{"collection":"philosophy-ethics","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_19459/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_19459","id":"gutenberg_19459","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/19459","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Novels","Category: Philosophy & Ethics","Fiction"],"text":"Produced by Jerry Kuntz as part of the Lawson's Progress\nProject, http://www.lawsonsprogress.com\n\n\n\n\n\nBorn Again\n\nby Alfred Lawson\n\nDEDICATION\n\nOne day, not many years ago, while walking along a street in Detroit,\nMichigan, I was stopped by a ragged and forlorn beggar, with the request\nfor a few cents to buy something to eat.\n\nI gave him a dime and walking on a few paces stopped to observe his\nfollowing movements. Contrary to my supposition that perhaps he would\nenter a saloon and buy whiskey he went as fast as his weary legs would\ncarry him in a straight course toward a restaurant on the opposite side\nof the street.\n\nAs he was about to enter the place his attention was attracted by a more\npitiable wretch than himself standing outside who had but one leg, was\npartly blind, and whose nose was almost eaten off by disease.\n\nHe paused for a moment and looked sympathetically at the crippled beggar\nand then started again toward the door of the restaurant, but before\nentering he stopped once more to take another look, and after a few\nmoments' hesitation he deliberately turned about, handed the other\nfellow the dime and walked away without feeding himself.\n\nOf all the heroic deeds I have ever witnessed, I recollect none quite so\ngrand and noble as this act, for notwithstanding this poor beggar may\nhave been heir to every other weakness a human being could possibly\ncontract, still he contained that spark of unselfish love for his fellow\nbeings, without which no man is more than a mere brute, and for that\nreason I respectfully dedicate this work to his memory.\n\nALFRED WILLIAM LAWSON.\n\nCHAPTER I\n\nJudging from my own experience it is my opinion that many strange and\nwonderful events have happened during the past in which man took part,\nthat have never been recorded.\n\nMany reasons could be given for this, but the main causes perhaps, are\nthat the participants have lacked the intelligence, education or\nliterary ability to properly describe them.\n\nIn these respects I must admit my own inferiority. But I feel that\nshould I not promulgate an account of my own remarkable life for the\nbenefit of mankind then I would betray the trust nature has confided in\nme.\n\nSo I warn the exquisite literary critic and the over-polished individual\nwho prefer fancy phrases to logical ideas, that this work may somewhat\njar their delicate senses of perception.\n\nAnd having offered these few remarks I shall introduce myself to the\nreader. My name is John Convert. The earth is my home and country. All\nmen are my kin, be they white, black, red, yellow or brown. I was born\nsomewhere on the Atlantic Ocean between Liverpool and New York while my\nparents were emigrating from England to America. My mother died giving\nme birth.\n\nWhether or not it was because I first saw the light of day while in a\nstate of transit that caused me afterwards to acquire a thirst for\ntravel and adventure I cannot say, but true it is that during my whole\nlife I have been constantly moving from place to place. Then again my\nfather was a Methodist preacher and the good Lord ostensibly sent calls\nto him from every nook and corner of the United States, for as long as I\ncan remember he too was continually changing abiding places. In fact, it\nseems to me now when I look back that he seldom preached twice from the\nsame pulpit. Whether this was due to bad preaching or because he had the\ncourage to tell the good church folk many plain truths concerning\nthemselves, I know not, but I do know that in many ways my father was a\nvery good man, and also a very learned man--perhaps a little too learned\nto be wise, for, like most great scholars he may have forced so much\nbook stuff into his brain that he left no room for progressive thoughts\nof his own. He was, however, quite unlike many clergymen of the present\ntime who apparently think and certainly act as if their main work was to\nflatter and amuse the women.\n\nMy father was straightforward, honest, kind and truthful. He was\ndogmatic in his religious beliefs, combative by nature and never happier\nthan when fighting the Devil in his own corner, as he expressed it.\nFurthermore, he was haughty, stubborn and egotistical, and these traits\nof character I inherited from him. But while I honestly inherited\ncombativeness, stubbornness and egotism from my father, these\ncharacteristics became very objectionable to him when displayed by\nmyself. So from my earliest childhood days there was a continual tug of\nwar between us to see who would be master of the house.\n\nThere was one inheritance I received from my father, however, that I\nhave always felt profoundly grateful to him for, namely, a sound\nphysical constitution. One of his earnest teachings, which, by the way,\nwas generally ridiculed, was that parents should not bring children into\nthe world unless they themselves had led temperate lives and were in\nperfect health. In this respect he lived as he preached and practiced\ntemperateness in all things.\n\nAs I grew up I was taught to take care of myself physically, as well as\nmentally and morally. At the age of eleven I was as large and strong as\nmost boys of sixteen, and at sixteen there were few men who could outdo\nme in feats of strength and endurance. My education was limited to what\nI learned at the different public schools which I attended, and without\nexception I was always rated as the very worst boy of the whole\ninstitution. I do not believe that ever a day passed that I was not sent\nto the principal for refractory conduct, and in many instances I was\nsuspended or expelled entirely. Fighting was my chief offence as I was\nalways ready and anxious for a fistic encounter with any boy who was\nwilling to battle. In short, I was a very unruly child with an\nindependent spirit, who recognized the authority of nobody to give\narbitrary commands. In consequence of these facts my father and I had\nfrequent altercations and as my innate love for travel and adventure\nasserted itself I ran away from home when but eleven years old, an age\nwhen most children are mere babies, and started out in the world to\npaddle my own canoe.\n\nI began to earn my own living by selling newspapers on the streets of\nChicago, and from that time on became a wanderer upon the face of the\nearth; working at various occupations and engaging in many schemes and\npursuits in an endeavor to pay my way through life, and during the next\neleven years I not only visited every part of the United States, but\nnearly every country in the world, during which time I experienced\nenough adventures to fill many books if put into print, but as they have\nno bearing upon this narrative I must pass them by without mention. And\nso at the age of twenty-two, being then a worthless vagabond, I was\naboard a three-masted schooner working my way from Australia to England\nas a common sailor. That was during the year of 1881.\n\nCHAPTER II\n\nPhrenologists after studying the bumps on my head have invariably told\nme that I lacked diplomacy. This, as I understand it, simply means an\nincapability of acting the hypocrite. And it does seem under the present\nsystem of human existence, that he who fails to practice hypocrisy finds\ninnumerable obstacles to overcome, which otherwise might be avoided. So,\nlacking in this virtue, as diplomacy is sometimes styled, led me into\ntrouble with nearly everybody with whom I had any dealings. Indeed, had\nit not been for this very defect in my nature, I should not have been\nforced to pass through the most remarkable life, I think, ever\nexperienced by living man. And so the ship had barely passed out of the\nharbor before I had undiplomatically aroused the enmity of all the other\nseamen, and within two weeks I was thoroughly detested by every man\naboard from the captain to the cook. The crew was composed of an\nunusually tough set of characters who avowed from the beginning that\nthey did not like Yankees and would make life insufferable for me before\nreaching the next port. Fist fights became frequent and each one of the\nsailors took a \"punch at my head\" at different times, only to learn that\nI enjoyed that kind of sport and retaliated in a way that laid the\noffender up for repairs afterward. The fact that in these encounters I\nalways gained an easy victory over my opponents caused a more intense\nfeeling of bitterness to exist than ever, and to make matters worse the\ncaptain's wife, who was the only woman on the ship, took sides with me\nagainst all the others. This apparently angered the captain, for on one\noccasion, after he had given orders to have me put in irons for breaking\none of my shipmate's ribs, and she interceded in my behalf, he became\nfurious and threatened to have me thrown overboard. This threat,\nhowever, only had the effect of making me more stubborn and defiant. As\na cowboy I had fought Indians and real bad men in the western states of\nAmerica, hunted elephants in Africa, tigers in India, and roughed it as\na gold seeker in Australia until I had become hardened against danger\nand absolutely fearless, so that a menace against my life did not worry\nme in the least. In fact, I really enjoyed the situation and dared the\ncaptain to do his worst.\n\nWe had been out of Sydney about four weeks, and although I did not know\nthe exact latitude and longitude, I imagined we must have been a\nconsiderable distance to the south and east of Cape Colony. It seems to\nme now that I heard somebody say we were a little further south of the\nregular course taken by vessels sailing around the Cape. It was one of\nthose pleasant nights in December, which one must experience in southern\nwaters to appreciate, that I took my turn on watch in the forward part\nof the boat. It was past midnight and one of the darkest nights I have\never known. The sea was rather calm but a good breeze astern caused the\nship to make good headway. I was all alone and paced back and forth from\nside to side peering out into space and darkness ahead. Occasionally, I\nwould remain for several minutes leaning against one of the railings.\nExcept for the splashing of the sea against the side of the ship, all\nwas quiet. As I stood in one of my meditative moods, looking straight\nahead, I was suddenly attracted by something which caused me to turn\nquickly and look in the opposite direction, and then I observed the\nforms of four men coming quickly toward me, but before I realized their\nobject or had time to speak, they grabbed me by the arms and legs. I\nstruggled furiously for several moments and freeing my hands, dealt one\nof them a vicious punch which felled him to the deck, and it seemed for\nawhile that I would shake them all off, when suddenly I received a\nterrible blow on the side of my head which partially stunned me, and\nduring the instant of inactivity on my part I was raised bodily high in\nthe air and plunged overboard into the waters below.\n\nCHAPTER III\n\nIt was in a semi-conscious state that I struck the water head foremost,\nand it was by instinct, I suppose, that I immediately started to swim\naway from the side of the vessel.\n\nAlthough I was a powerful swimmer it seemed as if I should never reach\nthe surface again. The sudden and unexpected plunge had caused me to go\ninto the sea with my mouth open and thereby swallow a large quantity of\nsalt water. When almost on the verge of strangulation, however, by a\nsupreme effort I finally managed to reach the air again, more dead than\nalive. It was then some time before I regained my breath and fully\nunderstood what had happened. I assure the reader that it was not a very\npleasant sensation to find myself out in the middle of the ocean without\neven the support of a life preserver and the ship sailing away in the\ndistance. During my adventurous career I had faced death a score of\ntimes without the slightest emotion or semblance of fright, but as I\nfloated about on that broad expanse of water alone I then realized for\nthe first time in my life what a tiny, helpless microbe I really was.\n\nOh, you little mortal known as man; you microscopical mixture of\nprotoplasm and egotism; you atomical speck of ignorance and avarice; you\nwho believe that the earth, moon, stars and all creation was\nmanufactured for your special benefit; if you could only be shown your\nactual size in the universe as I was on that occasion, I think it would\nresult in the eradication of some of your innate vanity and selfishness,\nthereby proving an incalculable blessing to you.\n\nAnd now at last I was placed in a position whereby I could feel and\nreflect upon my own littleness. I had absolutely no hope of being saved\nfrom a watery grave, feeling that it was only a matter of an hour or two\nbefore I should succumb to the inevitable and sink to the bottom of the\nsea. Still I was unwilling to give up the few bones entrusted to my care\nuntil finally overcome by exhaustion and so I kept afloat by lying on my\nback and exerting myself as little as possible.\n\nAt length, however, my strength gave way entirely and I felt that the\ntime had arrived when I must come face to face with the God whom I had\nbeen taught to believe in from infancy according to the Christian faith.\nThen it seemed that a million thoughts crowded themselves into my brain\nat the same time.\n\nHow would He receive me? What dire judgment would He pass upon me? Had I\never done anything to merit His pleasure? I could not recollect one good\ndeed I had ever accomplished of sufficient importance to call to His\nattention, but on the contrary I recalled a thousand bad acts I should\nnot have committed. I had spent a roving, aimless existence in which I\nhad done practically nothing to increase the production or knowledge of\nthe world, I had lived for myself alone--a life of mere pleasure\nseeking, without ever a thought of others' rights or happiness. I\nremembered that during a hunting expedition in Africa how I had once\nshot and killed seventeen spring-bok in one day, and how I had swelled\nup with conceit to know that I had destroyed the lives of that many\nliving things. True, they were not human beings, but were they not\ncreatures of nature as well as myself? What right had I to take the life\nof any living thing at all, let alone for mere pleasure? What excuse\ncould I now offer if tried for that cowardly offence? Would I ask God's\nforgiveness? If so, would it be any better to ask Him to forgive me just\nbefore I died or immediately afterward? What difference would it make?\nThen again I wondered if God would have any more respect for me if after\ncommitting the deed I whined and begged for mercy. Would He not consider\nthat cowardly on my part? Would He not think better of me if I went\nforward bravely and said: Here I am, O God, I know I have done wrong,\nnow punish me as Thou see'st fit. What would I do if I were to occupy\nthe Creator's position as supreme judge in a case of that kind? Would I\nnot think far more of the man who would come forward courageously and\ntake the punishment he deserved than the creeping, cringing and whining\nbeing who begged for mercy? Would God the Creator be more unreasonable\nabout the matter than I, whom He had created?\n\nI had always thanked God as well as my parents for the extraordinary\nphysical strength and courage with which I was endowed, and during my\nlife of trials and hardships that courage had never been shaken by man\nor beast, but now I felt that the crucial test was about to be applied.\nWould the courage the Almighty gave me weaken when about to face Him who\nhad bestowed it upon me?\n\nWith these and similar thoughts passing through my mind and my strength\nexhausted, I took one long breath and sank beneath the water.\n\nCHAPTER IV\n\nSinking slowly down with a feeling of drowsiness stealing away my\nsenses, I was suddenly awakened by my body coming to an abrupt stop and\nresting upon some hard substance. My first impression was that I had\ncollided with some huge sea-monster and was about to be devoured. So\nplacing my hands and feet firmly upon it I sprang upward with all the\nforce I could command in an effort to get out of its reach, but to my\ngreat surprise my head and half of my body shot out of the water into\nthe air above and down I came again square upon my feet with a jolt that\ncaused my teeth to rattle. And there I stood with my head and shoulders\nout of the water while my lungs inhaled long draughts of pure fresh air.\nI was too astonished to think and too weak to move, so I just stood\nthere motionless until I had regained my equilibrium. I could never\nforget how sweet life seemed to me at that time. For a long time I\nremained standing there without giving a thought as to what I was\nresting upon, and when I did direct my attention to the question I was\nincapable of forming a satisfactory solution to the mystery. According\nto the charts there was no land in that part of the ocean. Could it be a\nwhale, I wondered? The more I thought of it the more perplexed I became.\nThe night was very dark and I could see nothing about me in any\ndirection, so I concluded that the only thing to do was to remain\nstanding just where I was until daybreak. It was a long and tedious wait\nand I suffered much from stiffness and cold, but at last dawn appeared\nand I anxiously strained my eyes, looking about in every direction. Then\nmy head nearly burst with a feeling of joyousness, for within two\nhundred yards of me I discerned the outline of what appeared to be a\nhill of rocks protruding from the deep, and as the light grew brighter I\nstarted to wade slowly towards it. This was an extremely tiresome\nundertaking, as the bed upon which I had been resting was very rocky and\nuneven and I received many bruises before finally reaching its base. My\nlimbs too were thoroughly numb and almost refused to work, but with each\nstep ahead the water became shallower and my progress less arduous. As I\nwent forward I thought it was by the miraculous hand of God that my life\nhad been saved, for the time being at least. Then, again, it occurred to\nme, that if it was the hand of the Almighty that saved me, it must have\nbeen by His hand also that I was thrown overboard, for if He directed\nthe one act He must have surely directed the other. So why blame the\nsailors for attempting to take my life if it was God's will that it\nshould be done?\n\nReaching the base of the rocks in a feeble condition and staggering like\na man under the influence of liquor, I threw myself down and went to\nsleep just as the sun peeped over the horizon.\n\nSeveral hours later I awakened with a start to find the burning sun\ndirectly overhead and my body dripping with perspiration, my throat\nparched and an awful feeling of thirst within me. My tongue felt as\nthough it was several inches thick and it seemed as though I would choke\nimmediately for the want of something to drink. Aside from the thirst,\nhowever, I felt considerably refreshed and sprang to my feet with my\nusual agility.\n\nThe first thing that attracted my attention as I looked about in a\ncurious manner, was that this strange pile of stone which protruded from\nthe sea, bore evidence of having once been a part of some mammoth\nbuilding which had apparently been shaken down and now lay in a chaotic\nheap. Some of the stones were of tremendous size and different in shape\nand quality from any others I have ever seen. Their designs showed that\nwonderful skill must have been employed by the workmen who originally\ncut and fit them into position. The whole mass formed a sort of a ragged\nhill about one hundred feet in diameter and the highest point about\nforty feet above the sea level.\n\nIn looking about, I discovered to my great delight that among the\ncrevices of the rocks there were many little places which acted as\nbasins to store up water from the recent rains, and I immediately took\nadvantage of these conditions to quench my thirst and bathe my face and\nhead. This done I began climbing up toward the top of the pile. It took\nconsiderable time and patience to make the ascent, as the stones were\nmassed together in a most irregular and precipitous manner. Reaching the\nhighest point, I eagerly scanned the surrounding horizons with the hope\nof seeing some passing ship, but nothing except sky and water met my\ngaze.\n\nSeating myself upon the topmost rock, I became buried in the depths of\nmeditation, and as I sat perched up there alone without even a glimpse\nof a sea-fowl for companionship I felt as if I was the only living thing\nextant; in fact, I actually imagined myself as being the center and\nobjective point of the universe. God in His great wisdom had flung me\nthere for some purpose or other and was watching my movements to the\nexclusion of everything else, so I thought. Aye, even the warmth from\nthe rays of the sun had been arranged for my special benefit. How big a\nlittle faith will make one feel sometimes.\n\nFor several hours I remained in one position, musing over my strange\nsituation and wondering what the final outcome would be. At last, after\nthe sun had gone down and darkness began to encircle me, I decided to\nlook about and find a suitable place to lie down and sleep for the\nnight. So I began to climb from rock to rock until I had reached the\nopposite side of the jagged plateau, when suddenly one of the great\nstones wobbled, I lost my balance and slid down an incline into a sort\nof a pit. Then my feet struck something which momentarily stopped my\nunexpected descent, but it proved to be a mere shell, and crashing\nthrough it I landed with a violent jolt about ten feet further below.\nAlthough somewhat stunned and a trifle confused by the suddenness of the\nfall, I quickly regained my equanimity and looking upward I saw a small\nhole which my body had passed through, the shaggy rocks above, the dark\nsky and a few stars, but the strangest thing of all was, that the grotto\ninto which I had fallen was as light as day.\n\nCHAPTER V\n\nAfter all I had passed through during the preceding twenty-four hours,\nthen to be suddenly cast from the outer darkness into a hole as light as\nif illuminated by the mid-day sun was a revelation that caused me to\nseriously doubt my own senses. But having spent a life of travel and\nadventure in which I had faced many unexpected dangers and inexplicable\nsights, I soon regained my normal presence of mind and began to look\naround with considerable interest. I was now fully convinced that the\ngreat pile of stone which I had so strangely reached had at one time\nformed a gigantic structure moulded together by human ingenuity.\n\nThe enclosure I found myself within might have been a hallway of the\nedifice, but it was hard to positively distinguish it as such, for the\nbuilding in falling had placed things in an almost unrecognizable\ncondition. Some of the great stones from above had passed through the\nceiling and floor, while others had become wedged together before\nreaching the surface, thus forming a very ragged and peculiar aperture.\n\nIn places where there were no obstructions I noticed a beautiful white\nmarble floor, while here and there a fragment of the walls showed that\nthe art of decorating had at one time reached a degree of proficiency\nquite unapproachable by our modern artists. The space I found myself in\nwas too irregular in its outlines to form an adequate idea of what it\nmight have been used for. In some places I had to stoop to pass along,\nwhile in others I was forced to climb over great blocks of stone.\n\nAfter being in this passage about half an hour making an inspection of\nthe premises, I discovered a small opening which led into another\napartment. It appeared that a great door had separated the two rooms,\nbut had apparently become broken with the fall of the building and left\na space barely wide enough for my body to pass through. So in I went. Or\nout I went, I was not quite sure which, for after squeezing through the\ndoorway a scene presented itself to my astonished gaze that I must\nconfess my inability to properly describe.\n\nThe view before me was a mammoth park with its variety of trees, flowers\nand shrubbery of every possible description.\n\nStraight ahead in the distance and plainly discernible was a running\nbrook which flowed along in a devious course and emptied into a lake far\nbeyond. And there, in all its majesty was the sun just sinking behind\nthe horizon, its brilliant radiance forming the most beautiful effects\nof colorization upon the distant clouds it has ever been my good fortune\nto behold.\n\nI stood in motionless reverence for several minutes as my mind expanded\nwith wonder at the magnificent panorama, while my nostrils inhaled a\nmost delicious fragrance from the innumerable plants which seemed to put\nnew life into my enervated body.\n\nWhat strange phenomena is this, I soliloquized? On the outside of the\nearth the sun had gone down and darkness prevailed, while down here, in\nunder its crust I found it blazing away in all its splendor. In fact it\nseemed that an entirely new world had suddenly been thrown in front of\nme. Was I really alive or had I passed into some other world, was the\nnext question to enter my mind. I remembered that I had fallen a\nconsiderable distance into this strange place and was somewhat stunned\nin the tumble. Perhaps, thought I, my body is still lying somewhere\namong the rocks above while this is only my spirit wandering about in a\nfanciful manner. But no, looking downward I plainly saw my massive frame\ndressed in sailor's clothes just as I had left the ship and I was\npositive of being alive, awake, and in my right senses. And the wonders\nmultiplied. Looking to the right of the entrance, a short distance away,\nI observed a marble platform elevated about two feet from the ground, in\nthe midst of huge flower-beds and shaded by large trees, upon which sat\na number of men, silent and motionless, with various musical instruments\nin their hands as if they had just finished playing and were taking a\nshort rest. These instruments were of an entirely different pattern from\nany I had ever seen. And the men! Oh, if I only had the power to show\nthem to my fellow beings as I saw them. What an imposing, noble looking\nlot they were. They were all about the same size and not one of them\ncould have been less than eight feet in height. In looking at them\nclosely, I noticed that they possessed most magnificent physiques. They\nwere neither fat nor lean and their well-groomed bodies showed plainly\nthat no horse or piece of machinery ever received better care or\nattention. While they appeared to be from thirty to forty years in ages,\nnot one of them wore a mustache, beard or any other shaggy decoration of\nthe face. Their foreheads were broad and massive and extended to the\ncenter of their splendidly shaped craniums. Extraordinary intelligence,\nkindness and gentleness showed forth from every feature of their\nhandsome countenances. Judging from their well-proportioned frames, each\none looked powerful enough to battle single handed with an elephant.\nJudging from their faces not one of them would have hurt a flea. Each\nman appeared to be buried in the depth of thought--serious thought--\nnotwithstanding every physiognomy plainly showed that the utmost\nhappiness and contentment existed within each, and good will between all\nof them. The skin of their faces, hands and feet was as white as snow,\ntransparent, and backed by a beautiful pink. At first sight I thought\nthey were the gods. Uniformly clothed in closely fitting garments from\nthe ankles to the neck, their superb forms showed complete symmetrical\nperfection. The hue of their raiment was indescribable for I had never\nseen the like before. In fact the colors actually appeared to change\nbefore my steady gaze. Their feet were bare, very shapely, and the toes\nof greater length than ordinarily.\n\nAs I stood rooted to the ground and viewed them with intense admiration,\nI wondered why they did not speak or take notice of my presence. But\nfinally in order to attract their attention I shouted, hello. My voice\nsounded rather harsh and peculiar on this occasion, and was more like\nthe bray of an ass than anything else, but they made no motion as if\nthey heard me, or were aware of my existence. Walking over to the\nnearest one, I reached up and touched him on the shoulder. Then I sprang\nback in amazement, for instead of giving any sign of recognition he\nmerely placed his instrument in position, as did all the others, and\nwith slow, graceful movements began to play. The first strains of music,\nalthough distinct and supernaturally grand, seemed to be miles away but\ngradually increased in sound as if coming nearer and nearer. At the same\ntime I observed that the musicians, who were not only using both hands\nin the manipulation of their instruments but with graceful dexterity\ntheir feet as well, were becoming enthusiastic and appeared to throw\ntheir very lives and souls into the work. If at first while inactive\nthey appeared to be extraordinarily intellectual beings, now in action\nthey looked divine. Their eyes blazed like miniature suns shooting forth\nsparks of a thousand different hues. It seemed as if the very music\nitself came from the expression of their faces. And on, on, on, came the\nintoxicating strains, increasing in volume and excellence until I\nimagined that all heaven had broken loose in one great effort to charm\nmy feeble senses, and then with a thunderous climax it ceased instantly,\nthe musicians smiled and bowed pleasantly to one another, and then\nresumed their former attitudes.\n\nNo mortal's pen could describe my ecstasy while listening to the music\nproduced by this body of--I must say heavenly creatures. There was\nsomething strange and analogous about it, too, that seemed to recall a\nmysterious dream or vision I had once passed through. Whether it was\ncaused by the music or the kindly expressions of love for one another on\nthe faces of the players I know not, but nevertheless great tears\nspontaneously rolled down my cheeks, the first I ever recollect having\nshed, and at the conclusion of the piece I remained transfixed to the\nspot for several minutes in deep cogitation.\n\nOnce more, however, my inquiring nature aroused me and I walked over\ntoward the leader. His face was turned slightly in another direction, so\nI decided to step up on the platform, get squarely in front of him and\nlook straight into his eyes. So with a light movement I sprang for the\nrostrum. But instead of reaching it my foot and head struck--not the\nplatform but solid wall, and a second later I found myself in a heap on\nthe ground. Then I started to think. Next I began to feel and finally a\nbroad grin overspread my face, for the scene before me was not real\nafter all, but a wonderful painting on the interior of the building.\n\nCHAPTER VI\n\nPutting my hand against the surface and walking along I discovered that\nthis great scene which appeared to stretch away into the distance for\nseveral miles, including the trees, brook, lake, sun, clouds, sky, and\neverything else, was painted on the wall, ceiling and floor, of a\ncircular room. The ceiling was arranged in the shape of a dome, while\nthe floor made a concave connection with the wall. The whole apartment\ncould not have been over fifty feet in diameter. The entire room was\ncovered by one painting, and so well had the work been done that the\nonly way I could discern the difference between the real and artistic\nscene was by extending my hands in front of me and feeling my way along.\n\nBut what about the music? Surely I heard it, and without doubt the\nskilled musicians had performed their work right before my eyes. And the\nsun, the light, and the fragrance from the flowers, what about these?\nWhile in a state of perplexity at not being able to understand these\nmysterious things, my eyes fell upon something which I had not noticed\npreviously, at the same time causing me to give a sudden start as if\npierced by an electric shock.\n\nTo the left of the door through which I had entered and lying in a\nreclining position upon a bed of flowers, similar in shape to a modern\nsofa, was the most beautiful object, I think, ever created--a woman. And\nsuch a woman. Oh, ignorant humanity, why do you not breed all women like\nthat one? Although nearly twenty-three years have passed since then,\nstill the vision of her is as fresh upon my mind now as at that moment\nwhen my eyes first beheld her. And as I think of her now I am unable to\nrepress the tears from filling my eyes, strong man that I am.\n\nDressed in a tight-fitting costume like those worn by the men, with the\naddition of a net-like drapery of light material entwined about her, and\nlying in a comfortable position partly on one side, with her lovely head\nresting upon one arm, her shapely body and limbs posed gracefully and\nher eyes closed in slumber, she impressed me as being the queen of the\nuniverse.\n\nThis is the most beautiful part of the whole picture, thought I, taking\na few steps forward. What artist's imagination could ever have created\nsuch a sublime and realistic work? As I stood in reverent contemplation\nof her my admiration was unbounded. It seemed as if my feelings would\nburst within me. My first love for woman was then and there confirmed\nfor all time. I decided I would stay and spend the rest of my days right\nthere, silently attesting my everlasting devotion to that divine\nlikeness of ideality. Had I not discovered that the whole thing was a\nwork of art, I should have felt positive that she was really alive and\nmerely lay there in peaceful repose. Then a sudden thought passed\nthrough my mind which gradually expanded into an irresistible desire; I\nwould press my lips to hers and thereby seal my love forevermore.\n\nTrembling like a timid school-boy I advanced closer. How lovely she\nappeared. How real. Bending forward and putting my head in juxtaposition\nto hers it seemed as if I actually heard her heart beat. It may have\nbeen my own. With my face flushed and feeling that perhaps I might be\ntaking an unfair advantage of one who would not appreciate my caress, I\ntenderly touched her lips with mine. For another moment of such\nindescribable ecstasy I would gladly pass through all the imaginary\ntortures of the infernal regions. But it ended there.\n\nNo sooner had our lips come together than I became aware of the fact\nthat the adorable object before me was real and not artificial as\nsupposed. As if by magic her mouth twitched slightly and her whole frame\nquivered perceptibly; then she opened her eyes and finally with a most\ngraceful spring she landed squarely upon her feet directly in front of\nme. I jumped backward in utter amazement. And there we stood face to\nface staring into each other's eyes. I then noticed that she was about\nseven feet in height and although not lean still there was not an ounce\nof superfluous flesh on her serpent-like figure. Like the men, she too\nwas bare footed, and her hair, a dark silky texture, was short and very\nartistically arranged. Her snow white face, transparent with pink, was\nthe acme of loveliness, with an expression of gentleness, purity and\nmodesty plainly stamped upon every feature. Her dazzling eyes sparkled\nwith the brilliancy of huge diamonds. Evidently she was as much\nastonished as myself at the strange course of events. Although she did\nnot speak still I received an impression from her as if put into so many\nwords which plainly said: \"John, am I dreaming or what awful experiment\nhave you attempted to transform yourself into such a hideous creature?\"\nI tried to speak but my first effort nearly choked me. Then in a voice\nwhich seemed to be unusually coarse I finally blurted out: \"My dear\nlady, will you kindly tell me who or what you are?\" These words seemed\nto puzzle her more than ever and after hurriedly glancing about the room\nshe looked me over carefully from head to foot. Speaking once more I\nsaid, \"Madame, can you understand my language?\" Then I received another\nstrange but unmistakable impression which replied: \"I can understand\nyour thoughts but not your babble.\" \"Are you able,\" she continued\ntelepathically, \"to give an explanation of this extraordinary\nmetamorphosis?\" \"The only information I can offer,\" answered I, \"will be\ncheerfully given. My name is John Convert, late seaman aboard the\nschooner Brawl, bound from Sydney to London. Last night I was thrown\noverboard by my shipmates and after floating about the deep for several\nhours I landed upon this pile of ruins surrounded by the sea. In making\nan investigation of the exterior I lost my foothold, fell into a crevice\nand breaking through a thin crust I landed in the outer passageway which\nfinally led me into this room. I must confess that everything here is as\ninexplicable to me as I appear to you.\" As I spoke she seemed to be\nlaboring under intense mental excitement and tears came to her eyes.\n\n\"I understand it all now,\" she made known to me in her mysterious way,\n\"the experiment failed.\"\n\n\"What experiment was that?\" questioned I in surprise.\n\nLooking me straight in the eye as though trying to impress upon my mind\nthe importance of her communication, she answered, \"the attempt of man\nto change the course of the earth in space.\"\n\nCHAPTER VII\n\n\"And so you inform me that there is nothing left of beautiful Sageland\nbut a heap of ruins surrounded by the sea,\" mused the lovely--the idea\nstruck me to name her Arletta--\"tell me what happened to the rest of my\npeople.\"\n\n\"Not knowing anything about the matter it is impossible for me to answer\nthat question,\" replied I; \"and although I have traveled through nearly\nevery country on earth still no such people as you or the magnificent\nobjects represented in that picture have ever come to my attention\nbefore. In fact I have never read of such a race or even heard of a\ncountry by the name of Sageland.\"\n\nAt this remark she turned abruptly and walked--or rather flew, so easy\nand graceful were her movements--over to a portion of the wall and\nlooked long and earnestly into a peculiar instrument, then returning she\nsaid: (without the use of words) \"according to my chronometer, more than\nfour thousand two hundred and thirty years have elapsed since the awful\ncatastrophe.\"\n\n\"Four thousand, two hundred and thirty years!\" ejaculated I, \"great\nheavens, that must have been about the time of the flood.\" \"What flood?\"\ninquired she.\n\nThen I proceeded to tell her how in those days the people of the world\nbeing so wicked that God during a terrible fit of anger made it rain for\nforty days and forty nights, causing the destruction of every living\nthing on earth except one Noah, his family and a male and female of\nevery animal, bird and insect, who were saved by being taken aboard of a\nhuge ark built for the purpose by Noah. And then after every living\nthing not aboard the boat was destroyed, how the waves receded, Noah and\nhis flock were safely landed upon a mountain peak, and God put a bow\ninto the sky as a pledge that he would never do such a thing again.\nArletta appeared somewhat amused at my recital of the story and at its\nconclusion merely remarked: \"Noah evidently had more good sense than his\ngod.\" Then she added: \"As to the rainbow, that was seen by the\ninhabitants of the earth millions of years before Noah's time.\"\n\n\"So the world has retrogressed during the past four thousand years,\"\nmused she sadly.\n\n\"Retrogressed! No indeed, the world has made great progress and has now\nreached a wonderful state of civilization,\" answered I, proudly.\n\nMotioning me to an opposite position she majestically seated herself\nupon the couch and after seriously looking at me for some time she\nfinally said: \"This is one of nature's most extraordinary proceedings\nand there are many things I wish to talk with you about, but before\ngoing into the details of this matter I am anxious to get a view of the\nworld as it exists now. You have observed that unlike the lower animals,\nin which rank unfortunately you belong at the present time\"--here I\ninterrupted her by bursting forth into loud laughter, not because I\nenjoyed being called an animal myself but at the thought of how some of\nmy civilized friends would feel if informed that they were lower\nanimals. My intervention, however, not disturbing her in the least, she\nresumed: \"In our nomenclature your species was known as the Apeman, and\nrepresented in the chain of evolution the link between the Ape and Man.\nOur scientists placed the Apeman within the ranks of the lower animals\nfor reasons I shall make clear later. But to continue, you have observed\nthat unlike yourself I have been conversing with you without the use of\nthe voice but with the mind, the most effectual agent of communication\nand one of the senses the Apeman has not cultivated. Now I shall show\nyou how to see without eyes.\n\n\"Mind sight is an occult force which was exercised to great advantage by\nmy people. This force eliminates both distance and obstruction and\nexposes to view the object sought even if it is located on the opposite\nside of the globe. Any mind, if sufficiently strong, can contract\ndistance and bring any mundane scene within its range while penetrating\nsolid matter as if it did not exist at all. So by utilizing this power,\nwhich I possess to a considerable degree, it is my intention to make a\nhurried survey of the earth's surface in order to obtain an exact idea\nof present conditions. Furthermore, by the subtle concentration of our\nmind forces together I shall convey to your inner vision the actual\nscenes witnessed by myself, and you shall act as my mental consort on a\ntrip around the world.\"\n\nAfter the many wonderful things I had already seen it was my opinion\nthat there was nothing impossible for this beautiful woman to perform,\nso I mildly informed her that I was at her service, and ready for the\njourney to begin.\n\n\"Well then,\" said she, \"before starting I wish to warn you that no\nmatter what you see, hear or feel on this trip you must not disturb our\nobservation with your primitive babble, apish laughter or by trying to\noffer any comments whatsoever.\"\n\nAt this remark I was brought to a realization of the fact that Arletta,\nwhom I so ardently loved, aye even worshipped, was treating me in about\nthe same manner as I would have treated a pet monkey had I been teaching\nit some new tricks. She evidently regarded my smiles and feelings for\nher with about the same consideration as I should have given to those of\nsome grinning female baboon had it been trying to make love to me. Her\nlast thoughts, therefore, aroused my sensitive nature, and a violent\noutburst of temper was the result. I did not mind being called an Apeman\nso much, but hated the idea of being treated like one, so working myself\ninto a passion I severely censured her, and with much bluster and many\ngestures endeavored to impress upon her mind how much superior I was to\nwhat she had imagined. It was some time before my anger abated, and then\nI noticed that she appeared quite unmoved by my wrath but sat looking\ncalmly and alternately at me and one of the figures in the picture,\nwhile her face bore an expression of sadness and pity. Then I felt\nashamed to think of what a lack of self-control I had exhibited, and\nhumbly begged her pardon.