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The Secret Power: A Romance of the Time ......................................................................................................1

A CLOUD floated slowly above the mountain peak. Vast, fleecy and white as the crested foam of a

seawave, it sailed through the sky with a divine air of majesty, seeming almost to express a consciousness of

its own grandeur. Over a spacious tract of Southern California it extended its snowy canopy, moving from the

distant Pacific Ocean across the heights of the Sierra Madre, now and then catching fire at its extreme edge

from the sinking sun, which burned like a red brand flung on the roof of a roughly built hut situated on the

side of a sloping hollow in one of the smaller hills. The door of the hut stood open; there were a couple of

benches on the burnt grass outside, one serving as a table, the other as a chair. Papers and books were neatly

piled on the table,and on the chair, if chair it might be called, a man sat reading. His appearance was not

prepossessing at a first glance, though his actual features could hardly be seen, so concealed were they by a

heavy growth of beard. In the way of clothing he had little to trouble him. Loose woollen trousers, a white

shirt, and a leathern belt to keep the two garments in place, formed his complete outfit, finished off by wide

canvas shoes. A thatch of dark hair, thick and ill combed, apparently served all his need of head covering, and

he seemed unconscious of, or else indifferent to, the hot glare of the summer sky which was hardly tempered

by the long shadow of the floating cloud. At some moments he was absorbed in reading,at others in

writing. Close within his reach was a small notebook in which from time to time he jotted down certain

numerals and made rapid calculations, frowning impatiently as though the very act of writing was too slow

for the speed of his thought. There was a wonderful silence everywhere,a silence such as can hardly be

comprehended by anyone who has never visited widespreading country, over canopied by large stretches

of open sky, and barricaded from the further world by mountain ranges which are like huge walls built by a

race of Titans. The dwellers in such regions are few, there is no traffic save the coming and going of

occasional packmules across the hill tracksno sign of modern civilisation. Among such deep and solemn

solitudes the sight of a living human being is strange and incongruous, yet the man seated outside his hut had

an air of ease and satisfied proprietorship not always found with wealthy owners of mansions and parklands.

He was so thoroughly engrossed in his books and papers that he hardly saw, and certainly did not hear, the

approach of a woman who came climbing wearily up the edge of the sloping hill against which his cabin

presented itself to the view as a sort of fitment, and advanced towards him carrying a tin pail full of milk.

This she set down within a yard or so of him, and then, straightening her back, she rested her hands on her

hips, and drew a long breath. For a minute or two he took no notice of her. She waited. She was a big

handsome creature, sunbrowned and blackhaired, with flashing dark eyes lit by a spark that was not

originally caught from heaven. Presently, becoming conscious of her presence, he threw his book aside and

"I should find some"he said"Yes!I should find some; somewhere! I want very little."

He rose, stretching his arms lazily above his head,then, stooping, he lifted the pail of milk and carried it

into his cabin. Disappearing for a moment, he returned, bringing back the pail empty.

"I have enough for two days now," he said"and longer. What you brought me at the beginning of the week

has turned beautifully sour,a `lovely curd' as our cook at home used to say, and with that `lovely curd'

and plenty of fruit I'm living in luxury." Here he felt in his pockets and took out a handful of coins. "That's

She counted them over as he gave them to herbit one with her strong white teeth and nodded.

"How many times will you remind me of that!" he replied, with a laugh"Of course I know I don't pay you!

Of course I know I pay the Plaza!that amazing hotel and `sanatorium' with a tropical garden and no

"It is more comfortable than this"she said, with a disparaging glance at his log dwelling.

"How do you know?" and he laughed again"What have you ever experienced in the line of hotels? You are

employed at the Plaza to fetch and carry;to wait on the wretched invalids who come to California for a

"Oh, Manella! What a question! Why do we all pretend?all! every human being from the child to the

dotard! Simply because we dare not face the truth! For example, consider the sun! It is a furnace with flames

five thousand miles high, but we `pretend' it is our beautiful orb of day! We must pretend! If we didn't we

"I do not understand you"she said"Why do you talk nonsense about the sun? I suppose you are ill after

"That's it! You're a wise woman, Manella! That's why I'm here. Not tubercles on the lungs,tubercles on the

brain! Oh those tubercles! They could never stand the Plaza!the gaiety, the brilliancythethe alltoo

dazzling social round! . . ." he paused, and a gleam of even white teeth under his dark moustache gave the

"You make fun of the Plaza"said Manella, biting her lips vexedly"And of me, too. I am nothing to you!"

"Should I? You really think so? Wonderful Manella! Come here!come quite close to me!"

She obeyed, moving with the soft tread of a forest animal, and, face to face with him, looked up. He smiled

kindly into her dark fierce eyes, and noted with artistic approval the unspoiled beauty of natural lines in her

form, and the proud poise of her handsome head on her full throat and splendid shoulders.

"You are very goodlooking, Manella,"he then remarked, lazily"Quite the model for a Juno. Be

"Manella, Manella, you are naughty! Temper, temper! Of course I do not care! Be reasonable! Why should

She pressed both hands tightly against her bosom, seeking to control her quick, excited breathing.

"Why should you? I do not know! But I care! I would be your woman! I would be your slave! I would wait

upon you and serve you faithfully! I would obey your every wish. I am a good servant,I can cook and sew

and wash and sweepI can do everything in a house and you should have no trouble. You should write and

read all day,I would not speak a word to disturb you. I would guard you like a dog that loves his master!"

