could see the delicate, cat-like play of strength and vitality. He
sensed the strength of the man, his quick, eager, instinctive
glance, his panther-like step and certainty of graceful movement.

"Stranger," spoke the Bar, "indeed you ARE an athlete! What is
your nationality--Kospian?"

"Neither Kospian nor D'Hartian; I am an American. True, there are
some who have said that I am built like a man; I pride myself that
I can conduct myself like one."

"And speak impertinently." Still in the best of humour, the prince
coolly reached out and felt Watson's biceps. His eyes became still
brighter. If not an admirer of decorum, he could appreciate firm
flesh. "Sirra! You ARE strong! Answer me--do you know anything
about games of violence?"

"Several. Anything you choose."

But the prince shook his head. "Not so. I claim no unfair
advantage; you are well met, and opportune. Let it be a contest of
your own choosing. The greater honour to myself, the victor!"

But the little queen saw fit to interfere.

"Senestro, is this the code of the Bar? Is not your proposal
unseemly to so great a guest? Restrain your eagerness for strength
and for muscle! You have preferred charges against this man; now
you would hurl your body as well. Remember, I am the queen; I can
command it of you."

The Senestro bowed.

"Your wishes are my law, O Aradna." Then, turning to Watson: "I am
over-eager, stranger. You are the best-built man I have seen for
many a circle. But I shall best you." He paced to his throne and
resumed his seat. "Let him tell us his tale. I repeat, Geos, that
for all his beauty this one is an impostor. When he has spoken I
shall confute him. I ask only that in the end he be turned over to
me."

It was plain that the Thomahlia was blest with odd rulers. If the
Bar Senestro was a priest, he was clearly still more of a soldier.
The fiery challenge of the man struck an answering chord in
Watson; he knew the time must come when he should weigh himself up
against this Alexander, and it was anything but displeasing to
him.

"What must I say and do?" he asked the Rhamda Geos. "What do they
want me to tell them?"

"Just what you have told me: tell them of the Nervina, and of the
Rhamda Avec. The prince is a man of the world, but from the
Rhamdas you will have justice."

Whereat Chick addressed the Intellectuals. They seemed accustomed
to the outbursts of the handsome Bar, and were now waiting
complacently. In a few words Watson described the Nervina and
Avec; their appearance, manners--everything. Fortunately he did
not have to dissemble. When he had finished there was a faint
murmur of approval.

"It is proven," declared the girl queen. "It is truly my cousin,
the Nervina. I knew not the Rhamda, but from your faces it must
have been he, Senestro, what say you to this?"

But the Bar was totally unconvinced.

"All this is childish. Did I not say he is of our world--D'Hartian
or Kospian, or some other? Does not all Thomahlia know of the
Nervina? Few have seen the Rhamda Avec, but what of it? Some have.
What this stranger says proves nothing at all. I say, give him a
test."

"The test?" from Geos, in a hushed tone.

"Just that. There is none who knows the likeness of the Jarados;
none but the absent Avec. None among us has ever seen his image.
It is a secret to all save the High Rhamda. Yet, in cases like
this, well may the Leaf be opened."

Watson, wondering what was meant, listened closely to the prince
as he continued: "It is written that there are times when all may
see. Surely this is such a time.

"Now let this stranger describe the Jarados. He says that he had
seen him; that he is the Prophet's prospective son-in-law. Good!
Let him describe the Jarados to us!

"Then open the Leaf! If he speaks true, we shall know him to be
from the Jarados. If he fail, then I shall claim him for purposes
of my own."

Whatever the motives of the Senestro, he surely had the genius of
quick decision. Watson knew that the moment had come to test his
luck to the uttermost. There was but one thing to do; he did it.
He said to the Rhamda Geos, in a tone of the utmost indifference:

"I am willing."

Geos was distinctively relieved, "It is good, my lord. Tell us in
simple words. Describe the Jarados just as you have seen him, just
as you would have us see him. Afterwards we shall open the Leaf."
And in a lower tone: "If you speak accurately I shall be
vindicated, my lord. I doubt not that you are a better man than
the prince; but place your reliance in the Truth; it will be one
more proof of the occult, and of the Day approaching."

Which is all that Watson told. But first he breathed a prayer to
One who is above all things occult or physical. He did not
understand where he was nor how he had got there; he only knew
that his fate was hanging on a toss of chance.

He faced the Rhamdas without flinching; and half closing his eyes
and speaking very clearly, he searched his memory for what he
recalled of the old professor. He tried to describe him just as he
had appeared that day in the ethics class, when he made the great
announcement; the trim, stubby figure of Professor Holcomb, the
pink, healthy skin, the wise, grey, kindly eyes, and the close-
cropped, pure white beard: all, just as Chick had known him. One
chance in millions; he took it.

"That is the Jarados as I have seen him; a short, elderly, wise,
BEARDED man."

There was not a breath or a murmur in comment. All hung upon his
words; there was not a sound in the room as he ceased speaking,
only the throb of his own heart and the subtle pounding of caution
in his veins. He had spoken. If only there might be a resemblance!

The Geos stepped forward a pace. "It is well said. If the truth
has been spoken, there shall be room for no dispute. It shall be
known throughout all Thomahlia that the Chosen of the Jarados has
spoken. Let the Leaf be opened!"

Chick never knew just what happened, much less how it was
accomplished. He knew only that a black, opaque wave ran up the
long windows, shutting off the light, so that instantly the
darkness of night enveloped everything, blotting out all that maze
of colour; it was the blackness of the void. Then came a tiny
light, a mere dot of flame, over on the opposite wall; a pin-point
of light it was, seemingly coming out of a vast distance like an
approaching star, growing gradually larger, spreading out into a
screen of radiance that presently was flashing with intrinsic
life. The corruscation grew brighter; little tufts of brilliance
shot out with all the stabbing suddenness of shooting stars. To
Chick it was exactly as though some god were pushing his way
through and out of fire. In the end the flame burst asunder,
diminished into a receding circle and sputtered out.

And in the place of the strange light there appeared the
illuminated figure of a man. Leaning forward, Chick rubbed his
eyes and looked again.

It was the bust of Professor Holcomb.




XXXV

THE PERFECT IMPOSTOR


Chick gasped. Of all that assemblage--Rhamdas, guards, the
occupants of the two thrones--he himself was the most astounded.
Was the great professor in actual fact the true Jarados? If not,
how explain this miracle? But if he were, how to explain the
duality, the identity? Surely, it could not be sheer chance!

Fortunately for Chick, it was dark. All eyes were fixed on the
trim figure which occupied the space of the clover-leaf on the
rear wall. Except for Chick's strangled gasp, there was only the
hushed silence of reverence, deep and impressive.

Then another dot appeared. From its position, Watson took it to
come from another leaf of the clover; another light approaching
out of the void and cutting through the blackness exactly as the
first had come. It grew and spread until it had filled the whole
leaf; then, again the bursting of the flare, the diminishing of
the light, and its disappearance in a thin rim at the edge. And
this time there was revealed--

A handsome brown-haired DOG.

Watson of course, could not understand. The silence held; he could
feel the Rhamda Geos at his side, and hear him murmur something
which, in itself, was quite unintelligible:

"The four-footed one! The call to humility, sacrifice, and
unselfishness! The four-footed one!"

That was all. It was a shaggy shepherd dog, with a pointed nose
and one ear cocked up and the other down, very wisely inquisitive.
Chick had seen similar dogs many times, but he could not account
for this one; certainly not in such a place. What had it to do
with the Jarados?

Still the darkness. It gave him a chance to think. He wondered,
rapidly, how he could link up such a creature with his description
of the Jarados. What could be the purpose of a canine in occult
philosophy? Or, was the whole thing, after all, mere blundering
chance?

This is what bothered Chick. He did not know how to adjust
himself; life, place, sequence, were all out of order. Until he
could gather exact data, he must trust to intuition as before.

The two pictures vanished simultaneously. Down came the black
waves from the windows, gradually, and in a moment the room was
once more flooded with that mellow radiance. The Rhamda Geos
stepped forward as a murmur of awed approval arose from the
assembly. There was no applause. One does not applaud the
miraculous. The Geos took his hand.

"It is proven!" he declared. Then, to the Rhamdas: "Is there any
question, my brothers?"

But no word came from the floor. Seemingly superstition had
triumphed over all else. The men of learning turned none but
reverent faces toward Watson.

He forebore to glance at the Bar Senestro. Despite the triumph he
was apprehensive of the princes's keen genius. An agnostic is
seldom converted by what could be explained away as mere
coincidence. Moreover, as it ultimately appeared, the Bar now had
more than one reason for antagonising the man who claimed to be
the professor's prospective son-in-law.

"Is there any question?" repeated Rhamda Geos.

But to the surprise of Chick, it came from the queen. She was
standing before her throne now. Around her waist a girdle of satin
revealed the tender frailty of her figure. She gave Watson a close
scrutiny, and then addressed the Geos:

"I want to put one question, Rhamda. The stranger seems to be a
goodly young man. He has come from the Jarados. Tell me, is he
truly of the chosen?"

But a clear, derisive laugh from the opposite throne interrupted
the answer. The Bar stood up, his black eyes dancing with mocking
laughter.

"The chosen, O Aradna? The chosen? Do not allow yourself to be
tricked by a little thing! I myself have been chosen by the
inherited law of the Thomahlia!" Then to Chick: "I see, Sir
Phantom, that our futures are to be intertwined with interest!"

"I don't know what you mean."

"No? Very good; if you are really come out of superstition, then I
shall teach you the value of materiality. You are well made and
handsome, likewise courageous. May the time soon come when you can
put your mettle to the test in a fair conflict!"

"It is your own saying, O Senestro!" warned Geos. "You must abide
by my Lord's reply."

"True; and I shall abide. I know nothing of black magic, or any
other. But I care not. I know only that I cannot accept this
stranger as a spirit. I have felt his muscles, and I know his
strength; they are a man's, and a Thomahlian's."

"Then you do not abide?"

"Yes, I do. That is, I do not claim him. He has won his freedom.
But as for endorsing him--no, not until he has given further
proof. Let him come to the Spot of Life. Let him take the ordeal.
Let him qualify on the Day of the Prophet."

"My lord, do you accept?"

Watson had no idea what the "ordeal" might be, nor what might be
the significance of the day. But he could not very well refuse. He
spoke as lightly as he could.

"Of course. I accept anything." Then, addressing the prince: "One
word, O Senestro."

"Speak up, Sir Phantom!"

"Bar Senestro--what have you done with the Jarados?"

An instant's stunned silence greeted this stab. It was broken by
the prince.

"The Jarados!" His voice was unruffled. "What know I of the
Jarados?"

"Take care! You have seen him--you know his power!"

"You have a courageous sort of impertinence!"

"I have determination and knowledge! Bar Senestro, I have come for
the Jarados!" Chick paused for effect. "Now what think you? Am I
of the chosen?"

He had meant it as a deliberate taunt, and so it was taken. The
Bar shot to his feet. Not that he was angered; his straight,
handsome form was kingly, and for all his impulsiveness there was
a certain real majesty about his every pose.

"You are of the chosen. It is well; you have given spice to the
taunt! I would not have it otherwise. Forget not your courage on
the Day of the Prophet!"

With that he stepped gracefully, superbly from the dais beneath
his throne. He bowed to the Aradna, to Geos, to Chick and to the
assembly--and was gone. The blue guard followed in silence.

The rest of the ordeal was soon done. Nothing more was said about
the Jarados, nor of what the Bar Senestro had brought up. There
were a few questions about the world he had quit, questions which
put no strain upon his imagination to answer. He was out of the
deep water for the present.

When the assembly dissolved Chick was conducted back to the
apartments upstairs. Not to his old room, however, but to an
adjoining suite, a magnificent place--that would have done honour
to a prince. But Chick scarcely noted the beauty of the place. His
attention flew at once to something for which he longed--an
immense globe.

Chick spun it around eagerly upon its axis. The first thing that
he looked for was San Francisco--or, rather, North America. If he
was on the earth he wanted to know it! Surely the oceans and
continents would not change.

But he was doomed to disappointment. There was not a familiar
detail. Outside of a network of curved lines indicating latitude
and longitude, and the accustomed tilt of the polar axis, the
globe was totally strange! So strange that Chick could not decide
which was water and which land.

After a bit of puzzling Chick ran across a yellow patch marked
with some strange characters which, upon examination, were
translated in some unknown manner within his subconscious mind, to
"D'Hartia." Another was lettered "Kospia."

Assuming that these were land--and there were a few other, smaller
ones, of the same shade--then the land area covered approximately
three-fifths of the globe. Inferentially the green remainder, or
two-fifths, was the water or ocean covered area. Such a proportion
was nearly the precise reverse of that obtaining on the earth.
Chick puzzled over other strange names--H'Alara, Mal Somnal,
Bloudou San, and the like. Not one name or outline that he could
place!

How could he make his discovery fit with the words of Dr. Holcomb,
and with what philosophy he knew? Somehow there was too much life,
too much reality, to fit in with any spiritistic hypothesis. He
was surrounded by real matter, atomic, molecular, cellular. He was
certain that if he were put to it he could prove right here every
law from those put forth by Newton to the present.

It was still the material universe; that was certain. Therefor it
was equally certain that the doctor had made a most prodigious
discovery. But--what was it? What was the law that had fallen out
of the Blind Spot?

He gave it up, and stepped to one of the suite's numerous windows.
They were all provided with clear glass. Now was his opportunity
for an uninterrupted, leisurely survey of the world about him.

As before, he noted the maze of splendid, dazzling opalescence,
all the colours of the spectrum blending, weaving, vibrant, like a
vast plain of smooth, Gargantuan jewels. Then he made out
innumerable round domes, spread out in rows and in curves, without
seeming order or system; BUILDINGS, every roof a perfect gleaming
dome, its surface fairly alive with the reflected light of that
amazing sun. Of such was the landscape made.

As before, he could hear the incessant undertone of vague music,
of rhythmical, shimmering and whispering sound. And the whole air
was laden with the hint of sweet scents; tinged with the perfume
of attar and myrrh--of a most delicate ambrosia.

He opened the window.

For a moment he stood still, the air bathing his face, the unknown
fragrance filling his nostrils. The whole world seemed thrumming
with that hitherto faint quiver of sound. Now it was resonant and
strong, though still only an undertone. He looked below him; as he
did so, something dropped from the side of the window opening--a
long, delicate tendril, sinuous and alive. It touched his face,
and then--It drooped, drooped like a wounded thing. He reached out
his hand and plucked it, wondering. And he found, at its tip, a
floating crimson blossom as delicate as the frailest cobweb, so
inconceivably delicate that it wilted and crumbled at the
slightest touch.

Chick thrust his head out of the window. The whole building, from
ground to dome, was covered--waving, moving, tenuous, a maze of
colour--with orchids!

He had never dreamed of anything so beautiful, or so splendid.
Everywhere these orchids; to give them the name nearest to the
unknown one. As far as he could see, living beauty!

And then he noticed something stranger still.

From the petals and the foliage about him, little clouds of colour
wafted up, like mists of perfume, forever rising and
intermittently settling. It was mysteriously harmonious,
continuous--like life itself. Chick looked closer, and listened.
And then he knew.

These mists were clouds of tiny, multi-coloured insects.

He looked down farther, into the streets. They were teeming with
life, with motion. He was in a city whose size made it a true
metropolis. All the buildings were large, and, although of
unfamiliar architecture, undeniably of a refined, advanced art.
Without exception, their roofs were domed. Hence the effect of a
sea of bubbles.

Directly below, straight down from his window, was a very broad
street. From it at varying angles ran a number of intersecting
avenues. The height of his window was great--he looked very
closely, and made out two lines of colour lining and outlining the
street surrounding the apartments.

On the one side the line was blue, on the other crimson; they were
guards. And where the various avenues intersected cables must have
been stretched; for these streets were packed and jammed with a
surging multitude, which the guards seemed engaged in holding
back. As far up the avenues as Chick could see, the seething mass
of fellow creatures extended, a gently pulsing vari-coloured
potential commotion.

As he looked one of the packed streets broke into confusion. He
could see the guards wheeling and running into formation; from
behind, other platoons rushed up reinforcements. The great crowd
was rolling forward, breaking on the edge of the spear-armed
guards like the surf of a rolling sea.

Chick had a sudden thought. Were they not looking up at his
window? He could glimpse arms uplifted and hands pointed. Even the
guards, those held in reserve, looked up. Then--such was the
distance--the rumble of the mob reached his ears; at the same
time, spreading like a grass fire, the commotion broke out in
another street, to another and another, until the air was filled
with the new undertone of countless human tongues.

Chick was fascinated. The thing was over-strange. While he looked
and listened the whole scene turned to conflict; the voice of the
throng became ominous. The guards still held the cables, still
beat back the populace. Could they hold out, wondered Chick idly;
and what was it all about?

Something touched his shoulder. He wheeled. One of the tall, red-
uniformed guards was standing beside him. Watson instinctively
drew back, and as he did so the other stepped forward, touched the
snap, and closed the window.

"What's the idea? I was just getting interested!"

The soldier nodded pleasantly, respectfully--reverently.

"Orders from below, my lord. Were you to remain at that window it
would take all the guards in the Mahovisal to keep back the
Thomahlians."

"Why?" Chick was astonished.

"There are a million pilgrims in the city, my lord, who have
waited months for just one glimpse of you."

Watson considered. This was a new and a dazing aspect of the
affair. Evidently the expression on his face told the soldier that
some explanation would not be amiss.

"The pilgrims are almost innumerable, my lord. They are all of the
one great faith. They are, my lord, the true believers, the
believers in the Day."

The Day! Instantly Watson recalled Senestro's use of the
expression. He sensed a valuable clue. He caught and held the
soldier's eye.

"Tell me," commanded Chick. "What is this Day of which you speak!"




XXXVI

AN ALLY, AND SOLID GROUND


The soldier replied unhesitatingly: "It is the Day of Life, my
lord. Others call it the 'first of the Sixteen Days.' Still
others, simply the Day of the Prophet, or Jarados."

"When will it be?"

"Soon. It is but two days hence. And with the going down of the
sun on that day the Fulfilment is to begin, and the Life is to
come. Hence the crowd below, my lord; yet they are nothing
compared with the crowds that today are pressing their way from
all D'Hartia and Kospia towards the Mahovisal."

"All because of the Day?"

"And to see YOU, my lord."

"All believers in the Jarados?"

"All truly; but they do not all believe in your lordship. There
are many sects, including the Bars, that consider you an imposter;
but the rest--perhaps the most--believe you the Herald of the Day.
All want to see you, for whatever motive."

"These Bars; who are they?"

"The military priesthood, my lord. As priests they teach a literal
interpretation of the prophecy; as soldiers they maintain their
own aggrandisement. To be more specific, my lord, it is they who
accuse you of being one of the false ones."

"Why?"

"Because it is written in the prophecy, my lord, that we may
expect impostors, and that we are to slay them."

"Then this coming contest with the Senestro--" beginning to sense
the drift of things.

"Yes, my lord; it will be a physical contest, in which the best
man destroys the other!"