\n\n\"But now,\" said Arletta, and I fancied that she called me John, \"your\nsoul is at present running the machinery of a very inferior mind and\nbody which plainly shows all the cruel passions and idiotic ideas of the\nApeman. This has happened through no fault of your own but is the result\nof circumstances over which you had no control so that you are not\nresponsible for your present condition. I now say however that you have\nbeen chosen by nature for a great and glorious work and from this time\nforward you must make use of your reasoning faculties for reasonable\npurposes and cast aside all the animal passions, silly ideas and\nantiquated superstitions which you have inherited from the ignorant of\nages, and begin afresh. Before starting on our journey perhaps it would\nbe well for us to take some refreshments in order that our minds may\nremain strong and clear during the trip. We take our nourishment in a\ndifferent way from you cannibals,\" said Arletta, as she went to one of\nthe artificial flower gardens, began inhaling and motioned me to do\nlikewise. \"But we are not cannibals,\" I mildly remonstrated, \"we do not\nkill and eat human beings.\" \"Do you not kill and eat the flesh of other\nliving things?\" inquired she. \"Yes,\" replied I, \"our diet consists of\nthe flesh of birds, fish and cattle which God with great wisdom created\nfor that purpose.\" \"Did he? Then you must worship a cannibal god, for it\nis but a very short step between eating the flesh of your own species\nand that of others. That is one reason why our scientists ranked the\nApeman with the lower animals. But come, inhale this perfume and see if\nit is not far more refreshing and less disgusting than to fill your\nstomach with roasted flesh.\"\n\nAt her suggestion I stationed myself near the flower bed which contained\na large variety of the most beautiful plants I had ever seen. She\ntouched several of them lightly and immediately the air was saturated\nwith a most delicious fragrance caused, no doubt, by an automatic\narrangement concealed within each flower. I stood like one in a most\ndelightful dream inhaling the invigorating fumes, and with each\nsucceeding breath my body became stronger and my mind brighter until I\nthought I should surely die from the effects of exuberant joy, when my\nattention was attracted by Arletta, who said: \"Come, you greedy little\npig, don't you know when you have had enough?\" Then she added, \"but I\nforgot that among your species greediness is considered a virtue.\"\n\nCHAPTER VIII\n\n\"Greediness considered a virtue among my species.\" Surely I must have\nmisunderstood her, thought I, once more seating myself, preparatory to\nbeginning my mental journey with Arletta. And I was glad to know that\nshe would shortly view our civilization as it existed, feeling positive\nthat she would then change her ideas regarding my species being lower\nanimals. I felt that it was my own fault because she harbored such an\nopinion and that I was to blame for being such a poor representative of\nmy race for her to judge by.\n\n\"Now, let's be off,\" said she, \"as I feel that my time will be short\nwith you and we had better make the best of it while it lasts.\" \"Time\nshort with you.\" Those words gave me more pain than if a sword had been\nthrust through my body. \"By all the gods of eternity, I would not care\nto live ten minutes if anything happened to that heavenly being,\"\nthought I, gazing at her with rapturous feelings of tenderness. \"Call me\na lower animal, a hideous creature or a greedy pig, and treat me like\none if you will, but do not leave me. Stay and let me be your slave\nforever.\" Those were my sincere thoughts. She understood them, but made\nno response.\n\nSettling back in a comfortable position with my eyes fastened upon\nArletta in loving adoration, the scene changed instantly and I found\nmyself once more upon the rocks in the middle of the sea. The sun was\njust rising in the east and another day was begun. Then our meteoric\nflight commenced, and quicker than it takes to relate I was high up\namong the clouds and peering down at a familiar landscape. I recognized\nthe location at once as the district occupied by and surrounding Cape\nTown, South Africa.\n\nI had been there before. But how peculiar everything appeared now as I\nlooked down from above. I could plainly discern the harbor and great\ntableland in the scene before me, although apparently shrunk in size,\nbut the city itself resembled a little toy village, while the largest\nships in the harbor reminded me of the tiny boats I used to construct\nwhen a child and float about in the bath-tub. But where, oh where, was\nthe greatest of all exalted things--that for which the entire universe\nand all that it contains therein was constructed--mighty man? He could\nnot be seen. In fact he was as completely invisible as the pestilential\ngerm on the back of a sick flea. \"If I only had a microscope,\" thought\nI, \"perhaps I could see him.\" Then I began to descend, until finally I\ndiscovered innumerable little creepers moving about in all directions.\nThey were men. At first sight they looked to be about the size of ants,\nbut as I got closer to the earth they increased in bulk until they\nappeared to be at least three inches in height, and then their\nimportance became noticeable. As they moved about in great numbers and I\ncame into close proximity with them, I observed that the actions of some\nwas apparently sensible but that the doings of the most of them was\npositively ridiculous. For instance, here was one set of creatures\ndiligently toiling to produce something and getting nothing, while here\nwas a set of idlers doing absolutely nothing but receiving everything.\nThe real producer of all the necessities and luxuries of life was\nactually giving nine-tenths of the fruits of his labor to a class of\nloafers and schemers who took it as a divine right, and then begrudged\nhim the one-tenth he received of his own production. I observed that for\nevery one of these producers there were ten non-producers who spent\ntheir time and efforts devising the best ways and means to confiscate\nthat which had been produced. It seemed strange that the producer would\nallow this state of affairs to exist; but he did, and seemed quite\nelated sometimes to think that the non-producer would permit him to live\nat all. I noticed that most of the non-producers were fat and bloated\nfrom being over-fed and from guzzling prepared liquors, and that they\nwere clothed with the finest materials the producer could contribute,\nwhile the producers themselves were lean and hungry looking objects, and\nwere dressed in rags. I had seen these same things many times before\nwithout giving them any consideration, but now for the first time, I\nfelt that there was something wrong with the people of the world. It\nseemed to me now that the entire system of human endeavor had been\nstarted wrong and was running along upside down. But what was the cause\nof this curious state of affairs? One word alone explained it all--\nSelfishness. And then there came to me a sentence, the imprint of which\nhas never been effaced from my memory, viz: \"Selfishness is the root of\nall evil; eradicate selfishness from all human beings and the earth win\nbe heaven.\"\n\nOh, dear reader, go over those few words again, and again; ten times;\nfifty times; one hundred times if necessary to thoroughly impress their\nfull meaning upon your intellect. Study them; practice them; teach them;\nsing them to all the world. Take them for your everlasting motto and you\nwill have no need for all the stupid theories ever created by man.\n\"Eradicate selfishness from all human beings and the earth will be\nheaven.\"\n\nAnd now I observed that great numbers of these little men were being\nunloaded from the various ships in the harbor, and upon landing started\nimmediately in a northerly direction. I understood the reason. Gold had\nbeen discovered in the Transvaal, and thousands upon thousands were\ncoming from every quarter of the globe in anticipation of getting some\nof this metal. And what is there about gold that caused people to go\nsuch vast distances and bear many hardships and even risk their lives in\ndesperate efforts to obtain it? Is there more real value to gold than\nother metals? Not at all. There is no more intrinsic value to gold than\nbrass, but centuries ago, a semi-savage glutton discovered that he could\nnot eat all the swine he could raise nor legally steal all his\ncontemporaries could breed, so he originated a plan whereby he could\nsecure for himself what others had produced through the agency of a\nfinancial system in which gold could be used as a medium of exchange. He\nfound that he could get other and less crafty savages to go and dig the\ngold for him in return for swine. He also found that the breeders would\nexchange swine for gold. So he started by giving the diggers one swine\nfor ten ounces of gold and the breeders one ounce of gold for ten swine.\nThis transaction he called business. This system of business has been\nhanded down from generation to generation until it has become a part of\nman's very nature. He knows very little of anything else. Gold being the\nfinancial medium of business he is taught to crave it in his infancy and\nas he grows older gold becomes his idol--his God. In order to gain\npossession of gold or its equivalent man forgets his soul and sells his\nhonor. He is willing to crush the weak, cheat, steal or even murder his\nfellow beings to obtain it. And no matter whether he has little or much\nof it he considers any person insane who dare suggest the abolition of\nthe financial system which permits individual accumulation and breeds\nselfishness and crime.\n\nWith a change of mind, I landed thousands of miles further north into\nthe interior of uncivilized Africa, the home of wild beasts. Here\nsomething occurred which caused me to think that after all, perhaps\nArletta was right in classing my species with the lower animals. Under\nordinary conditions I should not have given the incident a second\nthought, but now my mind being directly connected with hers, I was, no\ndoubt, impressed in the same manner as she while viewing these things.\n\nA party of English gentlemen were on a hunting expedition. They appeared\nto be intelligent beings of aristocratic birth. Men whom the average\nindividual would take as examples to emulate. But here they were in\nAfrica, thousands of miles from home, with the sole purpose of killing\nsomething for pleasure. A short distance away was a family of lions; a\nmale, female and several cubs. The lion and lioness lay close together,\napparently casting loving glances at one another and enjoying the antics\nof the little ones who were playing together nearby. Occasionally the\nlittle ones would run over and kiss their elders in a most affectionate\nway, which seemed to greatly please the parents. Never have I seen a\nfamily of human beings display so much real affection toward each others\nas this family of lions. But alas, their happiness was at an end. Man's\nappetite for killing must be appeased. One of the hunters had caught\nsight of the happy little family, and slinking behind a tree before his\npresence became known to the lions he signaled to his comrades, who\nsneaked forward from tree to tree until they were within easy range of\ntheir prey. Then fixing their rifles and taking deliberate aim at the\nunsuspecting victims, and without giving them any chance to defend\nthemselves or little ones, these so-called brave and civilized hunters\npulled the triggers and the happy old lion and the lioness\nsimultaneously expired, pierced by a dozen bullets. And what became of\nthe little ones? The sight was too pitiable to describe. After the\neffects of the first fright, caused by the noise of the shots, had\npassed, they instinctively rushed to their parents for protection. Oh,\nthe anguish depicted upon the faces of these little things when they\ndiscovered that their loving progenitors were no more. Their looks and\nmoans were heartrending. But there were others made happy. A sudden\nshout of joyousness burst forth from the throats of a dozen civilized\nmen who eagerly rushed from behind their fortresses to view the work of\ndestruction. They had displayed fine marksmanship and were greatly\npleased. Good shooting, said one of the brave fellows. Splendid,\nexclaimed another. But what shall we do with the cubs? asked the third.\nBetter finish them also, remarked a fourth, as I am very fond of cub\nmeat, and would like nothing better than a broiled steak from one of\ntheir little carcasses. After a few minutes' parley a decision was\nreached that it would be uncivilized to allow the little ones to wander\nabout the jungle alone for fear that they might become the prey for\nother wild animals, so they killed them also; and filled their stomachs\nwith them. And after they were through, a flock of vultures descended\nand finished the work. Men and vultures are somewhat alike in this\nrespect; they both eat the flesh of carcasses. But a good word can be\nsaid for the vultures, however; they never kill.\n\nCHAPTER IX\n\nIt is not my intention to give a full descriptive account of my peculiar\njourney around the world with Arletta, nor to recount the many strange\nthings witnessed. Suffice it to mention that we visited nearly every\ncountry on the globe through the power of mind sight, and I was enabled\nto see any terrestrial occurrence as well as if having been on the spot\nin person. In fact, being under the direct influence of Arletta's\nperception, conditions appeared much more comprehensive to me than ever\nbefore and I felt like some great judge looking down upon the earth and\nits inhabitants with an impartial eye. And somehow these inhabitants did\nnot seem to impress me as being in such a high state of intelligence as\nI had formerly been led to believe they were. Everywhere human beings\nwere fighting and snarling amongst themselves like ferocious beasts.\nTheir universal law granted the right of the strong to victimize the\nweak either through the power of physical or mental force. In fact it\nwas considered a divine right for men of superior intellects to receive\nmore of the fruits of the earth than those of smaller mental capacity.\nOne-half of the world was over-fed while the other half was under-fed.\nAside from a slight difference in political and religious theories, the\ncharacteristics of all the peoples of the world were the same; the\npredominant features being greed, vanity, egotism, intemperance,\ngluttony, fraud, theft, bribery, deceit, brutality, murder, superstition\nand filth. Even America, the much boasted land of the free, the country\nwhich God in his infinite wisdom had taken from the bad English and\ngiven to the good Americans, contained people with these traits, and the\nso-called great men of this country appeared like a lot of silly little\npigmies engaged in an eternal quarrel over a few trinkets. Few of them\ncould see further than their own noses unless it was to see something\nthat would increase their own selfish desires. Equality, of which these\npeople boasted so much, existed merely in their imaginations. The actual\nmeaning of equality, as the Americans understood it, was that the\nphysical and mental gladiators and weaklings alike were put into one\ngreat prize ring and given an opportunity to fight for their lives and\nnature's gifts. Those who were capable of battering down and trampling\nupon their adversaries were legally entitled to all the luxuries the\nearth provided and more than they could use, but those who were\nunfortunate enough to have been born weaklings and were unfit to cope\nsuccessfully with the huge monsters in the ring, were crushed in the\nstruggle.\n\nFraud was the slogan of the government officials and nearly all of them\npracticed it, from the highest to the lowest functionary. Money was the\npower behind the curtain and he who had the largest bank account was\ncatered to like an over-grown hog surrounded by a lot of suckling pigs.\n\"God helps those who help themselves\" was their accepted motto. In other\nwords, God helps the strong and not the weak. If the Creator gives any\nof His attention to the innumerable bickerings of these earthly microbes\nHe must feel greatly flattered by having this splendid motto thrust upon\nHim, for according to it, one was supposed to go to the assistance of\nthe man who could swim, while he who could not, must be left to drown.\n\nA certain so-called great American, one Mr. Moundbuilder by name,\nexpressed great faith in this doctrine. By employing thousands of his\nfellow men to do the hard work while he sat in an easy chair and\nconfiscated the difference between what they earned and what he paid\nthem, he accumulated several hundred million dollars for his own use.\nAbout the time he was ready to die he learned to his great sorrow that\nit was necessary to leave all this wealth behind. So he decided to\nbequeath it to only those who were sufficiently strong and willing to\ncontinue his policy of crushing the weak and incidentally erect some\nmonuments to his own memory. After much consideration as to how the\nstrong would derive the most benefit from his ill-gotten goods, he\nconcluded that the weak-minded and sickly creatures who were bred from\nthe system he abetted and the over-worked and under-fed laborer would\nhave no opportunity to read books, so he established hundreds of\nMoundbuilder libraries and Moundbuilder universities in all parts of the\nworld. To those who were already strong enough to reach a position where\nthey could enter a university and did not really need his aid, the idea\nwas a grand one, as it would help to increase their strength, thereby\nmaking it much easier for them to confiscate what the weaklings could\nproduce in the future. Thus the plan to make the strong stronger, the\nweak weaker, and Moundbuilder immortal, would be perpetuated. But the\ncherished hopes of Mr. Moundbuilder in this respect will never be\nrealized, for the day is not far distant when earthly mortals will be\nable to reason and then he will be recognized simply as a vain-glorious\nold humbug.\n\nAnother celebrated American who was classed among the great men of the\nday was a certain Mr. Porkpacker. This individual conducted an\nestablishment where thousands of animals, bred for the purpose, were\nslaughtered daily. He had accumulated millions of blood-stained dollars\nin this way, and was generally conceded to be a man of great business\nability. He was pointed out to the rising generation as one of the most\nsuccessful men in the country whose example should be followed. Just\npause a moment and think of it. Here was a man who directed a business\nwhere thousands of living things were murdered daily, set forth as a\ngood example to follow just because he had secured millions of dollars\nby the operation. Oh, ye mortals! Man considers the wolf a blood-thirsty\nbeast because he kills and eats the flesh of human beings for\nsubsistence. What kind of a bestial monster would the wolf consider man\nif it saw him in his slaughter-house killing thousands of innocent beef,\nsheep and hogs daily? Or what would it think of civilized man if it saw\nhim shooting myriads of tame and harmless pigeons for amusement, or\nbroiling lobsters alive to satisfy his gormandizing desires? Perhaps the\nwolf would set man below its grade, if interrogated upon the subject.\nBut tyrannical man, intoxicated by his own egotism and clinging to an\nelastic religion which allows him to act as he pleases, feels that his\ngod created all these things for his special benefit. If the wolf could\nbe questioned about the matter, it too might claim that its god\npermitted the killing and eating of man. Mr. Porkpacker was considered\nboth great and good by his fellow beings, for each year he gave\nthousands of dollars for the erection and maintenance of the church and\nlikewise contributed largely toward his pastor's salary. Would it be\ngood policy then for the pastor to believe that it was wrong to kill\nsheep, when one of the large contributors was earning money in that\nbusiness? No, no. So the church upheld the slaughter-houses and proved\nby the scriptures that they were simply doing what the savages had done\nthousands of years previously according to divine right.\n\nOnce I listened to my father preach a sermon on the beautiful innocence\nand purity of the lamb. For an hour he spoke feelingly of the many\nvirtues contained by this gentle little creature and after he was\nthrough he immediately went home and filled his stomach with roasted\nlamb for dinner. Good Christians are anxious to know when the time will\narrive that the lion and lamb will lie down together in peace and\nharmony. Possibly the lamb would like to know if the time will ever come\nwhen its carcass will not be utilized to appease the voracious appetite\nof the Christian.\n\nIn looking over the so-called great business men and financial swindlers\nof America they certainly presented a motley collection of physical and\nmental monstrosities. They spent so much of their time in the mad rush\nfor dollars and how to spend them, that physical and mental improvement\nreceived very little attention. Their brains became stagnant for the\nwant of proper training and their bodies were allowed to rot and become\nuseless for the need of exercise. Some were so fat they could not walk,\nwhile others were too lean to stand. A great many of them used either\ncanes or crutches as an aid to hobble along or vehicles to convey them\nfrom place to place. Nearly all were cripples, more or less; rheumatism,\ngout, paralysis and numerous other ailments being the cause of their\nhelplessness. Few of them seemed able to understand that all these\ninfirmities were directly caused by the want of proper exercise and from\nthe gluttonous habit of overloading their stomachs with foods of many\nkinds and meat especially. Apparently it was beyond their comprehension\nthat nature commanded them to improve their physiques for the benefit of\ncoming generations. Men who professed to be athletes when they were past\nthe age of thirty were considered childish, while the exponents of\nphysical culture were generally looked upon as cranks. Eating, drinking\nand smoking were adapted as the best modes of recreation, while fishing\nand shooting pigeons, quail, squirrels and other harmless living things\nwere regarded as good, healthy amusements. Of all the brutal methods of\ndiversion ever adopted by man, fishing is perhaps the most cruel. If the\nreader does not think so, just stop for a moment and imagine yourself\nbeing hooked to a great line by the mouth and your body being drawn far\nup into space and into another atmosphere, there to strangle slowly to\ndeath. You would not like it, would you? Then why should the fish be\ntreated so? Do you not suppose that the fish have feelings like\nyourself? Oh, if all my fellowmen could only have taken that trip around\nthe world with Arletta and seen things as I saw them, cruelty in all its\nvarious forms would be a thing of the past. That trip and my subsequent\nexperience with her proved to be the best education I could have\nreceived from any source. It taught me the real meaning of the word\nkindness, without which, not only toward human beings, but toward all\nliving things, man will never rise above the savage state.\n\nCHAPTER X\n\nWe were just twenty-four hours making our journey around the world, when\nsuddenly I found myself once more gazing into the beautiful eyes of\nArletta. While she bestowed a kindly look of sympathy toward me, her\nfeatures plainly showed that her gentle nature had received an awful\nshock from the terrible and degrading sights we had witnessed. And there\nwas much reason why this pure and lovable woman should be shocked at\nwhat we had seen, for even I, a worthless and hardened vagabond, had\nbecome thoroughly disgusted with my own species.\n\n\"And what do you think of your highly civilized people now?\" she\ninquired sadly. \"They are a race of tail-less monkeys and filthy beasts\nwith myself included,\" responded I, with vehemence, and then I began a\ntirade of abuse against the entire human family.\n\n\"Stop,\" exclaimed Arletta, \"you must not allow malice to enter your mind\nagainst any living creature, no matter how beastly or brutal it may be.\nHatred will not make the world better; it needs love. No living being is\nresponsible for what it is any more than you or I are accountable for\nbeing in existence. But while each individual inherits the good or bad\ninstincts of its predecessor, still it has the power to make better or\nworse its own condition. Love will not only make better your own\ncondition, but that of your fellow beings as well. Do not expect to find\nin others that which you do not possess yourself. It is your duty to set\na good example, not wait for others to accomplish what you have not done\nyourself. So begin right now with love. Cast away all unkind thoughts\nand never allow another to enter your mind, no matter what the\nprovocation might be. I admit that the Apeman of today is no better, in\nfact, in many respects is much inferior to the Apeman who lived over\nfour thousand years ago, but that is because he took the wrong road in\ntrying to reach real manhood. He is still on the wrong path, but must be\nturned about and started in the right direction. He must be taught that\nHeaven is here on earth, if he will only make it so. But the earth will\nnever be a paradise, so long as he allows a grain of selfishness to\nremain in his system. In yonder picture you can see what real men were\nlike. Study their countenances carefully and see if you can read that\nany one of them ever committed a selfish act or even permitted an unkind\nthought to enter his mind, for if he had, you could plainly read it from\nhis features, the face being the mirror of our thoughts and actions, and\nno matter what we do or what we think from the time we are born until we\ndie, every act and thought is indelibly stamped upon our faces and can\nnever be erased until the material of which we are composed has\ndisintegrated and reentered the great chemical basin from which all\nliving things receive their matter and energy. And it is to be hoped\nthat with each turn of the chemical wheel the succeeding generation will\nbe re-moulded on a better scale, until the Apeman and all lower animals\nhave passed through a successful course of evolution and finally emerge\ninto real manhood--the highest type of earthly beings. This goal is but\na few steps and within the power of the Apeman to reach, but he must\ntake his steps in the right direction. A whole nation of those\nmagnificent beings you see in the picture, once existed in real life.\nTheir ancestors were Apemen who were started in the right path, and\nafter persistently sticking to the upward march of unselfish progress\nfor many generations, ultimately reached the class of men you see before\nyou; giants, physically, mentally and morally.\" And here she paused and\nlooked long and affectionately at those wonderful figures in the\npainting. Then a feeling of intense jealousy suddenly crept into my\nbrain, and I thought I would surely go mad under its terrible pressure.\nArletta was in love with one of those real men, while she held merely a\ncompassionate feeling for me.\n\nI, the Apeman, standing six feet two inches in height and weighing over\ntwo hundred pounds avoirdupois, heretofore regarded as a marvel in\nphysical development, now, in the presence of these eight-foot giants,\nfelt like a shrunken pigmy. Formerly it was generally conceded that I\nwas a rather handsome fellow. This woman thought I was hideous.\nPreviously, I had felt proud of my nicely curled heavy black mustache,\nnow I thought it made me look like a monkey. The splendid features of\nthe real men were not disfigured by a hair or blemish of any kind, while\ntheir skin was as soft and smooth as that of a new born child. During my\ntrip around the world, I had observed that the more man's body was\ncovered by hair, the more ape-like he appeared, especially when\ndecorating his face with it, and I was certain that my appearance was\njust as ludicrous in the eyes of Arletta as those I had seen. Therefore\nmy admiration for the stately objects portrayed in the picture was\nbeginning to turn into hatred. I inwardly wished they were alive that I\nmight have an opportunity to combat with one or all of them in order to\nshow Arletta that I possessed the courage to fight until death for her\nlove. While lost in the midst of such reflections Arletta turned her\ngaze upon me fixedly and said: \"What barbaric thoughts have you\npermitted to enter your mind now?\" \"I was wishing,\" replied I rather\nsullenly, \"that the man you love in that picture was alive, that I might\nhave the chance to demonstrate my worth in a fight to secure your favor;\nperhaps, then, you would discover that I had some good qualities.\"\n\n\"And do you suppose if I saw you fighting like a savage bulldog that I\nwould admire those brutish tendencies in your nature?\" inquired she. \"Do\nyou think that the animal instincts of fighting and killing are good\nqualities to possess? Has your trip around the world borne no good\nresults? You have observed that your own species, like other savage\nbeasts, quarrel, fight, maim and kill each other through selfish\nmotives, and you have condemned them for it; now you would continue to\ndo the very same thing yourself and think that I would consider it\ncourageous. According to one of our primitive laws, the courageous man\nwas he who feared no one and caused no one to fear him. These men of the\npicture were the bravest of the brave, and still if one of them were\nalive today he would not fight with you, no matter how much you might\nill use him, for he would know that it required more real strength to\ntake abuse than to give it. He would suffer more pain if he hurt you\nthan if you injured him. And still he could have crushed you with\ngreater ease than a cat can a mouse, if he were cowardly enough to do\nit. That is the real courage of unselfishness--the kind your species\ncannot understand. Your fellow beings applaud cowardice which they\nmistake for strength of character. They seem unable to comprehend that\nit requires far more courage to suffer pain than to inflict it upon\nothers. They have inherited their erroneous ideas from the wild beasts\nwho preceded them, and at the present time few of them know any better.\nBut they must be taught differently and the teachers must set the\nexamples, not merely offer advice. The different countries of the world\ntoday support large armies of licensed murderers who are commonly called\nsoldiers. They are sent to the battle-fields to slaughter each other for\nselfish purposes. The strongest side is naturally victorious, and after\nkilling as many of their adversaries as possible, return home to receive\nthe applause and admiration of their countrymen. They are considered\nheroic because they were successful in slaying their weaker opponents.\nYour society worships these human butchers and the more lives one of\nthem has destroyed the bigger the monument is erected in his honor. How\nmany of these butchers would have the courage to take an insult from a\nweaker party without resenting it? It requires great bravery for the\nstrong to refrain from taking advantage of the weak; it demands real\nheroism for the strong to equally share the results of their labors with\nthe feeble. For the strong are doubly blessed in having strength while\nthe weak are unfortunate and need sympathy.\"\n\n\"Would it not be courageous for one person to die for the love of\nanother?\" inquired I.\n\n\"That would depend altogether upon the circumstances,\" replied Arletta.\n\"It would require far more courage to sacrifice your life for one you\ndid not love as there would then be no selfish motive behind it. As I\nunderstand your feelings, you love me and imagine that you would not\ncare to live without me.\"\n\n\"Yes,\" said I fervently, \"I shall take my own life sooner than leave\nyou.\"\n\n\"That is not courage at all, it is simply cowardice,\" answered she.\n\"Through your own selfishness in trying to obtain something beyond your\nreach, you lack the strength to live without it. It takes far more\ncourage to live when you want to die than to die when you want to live.\nUnselfishness is the very highest type of courageousness and one must\nlive for the good he may do the world instead of his own personal\naggrandizement. Thousands of our noble men sacrificed their lives yearly\nfor the good of the world. Our laws permitted a certain number of them\nto leave their heavenly country periodically to go among the Apemen, and\ntry and teach these barbarians the meaning of unselfish love. They never\nreturned. They fully realized before starting on these missionary trips,\nthat they were depriving themselves of all the luxuries the earth\nprovided for a life of hardship and suffering; a life of insults and all\nthe cruel tortures the ferocious Apemen could inflict upon them. But it\npleased them to know that they possessed the courage to withstand all\nthe insults heaped upon them, while trying to alleviate the conditions\nof others. Unlike your present missionaries they did not go into\ndifferent countries backed up by loaded guns ready to annihilate all who\ndid not believe their doctrines. If you hit a man on the head with a\nclub and then tell him that you love him he will not believe you. They\nunderstood that to teach the Apemen to love one another they must set\nthemselves up as examples, not with mere words, but by unselfish and\ncourageous acts. They also knew that they had no divine right to enter\nanother country and force upon the inhabitants their laws and customs.\nThey merely went to teach their methods and in trying to do good for\nothers were willing to accept insults in return for their kindness in\norder to prove their sincerity of purpose.\n\n\"At first, these good men were looked upon as gods by the Apemen who\nwished to worship them as such, and had they been vain-glorious like the\nApeman himself, they would have allowed this false idea to exist. But\nno, there was not a grain of vanity or selfishness in their systems.\nThey had not left their homes and friends to be worshiped, but had gone\naway to show the Apeman how he might reach real manhood, if he would but\nfollow their instructions. They taught the eradication of selfishness\nfrom all living beings and the abolition of the system of individual\naccumulation, practiced then and now by all of your species. Of course\nwhen the rich and religious rulers of the different tribes and nations\nlearned that these men were teaching that all living beings should have\nan equal chance in life, and that the weak should enjoy the same\ncomforts as the strong, and that their divine right laws were unjust,\nthey became wroth and ordered our men to be put to death by the most\ncruel methods. Some were burned at the stake; others were buried alive;\nseveral were put into dungeons and their bodies allowed to rot; many\nwere cast into fiery furnaces, while a number of them were thrown into\ndens containing lions and tigers. All these tortures and innumerable\nothers, did these brave men suffer that they might impress upon the\nApeman the real meaning of courage and unselfishness. And through the\npower of mind sight we used to see these heroic volunteers unflinchingly\nsuffer these indignities for the cause of righteousness, notwithstanding\nwe had the power to annihilate the entire Apeman species, if we had so\ndesired. Our chemists could have turned on currents of poisonous air and\nasphyxiated whole nations of them at once; our electricians could have\nsent an electric shock around the earth that would have left a path of\ndestruction a thousand miles in width; our scientists could have\nconcentrated the full force of the sun's rays upon any particular city\nthey might choose and burn it up instantly; but they did not. We had the\npower to destroy, but the courage of forbearance. The highest honor our\nnation could bestow upon a man was to allow him to leave his heavenly\ncountry and become a martyr to his own unselfishness in trying to uplift\nthe Apeman species. And had it not been for the unfortunate catastrophe\nwhich I shall explain to you later, our plans would have succeeded and\nthe earth today would have been heaven with no such creature in\nexistence as the Apeman.\"\n\nCHAPTER XI\n\n\"Next to selfishness, religion has been the greatest drawback towards\nprogress the Apeman has had to contend with in all ages,\" continued\nArletta.\n\n\"Religion is the outgrowth of ignorance and the Apeman, just starting up\nthe ladder of human knowledge, adopted it as an explanation of things of\nwhich he knew nothing. All religions were created by the Apeman; and\nwherein lies the difference between the god built of stone or from the\nimagination? In constructing the numberless religions, the Apeman\ninvariably made them to suit his own habits and customs. He built his\ngods to please his own fancy and gave his own ideas as those of his\ndeities. His own knowledge is likewise the extent of the wisdom\ncontained by his gods, whom lie manufactured to be twisted and turned in\nany direction and made to answer any purpose he might see fit. No one\nreligion is any worse than all the rest. They are all founded on\nignorance, superstition and selfishness. To believe in any of these\npetty religions is to cast insults upon the real Creator of the\nuniverse, for a god created by the Apeman must naturally be a very\ninferior being. Each devout worshiper can point out the errors and\nabsurdities of every other religion excepting his own. He is capable of\nutilizing his reasoning powers until directed against himself, and\nnarrowed down to a few words he feels that he is all right but everybody\nelse is all wrong. Of the several hundred religions now extant, would it\nnot be more reasonable to suppose that they were all wrong than to\nbelieve they were all right? Take your own religion for instance; you\nare worshiping a most unnatural god. In fact your Bible puts him in the\nposition of a vain-glorious tyrant. According to the Bible an Apeman can\nbe no worse than his god no matter how bad he may be. The main reason\nwhy. the Apeman believes in religion is because he is an inveterate\ncoward and fears some dire punishment if he investigates the matter. But\nbelieve me, if the Creator gave you the power to reason, he certainly\nwill not condemn you for making use of your reasoning faculties in not\naccepting opinions which appear untenable. So let us look into this\nmatter from an impartial point of view. In the first place the offer of\nrewards for doing good, which is the foundation of all religions is\nwrong, for it carries selfishness right to the very gates of the\nimaginary heavens. Goodness is very shallow indeed if it cannot exist\nwithout rewards being offered for it. I shall enumerate a few things\nyour god was supposed to have said or allowed, according to the Bible,\nwhich would make no Apeman living, any worse in his moral conduct.\n\n\"Enmity.--'And I will put enmity between thee and the woman.' Gen. iii,\n15.\n\n\"Unkindness.--'Unto the woman He said, I will greatly multiply thy\nsorrow.' Gen. iii, 16.\n\n\"Flesh Eaters.--'Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you.'\nGen. ix, 3.\n\n\"Revenge.--'Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed.'\nGen. ix, 6.\n\n\"Drunkenness.--'And he drank of the wine, and was drunken.' Gen. ix, 21.\n\n\"Partiality.--'God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the\ntents of Shem and Canaan shall be his servant.' Gen. ix, 27.\n\n\"Hunting--'He was a mighty hunter before the Lord.' Gen. x, 9.\n\n\"A curser.--'And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse them that\ncurseth thee.' Gen. xii, 3.\n\n\"Fraud.--'By fraud, Jacob received the blessing intended for Esau and\nthen God blessed him and made him prosperous forever afterward. Gen.\nxxvii to xxix.\n\n\"Fornication.--'And Bilhah, Rachel's maid, conceived again and bare\nJacob a second son.' Gen. xxx, 7.\n\n\"Anger.--'And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses.' Exodus\niv, 14.\n\n\"Thievery.--'Speak now into the ears of the people and let every man\nborrow of his neighbor and every woman of her neighbor jewels of silver\nand jewels of gold.' Exodus xi, 2.\n\n\"Carnage.--'For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night and\nwill smite all the first born in the land of Egypt, both man and beast;\nand against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment; I am the\nLord.' Exodus xii, 12.\n\n\"Jealousy.--'For I the Lord thy God am jealous God.' Exodus xx, 5.\n\n\"Slavery.--'Then his master shall bring him unto the judges; he shall\nalso bring him to the door, or unto the doorpost, and his master shall\nbore his ear through with an awl; and he shall serve him forever.'\nExodus xxi, 6.\n\n\"Witchcraft.--'Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.' Exodus xxii, 18.\n\n\"Murder.--'And my wrath shall wax hot, and I will kill you with my sword\nand your wives shall be widows and your children fatherless.' Exodus\nxxii, 24.\n\n\"Changeability.--'And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Phinehas, the\nson of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, hath turned my wrath away\nfrom the children of Israel, while he was zealous for my sake among\nthem, that I consumed not the children of Israel in my jealousy.'\nNumbers xxv, 10, 11.\n\n\"Brutality.--'And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Bring forth him\nthat hath cursed without the camp; and let all that heard him lay their\nhands upon his head, and let all the congregation stone him.' Leviticus\nxxiv, 13, 14.\n\n\"Savage Cruelty.--'And if the burnt sacrifice for his offering to the\nLord be of fowls, then he shall bring his offering of turtle doves, or\nof young pigeons. And the priest shall bring it unto the altar, and\nwring off its head, and burn it on the altar; and the blood thereof\nshall be wrung out at the ides of the altar.' Leviticus i, 14, 15.\n\n\"An Ass.--'And the Lord opened the mouth of the ass and she said unto\nBalaam, What have I done unto thee that thou hast smitten me these three\ntimes?' Numbers xxii, 28.\n\n\"I have brought a few of these absurd writings to your attention,\" said\nArletta, \"hoping that later on you will go over them carefully and give\nthem the same rational consideration you bestow upon other subjects.\nThere is one commendable feature about your Bible however, and that is,\nit shows that once there existed among your species a noble mortal who\ndevoted his life trying to teach the Apeman human kindness in somewhat\nthe same manner our men used to do, with the exception of the\nsupernatural dogmas. I refer to Jesus Christ. The fact that the same\nlessons he expounded were taught thousands of years before he was born,\nor that he failed to grasp nature's beautiful ideas without confounding\nthem with supernatural fancies, does not detract in any way from his\nnobility of purpose and his name should be mentioned in the future\nhistory of the world as one of the great benefactors of the human race.