He listened, with a strange look in his eyes,a look of wonder and something of compassion. There was a

pause. The silence of the hills was, or seemed, more intense and impressive,the great white cloud still

spread itself in large leisure along the miles of slowly darkening sky. Presently he spoke.

"And what wages, Manella? What wages should I have to pay for such a servant?such a dog?"

"What wages, Manella? None, you would say, exceptlove! You tell me you would be my woman,and I

know you mean it. You would be my slaveyou mean that, too. But you would want me to love you!

Manella, there is no such thing as love!not in this world! There is animal attraction,the magnetism of

the male for the female, the female for the male,the magnetism that pulls the opposite sexes together in

order to keep this planet supplied with an ever new crop of fools,but love! No Manella! There is no such

Here he gently took her two hands away from their tightly folded position on her bosom and held them in his

"No such thing, my dear!" he went on, speaking softly and soothingly, as though to a child"Except in the

dreams of poets, and youfortunately!know nothing about poetry! The wild animal in you is attracted to

the tame, ruminating animal in me,and you would be my woman, though I would not be your man. I quite

believe that it is the natural instinct of the female to select her mate,but, though the rule may hold good in

the forest world, it doesn't always work among the human herd. Man considers that he has the right of

selection,quite a mistake of his I'm sure, for he has no real sense of beauty or fitness, and generally selects

most vilely. All the same he is an obstinate brute, and sticks to his brutish ideas as a snail sticks to its shell. I

am an obstinate brute!I am absolutely convinced that I have the right to choose my own woman, if I want

She drew her hands quickly from his grasp. There were tears in her splendid dark eyes.

"You talk, you talk!" she said, with a kind of sob in her voice"It is all talk with youtalk which I cannot

understand! I don't want to understand!I am only a poor, ignorant girl. I cannot talkbut I can love! Ah

yes, I can love! You say there is no such thing as love! What is it then, when one prays every night and

morning for a man?when one would work one's fingers to the bone for him?when one would die to keep

"Selfdelusion, Manella! The beautiful selfdelusion of every naturebred woman when her fancy is

attracted by a particular sort of man. She makes an ideal of him in her mind and imagines him to be a god,

Something sinister and cruel in his look startled her,she made the sign of the cross on her bosom.

"Ah, now you are frightened!" he said, with a flash of amusement in his eyes"You are a good Catholic, and

you believe in devils. So you make the sign of the cross as a protection. That's right! That's the way to defend

The light mockery of his tone roused her pride,that pride which had been suppressed in her by the force of

a passionate emotion she could not restrain. She lifted her head and regarded him with an air of sorrow and

"After all, I think you must be a wicked man!" she said"You have no heart! You are not worthy to be

"Quite true, Manella! You've hit the bull's eye in the very middle three times! I am a wicked man,I have no

"What is that? It is itself, Manella! `Bore' is just `bore.' It means tiredness,wornoutness,a state in

which you wish yourself in a hot bath or a cold one, so that nobody can come near you. To be `loved' would

"How? Why, just as you have put it,to be prayed for night and morning,to be worked for and waited on

till fingers turned to bones,to be guarded from sickness and harm, heavens!think of it! No more

adventures in life, no more freedom!just love, love, love, which would not be love at all but the chains of a

"Who is it that would chain you?" she demanded, "Not I! You could do as you liked with meyou know

it!and when you go away from this place, you could leave me and forget me,I should never trouble you

The pathos in her voice moved him though he was not easily moved. On a sudden impulse he put an arm

about her, drew her to him and kissed her. She trembled at his caress, while he smiled at her emotion.

"A kiss is nothing, Manella!" he said"We kiss children as I kiss you! You are a child,a childwoman.

Physically you are a Juno,mentally you are an infant! By and by you will grow up, and you will be glad

He released her and put her gently away from him. Then, as he saw her eyes still uplifted questioningly to his

"Upon my word!" he exclaimed"I am making a nice fool of myself! Actually wasting time on a woman!

Go home, Manella, go home! If you are wise you won't stop here another minute! See now! You are full of

curiosityall women are! You want to know why I stay up here in this hill cabin by myself instead of

staying at the `Plaza.' You think I'm a rich Englishman. I'm not. No Englishman is ever rich,not up to his

own desires. He wants the earth and all that therein isdoes the Englishman, and of course he can't have it.

He rather grudges America her large slice of rich plumpudding territory, forgetting that he could have had it

himself for the price of tea. But I don't grudge anybody anythingAmerica is welcome to the whole bulk as

far as I'm concernedBritain ditto,let them both eat and be filled. All I want is to be left alone. Do you

hear that, Manella? To be left alone! Particularly by women. That's one reason why I came here. This cabin is

supposed to be a sort of tuberculosis `shelter,' where a patient in hopeless condition comes with a special

nurse to die. I don't want a nurse, and I'm not going to die. Tubercles don't touch methey don't flourish on

my soil. So this solitude just suits me. If I were at the `Plaza' I should have to meet a lot of women"

"Dreadful! That's enough! I can imagine her,a dieaway creature with a cough and a strawcoloured wig.

Yes!that will do, Manella! You'd better go and wait upon her. I've got all I want for a couple of days at

"She might be either"and Manella gazed dreamily at the darkening sky"There is nobody old

"I don't think so. She looks quite well. She arrived at the Plaza only yesterday."