The guard was a tall, finely made and truly handsome chap of
perhaps thirty-five. Watson liked the clear blue of his eyes and
the openness of his manner. At the same time he felt that he was
being weighed and balanced.

"My lord is not afraid?"

"Not at all! I was just thinking--when does this kill take place?"

"Two days hence, my lord; on the first of the Sixteen Sacred
Days."

And thus Chick found a staunch friend. The soldier's name, he
learned, was "the Jan Lucar." He was supreme in command of the
royal guards; and Chick soon came to feel that the man would as
cheerfully lay down his life for him, Watson, as for the queen
herself. All told, Chick was able to store away in his memory a
few very important facts:

First, that the Aradna did not like the Senestro.

Second, that the Jan Lucar hated the great Bar because of the
prince's ambition to wed the queen and her cousin, the Nervina;
also because of his selfish, autocratic ways.

Next, that were the Nervina on hand she would thwart the Senestro;
for she was a very learned woman, as advanced as the Rhamda Avec
himself. But that she was a queen first and a scholar afterwards;
her motive in going through the Blind Spot was to take care of the
political welfare of her people, her purposes were as high as
Rhamda Avec's, but partook of statesmanship rather than
spirituality.

Finally, that the Rhamdas were perfectly willing for the coming
contest to take place, on the evening of the Day of the Prophet,
in the Temple of the Bell and Leaf.

"Jan Lucar," Watson felt prompted to say, "you need have no fear
as to the outcome of the ordeal, whatever it may be. With your
faith in me, I cannot fail. For the present, I need books, papers,
scientific data. Moreover, I want to see the outside of this
building."

The guardsman bowed. "The data is possible, my lord, but as to
leaving the building--I must consult the queen and the Rhamda Geos
first."

"But I said MUST" Watson dared to say. "I must go out into your
world, see your cities, your lands, rivers, mountains, before I do
aught else. I must be sure!"

The other bowed again. He was visibly impressed.

"What you ask, my lord, is full of danger. You must not be seen in
the streets--yet. Untold bloodshed would ensue inevitably. To half
the Thomahlians you are sacred, and to the other half an impostor.
I repeat, my lord, that I must see the Geos and the queen."

Another bow and the Jan disappeared, to return in a few moments
with the Geos.

"The Jan has told me, my lord, that you would go out."

"If possible. I want to see your world."

"I think it can be arranged. Is your lordship ready to go?"

"Presently." Watson laid a hand on the big globe he had already
puzzled over. "This represents the Thomahlia?"

"Yes, my lord."

"How long is your day, Geos?"

"Twenty-four hours,"

"I mean, how many revolutions in one circuit of the sun, in one
year-circle?"

As he uttered the question Chick held his breath. It had suddenly
struck him that he had touched an extremely definite point. The
answer might PLACE him!

"You mean, my lord, how long is a circle in term of days?"

"Yes!"

"Three hundred and sixty-five and a fraction, my lord."

Watson was dumbfounded. Could there be, in all the universe,
another world with precisely the same revolution period? But he
could not afford to show his concern. He said:

"Tell me, have you a moon?"

"Yes; it has a cycle of about twenty-eight days."

Watson drew a deep breath. Inconceivable though it appeared, he
was still on his own earth. For a moment he pondered, wondering if
he had been caught up in tangle of time-displacement. Could it be
that, instead of living in the present, he had somehow become
entangled in the past or in the future?

If so--and by now he was so accustomed to the unusual that he
considered this staggering possibility with equanimity--if the
time coefficient was at fault, then how to account for the picture
of the professor, in that leaf? Had they both been the victims of
a ghastly cosmic joke?

There was but one way to find out.

"Come! Lead the way, Geos; let us take a look at your world!"




XXXVII

LOOKING DOWN


Presently the three men were standing at the door of a vast room,
one entire side of which was wide open to the outer air. It was
filled by a number of queer, shining objects. At first glance
Chick took them to be immense beetles.

The Jan Lucar spoke to the Geos:

"We had best take the June Bug of the Rhamda Avec."

Watson thought it best to say nothing, show nothing. The Jan ran
up to one of the glistening affairs, and without the slightest
noise he spun it gracefully around, running it out into the centre
of the mosaic floor.

"I presume," apologised the Geos, "that you have much finer
aircraft in your world."

Aircraft! Watson was all eagerness. He saw that the June Bug was
about ten feet high, with a bunchy, buglike body. On closer
scrutiny he could make out the outlines of wings folded tight
against the sides. As for the material, it must have been metal,
to use a term which does not explain very much, after all. In
every respect the machine was a duplicate of some great insect,
except that instead of legs it had well-braced rollers.

"How does it operate?" Watson wanted to know. "That is, what power
do you use, and how do you apply it?"

The Jan Lucar threw back a plate. Watson looked inside, and saw a
mass of fine spider-web threads, softer than the tips of rabbit's
hair, all radiating from a central grey object about the size of a
pea. Chick reached out to touch this thing with his finger.

But the Geos, like a flash, caught him by the shoulder and pulled
him back.

"Pardon me, my lord!" he exclaimed. "But you must not touch it!
You--even you, would be annihilated!" Then to the Lucar: "Very
well."

Whereupon the other did something in front of the craft; touched a
lever, perhaps. Instantly the grey, spidery hairs turned to a dull
red.

"Now you may touch it," said the Geos.

But Chick's desire had vanished. Instead he ventured a question:

"All very interesting, but where is your machinery?"

The Rhamda was slightly amused. He smiled a little. "You must give
us a little credit, my lord. We must seem backward to you, but we
have passed beyond reliance upon simple machines. That little grey
pellet is, of course, our motive force; it is a highly refined
mineral, which we mine in vast quantity. It has been in use for
centuries. As for the hair-like web, that is our idea of a
transmission."

Watson hoped that he did not look as uncomprehending as he felt.
The other continued:

"In aerial locomotion we are content to imitate life as much as
possible. We long ago discarded engines and propellers, and
instead tried to duplicate the muscular and nervous systems of the
birds and insects. We fly exactly as they do; our motive force is
intrinsic. In some respects, we have improved upon life."

"But it is still only a machine, Geos."

"To be sure, my lord; only a machine. Anything without the life
principle must remain so."

The Jan Lucar pressed another catch, allowing another plate to
lower and thereby disclose a glazed door, which opened into a cosy
apartment fitted with wicker chairs, and large enough for four
persons. There was some sort of control gear, which the Jan Lucar
explained was not connected directly with the flying and steering
members, but indirectly through the membranes of the web-like
system. It was uncannily similar to the nervous connections of the
cerebellum with the various parts of the anatomy of an insect.

"Does it travel very fast?"

"We think so, my lord. This is the private machine of the Rhamda
Avec. It is rather small, but the swiftest machine in the
Thomahlia."

They entered the compartment, Watson took his seat beside the
Geos, while the soldier sat forward next to the control elements.
He laid his hands on certain levers; next instant, the machine was
gliding noiselessly over the mosaic, on to a short incline and
thence, with ever increasing speed, toward and through the open
side of the room.

The slides had all been thrown back; the compartment was enclosed
only in glass. Watson could get a clear view, and he was amazed at
the speed of the craft. Before he could think they were out in
mid-air and ascending skyward. Travelling on a steep slant, there
was no vibration, no mechanical noise; scarcely the suggestion of
movement, except for the muffled swish of the air.

Were it not for the receding city below him, Chick could have
imagined himself sitting in a house while a windstorm tore by. He
felt no change in temperature or any other ill effects; the cabin
was fully enclosed, and heated by some invisible means. In short,
ideal flight: for instance, the seats were swung on gimbals, so
that no matter at what angle the craft might fly, the passengers
would maintain level positions.

Below stretched the Mahovisal--a mighty city of domes and plazas,
and, widely scattered, a few minarets. At the southern end there
was a vast, square plaza, covering thousands of acres. Toward it,
on two sides, converged scores of streets; they stretched away
from it like the ribs of a giant fan. On the remaining two sides
there was a tremendously large building with a V-shaped front,
opening on the square. The play of opal light on its many-bubbled
roof resembled the glimmer from a vast pearl.

In the air above the city an uncountable number of very small
objects darted hither and thither like sparkling fireflies. It was
difficult to realise that they, too, were aircraft.

To the west lay an immense expanse of silver, melting smoothly
into the horizon. Watson took it to be the Thomahlian ocean. Then
he looked up at the sky directly above him, and breathed a quick
exclamation.

It was a single, small object, perfectly white, dropping out of
the amethyst. Tiny at first, amost instantly it assumed a
proportion nearly colossal--a great bird, white as the breast of
the snowdrift, swooping with the grace of the eagle and the speed
of the wind. It was so very large that it seemed, to Chick, that
if all the other birds he had ever known were gathered together
into one they would still be as the swallow. Down, down it came in
a tremendous spiral, until it gracefully alighted in a splash of
molten colour on the bosom of the silver sea. For a moment it was
lost in a shower of water jewels--and then lay still, a swan upon
the ocean.

"What is it, Geos?"

"The Kospian Limited, my lord. One of our great airships--a fast
one, we consider it."

"It must accommodate a good many people, Rhamda."

"About nine thousand."

"You say it comes from Kospia. How far away is that?"

"About six thousand miles. It is an eight-hour run, with one stop.
Just now the service is every fifteen minutes. They are coming, of
course, for the Day of the Prophet."

Watson continued to watch the great airship, noting the swarm of
smaller craft that came out from the Mahovisal to greet it, until
the Jan Lucar suddenly altered the course. They stopped climbing,
and struck out on a horizontal level. It left the Mahovisal behind
them, a shimmering spot of fire beside the gleaming sea. They were
travelling eastwards. The landscape below was level and unvaried,
of a greenish hue, and much like that of Chick's own earth in the
early spring-time--a vast expanse, level and sometimes dotted with
opalescent towns and cities. Ribbons of silver cut through the
plain at intervals, crookedly lazy and winding, indicating a
drainage from north to south or vice versa. Looking back to the
west, he could see the great, golden sun, poised as he had seen it
that morning, a huge amber plate on the rim of the world. It was
sunset.

Then Chick looked straight ahead. Far in the distance a great wall
loomed skyward to a terrific height. So vast was it and so remote,
at first it had escaped the eye altogether. An incredibly high
range of mountains, glowing with a faint rose blush under the
touch of the setting sun. Against the sky were many peaks, each of
them tipped with curious and sparkling diamond-like corruscations.
As Chick continued to gaze the rose began to purple.

The Jan Lucar put the craft to another upward climb. So high were
they now that the Thomahlia below was totally lost from view; it
was but a maze of lurking shadows. The sun was only a gash of
amber--it was twilight down on the ground. And Watson watched the
black line of the Thomahlian shadow climb the purple heights
before him until only the highest crests and the jewelled crags
flashed in the sun's last rays. Then, one by one, they flickered
out; and all was darkness.

Still they ascended. Watson became uneasy, sitting there in the
night.

"Where are we going?"

"To the Carbon Regions, my lord. It is one of the sights of the
Thomahlia."

"On top of those mountains?"

"Beyond, my lord."

Whereupon, to Chick's growing amazement, the Geos went on to state
that carbon of all sorts was extremely common throughout their
world. The same forces that had formed coal so generously upon the
earth had thrown up, almost as lavishly, huge quantities of pure
diamond. The material was of all colours, as diamonds run, and
considered of small value; for every day purposes they preferred
substances of more sombre hues. They used it, it seemed, to build
houses with.

"But how do they cut it?"

"Very easily. The material which drives this craft--Ilodium--will
cut it like butter."

Later, Watson understood. He watched as the craft continued to
climb; the Jan Lucar was steering without the aid of any outside
lights whatever, there being only a small light illuminating his
instruments. Chick presently turned his gaze outside again;
whereupon he got another jolt.

He saw a NEGATIVE sky!

At first he thought his eyes the victims of an illusion; then he
looked closer. And he saw that it was true; instead of the
familiar starry points of light against a velvet background, the
arrangement was just the reverse. Every constellation was in its
place, just as Chick remembered it from the earth; but instead of
stars there were jet-black spots upon a faint, grey background.

The whole sky was one huge Milky Way, except for the black spots.
And from it all there shone just about as much total light as from
the heavens he had known.

Of all he experienced, this was the most disturbing. It seemed
totally against all reason; for he knew the stars to be great
incandescent globes in space. How explain that they were here
represented in reverse, their brilliance scattered and diffused
over the surrounding sky, leaving points of blackness instead?
Afterward he learned that the peculiar chemical constituency of
the atmosphere was solely responsible for the inversion of the
usual order of things.

All of a sudden the Jan Lucar switched the craft to a level. He
held up one hand and pointed.

"Look, my lord, and the Rhamda! Look!"

Both men rose from their seats, the better to stare past the
soldier. Straight ahead, where had been one of the corruscating
peaks, a streak of blue fire shot skyward, a column of light miles
high, differing from the beams of a searchlight in that the rays
were WAVY, serpentine, instead of straight. It was weirdly
beautiful. Geos caught his breath; he leaned forward and touched
the Jan Lucar.

"Wait," he said in an awed tone. "Wait a moment. It has never come
before, but we can expect it now." And even as he spoke, something
wonderful happened.

From the base of the column two other streaks, one red and the
other bright green, cut out through the blackness on either side.
The three streams started from the same point; they made a sort of
trident, red, green, and blue--twisting, alive--strangely
impressive, suggestive of grandeur and omnipotence--holy.

Again the Rhamda spoke. "Wait!" said he. "Wait!"

They were barely moving now. Watson watched and wondered. The
three streams of light ran up and up, as though they would pierce
the heavens; the eye could not follow their ends. All in utter
silence, nothing but those beams of glorified light, their reality
a hint of power, of life and wisdom--of the certainty of things.
Plainly it had a tremendous significance in the minds of the Geos
and the Lucar.

Then came the climax. Slowly, but somehow inexorably, like the
laws of life itself, and somewhere at a prodigious height above
the earth, the three outer ends of the red and the green and the
blue spread out and flared back upon themselves and one another,
until their combined brilliance bridged a great rainbow across the
sky. Blending into all the colours of the prism, the bow became--
for a moment--pregnant with an overpowering beauty, symbolical,
portentous of something stupendous about to come out of the
unknown to the Thomahlians. And next--

The bow began to move, to swirl, and to change in shape and
colour. The three great rivers of light billowed and expanded and
rounded into a new form. Then they burst--into a vast, three-
leafed clover--blue and red and green!

And Watson caught the startled words of the Geos:

"The Sign of the Jarados!"




XXXVIII

THE VOICE FROM THE VOID


Even while that inexplicable heavenly pageant still burned against
the heavens, something else took place, a thing of much greater
importance to Chick. And, it happened right before his eyes.

In the front of the car was a dial, slightly raised above the
level of the various controlling instruments. And all of a sudden
this dial, a small affair about six inches across, broke into
light and life.

First, there was a white blaze that covered the whole disc; then
the whiteness abruptly gave way to a flood of colour, which
resolved itself into a perfect miniature of the tri-coloured
cloverleaf in the sky ahead. Chick saw, however that the positions
of the red and green were just the obverse of what glowed in the
distance; and then he heard the voice, strong and distinct,
speaking with a slight metallic twang as from a microphone hidden
in that little, blazing, coloured leaf:

"Listen, ye who have ears to listen!"

It was said in the Thomahlian tongue. The Geos breathed:

"The voice of the Prophet Jarados!"

But the next moment the unseen speaker began in another language--
clear, silver, musical--in English, and in a voice that Chick
recognised!

"Chick! You have done well, my boy. Your courage and your
intuition may lead us out. Follow the prophecy to the letter,
Chick; it MUST come to pass, exactly as it is written! Don't fail
to read it, there on the walls of the Temple of the Bell, when you
encounter the Bar Senestro on the Day of the Prophet!

"I have discovered many things, my boy, but I am not omnipotent.
Your coming has made possible my last hope that I may return to my
own kind, and take with me the secrets of life. You have done
right to trust your instinct; have no fear, yet remember that if
you--if we--make one false step we are lost.

"Finally, if you should succeed in your contest with the Senestro,
I shall send for you; but if you fail, I know how to die.

"Return at once to the Mahovisal. Don't cross into the Region of
Carbon. Take care how you go back; the Bars are waiting. But you
can put full confidence in the Rhamdas."

Then the speaker dropped the language of the earth and used the
Thomahlian tongue again: "It is I who speak--I, the Prophet; the
Prophet Jarados!"

All in the voice of Dr. Holcomb.

The blazing leaf faded into blackness, and the talking ceased.
Chick was glad of the darkness; the whole thing was like magic,
and too good to believe. The first actual words from the missing
professor! Each syllable was frozen into Watson's memory.

The Geos was clutching his arm.

"Did you understand, my lord? We heard the voice of the prophet!
What did he say?"

"Yes, I understand. He used his own language--my language. And he
said"--taking the reins firmly into his hands--"he said that we
must return to the Thomahlia. And we must beware of the Bars."

There was no thought of questioning him. Without waiting the Geos'
command, the Jan Lucar began putting the craft about. Watson
glanced at the sky; the great spectacle was gone; and he demanded
of the soldier:

"How can we get back? How do we find our way?"

For there was no visible light save the strange, fitful glow from
that uncanny sky to guide them; no lights from the inky carpet of
the Thomahlia, lights such as one would expect for the benefit of
fliers. But the soldier touched a button, and instantly another
and larger dial was illumined above the instruments.

It revealed a map or chart of a vast portion of the Thomahlia. On
the farther edge there appeared an area coloured to represent
water, and adjoining this area was a square spot labeled "The
Mahovisal." And about midway from this point to the near edge of
the dial a red dot hung, moving slowly over the chart.

"The red dot, my lord, indicates our position," explained the Jan.
"In that manner we know at all times where we are located, and
which way we are flying. We shall arrive in the Mahovisal
shortly."

As he spoke the craft was gaining speed, and soon was travelling
at an even greater rate than before. The red dot began to crawl at
an astonishing speed. Of course, they had the benefit of the pull
of gravity, now; apparently they would make the journey in a few
minutes. But incredible though the speed might be, there was
nothing but the red dot to show it.

The Geos felt like talking. "My lord, the sign is conclusive. It
is a marvel, such as only the prophet could possibly have
produced; with all our science we could not duplicate such
splendour. Only once before has the Thomahlia seen it."

Already they were near enough to the surface to make out the
clustered, blinking lights of the towns on the plain below. Ahead
of them queer streamers of pale rays thrust through the darkness.
Watson recognised them as the beams of the far-distant
searchlights; and then and there he gave thanks for one thing, at
least, in which the Thomahlians had seemingly progressed no
further than the people of the earth.

Coming a little nearer, Chick made out a number of bright,
glittering, insect-like objects, revealed by these searchlights.
The Jan Lucar said:

"The Bars, my lord. They are waiting; and they will head us off if
they can."

"The work of Senestro, I suppose. I thought he claimed to some
honour."

"It is not the prince's work, my lord," replied the soldier. "His
D'Hartian and Kospian followers, some of them, have no scruples as
to how they might slay the 'false one', as they think you."