\nIt seems a pity that his over-zealous followers have tried to place him\nin the light of a deity, for in time to come, when your species begin to\nreason, they might possibly regard him as an impostor. This should not\nbe the case however, for although Christ no doubt really believed in a\nreligious god, it is unjust to believe that he ever pretended to be\nanything more than a mere human being himself, or that he knew anything\nabout the wonderful miracles it was subsequently claimed he had\nperformed.\n\n\"Any earthly being,\" said Arletta, as her face fairly beamed with\nintelligence, \"whether it be a man, an Apeman or a monkey, who claims to\nbe related to the Creator of the universe, or to be His prophet, or His\nspecially appointed spokesman, or in any way tries to lead others to\nbelieve that he possesses supernatural powers, is either an impostor or\nan idiot.\n\n\"When all earthly beings make use of the reasoning faculties nature\nendows them with, all religions will perish through the agency of their\nown untruths.\"\n\nCHAPTER XII.\n\n\"Then am I to understand that your people were Atheists?\" inquired I of\nArletta.\n\n\"Not at all,\" replied she. \"We believed in Natural Law but not in\nreligion. Our most intellectual men decided that by no stretch of the\nimagination could they build a god for religious purposes as great as\nthe Creator of the universe must naturally be, and knowing that it\nremains for man himself to reach his highest state of perfection without\nany supernatural influence whatsoever, they therefore abolished all\nforms of religious worship and established a code of ethics which was\ntermed Natural Law.\n\n\"Religion teaches one to believe in an unnatural god who apparently must\nbe ever ready to answer anybody's prayerful cry and act as a general\nservant to humanity by distributing good things to those who beg for\nthem; a sort of meddlesome god who enters into all the petty quarrels of\nhunan beings and generally settles them in the wrong way.\n\n\"Natural Law teaches that there exists on grand supreme ruler who guides\nthe entire machinery of the universe; the Deity who created the\nprinciple of life, and one who does not deviate from His eternal and\nimmutable laws; an all-wise, everlasting and unchangeable being far\nbeyond the faintest conception the brain of man has ever been able to\nformulate. His power unlimited; His laws supreme; His goodness\nincalculable.\n\n\"Natural Law explains that He created the principle from which humanity\nevolved, but that it remains for all living things to make better or\nworse their own conditions. His laws may be studied and practiced by all\nhuman beings, but to claim to know the reasons of the Creator's actions\nwould be to assume His wisdom and knowledge. His purposes, therefore,\nare unfathomable.\n\n\"Natural Law sets forth that notwithstanding the earth is but a mere\nspeck in the universe, still, it being a part of the vast machinery\ngoverned by the Almighty, there is a reason for its existence and a work\nfor it to perform. Like other bodies in space, it contains particles of\nliving matter which are constantly passing through a course of\ndevelopment with methodical changes from life to death and from death to\nlife. But while all living things live and die, the material thereof is\nused over and over again indefinitely. Human beings are a species of\nthese particles. All living things are composed of three parts, matter,\nenergy and soul. The matter is the machinery; energy the motion and soul\nthe engineer. The mind is that part of the machinery having power to\ncontrol its movements. The soul is the spark of life and acts as a moral\nguide to the mind. Soul and conscience are synonymous. The soul, always\npure, is continually striving to improve the condition of the mind. The\nmind alone is responsible for the disposition of the body and the evils\narising therefrom, the soul merely acting as its instructor for good. It\nis the mind which inherits evil instincts and but for the good influence\nof the soul, living creatures would not exist in harmony. As the mind\nhardens against righteousness the sway of the soul is lessened, but as\nthe mind softens towards goodness the soul increases its power. There is\na continual struggle between the soul for good and the mind for evil,\nbut the soul will eventually gain the ascendancy and all living things\nwill be cleansed of impurities.\n\n\"The body, including the mind, of each living thing dies, the material\ndisintegrates and passes into the composition of other forms. The soul\nnever dies; it remains in one body until its collapse and then\ntransmigrates into another. The soul of man today may be that of a lower\nanimal tomorrow; therefore he should use the greatest kindness and\nconsideration toward all living things. There is only a certain quantity\nof matter upon earth to be moulded together in living forms and a\ncertain number of souls to abide therein, so that with the increase of\nmankind there must naturally be a decrease in the ranks of other\nanimals, hence it remains the duty of man to extend in number and\nquality his own species until all the material in existence is utilized\nby human beings of the very highest intelligence. Humanity, however,\nwill never rise above the savage state until the barbarous custom of\nkilling and eating other animals is abolished.\n\n\"Selfishness is the root of all evil; eradicate selfishness from\nhumanity and the earth will be heaven.\n\n\"Man's heaven is here on earth if he is only capable of making it so,\nbut men cannot enjoy heavenly blessings with hellish minds, and no\nselfish being can properly enjoy the sweets of life. The real essence\nand pleasure of life can only be extracted when mankind labors\nharmoniously together as a unit, instead of each individual struggling\nseparately and murderously to obtain the largest portion of the earth's\nblessings. The production of the world must be divided equally among all\nhonest toilers and man's greatest happiness must arise from serving\nothers instead of himself. No good mortal can thoroughly enjoy luxuries\nthat are beyond the reach of his fellow men, therefore all human beings\nshould work together as one; enjoying equally the fruits of their\ncombined efforts; the weak and the strong alike. There must be but one\nmaster--the entire human race bound together as one. When mankind,\nacting as a unit, masters itself, then will it rule the earth and gain\nknowledge of extraneous matters; thus the wisdom of inhabitants of older\nand more advanced worlds will be attained and intercourse with them\npracticed, thereby unraveling many apparent mysteries of the universe.\n\n\"It is an error to suppose that the Deity is your maker; He created the\nsource from which all living things sprung, but collectively, man makes\nhimself and is responsible for his own conditions. If the Almighty was\nyour maker then the production of criminals, cripples and lunatics would\ndemonstrate very bad workmanship, so do not try to shift the blame for\nhuman weakness upon the Creator of the universe. The Deity controls the\nprinciple of life; man controls himself.\n\n\"Do not pray; you cannot alter the Creator's plans and you place him in\nthe light of a petty vanity seeker when claiming that he wants to be\nworshipped. Better please the Omnipotent by kind acts toward all living\ncreatures than by offering ridiculous exhortations for favors and\nforgiveness. You proffer insults to the Creator when you claim you can\nchange His immutable plans by prayer; when you think he would take from\none and give to another; when you pretend to communicate with Him; when\nyou imagine He takes part in the silly squabbles of human beings; when\nyou say that man was made in His image; when you take His name in vain.\n\n\"A united world, with all living things on the same plane of perfection\nand working harmoniously together for the common good is the heaven\nhumanity should strive to reach. It is within the power of mankind to\nperfect itself, but this can only be accomplished through the unselfish\nefforts of the whole people. Each individual can make better or worse\nhis own condition and thereby stamp a good or bad impression upon the\nlives of his descendants. The creature who passes his life without\nadding to the knowledge and goodness of the world has lived for naught,\nand he who fails to improve his own worth morally, mentally or\nphysically has spent a life of uselessness for which his descendants\nmust suffer; for to misuse oneself is to commit a crime against\nposterity. Each generation should be an improvement upon the preceding\none. Having been entrusted with a piece of living machinery, it is the\nduty of everyone to give it the very best care and attention possible,\nthat its value might be increased to nature, hence moral, mental and\nphysical perfection are the highest aims of life to achieve. Parents\nshould have no off-spring when one or both of them are insane, diseased,\ngluttons, drunkards or criminals.\n\n\"Practice moderation in all things that you may live longer and acquire\nstrength to enjoy natural blessings and bestow character upon those to\nfollow. Pleasure can only be extracted from temperateness; it increases\nor decreases in proportion to quantity, and he who takes sparingly,\nlives longer to enjoy the most. Do not over-work, over-study, over-eat,\nover-drink, over-sleep, or commit any excess whatsoever. The surest way\nto make the world better is to begin with yourself. Such is the essence\nof Natural Law.\"\n\nCHAPTER XIII\n\n\"At the present time,\" proceeded Arletta, \"the earth resembles a huge\ntable over-loaded with good things and surrounded by a pack of gluttons\neach striving to secure the largest portion. And in this piggish\nscramble the strong obtain more and the weak less than is needed while\nenough is wasted to amply supply the whole. The best forces of the\nparticipants, which should be utilized for other purposes are also lost\nin the ravenous struggle, for it requires more power to retain than\nobtain these things.\n\n\"The same avaricious principal--individual accumulation--is the\nfoundation of every government in the world today, and consequently all\nof your social systems are being run upside down. Your people spend\ntheir time and strength in looking for remedies instead of stopping the\nsource from which all evils flow. Corruption is the result of a diseased\nroot and as long as that remains, iniquities will continue to multiply.\nExtirpate the cause, however, and sin will depart like magic.\n\n\"The system which allows the individual to acquire personal wealth is\nthe direct cause for nearly every evil in existence. There is no remedy\nfor a wrong unless you eradicate it entirely, and just as long as a\nnation clings to the pernicious plan which permits separate persons to\nstore up the products of the earth for private uses, just so long will\nselfishness be the characteristic feature of the people, and all kinds\nof criminals will be bred from the material which otherwise would prove\nvery useful to a unified world. According to present methods success is\nbased upon what each individual accumulates and not what mankind is\ncapable of producing.\n\n\"The foundation of existence is effort, without which the inhabitants of\nthe world would perish. United exertion produces better results and with\nless toil than competitive efforts. With united labor in force, every\nliving being must work, for he who consumes and does not produce is a\nthief. If all the inhabitants of the world combined their labors on the\nmost economic basis, there would be enough comforts for all created by\none-tenth of the power expended at the present time. Each person would\nadd his mite to the whole, and in return would receive as much as anyone\nelse. All worthless occupations would be done away with, and the power\nthereof directed into useful channels. Labor would rule the world\ninstead of money. For of what good would be all the money on earth if\nthere was no labor to produce the necessities of life? At present there\nexists but one honest toiler whose labors enrich the world, to ten\nschemers who spend their time plotting to secure the results of his\nwork; and these parasites actually confiscate the largest portion of\nthat which is produced. The schemers feast and govern, while the\nlaborers fast and are governed. Can you imagine more unnatural\nconditions than one class of beings producing all the comforts and\nreceiving none in return?\n\n\"With the abolition of the noxious system of individual accumulation,\nmoney would have no value and all the evils arising therefrom would\ncease. Take away the opportunity of the individual to accumulate wealth\nfor himself, and you remove the temptation for fraud, theft and numerous\nother crimes, for there is then no incentive left for them. Expel the\nmotive and selfishness will disappear, and each mortal give his best\nefforts toward perfecting himself morally, mentally and physically for\nthe good he may render the world.\n\n\"Teach the child that it will not have to worry over the future; that it\nwill not have to lie, cheat, steal, murder or take any advantage of its\nfellow beings in order to receive its share of the good things of life;\nexplain to it that the real incentive is to give its best services\ntoward increasing the general production of the earth, that all mankind\nmay enjoy the sweets thereof together in peace and harmony; impress upon\nits young mind, that he who works in excess of others for the good of\nmankind, lives the noblest life and receives the highest esteem of his\nfellow beings and the blessed approbation of his own soul, and that\nchild, reaching maturity, will be a thousand times more useful to\nhimself and humanity than he who has been taught to hoard up riches for\nhis own special purposes.\n\n\"Individual accumulation is responsible for crime; crime necessitates\nlaws; laws breed tyranny.\n\n\"Abolish individualism, and crime, tyranny and nine-tenths of your\nsuperfluous laws will be exterminated.\n\n\"A few well-defined and just laws properly enforced are sufficient to\nsuccessfully operate the governmental machinery of the human race\naccording to Natural Law.\"\n\n\nCHAPTER XIV\n\n\"Telepathy,\" continued Arletta, \"proved to be one of the greatest\nfactors for good utilized by our people. Through its agency we not only\nfound that it was the most natural and complete way to converse with one\nanother, but also learned to think collectively as well as singly.\n\n\"The brain is both a receiver and transmitter of thought, and all minds\nare directly connected with each other by an invisible force. Thought is\nan element of life and exists everywhere; it is not originated by the\nmind, but is a utility for it. Thoughts are sustenance for the brain, as\nair is for the lungs, or food for the appetite; they are good and bad in\nquality, and it is within man's power to accept or reject them at will.\nBy admitting good and repelling bad thoughts, the brain acquires moral\nas well as mental strength but vice versa it is poisoned, and degeneracy\nis sure to follow.\n\n\"Nature created both the mountains and the thoughts; look and you can\nsee those lofty hills; think and you can receive inspiring thoughts.\nShut your eyes and you cannot see; close your brain and you cannot\nthink. The broader the mind, the greater the ideas to enter. Ignorance\nis bred from a closed brain; intelligence from an open one. He who is\nincapable of thinking is like the blind who cannot see or the deaf who\ncannot hear. The thought is the mightiest force for good or evil,\nhumanity has to contend with; time is measured by it and pure meditation\nmakes the days short and sweet, while evil notions lengthen and\ndepreciate them. The mind that retains good ideas and refuses bad ones\nis of incalculable value to mankind for it has an instantaneous effect\nupon other minds in all parts of the earth.\n\n\"It is easier for many minds working in harmony together to grasp a\nthought, than for the single brain to receive it without aid. No one\nearthly being ever conceived a great idea unassisted. One might have\nbelieved and proclaimed the origin of an idea, but unknown and\ninnumerable others secretly aided in its conception. The strongest\nintellect, however, retained and gave it to the world, and he who\naccepts, practices and impresses the thought upon others, deserves the\ncredit thereof.\n\n\"It took several generations of continuous experimentation by the\nSagemen to acquire the fundamental principles of telepathy and many more\nto establish the custom of conversing with the mind instead of the\nvoice. In the beginning, the evil ones looked upon the practice with\nhorror, for it was impossible to conceal anything from their fellow\nbeings. But this very fact alone caused them to keep clean and allow no\nimpure thoughts to enter their minds that would lower them in the\nestimation of their associates, and after a few generations of active\nuse it was accepted as one of the great benefits of nature.\n\n\"Whenever a great problem confronted the nation, a hundred or more of\nour deepest thinkers would simultaneously concentrate their mental\nforces upon it, and if unsuccessful in reaching a satisfactory\nconclusion, then the whole people would devote an hour each day upon it\nuntil finally solved. Thus in thought as well as in action we labored\ntogether as a unit, harmoniously working out vast ideas that never could\nhave been conceived by a single brain, and each mortal receiving an\nequal share of the many blessings derived therefrom.\n\n\"And there again is where your individual system retards natural\nprogress. A little Apeman receives part of one of nature's ideas. His\nimmature brain is incapable of receiving the whole of it so he spends\nhis entire life stumbling along in the dark, vainly searching for the\nremainder. Sometimes he becomes insane or dies under the strain of the\nburden, and mankind loses the portion he had already understood. It was\nhis greedy desire that caused him to struggle alone for something that\nmany minds could easily have brought forth had they been called to his\nassistance. But no, his purpose was not to aid humanity, but get money\nand the power to wield over his fellow creatures by accepting and having\npatented for himself one of nature's gifts.\n\n\"And then again one of your little Apemen finally does conceive a good\nidea, or part of one, after thirty years, more or less, of constant\nstrain upon his mental faculties. So the progress of the world must be\nheld in check for that length of time for an invention that could have\nbeen produced and put into useful operation by the combined efforts of\nmany minds in a few days, weeks or months. But it is the individual\nsystem and not the individual himself which causes this stupendous waste\nof time and power, and as long as it is kept in force the leakage of\nhuman progress will naturally be beyond calculation.\n\n\"It seems a pity,\" said Arletta, looking at me sympathetically, \"that\nyour brain is not sufficiently developed to enable you to grasp the\nmagnificent principle of life as it was understood by the Sage-men, but\nit would be as hard for you to comprehend an attempted explanation of\nthe whole subject as it would be for a monkey to understand algebra. So\nI have to be content with impressing upon your little intellect just as\nmuch as it will absorb.\n\n\"But come, you look tired, let us partake of some refreshments. And\nremember, do not overload your stomach.\"\n\nCHAPTER XV\n\n\"Do not overload your stomach.\" This admonition caused me to feel like a\nchild once more, and I was uncertain whether I ought to laugh or become\nindignant over the remark. Still I fully realized the necessity of this\nwarning; not only for myself alone, but for the entire human race from\nwhich I sprung. How many beings are there in the world today who would\nnot profit by following this advice? How many are there with sense\nenough to heed it? I cannot recall to memory any person I have ever met\nwho had absolute control of his appetite.\n\n\"We take pleasure in living, but do not live for pleasure,\" continued\nArletta, as she touched an invisible spring concealed within a dainty\nflower and graciously invited me to eat--or rather to breathe. And as I\ninhaled the delicious fumes it seemed that the very breath of life\nitself was injected into every pore of my body.\n\n\"That is enough of the soup,\" commented Arletta mirthfully, \"now try the\nroast; now the entree; and here, perhaps, a little dessert will not hurt\nyou; there, that is plenty; a little is strengthening but too much is\npoisonous.\n\n\"You see, this process of living is very simple indeed; our chemists\nmerely extracted the vital parts of vegetables, herbs, cereals, fruits,\nnuts, flowers, etc., and reduced them to aeriform. These artificial\nflowers are arranged to conceal small tubes from which the nutriment\nflows. By operating these automatic springs the substance is allowed to\nescape in such quantities as is required for meals. Very simple, is it\nnot? Much cleaner and better than munching a piece of fat pork, don't\nyou think? And there are no cooks needed to prepare it, no waiters to\nserve it, nor any dishes to wash afterward. Our food was arranged ready\nfor consumption at the great national laboratories and piped directly to\nthe people, to use as they pleased.\"\n\n\"It is all very wonderful,\" exclaimed I, looking up to Arletta as if she\nwere the goddess of life itself, \"but there is one thing in particular I\nam anxious to know and that is: what causes daylight here when darkness\nprevails on the outside of this building?\"\n\n\"Very simple,\" explained she, \"about a thousand years before the great\ncatastrophe our scientists discovered a method whereby they could store\nup the rays of the sun for light, heat and power, and after much\nexperimenting they found that they could mix these rays with other\ningredients into solid substances. The light you observed in the hallway\nbefore entering here is merely compressed into the material of which the\nwalls are composed and as long as that remains light will shine from it.\nThe light in this room comes from the miniature sun you see in the\npicture; that too will give forth radiance as long as the material holds\ntogether. Our scientists were remarkable men; they not only made use of\nthe sun's rays in many different ways for the benefit of mankind, but\nactually controlled the power of the sun itself insofar as it related to\nthe earth. They also restrained the atmosphere which surrounds the earth\nand made the weather conditions to suit their own welfare. But these\nthings are so infinitely beyond the Apeman's comprehension, who feels\nthat he has almost reached the limit of human resources with his crude\nlittle steam engines, that it would only be a waste of time and power to\ntry and explain them to you, besides being a considerable strain upon\nyour half-grown brain.\"\n\n\"This is certainly a wonderful painting,\" said I, looking about the room\nwith much admiration. \"I have never seen anything to compare with it\nbefore.\"\n\n\"There is nothing about it that is extraordinary,\" remarked Arletta, \"it\nis merely a little ornamentation of my own private apartment which I did\nmyself according to my own fancy. Any of our ordinary house decorators\ncould have done as well or better. All of our children were taught to\npaint and they devoted considerable of their spare time to the art, but\nthe works of the real artists were placed upon exhibition in the\nnational galleries where everybody could see and enjoy their\nmagnificence.\"\n\n\"I observe an absence of jewelry about your person,\" mentioned I, \"was\nit not the custom of your people to wear jewels?\"\n\n\"Do you think that to wear rings around your toes and suspended from\nyour nose is a sensible thing to do?\" inquired Arletta.\n\n\"No, no; decidedly not,\" answered I, \"such are the customs of the\nbarbarians only, but our civilized people wear rings around their\nfingers and in their ears.\"\n\n\"Indeed, and wherein lies the difference?\" asked she, good naturedly. It\nthen struck me rather forcibly that there was no difference and that it\nwas just as ridiculous to wear rings from the ears and around the\nfingers as it was to have them suspended from the nose and about the\ntoes. \"But were there no diamonds in your country?\" questioned I.\n\n\"Yes,\" replied Arletta, \"there was a large pile of them in the national\nmuseum which we looked upon as old junk--sort of relics of the savage\nApemen. When our children were shown these things and informed that a\nking of an Apeman nation would gladly sacrifice the lives of a hundred\nthousand of his subjects in an attempt to gain possession of them, or\nthat his subjects would murder their friends, brothers, wives or\nchildren in an effort to secure some for themselves, it was impossible\nfor their youthful minds to fully understand why the Apeman should\nbecome so ferocious and idiotic over such trifles. They naturally looked\nupon your species as you would view a tribe of monkeys fighting amongst\nthemselves for the possession of a string of glass beads. The Apeman\nlike the monkey is incapable of seeing his own absurdities.\"\n\n\"And what about gold?\" I inquired. \"We had a building constructed of\nit,\" answered she. \"One of the first things the Sagemen did after they\nabolished the system of individual accumulation was to take all the gold\nthere was in the country, and mould it into a huge edifice to be used as\na national museum, and represent a sort of monument to a dead system.\"\n\n\"It must have been a magnificent structure,\" said I, in amazement. \"On\nthe contrary,\" replied Arletta, \"it was the most hideous building in our\nland. As a curiosity it was worth seeing, but as an object of grandeur\nit was a total failure. There is more real beauty in one of nature's\ntiniest flowers than there would be in a mountain built of gold and\nstudded with diamonds, but the little Apeman who considers gold the\nstandard of value cannot understand this.\"\n\n\"When you mentioned the absurdity of wearing jewelry,\" said I, \"it\nbrought to my attention the fact that you wear no shoes upon your feet,\nand that your toes are much longer and far more shapely and supple than\nis the case nowadays.\"\n\n\"Yes,\" answered she, \"that is because we made use of our toes as well as\nour fingers for useful purposes. It appears to me that the Apeman has\npermitted his feet to grow into mere hoofs with which to stump along\nupon, and from what I observed during my excursion around the world,\nyour people are even allowing their hoofs to become worthless,\" and here\nshe smiled as she recalled to mind some of the gouty, rheumatic and\nover-fed mortals she had seen during that trip.\n\nAs Arletta smiled, her beautiful lips parted and for the first time I\nnoticed, much to my surprise, that she had no teeth. A woman of our own\nkind without teeth generally presents a rather dilapidated appearance,\nbut here was a woman that I thought actually looked more lovely without\nthem.\n\n\"Well,\" remarked Arletta, noting my astonishment, \"I do not have teeth\nto bite and chew with like the lower animals. The Sageman shed his teeth\nshortly after he discontinued the filthy animal habit of devouring flesh\nand other solid substances for subsistence, and substituted the more\nscientific, cleanly and healthful method of inhalation.\"\n\nCHAPTER XVI\n\n\"Now we shall enjoy a little music,\" said Arletta, as she turned her\nattention to the pictorial orchestra.\n\n\"Music,\" repeated I, \"then it was real music I heard a short time ago\nand not a mere fancy of my own.\"\n\n\"I was not aware that you heard it at all,\" replied she. \"Yes,\"\nresponded I, \"when first coming into this room, the men in the picture\nappeared to me to be alive, and wishing to attract their attention I\ntouched the shoulder of the leader, and then it was that I thought I\nheard the sweetest and grandest music it has ever been my good fortune\nto listen to.\"\n\n\"In that case,\" said Arletta, \"your ears did not deceive you, for you\ncertainly heard real music. You see in this picture, an exact portrayal\nof that which existed over four thousand years ago. This delineation is\nan almost perfect representation of one of our national bands as they\nonce appeared in life ready to play. The music, of course, is reproduced\nmechanically, the mechanism being concealed from view behind the\nscenery. When you placed your hand upon the shoulder of the leader you\nunconsciously pressed the spring which set the machinery in motion,\ncausing a reproduction of the same strains once rendered by these men.\"\n\n\"But this being a painting, I cannot understand how the figures moved as\nif playing upon their instruments,\" said I.\n\n\"They did not move at all,\" answered Arletta, \"it was your soul that\nbrought to your senses the movements that once took place among these\nmen in real life. Music is inspired by the soul, and likewise has a\ndirect influence upon it. No Sageman was considered an eminent composer\nif his work lacked the force to convey the soul of the listener to the\nactual scene from whence the inspiration was derived. No doubt your\ninferior brain was incapable of grasping the magnificent conception of\nthe author, but the selection being so enrapturous your soul awakened\nand brought your senses to the point where you could see the movements\nof the musicians. Perhaps the next rendition may have a stronger effect\nupon your soul which will cause you to get an outline of what was\nintended by the composer. The composition which the orchestra will now\nreproduce for your benefit was considered by our people to be the\nmusical masterpiece of all time. It was named 'The Soul's\nRetrospection,' and was composed by the leader of this band only a few\nyears prior to the great catastrophe. Look,\" said Arletta, with much\nfeeling as she waved her hand toward the exalted director, \"take a good\nlook at this model of a perfect man and you may be able to realize just\nwhat qualities he had to possess before acquiring the tremendous\nintellectual strength necessary to produce the wonderful work that will\nshortly be impressed upon you. Note the extraordinary look of kindness,\ngentleness and self-denial that is stamped upon his handsome features.\nSee the expression of thankfulness and intense reverence he maintained\nfor the many splendid gifts nature bestows upon all mankind capable of\naccepting them. Observe the optimistic appearance of one that believed\nthe earth was real heaven and who strived to make it so. Notice the cast\nof superior intellectuality caused by devoting his time and mentality to\nnatural thoughts, instead of allowing absurd civilized theories to take\nroot in his expansive brain. Behold the magnificent physique, the result\nof the constant care and attention he gave to the machinery nature\nprovided him with. Ah, me! such a noble being, and to think that there\nis not another piece of flesh and blood on earth at the present time to\ncompare with him seems cruel.\"\n\nAt this point Arletta appeared almost overcome with sadness and emotion\nas she buried herself in contemplation of a glorious past and an unknown\nfuture. Great tears rolled from her beautiful eyes, and unconsciously\nfrom my own as well. How utterly helpless I felt at that moment. I knew\nof no way to cheer her, although I would have gladly given up my life to\ndo so. Aye, more than that, my love for her was so strong that in order\nto make her happy, I should have welcomed back to life again, if such a\nthing were possible, any one of those handsome fellows in the picture.\nHowever, by a superb display of will power, she quickly regained control\nof herself, and becoming cheerful once more, bade me recline upon one of\nthe lounges while she pressed the spring which set the musical apparatus\nin motion.\n\nAnd as I followed her directions, there suddenly burst forth the\nvoluminous and harmonious sound of a hundred strange instruments,\ncausing an indescribable thrill of ecstasy to take possession of my\nsenses, until it seemed that there was nothing left of me but an\ninvisible spirit. And then, even the music apparently stopped, and a\npeculiar feeling overcame me as if my soul had actually left its charge\nand was flying about in an effort to find a convenient resting place.\nSuddenly, as if half awake and half dreaming, I found myself within a\nluxuriously furnished hall, surrounded by a score of richly-clad beings,\nwho were bowing, kneeling, and cutting up all sorts of silly antics\nabout me. In a dreamy sort of a way, I looked down at myself and\ndiscovered that I was arrayed in the gorgeous garments of a king, and\nweighted down with dazzling jewels from head to foot. Then everything\nbecame clear enough to my memory; I was the king, and these idiotic\ncreatures fawning and cringing about me were my obedient subjects; my\nslaves; the willing tools which kept me in power. A gouty feeling in my\nfeet, a dyspeptic ache of the stomach and an alcoholic pain in the head,\ncaused me to be in a very disagreeable mood, and I felt like kicking the\nentire gathering out of my presence.\n\n\"Sire,\" squeaked a knock-kneed, sickly looking civilized creature about\nfive feet high, who wore knee breeches, silk stockings and fancy\nribbons, as he bowed low in addressing me, \"those ungrateful subjects of\nyour majesty, the ignorant common laboring horde whom God in His\ninfinite wisdom has entrusted to your noble guidance, have become\ndissatisfied and turbulent again, and are disturbing the peaceful\nprosperity of the domain by clamoring for bread--more bread and less\ntoil is their beastly cry. A delegation of their representatives\nrequested me to beg your majesty to grant them an audience that they\nmight state their imaginary grievances to you in person.\"\n\n\"More bread and less toil,\" shouted I furiously, \"the audacity of the\nvermin! By the gods! I shall teach those craven beggars that I am the\nmaster and will tolerate no new-fangled ideas. Give orders to the\ngeneralissimo to have this delegation beheaded at once and to put to the\nsword every dissatisfied laborer in the land.\" As I uttered those words,\nintermingled with terrible oaths, and with intense hatred for the\nwretches who dared to complain against such conditions a sudden change\naffected me and I found myself within a dark, filthy little room, seated\nat a bare table, with a feeling of hunger gnawing at my stomach. My\nlimbs felt tired and sore from a hard day's toil. Beside me sat a thin,\nhaggard, sorrowful woman and several half-famished children piteously\ncrying for something to eat. Oh, what a dismal, melancholy feeling.\n\"What is it,\" mused I, observing my bony hands, crooked limbs and ragged\nclothes, \"that causes my inability to earn enough money to supply bread\nfor myself and family, after working fifteen hours a day, while\nthousands of men in this land do not work at all and have luxuries to\nwaste? What unnatural law governs the world that starves myself and\nfamily who work, and over-feeds the pet dog of the aristocrat, who\nloafs? The Church teaches me that God rules the universe, and that in\norder to please Him I must be contented with my lot. Can I believe this\nunreasonable doctrine of the Church? Can I give thanks to such a god?\"\n\nAnother change, and behold, I am clad in the garments of a hunter,\nseated upon the back of a spirited horse and in mad pursuit of a fleet-\nfooted antelope. I raise my rifle and blaze away at the frightened\nbeast. There, I have hit the mark and brought him down at the first\nshot, much to my delight. But lo, it is not dead yet; see how it pants\nand struggles in desperation, as it tries to regain its feet. Now I am\nright upon it, and quickly dismounting, I take hold of its horns, draw a\nlong keen knife from its sheath, and with a powerful stroke I almost\nsever the victim's head from the body. And as the warm blood pours forth\nin every direction and the last sign of life departs from its shivering\nbody, I view the work of destruction with the fiendish glee of a noble\nsportsman.\n\nBut hold! What causes me to tremble with fear as though some blood-\nthirsty monster were pursuing me with the intention of crushing out my\nlife's blood? Ah, I understand. I am the four-footed beast and am\nrunning, running, running as fast as my weary limbs will carry me. And\nsuch a terrified feeling overcomes me as I look backward and discover I\nam pursued by the most dangerous, savage and cruel animal in existence--\nman. How relentlessly he dogs my footsteps. On, on, on he comes until he\nis right behind me and there is no chance to escape--nor any hope for\nquarter. At last being brought to bay I turn about and decide to give\nbattle to my pursuer. But look! The cowardly savage will not fight after\nall. No, he will not advance and fight fair, but at a distance and out\nof harm's way, he stops, and pointing a weapon at me, takes deliberate\naim, there is a loud report, a quick flash, and the scene once more\nchanges.\n\nAnd thus I transmigrated from one thing into another, in a seemingly\nendless procession of lives, experiencing all the peculiar sensations of\nthe many bodies I temporarily inhabited. In some cases I was the big\nstrong brute--either physically or mentally--taking advantage of the\npuny weakling. In others, I was the miserable weakling, being crushed by\nthe over-powering strength of the bully. But whether strong or weak,\neither physically or mentally, I was always the moral coward and selfish\ncreature, ready to cater to those who were stronger, and take advantage\nof those who were feebler than myself, until finally I emerged into a\nmost extraordinary being, utterly deficient in all human weaknesses.\n\nMaster of a physique absolutely free from all imperfections, and\ncontrolling a mind powerful enough to grasp nature's beautiful ideas\nunadulterated, I found myself seated upon a platform in the center of a\nmammoth theatre and surrounded by the finest body of musicians the earth\nhas ever produced--the immortal Sixth National Band of Sageland. Then I\nfully realized that as leader of this wonderful group I was about to\nrender for the first time, my latest musical conception and masterpiece--\n\"The Soul's Retrospection\"--which would prove to humanity beyond a\ndoubt, the positive truth of one of nature's grandest secrets--the\nindestructibility of the soul.\n\nIt was generally believed that music was the direct inspiration of the\nsoul. It was also thought that the soul was one of the unchangeable\nforces of nature whose duty it was to operate and purify different\npieces of natural machinery known as animal lives; starting each on its\nbrief career and remaining a part thereof until the mechanism exhausted\nits power and collapsed, after which it attached itself to another bit\nof animal matter, remaining therewith until its death, and so on\nindefinitely.\n\nAnd now, after a life of unswerving devotion to this purpose, I was\nabout to establish the truth of these theories by producing a musical\ncomposition that would cause the listener's soul to leave the body, and\ngoing backward, revisit, as in a dream, the various animal forms it had\npreviously inhabited. How extremely happy I felt to think what a great\nblessing humanity was about to receive direct from nature, through the\ninstrumentality of myself and the incalculable good that would result\ntherefrom. Not only would it prove of vast scientific value to my own\ncountrymen, but also to the millions of ferocious Apemen in all parts of\nthe world, who could now be made to understand that no soul is immune\nfrom hardship, misery and torture until all living things on earth have\nreached the highest stage of perfection.\n\nThe news that the first production of \"The Soul's Retrospection\" was\nabout to be given had attracted great attention among the Sagemen, and I\nobserved that the great National Auditorium, which was capable of\nseating four hundred thousand persons, was crowded to its very doors, a\nproceeding I had never witnessed before, notwithstanding my companions\nand I had appeared there many times previously to give musical\nperformances. I also noticed that the transmitters in all of the domes\nof the auditorium were open and ready for use and I knew that my\ncountrymen in every part of Sageland were at their musical receivers\nready to obtain the instantaneous results of our efforts. All of the\ncelebrated wise men and great scientists, while openly skeptical\nconcerning the claims of my composition, showed their interest in the\nmatter by being present personally and appearing anxious for success to\ncrown my efforts. As my eyes wandered over the great assemblage\ncompletely filling tiers upon tiers of seats, as far back in every\ndirection as the natural eye could reach, I felt positive that there was\nat least one person present who had no doubts of successful results.\n\"Ah, where is she?\" mused I, looking about for a sign of recognition.\n\"Here I am,\" came the quick telepathic response, and immediately my gaze\nfell upon the loveliest woman on earth--Arletta--nature's companion to\nmy soul. I am utterly powerless to describe the feeling of joy\nexperienced as our eyes met in mutual admiration. Being held momentarily\nspellbound by her loving glance, I fully recognized the fact that she\nwas the acme of purity--the guiding star of my life. And with such a\nguide there was no such thing as fail.\n\nAll in readiness, I arose to my feet and the entire audience did\nlikewise, as a token of appreciation for past services rendered.\nAcknowledging the honor and waiving them seated, without further ado I\nsignaled my assistants to begin.\n\nNever did a body of musicians commence a difficult task with more\ndetermination to create, through the medium of their instruments, an\nexact interpretation of the author's purpose. In no degree could they\nhave succeeded more admirably than on this occasion. Never was an entire\naudience so completely carried beyond the borders of reality than now.\nFrom the first until the last note not a twitch of a muscle could be\nseen in all that mass of humanity, which now resembled a great concourse\nof motionless statues. The musicians themselves, with their minds and\nsouls bent upon giving the fullest expression to their grand work, were\nthe only evidence that any life at all remained in the large auditorium.\nHow bravely they stuck to their laborious undertaking; how beautifully\nthey executed their divine work.\n\nAt last the piece was finished, and looking about, I observed that the\ngreat audience jumped to its feet instantly, and every person present\nfrantically extended both hands above the head--a sign that we had been\nsuccessful. Never before did I see my countrymen under such intense\nexcitement and jubilation as now. Men hugged each other; women cried\nwith joy. The world is saved, was the general exclamation. Amid the\ngreat confusion that followed, I noticed Arletta with her arms\noutstretched toward me--a sign that she was betrothed to me forever. Her\nbeautiful face was the picture of happiness and love. As I descended\nfrom the platform and started forward to clasp her in my arms the entire\naudience seemed to vanish into nothingness, and my head began to whirl.\nI turned and looked backward, and to my great astonishment and confusion\nbeheld myself still seated upon the platform. It seemed to me that I was\ndivided into two parts. I rubbed my eyes in amazement and looked again.