"Oh! Well, goodnight, Manella! And if you want to know anything more about me, I don't mind telling you

this,that there's nothing in the world I so utterly detest as a woman with golden hair! There!"

"Fact!" he said"Fact as hard as nails! A woman with golden hair is a demona witcha mischief and a

"She looks like a witch," she said slowly"One of those creatures they put in pictures of fairy tales,small

"I wouldn't try it if I were you,"he answered, with visible impatience"Off you go! Goodnight!"

She gave him one lingering glance; then, turning abruptly picked up her empty milk pail and started down the

The man she left gave a sigh, deep and long, of intense relief. Evening had fallen rapidly, and the purple

darkness enveloped him in its warm, dense gloom. He sat absorbed in thought, his eyes turned towards the

east, where the last stretches of the afternoon's great cloud trailed filmy threads of woolly black through

space. His figure seemed gradually drawn within the coming night so as almost to become part of it, and the

stillness around him had a touch of awe in its impalpable heaviness. One would have thought that in a place

of such utter loneliness, the natural human spirit of a man would instinctively desire movement,action of

some sort, to shake off the insidious depression which crept through the air like a creeping shadow, but the

solitary being, seated somewhat like an Aryan idol, hands on knees and face bent forwards, had no inclination

to stir. His brain was busy; and half unconsciously his thoughts spoke aloud in words

"Have we come to the former old stopping place?" he said, as though questioning some invisible companion;

"Must we cry `halt!' for the thousand millionth time? Or can we go on? Dare we go on? If actually we

discover the secretwrapped up like the minutest speck of a kernel in the nut of an electron,what then?

Will it be well or ill? Shall we find it worth while to live on here with nothing to do?nothing to trouble us

or compel us to labour? Without pain shall we be conscious of health?without sorrow shall we understand

A sudden whiteness flooded the dark landscape, and a full moon leaped to the edge of the receding cloud. Its

rising had been veiled in the drift of black woolly vapour, and its silver glare, sweeping through the darkness,

"One would think that done for effect!" he said, half aloud "If the moon were the goddess Cynthia beloved

of Endymion, as woman and goddess in an impulse of vanity she would certainly have done that for effect!

Here he paused,an instinctive feeling warned him that some one was looking at him, and he turned his

head quickly. On the slope of the hill where Manella had lately stood, there was a figure, white as the white

moonlight itself, outlined delicately against the dark background. It seemed to be poised on the earth like a

bird just lightly descended; in the stirless air its garments appeared closed about it fold on fold like the petals

of an unopened magnolia flower. As he looked, it came gliding towards him with the floating ease of an air

bubble, and the strong radiance of the large moon showed its woman's face, pale with the moonbeam pallor,

and set in a wave of hair that swept back from the brows and fell in a loosely twisted coil like a shining snake

stealthily losing itself in folds of misty drapery. He rose to meet the advancing phantom.

"Entirely for effect!" he said, "Well planned and quite worthy of you! All for effect!"

A LAUGH, clear and cold as a sleighbell on a frosty night, rang out on the silence.

She laughed again. A strange white elf as she looked in the spreading moonbeams she was woman to the

core, and the disdainful movement of her small uplifted head plainly expressed her utter indifference to his

"I followed you,"she said"I knew I should find you! What are you doing up here? Shamming to be ill?"

"Precisely! `Sham' is as much in my line as yours. I have to `pretend' in order to be real!"

"Paradoxical as usual!" and she shrugged her shoulders "Anyway you've chosen a good place to do your

shamming in. It's quite lovely up here,much better than the `Plaza.' I am at the Plaza."

"Automobile and all I suppose!" he said, sarcastically"How many servants?how many boxes with how

They faced each other. The moon, now soaring high in clear space, shed a luminous rain of silver over all the

visible breadth of wild country, and their two figures looked mere dark silhouettes half drowned in the pearly

"It's worth travelling all the long miles to see!" she declared, stretching her arms out with an enthusiastic

"You are not glad!" she continued"You are a bearman in hiding, and the moon says nothing to you!"

"It says nothing because it is nothing!"he answered, impatiently"It is a dead planet without heart,a

mere shell of extinct volcanos where fire once burned, and its light is but the reflection of the sun on its

She made him a sweeping curtsy so exquisitely graceful that the action resembled nothing so much as the

"Thanks, gentle Knight!flower of chivalry!" she said"I see you love me in spite of yourself!"

He made a quick stride towards her,then stopped. "Love you!" he echoed,then laughed loudly and

derisively"Great God! Love you? You? If I did I should be mad! When will you learn the truth of

me?that women are less in my estimation than the insects crawling on a blade of grass or spawning in a

stagnant pond?that they have no power to move me to the smallest pulse of passion or desire?and that

"Dreadful!" and she made a face at him like that of a naughty child,then she sank down on the sunbaked

turf in an easy halfreclining attitude"It's certainly much worse to be a bore than to be hated. Hate is quite

a live sentiment,besides it always means, or has meantlove! You can't hate anything that is quite

indifferent to you, but of course you can be bored! You are bored by me and I am bored by you!and we are

He stood still and sombre, gazing down at the figure resting on the ground at his feet, its white garments

gathering about it as though they were sentiently aware that they must keep the line of classic beauty in every

"Boredom is the trouble"she went on"No one escapes it. The very babies of today are bored. We all

know too much. People used to be happy because they were ignorantthey had no sort of idea why they

were born, or what they came into the world for. Now they've learned the horrid truth that they are only here

just as the trees and flowers are hereto breed other trees and flowers and then go out of itfor no purpose,

apparently. They are `disillusioned.' They say `what's the use?' To put up with so much trouble and labour for

the folks coming after us whom we shall never see,it seems perfectly foolish and futile. They used to

believe in another life after thisbut that hope has been knocked out of them. Besides it's quite open to

question whether any of us would care to live again. Probably it might mean more boredom. There's really

nothing left. That's why so many of us go recklessit's just to escape being bored."