"Suppose," hazarded Watson, "suppose I WERE the false one?"

Both the Geos and the Jan smiled. But the Rhamda's voice was very
sure as he replied:

"If you were false, my lord, I would slay you myself."

They were very near the Mahovisal now. Below was the unmistakable
opalescence, somehow produced by powerful illumination, as intense
as sunlight itself. The red dot was almost above the black square
on the lighted chart. And directly ahead, the air was becoming
alive with the beam-revealed aircraft. How could they get by in
safety?

But Chick did not know the Jan Lucar. The soldier said:

"My lord is not uneasy?"

"Of course not," with unconcern. "Why?"

"Because I propose something daring. I am free to admit, my lord,
that were the Geos and I alone, I should not attempt it. But not
even the Bars," with magnificent confidence, "can stand before us
now! We have had the proof of the Jarados, and we know that no
matter what the odds, he will carry us through."

"What are you going to do?"

"I propose to shoot it, my lord." And without explaining the Jan
asked the Geos: "Are you agreeable? The June Bug will hold; the
prophet will protect us."

"Surely," returned the Rhamda. "There is nothing to fear, now, for
those who are in the company of the chosen."

Watson wondering watched the Jan as he tilted the nose of the June
Bug and began to climb at an all but perpendicular angle straight
into the heavens. Mile after mile, in less than as many minutes,
they hurtled towards the zenith, so that the lights of the city
dimmed until only the searching shafts could be seen. Chick began
to guess what they were going to do; that the Jan Lucar was nearly
as reckless as he was handsome.

At last the soldier brought the craft to a level. They soared
along horizontally for a while; the Jan kept his eye fixed on the
red dot. And when it was directly above the black square he
stated:

"It is considered a perilous feat, my lord. We are going to drop.
If we make it from this height, not only will we break all
records, but will have proved the June Bug the superior in this
respect, as she is in speed. It is our only chance in any
circumstances, but with the Jarados at our side, we need not fear
that the craft will stand the strain. We shall go through them
like stone; before they know it we shall be in the drome--in less
than a minute."

"From this height?" Chick concealed a shudder behind a fair show
of scepticism. "A minute is not much time."

"Does my lord fear the drop?"

"Why should I? I have in mind the June Bug; she might be set afire
through friction, in dropping so quickly through the air." Watson
had a vivid picture of a blazing meteorite, containing the charred
bodies of three men, dropping out of--

"My lord need not be concerned with that," the Jan assured him.
"The shell of the car is provided with a number of tiny pores,
through which a heat-resisting fluid will be pumped during the
manoeuvre. The temperature may be raised a little, but no more.

"You see this plug," touching a hitherto unused knob among the
instruments. "By pulling that out, the mechanism of the craft is
automatically adjusted to care for every phase of the descent.
Nothing else remains to be done, after removing that plug, save to
watch the red dot and prepare to step out upon the floor of our
starting-place."

"Has the thing ever been done before?" Watson was sparring for
time while he gathered his nerve.

"I myself have seen it, my lord. The June Bug has been sent up
many times, weighted with ballast; the plug was abstracted by
clockwork; and in fifty-eight seconds she returned through the
open end of the drone, without a hitch. It was beautiful. I have
always envied her that plunge. And now I shall have the chance,
with the hand of the Jarados as my guide and protector!"

Chick had just time to reflect that, if by any chance he got
through with this, he ought to be able to pass any test
conceivable. He ought to be able to get away with anything. He
started to murmur a prayer; but before he could finish, the Jan
Lucar leaned over the dial-map for the last time, saw that the red
dot was now exactly central over the square that represented the
city, and unhesitatingly jerked out the plug.

Of what happened next Watson remembered but little. The bottom
seemed to have dropped out of the universe. He was conscious of a
crushing blur of immensity, of a silent thundering within him--
then mental chaos and a stunned oblivion.




XXXIX

WHO IS THE JARADOS?


It was all over. Chick opened his eyes to see the Jan throwing
open the plate on the side of the compartment. Neither the soldier
nor the Rhamda seemed to have noted Chick's daze. As for the Jan,
his blue eyes were dancing with dare-devilry.

"That's what I call living!" he grinned. "They can keep on looking
for the June Bug all night!"

Chick looked out. They were inside the great room from which they
had started; the trip was over; the plunge had been made in
safety. Chick took a long breath, and held out a hand.

"A man after my own heart, Jan Lucar. I foresee that we may have
great sport with the Senestro."

"Aye, my lord," cheerfully. "The presumptuous usurper! I only wish
I could kill him, instead of you."

"You are not the only one," commented the Rhamda. "Half of the
Rhamdas would cheerfully act as the chosen one's proxy."

And so ended the events of Chick Watson's first day beyond the
Blind Spot, his first day on the Thomahlia; that is, disregarding
the previous months of unconsciousness. He had good reason to pass
a sleepless night in legitimate worry for the outcome of it all;
but instead he slept the sound sleep of exhaustion, awakening the
next morning much refreshed.

He reminded himself, first of all, that today was the one
immediately preceding that of his test--the Day of the Prophet. He
had only a little more than twenty-four hours to prepare. What was
the best and wisest proceeding?

He called for the Geos. He told him what data he wanted. The
Rhamda said that he could find everything in a library in that
building, and inside a half-hour he returned with a pile of
manuscripts.

Left to himself, Chick found that he now had data relating to all
the sciences, to religion, to education and political history and
the law. The chronology of the Thomahlians, Chick found, dates
back no less than fifteen thousand years. An abiding civilisation
of that antiquity, it need not be said, presented somewhat
different aspects from what is known on the earth.

It seemed that the Jarados had come miraculously. That is, he had
come out of the unknown, through a channel which he himself later
termed the Spot of Life.

He had taught a religion of enlightenment, embracing intelligence,
love, virtue, and the higher ethics such as are inherent in all
great philosophies. But he did not call himself a religionist.
That was the queer point. He said that he had come to teach an
advanced philosophy of life; and he expressly stated that his
teachings were absolute only to a limited extent.

"Man must seek and find," was one of his epigrams; "and if he find
no more truths, then he will find lies." Which was merely a
negative way of saying that some of his philosophy was only
provisional.

But on some points he was adamant. He had arrived at a time when
the unthinking, self-glorifying Thomahlians had all but
exterminated the lower orders of creation. The Jarados sought to
remove the handicap which the people had set upon themselves, and
gave them, in the place of kindness which they had forgotten, how
to use, a burning desire for a positive knowledge, where before
had been only blind faith. Also, he taught good-fellowship, as a
means to this end. He taught beauty, love, and laughter, the three
great cleansers of humanity. And yet, through it all--

The Jarados was a mystic.

He studied life after a manner of his own. He was a stickler for
getting down to the very heart of things, for prodding around
among causes until he found the cause itself. And thus he learned
the secret of the occult.

For so he taught. And presently the Jarados was recognized as an
authority on what the Thomahlia called "the next world." Only he
showed that death, instead of being an ushering into a void, was
merely a translation onto another plane of life, a higher plane
and a more glorious one. In short, a thing to be desired and
attained, not to be avoided.

This put the Spot of Life on an entirely different basis. No
longer was it a fearsome thing. The Jarados elevated death to the
plane of motherhood--something to glory in. And Chick gathered
that his famous prophecy--which he had yet to read, where it hung
on the wall of the temple--gave every detail of the Jarados'
profound convictions and teachings regarding the mystery of the
next life.

And now comes a curious thing. As Chick read these details, he
became more and more conscious of--what shall it be called?--the
presence of someone or something beside him, above and all about
him, watching his every movement. He could not get away from the
feeling, although it was broad daylight, and he was seemingly
quite alone in the room. Chick was not frightened; but he could
have sworn that a very real personality was enveloping his own as
he read.

Every word, somehow, reminded him of the miraculous sequence of
facts as he knew them; the unerring accuracy with which he, quite
unthinkingly and almost without volition, had solved problem after
problem, although the chances were totally against him. He became
more and more convinced that he himself had practically no control
over his affairs; that he was in the hands of an irresistible
Fate; and that--he could not help it--his good angel was none
other than the prophet who, almost ninety centuries ago, had lived
and taught upon the Thomahlia, and in the end had returned to the
unknown.

But how could such a thing be? Watson did not even know where he
was! Small wonder that, again and again, he felt the need of
assurance. He asked for the Jan Lucar.

"In the first place," began Chick without preamble, "you accept
me, Jan Lucar; do you not?"

"Absolutely, my lord."

"You conceive me to be out of the spiritual world, and yet flesh
and blood like yourself?"

"Of course," with flat conviction.

That settled it. Watson decided to find out something he had not
had time to locate in the library.

"The Rhamda may have told you, Jan Lucar, that I am here to seek
the Jarados. Now, I suspect the Senestro. Can you imagine what he
has done to the prophet?"

"My lord," remonstrated the other, "daring as the Bar might be, he
could do nothing to the Jarados. He would not dare."

"Then he is afraid to run counter to the prophecy?"

"Yes, my lord; that is, its literal interpretation. He is opposed
only to the broader version as held by such liberals as the Rhamda
Avec. The Bars are always warning the people against the false
one."

"And the Senestro is at their head," mused Chick aloud. "This
brother of his who died--usually there are two such princes and
chiefs?"

"Yes, my lord."

"And the Senestro plans to marry both queens, according to the
custom!"

"My lord"--and the Jan suddenly snapped erect--"the Bar will do
exceedingly well if he succeeds in marrying one of them! Certainly
he shall never have the Aradna--not while I live and can fight!"

"Good! How about the Nervina?"

"He'll do well to find her first!"

"True enough. What would you say was his code of honour?"

"My lord, the Senestro actually has no code. He believes in
nothing. He is so constituted, mentally and morally, that he cares
for and trusts in none but himself. He is a sceptic pure and
simple; he cares nothing for the Jarados and his teachings. He is
an opportunist seeking for power, wicked, lustful, cruel--"

"But a good sportsman!"

"In what way, my lord?"

"Didn't he allow me the choice of combat?"

The Jan laughed, but his handsome face could not hide his
contempt.

"It is ever so with a champion, my lord. He has never been
defeated in a matter of physical prowess. It would be far more to
his glory to overcome you in combat of your own selection. It will
be spectacular--he knows the value of dramatic climax--and he
would kill you in a moment, before a million Thomahlians."

"It's a nice way to die," said Watson. "You must grant that much."

"I don't know of any nice way to die, my lord. But it is a good
way of living--to kill the Bar Senestro. I would that I could have
the honour."

"How does it come that the Rhamdas, superintellectual as they are,
can consent to such a contest? Is it not degrading, to their way
of thinking? It smacks of barbarism."

"They do not look upon it in that light, my lord. Our civilisation
has passed beyond snobbery. Of course there was a time, centuries
ago when we were taught that any physical contest was brutal. But
that was before we knew better."

"You don't believe it now?"

"By no means, my lord. The most wonderful physical thing in the
Thomahlia is the human body. We do not hide it. We admire beauty,
strength, prowess. The live body is above all art; it is the work
of God himself; art is but an imitation. And there is nothing so
splendid as a physical contest--the lightning correlation of mind
and body. It is a picture of life."

"Do the Rhamdas think this?"

"Most assuredly. A Rhamda is always first an athlete."

"Why?"

"Perfection, my lord. A perfect mind does not always dwell in a
perfect body, but they strive for it as much as possible. The
first test of a Rhamda is his body. After he passes that he must
take the mental test."

"Mental?"

"Moral first. The most rigid, perhaps of all; he must be a man
above suspicion. The honour of a Rhamda must never be questioned.
He must be upright and absolutely unselfish. He must be broad-
minded, human, lovable, and a leader of men. After that, my lord,
comes the intellectual test."

"He must be a learned man?"

"Not exactly, your lordship. There are many very learned men who
could not be Rhamdas; and there are many who have had no learning
at all who eventually were admitted. The qualifications are
intellectual, not educational; the mind is put to a rigid test. It
is examined for alertness, perception, memory, reason, emotion,
and control. There is no greater honour in all the Thomahlia."

"And they are all athletes?"

"Every one, my lord. In all the world there is no finer body of
men, I myself would hesitate before entering a match with even the
old Rhamda Geos."

"How about the Rhamda Avec?"

"Nor he, either; in the gymnasium he was always the superior, just
as he topped all others morally and mentally."

Did this explain the Avec's physical prowess, on the one hand, and
the fact that he would not stoop to take that ring by force, on
the other?

"Just one more thing, Jan Lucar. You have absolutely no fear that
I may fail tomorrow?"

"Not the slightest, my lord. You cannot fail!"

"Why not?"

"I have already said--because you are from the Jarados."

And Chick, facing the greatest experience of his life, submerged
in a sea wherein only a few islands of fact were visible, had to
be content with this: his only friends were those who were firmly
convinced of something which, he knew only too well, was a flat
fraud! All this backing was based upon a misled faith.

No, not quite. Was there not that strange feeling that the Jarados
himself was at his back? And had he not found that the prophet had
been real? Did he not feel, as positively as he felt anything,
that the Jarados was still a reality?

Chick went to bed that night with a light heart.




XL

THE TEMPLE OF THE BELL


It was hard for Chick to remember all the details of that great
day. Throughout all the morning and afternoon he remained in his
apartments. Breakfast over, the Rhamdas told him his part in
certain ceremonies, such as need not be detailed here. They were
very solicitous as to his food and comfort, and as to his feelings
and anticipations. His nonchalance pleased them greatly. Afterward
he had a bath and rub-down.

A combat to the death, was it to be? Suits me, thought Watson. He
was never in finer form.

The Jan Lucar was particularly interested. He pinched and stroked
Chick's muscles with the caressing pride of a connoisseur. Watson
stepped out of the fountain bath in all the vigour of health. He
playfully reached out for the Lucar and tripped him up. He sought
to learn just what the Thomahlians knew in the art of self-
defence.

The brief struggle that ensued taught him that he need expect no
easy conquest. The Jan was quick, active and the possessor of a
science peculiarly effective. The Thomahlians did not box in the
manner of the Anglo-Saxons; their mode was peculiar. Chick foresaw
that he would be compelled to combine the methods of three kinds
of combat: boxing, ju-jitsu, and the good old catch-as-catch-can
wrestling. If the Senestro were superior to the Jan, he would have
a time indeed. Though Watson conquered, he could not but concede
that the Jan was not only clever but scientific to an oily,
bewildering degree. The Lucar paused.

"Enough, my lord! You are a man indeed. Do not overdo; save
yourself for the Senestro."

Clothes were brought, and Chick taken back to his apartment. The
time passed with Rhamdas constantly at his side.

The Geos was not present, nor the little queen. Chick sought
permission to sit by the window--permission that was granted after
the guards had placed screens that would withhold any view from
outside, yet permit Chick to look out.

As far as he could see, the avenues were packed with people. Only,
this time the centres of the streets were clear; on the curbs he
could see the opposing lines of the blue and crimson, holding back
the waiting thousands. In the distance he could hear chimes, faint
but distinct, like silver bells tinkling over water.

At intervals rose strange choruses of weird, holy music. The full
sweep of the city's domes and minarets was spread out before him.
From eaves to basements the rolling luxuriance of orchidian
beauty; banners, music, parade; a day of pageant, pomp, and
fulfilment.

He could catch the excitement in the air, the strange, laden
undercurrent of spiritual salvation-something esoteric,
undefinable, the ecstasy of a million souls pulsing to the throb
of a supreme moment. He drew back, someone had touched him.

"What is it?"

It was one of the Rhamdas. He had in his hand a small metal
clover, of the design of the Jarados.

"What do I do?" asked Watson.

"This," said the Rhamda, "was sent to you by one of the Bars."

"By a Bar! What does it mean?"

The other shook his head. "It was sent to you by one who wished it
to be known by us that he is your friend, even though a Bar."

Just then Watson noted something sticking out of the edge of one
of the clover leaves. He pulled it out. It was a piece of paper.
On it were scrawled words IN ENGLISH.

The writing was pencil script, done in a poor hand and ill-spelled,
but still English. Chick read:

"Be of good cheer; there ain't a one in this world that can top a
lad from Frisco. And it's Pat MacPherson that says it. Yer the
finest laddie that ever got beyond the old Witch of Endor. You and
me, if we hold on, is just about goin' to play hell with the
haythen. Hold on and fight like the divil! Remember that Pat is
with ye!

"We're both spooks.

"PAT MACPHERSON"

Said Watson: "Who gave you this? Did you see the man?"

"It was sent up my lord. The man was a high Bar in the Senestro's
guard."

Watson could not understand this. Was it possible that there were
others in this mysterious region besides himself? At any rate, he
wasn't wholly alone. He felt that he could count upon the
Irishman--or was this fellow Scotch? Anyhow, such a man would find
the quick means of wit at a crucial moment.

Suddenly Watson noted a queer feeling of emptiness. He looked out
of the window. The music had ceased, and the incessant hum of the
throngs had deadened to silence. It was suspended, awesome,
threatening. At the same time, the Jan Lucar came to attention, at
the opposite door stood the Rhamda Geos, black clad, surrounded by
a group of his fellows.

"Come, my lord," he said.

The crimson guard fell in behind Watson, the black-gowned took
their places ahead, and the Jan Lucar and the Geos walked on
either side. They stepped out into the corridor. By the indicator
of a vertical clock, Chick noted that it was nine. He did not know
the day of the year other than from the Thomahlian calendar; but
he knew that it was close to sunset. He did not ask where they
were going; there was no need. The very solemnity of his
companions told him more than their answers would have. In a
moment they were in the streets.

Watson had thought that they would be taken by aircraft, or that
they would pass through the building. He did not know that it was
a concession to the Bar Senestro; that the Senestro was but
playing a bit of psychology that is often practised by lesser
champions. If Watson's nerve was not broken it was simply because
of the iron indifference of confident health. Chick had never been
defeated. He had no fear. He was far more curious as to the scenes
and events about him than he was of the outcome. He was hoping for
some incident that would link itself up into explanation.

At the door a curious car of graceful lines was waiting, an odd
affair that might be classed as a cross between a bird and a
gondola, streaming with colours and of magnificent workmanship and
design. On the deck of this the three men took their places; on
the one side the Rhamda Geos, tall, sombre, immaculate; on the
other, the magnificent Jan Lucar in the gorgeous crimson uniform,
gold-braided and studded with jewels; on his head he wore the
shako of purple down, and by his side a peculiar black weapon
which he wore much in the manner of a sword.

In the centre, Watson--bareheaded, his torso bare and his arms
naked. He had been given a pair of soft sandals, and a short suit,
whose one redeeming feature in his eyes was a pocket into which he
had thrust the automatic that he valued so much. It was more like
a picture of Rome than anything else. Whatever the civilisation of
the Thomahlians, their ritual in Watson's eyes smacked still of
barbarism.

But he was intensely interested in all about him. The avenues were
large. On either side the guards were drawn up eight deep, holding
back the multitude that pressed and jostled with the insistence of
curiosity. He looked into the myriad faces; about him, splendid
features, of intelligent man and women.