\nThere was the leader of the band sitting on the platform motionless and\nsurrounded by his faithful helpmates. I looked in the other direction.\nThere was Arletta reclining upon the couch with her lustrous eyes fixed\nupon me. I glanced down at myself and found that I was the same old John\nConvert dressed in sailor's clothes.\n\nFor several moments I stood there buried in the depth of serious\nmeditation. Then slowly walking over near Arletta, I stooped and resting\nupon one foot and knee, I tenderly took her hand in mine and bowed my\nhead in reverence. I understood it all now.\n\nCHAPTER XVII\n\n\"What a wonderful world this is! What writer of fiction could draw upon\nhis imagination for anything to compare with this extraordinary freak of\nnature?\" soliloquized I, arising and taking a seat opposite Arletta and\nstaring at her in amazement.\n\n\"There is no such thing as a freak of nature,\" corrected Arletta, \"the\nutmost reason prevails for all of her acts; but the simplest of nature's\nlaws appears complex and incomprehensible to the Apeman, who merely uses\nhis brain as an organ for self-gratification instead of an instrument to\ngrasp natural laws for which purpose it is intended. And therefore,\nwhile your famous Apemen stunt the growth of the brain by misusing it\nfor the base purpose of accumulating individual wealth, our great men\nutilized their brains to receive, understand and operate the wise laws\nestablished by nature for the equal benefit and betterment of all\nmankind. And therein lies the chief difference between the piece of\nhuman machinery your soul now occupies and that which it once directed\nover four thousand years ago. Behold,\" said she, dramatically pointing\nat the director of the band, \"that you were,\" and then casting her eyes\nupon me, \"that you are. Does your mind lack the strength to fully\nappreciate the magnificent lesson nature has forced upon you, and which,\nno doubt, stands unparalleled in the history of your species?\n\n\"Oh, if each little Apeman could only be made to understand, that the\npresent body is but one little installment of the innumerable lives his\nsoul has to preside over, and that the rich and powerful today may be\nthe weak and lowly tomorrow, he would begin at once to treat all living\nthings with equal kindness and sympathy. If he could only realize that\nthe dog he kicks, the horse he mistreats, or the poor mental or physical\nweakling he takes advantage of might possibly be impelled by the same\nsoul that moved the form of his deceased father, mother, or offspring,\nhis selfishness and cruelty would vanish forever. If he could only\ncomprehend that the soul suffers as well as the flesh it stimulates, and\nthat it must naturally continue to do so, more or less, until every\nparticle of living matter has been cleansed and remoulded into the\nhighest type of earthly being, he would strive to reach perfection\nhimself and urge others to do likewise. For all terrestrial life must go\nup or down together; a moment of selfish pleasure now, means an age of\nsuffering and torment in the future. Such are the immutable laws of\nnature. And these laws must be obeyed before mankind can climb the\nladder of greatness.\n\n\"It sometimes appears as if Natural Law works very slowly before\nreaching a given point, but there is always a reason for every one of\nits movements. While apparently incomprehensible, still it was in\naccordance with an eternal law, that you were sent back here again after\nan interim of over tour thousand years. My soul, which had been held a\ncaptive during all that time, might have remained here for millions of\nyears had you not come back to release it from its peculiar bondage. But\nyou did return, and nature thereby demonstrated that it never forgets\nanything, from the workings of the great living things of which the\nsuns, moons and planets are but mere organs, down to the minutest\nmicrobe of the microbe. So you can readily perceive that at least two of\nthe bodies which your soul has inhabited were chosen to perform great\nservices for the human race. First, by a natural course of instruction,\nyou proved to the Sagemen over four thousand years ago that the soul was\nindestructible. And now, through a mysterious operation of nature you\nare brought back here in an inferior organism and have had a positive\nmanifestation of the identical principle thus established, in order that\nyou might resurrect and make known to all mankind the unalterable truth--\nNatural Law. Do you not feel highly honored to be called upon twice for\nsuch grand missions?\"\n\n\"But I cannot understand,\" said I, \"why nature, after having allowed the\nSagemen to reach such a state of physical, mental and moral superiority,\nshould destroy them just when they had reached the threshold of\nsuccess.\"\n\n\"Nature did not destroy the Sagemen,\" replied Arletta, \"they\nextinguished themselves in making an effort to accomplish something\nbeyond their powers. They tried to operate a law with which they had not\nbecome sufficiently familiar to insure success. If one of your little\nApemen experiments with steam or dynamite and is blown to atoms, that is\nhis own fault, not nature's.\n\n\"For a thousand years the Sagemen had made remarkable progress along\nscientific lines. They had mastered themselves, and had learned to think\nboth individually and collectively; and also to properly distribute and\nenjoy the products of their combined efforts. They had acquired a\nthorough knowledge of the particles of which the earth is composed, and\nhad secured control of the atmosphere that surrounds it. They had\nharnessed the chemical properties of the sun after reaching the earth,\nand had gained possession of many other valuable utilities by following\nthe course of Natural Law, but when they undertook to regulate the\nearth's path in space they simply over-stepped the confines of their\nabilities and failed. That was one of nature's laws they were not\nthoroughly acquainted with. However, as it requires many drawbacks to\nachieve extraordinary success in all things, humanity should not be\ndiscouraged over this failure, but gradually work its way up again until\nit has not only reached, but surpassed the high standard of excellence\nattained by the Sagemen.\n\n\"In the great stretch called time, the length of one little human\nexistence is but a mere fraction of a moment. Therefore, one should\ndevote his best efforts during that brief period, to making better the\nconditions of the place in which he has to spend many lives, for,\naccording to what he has done in one life, so must he contend with in\nthe next. If, while possessing physical and mental strength in one body,\nhe assists in upholding a corrupt social system which takes from the\nweak and gives to the strong, he must expect these same conditions to\nexist when he returns as a weakling. For as long as hogs are bred and\nslaughtered, so must he take his chances of being one of them. How much\nbetter to help mankind seek a higher plane of intelligence, in which\nequality would be a reality, thus firmly cementing the tie of sympathy\nand love between all living things. In this case he would have no fear\nconcerning his chances upon the next visit, no matter in what form he\nmight appear. And how much better to carry on the work of decreasing the\nbirth of the lower animals and increasing the numbers and quality of the\nhigher species, until there was nothing left on earth but the very best\ntype of human beings for all souls to inhabit.\n\n\"Natural Law is very easily understood if the mind is properly directed\ntoward it. Great thoughts are easily conveyed from one to another after\nthe strong intellects have conceived them. Nature itself is simply the\nprinciple of the utilization of creative life. This principle plainly\nshows an evolutionary tendency of all living particles toward a final\nstate of complete intelligence. This intelligence is absorbed by the\nmind. The mind itself is expanded in proportion to the quantity it takes\nin, and is capable of directing it for either good or evil purposes. The\ndifference between good and evil is merely that between unselfishness\nand selfishness. Owing to its immature growth, the mind has a tendency\nto use the intelligence it acquires for selfish ends. And here is where\nthe soul or conscience has its work to perform, in trying to direct it\ninto good channels.\n\n\"Intelligence means the ability to think, or understand the thoughts\nconceived by others. The most intelligent mind will listen to the soul,\nand use the thought as an unselfish medium with which to aid others. The\npoorly developed brain stifles the pleadings of the conscience and\nutilizes it as a selfish weapon to secure the power to take from others.\nThe battle of existence is constantly carried on between selfishness,\nwhich is bred from the very lowest form of intelligence, and\nunselfishness, which represents the very highest state of mentality. A\nwell-balanced mind wants all men to enjoy equal rights and opportunities\nin common with one another, affording each a chance to rise as high as\nhis capabilities will permit. For the more intelligent beings there are\nin existence, the better for all concerned. If you want to eradicate\ndisease, you must stamp out the conditions that breed it. Before you can\nreach the highest form of intelligence, you must exterminate the causes\nwhich create selfishness. And he who labors to improve others,\nunconsciously produces better conditions for himself.\"\n\nCHAPTER XVIII\n\n\"The history of Sageland,\" continued Arletta, \"during one thousand years\nprior to the great catastrophe was simply a record of heaven on earth,\nin which the inhabitants lived for and loved one another. The abolition\nof the pernicious system of individual accumulation was the direct cause\nfor the existence of this beautiful state of affairs. For when the\npeople discovered that they could no longer hoard up wealth for personal\nadvantage, but were required to give their best efforts toward general\nproduction in exchange for the necessities of life, they lost all evil\ndesires and endeavored to secure the highest esteem of their fellow-\nbeings by perfecting themselves mentally, morally and physically for the\ngood of the community.\n\n\"The system by which the State required each individual to devote a\nportion of his time toward general production, and which gave him in\nreturn for his services a home, food, clothes, education, entertainment,\nand, in fact, everything necessary to his welfare and comfort, is so\nsimple and easy of comprehension that any living thing above the\nintellectual line of the Ape should be able to understand it.\n\n\"In the first place, the State was simply the people--all of the people--\nworking harmoniously together as a unit. Every child was educated from\nits infancy in the economic principles of the State, and upon arriving\nat maturity was given a voice in its government. There were no\nprivileges whatsoever granted to any particular person or persons, no\nmatter how superior their intelligence nor how valuable the services\nthey rendered to the country. As long as any one, whether strong or\nweak, lived up to the laws of the State and applied himself to the best\nof his ability, just so long was he allowed a voice in the government\nand an equal proportion of the benefits accorded to all. Both men and\nwomen enjoyed equal rights. Every man and woman in the country was a\npublic servant; they all worked for the public good. Each law adopted\nwas put into force through the direct vote of all the people. Municipal\nand sectional laws were made uniform throughout the entire nation. The\npublic officials were chosen from the wisest men and women of the land.\nThese officials formulated the laws, but none of them became operative\nuntil sanctioned by the people through suffrage. And no matter whether\nthe law was great or trivial, it was left for the people to decide\nwhether they would accept or reject it. The majority always settled the\nquestion, and the law went into operation for a stated period, at the\nexpiration of which time the question would again be reconsidered and\nvoted upon if necessary. The laws were few and perfectly plain, and\ncould not be evaded. Nor was there any advantage to be gained by evading\nthem. The principle simply decreed, that all persons must devote a\ncertain portion of their time to advancing the conditions of the country\nwhich gave them sustenance. The State allotted to the individual the\nemployment for which it was demonstrated he was best fitted. The working\nhours were few, so that there was no strain upon any one, no matter what\nlabor he had to perform. The average length of time the individual was\ncompelled to work for the public was four hours daily, the balance of\nthe time being at his own disposal, but usually occupied as follows:\nfour hours study; two hours for physical exercise and recreative games;\nthree hours to music, painting and other intellectual amusements; three\nhours for nourishment and eight hours for sleep. While it was not\ncompulsory to pass one's time as stated, still it was generally taught\nand believed that in so doing the individual developed his greatest\nqualities.\n\n\"As the State provided everything the individual needed from time of\nbirth until death, it gave him an opportunity to devote his time to\nhigher and purer thoughts and purposes than the mere animal desires for\nselfish gain, and thus exterminated the cause of deception, fraud, theft\nand all other crimes arising therefrom.\n\n\"According to our laws the public owned and operated everything, and\nproduced and distributed all of its own goods. And in doing this it set\naside all superfluous vocations that merely wasted public power and\nturned these forces into other channels for the common good. For\ninstance: as the State owned all of the land and everything that was\nproduced, and simply gave to the individual that which he was capable of\nconsuming, there was no need for such things as taxes. And without taxes\nthere was no public labor wasted by tax collectors, lawyers, treasurers,\nauditors, clerks, book-keepers, etc.\n\n\"Then again, the individual being able to obtain everything free of\ncharge, money became valueless, all the evils of the financial system\neliminated, and the preponderance of labor expended in upholding this\nunnatural system was used for productive purposes, thus doing away with\nsuch occupations as money making, money lending, banking, broking,\nspeculating, gambling, etc.\n\n\"Without money in existence, and labor being the only purchasing power,\nand as every want was satisfied by the State in return for the\nindividual's services, there was nothing left to steal, and consequently\nno necessity for utilizing the labor of an army of human beings as\npolice, detectives, judges, lawyers, juries, etc.\n\n\"And as all the public necessities were produced and distributed by the\nmost systematic, direct, and economic methods, straight from the store-\nhouses to the consumers, there was no use for merchants, traders,\njobbers, agents, salesmen, clerks, peddlers, etc.\n\n\"As each individual was compelled to give a percentage of his time\ntoward general production, in order to be a member, in good standing, of\nthe community, and able to enjoy all the rights that such membership\naccorded, there was no chance to avoid honest work and no room for such\nparasites as tramps, beggars and society loafers.\n\n\"So that in abolishing the stupid system of individual accumulation and\nsubstituting nature's plan of united labor and honest distribution, all\nuseless vocations and parasitic accessories were extirpated entirely,\nthus transferring that tremendous leakage of human power into honest\nproduction, the beneficial results of this change being: shorter work\nhours, increased education, refinement, comfort, and security for\neverybody, and the extermination of selfishness and crime.\n\n\"United labor merely utilized the various forces of nature, to produce\nand distribute all the necessities of life for the general welfare of\nmankind, by the most intelligent, humane, and unselfish methods.\"\n\n\"But,\" said I, as Arletta paused for a moment, \"was it not a very\ndifficult matter to make all men give their best efforts to the State\nwhen there was no incentive for personal gain other than that which\neverybody else received, and did not those who were capable of\naccomplishing more work than others, complain of the benefits given\nthose with less ability and not so industriously inclined as\nthemselves?\"\n\n\"Those same questions were asked and answered over five thousand years\nago,\" replied Arletta, \"and were subsequently proved to be fallacies. If\na man's highest aim in life is to foolishly pile up worldly products for\nhis own piggish satisfaction, then he is really on no higher plane than\nthe swine; for the rich accumulate wealth like the hog does filth, for\nwhat, they know not. It requires far more ability to build a strong\nmoral character and a kindly feeling for others, than it does to\naccumulate a mountain of produce. The Sagemen, with their splendid\nintellects, would gladly have worked themselves to death for the public\ngood had not the State restricted the working hours and required each\nperson to give proper care and attention to himself as well as to the\npublic.\n\n\"Immediately after discarding the old system of individual accumulation,\nthe Sagemen passed a law that all persons refusing to do their portion\nof work for the public should be considered insane, and put into asylums\nuntil such time as they regained their proper senses. No work, no\nfreedom, the statute said. But even in the beginning there was very\nlittle use for these asylums, and within two generations they became\nobsolete for the want of inmates. The vast majority of human beings are\nanxious to appear in the best possible light in the eyes of their\ncontemporaries and are swayed either forward or backward by the\nsentiment of others. If public opinion says to the individual: you are\nheld equally responsible with everybody else for the general welfare and\nconditions of your country, and if you show a lack of self-respect by\ntrying to evade the small portion of work necessary to pay for your\nkeeping, then you shall be judged mentally and morally unsound, and not\nfit to associate with respectable people, he will not only do all that\nis expected of him, but will try to out-work everybody else in order to\nsecure the highest esteem of his fellow beings.\n\n\"The system of individual accumulation as now practiced throughout the\nentire world is a most brutal plan of existence. It is either directly\nor indirectly responsible for all the crime and suffering humanity has\nto contend with. It causes men to forget their souls in the desperate\nstruggle for a mere living. It saps the strength of the individual and\nthen censures him for being weak. It robs him of the fruits of his labor\nand then blames him for being poor. It forces him to steal and then\npunishes him for being a thief. It drives him to all sorts of crime, and\nthen condemns him for being a criminal. It encourages and gives\neverything to the strong and discourages by taking everything from the\nweak. It originated with the primitive savages, and is the most beastly\nand debasing system conceivable. It keeps mankind in the very lowest\nstage of intelligence, and in a condition of helplessness on one side\nand slavery on the other. It has been saturated with so many idiotic\nlaws and so-called remedies since its inception that it now resembles a\ngreat network of legalized corruption. Laws for this and laws for that,\nand laws to offset other laws are enacted until the power of the human\nrace is wasted, in either making or breaking the innumerable edicts made\nto uphold a weak and rotten system.\n\n\"You cannot make right by patching up wrong. A new and effective system\ncannot be created by changing the features of an old and putrid one. An\nentirely new foundation must be constructed in order to insure solidity\nand strength. That was the reason the Sagemen uprooted entirely the\ncancerous system of individual accumulation and planted in its place the\nscientific and mutually beneficial plan of united labor and equal\ndistribution as decreed by Natural Law.\n\n\"The Apeman being the foremost of living particles on earth at the\npresent time, and nature being capable, willing and generous enough to\nabundantly provide for all of his needs, he should immediately cast off\nthe yoke of greed and devote his time and best efforts to a nobler work\nthan the petty accumulation of plunder.\"\n\nCHAPTER XIX\n\n\"In equal proportion to man's moral and mental strength, so should he be\nwell-balanced physically,\" proceeded Arletta. \"In fact, he cannot accept\nhis greatest opportunities unless perfectly sound and healthful. The\nmind derives its power of conception from the body, as well as the body\nsecures its impetus from mind, therefore, the development of the frame\nshould at least keep pace with that of the intellect, if not exceeding\nit. There is nothing more delightful to behold or conceive than a\nperfect physical man, whose features manifest strong moral and mental\nattributes, as exemplified by the portraits of the Sagemen.\"\n\n\"Excepting a perfect woman as depicted by yourself,\" thought I, with\nuncontrollable rapture, as I feasted my eyes upon her exquisite form and\nlovely countenance. Taking notice of my passionate cogitation, she\ninterjected, \"Nature created the male and female, and in order to\nperpetuate life itself, the union thereof is necessary; therefore, the\nhighest aim of each should be to win and hold the love and companionship\nof the other. To do this successfully, each must strive to reach the\nvery highest point of physical, as well as mental and moral excellence.\nOur men adored women as the most sacred and beautiful objects of life;\nthe women revered men as the grandest things extant.\n\n\"According to the philosophy of Sage--who, by the way, was the founder\nof our government, and the first to expound the principles of Natural\nLaw--men belonged to the community, and not the community to man. He\ncontended that it was just as essential to the general welfare of the\npublic for the individual to build himself up from a healthful\nstandpoint, and likewise make himself pleasing to the eyes of others, as\nit was to construct sanitary and artistic houses.\n\n\"Health and beauty are natural; disease and deformity are acquired, and\nare therefore crimes against mankind. There are three good reasons why\nit is criminal for one to neglect health. First, by going contrary to\nNatural Law, he unfits himself to give his best labors toward the\nprogress of his species. Second, by breeding disease in himself, he\nforces it into the community. Third--the most heinous crime of all--he\npasses down to his offspring the ghastly inheritances resulting from his\nown degraded weaknesses, which, in turn, are handed down from generation\nto generation.\n\n\"Intemperance, such as over-eating, over-drinking, over-work, over-rest,\nand many other forms of over-doing things, together with worry and\nuncleanliness, is directly responsible for disease and deformity. All\nliving things would be healthful, if they contained enough intelligence\nto live according to Natural Law.\n\n\"Besides using moderation in taking nourishment, work and pleasure, the\nSageman was careful about his exercises, assiduously devoting from two\nto three hours each day to physical culture. He practiced all manner of\ngames and acrobatic performances, in order to bring the body up to its\nbest possible shape. Suppleness, agility, and gracefulness were desired\nin preference to brute strength. Running, jumping, swimming, and flying\nwere considered a necessary part of every one's daily routine, from\nearly youth until old age and death.\"\n\n\"Flying,\" exclaimed I, incredulously, \"you surely do not mean to inform\nme that the Sagemen could fly?\"\n\n\"Yes,\" answered Arletta, \"the practice of floating in the air was begun\nshortly prior to the great catastrophe and many of our men and women\nwere becoming adepts at it. You see, after the Sagemen discontinued the\nanimal method of eating flesh and other solid substances and adopted the\naeriform process of nourishment, he naturally became much lighter in\nproportion to his bulk, and gravitation did not hold him so tightly to\nthe earth as formerly. Of course it took many generations of tendency in\nthat direction before he could even acquire the rudiments of aerial\npropulsion. But after the dread feeling of worry and want was finally\neradicated from his mind by the abolition of the individual accumulative\nsystem, he then began to apply himself carefully to physical\ndevelopment, and as running, jumping and acrobatic work have the best\nsymmetrical effects upon the human form, this kind of exercise was\nextensively followed, and as each generation succeeded in outdoing the\nfeats of the preceding one, the entire nation finally evolved into one\nof extraordinary springing propensities. What will you think, when I\ntell you that any of our men or women could jump over the highest\nbuilding there is in the world today, or run faster than any of your\nsteam locomotives? It seems hard for you to realize such things, but\nstill these are facts. In these days, the Apeman devotes his time to the\nconstruction of machinery with which to carry around his decaying and\nalmost useless frame, while the Sageman utilized the power of his own\nbody to propel himself as nature intended.\n\n\"The gradual increase from year to year, and generation to generation,\nof the Sageman's ability to make high leaps, and his continual desire to\nremain in the air as long as possible, eventually bore evolutionary\nresults by man learning to fly. And like swimming, so with flying, the\nmind plays the biggest part towards its accomplishment.\n\n\"As you appear incredulous regarding my statements, I will just give you\na little illustration,\" said Arletta, and before I was aware of her\nintentions she arose, and with an almost imperceptible spring went\nstraight up to the ceiling, and then with a graceful movement somewhat\nsimilar to a fish swimming in the water, she went half way across the\nroom and slowly descended to the floor again. \"There is no good reason\nwhy a man should not fly as well as swim,\" said Arletta, being seated\nonce more. \"Time and inclination work wonders, and the human race has no\nlimit to its achievements if it only takes the right course.\n\n\"In order to obtain the best results physically, the individual must\nlive according to the simple laws of nature. Plenty of good healthful\nexercise must be taken regularly and without strain. The intelligent\ndirection of the mind must also be brought into action with all muscular\nefforts. Man's daily employment should be a mixture of both mental and\nphysical labor, for all brain work strains the mind and weakens the\nflesh, while all bodily exertion over-taxes the frame and retards the\ngrowth of intellect. Deep breathing, an abundance of pure fresh air and\nplenty of sunlight are indispensable to perfect health. Daily baths are\nessential to keep the exterior of the body clean, while the interior\nmust be kept in good order with a moderate supply of simple, wholesome\nand unadulterated foods. Nature's plain beverage, water, is all that man\nshould imbibe. No evil thoughts must be allowed to enter the mind.\nCheerfulness, self-control, kindliness and optimism are great aids in\npromoting health. Pessimism, worry, anger, fear and violent emotions are\npoison to the system. There should be nothing in life to fear. The\nunselfish know no fear. Those who teach it, or cause others to fear are\ncommon enemies to health and progress.\n\n\"The beastly custom of drinking intoxicating liquors, now prevalent\nthroughout the world, is one of the very worst forms of robbing the\nindividual of his physical strength and vitality, as well as his reason\nand moral character.\n\n\"The tobacco habit also; that idiotic and ridiculous performance of\nfilling the mouth with smoke merely to blow it out again, is another\ndangerous obstacle thrown in the path of good health. It seems strange\nthat the Apeman cannot open his eyes wide enough to see the danger as\nwell as the absurdity of these silly customs which sap his strength and\nleave him in a state of abject weakness. What a pity he cannot exert\nenough will power to overcome these stupid and harmful practices.\n\n\"If you want to use your faculties when you are old, exercise them\nproperly when you are young. Improve yourself and you make better the\nworld.\"\n\nCHAPTER XX\n\n\"Sageland, previous to the catastrophe,\" resumed Arletta, \"was a small\noblong continent surrounded by what are now known as the Indian and\nSouth Atlantic Oceans. It ran from north-east to southwest. Its extreme\nlength was nine hundred and twenty-eight miles and its greatest width\nwas three hundred and ninety-six miles. There were a little over thirty\nmillion inhabitants in the land.\n\n\"Unlike the different countries of the present time, there were no large\ncities in Sageland. The population was scattered over the entire surface\nof the country at intervals and was domiciled in two distinct ways,\nnamely: the rural form of dwelling, in which a single family occupied a\nseparate house for its own private use, and the borough settlements,\nwhereby several thousand persons lived together under one roof.\n\n\"The great structures known as borough buildings covered about a square\nmile of land each, and were from fifty to eighty stories in height. They\nwere very artistically designed, most luxuriously furnished and the\nsanitary arrangements absolutely perfect. They contained, besides a\nprivate room for each individual, public reception rooms, libraries,\nmusic halls, theatres, gymnasiums, baths, etc. No person was allowed\nmore than one room for private use, but a family could have a suite of\napartments in proportion to its own number. The reception rooms, music\nhalls, theatres, libraries, gymnasiums, baths, etc., were entirely\npublic and all persons were at liberty to come or go as they pleased.\nThe room in which you are now seated was my own private apartment in a\nborough building which was occupied by seven thousand people.\n\n\"I have already explained the method whereby we received our sustenance,\nthe different aeriform substances being piped directly from the\nlaboratories to the consumers' personal apartments, thus obviating the\nnecessity for dining halls and kitchens.\n\n\"There being no such agency as commerce in Sageland, through which the\nnecessities of life were bought, sold, exchanged, or stolen, there was,\nof course, no need for such establishments as wholesale or retail\nstores, banks, etc. Neither were there any jails. Great national work-\nshops, laboratories, and store-houses, a national auditorium, art\ngallery, museum, and observatory were the only buildings erected besides\nthe rural and borough dwellings.\n\n\"The chief industries of our people were planting, reaping, condensing\nand distributing dietary substances; manufacturing such things as\nmachinery, clothing, paints, musical and scientific instruments, and\nbuilding. Railroads, steamships, mail service, the telegraph and\ntelephone had become obsolete with the Sagemen. In the first place, it\nwas not necessary for men to travel at all in person, for by the power\nof mind sight they were able to see what took place at any particular\nplace on earth, and also they were capable of communicating with each\nother telepathically at any distance just as easily as I am now\nconversing with you.\n\n\"Great centrifugal and centripetal engines, capable of transplanting any\nquantity of material from one place to another, were constructed for\ncarrying purposes, while automatic transmuting machines, by which one\nelement could be turned into another, cut down the necessity of\ntransportation to a minimum. Machinery, directed by the human mind, and\nderiving its power from the sun and other forces of nature, did all of\nthe Sageman's laborious work.\n\n\"The Sageman's discovery and partial utilization of the two great forces\nof nature, centrifugal and centripetal power, were the causes of his\nfinal destruction, however, for he not only used them advantageously\nhere, but by that method actually tried to regulate the earth's course\nin space to suit himself. And furthermore, he not only contemplated\nsteering his own world in whatever direction or part of the heavens he\nmight choose, but his ultimate plans were to visit, inhabit and control\nthe movements of all the great bodies of the universe.\n\n\"These laudable purposes, while no doubt practical, failed by being\nundertaken prematurely as forewarned by many of our ablest thinkers,\nwho, unfortunately, were in the minority when the question of making the\ninitial trial was voted upon. And by this failure the earth was rent in\na fearful manner, its map considerably altered and Sageland and its\npeople wiped out of existence entirely.\n\n\"Many millions of Apemen who inhabited the balance of the globe at that\ntime must also have perished from the effects of the awful convulsion\nwhich no doubt shook the earth to its core. And so it was, I presume,\nthe upset atmospheric conditions of the earth resulting from this\ncatastrophe, forty-two hundred and thirty years ago, that is responsible\nfor the legend by which the Apeman blames the Creator for sending a\nflood to destroy the inhabitants of the world, good and bad alike.\n\n\"But notwithstanding his superior intellectuality the Sageman was far\nfrom being infallible. He often made mistakes as he relentlessly\nstruggled along in search of knowledge. Natural Law teaches that the\nmain object of life is to absorb, concentrate and utilize intelligence.\nIntelligence rules the universe. The Sageman considered it his duty to\nfirst control himself, then the earth, and finally the universe. But he\nbecame impatient, and wanted to explore the heavens before he had\nassimilated all terrestrial life, and concentrated sufficient power to\ninsure success. He was anxious to control new worlds before he had put\nhis own into the best order. Had he waited until the Apeman and other\nliving particles could have reached the same state of intelligence as\nhimself, and then concentrated and utilized the combined mental strength\nof the whole to solve the great problem, no doubt he would have been\nmore successful in his first attempt at universal navigation.\n\n\"However, he tried and failed, and by that failure thoroughly\ndemonstrated the futility of one part of humanity trying to rush ahead\nof the whole, and the absolute necessity for all mankind to work\nunitedly and harmoniously, and go forward as a unit to accomplish the\ngreatest results within its power.\"\n\n\"But,\" inquired I, \"what law or chance was it that destroyed all of your\ncountrymen, and still preserved you through all these ages?\"\n\n\"That is the most remarkable circumstance of the whole affair,\" answered\nArletta, as she cast a loving glance in the direction of the leader of\nthe band, and then, reverently pointing toward him, she continued, \"he\nwas the foremost man of his day, and it was generally conceded by all of\nour people that he was the greatest man the earth ever produced. Like\nSage, the founder of our government, he lived entirely fox others. His\nsole aim in life was to make better the conditions of all living things;\nto make hardship, sorrow, suffering or misery an impossibility on earth.\nIn order to be of the greatest service to others, he knew that he must\nnot only be unselfish, but also build up his body, brain and character\nto the very highest degree of efficiency and perfection. And he did so.\nHe built himself up from a physical, mental, and moral standpoint, until\nit seemed to others that he was the personification of intelligence,\nlove, virtue, and magnificence. While possessing the greatest brain\npower, still he was the most humble man in Sageland. Although a giant in\nphysical strength, yet he was as gentle as a lamb. He was the greatest\nthinker of all time, but there was no room in his brain for an impure\nthought. Notwithstanding he was still a young man, being but fifty years\nof age, nevertheless he had attained distinct success and fame as a\nmusician, composer, scientist, inventor, architect, and athlete. He\nendeavored to unravel all the mysteries of nature which attracted his\nattention. One of the many occult forces he experimented with was human\nmagnetism. It was his belief that man could preserve himself\nindefinitely, either in a state of animation or suspended vitality, by\nthe strength of his own will power. He often said that, barring\naccidents, he would live to be a thousand years old. In order that he\nmight thoroughly study the subject and discover, if possible, the exact\nforces that caused life and death, he often used me as an example for\nhis experiments. Many times he had caused me to lie in a trance for\nseveral months' duration without the slightest change in my appearance\nshowing itself. While my aid was necessary to suspend animation, yet\nwhen once under the influence of the strange forces by which it was\naccomplished, my senses departed entirely, and I had no power to revive\nmyself, but had to depend upon him to restore consciousness. Ten days\nprior to the date set for the first trial whereby man was to navigate\nthe earth in space, I allowed him to put me under the spell of these\ninfluences, and although it seems like yesterday that it happened, still\nover forty-two centuries have since passed by. Uncounted billions of\nhuman beings have lived, suffered and died since that time, but the same\nsoul which guided the magnificent being who put me into that trance, has\nlived through it all, and by a mysterious power, has finally returned to\nrelease my soul from its incarceration. It was a natural law which\ncaused me to sleep peacefully through all those centuries, and likewise\nit was according to nature's principle that you were brought back here\nto awaken me.\n\n\"The seed of united labor sown by the immortal Sage, which proved so\nprolific in love and progress to the Sagemen, was not entirely destroyed\nby the great catastrophe, but lay smouldering in this tomb during the\ndark ages of superstition, ignorance and cruel civilization, that have\nsince elapsed, and must now be replanted in the soil of human hearts,\nand its benevolent results spread throughout the earth, offering peace\nand good will to all living things.\n\n\"And you, who are guided by the soul of my final consort,\" said Arletta,\nas the full rays of her luminous eyes were fastened upon me, \"I entreat\nyou to go forth as a messenger of truth and justice and teach the\nprinciples of Natural Law to all of your species.\"\n\nCHAPTER XXI\n\n\"But what about yourself?\" inquired I of Arletta, as I met her\nsympathetic gaze with a look of adoration. \"If you would visit the\ndifferent countries of the world you could revolutionize things in a\nvery short time, I am sure. You could explain the principles of Natural\nLaw to the people, and teach them methods of which I know nothing. The\nwise and learned men of the present time would understand your\nexplanation much better, and would give the subject far more serious\nconsideration than if I, a poor ignorant fellow with neither education\nnor standing, undertook to instruct them. The whole world would stop and\nlisten to you. The inhabitants would set you up as a goddess, and rally\nto your standard as mistress of the earth. Besides, the power your\napparently unlimited intelligence would create, your wonderful beauty\nwould immediately charm every mortal who once set eyes on you. Kings,\nemperors and potentates of all kinds would fall madly in love with you\nat first sight, and you would have but to command to bring them to your\nfeet as slaves ready to do your slightest bidding. To further your own\npurposes you could\"-but here I stopped short in my recital, shocked by a\nthousand little demons of jealousy entering my brain as it occurred to\nme that perhaps Arletta would forget me entirely if all the great\npersons of the earth showered honors and favors upon her. I felt\nintensely miserable at the very idea of such a thing.\n\n\"Do not allow silly thoughts to enter your head,\" said she\ncompassionately, \"I shall never leave this place. This room has been the\nscene of the happiest hours of my life in which my coeternal companion,\nincased in the flesh of a real man, plighted his everlasting love and\ndevotion to me. And by a simple and intelligent law of nature I have\nbeen held a captive in this room through countless generations to\nwitness the transformation and return of that faithful comrade to\nrelease my soul from captivity. And now this room shall be my mortal\nsepulcher.\n\n\"Although I should like, ever so much, to go forth and devote many years\nto teaching the Apeman the glorious principles of Natural Law as\nprescribed by my beloved countrymen, yet it is not within my power to do\nso.\n\n\"Owing to the constant change in the chemical composition of the\natmosphere, and the vast difference in its present arrangement and that\nof four thousand two hundred years ago, it would be impossible for me to\nlive five minutes outside of this chamber. In fact I have noticed that\nthe supply of air, which must have been hermetically sealed within this\nvault at the time of the catastrophe, has been gradually escaping by way\nof the hole through which you forced a passageway. Hence within a very\nshort time my life will have oozed away for the want of proper stimulus.\nThen again, the period in which the particles of this human frame should\nnaturally cling together has long since expired, and should I but expose\nmyself to the elements now existing on the exterior of this place, I\nshould no doubt, crumble into dust and be blown away with the winds.\nNotwithstanding nature compels the mutability of all things, its laws\nhowever remain unchangeable, and as the time has passed and the\nconditions altered since I should have lived my natural life, this\nmaterial of which I am now composed must soon collapse, its parts\ndisintegrate and return to the elements from whence they came.\n\n\"But my soul shall continue to live, and the same law which brought you\nback here to me will also bring our souls together many times and in\ndifferent forms during eternity. And as you now possess the strength,\nintelligence and opportunity, it is your sacred duty to go forth and\nteach Apemen to love one another and practice kindness toward all living\nthings, for you know not in what shape I may return. As you would be\nkind to me now, so must you treat all of nature's creatures. And\nremember, that the soul you so ardently worship now and so reverently\nloved over four thousand years ago, cannot return in a perfect form if\nthere are none such forms to inhabit, or in a good and pure being if\nthere are no such beings extant. But, on the contrary, if in the future\nnone but good and beautiful lives exist on earth, my soul cannot\npossibly occupy anything else. Thus, Natural Law plainly teaches that,\nas you prepare earthly conditions in one form of life, so must you\ntolerate them in the next. In fact, our own future safety and happiness\ndepend upon all living things reaching a high state of perfection and\nequality. And now,\" said Arletta, arising and exhibiting considerable\nemotion, \"having briefly instructed you in Natural Law as deeply as your\nlimited mental capacity will permit, the time has arrived that we must\npart, for I feel that I am growing weak and cannot live much longer. In\nfact, it has been through the power of my will alone that I have been\nkept alive until now. So prepare yourself to go.