"Have I done?" she echoed"No,not quite! I love talking and it's a new and amusing sensation for me

to talk to a man in his shirtsleeves on a hill in California by the light of the moon! So wild and picturesque

you know! All the men I've ever met have been dressed to death! Have you had your dinner?"

"Like a baby!" she exclaimed"A big bearded baby! It's too delicious! And you're doing all this just to get

She yielded to his powerful grasp as he pulled her to her feet,then looked at him, still laughing.

At once he loosened his hold, and gazed moodily at her small fingers on which two or three superb diamond

"Your rings!" he said"YesI forgot them! Wonderful rings! emblems of your inordinate vanity and

vulgar wealthI forgot them! How they sparkle in this wide moonlight, don't they? Just a drifting of nature's

refuse matter, turned into jewels for women! Strange ordinance of strange elements! There!" and he let her

She was silent, pouting her underlip like a spoilt child, and rubbing one finger where a ring had dinted her

"So you actually think I have come here to get away from you?" he went on"Well, for once your ineffable

conceit is mistaken. You think yourself a personage of importancebut you are nothing,less than nothing

to me. I never give you a thought,I have come here to studyto escape from the crazy noise of modern

lifethe hurtling to and fro of the masses of modern humanity,I want to work out certain problems which

"Why revolutionise it?" she interrupted"Who wants it to be revolutionised? We are all very well as we

She gave a French shrug of her shoulders and waved her hands expressively. Then she pushed back her

flowing hair,the moonbeams trickled like water over it, making a network of silver on gold.

"To see you!" she answered smilingly"And to tell you that I'm `on the warpath' as they say, taking scalps

"Dear, no! Nothing quite so stupid! Neither noblemen nor bankrupts attract me. No! I'm doing a scientific

`prowl,' like you. I believe I've discovered something with which I could annihilate youso!" and she made

a round O of her curved fingers and blew through it"One breath!from a distance, too! and hey

presto!the bearman on the hills of California eating bread and milk is gone!a complete vanishing

trickno more of him anywhere!" The bearman, as she called him, gloomed upon her with a scowl.

"You'd better leave such things alone!" he said, angrily "Women have no business with science."

"No, of course not!" she agreed"Not in men's opinion. That's why they never mention Madame Curie

without the poor Monsieur! She found radium and he didn't,but `he' is always first mentioned."

"Enough of all this!" he said"Do you know it's nearly ten o'clock at night?I suppose you do

"They know!"she interrupted, nodding sagaciously"They know I am richrichrich! It doesn't matter

what I do, because I am rich! I might stay out all night with a bearman, and nobody would say a word

against me, because I am rich! I might sit on the roof of the `Plaza' and swing my legs over the visitors'

windows and it would be called `charming' because I am rich! I can appear at the table d'h�te in a bathwrap

and eat peas with a hairpin if I likeand my conduct will be admired, because I am rich! When I go to

Europe my photo will be in all the London pictorials with the grinning chorusgirls, because I am rich! And I

shall be called `the beautiful,' `the exquisite' `the fascinating' by all the unwashed penny journalists

because I am rich! Oooh!" and she gave a comic little screw of her mouth and eyes"It's great fun to be

"I think so!" here she put her head on one side like a meditative bird and her wonderful hair fell aslant like a

golden wing"I amuse myselfas much as I can. I learn all that can be done with greedy, stupid humanity

for so much cash down! I would,"here she paused, and with a sudden feline swiftness of movement came

close up to him"I would have married you!if you would have had me! I would have given you all my

money to play with,you could have got everything you want for your inventions and experiments, and I

would have helped you,and thenthenyou could have blown up the world and me with it, so long as

you gave me time to look at the magnificent sight! And I wouldn't have married you for love, mind

He withdrew from her a couple of paces,a glimmer of white teeth between his dark moustache and beard

"For curiosity!" she repeated, stretching out a hand and touching his arm"To see what the thing that calls

itself a man is made of! I did my very best with you, didn't I?uncouth as you always were and are!but I

did my best! And all Washington thought it was settled! Why wouldn't you do what Washington expected?"

The light of the moon fell full on her upturned face. It was a wonderful face,not beautiful according to the

monotonous presscamera type, but radiant with such a light of daring intelligence as to make beauty itself

seem cheap and meretricious in comparison with its glowing animation. He moved away from her another

"Why wouldn't you?" she reiterated softly; then with a sudden ripple of laughter, she clasped her hands and

uplifted them in an attitude of prayer"Why wouldn't he? Oh, big moon of California, why? Oh, pagan gods

"`All the world's a stage,'" she quoted, letting her upraised arms fall languidly at her sides"And ours is a

real comedy! Not `As You Like It' but `As You Don't Like It!' Poor Shakespeare!he never imagined such

characters as we are! Now, suppose you had satisfied the expectations of all Washington City and married

me, of course we should have bored each other dreadfullybut with plenty of money we could have run

"They don't `love' you know!" she went on"Love is too much of a bore. You would find it so!"