Not one face suggested the hideous; the women were especially
beautiful, and, from what he could see, finely formed and
graceful. Many of them smiled; he could hear the curious buzz of
conjecturing whispers. Some were indifferent, while others, from
the expression of their faces, were openly hostile.

Chick was in the middle of a procession, the Rhamdas marching
before and the crimson guard bringing up the rear. A special
guard: the inner one, Rhamdas, the outer one of crimson
surrounding them all.

The car started. There was no trace of friction; it was noiseless,
automatic. Chick could only conjecture as to its mechanism. The
black column of Rhamdas moved ahead rhythmically, with the swing
of solemn grandeur. For some minutes they marched through the
streets of the Mahovisal. There was no cheering; it was a holy,
awesome occasion. Chick could sense the undercurrent of the
staring thousands, the reverence and the piety. It was the Day of
the Prophet. They were staring at a miracle.

The column turned a corner. For the first time Watson was
staggered by sheer immensity; for the first time he felt what it
might be to see with the eyes of an insect. Had he been an ant
looking up at the columns of Karnak, he would still have been out
of proportion. It was immense, colossal, beyond man. It was of the
omnipotent--the pillared portal of the Temple of the Bell.

Such a building a genius might dream of, in a moment of
unhampered, inspired imagination. It was stupendous. The pillars
were hexagonal in shape, and in diameter each of about the size of
an ordinary house. Dropping from an immense height, it seemed as
if they had originally poured out in the form of molten metal from
immense bell-like flares that fell from the vaulted architrave.
Such was the design.

Chick got the impression that the top of the structure, somehow,
was not supported by the foundation, but rather the reverse--the
floor was suspended from the ceiling. It was the work of the
Titans--so high and stupendous that at the first instant Watson
felt numb with insignificance. What chance had he against men of
such colossal conception.

How large the building was he could not see. The Gargantuan facade
itself was enough to smother comprehension. It was laid out in the
form of a triangle, one end of which was open towards the city;
the two sections of the facade met under a huge, arched opening--
the door itself. Watson recognised the structure as the one he had
seen from the June Bug on the outskirts of the Mahovisal. The
enormous plaza was packed with people, leaving only a narrow lane
for the procession; and as far back as Chick could see crowds in
the streets converged towards this vast space. Their numbers were
incalculable.

The car stopped. The guards, both crimson and blue, formed a
twenty-fold cordon. Watson could feel the suspended breath of the
waiting multitude. The three men stepped out--the Geos first, then
the Jan Lucar, and Watson last. Chick caught the Lucar's eye; it
was confident; the man was springing with vigour, jovial in spite
of the moment.

They passed between two of the huge pillars, and under the giant
arch. For a few minutes they walked through what seemed, to Chick,
a perfect maze of those titanic columns. And every foot was marked
by the lines of crimson and blue, flanking either side.

An immense sea of people rose high into the forest of pillars as
far as his eye could reach. He had never been in such a concourse
of humanity.

They passed through an inner arch, a smaller and lower one, into
what Chick guessed was the temple proper. And if Chick had thought
the anteroom stupendous, he saw that a new word, one which went
beyond all previous experience, was needed to describe what he now
saw.

It was almost too immense to be grasped in its entirety. Gone was
the maze of columns; instead, far, far away to the right and to
the left, stood single rows of herculean pillars. There were but
seven on a side, separated by great distances; and between them
stretched a space so immense, so incredibly vast, that a small
city could have been housed within it. And over it all was not the
open sky, but a ceiling of such terrific grandeur that Chick
almost halted the procession while he gazed.

For that ceiling was the under side of a cloud, a grey-black,
forbidding thundercloud. And the fourteen pillars, seven on either
side, were prodigious waterspouts, monster spirals of the hue of
storm, with flaring sweeps at top and bottom that welded roof and
floor into one terrific whole. Sheer from side to side stretched
that portentous level cloud; it was a span of an epoch; and on
either side it was rooted in those awful columns, seemingly alive,
as though ready at any instant to suck up the earth into the
infinite.

By downright will-power Watson tore his attention away and
directed it upon the other features of that unprecedented
interior. It was lighted, apparently, by great windows behind the
fourteen pillars; windows too far to be distinguishable. And the
light revealed, directly ahead something that Chick at first
thought to be a cascade of black water. It leaped out of the rear
wall of the temple, and at its crest it was bordered with walls of
solid silver, cut across and designed with scrolls of gold and gem
work; walls that swooped down and ended with two huge green
columns at the base of that fantastic fall.

As they approached a swarm of tiny bronze objects, silver winged,
fluttered out through the temple--tiny birds, smaller than
swallows, beautiful and swift-winged, elusive. They were without
number; in a moment the air of the temple was alive with flitting,
darting spots of glinting colour.

Then Chick saw that there were two people sitting high on the
crest of that cascade. Wondering, Chick and the rest marched on
through the silent crowd; all standing with bared heads and bated
breaths. The worshipping Thomahlians filled every inch of that
enormous place. Only a narrow lane permitted the procession to
pass towards that puzzling, silent, black waterfall.

They were almost at its base when Chick saw the vanguard of the
Rhamdas unhesitatingly stride straight against the torrent, and
then mount upon it. Up they marched; and Chick knew that the black
water was black jade, and that the two people at its crest were
seated upon a landing at the top of the grandest stairway he had
ever seen.

Up went the Rhamdas deploying to right and left against the silver
walls. The crimson and blue uniformed guards remained behind,
lining the lane through the throng. At the foot of the steps Chick
stopped and looked around, and again he felt numb at the sheer
vastness of it all.

For he was looking back now at the portal through which the
procession had marched; a portal now closed; and above it,
covering a great expanse of that wall and extending up almost into
the brooding cloud above, was spread a mighty replica of the tri-
coloured Sign of the Jarados.

For the first time Chick felt the full significance of symbolism.
Whereas before it had been but an incident of adventure, now it
was the symbol of mystic revelation. It was not only the motif for
all other decoration upon the walls and minor elements of the
temple; it was the emblem of the trinity, deep, holy, significant
of the mystery of the universe and the hereafter. There was
something deeper than mere fatalism; behind all was the fact-
rooted faith of a civilisation.

But at that moment, as Chick paused with one foot on the bottom
step of the flight, something happened that sent quivers of joy
and confidence all through him. Someone was talking--talking in
English!

Chick looked. The speaker was a man in the blue garb of the
Senestro's guard. He was standing at the end of the line nearest
the stair, and slightly in front of his fellows. Like the rest, he
was holding his weapon, a black, needled-pointed sword, at the
salute. Chick gave him only a glance, then had the presence of
mind to look elsewhere as a man said, in a low, guarded voice:

"Y' air right, me lad; don't look at me. I know what ye're
thinkin'. But she ain't as bad as she looks! Keep yer heart clear;
never fear. You an' me can lick all Thomahlia! Go straight up them
stairs, an' stand that blackguard Senestro on his 'ead, just like
y'd do in Frisco!"

"Who are you?" asked Watson, intent upon the great three-leafed
clover. He used the same low, cautious tone the other had
employed. "Who are you, friend?"

"Pat MacPherson, of course," was the answer. "An' Oi've said a
plenty. Now, go aboot your business."

Watson did not quibble. There was no time to learn more. He did
not wish it to be noticed; yet he could not hide it from the Jan
Lucar and the Rhamda Geos, who were still at his side. They had
heard that tongue before. The looks they exchanged told, however,
that they were gratified rather than displeased by the
interruption. Certainly all feelings of depression left Chick, and
he ascended the stairs with a glad heart and a resilient stride
that could not but be noticed.

He was ready for the Senestro.




XLI

THE PROPHECY


Reaching the top of the jade steps, Chick found the landing to be
a great dais, nearly a hundred feet across. On the right and left
this dais was hedged in by the silver walls, on each of which was
hung a huge, golden scrollwork. These scrolls bore legends, which
for the moment Chick ignored. At the rear of the dais was a large
object like a bronze bell.

The floor was of the usual mosaic, except in the centre, where
there was a plain, circular design. Chick took careful note of
this, a circle about twenty feet across, as white and unbroken as
a bed of frozen snow. Whether it was stone or not he could not
determine. All around its edge was a gap that separated it from
the dais, a gap several inches across. Chick turned to Geos:

"The Spot of Life?"

"Even so. It is the strangest thing in all the Thomahlia, my lord.
Can you feel it?"

For Watson had reached out with his toe and touched the white
surface. He drew it back suddenly.

"It has a feeling," he replied, "that I cannot describe. It is
cold, and yet it is not. Perhaps it is my own magnetism."

"Ah! It is well, my lord!"

What the Rhamda meant by that Chick could not tell. He was
interested in the odd white substance. It was as smooth as glass,
although at intervals there were faint, almost imperceptible, dark
lines, like the finest scratches in old ivory. Yet the whiteness
was not dazzling. Again Watson touched it with his foot, and noted
the inexplicable feeling of exhilaration. In the moment of
absorption he quite forgot the concourse about him. He knew that
he was now standing on the crux of the Blind Spot.

But in a minute he turned. The dais was a sort of nave, with one
end open to the stairway. Seated on his left was the frail Aradna,
occupying a small throne-like chair of some translucent green
material. On the right sat the Bar Senestro, in a chair differing
only in that its colour was a bright blue. In the centre of the
dais stood a third chair--a crimson one--empty.

The Senestro stood up. He was royally clad, his breast gleaming
with jewels. He was certainly handsome; he had the carriage of
confident royalty. There was no fear in this man, no uncertainty,
no weakness. If confidence were a thing of strength, the Senestro
was already the victor. In his heart Chick secretly admired him.

But just then the Aradna stood up, She made an indication to
Watson. He stepped over to the queen. She sat down again.

"I want to give you my benediction, stranger lord. Are you sure of
yourself? Can you overcome the Senestro?"

"I am certain," spoke Watson. "It is for the queen, O Aradna. I
know nothing of the prophecy; but I will fight for you!"

She blushed and cast a furtive look in the direction of the
Senestro.

"It is well," she spoke. "The outcome will have a double
interpretation--the spiritual one of the prophecy, and the
earthly, material one that concerns myself. If you conquer, my
lord, I am freed. I would not marry the Senestro; I love him not.
I would abide by the prophet, and await the chosen." She
hesitated. "What do you know of the chosen, my lord?"

"Nothing, O Aradna."

"Has not the Rhamda Geos told you?"

"Partly, but not fully. There is something that he is
withholding."

"Very likely. And now--will you kneel, my lord?"

Watson knelt. The queen held out her hand. Behind him Chick could
hear a deep murmur from the assembled multitudes. Just what was
the significance of that sound he did not know; nor did he care.
It was enough for him that he was to fight for this delicately
beautiful maiden. He would let the prophecy take care of itself.

Besides these three on the dais there were only the Rhamda Geos
and the Jan Lucar. These two remained on the edge nearest the body
of the temple, the edge at the crest of the stair. The empty chair
remained so.

Suddenly Chick remembered the warning of Dr. Holcomb: "Read the
words of the Prophet." And he took advantage of the breathing-
spell to peruse the legends on the great golden scrolls:

THE PROPHECY OF THE JARADOS

Behold! When the day is at hand, prepare ye!

For, when that day cometh, ye shall have signs and portents from
the world beyond. Wisdom cometh out of life, and life walketh out
of wisdom. Yea, in the manner of life and of spirit ye shall have
them, and of substance even like unto you yourselves.

And it shall come to pass in the last days, that we shall be on
guard. By these signs ye shall know them; even by the truths I
have taught thee. The way of life is an open door; wisdom and
virtue are its keys. And when the intelligence shall be lifted to
the plane above--then shalt thou know!

Mark ye well the Spot of Life! He that openeth it is the precursor
of judgment. Mark him well!

And thus shall the last days come to pass. See that ye are worthy,
O wise ones! For behold in those last days there shall come among
ye--

The chosen of a line of kings. First there shall be one, and then
there shall be two; and the two shall stay but the one shall
return.

The false ones. Them ye shall slay!

The four footed: The call to humility, sacrifice and devotion,
whom ye shall hold in reverence even as you hold me, the Jarados.

And on the last day of all--I, the Jarados!

Beware ye of sacrilege! Lest I take from ye all that I have given
ye, and the day be postponed--beware ye of sacrilege!

And if the false ones cometh not, ye shall know that I have held
them. Know ye the day!

Sixteen days from the day of the prophet, shall come the day of
the judgment; and the way shall be opened, on the last day, the
sixteenth day of the Jarados.

Hearken to the words of the Jarados, the prophet and mouthpiece of
the infinite intelligence, ruler of justice, peace, and love! So
be it forever!

Chick read it a second time. Like all prophecies, it was somewhat
Delphic; but he could get the general drift. In that golden script
he was looking into the heart of all Thomahlia--into its
greatness, its culture, its civilisation itself. It was the soul
of the Blind Spot, the reason and the wherefore of all about him.

He heard someone step up behind him, and he turned. It was the
Senestro, going over the words of the prophecy.

"Can you read it, Sir Phantom?" asked the handsome Bar. His black
eyes were twinkling with delight. "Have you read it all?"

He put a hand on Chick's shoulder. It was a careless act, almost
friendly. Either he had the heart of a devil or the chivalry of a
paladin. He pointed to a line:

"'The false ones. Them ye shall slay.'"

"And if I were the false one, you would slay me?" asked Watson.

"Aye, truly!" answered the splendid prince. "You are well made and
good to look upon. I shall hold you in my arms; I shall hear your
bones crack; it shall be sweeter music than that of the temple
pheasants, who never sing but for the Jarados. I shall slay you
upon the Spot, Sir Phantom!"

Watson turned on his heel. The ethics of the Senestro were not of
his own code. He was not afraid; he stood beside the Jan Lucar and
gazed out into the body of the temple. As far as he could see,
under and past the fourteen great pillars and right up to the far
wall, the floor was a vast carpet of humanity.

It was become dark. Presently a new kind of light began to glow
far overhead, gradually increasing in strength until the whole
place was suffused with a sun-like illumination. The Rhamda Geos
began to speak.

"In the last day, in the Day of Life. We have the substance of
ourselves, and the words of the prophet. The Jarados has written
his prophecy in letters of gold, for all to see. 'The false ones.
Them ye shall slay.' It is the will of the Rhamdas that the great
Bar Senestro shall try the proof of the occult. On this, the first
of the Sixteen Days, the test shall be--on the Spot of Life!"

He turned away. The Bar Senestro stripped off his jewels, his
semi-armour, and stood clad in the manner of Watson. They advanced
and met in the centre of the dais, two athletes, lithe, strong,
handsome, their muscles aquiver with vitality and their skins
silken with health. Champions of two worlds, to wrestle for truth!

A low murmur arose, increasing until it filled the whole coliseum.
The silver-bronze pheasants flitted above the heads of all,
flashing like fragments of the spirit of light. And all of a
sudden--

One of them fluttered down and lit on Watson's shoulder.

The murmur of the throng dropped to a dead silence. Next moment a
stranger thing happened. The little creature broke forth in full-
throated song.

Watson instantly remembered the words of the Bar Senestro: "They
sing but for the Jarados." He quietly reached up and caught the
songster in his hand, and he held it up to the astonished crowd.
Still the song continued. Chick held him an instant longer, and
then gave him a toss high into the air. He shot across the temple,
a streak of melody, silver, dulcet, to the far corner of the giant
building.

But the thing did not jar the Senestro.

"Well done, Sir Phantom! Anyhow, 'tis your last play! I would not
have it otherwise. I hope you can die as prettily! Are you ready?"

"Ready? What for?" retorted Watson. "Why, should I trouble myself
with preparations?"

But the Rhamda Geos had now come to his side.

"Do your best, my lord. I regret only that it must be to the
death. It is the first death contest in the Thomahlia for a
thousand circles (years). But the Senestro has challenged the
prophecy. Prove that you are not a false one! My heart is with
you."

It was a good word at a needed moment. Watson stepped over onto
the circular Spot of Life.

They were both barefooted. Evidently the Thomahlians fought in the
old, classic manner. The stone under Watson's feet was cool and
invigorating. He could sense anew that quiver of magnetism and
strength. It sent a thrill through his whole body, like the subtle
quickening of life. He felt vital, joyous, confident.

The Senestro was smiling, his eyes flashing with anticipation. His
muscled body was a network of soft movement. His step was catlike.

"What will it be?" inquired Watson. "Name your choice of
destruction."

But the Bar shook his head.

"Not so, Sir Phantom. You shall choose the manner of your death,
not I. Particular I am not, nor selfish."

"Make it wrestling, then," in his most off-hand manner. He was a
good wrestler, and scientific.

"Good. Are you ready?"

"Quite."

"Very well, Sir Phantom. I shall walk to the edge of the Spot and
turn around. I would take no unfair advantage. Now!"

Chick turned at the same moment and strode to his edge. He turned,
and it happened; just what, Chick never knew. He remembered seeing
his opponent turn slowly about, and in the next split second he
was spinning in the clutch of a tiger. Even before they struck the
stone, Chick could feel the Senestro reaching for a death-hold.

And in that one second Watson knew that he was in the grip of his
master.

His mind functioned like lightning. His legs and arms flashed for
the counterhold that would save him. They struck the Spot and
rolled over and over. Chick caught his hold, but the Senestro
broke it almost instantly. Yet it had saved him; for a minute they
spun around like a pair of whirligigs. Watson kept on the
defensive. He had not the speed and skill of the other. It was no
mere test to touch his shoulders; it was a fight to the death; he
was at a disadvantage. He worked desperately.

When a man fights for his life he becomes superhuman. Watson was
put to something more than his skill; the sheer spirit of the Bar
broke hold after hold; he was like lightning, panther-like,
subtle, vicious. Time after time he spun Chick out of his defense
and bore him down into a hold of death. And each time Chick
somehow wriggled out, and saved himself by a new hold. The
struggle became a blur--muscle, legs, the lust for killing--and
hatred. Twice Watson essayed the offensive; first he got a hammer
lock, and then a half-Nelson. The Bar broke both holds
immediately.

Whatever Chick knew of wrestling, the Senestro knew just a bit
more. It was a whirling mass of legs and bodies in continuous
convulsion, silent except for the terrible panting of the men, and
the low, stifled exclamations of the onlookers.

And then--

Watson grew weak. He tried once more. They spun to their feet. But
before he could act the Senestro had caught him in the same flying
rush as in the beginning, and had whirled him off his feet. And
when he came down the Bar had an unbreakable hold.

Chick struggled in vain. The Bar tightened his grip. A spasm of
pain shot through Chick's torso; he could feel his bones giving
way. His strength was gone; he could see death. Another moment
would have been the end.

But something happened. The Senestro miraculously let go his hold.
Chick felt something soft brush against his cheek. He heard a
queer snapping, and shouts of wonder, and a dreadful choking sound
from the Bar. He raised dizzily on one arm. His eyes cleared a
bit.

The great Bar was on his back; and at his throat was a snarling
thing--the creature that Chick had seen in the clover leaf of the
Jarados.

It was a living dog.