\"\n\n\"Go!\" ejaculated I, jumping to my feet with an awful feeling of anguish\nas I realized the full meaning of her words. \"Me, go? Never! I shall\nremain here and we shall die together. I could never live without you.\nThere would be left no object in life worth living for.\" And then,\nadvancing forward, I took her shapely hand in mine, and, looking\ndirectly into her lovely eyes with much earnestness, said: \"I fully\nunderstand that in comparison to the Sage-man, I am a hideous and\ndegraded creature. And I also know that the love that filled the heal is\nof your contemporaries for one another was sublime, having for a few\nmoments during that musical spell been moved by the same emotions that\nonce impelled the exalted being of which I am the re-incarnation, but\nbelieve me when I say that my love for you now is ten thousand times\nstronger than it was then. I worship you. I shall die for and with you.\nAye, even nature itself cannot keep me alive after you have gone. I may\nnot be the equal of the Sageman in other ways, but I shall prove that my\nlove for you is equally as great.\"\n\nDuring this outburst of my thoughts, Arletta stood in a motionless\nattitude, holding my outstretched hand and returning my excited gaze\nwith a look of mingled pity and sorrow. \"Is it possible,\" said she,\n\"that there is not one Apeman in the world today with sufficient\nstrength of character to relinquish his own selfish desires for the good\nof his species? Can it be that not one Apeman exists whom nature can\nrely upon for the great work of uplifting humanity, who is brave enough\nto resist the temporary fascination of a lovable woman? And have I lived\nto see the reincarnated soul of the bravest and noblest man that ever\nbreathed, bound within the flesh of a wretched coward incapable of\nliving for any greater purpose than his own self-gratification? Am I to\nunderstand that one who is controlled by the spirit of my everlasting\nassociate, intends betraying nature's trust by shirking the\nresponsibilities of manhood, because he lacks the courage to live? Will\nthere be promulgated among the records of time an account of my immortal\npartner having deserted his post of duty by sneaking out of the world\nbefore his allotted time? Would this being, who is blessed with physical\nstrength and a well-balanced brain, allow himself to sink to the level\nof a craven suicide, because he cannot secure something beyond his\nreach? Does he think that nature brought him into existence for no other\npurpose than to feed his own petty desires? Would he deliberately die\nlike a useless poltroon, and leave the world in its present state of\nsavagery and wretchedness, without even attempting to be of service to\nhumanity in the very work it requires the most?\"\n\n\"Stop! Enough!\" cried I. \"You have wounded my feelings to the very core.\nI'll admit that I am weak in this instance. Very weak indeed. But this\nis the first time that my courage has ever been assailed by anyone, and\nto have you above all persons, openly insinuate that I am a coward is\nfar worse than having inflicted upon me the cruelest tortures of the\nApe-man's prospective hell. I am only an Apeman, but as I said before, I\nlove you beyond all power of expression. You no doubt, cannot understand\nmy puny feelings any more than I can fully comprehend your lofty ideals\nor the full meaning of your higher knowledge of things. The very\ngreatest hardship for me to undergo would be to live after you have\npassed away. But, if by the promise of so doing I can gain your respect\nand one encouraging look or word of approval, I will not only rescind\nthe text of my previous statement and live, but I swear to you in the\nname of the Creator of the law which governs all things, that I shall\nstrictly follow to the letter any instructions you may wish to offer\nconcerning my future movements, no matter what they might be. So make my\ntask a hard one, for the courage you so unfeelingly attacked must be\ntested to its full limits. I am ready to obey your commands.\"\n\nHaving thus addressed Arletta, I straightened myself up to my full\nheight with as much dignity as I could assume, folded my arms across my\nchest and awaited her orders.\n\n\"The Sagemen never urged their desires by a command,\" replied Arletta,\n\"they simply requested that which they would like to have done. The\nrequest I shall make concerning your future duty can be incorporated in\na very few words, but it will require a lifetime and great strength of\ncharacter to execute. But as you have promised like a man to follow my\ninstructions, I shall die with implicit confidence in your determination\nto do so. So consider well the following mandate, for it contains the\nessence which will stimulate you to heroic deeds:\n\n\"Always consult your soul for advice,\n\n\"Do no act your conscience will not sanction.\"\n\nThree times Arletta slowly repeated this precept, and then placing her\nhands upon my shoulders, she continued: \"The first time you act contrary\nto the admonition of your soul, then you will have broken your promise\nto me. Now go,\" said she, turning me about until I faced the doorway, \"I\nmust request your immediate departure. Go, and try to be a man. We shall\nmeet many times in the future, so while you have the chance try and make\nbetter the conditions of life, that we may eventually meet on the same\nplane of equality without the shadow of strife or animosity to mar our\nhappiness. Good-bye.\"\n\nWith the meaning of these words ringing in my head, I fully understood\nthat my audience with Arletta was at an end, and overcome with grief and\ngloom I weakly responded, \"good-bye,\" and then added, \"I shall never\nbreak my promise.\" Then with a heavy tread I walked to the opening\nthrough which I had entered, turned half around and took one long, last,\nloving look at Arletta and passed into the corridor beyond. At the same\ntime I fancied I heard her gently sobbing.\n\nCHAPTER XXII\n\nSuffering with a dejected feeling of despair, I wended my way through\nthe chaotic anterior hall in search of the hole through which I had so\nmiraculously entered. It seemed as if life's sole aim had suddenly been\nstricken from the range of my vision. I could not understand why nature\nshould be so cruel as to give me but one momentary glimpse of that\nangelic mortal and then thrust me away from her in such an indifferent\nmanner. I wondered why the world was not populated exclusively by such\nlovely beings. Was it because the people themselves, through their\nindividual accumulative system, created conditions whereby only the most\nabject and debased mortals could survive? Was this system responsible\nfor petty selfishness, instead of conscience governing man, causing him\nin his greedy scramble for temporary gain, to keep others in a state of\nhelplessness, ignorance, and squalor, thus propagating an inferior race\nof physical, mental, and moral pigmies as the foremost inhabitants of\nthe earth? Why could not humanity organize itself as a great unit of\nunselfish effort and equality, for the purpose of uplifting and\nstrengthening all of its component parts, instead of those parts pulling\ndown, weakening, and destroying one another in a ferocious struggle for\nindividual predominance?\n\nAs these and similar thoughts crowded themselves into my brain, my\nattention was attracted by soft strains of music emanating from the room\nI had just left, and I stood still and listened. Arletta had evidently\nset the orchestral mechanism in motion again, and was accompanying it by\ntenderly singing her own requiem. With tremulous modulation, her vocal\nchords produced sounds such as I had never heard before, and of which I\nam powerless to give the faintest description. Like a statue, I stood\nand listened to the almost supernatural melody, and inwardly prayed that\nit might continue forever. But suddenly both the music and singing\nended, and absolute quietness prevailed. It may have been a pure fancy\non my part, but as I waited in breathless silence, hoping for more\nmusic, the apparition of Arletta seemed to pass directly over my head,\nand continued right on up through the solid roof of the hallway.\nStartled beyond expression at what I now consider a mere delusion, I\nshouted Arletta at the top of my voice several times, and receiving no\nanswer, either telepathically or phonetically, I came to the awful\nconclusion that she was no more.\n\nIs it unmanly to cry? If so, I must confess my unmanliness, for on this\noccasion it was impossible for me to repress the tears from coursing\ndown my cheeks, as I realized that the last of nature's grandest and\nnoblest earthly beings had passed away. But the tears I shed apparently\nsoftened my nature, and as I stood buried in the depth of meditation\nconcerning the preceding events, I became impregnated with the desire to\ntry and do some real good in the world; to make myself useful to\nmankind; to live for others instead of myself alone. And then and there\nI resolved that I would devote the remainder of my natural life to\nteaching human beings the beautiful principles of Natural Law, as I\nunderstood them, without expectation of compensation or future reward. I\nwould go forth, as Arletta had requested, and plant the seed of real\ntruth, justice, love, and equality in human hearts to the best of my\nability, and trust in the souls of men to further aid in its universal\nand everlasting productiveness. I felt positive that the theory of the\nSagemen was right, and that the soul just released from Arletta was even\nthen beginning life in a different form. Would it not be criminal on my\npart to make no effort to better earthly conditions for her future\nwelfare? Perhaps, conjectured I, the soul of my own mother, who died at\nthe time of my birth, might, even at that moment, be incased in a\ndegraded body, surrounded by want and misery, caused by the operation of\nthat selfish, brutal and murderous system, which encourages the strong\nto squeeze the very light and hope from the weak, thus forcing and\nkeeping mankind in a state of continual degradation. A system that was\ncreated in the beginning by savages, and which is upheld at the present\ntime by savages. And the Church, that gigantic symbol of ignorance and\nstupidity, not only fails to protest against such a beastly system, but\nactually advocates its continuance.\n\nHow long I stood there, seriously thinking on this subject, and forming\nnew and laudable resolutions for the future, I do not know; but at last\nI awoke to the fact that I was still nothing more nor less than a common\nadventurer, held captive on an isolated projecture in the middle of the\nsea. This became more apparent as I faintly heard the ocean's waves\ndashing against the rocks on the outside of the place. So, following in\nthe direction of the sounds, they became louder and more distinct, until\nfinally I found myself looking up at the very hole through which I had\nbored my way so unceremoniously. It was night, and I could easily\ndistinguish the stars in the outer darkness. In making a careful survey\nof the surroundings, I discovered that it was going to be a much more\ndifficult task to get out than it was to get in this extraordinary\ngrotto. The aperture was located about three feet above my head; was\nbarely large enough to squeeze through, and there was no way by which I\ncould climb up to it. I observed, however, that adjoining the hole there\nwas a huge marble pillar running upward and outward in an oblique slant,\nand wedged in its position by several other massive stones, but with its\nend protruding below the rest. So, without wasting any time, I leaped up\nand caught hold of it with both hands, and then, adopting the tactics of\na gymnast, I began slowly working my way through the hole feet foremost,\nlike an acrobat going over a horizontal bar. This feat, which required\ngreat muscular strength, flexibility, and tenaciousness, was the very\nhardest physical performance I ever accomplished, for, besides being\nunable to get a firm grip on it, I found, to my dismay, that the great\npillar I clung to was insecure in its position, and threatened to fall\nand crush me beneath its weight. And as inch by inch I slowly and\npersistently worked my way upward and outward, so inch by inch did it\nslowly, but surely, work its way downward. Passing my feet and legs\nbeyond the brink of the opening, I doubled myself up in such a way that\nthe lower half of my body rested upon a sort of a level platform, and,\nwith head downward, I pushed my way up until I found myself kneeling\nupon the crust I had previously broken through, and which I subsequently\ndecided must have been a great pane of glass, covered by the coagulated\nsettlings of the air, which for centuries had been forming a solid\ncoating. I remained in a kneeling position for several moments, catching\nmy breath and regaining strength. I feared to move, lest the thin layer\nupon which I rested would once more give way beneath me. It appeared to\nwaver, as did everything else around me. After a short rest, I carefully\narose to a standing position, and then observed that I was located in a\nsort of a pit, surrounded by rocks of various shapes and sizes. As I\ncautiously climbed upward, each one of them appeared to tremble at my\nvery touch, until just as I reached the topmost point the whole mass\napparently gave way at once, I lost my balance and fell forward, there\nwas a terrible crash, and after that I became dizzy and confused.\n\nThe most peculiar and disconnected sensations then passed through my\nmind. First I thought there was a great hole in the side of my head,\nwhich I tried to fill with small stones. Then my head became full of\nholes, and finally I fancied that I possessed a half dozen heads and all\nof them were cut and bleeding. And then apparently all of these heads\nwere suddenly and mysteriously severed from my body, and floated away in\nspace like a lot of toy balloons. Following that, it felt as if every\nbone in my body had been broken, and I was taking these bones from their\nplaces and trying to repair them. Then I imagined that I had several\ndifferent bodies, and all of them were bruised and mangled. These forms\nincreased in numbers until I could see nothing else but them, and they\nappeared to be struggling to extricate themselves from beneath a huge\nobject which seemed to grow in size until it was as large as a mountain.\nFinally released, they began climbing up the mountain until the summit\nwas reached and then gradually decreased until there was but one left.\n\n\"What is the matter with me?\" I wondered. \"Who am I, what am I, and\nwhere do I belong?\" I tried to think coherently, but my mind was feeble\nand incapable of grasping an intelligent thought. Day and night went and\ncame many times, but still I remained on that mountain wondering,\nwondering, wondering. Sometimes I would expand until I felt larger than\nthe mountain itself; then again I would shrink to the size of a flea.\nOne time I would feel as if I were up near the North Pole, surrounded by\nice and freezing to death. At another time I would imagine that I was in\nthe middle of the Sahara Desert, being roasted alive by the scorching\nrays of the sun. And, still again, I would feel that I was shipwrecked\nupon a barren island, and was slowly dying for the want of food and\nwater. Sometimes I fancied that I could see ships all about me, and I\nwould yell, and roar at the top of my voice to attract attention, but\nwithout results, as they would pass beyond view without taking any\nnotice of me. At other times it seemed that ships would cast their\nanchors right in front of my eyes, and apparently remain stationed there\nfor weeks and months at a time, and yet no one would come to my\nassistance. At last there appeared to be ten thousand ships all of the\nsame pattern lowering small boats into the water, and these boats manned\nby stalwart oarsmen started to race with each other in my direction.\nWhat an evenly matched contest. On, on, on they came, bunched closely\ntogether, each using the same uniform stroke as if all were guided by\nthe same coxswain. Now they were right upon me. \"Great race,\" I shouted,\nas they came within hearing distance. \"Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!\" \"The\npoor devil is mad,\" I fancied I heard someone exclaim, and my mind\nbecame a blank.\n\nCHAPTER XXIII\n\nFIRST VOICE: \"This is a most peculiar case of enteric fever, in which\nthe patient baffles all medical aid towards a cure. The fellow has been\nout of his head ever since he was brought here, two months ago, and\nfancies that he has been in a trance since the time of Noah and the Ark.\nHe has a strange hallucination that he can be awakened from his\nprotracted nap by a kiss from a certain female, whom he describes as\nArletta the Beautiful. Although he is as crazy as a loon, yet some of\nhis utterances are really remarkable for the depth of logic they\ncontain. The case has its amusing side also, for every woman by the name\nof Arletta who visits this hospital cannot resist the temptation of\nkissing the man, in order to ascertain whether they possess the secret\ncharm to restore his right senses. But so far the osculatory experiment\nhas proved a dire failure. He bears evidence of being a handsome and\ndistinguished person, notwithstanding he is a charity patient, and\nwithout friends. His identification is unknown, he having been picked up\non the street in his present condition by the police, who had him sent\nhere. I fully believe-but Miss, you are crying. Evidently your nature is\ntoo emotional for the sick room, so come, we will pass along.\"\n\nSECOND VOICE: \"No, wait a moment, Doctor. I--I think--I am positive that\nI know this man. In fact, I was very well acquainted with him a few\nyears ago. It all seems so strange, but-well-you see-he often told me\nthat he loved me. Yes, my name is Arletta, but I did not love him, nor\neven like him. My father and mother hated him, and we all had to\nsecretly leave home and travel abroad in order for me to avoid his\nundesirable attentions. But notwithstanding that, my heart now bleeds\nfor him in his terrible plight, and I want to do something for him. My\nconscience would not allow me to pass along without trying to aid him.\nYou say that in his ravings he claims that a kiss from Arletta would\nsave him. I have never done such a thing before in my life, but now an\nirresistible force from within has taken possession of me and I feel\nthat it is my duty to try the experiment myself, and see if it will have\nthe effect of restoring his normal condition. Therefore, Doctor, whether\nthis strange method proves efficacious or not, I shall rely upon your\nhonor to keep the secret, and never mention the incident to him. If he\nknew of it I should die of shame. My parents would disown me for such an\nact.\"\n\nAs though awakening from a long and profound sleep the aforesaid\ncolloquy seemed to have been impressed upon my mind, and then I opened\nmy eyes and looked about in astonishment. The strangeness of my position\nand surroundings surprised me beyond expression. I was lying upon my\nback in a small narrow bed stationed within a large oblong room about\none hundred by fifty feet in dimensions. Long rows of little white beds\nextended from one end of the apartment to the other, each containing the\nform of a human being. Most of these forms appeared to be soundly\nsleeping, some lay awake silently meditating, while others tossed about\nnervously from one position to another as if in terrible agony. An\noccasional howl of torture rent the air. Moving hither and thither among\nthe different beds were women attired in white dresses and wearing\nlittle white caps on their heads. They carried in their hands, spoons,\ntumblers, trays, and various instruments and vessels of peculiar design.\n\nAt the front of my bed stood a man of medium height and build, with a\nheavy reddish mustache and pointed beard. At one side, half way between\nthe head and foot of my bed, was the figure of a woman, apparently about\ntwenty-one years of age. She was tall, slender, graceful, and\nmagnificently gowned in street clothes. Her head was shapely and covered\nwith an abundance of dark brown hair. Her physiognomy was intellectually\nstrong, and the whole cast of her features showed extraordinary beauty.\nHer eyes were clear and bright, and expressed a tender and sympathetic\nnature. She was looking straight at me in a half-startled sort of a\nmanner, and appeared to be backing away from the bed upon which I lay.\nAs my eyes met her steady gaze I involuntarily exclaimed, \"Arletta!\"\nThen instantly my memory returned, and I remembered all that had taken\nplace, as explained in the preceding chapters.\n\nNotwithstanding, however, that my mind became clear and well-balanced, I\nbecame extremely puzzled as I looked at this beautiful woman, to note\nthat she bore a striking resemblance to the sublime being, who had just\npassed away among the remnants of Sageland, and I became still further\nconfounded when she timidly approached me and softly said: \"You are John\nConvert, are you not?\"\n\n\"Yes,\" answered I, \"that is my name.\"\n\n\"And do you recognize me?\" inquired she.\n\n\"I recognize in you a living demonstration and positive realization of\nthe principle of re-incarnation, as embodied in the Sageman's theory of\nNatural Law,\" answered I, slowly and deliberately. \"I recognize in you\nthe soul of Arletta, of Sageland, my eternal companion, and a fulfilment\nof her prophecy that she would be born again. But while I make this\ndeclaration with the utmost positiveness, still I am at a loss to\nunderstand how such a thing could be, as the soul of that lovely being,\nhaving but just left its material body, should according to Natural Law,\nhave attached itself to an embryo form, while you are a full-grown\nwoman.\" At these words she appeared considerably amazed for a moment,\nbut quickly recovering herself, she said with much sympathy and\ntenderness of feeling: \"Come, now, Mr. Convert, try and think clearly\nand talk sensibly. Don't you recollect how, three years ago, we became\nacquainted in Paris; how persistently you followed me all over Europe,\nthen crossed the Atlantic aboard the same steamer, and finally journeyed\nout West to my home? Don't you remember how angry Papa became, and how\nhe threatened you with dire punishment if you did not stop annoying us?\"\n\n\"No,\" said I emphatically, \"there must be some mistake, for I have never\nvisited Paris and I distinctly recollect having been in Japan three\nyears ago, as I celebrated my nineteenth birthday in Tokio.\"\n\n\"Now that is absurd,\" said she, with a mingled look of pity and\nsuppressed amusement. \"Three years ago you told me that you were forty\nyears old. Don't you recollect how you once cautioned me not to consider\nyou an old man simply because your hair was white, and how angry you\nbecame because I called you Grandpa? Come now, think real hard.\"\n\nAt these words I began to seriously doubt my own identity, but after a\nmoment of calm deliberation I replied, \"No, I do not recollect any such\nhappenings, and moreover, I am not forty years of age, but twenty-two,\nand neither is my hair white but black as you can plainly see. Will you\nplease tell me where I am? My mind is a trifle confused at the strange\nsurroundings.\"\n\n\"You are in the Ruff Hospital, New York,\" answered she. \"I, myself, have\nbeen spending some time in this city, and, strangely enough, took a\nnotion that I should like to see the different hospitals. It was purely\naccidental that I ran across you. The doctor says you have typhoid\nfever, but,\" she added, in an encouraging manner, \"you will soon be\nwell. So cheer up, and try to concentrate your mind, so that you can\nthink properly.\"\n\n\"Ruff Hospital, New York!\" ejaculated I, in astonishment. \"How the deuce\ndid I get away over here? Oh, I understand; I fell among the rocks and\nwas hurt; then the sailors came and rescued me, and I was brought here.\nThat seems like a few moments ago, but I presume at least a month must\nhave elapsed since or the ship could not have reached this port. What\nmonth is this, January?\"\n\n\"No, this is the month of March,\" replied she.\n\n\"March!\" exclaimed I. \"Great heavens, how the time has flown! Why, that\nis about three months that I have known absolutely nothing. Let's see,\nit was December 5th that I was thrown overboard, and it must have been\nDecember 7th that Arletta died. That's right, December 7, 1881-I shall\nalways remember that date and keep it holy. It must be now March, 1882.\"\n\n\"Why, Mr. Convert, you are certainly dreaming,\" responded she, \"this the\nyear 1903, not 1882. But how strange that you should get so mixed in the\ndates-December 7, 1881, was the day I was born. That was over twenty-one\nyears ago, instead of three months, as you fancy.\"\n\nAt this juncture the red-whiskered individual came forward and said: \"It\nseems to be a hopeless case, Miss. He has talked in that same strain\never since he came here. Perhaps after his fever abates somewhat he may\nregain his equanimity, but to me it looks as if his mind will always be\nunbalanced. He has a nasty scar right over the temporal region, which\nportends ill for his future reason. Perhaps it would be better not to\ntalk to him any further at present. He is awfully weak, and appears more\nexcited than usual. You have evidently made some impression upon him,\nhowever, and if you would visit him every few days he might eventually\nbe able to recognize you, which would have a strong tendency to set him\nmentally straight again.\"\n\n\"Very well,\" said she, hesitatingly, as if not anxious to go. \"May I\ncall and see him tomorrow, Doctor?\"\n\n\"There are only three visiting days here each week, Miss; Sundays,\nWednesdays and Fridays, between the hours of three and four P. M. But\nany time you call, if you will ask at the office for Doctor Savage, that\nis my name, I shall consider it a pleasant duty to render you any\nservice within my power,\" replied he, looking at her with unsuppressed\nadmiration, of which she apparently took no notice. Then continuing, he\nsaid, \"Would you kindly give me your card that I may know your full name\nin case you call at other times than the regular visiting hours?\"\n\nShe opened her pocket book as if to take out a card, stopped and\nreflected a moment, and then said, \"Well, never mind my last name; just\nremember me as Arletta,\" and before I could collect my wits sufficiently\nto voice my agitated thoughts they passed from the room together.\n\nCHAPTER XXIV\n\nAs I lay musing over the strange occurrences recorded in the previous\nchapter, and wondering whether my entire life was a reality or merely a\npeculiar dream, one of the white-capped nurses strode up to the side of\nmy bed and without the slightest warning roughly pushed a little glass\ntube in my mouth. Not knowing whether she wanted me to swallow it or was\nmerely trying to puncture a hole in my tongue, I put it out again and\nasked what she intended doing.\n\n\"Now look here,\" said she, in an irritated way, \"I have about lost all\npatience with you, and unless you do as I tell you hereafter I shall\nhave the orderly punish you again.\"\n\n\"But,\" said I, in amazement, \"you have not mentioned yet what you would\nhave me do.\"\n\n\"I have told you fully a hundred times to put this thermometer under\nyour tongue and keep it there,\" replied she, exhibiting considerable\ntemper, as she viciously jammed it once more into my mouth and twisted\nit under my tongue. \"You are about the biggest chump that ever came into\nthis hospital,\" continued she, grasping my wrist as though she intended\nbreaking it and simultaneously taking my pulse and temperature.\n\nA few moments later she jerked the thermometer from my mouth, glanced at\nit hurriedly and then entered a record upon a chart suspended from the\nhead of my bed. Then calling one of the male attendants, she instructed\nhim to fill the tub preparatory to giving me an ice bath. This attendant\nwent to the corner of the room from whence he secured a bath tub on\nwheels, which he pushed over to the side of my bed. The tub was already\npartly filled with water, and I afterward learned that owing to the\nlaziness and filthiness of the attendants, the same water was often used\nover and over again for the different typhoid patients. I observed that\nthis attendant, who was otherwise called an orderly, was about as\nignorant and degraded a specimen of humanity as a much boasted\ncivilization could possibly breed.\n\nHe was about six feet tall, round-shouldered, knock-kneed, and weighed\nabout two hundred pounds of flabby flesh, mostly covered by filthy\ngarments. His head was pyramidal in shape, and covered by a mass of\nunkempt red hair. He had practically no forehead. His eyes were dull and\nbloodshot. His nose was flat and bent to one side, and his whole face\nwas covered with pimples. His mouth was wide and beastly, and filled\nwith tobacco. His mustache was irregular, and dyed almost to the roots\nby tobacco juice. His breath was odoriferous with fumes of whiskey,\ncigarettes, and foul stomach disorders, causing a poisonous stench to\npollute the surrounding atmosphere. One could not look upon him without\na feeling of sickening disgust. He was a twentieth century American\ncivilized Christian. He was not, of course, the highest type of a\ncivilized Christian, but nevertheless he was of a high enough order for\na Christian community to breed, rear, and put in charge of its sick and\nunfortunate members. As he pushed the tub along he carelessly allowed it\nto strike the end of my bed, which gave me a shock as though I had been\npierced by a thousand daggers, causing an involuntary groan to escape\nfrom my lips.\n\n\"Shut up there, you old duffer,\" said he, looking at me in a stupid,\nexpressionless sort of a way, \"you are not hurt yet. I'll give you\nsomething to cry about if you don't quit making such a fuss over\nnothing. You're the biggest baby I ever saw.\"\n\nHaving fixed the tub in position, put some pieces of ice into the water,\nand adjusted a small portable partition around my bed, which obstructed\nthe view of the other patients, he called for the assistance of another\nattendant, and began preparations to put me into the tub. As they\nuncovered me, I glanced down at my emaciated form and was astounded at\nmy own appearance. Nothing now remained of the once muscular and\npowerful frame I had always felt so proud of, but sickly looking skin\nand bones. Raising my arm to the level of my eyes I discovered that it\nwas shriveled, and ghastly to behold, and it fell back to my side with a\nsickening thud for the want of strength to remain erect. It seemed as if\na great fiery furnace was located within me and that I was fairly\nburning alive. Ten thousand different pains were shooting back and forth\nin every part of my body, but the most excruciating of all was a\nterrible pain in the center of my back, which caused me to think that my\nspinal column had been dislocated. And then as if all of the tortures of\na refined civilization had suddenly been thrust upon me, as though some\nsupernatural hellish agency was instrumental in causing me to go the\nfull limit of human suffering, those two devilish orderlies took hold of\nme, one by the head and the other by the feet, and without any leverage\nwhatever to break the strain upon my backbone, they raised and then\ndumped me into the tub of ice-water below. I had always considered\nmyself invulnerable to bodily pain, and from early youth had schooled\nmyself against outward manifestation of suffering, no matter what the\ncircumstances might be, but on this occasion the power of resistance\ndeserted me entirely and I gave vent to a howl, of rage like the\nbellowing of a maddened bull, and partly arising, endeavored to clutch\nthe throat of the unfeeling beast at my head, but too weak to accomplish\nmy purpose I fell back into the tub exhausted. At the same time the\norderly took hold of my own throat and almost strangling me, beat my\nhead against the tub several times cursing me under his breath in the\nvilest of language at the same time.\n\n\"Look out you don't kill him,\" cautioned the other orderly at the foot\nof the tub, \"or we might have to go through another of those damned\ninvestigations.\"\n\nJust then the doctor and nurse came within the inclosure, and inquired\nas to the cause of the commotion.\n\n\"This damned idiot has broken loose again, and I am teaching him how to\nbehave himself,\" replied the orderly.\n\n\"Well, he certainly needs a lesson in good behavior,\" chimed in the\nnurse; \"I cannot understand why he has not been sent over to the Island\nfor more strenuous treatment long ago.\"\n\n\"Why don't you do as told?\" inquired the be-whiskered Dr. Savage, in a\nharsh tone of voice, as he approached close to me, but I was too weak\nand exhausted to answer, and merely looked from one to the other with\nthe utmost feeling of contempt. After censuring me sternly and advising\nme to behave myself in the future, the doctor strolled away as if such\nincidents were of trifling importance.\n\nI was kept in that tub of ice-water, freezing, for fifteen minutes,\nwhile the nurse and orderlies lazily rubbed my arms, legs, and trunk,\nand poured pitcher after pitcher of ice-water over my head, in an effort\nto reduce the fever. It was a barbarous method of treatment, and seemed\nof several hours' duration, but it allayed that intense burning\nsensation, and put new life and vigor into me. As they were about to\ntransfer me back to the bed again, I quietly informed the nurse that my\nback was in a terrible condition, and requested that the orderlies be\ninstructed to handle me a little more carefully, and to take hold of my\nbody instead of my head and feet when lifting me up, so that the strain\nwould be less on the middle of my back.\n\n\"There is nothing the matter with your back,\" snapped she. \"I have told\nyou many times before that you only imagine your back hurts.\nFurthermore, we understand our business without any advice from you.\"\n\nAnd with this rejoinder, the orderlies once more took hold of my head\nand heels, and after much tugging and twisting, managed to lift me up\ninto the bed. This time the pain seemed even greater to bear than\nbefore, but, summoning all my will power, I managed to take the brutal\ntreatment in silence, and said no more. Back upon the bed again,\nshivering and shaking with cold as though my bones would break, I was\ncovered with heavy blankets, and shortly afterwards fell asleep,\nthoroughly exhausted, and feeling assured beyond a doubt that I had once\nmore returned to civilization.\n\nCHAPTER XXV\n\nIt is not my intention to give a full description of hospital life as it\ncame under my personal observation, nor to recount the many cruel acts\nor cases of stupid negligence on the part of the house staff as\nperpetrated upon myself and other patients, during my stay in the Ruff\nHospital as a ward patient, as to do the subject justice would require\nat least a volume in itself. Neither is it my desire to hold responsible\nany particular person or persons for the existence of such a barbarous\nstate of affairs, in which degraded wretches inflict punishment upon the\nsick, knowing that this is but one of the logical results bred from the\ndebasing system kept in force by a semi-intelligent class of selfish\nbrutes, who are crafty enough to gain control of others by teaching the\ncruel and savage doctrine known as the \"survival of the fittest.\" I have\nnothing but a feeling of compassion and sorrow for those abject\ncreatures who mistreated me when I was sick, knowing that they, as well\nas those whom they mistreated, were but the victims of this pernicious\nsystem.\n\nIn the desperate struggle for a mere existence, most men and women are\nforced into employment for which they are entirely unfitted, and\nconsequently take no other interest in their work than that of receiving\ntheir weekly or monthly stipend. This fact was thoroughly demonstrated\nto me by the action of several nurses who appeared to look upon their\nwork as tasks to be executed mechanically, instead of duties to be\nperformed with pleasure. Then again, others who really preferred the\nwork were either kept away from it entirely, or else made dull, peevish\nand irritable by the great number of hours they were forced to be on\nduty each day, thus turning what should have been pleasant employment\ninto a drudgery. And like the nurses, so were the orderlies; their daily\nwork hours were so long and their pay so small that only the least\nintelligent and most stupid moral idiots could be secured to take\npositions that should be filled by men of the very highest intelligence,\ncharacter and sympathy.\n\nThe physicians themselves I found to be inexperienced youths, generally\nmasquerading under a set of whiskers, which some people are foolish\nenough to mistake for brains and ability. Coming direct from the medical\ncolleges, they accepted these positions in order to gain some practical\nexperience at the expense of the lives of the hospital patients.\n\nThe bricklayer, who devotes his life to the honorable work of building\nthe edifice; the hod carrier, who gives his best services to the\ncommunity in an equally honorable employment; the locomotive engineer,\nwho safely carries from city to city a train load of human beings each\nday for many years, are only fit to be practiced upon by inexperienced\nphysicians, and abused by irritable nurses and cruel orderlies, if they\nare finally overcome by sickness and enter a charity hospital for\ntreatment.\n\nFor several days I lay upon my little ward cot in the Ruff Hospital,\nwith my life hanging in the balance, and obliged to accept for succor\nthe abuse and mistreatment of an inferior house staff. And worse still,\nI had to be an eye witness to cruelties imposed upon other and less\nfortunate sufferers than myself. I feel sure that many a poor fellow\nthat I saw carried away upon a stretcher, a lifeless corpse, had given\nup all hope of recovery and died, for the want of a few cheering words\nand kindly sympathy from sonic one, instead of the constant abuse and\nbrutality he was subjected to.\n\nI fully believe that I myself must have inevitably succumbed to my\npitiless treatment, had it not been for the fact that the young girl,\nArletta, visited me each day for a half hour, bestowing upon me a tender\nsympathy, and manifesting the greatest concern for my welfare and\nrecovery.\n\nI was placed in a most peculiar position. I could get no information\nwhatsoever from the doctors, nurses, or orderlies, and even Arletta said\nvery little, and cautioned me against talking or exciting myself in any\nmanner. I learned enough, however, to know that twenty-one years had\nactually elapsed since my wonderful experience with Arletta of Sageland,\nand felt convinced beyond a doubt that the beautiful young girl, who\ntook such an interest in my welfare, was impelled by the same soul as my\nnoble instructress in Natural Law. But I was intensely mystified and\nunable to conceive what had become of the time between the going of the\none and the coming of the other Arletta.\n\nTwenty-one years had been swallowed up as completely as if they had\nnever been. Nearly one-half of my life had passed away, of which I could\ngive absolutely no account. A look into the mirror was a convincing\nproof of this fact, for therein I saw a white-haired and premature old\nman, with a thin, haggard and drawn countenance, which plainly showed\nthe results of having lived a life of hardship, and almost\nunrecognizable as my own face. My heavy black mustache was gone, and in\nits place nothing but white stubble remained. The more I endeavored to\nreach some tangible solution of the mystery, the more confused I became.\nAccording to the girl, Arletta's story, I had been introduced to her at\na reception in Paris three years previously, had apparently fallen\ndesperately in love with her, and made myself obnoxious by following her\neverywhere she went for several months. But as neither she nor her\nparents liked me, I was finally eluded, and had not been seen for over\ntwo years. According to her account, I was generally looked upon as a\nrich gentleman of leisure and bad habits, who did nothing but travel and\nspend money recklessly. This being the case, the foremost questions of\nmy mind were: Where had I gotten the money to spend so extravagantly?\nHad I lived those twenty-one years as a rational being, earning and\naccumulating wealth and still not knowing anything about it? Arletta of\nSageland had told me that there was no such thing as a freak of nature,\nand that everything worked according to Natural Law, but my case\ncertainly seemed to be an exception to the general run of things. What\nwould be the final outcome of my mysterious career, was a question to be\nanswered that was entirely beyond the limits of my imagination. It gave\nme a severe pain in the head to contemplate beyond the surface of the\nsubject, and I finally allowed the whole matter to slip from my\nattention and bent my efforts toward recovery from the effects of my\nphysical ailments.\n\nOne day Arletta said to me in as kindly a manner as possible: \"Mr.\nConvert, the doctor informs me that the reason you do not get well is\nbecause you lack the will power to do so.\"\n\n\"Will power,\" exclaimed I, \"my dear sweet girl, that is all I have left.\nIt is the only force that is keeping me alive in the face of the\ncruelest treatment man could possibly receive at the hands of his fellow\nbeings. Without will power I should have been killed long ago by these\npeople, but through that agency alone I have been enabled to defy death\nand I promise you that I shall get well in spite of them.\"\n\n\"Why, Mr. Convert, how can you talk so harshly against these kind\npeople? I am sure they are doing everything within their power to make\nyou well.\"\n\n\"You think so because you know nothing of the case,\" answered I. \"You\nsimply visit this place for a half hour each day, at a time that\neverything is moving along smoothly, and merely get a surface view of\nmatters. It is my earnest hope that you may never get a practical\ninsight into these things by being placed in the same position as myself\nor these other poor fellows all around me. If all the poor unfortunates\nI have seen carried out of this ward, corpses, have died for want of the\nsame kind of will power I require, then all I can say is that the\ndoctors here should be held responsible for a great many cases of actual\nmurder.\"\n\n\"Why, Mr. Convert, what do you mean by talking in this way?\" inquired\nshe.