"I should, indeed!" he said, with sudden energy"It would be worse than any imaginable torture!to be

"Oh, surely no woman would want to kiss you!" she exclaimed "Never! That would be too much of a good

And she gave a little peal of laughter, merry as the lilt of a skylark in the dawn. He stared at her angrily,

moved by an insensate desire to seize her and throw her down the hill like a bundle of rubbish.

"To kiss you," she said, "one would have to wear a lipshield of leather! As well kiss a bunch of nettles! No,

no! I have quite a nice little mouthsoft and rosy! I shouldn't like to spoil it by scratching it against yours!

It's curious how all men imagine women like to kiss them! They never grasp an idea of the frequent

"And don't worry yourself"she continued, airily"I shall not stay long at the Plaza."

"It would be too dull,especially as I'm not shamming to be ill, like you. Besides, I have work to

do!wonderful work! and I don't believe in doing it shut up like a hermit. Humanity is my crucible!

"I think so," he answered"It will save you the trouble of ever trying to see me again, which will be a relief

"Too difficult!" she declared"I can look at nothing with your eyes any more than you can with mine!"

"Not `Madam' for heaven's sake!" she exclaimed; "It sounds as if I were either a queen or a dressmaker!"

"How should you be addressed?" he demanded, "A woman of such wealth and independence as you possess

She looked up at the clear dark sky where the moon hung like a huge silver airball.

"No, I suppose not!" she replied"The old English word was `Mistress.' So quaint and pretty, don't you

She sang the two lines in a deliciously entrancing voice, full of youth and tenderness. With one quick stride

"My God, I could shake the life out of you!" he said, fiercely "I wonder you are not afraid of me!"

"Why then there would be another murderer added to the general world of murderers!" she said"That's all!

"See here!" he said"Before you go I want you to know a thing or two,you may as well learn once for all

my views on women. They're brief, but they're fixed. And they're straight! Women are nothingjust

necessary for the continuation of the raceno more. They may be beautiful or homelyit's all one they

serve the same purpose. I'm under no delusions about them. Without men they are utterly useless,mere

waste on the wind! To idealise them is a stupid mistake. To think that they can do anything original,

intellectual or imaginative is to set one's self down an idiot. You,you the spoilt only child of one of the

biggest rascal financiers in New York,you, left alone in the world with a fortune so vast as to be almost

criminalyou think you are something superlative in the way of women,you play the Cleopatra,you

are convinced you can draw men after youbut it's your money that draws them,not you! Can't you see

that?or are you too vain to see it? And you've no mercy on them,you make them believe you care for

them and then you throw them over like empty nutshells! That's your way! But you never fooled me!and

He released her as suddenly as he had grasped her,she drew her white draperies round her shoulders with a

"Empty nutshells are a very good description of men who come after a woman for her money"she

observed, placidly "and it's quite natural that the woman should throw them over her shoulder. There's

nothing in themnot even a flavour! No I never fooled you,you fooled yourselfyou are fooling

yourself now, only you don't know it. But there!let's finish talking! I like the romance of the

situationyou in your shirt sleeves on a hill in California, and I in silken stuff and diamonds paying you a

moonlight visitit's really quite novel and charming!but it can't go on for ever! Just now you said you

wanted me to know a thing or two, and I presume you have explained yourself. What you think or what you

don't think about women doesn't interest me. I'm one of the `wastes on the wind!' I shall not aid in the

continuation of the race,heaven forbid! The race is too stupid and too miserable to merit continuance.

Everything has been done for it that can be done, over and over again, from the beginningtill now,and

now now!" She paused, and despite himself the tone of her voice sent a thrill through his blood of

She lifted one hard and pointed upwards. Her face in the moonbeams looked austere and almost spectral in

He turned impatiently away to avoid further leavetaking then, on a sudden impulse, his mood changed.

The call echoed through emptiness. She was gone. He called again,the long vowel in the strange name

sounding like `Mor gaarna' as a shivering note on the G string of a violin may sound at the conclusion of

"HE left New York several weeks ago,didn't you know it? Dear me!I thought everybody was convulsed

The speaker, a young woman fashionably attired and seated in a rocking chair in the verandah of a favourite

summer hotel on Long Island, raised her eyes and shrugged her shoulders expressively as she uttered these

words to a man standing near her with a newspaper in his hand. He was a very stiffjointed upright personage

with iron grey hair and features hard enough to suggest their having been carved out of wood.

"NoI didn't know it,"he said, enunciating his words in the deliberate dictatorial manner common to a

"You can't take steps to prevent anything Morgana Royal decides to do!" declared his companion. "She's a

law to herself and to nobody else. I guess you couldn't stop her, Mr. Sam Gwent!"

Mr. Sam Gwent permitted himself to smile. It was a smile that merely stretched the corners of his mouth a

"Possibly not!" he answered"But I should have had a try! I should certainly have pointed out to her the

"That's a great compliment! But even Miss Lydia Herbert, brilliant woman of the world as she is, doesn't

"Not quite!" she replied, stifling a tiny yawn"Nor do you! But most things that are worth knowing I know.

There's a lot one need never learn. The chief business of life nowadays is to have heaps of money and know

Mr. Sam Gwent folded up his newspaper, flattened it into a neat parcel, and put it in his pocket.