PAT MACPHERSON'S STORY

To Watson it was all a blur. He was too weak and too broken to
remember distinctly. He was conscious only of an uproar, of a
torrent of multitudinous sound. And then--the deep, enveloping
tone of a bell.

Some time, somewhere, Chick had heard that bell before. In his
present condition his memory refused to serve him. He was covered
with blood; he tried to rise, to crawl to this snarling animal
that was throttling the Senestro. But something seemed to snap
within him, and all went black.

When he opened his eyes again all had changed. He was lying on a
couch with a number of people about. It was a minute before he
recognized the Jan Lucar, then the Geos, and lastly the nurse whom
he had first seen when he awoke in the Blind Spot. Evidently he
was in the hands of his friends, although there was a new one, a
red-headed man, clad in the blue uniform of a high Bar.

He sat up. The nurse held a goblet of the green liquid to his
lips. The Bar in blue turned.

"Aye," he said. "Give him some of the liquor; it will do him good.
It will put the old energy back in his bones."

The voice rang oddly familiar in Watson's ears. The words were
Thomahlian; not until Chick had drained his glass did he
comprehend their significance.

"Who are you?" he asked.

The Bar with the red hair grinned.

"Whist, me lad," using Chick's own tongue. "Get rid of these
Thomahlians. 'Tis a square game we're playin', but we're takin' no
chances. Get 'em out of the way so we kin talk."

Watson turned to the others. He made the request in his adopted
tongue. They bowed, reverently, and withdrew.

"Who are you?" Chick asked again.

"Oi'm Pat MacPherson."

"How did you get here?"

The other sat on the edge of the bed. "Faith, how kin Oi tell ye?
'Twas a drink, sor; a new kind av a high-ball, th' trickery av a
friend an' th' ould Witch av Endor put togither."

Obviously Watson did not understand. The stranger continued:
"Faith, sor, an' no more do Oi. There's no one as does, 'cept th'
ould doc hisself."

"The old doc! You mean Dr. Holcomb?"

Watson sat up in his bed. "Where is he?"

"In a safe place, me lad. Dinna fear for th' doctor. 'Twas him as
saved ye--him an' your humble sarvant, Pat MacPherson, bedad."

"He--and you--saved me?"

"Aye--there on th' Spot of Life. A bit of a thrick as th' ould doc
dug oot o' his wisdom. Sure, she dinna work jist loike he said it,
but 'twas a plenty t' oopset th' pretty Senestro!"

Watson asked, "What became of the Senestro?"

"Sure, they pulled him oot. Th' wee doggie jist aboot had him done
for. Bedad, she's a good pup!"

"What kind of a dog?"

"A foine wan, sor, wit a bit stub av a tail. An' she's that
intelligent, she kin jist about talk Frinch. Th' Thomahlians all
called her th' Four-footed, an' if they kape on, they'll jist
aboot make her th' Pope."

Watson was still thick headed. "I don't understand!"

"Nor I laddie. But th' ould doc does. He's got a foine head for
figgers; and' he's that scientific, he kin make iron oot o'
rainbows."

"Iron out of--what?"

"Rainbows, sor. Faith, 'tis meself thot's seen it. And he's been
watchin' over ye ever since ye came. 'Twas hisself, lad, that put
it into your head t' call him th' Jarados."

"You don't mean to say that the professor put those impulses into
my head!"

"Aye, laddie; you said it. He kin build up a man's thoughts just
like you or me kin pile oop lumber. 'Tis that deep he is wit' th'
calculations!"

Watson tried to think. There was just one superlative question
now. He put it.

"I dinna know if he's th' Jarados," was the reply. "But if so be
not, then he's his twin brother, sure enough."

"Is he a prisoner?"

"I wouldna say that, though there's them as think so. But if it be
anybody as is holdin' him, 'tis the Senestro an' his gang o'
guards."

Watson looked at the other's uniform, at the purple shako on his
head, the jewelled weapon at his side, and the Jaradic leaf on his
shoulder--insignia of a Bar of the highest rank.

"How does it come that you're a Bar, and a high one at that?"

The other grinned again. He took off his shako and ran his hand
through his mop of red hair.

"'Tis aither th' luck of th' Irish, me lad, or of th' Scotch. Oi
don't ken which--Oi'm haff each--but mostly 'tis th' virtoo av me
bonny red hair."

"Why?"

"Because, leastways, in th' Thomahlia, there's always a dhrop av
royalty in th' red-headed. Me bonnie top-knot has made me a
fortune. Ye see, 'tis th' mark av th' royal Bars themselves; no
ithers have it."

Watson said: "If you have come from Dr. Holcomb, then you must
have a message from him to me."

"Ye've said it; you an' me, an' a few Rhamdas, an' mebbe th' wee
queen is goin' t' take a flight in th' June Bug. We're goin'
afther th' ould doc; an' ye kin bet there'll be as pretty a scrap
as ever ye looked on. An' afther thot's all over, we're goin' t'
take anither kind of a flight--into good old Frisco."

Chick instantly asked Pat if he knew where San Francisco might be.

"Faith, 'tis only th' ould doc knows, laddie. But when we git
there, 'tis Pat MacPherson that's a goin' for Toddy Maloney."

"I don't know that name."

"Bedad, I do. Him it was thot give me th' dhrink."

"What drink?"

Th' dhrink thot done it. Twas a new kind av cocktail. Ye see, I'd
jist got back from Melbourne, an' I was takin' in th' lights that
noight, aisy like, whin I come t' Toddy's place. I orders a dhrink
av whuskey.

"'Whist, Pat,' says he, 'ye don't want whuskey; 'twill make ye
dhrunk. Why don't ye take somethin' green, like th' Irish?'

"'Green," says I. ''Tis a foine colour. I dinna fear anything thot
comes fra' a bottle. Pass'er oot!'

"An' thot he did. 'Twas 'creme de menthay' on th' bottle. 'An','
says he, ''Twon't make ye dhrunk.' But he was a liar, beggin' yer
pardin.

"For by an' by Oi see his head a growin' larger an' larger, until
Oi couldn't see annything but a few loights on th' cailing, an' a
few people on th' edges, loike. An' afther thot Oi wint oot, an'
walked till Oi come to a hill. An' there was a moon, an' a ould
hoose standin' still, which th' moon was not. So Oi stood still to
watch it, but bein' tired an' weary an' not havin' got rid o' me
sea-legs, Oi sat me doon on th' steps av th' hoose for a bit av a
rest, an' t' watch th' moon, thinkin' mebbe she'd stand still by
an' by.

"Well, sor, Oi hadn't been there more'n three 'r four minits, whin
th' door opened, an' oot steps a little ould lady, aboot th'
littlest an' ouldest Oi iver see in 'Frisco.

"'Good avenin', Mother Machree,' says Oi, touchin' me hat.

"'Mother Machree!' says she, an' gives me a sharp look. Also she
sniffs. 'Ye poor man,' says she. 'Ye'll catch yer death o' cold,
out here. Ye better coom in an' lie on me sofy.'

"Now, sor, how was Oi to ken, bein' a sailor an' ingorant? She was
only a ould lady, an' withered. How was Oi to ken thot she was th'
ould Witch o' Endor?"

Watson's memory was at work on what he knew of the house at
Chatterton Place, especially regarding its occupants at the
beginning of the Blind Spot mystery. The Bar's old remark caught
his attention.

"The Witch of Endor?"

"Aye; thot she were. Whin Oi woke up, there was nary a hoose at
all, nor th' ould lady, nor Toddy Maloney's, nor 'Frisco. 'Twas a
strange place I was, sor; a church loike St. Peter's, only bigger,
th' same bein' harrd to belaive. An' th' columns looked loike
waterspoots, an' th' sky above was full av clouds, the same bein'
jest aboot ready to break into hell an' tempest. But ye've been
there yerself, sor.

"Well, here was a man beside me, dressed in a kilt. An' he spakes
a strange language, although Oi could undershtand; and' he says,
says he:

"'My lord,' was what he says.

"'My lord!' says Oi. 'Oi dinna ken what ye mane at all, at all.'

"'Are ye not a Bar?' says he.

"'Thot Oi am not!' says Oi, spakin' good English, so's to be sure
he'd understand. 'Oi'm Pat MacPherson.'

"But he couldn' ken. Thin we left th' temple an' wint out into the
street. An' a great crowd of people came aroun' an' began
shoutin'. By an' by we wint into anither buildin'.

"'For why sh'd iverybody look at me whin we crossed th' street
jest noo?' I asked.

"'Tis y'r clothes,' says he.

"Now, Oi don't enjoy pooblicity, sor; wherefore th' wily Scotch in
me told me what to do, an' th' Irish part of me did it. I stood
him on his head, an' took his clothes off an' put them on meself.
An' then no one noticed me. Thot is, until Oi took me hat off."

"You mean, that shako?"

"Yis; th' blaemd heavy thing--'tis made o' blue feathers. Well,
whin it got so hot it made me scalp sweat, Oi took it off; an'
then they called me--'My lord' an' 'your worship,' jest loike Oi
were a king.

"'Pray God,' says Oi, 'that me head dinna get bald.'

"Well, sor, Oi had a toime that was fit for th' Irish. Oi did
iverything 'cept git drunk; there was nothin' to git drunk with.
But afther a while I ran across anither, wit' jest as red hair as
I had. He was a foine man, av coorse, an' all surrounded by blue
guards. He took me into a room himself an' begin askin' questions.

"An' I lied, sor. Av coorse, 'twas lucky thot Oi had me Scotch
larnin' an' caution to guide me; but whin Oi spoke, Oi wisely let
th' Irishman do all th' talkin'. An' th' great Bar liked me.

"'Verily,' says he, most solemnly, 'thou art of th' royal Bars!'
An' he made me a high officer, he did."

"Was he the Bar Senestro?" asked Watson.

"Nay; 'twas a far better man--Senestro's brother, that died not
long after. When Oi saw th' Senestro, Oi had sinse enough to kape
me mouth shut. An' now Oi'm a high Bar--next to th' Senestro
hisself! What's more, sor, there's no one alive kens th' truth but
yerself an' th' ould doctor."

It was a queer story, but in the light of all that had gone
before, wonderfully convincing. Watson began to see light breaking
through the darkness. "Now there are two," the old lady at 288
Chatterton Place had said to Jerome, when the detective came
looking for the vanished professor. Had she referred to Holcomb
and MacPherson? Two had gone through the Blind Spot, and two had
come out--the Rhamda Avec and the Nervina. "Now there are two,"
she had said.

"Tell me a little more about Holcomb, Pat!"

"'Tis a short story. Oi can't tell ye much, owin' to orders from
the old gent hisself. He came shortly after th' death of the first
Bar, Senestro's brother. Seems there was some rumpus aboot th' old
Rhamda Avec, which same Oi always kept away from--him as was goin'
to prove th' spirits! Annyhow, we was guardin' th' temple awaitin'
th' spook as was promised. An' thot's how we got th' ould doc.

"But th' Rhamdas niver saw him. Th' Senestro double-crossed 'em,
an' slipped th' doctor oop to th' Palace av Light."

"The Palace of--what?"

"The Palace av light, sor. Tis th' home av th' Jarados. 'twas held
always holy by th' Thomahlians; no man dared go within miles av
it; since the Jarados was here, t'ousands of years ago, no one at
all has been inside av it.

"But the Senestro knew that th' doctor was th' real Jarados, at
least he t'ought so; an' he wasna afraid o' him. He's na coward,
th' Senestro. He put th' doctor in th' Jarados' home! Only th'
Prophecy worries him at all."

At last Watson was touching firm ground. Things were beginning to
link up--the Senestro, the professor, the Prophecy of the Jarados.

"Well, sor, we Bars have kept th' ould doctor prisoner there iver
since he come, wit' none save me to give him a wee bit word av
comfort. But it dinna hurt th' old gent. Whin he finds all them
balls an' rainbows an' eddicated secrets, he forgets iverything
else; he's contint wit 'his discovery. 'Tis th' wise head th'
doctor has; an' Oi make no doobt he's th' real Jarados."

The red-haired man went on to say that the professor knew of
Chick's coming from the beginning. He immediately called in
MacPherson and gave him some orders, or rather directions, which
the Irishman could not understand. He knew only that he was to go
to the Temple of the Leaf and there touch certain objects in a
certain way; also, he was to arrange to get near Chick, and give
him a word of cheer.

"But it dinna work as he said it, sor; he had expected to catch
th' Senestro. Instead, 'twas th' dog got th' Bar. A foine pup,
sor; she saved yer loife."

"Where's the dog now?"

"She's on th' Spot av Life, sor. She willna leave it. Tis a
strange thing to see how she clings to it. Th' Rhamdas only come
near enough to feed her."

Thus Chick learned that, as soon as he got well, he and MacPherson
were to seek the doctor, and help him to get away with the secrets
he had found, the truths behind the mystery of the Spot.

"An' 'tis a glorious fight there'll be, lad. Th' Senestro's a game
wan; he'll not give up, an' he'll not let go th' doctor till he
has to."

This was not unwelcome news to Chick. A battle was to his liking.
It reminded him of the automatic pistol which he still had in his
pocket--the gun he had not thought to use in his desperate
struggle with the Bar Senestro.

"Pat," said he, with a sudden inspriation, "when you came through,
did you have a firearm?"

MacPherson reached into his pocket and silently produced a thirty-
two calibre pistol, of another make than Chick's but using the
same ammunition. From another pocket he drew out a package
carefully bound with thread. He unrolled the contents. It was an
old clay pipe!

"Oi came through," he stated plaintively, "wit' two guns; an' nary
a bit av powder for ayther!"

Chick smiled. He searched his own pockets. First he handed over
his extra magazine full of cartridges, and then a full package of
smoking tobacco.

"Wirra, wirra!" shouted MacPherson. "Faith, an' there's powder for
both!" His hands shook as he hurried to cram the old pipe full of
tobacco. The cartridges could wait. He struck a light and gave a
deep sigh of content as he began to puff.




XLIII

THE HOME OF THE JARADOS


Chick had been grievously hurt in the contest with the Senestro,
but thanks to the Rhamdas he came round rapidly. It was a matter
of less than a week.

Things were coming to a climax; Chick needed no lynx's eye to see
that the die had been cast between the Bars and the Rhamdas. Soon
the Senestro must make a bold move, or else release the professor.

Chick had not long to wait. It came one evening. Once again he
found himself in the June Bug, accompanied by the Geos, the Jan
Lucar, and--the little Aradna herself. Their departure was swift
and secret.

This time Watson was not worried over height, or any other
sensation of flight. The doctor's safety alone was of moment. He
said to the Rhamda:

"Are we alone? Where is the Bar MacPherson?"

"He is somewhere near; we are not alone, my lord. Several other
machines are flying nearby also; they carry many of the Rhamdas
and the crimson guard of the queen. The MacPherson will arrive
first. We are going straight to the Palace of Light, my lord."

"Are we to storm the place?" thinking of the fight MacPherson had
predicted.

"Yes, my lord. Many shall die; but it cannot be helped. We must
free the Jarados, although we commit sacrilege."

"But--the Senestro?"

"That depends, my lord. We know not just what may be done." He
gave no explanation.

They had climbed to a tremendous height. The indicator showed that
they were bearing east. The darkness was modified only by the
faint glow from that star-dusted sky. Looking down, Chick could
see nothing whatever. His companions kept silence; only the
Aradna, sitting forward by the side of Jan Lucar showed any
perturbation. They climbed higher and higher still, until it
seemed that they must leave the Thomahlia altogether. Always the
course was eastward. At last the Jan said to the Geos:

"We are now over the Region of Carbon, sir. Shall I risk the
light? His lordship might like to see."

"Follow your own judgment."

"Oh," exclaimed the Aradna; "do it by all means! There is nothing
so wonderful as that!"

The Jan touched a small lever. Instantly a shaft of light cut down
through the blackness. Far, far below it ended in a patch on the
ground. Watson eagerly followed its movements as it searched from
side to side, seeking he knew not what. And then--

There was a flash of inverted lightning, a flame of white fire, a
blinding, stabbing scintillation of a million coruscations. Watson
clapped a hand to his eyes, to cut off the sight. It was stunning.

"What is it?" he cried.

"Carbon," answered the Geos, calmly.

"Carbon! You mean--diamond?"

"Yes, my lord. So it interests you? I did not know. Later you
shall see it under more favourable conditions." Then, to the Jan:
"Enough."

Once again they were in darkness. For some minutes silence was
again the rule. Watson watched the red dot moving across the
indicator, noting its approach to a three cornered figure on one
edge. Suddenly there appeared another dot; then another, and
another. Some came from below, others from above; presently there
were a score moving in close formation.

"They are all here," said the Jan to the Geos.

The other nodded, and explained to Chick: "It's the Rhamdas and
the Crimson guards. The MacPherson is just ahead. We shall arrive
in three minutes."

And after a pause he stated that the ensuing combat would mark the
first spilling of blood between the Bars and the Rhamdas. At a
pinch the Senestro might even kill the Jarados, to gain his ends.
"His wish is his only law, my lord."

The red dots began to descend toward the three-cornered figure.
One minute passed, and another; then one more, and the June Bug
landed.

With scarcely a sound the Lucar brought the craft to a full stop.
In a moment he was assisting the Aradna to alight. As for the
Geos, he took from the machine two objects, which he held out to
the Aradna and to Chick.

"Put these on. The rest of us fight as we are."

They were cloaks, made of a soft, light, malleable glass, or
something like it. Watson asked what they were for.

"For a purpose known only to the Jarados, my lord. There are only
two of these robes. With them he left directions which indicated
plainly they are for your lordship and the Aradna."

Wondering, Chick helped the Aradna don her garment and then
slipped into his own. Nevertheless, he pinned more faith in the
automatic in his pocket. He did not make use of the hood which was
intended to cover his head.

"Pardon me," spoke the queen. She reached over and extended the
hood till it protected his skull. "Please wear it that way, for my
sake. Nothing must happen to you now!"

Chick obeyed with only an inward demur. What puzzled him most was
the isolation. Seemingly they were quite alone; there was nothing,
no one, to oppose them.

But he had merely taken something for granted. He, being from the
earth, had assumed that strife meant noise. It was only when the
Aradna caught him by the arm, and whispered for him to listen,
that he understood.

It was like a breeze, that sound. To be more precise, it was like
the heavy passage of breath, almost uninterrupted, coming from all
about them. And presently Chick caught a queer odour.

"What is it?" he breathed in the Aradna's ear.

"It is death," she answered. "Cannot you hear them--the deherers?"

She did not explain; but Watson knew that he was in the midst of a
battle which was fought with noiseless and terribly efficient
weapons--so efficient that there were no wounded to give voice to
pain. Before he could ask a question a familiar voice sounded out
of the darkness at his side.

"Where is the Geos?"

"Here, Bar MacPherson," answered the Rhamda.

"Good! It is well you came, sir. We were discovered a few minutes
ago; already we have lost many men. Just give us the lights, so
that we can get at them! It is a waste of men, with the advantage
all on their side."

Then, lapsing into English for Chick's benefit: "'Tis welcome ye
are! Ivery mon helps, how."