\n\n\"Just this,\" replied I, \"these doctors are treating me for the wrong\nailment. I am suffering no more from the effects of typhoid fever than\nyou are, but still these doctors are trying to cure me of a malady which\ndoes not exist. Since recovering my memory I have observed that the many\ntyphoid patients all around me have been bathed from five to ten times\ndaily, while my fever rises to a point which necessitates an ice bath to\nreduce it but once each day, and always at the same hour, five o'clock\nin the afternoon. In any part of the world where malaria is prevalent\nthese symptoms indicate nothing more nor less than chills and fever and\nshould be cured within a day or two by a few doses of quinine. I have\nexplained this to the doctors several times, but with a wisdom born of\nbook learning they have contemptuously disregarded my advice and still\ncontinue to treat me for enteric fever, and then lay the blame upon me\nfor not getting well. Do not doubt me, my dear girl, I know what I am\ntalking about. Up to a few days ago my memory was obscured, but now I am\nin my right senses and fully capable of using all of my reasoning\nfaculties to their fullest extent. Some day I shall explain many strange\nthings to you, of which you know nothing. But now I must devote all of\nmy thoughts and forces toward regaining my former physical strength, and\nlikewise increase my moral and mental vigor for a future great work.\"\n\nArletta said no more at that time, but to my great surprise, the next\nday I was transferred from the charity ward to a paid private room in\nanother part of the hospital. The furnishings of this room were of the\nmost luxurious description, and the nurse informed me that it was the\nvery best and highest priced apartment in the building. I afterwards\nlearned that the cost of renting this room, including attendance, was\none hundred dollars per week. Arletta had secured it for me. It was\nreally remarkable how quickly the value of my life increased in the eyes\nof those hospital attendants, by the expenditure of a little money. From\na worthless proletariat I was suddenly transformed into a man of great\nimportance. There were two private nurses to wait on me, and they moved\nwith the celerity of antelopes in response to my slightest bidding. They\nappeared to be bubbling over with kindness and attention, and seemed to\nanticipate my every want. The orderlies treated me as if I were the\ncrowned ruler of the universe, while the doctors displayed an unnatural\npoliteness that was almost amusing. I found out later that Arletta was\nto fee them all handsomely in case of my early recovery. My new nurses\nwere always ready to answer questions and give me any information I\nwanted.\n\nUpon arriving at my new and sumptuous quarters, one of the nurses\ninformed me that I was to receive a personal visit from the great Doctor\nKnow-all that day. She further informed me that he was considered to be\nthe leading physician of America and that he never made a professional\ncall for less than one thousand dollars. As if by appointment Arletta\nand this doctor arrived at almost the same moment. Several of the house\nphysicians also followed him into the room anxious to learn what\ndiagnosis this celebrated practitioner would make of a case which had so\nbaffled them. He lost no time in unnecessary talk but got down to work\nimmediately, first looking over the charts which recorded my condition\nsince my entrance to the hospital. Then he examined me carefully, with\nvarious instruments, from the tip of my head to the sole of my foot,\nmeanwhile asking me many questions on widely different subjects.\n\nAt last he turned to the house physicians and said: \"It is my opinion\nthat when this man first entered the hospital he was merely suffering\nfrom a simple case of malaria and not enteric fever, as you have\ndiagnosed. Since then his kidneys have become affected, and he now\nsuffers from both malaria and lumbago. For the fever, give him ten\ngrains of quinine three times a day for two days and gradually diminish\nthe quantity until the fever abates entirely. Begin to feed him after\nthe second day. For the lumbago, give him at least two quarts of lithia\nwater to drink each day. Now as to the man's mental calibre, I find him\nperfectly sane and normal. But owing to a fracture of the skull\nsustained by him some time in the past, the two sides of his brain have\nbecome separated, causing two distinct personalities to exist. When one\nside of the brain works, the other side remains dormant, and vice versa.\nHe likewise possesses a dual memory, and is only capable of recollecting\nevents as they happen separately and distinctly, according to the side\nof the brain which takes the impression. Consequently, this man may have\nlived a perfectly sane life during the past twenty-one years, of which\nhe claims to have no recollection. He may at any time in the future\nresume either personality by some slight mental disturbance, but his two\npersonalities will always remain as strangers to each other.\"\n\nHaving thus delivered himself, the doctor, who apparently was bent upon\nmaking a few more thousand dollar calls that day, hurriedly, but with\ngreat dignity, strode out of the room, closely followed by the other\nphysicians.\n\nAfter they had departed, and we were alone, Arletta pulled a chair up\nclose to the head of my bed, and, looking steadily and earnestly into my\neyes, said: \"I sincerely hope, Mr. Convert, that you may never again\nresume your other personality.\"\n\nCHAPTER XXVI\n\nThe change from a charity patient to the highest paid patient in the\nRuff Hospital bore magical results, and I was soon on the road to\nrecovery. The quinine knocked all the fever out of me within two days.\nThe food I was given to eat after fasting two months, began to\nstrengthen me at once and within ten days I was able to walk about the\nroom. Arletta never failed to visit me at least once each day, and on\nsome days, two and three times. With each visit she brought flowers,\nfruit, or some little delicacy, and I was not long in discovering that\nshe was taking more than an ordinary interest in me. As the days flew\nby, her visits became more frequent and of longer duration, until\nfinally it seemed as if she almost lived in my apartment. Many times she\ncame in the morning and remained all day, taking her lunch with me in\nthe meantime. As my health improved, and I became more vigorous in\nbodily strength, those same feelings of admiration and love I bore for\nthe first Arletta took a firm hold of me until it seemed that she was a\npart of my very life. Ah! those were happy and heavenly days indeed. The\nhappiness I enjoyed there, was of that kind which can only exist between\ntwo souls fore-ordained and mated to each other for all eternity. As the\ntime went by-all too rapidly-we had much to talk about. Arletta\ndescribed the many progressive strides made by science and invention\nduring the twenty-one years in which my mind was a blank, and I told her\nhair-raising stories of my early travels and adventures in all parts of\nthe world. We said very little regarding my other personality. That\nsubject appeared distasteful, and caused her to shudder whenever it was\nbrought up. She seemed to think that in my other character I was all\nthat was low, mean and contemptible, while she openly avowed that my\npresent self was noble, honorable, and manly.\n\nThere was one hitch, however, which seemed to take root and stand\nthreateningly in the path of absolute harmony between us, and that was\nmy belief in Natural Law. She refused to believe the story I told her of\nthe wonderful Sagewoman of whom she was the re-incarnation, claiming\nthat it was nothing more nor less than a fancy of my disordered brain.\nShe also seemed greatly displeased when I informed her that it was my\nintention to go out into the world and teach the principles of Natural\nLaw. It pained her to think that I should allow myself to even question\nthe authenticity and infallibility of the Bible. Her faith was so strong\nand her nature so gentle that I refrained from discussing the subject in\nany form, after I found how much she grieved over it. So I said no more\nabout my experience with the divine Sagewoman and my promise to follow\nher instructions during the remainder of my natural life, but confined\nmy conversation to other subjects, and to the full enjoyment of her\ndaily companionship during my period of convalescence.\n\nDay by day my weight and strength increased, until at last the time\narrived for me to quit the hospital and go into the outer world. I had\nmade no plans as to what I should do when thrown upon my own resources,\nbut felt confident that once well and strong I should find plenty of\nwork to do with both my hands and brain. Arletta, who appeared to have\nan unlimited bank account, was generously supplying me with every\ncomfort and luxury that money could purchase, notwithstanding my earnest\nprotests against it. The tailor had visited me, taken my measure, and\nreturned a fine black frock suit of clothes. The hatter had furnished a\nsilk tile, the shoemaker, shoes, and the haberdasher all the other\narticles necessary to complete my wearing apparel in the most up-to-date\nstyle. The barber, the manicurists, and even the chiropodist had visited\nme and taken extra pains in polishing me off.\n\n\"You are the handsomest old gentleman in New York,\" said Arletta,\ngirlishly, as she saw me for the first time dressed in street clothes,\nand all ready to take my departure. \"But you do not look so old, after\nall,\" she added reflectively, \"if it were not for your white hair you\nmight pass for a man of thirty-five. My! what a great big fellow you\nare! Really, I am afraid that all of the women at the Waldoria will\nbecome infatuated with you at first sight,\" continued she, critically\nlooking me over from head to foot.\n\n\"And what do you mean by the Waldoria?\" inquired I.\n\n\"The Waldoria Hotel,\" answered she. \"I have arranged for you to live\nthere until you have thoroughly recuperated and regained your full\nstrength-there, now, no more objections, or I shall become angry. At\npresent, you are in my charge, and must do just what I tell you.\"\n\n\"Notwithstanding I consider the task of following your instructions a\nmost pleasant one,\" replied I, \"still it seems to me that I am not doing\nexactly right in accepting your most generous offerings, for the simple\nreason that I shall never be able to repay you for all you have done.\"\n\n\"I have been amply repaid already,\" said Arletta, \"by the miraculous\ntransformation of a very bad and offensive man whom I did not like, into\na thoroughly good one whom I do like. So say no more about the matter,\nfor the present at least. After you have fully recovered from the\neffects of the terrible ordeal through which you have just passed, then\nI shall consider any protests you may have to offer, but not before. I\nhave ordered the carriage to come for you at noon, and have given\ninstructions to have you taken to the hotel. When you arrive there, you\nwill go to the head clerk's desk and hand him your card.\" Here she gave\nme a small package of visiting cards on which was inscribed \"John\nConvert.\" \"You will then ask to be shown to your apartments, which have\nbeen settled for in advance for one year, after which make yourself as\ncomfortable as possible in the place. Do not mention your business in\nany way as it pertains to you and me. It will be impossible for me to\nsee you as often as I should like, but whenever it is convenient I shall\nhave you come and see me. I am stopping at a different hotel in another\npart of the city, and for reasons best known to myself, I shall continue\nto withhold my last name from you, as you seem to have no recollection\nof it whatever, and it will also be necessary for the present to meet\nyou in some out-of-the-way place, which I will designate later. Perhaps\nsome day you will learn who I am, and all about me, but until I am ready\nto furnish you with further information concerning my identity, I shall\nrely upon your honor as a man not to undertake, by any methods\nwhatsoever, to discover who I am, or where I reside.\"\n\nWith this mysterious admonition and a tender farewell, Arletta left me\nin the depth of meditation as to what strange occurrence nature's\nstorehouse might still contain for me, and a few minutes later I was\nnotified that the carriage was in waiting.\n\nCHAPTER XXVII\n\nIt would be almost impossible to record my impressions of the different\nthings that came to my notice for the first time in twenty-one years, as\nI was driven from the hospital to the hotel.\n\nWhile great progress had taken place in many lines during that time,\nstill after having had such a realistic mental picture of the wonders of\nSage-land stamped upon my mind, the new inventions, such as trolley\ncars, automobiles, etc., which I had never seen before, seemed crude and\ninsignificant.\n\nAs I passed from street to street I could not fail to observe the great\ndisorder that prevailed everywhere, in the foremost city of the world.\nIn the first place, I was struck by the inharmonious and ragged\nappearance of the buildings. Here was a tall skyscraper of nice white\nmarble thirty stories high, towering up into the clouds like a great\nbeanpole, while on one side of it was a squatty little two-story red\nbrick structure, and on the other side a six-story brown stone building,\nthe whole forming a most irregular and distracting appearance to the\neye. In other places, right in the heart of the city, and adjoining\nwell-designed buildings, were vacant lots inclosed by high ugly board\nfences, on which were painted fantastic and ridiculous advertisements.\n\nThese defects, of course, could only be thoroughly remedied by putting\ninto force the logical economic principle of State ownership of all land\nand buildings, instead of permitting the individual to do as he pleased\nwith property made valuable by the community.\n\nThe disarrangement of the buildings, however, merely typified the\nincongruous and illogical disorganization of the people themselves. For\ninstance, here was a big, strong, well-fed fashionably groomed young\nman, walking along the street, carrying no heavier burden than a light\nwalking stick, while just beside him was a half-starved old woman,\nalmost bent double under the weight of a large basket of clothes she had\nwashed for somebody else.\n\nThen again, here were two big, strong men, perched upon the driver's\nseat of a magnificent carriage, drawn by two great powerful horses, and\nconveying about the city for recreation a dyspeptic lap-dog, while\ntrudging along the gutter in search of work or something to eat was a\nweak, ill-fed, broken-down old man, who had, no doubt, given the best\nyears of his life to the actual labor which had increased the wealth of\nthe community.\n\nAlong the streets everywhere were dirty young boys of tender age, who\nshould have been at school or play, rushing madly in every direction,\ntrying to earn a few cents by the sale of newspapers, polishing shoes,\nand acting as chore boys.\n\nLittle brass bands were scattered about here and there, braying forth\ninharmoniously, and organ grinders and street piano players were rending\nthe air with bad music in return for a few pennies, thrown to them by\npassing pedestrians.\n\nVenders of fruit, shoe-strings, collar-buttons, and other light\nmerchandise were scattered along the sidewalks and gutters, trying to\nearn a living by the sale of their wares, while beggars occasionally\nstopped the more fortunate members of society with pathetic\nimportunities for money to buy bread.\n\nCabmen and horses were wasting the public power by standing idly about\nwaiting for engagements, or else driving aimlessly in all directions,\nsearching for patronage.\n\nWagons of every description were rushing about hither and thither in a\nwretchedly unsystematic method of retail delivery, utilizing in many\ncases the labor of two men and a team of horses to carry a small package\nseveral miles distant.\n\nCountless little retail merchants, with an incalculable force of\nmanagers, clerks, book-keepers, errand boys, etc., were fairly throwing\naway the public power in enormous quantities through the brainless\nstruggle of competitive trade.\n\nAll these imperfections could be extirpated by the abolition of the\nmoney system, thought I, as the carriage came to a standstill in front\nof a great brown stone edifice, and the driver announced that we had\nreached our destination. The door of the carriage was swung open by a\nuniformed employee, and, alighting therefrom, I was immediately ushered\ninto the main office of the leading institution of its kind in the\nWorld--the Waldoria Hotel.\n\nIt was quite a new sensation for me to enter this great hostelry as a\nguest, having spent the fore part of my life as a rough adventurer who\nhad never known the meaning of luxury or refinement. But still, somehow\nor other, it always seemed natural for me to carry myself properly in\nwhatever position I happened to be placed, and on this occasion I felt\ncomposed and at my ease as I entered and made known my identity to the\nhead clerk.\n\nThis pompous servant showed extraordinary affability and politeness\ntoward me, which caused me to wonder how I should have been received by\nhim had I been a shoemaker, a carpenter, or some other honest son of\ntoil, whose labor increases the wealth of the world, instead of a\nmoneyed gentleman of leisure and extravagance, as he evidently supposed\nme to be.\n\n\"Your secretary has deposited five thousand dollars to your credit here,\nMr. Convert,\" said he, handing me a blank cheque book, \"so if you will\nkindly give me your signature for certification, you can then draw upon\nthat amount as you see fit.\"\n\nIn astonishment I was about to inform him that I had no secretary, and\nthat the money was not mine, when it occurred to me that perhaps\nArletta, or her agent, if she had one, must have pretended to be my\nsecretary. So I said nothing and did as requested.\n\nUpon being shown to my apartments, a handsomely furnished suite of two\nrooms and a bath, upon the tenth floor, I was further amazed to find\ntherein a trunk, two dress-suit cases, a traveling bag, and six suits of\nfine clothes, made in different styles, from an evening dress to a sack\nbusiness suit. And the bedstead, tables and bureaus were literally\ncovered with articles, such as a bath-robe, pajamas, underwear, shirts,\ncollars, cuffs, gloves, hats, shoes, etc., all brand new and marked\n\"John Convert.\" Upon the dressing case was a small jewel box, containing\nseveral kinds of gold cuff buttons, diamond scarf pins, and a solid gold\nwatch, on the inside of which was inscribed, \"From Arletta to John.\"\n\nIt took some time for me to get over the wonderment into which I was\nplunged at the sight of these things, and the contemplation of how far\nArletta intended going before ceasing her benevolent acts towards me,\nbut after spending an hour or two in becoming accustomed to my\nsurroundings and putting the various articles away into the bureaus and\nwardrobes, I decided to make a general survey of the entire hotel\npremises.\n\nI learned that the Waldoria Hotel was thirty stories high, and covered\nan entire block in the most fashionable district in New York City. In\nmany ways it resembled a small city in itself, containing a bank,\ntheatre, music hall, photograph gallery, art studio, gymnasium, laundry,\nelectric plant, Turkish baths, tonsorial apartments, brokers' offices,\nlibrary, and various ball-rooms, besides four different restaurants, two\ncafes, and several reception and smoking rooms for the use of its\npatrons.\n\nThe entire roof of the building was utilized as a promenade and summer\ngarden for musical entertainments.\n\nThe hotel could accommodate about three thousand guests, who occupied\napartments, the rentals of which cost from three to one hundred and\nfifty dollars per day. About two thousand employees were necessary to\nkeep the establishment in good running order. Each floor had a separate\nclerk and corps of attendants, and nobody could gain admission to any of\nthe apartment floors except the occupants and their guests.\n\nAll of the apartments of the hotel, from the magnificent \"Royal Suite\"\nto the single bedrooms of the transients, were furnished in the most\nluxurious manner possible. Costly draperies, priceless paintings, and\nexquisite furnishings of every description, adorned the drawing-rooms,\nball-rooms, foyers and restaurants. Statues of ancient personages\nornamented the different hallways, while the carved marble and woodwork\nseen everywhere showed splendid workmanship. Sweet strains of music from\nthe orchestras stationed in different balconies could be heard in most\nany part of the building.\n\nSeated on either side of the long, commodious corridors, on lounges\noverhung by palms and tropical plants of various descriptions, were men\nand women of the fashionable set, who represented the largest portion of\nwealth of the community.\n\nThe women with their low-cut gowns, highly perfumed, and weighted down\nwith jewels of every kind, formed a brilliant spectacle that was\nbewitching and bewildering to behold. They vied with one another in the\ndisplay of their gorgeous gowns and jewels, with the desire to impress\nupon each other thereby the wealth they possessed and the position they\nheld in society. In fact, wealth seemed to be the predominant feature of\ntheir whole existence.\n\nBeautiful young women scarcely out of their teens, could be seen paying\nall of their attentions to decrepit, bald-headed old men of apparent\nopulence, while on the other hand, young and athletic looking men were\ncourting women old enough to be their grandmothers. In either case, the\nyoung were quite willing to sell their persons for wealth. These\nunnatural facts plainly demonstrated to what depths the human being,\nwill go in an endeavor to secure money, or the power derived therefrom.\n\nIn the restaurants, the most criminal extravagance was practiced by\nthese moneyed people, in many cases the costly viands and high-priced\nwines ordered being only partly consumed, and the remainder left to be\nthrown into the waste barrel. In fact, it appeared that the individual's\nimportance was gauged by the amount of money he could spend, and men who\nno doubt in a great many cases squeezed the pennies from the poor\nlaboring classes through their different financial methods of\nconfiscation, thought nothing of spending from five to fifty dollars for\na single meal.\n\nIn short, I found the Waldoria Hotel to be a sort of a heavenly place,\ninfested principally by hellish beings-a welcome nest for people with\nmoney but a very unwelcome place for persons who had none. It made\nabsolutely no difference how people got their money as long as they had\nit.\n\nThe stone masons, iron-workers, carpenters, painters, plumbers and other\nlaborers who built the beautiful edifice were not allowed inside of it.\nThe furniture makers, carpet and tapestry weavers, interior decorators,\netc., through whose skill the hotel was made grand, were not permitted\nto enjoy the magnificence of their own creation. But owing to the stupid\nmoney system, which these laborers them selves help to keep in force,\nthe results of their combined efforts were either usurped by an\nunproductive class fortunate enough to be born rich, or those shrewd\nenough to accumulate money, such as trust managers, bankers, real estate\nspeculators, stock jobbers, and brokers, gamblers, burglars, money loan\nswindlers, high salaried clergymen, etc.\n\nCHAPTER XXVIII\n\nIn looking over the daily newspapers the next morning my attention was\nforcefully called to the fact that fully nine-tenths of the news columns\nwas given to the promulgation of crime in all its various forms, of\nwhich ninety per cent could be directly traced to the money evil, of\nwhich the system of individual accumulation must be held responsible.\nFor the benefit of future generations who may desire information that\nwill give them an exact idea of the real value of their civilized\nancestors, I herewith reproduce a few extracts from the newspapers, word\nfor word, just as the despatches were published.\n\n\"Albany, N. Y., Special Despatch: It is reported on high authority that\nState Senator Grab has received a half million dollars, to be\ndistributed among the various senators and assemblymen, for the purpose\nof securing their votes in exchange for certain legislative laws that\nwill favor the Gas Trust in its iniquitous squeeze of the people for\nhigher rates. Several senators have openly threatened to vote against\nthese measures, claiming that Senator Grab is acting the hog and will\nnot divide the booty fairly among them.\"\n\n\"Fall River, Mass.: Ten thousand workingmen and women have been thrown\nout of employment by the mills of this city, owing to the unprecedented\nrise in the price of cotton, caused by the recent manipulations of that\nfamous Wall Street speculator, Dan Bull, who by forcing up the prices in\nthe speculative market has added millions to his own bank account during\nthe past few weeks. The mills have been shut down indefinitely and\nstarvation is now facing thousands of men, women and children as a\nconsequence.\"\n\n\"Brooklyn, N. Y.: The marriage ceremony between the Right Reverend Q. T.\nGetrich, Bishop of New York, and Mrs. E. Z. Money was solemnized here\ntoday with great pomp, and attended by some of the very wealthiest and\nmost fashionable people of the country. It has been suggested by some\nungodly reprobate that perhaps the young and handsome bishop married the\nfat and aged widow to gain possession of her millions, but this\nsacrilegious imputation is furiously resented by all pious church\nmembers.\"\n\n\"Chicago, Ill.: Municipal ownership of public utilities seems to have\nbeen given a serious setback by the very costly and unsuccessful\nexperiment this city undertook in operating its own electric and water\nplants during the past year. It appears that city officials are just as\nsusceptible to the charm of money as private corporations, and just as\nwilling, by corrupt methods, to fleece the public in order to obtain it.\nIt is evident that as long as there is money in use there will always be\nboodlers.\"\n\n\"Baltimore, Md.: The pure food inspectors of this city after having made\nan inspection of the different canned goods, have come to the conclusion\nthat at least ninety per cent. of the same is adulterated and that the\npublic is being slowly poisoned to death. The greed of the various\nconcerns which produce these things for bigger profits, causes them to\nuse cheap chemicals in their adulterative methods in place of higher\npriced and genuine substances. These inspectors make the astonishing\nstatement that they believe all foods and drinks are more or less\nadulterated and that in the general rush for money profits, the\ninhabitants of the world are actually poisoning each other by slow\ndegrees.\"\n\n\"St. Louis, Mo.: An epidemic of diphtheria is raging in this city and\nhundreds of children are dying daily from the effects of its ravages.\nThe deaths in most cases are children of the poorer classes who cannot\nafford to pay the exorbitant prices lately put upon antitoxin by the\nMedicine Trust. This trust, which controls the supply of antitoxin, has\nincreased the price nearly two hundred per cent, during the past year at\ndifferent intervals, until it has now become absolutely prohibitive to\nall except the wealthy. Unless there is something done immediately to\nalleviate this condition of affairs, the lives of thousands of young\nchildren will be blotted out, which might otherwise have been saved.\"\n\n\"Kokomo, Ind.: An awful tragedy took place in this town yesterday when\nPeter Doles, apparently driven insane from poverty and want of\nemployment, killed his wife and five children by splitting their heads\nopen with an axe, and afterward thrust a knife into his own heart. Doles\nwas at one time a wealthy citizen of this place, but speculation was the\ncause of his downfall.\"\n\n\"Philadelphia, Pa.: A terrible state of affairs has been brought to\nlight here by the police who have discovered that a regular system of\nchild murder has been in practice for some time by a syndicate of fiends\nwho murder children for the insurance. These fiends, who secured their\nvictims from regularly operated baby farms of illegitimate children,\nwould have their lives insured for large sums and then destroy them\nafterwards, in order to obtain the insurance money.\"\n\n\"Paterson, N. J.: U. R. Dire was sentenced to be hung today for the\nmurder of his father. Some time ago, young Dire obtained information\nthat his millionaire father was about to make a new will, and cut him\noff without money, so he deliberately entered into a cold-blooded plan\nwith his father's secretary to murder the old man by poison. The\nsecretary afterward turned State's evidence and upon his testimony the\nyoung man was convicted.\"\n\n\"Reno, Nev.: This town was the scene of murderous outlawry last night\nwhen an organized band of burglars gained entrance to a local bank, and\nblew up the vaults. The night watchman discovered their presence, and\nraising an alarm brought the police and other citizens to the premises.\nThen occurred a general encounter between the police and the burglars in\nwhich over a hundred shots were fired, causing the death of three\npolicemen, two private citizens and four of the burglars. The remainder\nof the desperadoes jumped on their horses and escaped with the money.\"\n\n\"Boston, Mass.: Rev. D. D. Sly, the eminent clergyman of this city,\nannounced today that he has received a call from the Lord to take up his\nwork in another field. He will leave at once for New York City, where he\nwill take charge of a fashionable Fifth Avenue pastorate. Reverend Sly's\nsalary will be increased from two thousand five hundred to five thousand\ndollars per annum through the change, which once more brings up the\nquestion as to whether the Lord was ever known to call a pastor to a new\nfield at a lower salary.\"\n\n\"Buffalo, N. Y.: A case brought up in court here today shows to what\nextent the extortionate loan sharks will go in their greed for money. It\nwas proved that two years ago O. U. Curr loaned Mrs. Kate Poor, a\nwasher-woman with three small children, the sum of fifty dollars on\nhousehold furniture. A contract was entered into, whereby the widow was\nto pay interest at the rate of twenty per cent per month until the\nprincipal had been paid. Mrs. Poor stated under oath that she has\nalready paid Curr, in monthly installments, over three hundred dollars\nand that she is still indebted to him for the original loan of fifty\ndollars.\"\n\n\"Scranton, Pa.: Trades Unionism is receiving a great deal of public\ncensure at present in this city, owing to the recent disclosure made\nagainst Judas Pilate, a union agent, who has been blackmailing different\ncontractors for several years past, by making them pay him large sums of\nmoney, under threats of ordering union men to strike. It has been proved\nthat Pilate has secured over fifty thousand dollars by this method. His\nfollowers, however, still remain loyal to him, notwithstanding he sold\nthem out many times and brought disrepute upon Trades Unionism.\"\n\n\"Harrisburg, Pa.: The various manufacturers of cigarettes in this state\nhave banded together to defeat the Anti-Cigarette League in its efforts\nto have laws passed forbidding the sale of cigarettes to children. While\nthe manufacturers do not deny that the cigarette is wrecking the\nphysical, mental, and moral character of the American youth, they\ncontend that it will prove detrimental to their business interests, and\nthereby cause a loss of many thousand dollars if the Anti-Cigarette Law\nis put into effect. Reliable statistics for the past three years show\nthat one hundred thousand children are ruined annually by smoking\ncigarettes.\"\n\n\"Pittsburg, Pa.: The Steel Trust has made a general reduction in the\nsalaries of all its employees throughout the United States, which will\ndecrease the wages of the worker from ten to twenty per cent, and\naffecting in the neighborhood of two hundred thousand men. It is\nestimated that this sweeping reduction will save the Steel Trust\napproximately twenty millions of dollars per year. Owing to the\nmanipulations of the Wall Street schemers, this saving becomes necessary\nto keep the Trust in existence, as in the great merger of the several\ndifferent steel companies, the actual valuation of the plants was\nincreased one hundred times over in watered stock, so that it not only\nbecomes necessary for those who do the labor to pay dividends on bona\nfide investments of the capitalists, but to pay dividends on watered\nstock criminally increased one hundred fold besides. This decrease in\nwages will cause great suffering among the laboring classes, for, owing\nto the increased cost of living caused by the raising of prices by the\nvarious food trusts, it is almost impossible for the ordinary man to\nmake both ends meet. It appears to all thoughtful students of political\neconomy that the object of those in control of the money markets is to\nlimit the supply of necessities of life, so that the demand for them\nwill force prices up, and, by decreasing production, will cause a\nsuperfluous quantity of labor, which, in turn, will force wages down.\nWith cheap labor to produce, and a high selling price for the\nproduction, the trust managers and other financiers have easily solved\nthe question of how to legally confiscate the wealth of the world.\"\n\n\"New York City: A great war is now being waged between the rich tenement\nhouse owners and their poor tenants on the East Side, which promises to\nend in lawlessness, riots, and much suffering in consequence. It appears\nthat the owners of these houses have increased the rents from time to\ntime until they are now beyond the reach of the tenants' ability to pay.\nAt least three thousand of these occupants have banded together to fight\nthe last raise, while the landlords have also combined to evict them\nunless they comply with the terms. The tenants, who are mostly hard\nworking laborers, claim that it is utterly impossible for them to meet\nthe extortionate prices of foods, fuel, gas, oil, and rents, now being\nforced upon them by the financiers with the small amount of wages that\nthey receive for their work from the industrialists, and if they are\nevicted from their present homes it is a problem as to what they will do\nor where they will go. The landlords claim that is none of their\nconcern; that they themselves are merely following the system now in\nexistence of getting all they can, through their property rights,\naccording to the law of supply and demand. Some of them even claim that\nthese tenants are nothing more than vermin, anyway, and that it would be\nwell to push them all into the East River and exterminate them\nentirely.\"\n\nThe newspaper articles, which I have reproduced, are but a few of the\nthousands chronicled daily of the terrible crimes which take place in\nall parts of civilized Christendom over the individual possession of\nmoney, or its equivalent, and they also demonstrate that after nineteen\nhundred years of Christianity the world still remains in a savage state.\nThe Christian must admit, if he will stop and consider, that there must\nbe something lacking in his religion, if after all these centuries, such\nbarbarous conditions still exist. What is lacking? This question can be\nanswered in a few words. The abolition of the money system. The\neradication of individual accumulation. The substitution of united labor\nand honest distribution. The adherence to the principles of Natural Law.\n\nHad Christ taught Natural Law instead of supernatural religion, had he\nbeen an organizer and started a movement toward the abolition of the\nmoney system and established a united labor organization in place of the\nsystem of individual accumulation, the world long ere this would have\nbeen a heavenly abiding place for the human family, instead of a\nseething furnace of petty quarrels, murderous fights, and selfish strife\namong all of the inhabitants.\n\nWhy should one hog have more to eat than another? Why should one man\nhave more luxuries and privileges than another? Why should the man who\nconceives an idea receive a greater reward than he who puts the idea\ninto execution? Why should the man who works with his brain have more of\nthe sweets of life than he who works with his hands? Why should the man\nwho lays the brick have more of the world's goods than he who carries\nthe brick mortar to him? These questions do not apply alone to the\ncapitalist, but also to the laborer as well, and as long as the laboring\nclasses champion the cutthroat policy of grading man's allowance\naccording to his ability, of giving more to one than another, owing to a\nslight difference of brain capacity, he should not, after showing his\nown greediness in this respect, expect the capitalist not to be greedy\nalso. He must learn that all men should have equal opportunities and\nbenefits from the whole production of united labor. As long as money\nexists, so long will fights and quarrels take place between capital and\nlabor, and between the different branches of labor as well. The laborer\nwill fight the capitalist until he in turn becomes a capitalist, and\nthen he will turn about and fight the laborer. So there is but one\nreasonable method to pursue in order to better the conditions on earth,\nand to eliminate suffering and crime entirely, and that method is to\nstrike at the very root of the cause, and abolish money and the system\nof individual accumulation.\n\nCHAPTER XXIX\n\nMy sojourn at the Waldoria Hotel was a rather pleasant one in many ways.\nI enjoyed the luxury and refinement of the surroundings. The harmonious\nmusic of the orchestras was pleasant to listen to, and the magnificent\npaintings and beautiful works of art were pleasing to the eye. I also\ntook some pleasure in wearing the different suits of fine clothes with\nwhich I had been supplied, and in making my own person appear as well as\npossible in the eyes of others. I even enjoyed entering the spacious and\nluxurious restaurants and eating sparingly of some of the delicious\nviands prepared by the scientific chef. In fact, the many delightful\nadvantages to be derived from living at the Waldoria directly appealed\nto me as being some of the blessings supplied by nature for all human\nbeings to enjoy.\n\nBut still there was a serious drawback to my thorough and absolute\nenjoyment of these conditions, when I took into consideration the fact\nthat I was in no way responsible for their existence. I was accepting\nsomething from the community, but giving nothing in return. I felt that\nin living at the Waldoria, and doing no work for the community, I was\nlike a great sponge soaking up the life-blood of honest toil, and\nreturning nothing for the sustenance it afforded me. I felt that I\nshould at least go to work and do something that would help to pay for\nmy keeping. True it was that I had the money to pay for these things,\nbut where did the money come from? Where does all money come from? To\nhave money to pay for things does not mean that one has earned them. So\nI decided that I would go to work as soon as possible, and give to the\ncommunity an equivalent for the things I enjoyed.\n\nBut then, the great difficulty arose when I tried to find something to\ndo. It made little difference what kind of work I should engage in as\nlong as it was of a productive nature. But when I went around looking\nfor employment, I discovered that there was none to be had.\n\nIt is certainly a most unnatural system which fails to utilize all the\npower at its command for the good of universal production, and it seems\nhard to realize that such conditions can exist; but during my wanderings\nfrom street to street, store to store, and factory to factory,\nthroughout the great commonwealth of New York, I discovered that besides\nmyself, there were also thousands of other earnest men tramping the\nstreets, willing, but unable, to find work. At last, however, I was put\nin the peculiar position of having to pay to work. One day, after a week\nof unsuccessful attempts to obtain employment, I ran across one of the\nsub-bosses of the street-cleaning department. Making known my desire to\nhim, I was amazed when he told me that he would let me work on condition\nthat I paid him twenty-five dollars for the job and promised to give him\nten per cent. of my wages each month. He informed me that all of the men\nunder his charge had to do likewise. In fact, he intimated that in order\nto hold his own position as sub-boss he had to pay this money to bosses\nhigher up in the department.\n\nAnd so in order to feel that I was at least doing something for the\ncommunity to earn my right to live, I was forced to pay for the\nopportunity and also to aid in keeping alive one of the many systems of\ngraft, which unnaturally swallows up the results of honest men's labor.\nSo I began work as a street-sweeper--a position looked upon generally as\none of the lowest in the scale of human employment. Why the man who\nsweeps the streets, making clean and wholesome the thoroughfares, which\nhave to be traveled constantly by the people, and saving the public from\nfilth and disease, should be looked down upon by the rest of his fellow\nbeings for doing this great service, seems beyond the limits of sane\nreasoning; but such is the case in this world, where money is the god\nworshiped by all.\n\nAn illustrative incident occurred while I held the unique position of\nstreet-sweeper, and at the same time being a guest at the fashionable\nWaldoria Hotel. I had become acquainted with many of the wealthy guests\nof the place, who, no doubt, supposing me to be a man of riches, courted\nmy society to some extent. In fact, I had become rather popular among\nthe permanent residents. There was one family in particular, a certain\nMrs. Snipe and her two daughters, who took every occasion to pay me\nattentions, until one day as I was engaged in my daily work on the\nstreet, some distance from the hotel, I noticed a carriage approaching\nwhich held Mrs. Snipe and her brood. They were all looking straight at\nme, but gave no sign of recognition as they passed along. That evening,\nafter I had changed my working clothes, which by the way, resembled the\nwhite duck outfit worn by an African explorer, and, having left them in\nthe tool-house, I went home and attired myself in evening dress. Again I\nmet the Snipe family in one of the foyers of the hotel. The old lady,\naccompanied by her eligible daughters, approached me and said: \"Mr.\nConvert, I have something awfully funny to tell you. It is just too\nfunny to keep to myself. You have a double; we saw him today. Now, don't\nget angry when I tell you where we saw him and who he is, but he\nresembled you so much that if it were not for the position he occupied I\nshould have sworn it was you. He was a member of the street-sweeping\nbrigade, and if you wish to see him just go over to Fifth avenue and\nTwenty-sixth street tomorrow and you can see for yourself. There, now,\nyou are not angry, are you?\"\n\n\"No,\" answered I, \"the person you refer to I have seen many times. There\nis nothing to be angry about. Certainly, not because he holds the\nhonorable position of cleaning the streets which you have to travel.\"\n\n\"Honorable,\" retorted Mrs. Snipe; \"you must be joking. I cannot\nunderstand how an aristocratic gentleman like yourself would otherwise\nmake such an absurd remark.