"She has a great deal too much money,"he said, "andto my thinkingshe does not know how to spend

it,not in the right womanly way. She has gone off in the midst of many duties to society at a time when she

"Does it matter?" she asked. "The old man left his pile to her `absolutely and unconditionally'without any

orders as to society duties. And I don't believe you've any authority over her, have you? Or are you suddenly

"No. I'm only an uncle,"he said"Uncle of the boy that shot himself this morning for her sake!"

"You're not!"retorted Gwent"So don't pretend. No one is sorry for anybody else nowadays. There's no

time. And no inclination. Jack was always a foolperhaps he's best out of it. I've just seen himdead. He's

"Not at all!" he answered, composedly"Only commonplace. It is you advanced women that are

brutal,not we leftbehind men. Jack was a fool, I sayhe staked the whole of his game on Morgana

Royal, and he lost. That was the last straw. If he could have married her he would have cleared all his debts

over and overand that's what he had hoped for. The disappointment was too much for him."

"I guess you came out of the Middle Ages!" he observed "What's `love'? Did you ever know a woman with

millions of money who got `loved'? Not a bit of it! Her money is loved but not herself. She's the

"What else should he be after? The woman? There are thousands of women,all to be had for the

askingthey pitch themselves at men headlongno hesitation or modesty about them nowadays! Jack's

asking would never have been refused by any one of them. But the millions of Morgana Royal are not to be

Miss Herbert's rather thin lips tightened into a close line, she flicked some light teardrops away from her

eyes with a handkerchief as fine as a cobweb delicately perfumed, and stood silently looking out on the view

"You see," pursued Gwent, in his cold, deliberate accents, "Jack was ruined financially. And he has all but

ruined me. Now he has taken himself out of the way with a pistol shot, and left me to face the music for him.

Morgana Royal was his only chance. She led him on,she certainly led him on. He thought he had

her,thenjust as he was about to pin the butterfly to his specimen card, away it flew!"

"And I suppose this is why, as you say, Morgana has gone off `in the midst of many social duties'? Was Jack

"No. Not exactly," he replied"I give her credit for not knowing anything of his intention to clear out.

"Well,I don't feel so sorry for him now you tell me it was only the money he was after"she said"I

"You're talking `Middle Ages' again,"interrupted Gwent "Who wants fine characters nowadays? The

object of life is to live, isn't it? And to `live' means to get all you can for your own pleasure and profit,take

care of Number One!and let the rest of the world do as it likes. It's quite your method, though you

"Now, why should I be?" he pursued, argumentatively"What's politeness worth unless you want to flatter

something for yourself out of somebody? I never flatter, and I'm never polite. I know just how you

feel,you haven't got as much money as you want and you're looking about for a fellow who has. Then

you'll marry himif you can. You, as a woman, are doing just what Jack did as a man. But,if you miss

your game, I don't think you'll commit suicide. You're too wellbalanced for that. And I think you'll succeed

"Yesif you want a millionaire. Especially the old rascal you're after. Don't dress too `loud.' Don't show all

your back leave some for him to think about. Don't paint your face,let it alone. And be, or pretend to be,

"Here endeth the first lesson!" she said. "Thanks, preacher Gwent! I guess I'll worry through!"

"I guess you will!"he answered, slowly. "I wish I was as certain of anything in the world as I am of that!"

She was silent. The corners of her mouth twitched slightly as though she sought to conceal a smile. She

watched her companion furtively as he took a cigar from a case in his pocket and lit it.

"I must go and fix up the funeral business"he said, "Jack has gone, and his remains must be disposed of.

That's my affair. Just now his mother's crying over him,and I can't stand that sort of thing. It gets over me."

"I suppose so. I used to have. But it isn't the heart,that's only a pumping muscle. I conclude it's the head."

"Well, I'm sure"said Gwent"She's after the special quarry that has given her the slip,Roger Seaton.

"You must have been in Washington when every one thought that he and she were going to make a

"I know! I was there. But a man who has set his soul on science doesn't want a wife."

"Oh, that's all popcorn! Morgana is not a scientist,she's hardly a student. She just `imagines' she can do

"Well! I'm not so sure!" and Gwent looked ruminative"She's got a smart way of settling problems while

"To her own satisfaction only"said Miss Herbert, ironically,"Certainly not to the satisfaction of anybody

else! She talks the wildest nonsense about controlling the world! Imagine it! A world controlled by

Morgana!" She gave an impatient little shake of her skirts. "I do hate these sort of mysterious, philosophising

women, don't you? The old days must have been ever so much better! When it was all poetry and romance

"They never were possible!" he retorted"Dante was, like all poets, a regular humbug. Any peg served to

hang his stuff on, from a child of nine to a girl of eighteen. The stupidest thing ever written is what he

called his `New Life' or `Vita Nuova.' I read it once, and it made me pretty nigh sick. Think of all that

twaddle about Beatrice `denying him her most gracious salutation'! That any creature claiming to be a man

"It's perfectly lovely!" declared Miss Herbert"You've no taste in literature, Mr. Gwent!"

"I've no taste for humbug"he answered"That's so! I guess I know the difference between tragedy and

comedy, even when I see them side by side." He flicked a long burnt ash from his cigar. "I've had a bit of

comedy with you this morningnow I'm going to take up tragedy! I tell you there's more written in Jack's

"The tragedy of a lost gamble for money!" she said, with a scornful uplift of her eyebrows.