"What are these sounds? You say they are fighting?"

"'Tis the deherers ye hear, lad. They fight with silent guns.
Don't let 'em hit ye, or ye'll be a pink pool in the twinklin' of
yer eyelid. 'Tis no joke.

"Are they more powerful than firearms?"

"I dinna say, lad. But they're th' devil's own weapon for
fightin'."

Chick did not answer--he had heard a low command from the Geos.
Next instant the space before them was illuminated by clear white
light, in the form of a circle--bright as day. In the centre
shimmered an object like a mist of blue flame, a nimbus of
dazzling, actinic lightning. There was no sign of man or life, no
suggestion of sound--nothing but the nimbus, and the brilliant
space about it. The whole phenomenon measured perhaps three
hundred feet across.

They were in darkness. Chick took a step forward, but he was held
back by MacPherson.

"Nay, lad; would ye be dyin' so soon? 'Tis fearful quick. See--"

He did not finish. A red line of soldiers had rushed straight out
of the blackness into the circle of light. It seemed that they
were charging the nimbus. They were stooping now, discharging
their queer weapons; about three hundred of them--an inspiring
sight. They charged in determined silence.

Then--Watson blinked. The line disappeared; the thing was like a
miracle. It took time for Chick to realise that he was looking
upon the "pink death" MacPherson had warned him against--the work
of the deherers, whatever the word meant. For where had been a
column of gallant guards there was now only a broad stream of pink
liquid trickling over the ground. It was annihilation itself--too
quick to be horrible--inexorable and instantaneous. Chick
involuntarily placed himself in front of the Aradna.

"The blue thing in the middle," observed the Irishman, coolly, "is
th' Palace av Light; 'tis held by th' Senestro jest now. An' all
we got to do is get th' ould doc out." "But I see no building!"

"'Tis there jest the same. Ye'll see it whin th' doctor gits time
off his rainbows. 'Tis absent-minded he gets when he's on a
problem, which same is mostly always, sor. We stay roight here
till he gets ready to drop on th' Senestro."

Watson waited. He knew enough now to cling to the shadow, there
with MacPherson, the Geos, and the Aradna. In the centre of the
great light-circle the nimbus of blue stood out like a vibrating
haze, while all about, in the darkness, could be heard the weird
sound made by the passage of life.

"When will the Jarados act?" inquired the Geos of the Irishman.
But he got no reply. MacPherson spoke to Watson: "Get yer gun
ready, lad; get yer gun ready! Look--'tis th' ould boy himself,
now! I wonder what the Senestro thinks of that?"

For the nimbus had suddenly dissolved, and in its place there
appeared one of the quaintest, yet most beautiful buildings that
Watson had ever seen. It was a three-cornered structure, low-set,
and of unspeakably dazzling magnificence; a building carved and
chiselled from solid carbon. Chick momentarily forgot the doctor.

In front of it stood a line of Blue Guards, headed by the
Senestro. Their confusion showed that something altogether
unexpected had happened. They were ducking here and there,
seemingly bewildered by the sudden vanishing of that protecting
blue dazzle. The Senestro was trying to restore order; and in a
moment he succeeded. He led the way toward a low, triangular
platform, at the entrance--a single white door--to the palace.

Pat MacPherson's automatic flashed and barked. Next instant Watson
was in action. The Bar next to the Senestro staggered, then
collapsed against his chieftain. Another rolled against his feet,
causing him to stumble; an act that probably saved his life, for
the platform in a second was covered with writhing, bleeding,
dying Bars.

The Senestro managed to reach the doorway. MacPherson cursed.

"Come on!" he yelled to Watson. "Well git him alive!" Watson
remembered little of that rush. There stood the great Bar at the
doorway, surrounded by his dying and panic-stricken men. The cloak
given Chick by the Geos impeded his progress; with a quick
movement he threw it off and ran unprotected alongside the
Irishman. The Blue guards saw them coming; they levelled their
weapons. But before they could discharge them they met the same
fate as had the Reds. A tremor in the air, and they were gone,
leaving only a pink pool on the ground.

Senestro alone remained untouched. He was about to open the white
door; for a second he posed, defiant and handsome. Then the great
Bar ducked swiftly and almost with the same motion dodged into the
building. Chick and Pat were right after him.

Inside was darkness. Chick ran head on against the side wall;
turning, he bumped into another. The sudden transition from
brilliance to blackness was overwhelming. He stopped and felt
about carefully--momentarily blind. What if the Senestro found him
now?

He called MacPherson's name. There was no reply. He tried to feel
his way along, finding the wall irregular, jagged, sharp cornered.
But the way must lead somewhere. He reached a turn in the passage;
it was still too dark for him to see anything. He proceeded more
cautiously, wondering at those craggy walls. And then--

Chick slapped his hands to his eyes. It was as if he had been shot
into the core of the sun--the obsidian darkness flashed into
light--a light beyond all enduring. Chick staggered, and cried in
pain. And yet, reason told him just what it was, just what had
happened. It was the carbon; he was in the heart of the diamond;
the Senestro had led him on and on, and then--had flashed some
intense light upon the vast jewel. Watson knew the terrible
helplessness of the blind. His end had come!

And so it seemed. Next instant someone came up to him--someone he
could hear if he could not see. It was the Senestro.

"Hail, Sir Phantom! Pardon my abrupt manner of welcome. I suppose
you have come for the Jarados?" And he laughed, a laugh full of
mockery and triumph. "Perhaps you think I intend to kill you?"

Watson said no word. He had been outwitted. He awaited the end.
But the Senestro saw fit to say, with an irony that told how sure
he was:

"However, I am opposed to killing in cold blood. Open your eyes,
Sir Phantom! I will give you time--a fair chance. What do you 
say--shall we match weapon against weapon?"

Watson slowly opened his eyes. The blinding light had dimmed to a
soft glow. They were in a sort of gallery whose length was
uncertain; between him and the outlet, about ten feet away, stood
the confident, ever-smiling Bar.

"You or I," said he, jauntily. "Are you ready to try it? I have
given you a fair chance!"

He raised his dagger-like weapon, as though aiming it. At the same
instant Chick pulled the trigger from the hip, snap aim.

The gun was empty.

Another second, and Watson would have been like those spots of
colour on the ground outside. He breathed a prayer to his Maker.
The Senestro's weapon was in line with his throat.

But it was not to be. There came a flash and a stunning report;
the deherer clattered against the wall, and the Senestro clutched
a stinging hand. He was staring in surprise at something behind
Chick--something that made him turn and dart out of sight.

Chick wheeled.

Right behind him stood the familiar form of the Jan Lucar; and a
few feet beyond, a figure from which came a clear, cool,
nonchalant voice;

"I would have killed that fellow, Chick, but he's too damned
handsome. I'm going to save him for a specimen."

Watson peered closer. He gave a gasp, half of amazement, half of
delight. For the words were in English, and the voice--

It was Harry Wendel.




XLIV

DR. HOLCOMB'S STORY


If there was the least doubt in Chick's mind that this was really
Harry, it was dispelled by the sight of the person who the next
moment stepped up to his side. It was none other than the Nervina.

"Harry Wendel!" gasped Watson. It was too good to be true!

"Surest thing you know, Chick. It's me, alive and kicking!" as
they grabbed one another.

"How did you get here?"

"Search me! Ask the lady; I'm just a creature of circumstance. I
merely act; she does all the thinking."

The Nervina smiled and nodded. Her eyes were just as wonderful as
Chick remembered them, full of elusiveness, of the moonbeam's
light, of witchery past understanding.

"Yes," she affirmed. "You see, Mr. Watson, it is the will of the
Prophet. Harry is of the Chosen. We have come for the great Dr.
Holcomb--for the Jarados!"

And she led the way. Watson followed in silent wonder; behind him
came the Geos and the rest, quiet and reverent. The soft glow
still held, so that they seemed to be walking through the walls of
cold fire. At the end of the passage they came to a door.

The Nervina touched three unmarked spots on the walls. The door
opened. The queen stood aside, and motioned for Chick and Harry to
enter.

It was a long room, pear-shaped, and fitted up like the most
elaborate sort of laboratory. And at the far end, seated in the
midst of a strange array of crystals, retorts and unfamiliar
apparatus, was a man whom the two instantly recognised.

It was the missing professor, looking just as they remembered him
from the days when they sat in his class in Berkeley. There was
the same trim figure, the same healthy cheeks, pleasant eyes and
close-cropped white beard. Always there had been something
imperturbable about the doctor--he had that poise and equanimity
which is ever the balance of sound judgment. Neither Chick nor
Harry expected any rush of emotion, and they were not
disappointed.

Holcomb rose to his feet, revealing on the table before him a
queer, dancing light which he had been studying. He touched
something; the light vanished, and simultaneously there came an
unnameable change in the appearance of certain of those puzzling
crystals. The doctor stepped forward, hand extended, smiling;
surely he did not look or act like a prisoner.

"Well, well," spoke he; "at last! Chick Watson and Harry Wendel!
You're very welcome. Was it a long journey?"

His eyes twinkled in the old way. He didn't wait for their
replies. He went on:

"Have we solved the Blind Spot? It seems that my pupils never
desert me. Let me ask: have you solved the Blind Spot?"

"We've solved nothing, professor. What we have come for is, first,
yourself; and second, for the secrets you have found. It is for us
to ask--what is the Blind Spot?"

The professor shook his head.

"You were always a poor guesser, Mr. Wendel. Perhaps Chick, now--"

"Put me down as unprepared," answered Chick. "I'm like Harry--I
want to know!"

"Perhaps there are a lot of us in the same fix," laughed Holcomb.
"We, who know more than any men who ever lived, want to know still
more! It may be, after all, that we know very little; even though
we have solved the problem." His eyes twinkled again,
aggravatingly.

"Tell us, then!" from Harry, on impulse as always. "What is the
Blind Spot?"

But Holcomb shook his head. "Not just now, Harry; we have
company." The Geos and the Jan had entered. "Besides, I am not
quite ready. There remain several tangles to be unravelled."

As he shook hands with the Geos, he spoke in the Thomahlian
tongue. "You are more than welcome."

The Rhamda bent low in reverence and awe. His voice was hushed. He
spoke:

"Art thou the Jarados, my lord?"

"Aye," stated the doctor. "I am he; I am the Jarados!"

It was a stagger for both young men. Neither could reconcile the
great professor of his schooldays with this strange, philosophic
prophet of the occult Thomahlians. What was the connection? What
was the fate that was leading, urging, compelling it all?

"Professor, you will pardon our eagerness. Both Harry and I have
had adventures, without understanding what it was all about. Can't
you explain? Where are we? And--why?" And then:

"Your lecture on the Blind Spot! You promised it to us--can you
deliver it now?"

The professor smiled his acknowledgement.

"Part of it," he said; "enough to answer your questions to some
extent. Had I stayed in Berkeley I could have delivered it all,
but"--and he laughed--"I know a whole lot more, now; and,
paradoxically, I know far less! First let me speak to the Geos."
He learned that the struggle outside had terminated successfully
for the Rhamda and his men. All was quiet. The Senestro had made
his escape in safety back to the Mahovisal. The doctor ordered
that he was not to be molested.

The Geos and the others left the room, escorting the Aradna, who
was too exhausted for further experiences. There remained with the
doctor, Chick, Harry, and the Nervina.

"I will reduce that lecture to synopsis form," began the
professor. "I shall tell you all that I know, up to this moment.
First, however, let me show you something."

He indicated the table from which he had risen. Chief among the
objects on its top were fragments of minerals, some familiar, some
strange. Above and on all sides were the crystal globes or, at
least, what Chick named as such--erected upon as many tripods. One
of these the professor moved toward the table.

Simultaneously a tiny dot appeared on a small metal plate in the
centre of the table. At first almost invisible, it grew, after a
minute or so, to a definite bit of matter.

The professor moved the tripod away. Nearby crystals, inside of
which some dull lights had leaped into momentary being, subsided
into quiescence. And the three observers looked again and again at
the solid fragment of material that had grown before their eyes on
that table.

Something had been made out of nothing!

The doctor picked it up and held it unconcernedly in his fingers.

"Can anybody tell me," asked he, "what this is?"

There was no answer. The professor tossed the thing back on the
table. It gave forth a sharp, metallic sound.

"You are looking at ether," spoke he. "It is the ether itself--
nothing else. You call it matter; others would call it iron; but
those are merely names. I call it ether in motion--materialised
force-coherent vibration.

"Like everything else in the universe it answers to a law. It has
its reason--there is no such thing as chance. Do you follow? That
fragment is simply a principle, allowed to manifest itself through
a natural law!

"Try to follow me. All is out of the ether--all! Variety in matter
is simply a question of varying degrees of electronic activity,
depending upon a number of ratios. Life itself, as well as
materiality and force, comes out of the all-pervading ether.

"This object here," touching the crystal, "is merely a conductor.
It picks up the ether and sends it through a set degree of
vibrational activity. Result? It makes iron!

"If you wish you may go back to our twentieth century for a
parallel--by which I mean, electricity. It is gathered crudely;
but the time will come when it will be picked up out of the air in
precisely the same manner that men pick hydrocarbons out of
petroleum, or as I sift the desired quality of ether through that
globe.

"This, I am convinced, is one of the fundamental secrets of the
Blind Spot. Is there any question?"

Wendel managed to put one.

"You said, 'back in the twentieth century.' Is it a question of
time displacement, sir?"

"Suppose we forgo that point at present. You will note, however,
that the Thomahlian world is certainly far in advance of our own."

"Professor," asked Watson, "is it the occult?"

"Ah," brightening; "now we are getting back to the old point.
However, what is the occult?" He paused; then--"Did it ever occur
to you, that the occult might prove to be the real world, proving
that life we have known to be merely a shadow?"

Silence greeted this. The professor went on:

"Let me ask you: Are you living in a real world now, or an unreal
one?" There was no response. "It is, of course, a reality; just as
truly as if you were in San Francisco. So," very distinctly,
"perhaps it is merely a question of viewpoint, as to which is the
occult!"

"Just what we want to know," from Harry.

"And that," tossing up his hands, "is exactly what I cannot tell
you. I have found out many things, but I cannot be sure. I left
certainty in Berkeley.

"Today I feel that there is some great fate, some unknown force
that defies analysis, defies all attempts at resolution--a force
that is driving me through the role of the Jarados. We are all a
part of the Prophecy!

"We must wait for the last day for our answer. That Prophecy must
and will be fulfilled. And on that day we shall have the key to
the Blind Spot--we shall know the where of the occult."

He took a sip from a tumbler of the familiar green fluid.

"Now that I have told you this much, I am going back to the
beginning. I, too, have had adventures.

"How did I come to discover the Blind Spot?

"It was about one year prior to my last lecture at the university.
At the time I had been doing much psychic-research work, all of
which you know. And out of it I had adduced some peculiar
theories. For example:

"Undoubtedly there is such a thing as a spirit world. If all the
mediums but one were dishonest, and that one produced the results
that couldn't be explained away by psychology, then we must admit
the existence of another world.

"But reason tells us that there is nothing but reality; that if
there were a spirit world it must be just as real, just as
substantial as our own. Moreover--somewhere, somehow, here must be
a definite point of contact!

"That was approximately my theory. Of course I had no idea how
close I had come to a great truth. To some extent it was pure
guesswork.

"Then, one day Budge Kennedy brought me the blue stone. He told me
its history, and he maintained that it was lighter than air, which
of course I disbelieved until I took it out of the ring and saw
for myself.

"I went at once to the house at 288 Chatterton Place. There I
found an old lady who had lived in the house for some time. I
asked to see the cellar where the stone had been unearthed.
Understand, I had no idea of the great discovery I was about to
make; I merely wanted to see. And I found something almost as
impossible as the blue stone itself-a green one, heavier than any
known mineral, answering to no known classification but of an
entirely new element. It was no larger than a pea, but of
incredible weight.

"Coming upstairs I found the old lady a bit perturbed. I had told
her my name; she had recognised me as well.

"'Come with me,' she said.

"With that she opened a door. She was very old and very uncertain;
yet she was scarcely afraid.

"'In there," she said, and pointed through the door.

"I entered an ordinary room, furnished as a parlour. There was a
sofa, a table, a few chairs; little else.

"'What do you mean?' I asked.

"'The man!'

"'The man! What man?"

"'Oh!' she exclaimed, 'he came here one night when the moon was
shining. He sat down on the doorstep. He was just the kind of a
lad that's in need of a mother. So I asked him to lie on the sofa.
He was tired, you see, and--I once had a son of my own.'

"She stopped, and it was a moment before she continued. I could
feel the pressure of her hand on my arm, pitiful, beseeching.

"'So I took him in there. In there; see? On that sofa. I saw it!
They took him! Oh, sir; it was terrible!'

"She was weird, uncanny, strangely interesting.

"'He just lay down there. I was standing by the door when--they
took him! I couldn't understand, sir. I saw the blue light; and
the moon--it was gone. And then--' She looked up at me again and
whispered: 'And then I heard a bell--a very beautiful bell--a
church bell, sir? But you know, don't you? You are the great Dr.
Holcomb. That's why you went into the cellar, wasn't it? Because
you know!'

"Her manner as much as her story, impressed me. I said:

"'I must give this room a careful examination. Would you be good
enough to leave me to myself?'

"She closed the door after her. I had the green stone in my hand;
it was very heavy, and I placed it on one of the chairs. The blue
stone I still held. At the moment I hadn't the least notion of
what was about to happen; it was all accident, from beginning to
end.

"All of a sudden the room disappeared! That is, the side wall; I
was not looking at the dingy old wallpaper, but out through and
into an immense building, dim, vast and immeasurable.

"Directly in front of me was a white substance like a stone of
snow. Upon this substance was seated a man, about my own age, as
nearly as I could make out. He looked up just as I noted him.

"Our recognition was mutual. Immediately he made a sign with one
hand. And at once I took a step forward; I thought he had
motioned. It was all so real and natural. Though his features were
dim he could not have been more than ten feet distant. But, at
that very instant, when I made that one step, the whole thing
vanished.

"I was still in the room at Chatterton Place!

"That's what started it all. Had this occurred to any one else in
the world I should have labelled it an unaccountable illusion. But
it had happened to me.

"I had my theory; between the spiritual and the material there
must be a point of contact. And--I had found it! I had discovered
the road to the Indies, to the Occult, to all that other men call
unknowable. And I called it--

"The Blind Spot."




XLV

THE ARADNA


Thus had the professor got into actual touch with the occult--by
sheer accident. Up to that time it had been only a hypothesis; now
it was a fact. Next step was to open up direct communication.

"That was difficult. To begin with, I worked to repeat the
phenomena I had seen, getting some haphazard results from the
start. My purpose throughout was to exchange intelligent comment
with the individual I had beheld on that snow-stone within the
Spot; and in the end I succeeded.

"He gave me fairly explicit warning as to when the Blind Spot
should open, not only to the eye, but in its entirety, as it had
done for the young man of whom the old lady had told me. We agreed
through signs that he would come through first.