\"\n\n\"I am not joking at all,\" said I; \"in my estimation, the street-sweeper\nbelongs to the most honorable portion of mankind. He is down-trodden by\nsociety now, owing to an unnatural system which permits the strong to\ntake the largest portion of wealth and rule; but the day will come when\nmen who sweep the streets or occupy other positions of worth to the\ncommunity, will enjoy the same luxuries and surroundings that you and\nother non-producers now enjoy. They will live in the palaces now\noccupied by the parasites who do no work. Such places as the Waldoria\nHotel will be utilized for their benefit, and those who do not work,\nthose who claim the right to live without labor, will be thrown out\nentirely.\"\n\n\"Why, Mr. Convert, what do you mean by talking in such a beastly way? If\nyou are so fond of those vulgar street-sweepers, why don't you become\none of them?\"\n\n\"I have,\" I answered. \"The man you saw today sweeping the streets was\nnone other than myself, and I am proud of it.\"\n\n\"You are either joking or else you have gone out of your mind,\" said\nMrs. Snipe with a look of disgust. But upon my reiteration that I was\nreally the man she saw, both she and her daughters abruptly left my\npresence and never looked at me afterwards. They no doubt communicated\nthe text of our conversation to the different people of the hotel, also,\nfor I discovered later that the other guests with whom I had become\nacquainted, not only refused to converse with me, but regarded me as a\nsort of curiosity or peculiar freak of nature. They would pass me on the\nstreet, where I was working at different times, in their gorgeous\ncarriages, and, calling each other's attention would pass jokes at my\nexpense, and laugh loud and mockingly at me. At first these things\ntroubled me to some degree, but gradually I gathered courage to bear\ntheir sneers-courage such as I had never experienced before.\n\nI had faced all manner of dangers during my life without fear, but I had\nnever known the real meaning of courage until I made up my mind to do\nright under all conditions, and accept the ridicule of my fellow beings\nwithout resentment. In my humble position I could now appreciate the\nphilosophy and the true greatness of the Sagewoman's beautiful lessons\nof unselfishness. I felt that I was just beginning to get strong-strong\nin the grandest attribute a human being can possess-moral courage. The\ngreat Sagewoman's teachings on forbearance were beginning to take root\nin my nature. I was learning to understand that I must work and feel for\nothers, regardless of my own selfish desires.\n\nOne day, while I was busily engaged in my daily toil, my attention\nbecame attracted to a big, fashionably dressed man, standing on the\nsidewalk near by, calmly smoking a high-priced cigar. He was apparently\nabout thirty years of age, six feet tall, and weighed over two hundred\npounds. He was beastly in appearance, and looked as if he considered his\nown selfish wants as the only things in the world worth attention. He\nprobably had never done an honest day's labor in his life. A ragged old\nman, about sixty years of age, who apparently had given his whole life\nto productive toil, but now feeble and half-starved in appearance,\napproached and appealed to him for a few cents with which to buy\nsomething to eat. The big fellow roughly told him to go along and not\nbother him, and the old man, not doing as he was ordered, the young man\ndeliberately swung his fist and struck the poor beggar between the eyes,\nknocking him senseless to the pavement. For a moment I was dumbfounded\nby this exhibition of brutality, and then instantly every drop of blood\nin my body was set boiling at the sight. I lost control of myself. My\nold-time pugnacious spirit asserted itself, and I sprang forward like a\nmaddened bull, striking the brute a vicious blow upon the head with my\nfist, and sending him sprawling several feet away. As he scrambled to\nhis feet, in a dazed condition, I rushed forward furiously, with the\nintention of felling him to the ground. After allowing him to regain his\nfeet, I raised my arm to deal a well-directed blow with all my strength,\nwhen something within me suddenly cried out: \"Don't strike.\" \"Don't make\na brute of yourself because the other did.\" \"Let the law take its\ncourse.\" And, as I hesitated momentarily, there passed through my mind\nlike an electric flash, these words:\n\n\"Always consult your soul for advice.\n\n\"Do no act your conscience will not sanction.\"\n\nThen instantly recognizing the mandate I had so faithfully promised the\ngreat Sagewoman to obey, I overcame my rage and allowed my arms to fall\nto my sides without striking another blow.\n\nTwo policemen hurriedly approached the scene. I stated what had occurred\nand requested them to take the bully to jail. To my surprise, however,\nat the command of the well-dressed ruffian, who I afterward learned was\na wealthy financier, both myself and the beggar were taken to the\nstation-house. I was fined ten dollars, and the poor old man was\nsentenced to jail for thirty days.\n\nWhile I knew that in this case the law of justice had been misapplied in\nfavor of the cowardly Wretch with money, nevertheless I felt that I had\ngained incalculable strength in self-control by not acting contrary to\nthe warning of my soul and making of myself the same kind of a brute as\nthe one whom I had intended to injure.\n\nCHAPTER XXX\n\nCentral Park is a tract of land situate in the middle of residential New\nYork. It is oblong in shape, being two miles in length, half a mile in\nwidth and covering an area of about eight hundred and sixty acres. The\nground has been artificially changed from a wild waste to one of the\nmost beautiful spots to be found anywhere. It is coursed by a net-work\nof splendid drive-ways, equestrian roads and foot-paths running in all\ndirections among the many little rocky hills and miniature lakes. Trees,\nflower-beds and shrubbery of various kinds have been cleverly arranged\nby skilled artists to form a delightfully picturesque effect. Chirping\nbirds of many colors and tame squirrels in multitudinous numbers find\nthis park a heavenly abiding place where the danger of annihilation is\nminimized. Playgrounds for the children are laid out in different parts\nof the domain while a zoological garden where animals are kept\nimprisoned in small cages for the term of their natural lives, is put\nforth as one of its many features.\n\nAs one passes through the entrance gate at Seventy-eighth street and\nCentral Park West, and turns first to the right, then to the left, and\nfinally to the right again, following a foot-path similar in its\nwindings to a letter S, and crossing two small bridges, he will come to\nan abrupt ending of a narrow path running into an immense projecting\nrock. Here is located a canopied seat just large enough for two people.\nFacing this shelter is a small lake, on the edge of which overhanging\ntrees afford delightful shade during the hot months. That was the place\nselected by Arletta for our meeting ground. It was an out-of-the-way,\nquiet and romantic spot where we spent many pleasant afternoons and\nevenings enjoying each other's company. Whenever Arletta wanted to see\nme she sent a note which never failed to bring me there. In fact, such a\nfeeling of enchantment did the place hold for me, that many times I\nwandered out there and sat alone for hours, musing.\n\nBut notwithstanding that our many meetings had the effect of\nstrengthening our mutual admiration and love for each other, and that I\nwas beginning to fairly idolize this beautiful young woman, still\ncertain things came to pass that I could not understand, and which\ncaused me to feel that Arletta's actions were very mysterious, and that\nthere was something about her life she was trying to withhold from me.\n\nIn the first place she would never meet me anywhere else except in that\nobscure nook in the park, and in departing would not permit me to escort\nher beyond the Seventy-eighth street entrance, where she would abruptly\nbid me a hasty adieu, with instructions that I must take another route.\n\nThat, in itself, appeared to be a strange proceeding, but one evening as\nI entered a fashionable Fifth avenue restaurant on one of my tours of\ninspection of plutocratic conditions, I was amazed to see her seated at\none of the tables, drinking wine with a male companion. Her face was\nflushed from the effects of the beverage, and she was acting a trifle\nhilarious, and displaying traits of frivolity such as I had never\nobserved in her before. As I caught her eye she gave a quick start, and\nthen deliberately turned her head in another direction, and pretended\nnot to have seen me. At this act I rushed out into the street, and it\nwas with great difficulty that I was able to control my feelings.\n\nThe next evening I met her in the park, and was further surprised when\nshe not only failed to mention the incident, but intimated that she had\nspent the evening at an entirely different place. She appeared so\ninnocent, however, and was so charming in her manner that I almost\nimmediately forgot the affair, and said nothing about it. A few nights\nlater, though, as I was walking down Broadway, near Twenty-seventh\nstreet, I noticed a large crowd of men and women gathered, and\nquestioning a bystander as to the reason thereof, I was informed that a\nstylishly dressed lady was \"too drunk to navigate\" and was in the hands\nof a policeman. As I craned my neck to get a glimpse of the unfortunate\nwoman, I was shocked beyond expression to find that it was none other\nthan Arletta who had created the commotion. Horrified, I rushed through\nthe crowd, pushing men right and left, until I had reached the\npoliceman, who was holding her up by the arm and trying to ascertain her\nname and address. She could hardly stand, and seemed dazed to the point\nof falling, but as I spoke her name, her memory revived somewhat, and,\nfixing her half-closed eyes upon me, she said: \"Why, hello Jack\" And\nthen, turning to the officer, remarked: \"This is my friend Jack; he will\ntake me home.\" I could not understand the reason she called me Jack. She\nhad never addressed me in that way before. But without delay I informed\nthe policeman that I would take charge of her, and requested him to call\na cab. When the vehicle arrived it became necessary for me to lift her\nbodily into it, and then I was at a loss to know just where to take her.\nIn order to get away from the crowd, however, I told the driver to go on\nand I would give him the address later.\n\n\"Tell him to take us to the Seraglio Apartments,\" she mumbled.\n\n\"Do you know where the Seraglio Apartments are?\" I inquired of the\ndriver.\n\n\"Yes, sir, in Central Park West,\" replied he, as he whipped up his horse\nand started in that direction.\n\nArletta said no more, but remained silent, as if stupefied from the\neffects of the intoxicating drink she had taken.\n\n\"What a pity,\" thought I, as we sped along, \"that this young woman, with\nall of her beauty, grace and charm, and with all of her splendid traits\nof character, should fall a victim to the awful curse of drink! Could\nthis condition have been brought about because she had no work to\nperform and too much time and money to squander recklessly? What a pity\nthat there are human beings who make and sell poisonous stuff for money\nwhich not only robs those who use it of their reasoning power, but which\nundermines the very foundation of the human race! Those people who make\nand sell liquor, knowing that it will ultimately destroy the lives of\nthousands of human beings, are just as much murderous poisoners as would\nbe the chemist who would knowingly give a deadly drug to an intended\nsuicide.\"\n\nWhen we arrived at the apartment house, which was one of the most\nmagnificent in New York, it was with some difficulty that I was able to\narouse her sufficiently so that she could walk with my assistance.\nEntering the vestibule, I asked her if she could get along without\nfurther help, but she insisted that I should go to her rooms, so getting\ninto the elevator we were taken up to the eighth floor. As though he was\naccustomed to this sort of an affair, the elevator attendant went ahead\nand opened one of the doors on the right of the hallway, and after\nturning on the electric light, and we had entered, he withdrew at once,\nquietly closing the door after him. I then found myself within one of\nthe most elegantly furnished drawing rooms imaginable. At one end of the\napartment was an archway gorgeously draped with costly tapestries which\npartially screened another room beyond, which served as a bed-chamber.\nArletta staggered forward, half pulling me along with her into this\nother room, and throwing herself upon the bed, ordered me, in a dazed\nsort of a way, to remove her clothing. I was dumbfounded at this\nextraordinary command and felt that I was placed in an extremely awkward\nposition. I did not like the idea of allowing the poor girl to remain\nover night, in the uncomfortable position she had taken, bound as she\nwas by tightly fitting garments, and still I realized that it was a very\ndelicate undertaking to follow out her instructions, knowing full well\nthat if she were in her right senses she would be horrified at the\nthought of such a thing. But as I stood looking at her for several\nmoments in a state of perplexed indecision, and wondering what course to\npursue, she began to moan as if in agony, and without further hesitation\nI decided to go ahead and do my best to make her position more\ncomfortable. So I began by taking off her shoes.\n\n\"What a superb foot!\" mused I enthusiastically, as I unlaced and removed\nher pretty little shoes. \"Was there ever another quite so shapely or\nentrancing? And the ankle! How daintily its joints showed beneath\nembroidered hose of exquisite material.\" Hardly had I begun this task\nbefore I realized that a strange magnetic force was stealing upon me.\nWith such a feast for my eyes to contend with, it seemed as if my senses\nwere being gradually overcome by the intoxicating clutch of voluptuous\ndreams.\n\nThe shoes off, I turned my attention to the collar which apparently\ncaused her much uneasiness. The collar, as I discovered, was a part of\nthe bodice and could not be taken off without removing the whole\ngarment, which task required considerable time, patience, and careful\nmaneuvering to perform. This I finally accomplished, however, with the\naid of Arletta, who revived occasionally from her comatose state long\nenough to give a few indistinct directions, and then as my eyes rested\nupon her lovely arms, neck and shoulders, I was plunged into ecstatic\nemotion such as words have not the power to express. At last I succeeded\nin loosening the stays and different cords and ribbons usually worn by\nwomen, which alleviated her distress considerably, and after throwing a\nlight robe over her form was about to, arrange her position so that she\nmight rest comfortably, when to my utter astonishment she threw her arms\naround my neck, kissed me several times, and whispered in my ear, \"You\nwon't leave me alone tonight, will you, darling?\"\n\nThis seemed to be almost too much for me to bear; the cravings of my\nsensual nature began a desperate struggle with my better self. My blood\nstarted to tingle with the heat of passion. Evil thoughts crowded\nthemselves into my brain. The more of these evil thoughts I allowed to\nenter my head the less power of resistance I held against their subtle\nravages. I was losing self-control. I felt powerless to battle\nsuccessfully against the temptation. Stealthily walking over to the\ndoor, I softly bolted it and then stood still for some time and\nlistened. It was past midnight and everything was quiet. I turned out\nthe light and started to go over to Arletta. As I did so, something\nwithin me seemed to cry out with shame against such cowardice. As I\npaused for a moment, the voice from within became stronger in its\ndisapproval of my intentions. Apparently I became divided into two\nparts, and each was struggling for the mastery of me. One side was\ntrying with all its might to push me forward, while the other was\nattempting to hold me back with reproachful warnings. These two parts\nwere my material and spiritual selves, contending for supremacy. I\nwavered back and forth, from one to the other, and it seemed that the\nmaterial side was about to conquer and carry me down to disgrace, when\nsuddenly there passed through my mind like a great wave of strength the\nSagewoman's wonderful precept:\n\n\"Always consult your soul for advice.\n\n\"Do no act your conscience will not sanction.\"\n\nAnd recognizing the full meaning of these words, I immediately turned\nabout, unbolted the door, and quietly left the apartment, feeling that\nthe soul was still master of my actions.\n\nCHAPTER XXXI\n\nAlmost from the first day after I left the hospital I began to feel an\nearnest desire to follow out the instructions of the great Sage-woman in\nregard to teaching my fellow beings the philosophy of Natural Law, and,\nknowing of no better way to begin this work, I decided to go out and\nlecture upon the streets to all persons who might care to listen. I set\naside three evenings each week to preach the Truth, and took a position\nat the corner of Fifth avenue, and Twenty-third street, just opposite\nthe \"Flatiron\" building, with nothing but a soap-box for a platform; it\nwas here that I devoted many evenings instructing the masses in the\nprinciples of Sagemanism. At first I felt a little awkward, and could\nnot find sufficient words to express myself properly upon the subject,\nbut gradually there came self-reliance, which enabled me to communicate\nmy thoughts to others, and within a few weeks I had acquired a fluency\nof speech whereby I could talk for hours without embarrassment. During\nmy first attempts at public speaking, few people would remain more than\na moment or two to hear what I had to say, but with the increased force\nand power of speech, which I acquired with practice, my audiences grew\nlarger and larger, until finally the streets were blockaded with their\nnumbers at these meetings. Many of my hearers, both rich and poor alike,\ngot into the habit of coming repeatedly to listen to these talks, and\nafter a short time they would come to me one by one and request personal\ntutorage in the principles set forth. In fact, the number of these\nproselytes increased to such an extent, and their intentions were so\nearnest and serious, that it finally became necessary to engage a hall,\nwhere we might hold private meetings. It was in this way that there was\nfinally organized the society for the propagation of the principles of\nNatural Law. Little by little the society gained in numerical strength,\nuntil I felt sure that the seed of this grand work had been planted in\nhuman soil for all time to come, and that its fruits would blossom forth\nin abundance as time passed by.\n\nBut while success appeared to be crowning my humble efforts in this\ndirection, and the more progress I made in this propaganda, the more\nopposed to my methods Arletta became. She grew intensely antagonistic to\nmy work, and tried in every way to have me discontinue it. She could not\nbelieve that all human beings were born to have equal rights and\nprivileges in the world. She had been taught from infancy that there\nmust always be a master and a servant, and that the Deity was\nresponsible for the position held between them. She believed, as most\ngood Christians do, that it is the Creator's will that some people are\nborn in wealth and luxury, while others are born and bred in poverty and\nsqualor. She repeatedly endeavored to persuade me to desist in the work\nI had undertaken and re-enter the Church as a good Christian member. My\nefforts to convert her as a believer in Natural Law were futile, and a\ngreat gulf seemed to be springing up and separating us from one another.\nI felt that I was placed in a very difficult position. On the one hand,\nI loved this beautiful young woman more than words can convey any idea\nof. She seemed to be a part of my life. I would have gladly suffered any\npain or torture, if by so doing it would have afforded her one moment of\npleasure. On the other hand, I had sworn most solemnly to the great\nSagewoman that I would devote the remainder of my natural life to the\ndissemination of the principles in which she had instructed me. I often\nwondered at my strange predicament. Here I was being censured by the\nreincarnated soul of the great Sage-woman for carrying out the very work\nshe taught me, and for fulfilling my promise to her.\n\nThe climax of this peculiar situation was reached one night at our\nmeeting place in the park. Arletta had sent me an urgent despatch to\ncome and see her without fail, and then she had stated that it was her\nintention to leave New York the next day on a protracted trip through\nEurope. She said she had come to bid me good-bye, and that it was to be\ngood-bye forever, as she never intended to see me again. She appeared\ndepressed and sad upon this occasion, and her eyes were filled with\ntears. In answer to my inquiry, as to her reason for leaving me in this\nway, she said that it was because she could not uphold me in my crusade\nagainst all recognized principles of religious beliefs.\n\nShe told me frankly that she loved me and that she cared nothing for any\nother man in the world except myself, but that she could not do\notherwise than go away and forget me. She claimed that nothing further\ncould come of our friendship as long as I continued an emissary of\nNatural Law; that her religion forbade it and her parents would oppose\nit; that her friends would be against it, and the whole world would\nsneer at it; and that to be placed in such a trying position was more\nthan she could possibly bear. According to her, there was no good reason\nwhy I could not give up my undertaking, to please her. She had\neverything in the world to make me happy and was willing to give me\nanything within her power, if I would only relinquish my purpose and\npromise never to think of it again. She told me that she was wealthy,\nthat she had millions in her own name, and that her father and uncles\nwere multi-millionaires, to whose wealth she would be the sole heir. She\nsaid that if I would promise to quit the work I was engaged in, that she\nwould give me her hand in marriage, and also deposit in the bank to my\ncredit one million dollars on the following day as a dowry, with which I\ncould do as I pleased. She was serious and, apparently in earnest, and I\ndid not doubt one word of what she said as being the truth. So I was\nplaced in the position of choosing between great wealth, the woman I\nloved, and all other earthly pleasures on the one hand, and a duty which\nI had solemnly sworn to perform, on the other. It was a trying\nsituation, to say the least. With bowed head I sat and considered all\nphases of the matter, with much earnestness and equal indecision. To\nthink that Arletta would leave me forever was to feel that my heart was\nbeing torn from its fastenings. To have her as my wife, this alone\nseemed to be the very greatest happiness that life could afford, and\nmayhap, the promise of a million dollars was not without its allurement.\nA position in the very best society of the country also loomed before my\nvision, as I considered these things. On the other hand, if I refused, I\ncould look forward to a life of poverty, hard work, and the abuse of my\nfellow beings. The temptation was a trying one, and it seemed impossible\nfor me to refuse Arletta's offering. As I raised my head and looked into\nher beautiful eyes, which expressed great love, and tenderness, and\nexpectation, I felt that I could not say no to her. It seemed as if I\nhad been placed between honor and temptation, and was about to fall into\nthe arms of the latter. I hesitated a moment, undecided as to what to\ndo, when something within me distinctly said: \"Be a man. Give up all\nearthly pleasures during this life and teach Natural Law, according to\nyour promise.\" Then once again the wise words of the great Sagewoman\npassed through my mind:\n\n\"Always consult your soul for advice.\n\n\"Do no act your conscience will not sanction.\"\n\nInstantly arising and feeling that I should follow the advice of my soul\nabove all other considerations, I determined to do that which was right.\nI concluded that to lose Arletta, and all the pleasures incidental to a\nlife with her, was but a temporary loss, but the opportunity of setting\na great example to my fellow beings, a precedent that would have lasting\ninfluence, might never arrive again, and that it was my solemn duty to\nseize this chance while I had the power to do so. So, standing erect and\nwithout further hesitation, I took Arletta's hand in mine and said: \"My\ndear girl, to lose you will cause me much suffering and pain, so much\nthat it would be impossible for you to form any conception of it. To\nlose you is to deprive me of all that is dear and sweet in this life. To\npermit you to go without acceding to your wishes taxes my strength to\nthe utmost limit, but believe me, the life of one little human being is\nof short duration in the immense sea of time, and while I am giving up\nthe delight and pleasure of your companionship now, I am doing so in\norder that I may lend my feeble efforts toward the establishment of a\nsocial system whereby the conditions of this world will be made such\nthat at some future date our souls may be able to join each other in\npeace and harmony and enjoy the blessings of a heavenly world, free from\nmoney, which I hope will eventually be the result of my present labors.\nTherefore, in acting contrary to your wishes now, I feel that I am\nworking for your future happiness. I shall remain at my present post of\nduty, trying to uplift mankind, I shall follow the dictates of my\nconscience in doing this, and as long as the bones of my little anatomy\nhold together as a living being and my brain has the power to reason, I\nshall teach the principles of Natural Law even if all the world follows\nyour example and turns against me.\"\n\nAt the conclusion of this little speech my emotion overcame me and I\ncould say no more. Arletta also appeared overcome with sadness, and was\nunable to speak. She withdrew her hand from mine and without a word\nturned and walked slowly away, sobbing bitterly as she left. I stood and\nwatched her retreating form in a dazed sort of a way. With each step\nwhich put us farther apart, increasing darkness obscured my vision. I\nwanted to call her back but a lump came in my throat and I could not\nspeak. My brain was in a whirl. A terrible feeling of gloom over-\nshadowed me. I labored under great excitement. My head seemed as if it\nwere ready to burst. I felt that I was going mad. The trees and\neverything else appeared to be moving about in great confusion. Those\nsame symptoms which I experienced after falling among the rocks of\nSageland returned. My body seemed to be dividing into several parts and\nthen becoming one again. I tried to control myself but without avail.\nAll of a sudden I saw standing before me two Arlettas, one at the right\nhand and the other at the left. The one at the right I instantly\nrecognized as the great Sagewoman, while on the left stood the girl\nArletta. They were facing and pointing in opposite directions. Looking\nto my right I saw a path running up a steep hill which seemed almost\nimpossible to climb and upon which was inscribed the word strength. To\nmy left I observed a path running down the hill upon which was written\nthe word weakness. At the top of the hill everything looked bright and\ncheerful and orderly, while at the bottom darkness and confusion\nprevailed. Above the extreme top, as though stamped in space like a\ngreat rainbow, these words appeared: Natural Law, Wisdom, Love for\nOthers. At the bottom, and almost obscured in the gloom, I faintly\ndiscerned the following: Religion, Ignorance, Love of Self.\n\nAs I stood speechless at this wonderful vision everything suddenly\nbecame dark and I knew no more.\n\nCHAPTER XXXII\n\nThe next impression my memory has any record of was a huge ocean\nsteamer, floating away upon the deep. Great volumes of smoke were\npouring forth from its smoke-stacks as it majestically glided over the\nwater. Upon its many decks were hundreds of human beings, scattered\nabout in little groups, gaily chatting and enjoying to the fullest\nextent the delight experienced by an ocean voyage. Among all of the\nhappy faces, however, there was one that appeared sad and forlorn. It\nwas the face of a beautiful young woman, standing alone against the\nrailing of the promenade deck, who was weeping in silence. As she raised\nher eyes and looked in my direction, I instantly recognized the girl\nArletta, and realized that she was leaving me forever. And then, like\none in a dream, I held out my hands and mutely implored her to return.\nShe appeared to be within a short distance and looking straight at me,\nbut still made no sign of recognition. I could not understand the reason\nfor such coldness on her part, and in astonishment rubbed my eyes and\nlooked again, when lo and behold, she had vanished from sight. But far\nout into the distance, almost to the horizon, I could plainly see a\nlarge steamer headed toward the vast ocean beyond. I looked around in a\nconfused sort of a way, and discovered, to my surprise, that I was\nstanding almost at the water's edge on one of the docks near Battery\nPlace. It was daylight, and the sun was shining overhead. I then\nconcluded that I must have been out of my head for some time, and\nquestioning a stranger, who stood nearby, I learned that just fourteen\nhours had elapsed since I had bade Arletta good-bye, and I could form no\nrecollection of the slightest incident that happened since then.\n\nAfter watching the steamer until it had disappeared from view, I slowly\nwalked to a bench in Battery Park and sat down, in the depths of\ndespair, to reflect upon the strange occurrence. I must have sat there\nfor about an hour in deep meditation, when my attention was attracted by\na newspaper urchin, shouting at the top of his voice: \"Paper! Extra! All\nabout the great murder.\" At the same time he rushed up to me, pushed a\npaper into my hand, took the penny I offered him mechanically, and\nscampered along.\n\n\"Another murder,\" mused I; \"what a pity human beings cannot dwell\ntogether without taking each other's lives.\"\n\nGlancing over the headlines, I learned from the big black type that a\nbeautiful young woman had been murdered in cold blood. Reading further,\nI was horrified to find that the young woman's name was Arletta Fogg,\nand that she was murdered in her own rooms, at the Seraglio Apartments,\nCentral Park West. I could hardly believe my eyes saw the thing aright.\nI felt sure that it must be an optical illusion wrought by my constant\nthought of Arletta. I looked again and again, yet read ever the same\nwords, and, laboring under tremendous excitement, I hurriedly perused\nthe account of the murder. It stated that about eleven o'clock of the\nprevious night Arletta Fogg had arrived at the apartment house, and had\nbeen taken to her rooms by the elevator attendant. A half hour later a\ntall, smooth-faced, white-haired gentleman arrived, and was shown to her\napartments. This man was seen by the watchman to leave the place at\nthree o'clock in the morning, and the chambermaid discovered her at ten\no'clock in the morning, dead, and covered with blood from several stabs\nin the body.\n\nCold perspiration oozed from every pore of my body as I read and re-read\nthis article, over and over again. I was puzzled, dumbfounded, horror-\nstricken. The description given of the apparent murderer tallied exactly\nwith myself. Straining every nerve I endeavored to regain some\nimpression that might lead to a knowledge of my actions from the time\nArletta left me the night before until I had recovered my senses that\nday. But try as I might, I could no more recall to memory the slightest\nmovement on my part during that time than I could recollect any event\nwhich happened during the twenty-one years of which my life had been a\nblank.\n\nLike a man under the influence of liquor I arose and staggered hurriedly\nforward until I reached the \"L\" station where I boarded a train and rode\nup to Eighty-first street. Here I alighted and walked rapidly over to\nthe Seraglio Apartments. A vast crowd of curious people was collected\nabout the place, and as I approached, all eyes were apparently turned\nupon me.\n\nHastening forward I bounded up the entrance steps and almost flew into\nthe vestibule. There were little knots of people standing about the\nhallway, talking in low tones. Even their voices hushed as I hurried\ninto the elevator and told the attendant to take me up to the eighth\nfloor. The operator appeared to be almost frightened out of his wits at\nthe sight of me, but after a momentary pause he ran the elevator to the\neighth floor, peering at me all the time as he might have eyed a wild\nbeast who was about to devour him. Many people were in the upper hall-\nway, but looking neither to the right nor to the left, I went straight\nto the door of the room I had entered the night I had taken Arletta\nhome. Finding it locked, without a moment's hesitation I threw against\nit, all of the force my gigantic frame could command which caused it to\ngive way and fly open before me. I then observed that there were several\nmen in the room, in different positions and groups, as if making a study\nof the surroundings. Lying upon the bed, in the room adjoining, was the\nform of a woman partly covered by a spread, and being examined by a man\nwho might have been the coroner. As I rushed forward like a madman,\nevery one there became frightened and made way for me to pass.\n\nApproaching the bed I eagerly scanned her features, and being positive\nof her identity I took the inanimate form of Arletta in my arms and\nkissing her tenderly, was overcome by emotion.\n\nCHAPTER XXXIII\n\nArrested for the murder of Arletta Fogg, after being positively\nidentified by the elevator attendant and the night watchman as being the\nonly person who visited her apartments on the night of the crime, was\nthe next incident of my strange career. Thrown into prison, and caged\nlike a savage beast in a little cell hardly large enough to turn around\nin, has been my lot ever since that awful tragedy. The case attracted\nwidespread interest, and the newspapers teemed with sensational accounts\nof it. At the trial, all of the evidence pointed directly to me as the\nperpetrator of the deed. The elevator operator swore that I was the man\nwhom he had taken to Arletta's apartments shortly after eleven o'clock\nthat night. The watchman testified that he saw me leave her room at\nthree o'clock in the morning. On the stand, I was made to tell, under\noath, that Arletta and I had been lovers; that we had been together that\nsame night in the park, and had parted at about half past ten o'clock;\nthat she had informed me of her intention to never see me again. By\nthese statements the prosecuting attorney showed the motive for the\ncrime. I could give no account of my time between half past ten that\nnight and the next day at noon, which was another strong point against\nme. I had pleaded not guilty, feeling that as I knew nothing about the\ncrime I could not very wisely do otherwise, but also, stating that I had\nsuffered a temporary aberration of the mind during that time, and that\nif I really did commit the deed, which I could not believe possible,\nthen I had done it in an entirely different character or personality\nfrom my normal self.\n\nMy attorney endeavored to have me sham insanity during the trial, and he\nbecame irritably insolent in his manner toward me because I positively\nrefused to do so. He told me that if I stuck to the truth I would surely\nbe convicted, but if I followed his advice by openly assuming idiotic\ntactics in court and making false statements under oath, according to\nhis directions, he could save me without any trouble. He frequently\ngrowled and cursed at me for the straightforward way that I gave my\ntestimony, claiming that his professional reputation was being ruined by\nmy telling the truth. He privately acknowledged that, in his opinion, I\nwas guilty, but that if he were successful in having me acquitted, he\nwould achieve great fame thereby, and incidentally be able to increase\nthe size of his future clients' fees.\n\nIt was proved in court-alas, the saddest blow I had yet received, that\nArletta was a frivolous young woman, who practically lived a life of\nease and luxury, by monetary gifts derived from two wealthy men, one a\nUnited States Senator and the other a prominent Wall Street financier,\nboth being high pillars of the Church, and one of them being old enough\nto be her grandfather. That was the most painful testimony of the whole\nproceedings. It did not seem possible to me that the dear, sweet,\ninnocent girl, whom I had loved so much for her gentleness and kindness\nof nature, could possibly lead such a dual existence, and I could not\nunderstand why she should have deceived me, with accounts of herself so\nat variance with the facts. When I thought of her as she had always\nappeared to me, excepting those times when I saw her under the influence\nof liquor, she seemed like a good angel, who was far beyond even the\nsuspicion of reproach; and so when I learned the worst, I pictured her\nat her best, and my love remained unshaken. While I realized that it was\nthe poor girl's weakness that led her into temptation, still it was\nplain to discern that the cause of her downfall was money and the\nmiserable creatures who utilized it to buy her very life's blood and\ndrag her along the mire of shame. The poor girl is dead, but the great\nmen, through whose efforts she was disgraced, are still alive, and are\nconsidered eminently respectable by both the Church and the community.\nThe curse of money could not have been more forcibly demonstrated than\nby this incident. The unfortunate young woman craved money, and sold\nherself for it. My deepest sympathy goes after her to the grave. The\nfinger of scorn is now raised against Arletta by the whole world, but if\nshe could be brought back to life again, I should gladly take her by the\nhand and say, that my love for her was as strong as ever, and that I\nwould defend her against the insults of the depraved society which\nreared and educated her in the vices which it now deplores.\n\nIt took the jury just forty-five minutes to reach a decision against me.\nTen minutes of this time, as I learned from newspaper accounts, were\ndevoted to prayer, that the Almighty should point out the right way to\ndecide the case. Evidently the god, to whom the jury prayed,\ndemonstrated that it was their duty to convict me. For convict me they\ndid, by bringing in a verdict of murder in the first degree. My sentence\nwas that I pay the penalty of the crime with my life by being\nelectrocuted.\n\nThe trial was severe and brutal from beginning to end, from my point of\nview. I was bullied by the prosecutor, scathingly censured by the judge,\nlibeled by the press, cursed by the public, and deserted by my own\nattorney. I was treated like a cowardly beast of the most depraved type.\nBut with all the abuse that was heaped upon me, I endured it without a\nmurmur, calmly claiming that I was not responsible for the deed, but\nperfectly willing to take any punishment the law meted out to me. There\nwas one thing, however, which stood out prominently amidst the many\nshoals of my misfortune, which made me feel that I had not lived in\nvain. My faithful little band of followers, whom I had taught the\nprinciples of Natural Law, remained loyal to me until the very end. Not\none member of the society was there who would believe that I was guilty\nof such an atrocious crime. They insisted that there was some mistake,\nand spent much time and money in trying to ferret out the mystery. They\ncalled upon me as often as the prison regulations would permit, and amid\nscenes that were touching, protested their undying fidelity to me and\nthe cause I espoused. Each individual promised most solemnly to carry on\nthe work I had begun as long as his life lasted, and I feel sure that,\nalthough the end of my time is drawing near, the work entrusted to me by\nthe great Sagewoman is born again, and will grow to huge proportions as\ntime passes on.\n\nAnd so I have come to the end of my story. Tomorrow I must die. In\nwriting this book, I have tried to confine myself exclusively to the\ntruth. I have felt all along, however, my inability to do the subject\njustice. There are many things that the great Sagewoman tried to impress\nupon me which my little brain was not strong enough to grasp. There are\nalso many things which are perfectly clear in my mind, that I have been\nunable to convey to others, but I have done my best, and that is all\nthat can be expected of any one. I should like to have given more\nattention to the arrangement of this work, but unfortunately the time\nallowed me has been very short, and I have had to rush it along in order\nto complete it. I have produced this treatise while confined within my\ncell in the death-house, and therefore have had many disadvantages to\ncontend with. I shall give the manuscript to the little body of men and\nwomen who are banded together and known as the Natural Law Society, of\nwhich I had the honor to be the founder, with the understanding that it\nwill be published and distributed at the earliest possible date. I could\nwish that the reader might peruse the contents of this work a second\ntime, if it is not asking too much; at least that he might go over\ncarefully and thoughtfully that portion of it which contains the\nteachings of the great Sagewoman. While I probably have failed to\npresent clearly much of the great wisdom directly received from her\nmagnificent brain, there may arise in the future, wise men, who will be\ncapable of reading in these lines much more than even I, who write them,\nam able to comprehend. It is my one hope that great men will spring up\nin the future and take hold of this work--men with minds so strong, so\nbroad, so courageous, and so unselfish, that they will be willing to\ndevote their lives to the noble task of trying to put the whole human\nrace on a footing of equality. There can be no equality so long as those\nwho are strong want to take more of nature's gifts than those who are\nweak, and no man can ever be great who thinks that one human being is\nentitled to more than another. That is selfishness. Selfishness and\ngreatness are the extreme opposites.\n\nThis is my last day on earth, to use a common but erroneous expression.\nAt noon today my soul will be separated from its body by the hand of\nman, acting according to a most unnatural, diabolical, and murderous\nlaw. And the poor unfortunate creature, who actually slays me, will do\nso, not because he has a thirst for blood, but for money. Money\nfurnished by the State--a Christian civilization which bred and reared\nus both.\n\nI am now forty-four years old, and have just reached the threshold of\nmental strength. As I am in perfect condition physically, and have a\nsplendid constitution as a foundation, there is no good reason why I\ncould not have lived at least forty years more. Forty years longer could\nI have served the world at my very best, but my fellow beings have\ndecided to kill me, right at a time when I could have been of the most\nuse to them. I am really sorry that I must die, not because I fear\ndeath, but because my opportunity to do good to others is taken from me.