|
Main
- books.jibble.org
My Books
- IRC Hacks
Misc. Articles
- Meaning of Jibble
- M4 Su Doku
- Computer Scrapbooking
- Setting up Java
- Bootable Java
- Cookies in Java
- Dynamic Graphs
- Social Shakespeare
External Links
- Paul Mutton
- Jibble Photo Gallery
- Jibble Forums
- Google Landmarks
- Jibble Shop
- Free Books
- Intershot Ltd
|
books.jibble.org
Previous Page
| Next Page
Page 54
"Therefore, we may reasonably suppose that the Almighty will temper
the wind to the shorn lamb, nor impose too harsh and terrible a
transformation upon the souls of the righteous departed, but lead
one and all, by gradual stages and through not unfamiliar conditions,
to the heaven of ultimate and absolute perfection that He has
designed for His conscious creatures."
"Well spoken," said Sir Walter.
But Mr. May had not finished. He proceeded to the immediate point.
"Shall it be denied that devils have been cast out in the name of
God?" he asked. "And if from human tenements, then why not from
dwellings made with human hands also? May not a house be similarly
cleansed as well as a soul? This unknown spirit--angel or fiend,
or other sentient being--is permitted to challenge mankind and
draw attention to its existence. A mystery, I grant, but its Maker
has now willed that some measure of this mystery shall be revealed
to us. We are called to play our part in this spirit's existence.
"It would seem that it has endured a sort of imprisonment in this
particular room for more years than we know, and it may actually
be the spirit of some departed human being condemned, for causes
that humanity has forgotten, to remain within these walls. The
nameless and unknown thing cries passionately to be liberated, and
is permitted by its Maker to draw our terrified attention upon
itself by the exercise of destructive functions transcending our
reason.
"God, then, has willed that, through the agency of devout and
living men, the unhappy phantom shall now be translated and moved
from this environment for ever; and to me the appointed task is
allotted. So I believe, as firmly as I believe in the death and
resurrection of the Lord. Is that clear to you, Sir Walter?"
"It is. You have made it convincingly clear."
"So be it, then. I, too, Mary, am not dead to the meaning of
science in its proper place. We may take an illustration of what
I have told you from astronomy. As comets enter our system from
realms of which we have no knowledge, dazzle us a little, awaken
our speculations and then depart, so may certain immortal spirits
also be supposed to act. We entangle them possibly in our gross
air and detain them for centuries, or moments, until their Creator's
purpose in sending them is accomplished. Then He takes the means
to liberate them and set them on their eternal roads and to their
eternal tasks once more."
The listening woman, almost against her reason, felt herself
beginning to share these assumptions. But that they were fantastic,
unsupported by any human knowledge, and would presently involve an
experiment full of awful peril to the life of the man who uttered
them, she also perceived. Yet her reasonable caution and
conventional distrust began to give way a little under the priest's
magnetic voice, his flaming eyes, his positive and triumphant
certainty of truth. He burned with his inspiration, and she felt
herself powerless to oppose any argument founded on facts against
the mystic enthusiasm of such religious faith. His honesty and
fervor could not, however, abate Mary's acute fear. Her father
had entirely gone over to the side of the devotee and she knew it.
"It is well we have your opportunity to-night," he said, "for had
the police arrived, out of their ignorance they might deny it
to you."
Yet Mary fought on against them. In despair she appealed to Masters.
He had been an officer's orderly in his day, and when he left the
Army and came to Chadlands, he never departed again. He was an
intelligent man, who occupied a good part of his leisure in reading.
He set Sir Walter and Mary first in his affections; and that Mary
should have won him so completely she always held to be a triumph,
since Abraham Masters had no regard or admiration for women.
"Can't you help me, Masters?" she begged. "I'm sure you know as
well as I do that this ought not to happen."
The butler eyed his master. He was handing coffee, but none took it.
"By all means speak," said Sir Walter. "You know how I rate your
judgment, Masters. You have heard Mr. May upon this terrible
subject, and should be convinced, as I am."
Previous Page
| Next Page
|
|