"Understand, up to the instant of his actual arrival, I didn't
know just what he was like. I had to be content with his sign-
talk, by which he assured me he was a real man, material, of life
and the living.

"I made my announcement. You know most of what followed. The
Rhamda came to Berkeley; together we returned to Chatterton Place,
for it was imperative that we hold the Spot open or at least
maintain the phenomenon at such a point that we could reopen it at
will. Both of us were guessing.

"Neither of us knew, at the time, just how long the Rhamda could
endure our atmosphere. He had risked his life to come through; it
was no more than fair that I should accede to his caution and
insure him a safe return to his own world.

"But things went wrong. It was ignorance as much as accident. At
Chatterton Place I was caught in the Blind Spot, and without a
particle of preparation was tossed into the Thomahlia.

"When I came through, the Nervina went out. Thus I found myself in
this strange place with no one to guide me. And unfortunately, or
rather, fortunately, I fell into the hands of the Bar Senestro.

"Now, for all that he is a sceptic, the Senestro is a brave man;
and like many another unbeliever, he has a sense of humour. My
coming had been promised by Avec; so he knew that somehow I was a
part of the Prophecy--the prophecy which, for reasons of his own,
he did not want fulfilled.

"So he isolated me here in the house of the Jarados. A bold sort
of humor, I call it--to defy the Prophecy in the very spot where
it was written!

"But it was fortunate. I was in the house of the old prophet, with
its stores of wisdom, secrets, raw elements and means for applying
the laws of nature. All that I hitherto had only guessed at, I now
had at my disposal: libraries, laboratories, everything. I was a
recluse with no interruptions and perfect facility for study.

"First of all I went into their philosophy. Then into their
science, and afterwards into their history. Whereupon I made a
rather startling discovery.

"Apparently I AM THE JARADOS.

"For my coming had been foretold almost to the hour. As I went on
with the research I found many other points that seemed familiar.
Plainly there was something that had led me into the Spot; and
most certainly it was not mere chance. I became convinced that not
merely my own destiny, but a higher, a transcendental fate was at
stake.

"In the course of time I became certain of this. Meanwhile I
mastered most of the secrets of this palace--the wisdom of the
ancient Jarados. Though a prisoner, I was the happiest of men--
which I still remain. The Bars kept close watch over me,
constantly changing their guard. And it was on one of those
occasions that I found MacPherson.

"Well, after MacPherson's coming I was pretty much my own master.
I induced the Senestro to allow MacPherson to remain as a constant
bodyguard. But I never told Pat what was what, except that some
day we should extricate ourselves.

"You may wonder why I did not open the Spot.

"There were several reasons: First, in the nature of the
phenomenon it must be opened only on the earth side, except on
rare occasions when certain conditions are peculiarly favourable.
That's why the Rhamda Avec could not do it alone; I know now that
I should have imparted to him certain technicalities. I possessed
two of the keys then; now, I know there are three.

"And I have learned that each of these is a sinister thing.

"The blue stone, for instance, is life, and it is male. Rather a
sweeping and ambiguous statement; but you will comprehend it in
the end. Were a man to wear it it would kill him, in time; but a
woman can wear it with impunity.

"Perhaps you will appreciate that statement better if you note
what I have just done through the medium of that crystal. The blue
gem is an inductor of the ether; in a sense, it is one of the
anchors of the Spot of Life, or the Blind Spot--whatever we want
to call it--the Spot of Contact.

"The other two particles--the red and the green one--are
respectively the Soul and the Material. Or, let us say, the
etheric embryos of these essentials.

"The three stones constitute an eternal trinity.

"As for the substance of the Spot itself, that I cannot tell, just
yet. But I do know that the whole truth will come out clear in the
fulfilment of the Prophecy. I am convinced that it has translated
Watson, and now Harry Wendel and the Nervina."

"Can you control it?" asked Chick.

"To a limited extent. I have been able to watch you ever since
your coming. You did not know about Harry, but I saw him come--in
the arms of the Nervina."

The Nervina nodded.

"It is so. I knew the Senestro. I was afraid that Harry would fall
into his hands. I had previously endeavoured to have him give the
jewel to Charlotte Fenton. I didn't trust the great Bar--"

Harry interrupted, "Only because of her distrust of the Senestro
did she decide to come through the Blind Spot with me. She knew
what to do. As soon as we got here, she bundled me off, privately
nursed me back to health if not strength, and when the time came
rushed me up here at the last second to be in at the finish."

Watson thought of the dog, Queen. She also had come through just
in time to save his life. Did Harry know anything about her? When
Wendel had related what he knew, Chick commented:

"It's almighty strange, Harry. Everything works out to fit in
exactly with that confounded Prophecy. Perhaps that accounts for
your affinity for the Nervina; it is something beyond your
control, or hers. We'll have to wait and see."

There was not long to wait. The days passed. The palace was full
of Rhamdas, summoned by Dr. Holcomb, who, as the Jarados himself,
was now issuing orders concerning the great day, the last of the
sixteen days, now very close at hand; the day which the Rhamdas
constantly alluded to as "the Day of Judgment."

The Senestro went unmolested. Returning to the Mahovisal, he
worked now to further the truths of the Prophecy.

Still the millions continued to descend upon the Mahovisal. Coming
from the furthermost parts of the Thomahlia, the pilgrims'
aircraft kept the air above the city constantly alive. There were
days such as no man had ever known. Even the Rhamdas, trained to
composure, gave evidence of the strain. The atmosphere was tense,
charged with expectancy and hope. A whole world was coming to what
it conceived as its judgment, and its end. And--the Spot of Life
was the Blind Spot!

At last the doctor summoned the two young men. It was night, and
the June Bug was waiting. This time the Geos himself was at the
controls.

"We are going to the Mahovisal," spoke the doctor--"to the Temple
of the Bell and Leaf. There is still something I must know before
the Judgment." He was speaking English. "If we can bring the
Prophecy to pass just so far, and no farther, we shall be able to
extricate ourselves nicely. Anyway, I think we shall not return to
the Palace of Light."

He held a black leather case in his hand. He touched it with a
finger.

"If this little case and its contents get through the Blind Spot
it will advance civilisation--our civilisation--about a thousand-
fold. So remember: Whatever happens to me, be sure and remember
this case! It must go through the Spot!"

He said no more, but took his seat beside the Geos. The young men
took the rear seats. In a short time they had crossed the great
range of mountains and were hovering over the Mahovisal.

There was no sound. Though the city was packed with untold
millions, the tension was such that scarcely a murmur came out of
the metropolis. The air was magnetic, charged, strained close to
the breaking point; above all, the reverence for the Last Day, and
the hope, rising, accumulating, to the final supreme moment.

For the Sixteenth Day was now only forty-eight hours removed.

Both Chick and Harry realised that their lives were at stake; the
doctor had made that clear. In the last minute, in the final
crisis, they must crowd their way through the Blind Spot. Only the
professor knew how it was to be done.

At the temple they found the Nervina and the Aradna waiting. The
Jan Lucar was with them. The Geos had secured entrance by a side
door. From it they could look out, themselves unobserved, over the
entire building and upon the Spot of Life. The place was packed--
thousands upon thousands of people, standing in silent awe and
worship, one and all gazing toward the all-important Spot. There
was no sound save the whisper of multitudinous breathing.

Said Harry to Chick:

"I see Queen up there!"

Harry circled the group, and bounded up the great stairs. In a
moment he was patting his dog's head. She looked up and wagged her
tail to show her pleasure. But she was not effusive. Somehow she
wasn't just like his old shepherd. She glanced at him, and then
out at the concourse below, and lolled her tongue expectantly.
Then she settled back into her place and resumed watch--exactly as
any of her kind would have held guard over a band of sheep.

The dog was serious. Afterward, Wendel said he had a dim notion
that she was no longer a dog at all, but a mere instrument in the
hand of Fate.

"What's the matter, old girl?" he asked. "Don't you like 'em?"

For answer she gave a low whine. She looked up again, and out into
the throng; she repeated the whine, with a little whimper at the
end.

Harry returned to the others. Nothing was said of what he had
done. At once the Geos led the group through a small, half-hidden
door, beyond which was a narrow, winding stairway of chocolate-
coloured stone. The Geos halted.

"Dost wish the building emptied, O Jarados?"

"I do. When we come back from under the Spot of Life, we should
have the place to ourselves."

Accompanied by the two queens the Rhamda returned to the main body
of the temple. Dr. Holcomb, Harry and Chick were left to
themselves.

The professor took out a notebook. In it was traced a map, or
chart, together with several notations.

"The three of us," said he, "are going to take a look at the under
side of the Blind Spot. This stairway leads into a secret chamber
inside the foundations of the great stair; and according to this
data I found in the palace, together with some calculations of my
own, we ought to find some of the secrets of the Spot."

He led the way up the steps. At the top of the flight they came to
a blank, blue wall. There was no sign of a door, but in the front
of the wall stood a low platform, in the centre of which was set a
strange, red stone. The professor consulted his chart, then opened
his black case. From it he took another stone, red like the other,
but not so intense. This he touched to the first, and waited.

Inside a minute a light sprang up from the contact. Immediately
Harry and Chick beheld something they had not seen on the wall--a
knob, or button. The doctor pulled sharply on it. Instantly a door
opened in the wall.

They passed into another room. It was not a large place--about
thirty feet across, perhaps, stone-walled and with a low ceiling.
From all sides a soft, intrinsic glow was given off. There were no
furnishings.

But in the centre of the ceiling, occupying almost all the space
overhead, a snow-white substance hung as if suspended. Were it not
for its colour and its size, it might have been likened to an
immense, horizontal grindstone hung in mid-air, with apparently
nothing to hold it there. Around its side they could make out a
narrow gap between it and the ceiling. And directly along its
lower edge was a series of small, fiery jewels inset, and of the
order and colour of the sign of the Jarados--red, blue and green,
alternating.

The professor produced an electric torch and held it up to show
that the gap between the stone and the ceiling was unbroken at any
point. Then he counted the jewels on the lower edge. Chick made
out twenty-four. Three were missing from their sockets--all told,
then, there should have been twenty-seven.

The doctor noted the positions of the three empty sockets and,
drawing a tapeline from his pocket, proceeded to measure the
distances from each of the three--they were widely separated round
the circle--from each other. Then he turned to Chick and Harry.

"Do you know where we are?"

"Under the Spot of Life," it was easy to answer.

"You are in San Francisco!"

"Not in--in--" Chick hesitated.

"Yes. Exactly. This is 288 Chatterton Place--the house of the
Blind Spot." He paused for them to digest this. Then, "Harry--did
you say Hobart Fenton was with you on that last night?"

"Hobart and his sister, Charlotte. I remember their coming at the
last minute. They were too late, sir."

The professor nodded.

"Well, Harry, the chances are that Hobart is not more than twenty
feet away at the present moment. Charlotte may be sitting right
there"--pointing to a spot at Harry's side--"this very instant.
And there may be many others.

"No doubt they are working hard to solve the mystery.
Unfortunately the best they can do is to guess. We hold the key.
That is--I should correct that statement--we hold the knowledge,
and they hold the keys."

"The keys?" Harry wanted to know more.

The professor pointed to the three empty sockets in the great
white stone above their heads. "These three missing stones are the
keys. Until they are reset we cannot control the Spot. I had found
two of them before I came through. I take it that both of you
remember the blue one?"

"I think," agreed Chick, "that neither of us is ever likely to
forget it! Eh, Harry?"

The professor smiled. He was holding the light up to the snow-
stone, at a spot that would have been the point of intersection
had lines been drawn from the three missing gems, and the
resulting triangle centred. He held his hand up to the substance.
It was slightly rough at that point, as though it had been frozen.

Then he ran his fingers across the surrounding surface.

"Ah!" he exclaimed. "I thought so! That helps considerably.
Chick--put your hand up here. What do you feel?"

"Rough," said Chick, feeling the intersection point. "Slightly so,
but cold and--and magnetic."

"Now feel here."

"Cool and magnetic, doctor; but smooth. What does it prove?"

"Let's see; do you understand the term 'electrolysis'? Good. Well,
there should be another clue--not similar, but supplementary, or
rather, complementary--on the earth side. Perhaps one of you found
it while you lived in that house." The professor eyed both men
anxiously. "Did either of you find a stain, or anything of that
sort, on the walls, ceiling, or floor of any room there?"

Both shook their heads.

"Well, there ought to be," frowned the doctor. "I am positive
that, should we return now, we could locate some such phenomenon.
From this side it is very easy to account for; it's simply the
disintegrating effect of the current, constantly impinging at the
point of contact or the intersection. Having acted on this side,
it must have left some mark on the other."

Watson was still running his hand over the snow-stone. Once
before, when he had stood barefooted in the contest with the
Senestro, he had noted its cold magnetism.

"What is this substance, professor?"

"That, I have not been able to discover. I would call it neutral
element, for want of a more exact term; something that touches
both aspects of the spectrum."

"Both aspects of the spectrum?"

"Yes; as nearly as the limitations of my vocabulary will permit.
If you recall, I showed you a simple experiment the other day in
the palace. By means of an inductor I drew out the iron principle
from the ether and built up the metal. Only it was not precisely
iron but its Thomahlian equivalent. Had you been on the earth side
you would have seen nothing at all, not even myself. I was on the
wrong aspect of the spectrum.

"Also, you see here the Jaradic colours--the crimson, green and
blue--the shades between, the iridescence and the shadows. Had you
been on the other side you wouldn't have seen one of them; they
are not precisely our own colours, but their equivalents on this
side of the Spot.

"In the final analysis, as I said before, it gets down to ether,
to speed and vibration--and still at last to the perceptive
limitations of our own earthly five senses. Just stop and consider
how limited we are! Only five senses--why, even insects have six.
Then consider that all matter, when we get to the bottom of it, is
differentiated and condensed ether, focused into various
mathematical arrangements, as numberless as the particles of the
universe. Of these our five senses pick out a very small
proportion indeed.

"This is one way to account for the Blind Spot. It may be merely
another phase of the spectrum--not simply the unexplored regions
of the infra-red or the ultra-violet, but a region co-existent
with what we normally apprehend, and making itself manifest
through apertures in what we, with our extremely limited sense-
grasp, think to be a continuous spectrum. I throw out the idea
mainly as a suggestion. It is not necessarily the true
explanation.

"Let us go a bit farther. Remember, we are still upon the earth.
And that we are still in San Francisco, although all the while we
are also in the Mahovisal. This is 288 Chatterton Place, and at
the same time it is the Temple of the Bell. It might be a hundred
or a thousand other places just as well, too, if my hypothesis is
correct; which we shall see.

"Now, what does this mean? Simply this, gentlemen, that we five-
sensed people have failed to grasp the true meaning of the word
'Infinity.' We look out toward the stars, fancying that only in
unlimited space can we find the infinite. We little suspect we
ourselves are infinity! It is only our five senses that make us
finite.

"As soon as we grasp this the so-called spiritual realm becomes a
very substantial fact. We begin to apprehend the occult. Our five-
sensed world is merely a highly specialized phase of infinity.
Material or spiritual--it is all the same. That's why we look on
the Thomahlians as occult, and why they consider us in the same
light.

"It is strictly a question of sense perception and limitations,
which can be covered by the word, 'viewpoint.' Viewpoint--that is
all it amounts to.

"There is no such thing as unreality; but there is most certainly
such a thing as relativity, and all life is real.

"Of course I knew nothing of this until the discovery of the Blind
Spot. It will, I think, prove to be one of the greatest events in
history. It will silence the sceptics, and form a bulwark for all
religion. And it will make us all appreciate our Creator the
more."

The professor stopped. For some moments there was silence.

"What are we to do now?" asked Harry.

But the professor chose not to answer. With his tape he began
taking a fresh series of measurements, with reference to the empty
sockets and one particularly brilliant red gem, which seemed to be
"number one" in the circle. From time to time the doctor jotted
down the results and made short calculations. Presently he said:
"That ought to be enough. Now suppose we--"

At that instant something happened. Harry Wendel caught him by the
shoulder. He pointed to the suspended stone.

It was moving!

It was revolving, almost imperceptibly, like some vast wheel
turning on its axis. So slowly did it rotate, the motion would
have escaped attention were it not for the gems and their
brilliance.

Suddenly it came to a stop, short and quick, as though it had
dropped into a notch. And from above they heard the deep, solemn
clang of the temple bell.

"What is that?" asked Harry, startled. "Who moved the stone?"

"Can it be," flashed Chick, "that Hobart Fenton has found the
keys?"

"That remains to be seen!" from the doctor. "Come--we must find
out what has happened!"

Within a minute they knew. As they came out of the private door on
the now emptied floor of the great temple, they saw the senior
queen, the Nervina, coming down the great stairway from the Spot
of Life.

"What is it?" called Harry, apprehensively.

"The Aradna!" she replied. Her voice was curiously strained.
"Something happened, and--she has fallen through the Spot!"




XLVI

OUT OF THE OCCULT


"HOW DID IT HAPPEN?"

"I scarcely know. We went up to play with the dog. It was
unwilling to leave the place, and Aradna teasingly tried to push
her off on to the steps. She succeeded, but--well, it was all over
that quick. The Aradna was gone!"

But the Spot had by this time lost a good deal of its terror.
Knowing what was on the other side, and who, made a great
difference. As the doctor said later in a private consultation
with Chick and Harry:

"It's not so bad. That is, if Hobart Fenton is at work there. I
think he is. Really, I only regret that we didn't know of this
beforehand; we could have sent a message through to him."

And the professor went on to explain what he meant. At the time he
spoke, it was twenty-four hours after the Aradna's going; another
twenty-four hours would see the evening of the Last Day--the
sixteenth of the sacred Days of Life--what the Rhamdas alluded to
as "the Day of Judgment." And the Mahovisal was a seething mass of
humanity, all bent upon seeing the fulfillment of their highest
hopes.

"Bear in mind that if the Spot should not open at the last moment,
you and I are done for. We will be self-condemned 'False Ones';
our lives will not last one minute after midnight tomorrow night
if we fail to get through!

"That Prophecy means EVERYTHING to the Thomahlians. There was a
time when they accepted it on faith; now it is an intellectual
conviction with every last one of them. And one and all look
forward to a new and glorious life beyond the Spot--in the occult
world--our world!

"Now, the ticklish part of the job will be to open the Spot just
long enough to permit us to get through, yet prevent the whole
Prophecy from coming to pass. We've got to get through, together
with that black case of mine, and then shut the door in the face
of all Thomahlia!"

Nothing more was said on the subject until late the following
afternoon, as the doctor, Harry, and Chick sat down to a light
meal. They ate much as if nothing whatever was in the wind. From
where they sat, in one part of a wing of the temple, they could
look out into the crowded streets, in which were packed untold
numbers of pilgrims, all pressing towards the great square plaza
in front of the temple. No guards were to be seen; the solemnity
of the occasion was sufficient to keep order. But the terrific
potentiality of that semi-fanatical host did not cause the
doctor's voice to change one iota.

"There is no telling what may happen," he said. "For my own part I
shall not venture near the Spot of Life until just at the end. I
shall remain in the chamber underneath.