\nTwenty-two years ago I was anxious to die, aye even by my own hand. I\nthought that there was nothing to live for at that time. But the\nbeautiful teachings of the great Sagewoman awakened new ideas of\nresponsibility within me, and now I can see that the grandest thing\nwithin the reach of a human being is to live; live as long as nature\nwill allow; live for others.\n\nNatural Law teaches that it is idiotic to pray, and I believe that\nprayer is a form of insanity, but were I to pray, which I profess I have\nno idea of doing, my one request of the Creator would be that I might\nlive out my life, in order to spread the principles of Natural Law to\nthe furthermost corners of the earth; or, that I might be born again in\na well-constructed body, with a mind capable of grasping nature's ideas\nin their entirety, and interpreting them to my fellow men in a way that\ncould not be misunderstood. If the Creator would grant me this request,\nand I could have the ability and the power to change the conditions of\nthe earth to those existing in Sageland before the Catastrophe, I would\ngladly give in exchange for the privilege, my eternal soul as a\nsacrifice, and take upon myself everlastingly, all of the misery,\nsuffering, and torture now inflicted upon the rest of mankind.\n\nGood-bye, dear reader, and may your soul always guide you.\n\nEND OF JOHN CONVERT'S WORK.\n\nEpilogue on following pages.\n\nEPILOGUE\n\nFROM THE NEW YORK DAILY (Special Despatch:)\n\n\"SING SING, N. Y., 11 A. M.-Electrocution day here always attracts many\ncurious people about the prison walls, but the much heralded execution\nof John Convert seems to have brought an unusual number of persons to\nthis neighborhood, and the hill overlooking the prison is almost black\nwith people, who have come from all parts of the State.\n\n\"Viewed from this hill, Sing Sing prison presents the appearance of a\nhuge, square pen, covering many acres of land, and enclosed by a high,\nbrick wall on the three land sides, and a tall, iron picket fence on the\nside adjoining the Hudson River.\n\n\"On the top of these walls, sentinels are stationed at intervals, who\nwalk back and forth, armed with breech-loading rifles, and under orders\nto shoot dead any prisoner attempting to escape.\n\n\"Within the enclosure, at the north end, are several red brick\nbuildings, which are used as workshops for the twelve hundred time\nprisoners, now incarcerated here. Running along its eastern border is a\nmassive stone structure, about seven hundred feet long, fifty feet wide,\nand sixty feet high, with windows crated by heavy, iron bars. This is\nthe main building of the prison, and is used principally as a dormitory\nfor the inmates and offices for those who have charge of the\ninstitution.\n\n\"The extreme south end of the main building is walled off separately,\nand occupied exclusively by prisoners whom the State has doomed to\ndeath. This place is called the Death Chamber. Inside of this chamber is\na high steel cage, four tiers high, and divided into several cells,\nwhich are about eight by six feet in dimension. Thick, cement walls,\nfloor, and ceiling, make each cell separate and distinct from the\nothers. Heavy doors of barred steel open outward onto the different\nplatforms, which run all the way around the inside of the cage. Armed\npatrolmen, known as death guards, are kept constantly walking around\nthese platforms. Within this cage is John Convert and many other\nnotorious murderers, waiting their turns to be put to death as\npunishment for their heinous crimes.\n\n\"At the south end of the Death Chamber is a solid iron door, which leads\ninto an adjoining little red brick building, about fifty by twenty feet\nin dimension, one story high, and containing two rooms. These rooms are\nperfectly bare, excepting that in one of them there is a chair, and in\nthe other a table. About ten feet from the door leading from the Death\nChamber is the electric chair, by which the State kills its worst\ncriminals. In appearance it is similar to a plain, old-fashioned garden\narm-chair, with a high back. Connected to this chair are several straps,\nby which the condemned man is harnessed in a sitting position, so that\nhe cannot move. These straps are adjusted across the head, chest,\nabdomen, both fore and upper arms and the ankles. They are not bound too\ntightly, but left taut in order to allow for the expansion of the body.\nThe electro connections are at the head and the inside of the right\ncalf, the trousers being cut from the knee downward, so that a contact\ncan be made with the bare flesh. Just back of the chair is a large\ncloset, which conceals all of the electrical apparatus necessary to\nthrow on or off the current at the will of the Electrician, by whose\nhand the condemned man is sent to eternity. Stationed within the closet,\nthe Electrocutioner can see what is going on outside, but cannot be seen\nfrom without. Just back of the closet is a partition dividing the two\nrooms, through which is a door leading into it. In the center of this\nother room is a stationary table, upon which the autopsy is performed.\n\n\"All of the machinery has been thoroughly tested, and found to be in\ngood running order, and neither the State's Electrician nor the Warden\nexpect the slightest hitch in connection with today's proceedings. The\ntwelve witnesses invited by the Warden, and made necessary by law,\ntogether with the brain experts, have arrived upon the scene, and\neverything is in complete readiness for the electrocution of John\nConvert.\"\n\nFROM THE NEW YORK DAILY (Special Despatch:)\n\n\"SING SING, N. Y., 1:15 P. M.-One of the strangest and most pathetic\ntragedies that has ever happened in the State of New York has just taken\nplace within the house of electrocution here, the result of which must\ncause the whole civilized world to pause and shudder. Your correspondent\nearnestly prays that he may never again be called upon to witness\nanother such horror, the effects of which have completely unnerved him\nand beggars even a faint description.\n\n\"At precisely twelve o'clock today, with the State Electrician, medical\nexperts, and witnesses, mutely stationed in their places, the great iron\ndoor leading from the Death Chamber was suddenly swung open, and between\ntwo guards the gigantic form of John Convert walked over to the electric\nchair, with a firm and unfaltering step. Immediately, all eyes were\nturned upon him, and at the same instant there was a subdued murmur of\nsurprise by many of those present at the magnificent appearance of the\nman.\n\n\"Tall and erect, with finely formed limbs, and powerfully built\nshoulders, he easily towered above all of the other occupants of the\nroom. With a clean shaven face, the handsome features of which expressed\nextraordinary intelligence, kindness, and gentleness of nature, combined\nwith wonderful strength of character, and a shapely head, overhung by an\nabundance of beautiful snow-white hair, he looked more like an\nambassador from heaven than a convicted murderer. He wore a black Prince\nAlbert suit of clothes. As he reached the side of the chair he paused,\nand calmly looking from one to the other of the assemblage, he began to\naddress them in a clear and melodious voice. Almost from the first\nutterance, his hearers became electrified by his charming manner and\neloquence, and for nearly half an hour were held spellbound, while he\nexplained the principles of Natural Law, and the vast benefits the human\nrace could derive by putting them into effect.\n\n\"In a convincing way he drew a beautiful picture upon the minds of those\npresent of a heaven that should be established here on earth by and for\nall living things, in which they should work united and harmoniously\ntogether for a common and unselfish cause, instead of each one pulling\nin a different direction for his own selfish purposes. He explained that\nall living things were composed of the same material, which was\nconstantly undergoing a change from life to death and from death to life\nby being molded and remolded into different forms, which are constructed\naccording to the intelligence absorbed by the whole. That it is within\nthe power of the human race, if working together as a unit, to\nreconstruct all living matter on earth into more perfect organisms, just\nas it is within the power of man to re-mould a pile of dead scrap iron\ninto new and useful machinery. That these results could only be\naccomplished by the eradication of selfishness from the human race, and\nthat it was impossible to extinguish selfishness as long as the money\nsystem was kept in force, and individuals were recompensed according to\ntheir craftiness to help themselves. He told of the soul being\neverlasting, and how a wise law of nature breaks the monotony of its\nexistence through the process of re-incarnation, and that the soul of\nthe rich aristocrat of today may be the soul of the suckling pig\ntomorrow. He said that it was within the power of every living thing to\ndo good, if only following the advice of the soul, and that the oftener\nthis advice was taken the easier it became to do right, but that the\nless the soul's warning was heeded, the more hardened and vile became\nthe nature of the individual. He told of how children inherit the\nweaknesses of their parents, and mentioned how much grander it is for\nparents to give their children character without gold, than to give them\ngold without character.\n\n\"So earnestly and pathetically did he present the whole subject, that at\nthe conclusion of his discourse there was not a dry eye in the room, and\nas he calmly took his seat in the electric chair, the whole assemblage,\nincluding the guards, stood motionless for several moments as if in a\nhypnotic trance. And then, as the guards reluctantly began to adjust the\nstraps about his body, three men burst into loud sobs and rushed from\nthe room, bitterly denouncing the electrocution as savagery, and\nrefusing to witness the proceedings any further. With the exception of\nthe condemned man, everybody was completely unstrung. But John Convert,\nin the shadow of death, did not lose his wonderful self-control for a\nmoment, but sat with perfect equipoise in that murderous chair, calmly\nwatching with apparent interest the work of fastening him in. \"'You have\nthat strap around the abdomen twisted,' he coolly remarked to one of the\nexcited guards, and then quietly added, 'you are not sufficiently\nhardened for this kind of work, my man, but perhaps your children may\nbe.' And as if stung by remorse at these words, the guard suddenly burst\ninto a frenzy of grief and cried out in piteous tones: 'No, no! Don't\nsay that! I love my children. I undertook this objectionable work for\ntheir sakes, that I might be able to give them the same advantages that\nother children enjoy. But now that you have spoken, I can see that I am\npaying for their advantages at the expense of their moral characters,\nand that they too might follow in my miserable footsteps and, eventually\nsell themselves for money. But listen, I have but just taken this\nposition, and now I am getting my first experience at this kind of work,\nand I feel as if _I_ were about to commit murder. And now, after hearing\nyour wonderful words, my conscience is crying out within me to stop, and\nso, in the presence of these witnesses, I not only renounce all further\nconnection with this abominable act, but I most solemnly swear that I\nbelieve in Natural Law, and that I shall henceforth devote my life to\nteaching its principles to my own children, and also to those of my\nfellow beings. My eyes have suddenly been opened. For the first time in\nmy life I feel like a man.'\n\n\"At this unexpected turn of affairs, the countenance of John Convert\nlighted up with a look of divine happiness that was truly glorious to\nbehold, and, addressing the guard, he said: 'Well spoken, my noble man.\nMay you accumulate sufficient strength to enable you to faithfully\nfollow out your splendid resolution; may your future deeds be so\nunselfish, heroic, and fruitful, towards uplifting mankind, that the\ngrandchildren of your enemies may live to praise your name.'\n\n\"These words seemed to have a cheering effect upon the guard, who\naffectionately shook the hand of Convert, and then left the room.\n\n\"During this time, however, the other guard had continued the work of\nadjusting the straps, and finally having them properly arranged, stepped\nbackward a few feet and raised his left arm as a sign to the\nElectrocutioner in the closet that everything was in readiness. And\nthen, just as John Convert uttered the words, 'Always Consult Your Soul\nfor Advice,' a terrible, dull, buzzing sound took the place of his\nvoice, his body suddenly expanded, as if about to burst, his limbs were\ndrawn up and distorted, blue flames shot forth with a weird glow, a\nsickening odor of burning flesh saturated the air, and quicker than it\ntakes to tell, the deadly current had penetrated through every fiber of\nhis body.\n\n\"And then, as all turned away their heads from the awful sight, a loud\ncrash was heard, and the door leading from the court-yard into the other\nroom burst open, and in rushed the Warden, yelling like a madman: 'Stop\nit! For God's sake, stop it! You are killing the wrong man!' And pulling\nopen the door of the closet which concealed the Electrician, he threw\noff the current with his own hands. At the same time, amidst great\nconfusion, several of the spectators rushed forward and began\nunfastening the straps which bound the unfortunate man to the chair,\nafter which the body was carried into the other room and laid upon the\ntable.\n\n\"Following in the footsteps of the Warden, was a tall, beautiful, young\nwoman, hatless, and with hair disheveled and dress disarranged. She was\npanting heavily, and a wild, terrified look gleamed in her eyes. She\nappeared dazed and almost exhausted. Catching sight of Convert, she\nfrantically tried to get near him, but was held in check by one of the\ndoctors, while the other one made a hurried examination of the body. And\nthen, this doctor, apparently suffering from great mental excitement,\nturned toward those present, and, with his eyes full of tears, chokingly\nwhispered, 'Too late, he is dead.'\n\n\"At these terrible words, the young woman uttered a heart-piercing\nshriek, and, rushing forward, threw herself upon the corpse, as she\npiteously moaned: 'You have murdered him. You have murdered him.'\"\n\nFROM THE NEW YORK DAILY.\n\n\"The following statement, made by one of Chicago's most beautiful and\nbrilliant young society women, is the sequel to the most extraordinary\ncase that ever attracted public attention in this country:\n\n\"'My name is Arletta Wright. My father is R. U. Wright, of Chicago,\nIll., the well-known financier and multi-millionaire. A few years ago,\nwhile in Paris, I was introduced to a man by the name of John Convert. I\nsupposed he was an American, but at that time did not take enough\ninterest in him to inquire as to who he was or where he came from.\nLater, however, I found that he was continually crossing my path, and\nappeared anxious to court my attention. He was a tall, well-built,\nhandsome man, with a clean-shaven face and snow-white hair, apparently\nabout forty years old. But there was something about his looks and\nactions that I did not like, and I tried to avoid him as much as\npossible. But he was not to be avoided very easily, and, after\npersistently following me all over Europe, he crossed the ocean in the\nsame steamer, and finally came to my home in Chicago. He got to be such\na nuisance that he was refused admittance to our house, and in order to\nget rid of him entirely, I secretly left Chicago and went abroad again.\nA few months afterward I returned home, and found that he had left for\nparts unknown, and the incident was soon forgotten.\n\n\"'During the month of March, 1903, about two and a half years later,\nimportant business called my father to New York for a stay of several\nmonths, and mother and I, accompanying him, we took apartments at the\nOpulent Hotel, on Broadway, near Seventy-eighth street.\n\n\"'About that time I decided to visit the different institutions of New\nYork, and one day as I was being shown through a charity ward of the\nRuff Hospital, I was astonished to see John Convert lying sick upon one\nof the cots. He had a wild and peculiar stare in his eyes and at first\ngave no sign of recognition, but seemed to be undergoing an intense\"\nmental strain, as if trying to recall to mind some event that had\nescaped his memory. The doctor informed me that he was an unidentified\ncharity patient suffering with typhoid fever and was evidently insane.\nHe told me that the man imagined he had been in a trance for over four\nthousand years, and could only be brought out of it by a kiss from one\nhe called Arletta. My heart seemed to melt with pity and sorrow, and my\ndislike changed into love for the man upon hearing these words, and\nwithout hesitation I kissed him, at the same time hoping most sincerely\nthat the act would have a salutary effect. Strange as it may seem, the\nwhole expression of his countenance changed instantly as if by some\nmagic force; his eyes lighted up radiantly, and looking at me in great\nastonishment he uttered my name-Arletta. But while I was quite elated\nover my strange success, I was also much surprised and puzzled at his\nfollowing utterances, whereby he claimed that I was the re-incarnated\nsoul of Arletta of Sageland, who, according to his story, had died on\nthe same day I was born, over twenty-one years before, and from which\ntime he could form no recollection of events whatever.\n\n\"'Subsequently, I was informed by an eminent brain specialist, who\nexamined him, that he was mentally sound, but that owing to a severe\nfracture of the skull received some time previously his brain had become\ndivided into two distinct parts, causing two personalities to exist and\nenabling him to recollect events only as they were separately recorded\non either side of the brain. By this explanation I readily understood\nthe reason why he did not recognize me and also for the wonderful change\nwhich took place, both in his character and my feelings toward him. On\nthat day my first and last love for man was born.\n\n\"'As time passed by, and he recovered his health and strength, he\nappeared to me the most beautiful character I had ever known, and with\neach succeeding day my love for him grew stronger. But while love formed\na strong mutual link of attachment between us, another force succeeded\nin putting us apart.\n\n\"'He believed in Natural Law and unselfishness, with equal rights for\nboth strong and weak alike. I believed in religion and selfishness, with\nthe strong enjoying more earthly blessings than the weak.\n\n\"'He believed in a Supreme Being, who created immutable laws whereby the\nentire machinery of the universe is governed, and that these laws could\nno more be changed by the silly prayers of man than by the prayers of a\nmicrobe. I believed in a god to whom I could pray to change earthly\nconditions to suit my fancies; a god willing to grant me favors even at\nthe expense of others.\n\n\"'He believed in re-incarnation, and the power of the soul to eventually\nmaster the flesh and create a heaven on earth. I believed in the\ntransmigration of the soul to some obscure heaven where there would be\nnothing farther to do but rest during all eternity.\n\n\"'He was broad in his views and never tried to restrain me from thinking\nas I liked. I was narrow in mine, and quite unwilling that he should\nbelieve in any theory except my own.\n\n\"'These and other differences of opinion caused us to separate.\n\n\"'One night last June, the same night that awful murder took place in\nthe Seraglio Apartments, I met John Convert at our regular meeting place\nin Central Park for the last time. It was my habit to meet him in an\nout-of-the-way corner of the park, because I did not want my parents or\nfriends to know of it. For this same reason, I had never told him my\nlast name or place of residence. At this meeting, I informed him that he\nmust either give up all further connection with the movement he had\ninstituted toward the regeneration of mankind, or bid me good-bye\nforever. He chose the latter course, although I know that his heart was\nfairly bursting with grief when I left him.\n\n\"'Now, that it is too late, I can fully appreciate what a grand, noble\nfellow he was. I offered him a million dollars to forsake the cause he\nhad pledged himself to uphold. Think of it, one million dollars! A sum\nof money for which most civilized men would gladly sell their eternal\nsouls. But John Convert, a believer in Natural Law, could not be bought\nat any price, and even though I offered him my hand in marriage, an\noffering which many Crown Princes of Europe have repeatedly begged for,\nstill he would not recede from the grand purpose he had undertaken.\n\n\"'Well, we parted, and the next morning I boarded a steamer bound for\nEurope. But I was wretched and unhappy, and felt that life was a burden\nto me. I was unable to drive the image of John Convert out of my mind,\nand as I stood upon the deck of the steamer, as it passed along the\nriver leading to the ocean. I looked back toward New York, and fancied I\ncould see poor John standing alone, and forlorn, upon one of the docks,\nwith his arms outstretched, sadly imploring me to return, and with a\nfeeling of remorse I started for my stateroom to lie down and have a\ngood cry.\n\n\"'As I hurried along the dark passageway leading to my room, I was\nalmost startled out of my senses by coming face to face with the very\nman I thought I had left behind, John Convert. He appeared to be even\nmore startled than myself, and, stepping backward a few paces, he fairly\ntrembled, as he hoarsely exclaimed: 'My God, Arletta, is that really\nyou?' At these words I became frightened, and as the faint rays of light\nfrom a distant port-hole fell squarely upon his face, I observed a wild,\npeculiar stare in his eyes, and noticed that his whole countenance was\novercast by a most villainous expression. At that moment, I remembered\nthe doctor's warning words, that he might change personalities at any\ntime that he was subjected to severe mental excitement, and I now\nrecognized in the man standing before me the same character I had met in\nParis. Just as quickly as love had taken possession of my feelings for\nJohn Convert in the hospital, just that suddenly did it depart when I\nsaw this detestable looking creature in front of me. In an instant he\nbecame loathsome to my sight, and without waiting for another word I\nrushed into my state-room and bolted the door.\n\n\"'Not once did I leave my room during that trip across the ocean, but\nwhen the steamer arrived at Liverpool, and I started to go ashore, the\nvery first person my eyes rested upon was John Convert; and from that\ntime on he incessantly dogged my footsteps all over Europe. The more I\nsaw of him, the more debased and despicable he appeared to me. The good,\nkind, old face, that I had loved so well, had now apparently become\ndistorted by a murderous expression, and the soulful eyes which had\nintoxicated me with ecstasy, now depicted the nature of a degenerate. I\nshunned him as I would a leper, and many times I wished that I had left\nhim to die in the hospital, instead of aiding him to recover. He became\nso objectionable to my sight that I threatened to have him arrested if\nhe did not stop following me about. But this had no effect upon him\nwhatever, and after three long, weary months of travel on the continent,\nin which I attempted to elude him, without success, I finally returned\nto England and boarded a steamer at Southampton for New York. I fully\nexpected to see John Convert make the voyage also, but to my surprise\nand great joy I saw him standing on the pier after the steamer had left\nher moorings and was steaming away. He stood waving his hand at me, and\nI watched him until beyond the range of vision, then went down to my\nstate-room, with a feeling of relief, as though a great load had been\nlifted from my shoulders. One of the first things that attracted my\nattention after entering the state-room, was a large, well-filled\nenvelope, lying upon the bed, and addressed to me. Tearing it open, I\nfound an assortment of various documents, among which was the following\nletter.'\"\n\n\"'My dear Arletta: At last realizing that you are beyond my reach and\nthat further efforts to win your love would be useless, and feeling that\nafter all, my affinity is not really you but she whom I recently killed,\nand as my conscience is torturing me until I can find no rest or\ncontentment in life, I have decided to avenge the many crimes I have\ncommitted during the past by taking my own life, and ere you read these\nlines I shall be dead.\n\n\"'My life has been a most miserable failure, and were it not for the\nfact that during my last hours I feel a strong desire to try and make\namends, through you, to the man I have been impersonating for many\nyears, I should, quietly pass out of existence without further ado.\n\n\"'In the first place my name is not John, but Edward Convert, son of\nHenry Convert, and grandson of Peter Convert, who many years ago was a\nwealthy banker of London, England.\n\n\"'My grandfather had two sons; James, the elder, being my uncle, and\nHenry the younger, my father.\n\n\"'About the time my father reached maturity, both he and my uncle fell\nin love with beautiful twin sisters of a poor family, and in due course\nof time each took one as a wife. This was done in direct opposition to\nmy grandfather's commands, and so incensed did he become over the\naffair, that when he died shortly afterward, it was found that he had\ncut them both off with a mere pittance, while the bulk of his estate\nwhich was valued at several million pounds, was to be held in trust\nuntil the eldest son of my uncle James had reached maturity, after which\nit was to be delivered to him intact.\n\n\"'At that time neither my father nor uncle had children, and being of\ndifferent temperaments-my uncle a pious clergyman, and my father a\nbroker with gambling tendencies-they soon parted and lost track of each\nother.\n\n\"'My parents emigrated to Canada and resided in Toronto for some years,\nin which city I was born. When I was about five years of age my mother\ndied, and a short time later my father moved to Buffalo, N. Y., and\nentered into the brokerage business there. As I grew up, I was educated\nwith the sole idea that the only purpose for which I had been created\nwas to get money. At home I was taught by my father, in school through\nbooks, and at church by the pastor, that my success in life would be\njudged according to the amount of money I could accumulate. Was it any\nwonder, then, that I grew up to worship money as the real god, and to\nfinally sell my soul for it? Oh, the terrible curse of money! And what\nan awful crime for parents to teach their children to love it! Had I not\nbeen taught from infancy to crave money, I might have become a useful\nmember of the human family, and utilized my brain power for some worthy\ncause, instead of using it to scheme, cheat, steal, and even murder, in\norder that I might obtain it.\n\n\"Well, one day when I was about sixteen years old, my father, having\njust returned from one of his western trips, informed me that he had\naccidentally run across his brother James, the clergyman, in a little\nKansas town named Eden. He said that my uncle told him that his wife had\ndied sixteen years before, while giving birth to an only son, as they\nwere crossing the Atlantic Ocean. Subsequently this son, who had been\nnamed John, ran away from home when he was but eleven years old, and had\nnever been seen or heard of since. My father said that Uncle James had\nevidently brooded over the matter so long that he was broken down in\nhealth and could not live much longer. Then he showed me a picture of\nJohn Convert, when he was ten years old, and said that it looked exactly\nlike me at that age. Finally, he told me that Cousin John was the sole\nheir to his grandfather's estate, and intimated that it would be a\nsplendid stroke of business for me to go to Eden and pretend to be the\nlong-lost son, and, after reaching the age of twenty-one, claim the\nestate as my own. My father told me that as soon as he heard my uncle's\nstory, his well-trained financial brain had immediately formulated this\nexcellent plan, and consequently he led my uncle to believe that he had\nno children of his own. He also ascertained the names of the different\nplaces where my uncle had lived during the past, and proposed that I\nshould visit these localities and become acquainted with John's old\nplaymates, in order to acquire a thorough knowledge of his youthful\ncharacteristics and any other useful information necessary to carry out\nthe deception successfully.\n\n\"'Well, I entered into the plot with enthusiasm, and within six months\npresented myself to Uncle James as his son.\n\n\"'At first the scheme worked to perfection, and there was great\nrejoicing in the little town of Eden, where the Rev. James Convert was\nan honored and respected citizen of the community. But as time went by,\nmy uncle apparently began to doubt my identity, for at times he would\nlook at me long and searchingly, and then, with a sorrowful shake of the\nhead, would remark that I lacked the character of the boy he had known\nas his son. So, fearing that he might ultimately discover the fraud and\nfoil our plans, my father and I jointly murdered him by a slow process\nof poison. Then, with the necessary papers in my possession, and plenty\nof reputable witnesses from Eden to swear that I was the acknowledged\nson of the Rev. James Convert, at the age of twenty-one I took\npossession of my grandfather's vast estate in England.\n\n\"'But the fear of the rightful heir turning up sooner or later to expose\nthe fraud began to haunt me, and, feeling my insecurity as long as he\nwas alive, I began a long and tedious search for John Convert, which\nextended to all parts of the world, and covered a period of over twenty-\nthree years, with the sole purpose of killing him if found.\n\n\"'In the meantime, fearing that my father might become conscience-\nstricken sooner or later, and make a confession of our crime to the\nauthorities, I killed him also; and of the three murders, of which I am\nnow responsible, I feel less concern over my father's death than of the\nother two; for was it not from him that I inherited the instincts to\nlie, cheat, steal, and murder for money, and by his instructions that\nthese instincts were developed, instead of being discouraged from\ninfancy?\n\n\"'Well, although I searched in nearly every nook and corner of the\nglobe, I was unable to find even a clue to my missing cousin, but during\nthat time a most peculiar affair happened, which resulted in my killing\na third victim.\n\n\"'As you will remember, I met and became infatuated with you in Paris\nover three years ago, and then followed you to Chicago. After learning\nthat you had secretly departed for Europe again in order to avoid me, I\nmade up my mind to bother you no further, and taking a trip in the\nopposite direction I spent considerable time touring Australia, Africa\nand Asia. It was about two years after, while stopping at a fashionable\nhotel in Berlin that I discovered a young woman boarding there by the\nname of Arletta Fogg. So closely did she resemble you that I supposed it\nwas you living there under an assumed name. At first when I accused her\nof being Arletta Wright, of Chicago, she denied it emphatically. But\nlater, after learning that I was a millionaire, she pretended that I was\nright in my supposition and led me to believe that she had left home for\nan indefinite period owing to some family disagreement and was now\ntraveling incognito. She permitted me to show her many attentions and\ngradually we became very good friends. So infatuated with her charms did\nI become that I was her abject slave. We went to Italy and Egypt\ntogether and I lavished money upon her without stint. I proposed\nhonorable marriage to her a hundred times, but she always refused,\nsaying that she preferred a free and independent life. We went to New\nYork, and there I discovered that there were other men besides myself\ninterested in her, and that she had two different places of residence.\nSeveral times I saw her in fashionable restaurants dining with other\nmen, and following her one night into the Seraglio Apartments, I found\nthat she occupied a suite of rooms there, of which I had known nothing.\nShe was somewhat under the influence of liquor that night, and the\ninformation I secured from her was of such a kind that it almost drove\nme mad with jealousy, and in a fit of frenzy I stabbed her to death with\nher own toy dagger and left her lying on the bed. The next morning I\nquietly boarded the steamer for Europe, and keeping out of sight until\naway from land, I started to go to the purser's office to pay for my\npassage, when the very first person I met was you. You can well imagine\nhow it startled me to see one whom I thought was dead. But after the\nfirst shock had passed away, and learning from the list that Arletta\nWright was a passenger, I gave the whole matter thoughtful consideration\nand finally concluded that Arletta Fogg and Arletta Wright were two\ndifferent persons and that the other was merely a beautiful adventuress\nand your double.\n\n\"'Well, you know the rest. You never would care for me, and as the great\nwealth I so wrongfully acquired cannot buy happiness of peace of mind, I\nshall ask God to forgive my sins and then blow out the brains that have\nbecome so useless.\n\n\"'Somewhere in this world the right John Convert may be earning his\nbread by the sweat of his brow, entirely ignorant of the fact that he is\na millionaire by birth, for it was his father's intention never to\ndisclose this secret to him, preferring that he should spend his time as\na useful laborer, rather than a moneyed loafer, living without work.\nWhether he resembles me at this age or not, I cannot say. Perhaps not,\nfor my hair has become prematurely white from sin and worry. Then again,\nhe may wear a beard, while my face is clean shaven. But no matter where\nhe is, what he does, or how he looks, I shall trust in you to do all\nwithin your power to try and locate him, and deliver into his hands the\nenclosed papers, which will be the means of restoring his possessions to\nhim.\n\n\"'If you are fortunate enough to find him, beg his forgiveness for me,\nand say that the cause of all my wickedness was money, and a father who\ntaught me to love it. With a prayer to God for mercy, I shall expect to\ngo to heaven in spite of my sins, as I have faith in Jesus Christ, and,\nhoping to meet you there, I bid you good-bye until then.\n\n\"'Sincerely yours,\n\n\"'EDWARD (JOHN) CONVERT.'\"\n\n\"'Notwithstanding the dreadful contents of this letter, I felt like\ncrying with joy after reading it, as my mind once more became occupied\nwith thoughts of the splendid character whom I had so ardently loved,\nbut shamefully deserted in New York three months previously. I made up\nmy mind to return and ask his forgiveness, and then join him in his\npraiseworthy labors of uplifting mankind. Oh! what happiness I\nexperienced during the next few days in anticipation of seeing him again\nand hearing his manly voice. But alas, how little we know what sorrows\nare in store for us! The steamer arrived at her wharf at ten o'clock\nthis morning, and a few minutes later. I was seated in a carriage\nspeeding along in the direction of the Waldoria Hotel. At forty minutes\npast ten I inquired of the clerk for John Convert. Then came the\nappalling information that he was to be electrocuted at noon for the\nmurder of Arletta Fogg. The rest seems like an awful nightmare. Getting\na schedule of trains for Sing Sing, I rushed outside the hotel, and,\njumping in the first cab I saw, handed the driver a roll of bills, and\ntold him they were all his if he could get me to the depot in time to\ncatch the eleven o'clock train. Through the streets like mad we whirled,\nand, reaching the station, I quickly alighted and ran to the ticket\noffice, and from there to the train, which I boarded just as it started\naway. It was an express, which made no stops before reaching Sing Sing,\nand was due there at exactly twelve o'clock, the time set for the\nelectrocution. I told the conductor that I would give him a million\ndollars if he would land me in Sing Sing fifteen minutes ahead of time,\nbut he apparently thought I was insane, and paid no attention to my\nfrantic entreaties to go faster. To make matters worse, the train\narrived five minutes late, but, hoping against hopes, I got into a\ncarriage and was driven to the prison.\n\n\"Here the attendants thought I was crazy, as I rushed into the reception\nroom, crying out to stop the electrocution, and they would not permit me\nto see the Warden, who was in his private office. Hearing my cries,\nhowever, the Warden came out to see what was the trouble, and as quickly\nas possible I explained to him the circumstances surrounding the murder\nof Arletta Fogg, and showed him the written confession of Edward\nConvert. He read just enough to make sure he was right, and then with an\nexclamation of horror he rushed out of the office, followed by me.\nThrough grated doors, long, dismal corridors, and a court-yard, we ran,\nand coming to a little, red brick house, he broke open the frame door\nwith a crash, and hurried inside, only to find that we were just a\nminute too late.'\"\n\n\"After a fit of sobbing, Arletta Wright quieted herself long enough to\nsay: 'Telegraph the news to all parts of the civilized world that the\nState of New York has just murdered the noblest mortal of which history\nhas ever made mention. Tell the inhabitants that through his teachings a\nnew dispensation has sprung into existence, and that Sagemanism is born\nagain. Publicly announce my firm belief in the beautiful principles of\nNatural Law, and say that henceforth I renounce all further allegiance\nto a religion which permits the strong to victimize the weak, and\nupholds a corrupt and unnatural system, which allows schemers, thieves,\ngamblers, sneaks, loafers, spongers, and all other kinds of human\nparasites to grow fat off the labors of those who toil. Say that I shall\ntake up the work where John Convert left off, and devote the remainder\nof my life and all of my wealth towards the cause he advocated.'\"\n\n(THE END.)\n\nSTRAY SHOTS\n\nThe foundation of humbug is faith.\n\nThe light of the universe is reason.\n\nBetter be an unselfish dog than a selfish man.\n\nAdvice is cheap, so always give the best.\n\nTo exhibit temper is to demonstrate insanity.\n\nThe rich of today breed thieves for tomorrow.\n\nStrengthen yourself that you may help those less fortunate.\n\nThere is never a pleasure lost that there is not another gained.\n\nTrue philanthropy does not steal from one to give to another.\n\nReligions burn their bridges in front instead of behind them.\n\nOne good man on earth is better than ten thousand in heaven.\n\nFeed the mind with good thoughts and you will always be happy.\n\nKeep the mind and body clean and the soul will take care of itself.\n\nPut your trust in the desires of your conscience.\n\nThere are two ways to think--animal and human.\n\nMake your soul the master of your mind and body.\n\nObserve at least one day each week for rest and play.\n\nMan is great among men as the flea is great among fleas.\n\nNo drawback should cause man to lose control of himself.\n\nBetter be a good man persecuted, than a bad man praised.\n\nYou of few weaknesses should not judge harshly of those with many\nweaknesses.\n\nHate not, but pity your enemies, for thereby you demonstrate your own\nsuperiority.\n\nIt makes little difference who gets the credit, as long as the world\nderives the benefit.\n\nWithout Labor, Capital would starve; without Capital, Labor could live\nin luxury.\n\nA liar is a moral coward who fears to speak the truth and abide by the\nconsequences.\n\nPermit your soul to look from the eye and all of nature's objects will\nappear beautiful.\n\nHide not your face behind a fantastic beard, that the world may read\nyour character.\n\nThe expression of the face is caused by the tendency of the thought.\n\nSemi-intelligent beings try to live on the strength of those less\nintelligent.\n\nPersecution is a deadly poison which reacts upon those who administer\nit.\n\nHe with many faults is generally too weak to overlook the faults of\nothers.\n\nWhich is the most beastly, the pig itself, or the man who rears, kills\nand eats it?\n\nBehold yourself through the eyes of others and judge your worth\naccordingly.\n\nWhen man dies he leaves his works for the approbation or contempt of\nposterity.\n\nAs the mother loves her child, so should all living things love each\nother.\n\nThe sins of the parents are visited upon the children as a natural\nresult, and not by an act of the Almighty.\n\nThere are thoughts in existence today which man will not be able to\ngrasp for thousands of years to come.\n\nReplace the Church with schools of moral, mental and physical culture\nand the world will pro& thereby.\n\nAs the swindler first creates a feeling of faith in his intended victim,\nso religion demands faith in its followers.\n\nOf what good are you if you gain the produce of the whole world and\nbreed ten thousand criminal descendants.\n\nThere are many men in this world who call it work to figure how they can\nsecure the results of others' labor.\n\nIf you have knowledge, offer it to others; if they do not accept it,\nthat is their loss.\n\nDo not fill your head so full of other people's ideas that there is no\nroom left for your own.\n\nPoint out the defects of him who is present; praise the good qualities\nof him who is absent.\n\nThose who ride upon the backs of others must in turn carry others upon\ntheir own backs.\n\nThe Bible not only proves its own absurdities, but any others that the\nhuman mind can conceive.\n\nParents should mould their children's character before they are born, by\ntheir own thoughts and actions.\n\nYour ancestors are responsible for the weaknesses you inherit, but you\nare responsible for non-improvement.\n\nMarrying for money or position without mutual love is but one way to\nbreed and preserve the germs of prostitution.\n\nIt is not only the selfishness of the strong that robs the weak, but\nalso the selfishness of the weak that keeps them so.\n\nIf nature has blessed you with superior ability and you do not use it to\nbenefit mankind, then you have betrayed nature's trust.\n\nThe laborer furnishes the capitalist with money, houses, clothes,\neatables, service and then the weapons and power to keep him enslaved.\n\nIf you have not improved your condition physically, mentally and morally\nover that of your parents, your life has been a failure.\n\nReligion is a great cudgel held threateningly by the strong over the\nheads of the weak to keep them in a state of ignorance and slavery.\n\nIf the soul were born with the body, then it must die with it; but if\nthe soul live afterward, then it must have lived before the body was\nborn.\n\nThe learned man is sometimes wise; the wise man is not always learned.\nThe wise man produces good thoughts direct from nature; the learned man\nacquires them afterward.","title":"Born Again","tradition":"philosophy-ethics","translated_text":null,"word_count":60650}