"That's so! It upsets the mental balance of a man more than a lost gamble for love!"

Lydia Herbert, left to herself, played idly with the leaves of the vine that clambered about the high wooden

columns of the verandah where she stood, admiring the sparkle of her diamond bangle which, like a thin

circlet of dewdrops, glittered on her slim wrist. Now and then she looked far out to the sea gleaming in the

burning sun, and allowed her thoughts to wander from herself and her elegant clothes to some of the social

incidents in which she had taken part during the past couple of months. She recalled the magnificent ball

given by Morgana Royal at her regal home, when all the fashion and frivolity of the noted `Four Hundred'

were assembled, and when the one whispered topic of conversation among gossips was the possibility of the

marriage of one of the richest women in the world to a shabbily clothed scientist without a penny, save what

he earned with considerable difficulty. Morgana herself played the part of an enigma. She laughed, shook her

head, and moved her daintily attired person through the crowd of her guests with all the gliding grace of a

fairy vision in white draperies showered with diamonds, but gave no hint of special favour or attention to any

man, not even to Roger Seaton, the scientist in question, who stood apart from the dancing throng, in a kind

of frowning disdain, looking on, much as one might fancy a forest animal looking at the last gambols of prey

it purposed to devour. He had taken the first convenient interval to disappear, and as he did not return, Miss

Herbert had asked her hostess what had become of him. Morgana, her cheeks flushed prettily by a just

"Interested? Oh yes! Who would not be interested in a man who says he can destroy half the world if he

wants to! He assumes to be a sort of deity, you know!Jove and his thunderbolts in the shape of a man in a

badly cut suit of modern clothes! Isn't it fun!" She gave a little peal of laughter. "And every one in the room

"Can you imagine it! Me, married? Lydia, Lydia, do you take me for a fool!" She laughed againthen grew

suddenly serious. "To think of such a thing! Fancy me!giving my life into the keeping of a scientific

wizard who, if he chose, could reduce me to a little heap of dust in two minutes, and no one any the wiser!

Thank you! The sensational press has been pretty full lately of men's brutalities to women, and I've no

intention of adding myself to the list of victims! Men are brutes! They were born brutes, and brutes they will

"Then you don't like him?" persisted Lydia, moved, in spite of herself, by curiosity, and also by a vague

wonder at the strange brilliancy of complexion and eyes which gave to Morgana a beauty quite unattainable

"Listen!" she said"Isn't that a lovely valse? Doesn't the music seem to sweep round and tie us all up in a

garland of melody! How far, far above all these twirling human microbes it is!as far as heaven from earth!

If we could really obey the call of that music we should rise on wings and fly to such wonderful worlds!as

it is, we can only hop round and round like motes in a sunbeam and imagine we are enjoying ourselves for an

hour or two! But the music means so much more!" She paused, enrapt;then in a lighter tone went

on"And you think I would marry? I would not marry an emperor if there were one worth havingwhich

there isn't!and as for Roger Seaton, I certainly am not `set' on him as you so elegantly put it! And he's not

She was standing near an open window as she spoke, and she looked up at the dark purple sky sprinkled with

"I mightpossibly I mighthave helped him to that something elseif I had not discovered something

She lifted her hand with a commanding gesture as though unconsciously,then let it drop at her side. Lydia

"Yes, I know I do!" she admitted"I am what old Scotswomen call `fey'! You know I was born away in the

Hebrides,my father was a poor herder of sheep at one time before he came over to the States. I was only a

baby when I was carried away from the islands of mist and rainbut I was `fey' from my birth"

"It's just everything that everybody else is not"Morgana replied"`Fey' people are magic people; they see

what no one else sees,they hear voices that no one else hearsvoices that whisper secrets and tell of

wonders as yet undiscovered" She broke off suddenly. "We must not stay talking here"she

resumed"All the folks will say we are planning the bridesmaids' dresses and that the very day of the

ceremony is fixed! But you can be sure that I am not going to marry anybody least of all Roger Seaton!"

"Of course I like him! He's a human magnet,he `draws'! You fly towards him as if he were a bit of rubbed

sealingwax and you a snippet of paper! But you soon drop off! Oh, that valse! Isn't it entrancing!"

And, swinging herself round lightly like a bellflower in a breeze she danced off alone and vanished in the

Lydia Herbert recalled this conversation now, as she stood looking from the vineclad verandah of her hotel

towards the sea, and again saw, as in a vision, the face and eyes of her `fey' friend,a face by no means

beautiful in feature, but full of a sparkling attraction which was almost irresistible.

"Nothing in her!" had declared New York society generally "Except her money! And her hairbut not

Lydia had seen it so `let down,' once, and only once, and the sight of such a glistening rope of gold had fairly

"II think it is! It seems so! I don't believe it will come off unless you pull very hard!"

Lydia had not pulled hard, but she had felt the soft rippling mass falling from head to far below the knee, and

"It's a great bother," Morgana declared"I never know what to do with it. I can't dress it `fashionably' one

bit, and when I twist it up it's so fine it goes into nothing and never looks the quantity it is. However, we must

all have our troubles! with some it's teethwith others it's ankleswe're never quite all right! The thing

And this curious creature who talked `so very strangely,' possessed millions of money! Her father, who had

arrived in the States from the wildest north of Scotland with practically not a penny, had so gathered and

garnered every opportunity that came in his way that every investment he touched seemed to turn to five

times its first value under his fingers. When his wife died very soon after his wealth began to accumulate, he

was beset by women of beauty and position eager to take her place, but he was adamant against all their

blandishments and remained a widower, devoting his entire care to the one child he had brought with him as

an infant from the Highland hills, and to whom he gave a brilliant, but desultory and uncommon education.