"But you two ought to show yourselves immediately after sundown.
Certain ancient writings indicate it. You, and the Nervina, will
have to mount the stair to the Spot, and remain in sight until
midnight--until the end.

"So we must be prepared for accidents." He took some papers from
his pocket, and selected two, and gave one to each of his pupils.
"Here are the details of what must be done. In case only one of us
gets through, it will be enough."

"But--how can these be of any use, on such short notice?" Harry
asked.

"Cudgel your brains a bit, gentlemen," he chided good-humouredly.
"You will soon see my drift. This is one of those occasions when
the psychic elements involved are such that, without doubt, it
were best if you reacted naturally to whatever may happen.

"Now you will note that I have made a drawing of the Blind Spot
region; also certain calculations which will explain themselves.

"Moreover, I have written out the combination to my laboratory
safe in my house in Berkeley. The green stone is there. Bertha
will help, as soon as she understands that it is my wish; no
explanation will be needed.

"You may leave the rest to me, young gentlemen. Act as through you
had no notion that I was down below the Spot. I shall be merely
experimenting a bit with that circle of jewels, to see if the
phenomena which affected the Aradna cannot be repeated. I fancy it
was not mere accident, but rather the working of a 'period.'"

He said no more about this, except to comment that he hoped to get
into direct communication with Hobart Fenton before midnight
should arrive. However, he did say, in an irrelevant sort of
manner:

"Oh, by the way--do either of you happen to recall which direction
the house at Chatterton Place faces?"

"North," replied Harry and Chick, almost in the same breath.

"Ah yes. Well, the temple faces south. Can you remember that?"

They thought they could. The rest of the meal was eaten without
any discussion. Just as they arose, however, the doctor observed:

"It may be that Hobart Fenton has got to come through. I wish I
knew more about his mentality; it's largely a question of psychic
influence--the combined, resultant force of the three material
gems, and the three degrees of psychic vibration as put forth by
him and you two. We shall see.

"Something happened today--the Geos told me about it--which may
link up Hobart very definitely. It was about one o'clock when one
of the temple pheasants began to behave very queerly up on the
great stair. It had been walking around on the snow-stone, and
flying a bit; then it started to hop down the steps.

"About sixteen steps down, Geos says the pheasant stopped and
began to flutter frantically, as though some unseen person were
holding it. Suddenly it vanished, and as suddenly reappeared
again. It flew off, unharmed. I can't quite account for it, but--
well, we'll see!"

He spoke no more, but led the way out into the entrance to the
wing. There they waited only a moment or two, before the Nervina
and her retinue arrived. Without delay a start was made for the
great black stairway.

The doctor alone remained behind.

There was a guard-lined lane through the crowd, allowing the
Nervina and the rest access to the foot of the steps. Reaching
that point she paused for a look around.

The sun had just gone down; the artificial lights of the temple
had not yet been turned on. Overhead, the great storm-cloud hung
portentously, even more ominous than in the brighter light. The
huge waterspout columns, the terrific size of the auditorium, were
none the less impressive for the incalculable horde that filled
every bit of floor space. At the front of the building the archway
gave a glimpse of the vastly greater throng waiting outside.

But all was quiet, with the silence of reverence and supreme
expectation.

The long flight of stairs was lined on either side, from bottom to
top, with the Rhamdas. On the landing there stood only two of the
three chairs that Chick had seen on the previous occasion. The
green one had been brought down and placed in the centre of an
open spot just at the foot of the stairs.

In this chair sat the Bar Senestro. Deployed about him, at a
respectful distance, was a semi-circle of the Bars, many hundreds
in number. Behind the Bars, separating them from the crowds at
their backs, were grouped the crimson and blue guardsmen. Among
them, no doubt, were the Jan Lucar and the MacPherson, but Chick
could locate neither.

The Nervina, taking Harry's arm, ascended the steps. Chick
followed, with the Rhamda Geos at his side. At the top of the
flight the Nervina was escorted to one of the chairs, while Chick
placed the Geos in the other.

It left the two Californians on their feet, to move around to
whatever extent seemed commensurate with dignity. Chick drew Harry
aside.

"What do you suppose," said Chick, indicating the handsome,
confident figure in the chair at the base of the stairs--"what do
you suppose friend Senestro is thinking about?"

Harry frowned. "You know him better than I do. You don't think he
has reformed?"

"Not on your life; not the Bar. He's merely adjusted his plans to
the new situation. He sees that the Prophecy is likely to be
fulfilled; so, he counts on being the first to get through, after
the Nervina. Then, whether the rest of the Thomahlia follows or
not--he calls himself the divinely appointed leader now, I
understand--he will get through and marry the two Queens anyhow!"

Perhaps it was because the crowd was so terrifically large. Or,
there may have been something in the destiny of things that would
not permit the chief actors to feel nervous. Certain it is that
neither of the two men experienced the least stage fright. Had
they been on display before a crowd one-tenth the size, anywhere
else, both would have been ill at ease. This was different--
enormously so.

No longer was there any circulation in the crowd. People remained
in their places now, just as they expected the end to find them.
Chick and Harry marvelled at their composure, strangely in
contrast with the ceaseless activities of the temple pheasants
darting everywhere overhead.

Suddenly Harry remarked:

"I've got an idea, Chick! It's this: How does the professor expect
to send a message to Hobart?" Chick could not guess.

But already Harry had taken his sheet of instructions from his
pocket, and was rolling it into a compact pellet. Then he went to
Queen, and with a ribbon borrowed from the Nervina, tied the
message tightly to the dog's collar.

"Hobart will be certain to see it," said he. "I wonder if the
doctor's figured it out yet?"

"He's playing with a tremendous force," observed Chick,
thoughtfully. He reached out and touched the snow-stone with his
foot, just as he had done before, and fancied that he could feel
that electric thrill even through the leather of his shoes.
"Still, it's worth any risk he may be taking down in that chamber.
If only he could send Queen through! Hobart--"

He never finished the sentence. He staggered, thrown off his
balance by reason of the fact that he had been resting the weight
of one foot on the stone and--it moved!

Moved--shifted about its axis, just as it had done forty-eight
hours previously, when the Aradna had dropped through.

And Chick had only a flash of a second for a glimpse of the
startled faces of Harry, the Nervina and the Geos, the huge
multitude below the stair, Queen on the other side, and the
fateful Prophecy on the walls above him, before--

A figure came into existence at his side. It was that of a
powerfully built man, on whose wrists were curious red circles.
And Chick shouted in a great voice:

"Hobart!"

And then came blackness.




XLVII

THE LAST LEAF


Watson's story was now completed. During the entire recital his
auditors had spoken scarcely a word. It had been marvellous--
almost a revelation. With the possible exception of Sir Henry
Hodges, not one had expected that it would measure up to this. For
the whole thing backed up Holcomb's original proposition:

"The Occult is concrete."

Certainly, if what Watson had told them was true, then Infinity
had been squared by itself. Not only was there an infinity that we
might look up to through the stars, but there was another just as
great, co-existent, here upon the earth. The occult became not
only possible, but unlimited.

The next few minutes would prove whether or not he had told the
truth.

It was now close to midnight.

Jerome and General Hume had returned from Berkeley. Their quest
had been successful; Watson now had the missing green stone. A
number of soldiers were stationed about the house. Watson noted
these men when he had finished his account, and said:

"Good. We may need them, although I hope not. Fortunately the Spot
is small, and a few of us can hold it against a good many. What we
must do is to extricate our friends and close it. Afterward we may
have time for more leisurely investigation. But we must remember,
above all things, that black case of Professor Holcomb's! It holds
the secrets.

"Now I must ask you all to step out of this room. This library,
you know, is the Blind Spot."

He directed them to take positions along the balustrade of the
stairway, out in the hall--through the wide archway, where they
could have a clear view, yet be safe.

It was a curious test. With nothing but his mathematics and his
drawing to go by, Watson was about to set the three stones in
their invisible sockets. He spread the map out carefully, likewise
his calculations; they gave him, on this floor, the precise
positions that he charted on the earth of the cellar. A glance
toward the front of the house--north--then a little measuring,
three chalk-marks on the carpet, and he was ready for the final
move.

He took the fateful ring and with a penknife pried up the prongs
that held the stone. As it popped out he caught it with one hand.
Then he looked at the row of wondering faces along the stair.

"I think it will work," he said. "But, remember--don't come near!
I shall get out as best I can myself; don't try to save me."

With that he held the jewel on the first of the three chalk-marks
on the circumference of the great circle. He held it tight against
the carpet and then let go. Up it flashed about one foot--and
disappeared.

There was no sound. Next Watson took the red stone. With it, the
process was inverted. Instead of holding it to the floor he raised
it as high as he could reach, directly above the second mark. Then
he let it drop.

It did not reach the floor. It fell a little more than halfway,
and vanished.

The third stone, the green one, was still remaining. Watson took
it to the third and final mark on the circle, taking care to keep
outside the circumference that marked the Spot. This mark was
directly in front of the archway. He turned to them.

"Watch carefully," he spoke. "I do not know what has transpired in
the temple during the past few hours. Be ready for ANYTHING. All
of you!"

He dropped the stone.

With the same motion he dodged out into the hall.

Though there was no sound there was something that every one felt--a
sibilant undertone and cold vibration--a tense flash of magnetism.
Then the dot of blue--a string of incandescence; just as had been
spoken.

The Blind Spot was opening.

Watson silently warned the others to remain where they were and
himself crowded back against the stair. And as he did so, someone
came noiselessly down the steps from the floor above, passed
unnoticed behind the watchers and thence across into the hall.

It was a slender, frail figure in white--the Aradna, walking like
one in the grip of a higher will. Before they could make a move
she had stepped into the Blind Spot, under the dot of blue, and
into a string of light. And then--she was gone.

It was as swift as a guess. It was inexorable and unseen; and
being unseen, close akin to terror. The group watched and waited,
scarcely breathing. What would happen next?

There came a sudden, jarring click--like the tapping of iron. And
next instant--

The Spot opened to human sight.

The library at 288 Chatterton Place was gone. Instead, the people
on the stairs were gazing down from the Spot of Life, straight
into the colossal Temple of the Jarados.

It was as Chick had described it--immense--beyond conception.
Through the great doors and out into the plaza beyond was gathered
all Thomahlia, reverent, like those waiting for the crack of doom.

Above the horde, high on the opposite wall, stood out the monster
Clover Leaf of the Jarados; three-coloured--blazing like liquid
fire; it was ominous with real life.

At that moment the whole concourse rippled with commotion. Arms
were uplifted; one and all pointed towards the dais. They, too
were looking through the Spot. Then the multitude began to move.

It heaved and surged and rolled toward the centre. The guards were
pressed in upon the Bars, the Bars upon the Rhamda-lined stair.
There was no resisting that flood of humanity. On and up it came,
sweeping everything before it.

Directly in the foreground lay the snow-stone. On its centre stood
the dog Queen, crouching, waiting, bristling. By her side Harry
Wendel crouched on one knee, as if awaiting the signal. Behind
him, the Nervina, supporting the awakening Aradna. And in front of
all, the powerful bulk of Hobart Fenton, standing squarely at the
head of the stair, ready to grapple the first to reach the
landing.

But most important of all, there stood the doctor himself. He was
at the Nervina's side; in his hand, the case of priceless data. He
was gazing through the Spot and making a signal of some kind to
Watson, whereupon the latter leaped to the edge of the unseen
circle.

Something had gone wrong. The Spot was not fully open. Nothing but
sight could get through.

Yet there was no time for anything. Up the stairs came the Bars,
leading and being pressed forward by the horde. At their head
dashed the Bar Senestro, handsome as Alexander. Hobart stepped
forward to meet him, but the doctor stopped him with a word.

Only a few seconds elapsed between death and salvation. Again Dr.
Holcomb signed to Watson; not a sound came through. Watson
hesitated.

The dog Queen shot to her feet. Then the Senestro, out-distancing
all the rest and dodging Hobart, had leaped upon the dais.

Upon the wall across the temple the great Leaf of the Jarados
stood out like sinister fire. It pulsed and vibrated--alive. The
top petal--the blue one--suddenly broke into a seething wave of
flame.

Still Watson held back. He could not understand what Holcomb
meant.

Queen waited only until the Senestro set foot on the dais. She
crouched, then leaped.

It was done.

With a lightning shift of his nimble feet, the high-tempered Bar
kicked the shepherd in the side. Caught at full leap, she was
knocked completely over and fell upon the snow-stone.

It was the Sacrilege!

Even the Bars beyond the Senestro stopped in horror. The Four-
Footed One--sacred to the Jarados--it was she who had been
touched! Had the Senestro undone all on the Spot of Judgment, What
would be the end?

Fenton acted. He caught the Senestro before he could get his
balance and with a mighty heave hurled him over the side of the
stair. A second, and it was over.

Another second was the last. For the great Leaf of the Jarados had
opened.

The green and red stood still; but out of the blue came a dazzling
light, a powerful beam; so brilliant, it seemed solid. It shot
across the whole sweep of the temple and touched the Prophecy.
Over the golden scrolls it traced its marvellous colour, until it
came to the lines:

  Beware ye of sacrilege! Lest I take from ye all that I
  have given ye, and the day be postponed--beware ye of
  sacrilege!

For a moment the strange light stood still, so that the checked
millions might read. Then it turned upon the dais.

There it spread, and hovered over the group, until it seemed to
work them together--the Nervina to Harry, the Aradna to Hobart.
Not one of them knew what it was; they obeyed by impulse--it was
their destiny; the Chosen, and the queens.

The light stopped at the foot of Dr. Holcomb. Then the strangest
thing happened.

Out of the light--or rather, from where it bathed the snowstone--
came a man; a man much like Holcomb, bearded and short and kindly.

He was the real Jarados!

Unhesitatingly the professor stepped up beside him. Then followed
Hobart and the Aradna, Harry and the Nervina, and lastly, from the
crowd of Bars, MacPherson. The whole concourse in the temple
stopped in awe and terror.

Only for a second. Then the Jarados and all at his side--were
gone.

And upon the snow-stone there stood a sword of living flame.

It stood there for just a breath, exactly where the group had
been.

And it was gone.

That was all.

No; not quite all. For when the Blind Spot closed that night at
288 Chatterton Place, there came once more the deep, solemn peal
of the Bell of the Jarados.




XLVIII

THE UNACCOUNTABLE


Were this account merely a work of fiction, it would harmonise
things so as to have no unaccountables in it. As it is, the
present writers will have to make this quite clear:

It is not known why the Rhamda Avec failed to show himself at the
crucial moment. Perhaps he could have changed everything. We can
only surmise; he has not been seen or heard from since.

Which also is true of Mr. Chick Watson. He disappeared immediately
after the closing of the Spot, saying that he was going to Bertha
Holcomb's home. No trace has been found of either to date.
Doubtless the reader has noted advertisement in the papers,
appealing to the authorities to report any one of Watson's
description applying for a marriage licence.

As for his two friends, Wendel and Fenton, together with the
Aradna and the Nervina, they and MacPherson and the doctor
absolutely vanished from all the knowledge, either of the
Thomahlia or the earth. The Jarados alone can tell of them.

Mme. Le Fabre, however, feels that she can explain the matter
satisfactorily. 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 of
Mr. Watson, I am firmly convinced that he was simply a spirit;
that everything we saw was spirit manifestation.

"Dr. Holcomb and all the rest have simply gone on to another
plane. We shall never see them again. They are dead; no other
explanation will hold. They are spirits."

Giving this version to the public strictly for what it is worth,
the present writers feel it only right to submit the conclusions
reached by Dr. Malloy and concurred in by Drs. Higgins and Hansen,
also, with reservations, by Professor Herold and by Miss Clarke.

"To a certain extent, and up to a certain point, it is possible to
account for the astonishing case of the Blind Spot by means of
well-known psychological principles. Hallucinations will cover a
great deal of ground.

"But we feel that our personal experiences, in witnessing the
interior of the Thomahlia cannot be thus explained away. Our
accounts tally too exactly; and we are not subject to group
hypnosis.

"To explain this we believe a new hypothesis is called for. We
submit that what we saw was not unreal. Assuming that a thing is
real or unreal, and can never be in a third state which is neither
one nor the other, then we should have to insist that what we saw
was REAL.

"We stand ready and prepared to accept any theory which will fit
all facts, not merely a portion."

Again refraining from any comment we pass on to the more
exhaustive opinion of Sir Henry Hodges. Inasmuch as this seems to
coincide very closely with the hypothesis of Professor Holcomb,
and as the reputation of Sir Henry is a thing of weight, we are
quoting him almost verbatim:

"There is a well-known experiment in chemistry, wherein equal
quantities of water and alcohol are mixed. Let us say, a pint of
each. Now, the resulting mixture ought to be a quart; but it is
not. It is somewhat less than a quart.

"Strange, indeed, to the novice, but a commonplace to every
student of the subject. It is strange only that, except for Dr.
Holcomb and this man Avec, science has overlooked the stupendous
significance and suggestion of this particular fact.

"Now, consider another well-known fact: No matter how you try you
cannot prevent gravity from acting. It will pull every object
down, regardless of how you try to screen it from the earth.

"Why? Because gravity penetrates all things. Again, why? Why
should gravity penetrate all things?

"The answer is, because gravity is a function of the ether. And
the ether is an imponderable substance, so impalpable that it
passes right through all solids as though they were not there.

"These are two highly suggestive points. They show us, first, that
two substances can exist within the space formerly thought to be
completely filled by one. Second, they show that ALL substances
are porous to the ether.

"Very well. Bear in mind that we know nothing whatever directly
about the 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
we become aware of it? Only through the medium of some such
phenomenon as the Blind Spot; not through ordinary channels. For
the ordinary channels are microscopes and test-tubes, every one of
which, when traced to the ultimate, is simply a concrete
expression of THE ONE ETHER WE KNOW!

"In the nature of the case our five senses could never apprehend a
second ether.

"Yet, knowing what we do about the structure of the atom, of
electronic activity, of quantels, we must admit that there is a
huge, unoccupied space--that is, we can't see that it is occupied--
in and between the interstices of the atom.

"It is in the region, mingled and intertwined with the electrons
which make up the world we know so well, that--in my opinion--the
Thomahlian world exists. It is actually coexistent with our own.
It is here, and so are we. At this very instant, at any given
spot, there can be, and almost certainly is, more than one solid
object--two systems of materiality, 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 us
finite."

Charlotte Fenton does not indulge in speculation. She seems to
bear up wonderfully well in the face of Harry Wendel's affinity
for the Nervina, and also in the face of her brother's
disappearance. And she philosophically states:

"When Columbus returned from his search for the East Indies, he
triumphantly 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
entirely different from what any one has suspected has been found.
Time will tell. I am willing to wait."

To make it complete, it is felt that the following statement of
General Hume is not only essential, but convincing to the last
degree.

"My view regarding this mystery is simply this: I have eyes, and I
have seen. I don't know whether the actors were living or dead. I
am no scientist; I have no theory. I only know. And I will swear
to what I saw.

"I am a soldier. The two men who are bringing this to press have
shown me their copy.

"It is correct."




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