Life seemed to swirl round him in a glittering ring of gold of which he made himself the centre,and when

he died suddenly `from overstrain' as the doctors said, people were almost frightened to name the vast fortune

his daughter inherited, accustomed as they were to the counting of many millions. And now?

"California!" mused Lydia"Sam Gwent thinks she has gone there after Roger Seaton. But what can be her

object if she doesn't care for him? It's far more likely she's started for Sicilyshe's having a palace built

there for her small self to live in `all by her lonesome'! Well! She can afford it!"

And with a short sigh she let go her train of thought and left the verandah,it was time to change her

costume and prepare `effects' to dazzle and bewilder the uncertain mind of a crafty old Cr*sus who, having

freely enjoyed himself as a bachelor up to his present age of seventyfour, was now looking about for a

young strong woman to manage his house and be a nurse and attendant for him in his declining years, for

which service, should she be suitable, he would concede to her the name of `wife' in order to give stability to

her position. And Lydia Herbert herself was privately quite aware of his views. Moreover she was entirely

willing to accommodate herself to them for the sake of riches and a luxurious life, and the `settlement' she

meant to insist upon if her plans ripened to fulfilment. She had no great ambitions; few women of her social

class have. To be well housed, well fed and well clothed, and enabled to do the fashionable round without

hindrancethis was all she sought, and of romance, sentiment, emotion or idealism she had none. Now and

again she caught the flash of a thought in her brain higher than the level of material needs, but dismissed it

And to be like Morgana, meant to be like what cynics designate `an impossible woman,'independent of

Morgana, clothed only in a white silk nightgown, sitting on the edge of her bed with her small rosy toes

peeping out beneath the tiny frill of her thin garment, looked at the broadshouldered handsome girl Manella

who had just brought in her breakfast tray, and now stood regarding her with an odd expression of mingled

"Such big eyes!" she repeated"Like great headlamps flaring out of that motorbrain of yours! What do you

"Something I have never seen before!" she answered"You are so small and white! Not like a woman at

"I do not know"she said, hesitatingly"Butoncehere in this gardenwe found a wonderful

butterfly with white wings all white,and it was resting on a scarlet flower. We all went out to look at it,

because it was unlike any other butterfly we had ever seen,its wings were like velvet or swansdown. You

"Oh, yes. Very soon! And an hour or so after it had flown, the scarlet flower where it had rested was dead."

"Most thrilling!" And Morgana gave a little yawn. "Is that breakfast? Yes? Stay with me while I have it! Are

"As much as I want"Manella answered, indifferently. "But there is no pleasure in the work."

"If one works for a person one loves,surely yes!" the girl murmured as if she were speaking to herself,

Morgana glanced at her, and the flash of her eyes had the greyblue of lightning. Then she poured out the

"I daresay it's not as good as it ought to be"she said"If you had brought your own maid I should have

asked her to make it. Women of your class like their food served differently to us poor folk, and I don't know

"You quaint, handsome thing! What do you know about it? What, in your opinion, is my class?"

Manella pulled nervously at the ends of the bright coloured kerchief she wore knotted across her bosom, and

"Well, for one thing you are rich,"she said, at last"There is no mistaking that. Your lovely clothesyou

must spend a fortune on them! Thenall the people here wonder at your automobileand your chauffeur

says it is the most perfect one ever made! And all these riches make you think you ought to have everything

just as you fancy it. I suppose you oughtI'm not sure! I don't believe you have much feeling,you

couldn't, you know! It is not as if you wanted something very badly and there was no chance of your getting

Morgana paused in the act of pouring out a second cup of coffee, and her face dimpled with amusement.

"Of course it would!" Manella averred"If you wanted one, which I daresay you don't. For all I know, you

may be like the man who is living in the consumption hut on the hill,he ought to have a woman, but he

"The man who lives in the consumption hut on the hill!" she repeated, slowly, and with a smile"What man

"I don't know" and Manella's large dark eyes filled with a strangely wistful perplexity. "He is a

strangerand he's not ill at all. He is big and strong and healthy. But he has chosen to live in the `house of

the dying,' as it is sometimes called where people from the Plaza go when there's no more hope for them.

He likes to be quite alonehe thinks and writes all day. I take him milk and bread,it is all he orders from

the Plaza. I would be his woman. I would work for him from morning till night. But he will not have me."

Morgana raised her eyes, glittering with the `fey' light in them that often bewildered and rather scared her

Something in her look checked Manella's natural impulse to confide in one of her own sex.

Morgana smiled, and stretching out her small white hand, adorned with its sparkling rings, laid it caressingly

"You are a dear!"she murmured, lazily"Just a dear! A big, beautiful creature with a heart! That's the

troubleyour heart! You've found a man living selfishly alone, scribbling what he perhaps thinks are the

most wonderful things ever put on paper, when they are very likely nothing but rubbish, and it enters into

your head that he wants mothering and loving! He doesn't want anything of the sort! And you want to love

and mother him! Oh heavens!have you ever thought what loving and mothering mean?"

"All the world, surely!" she answered, with emotion"To love!to possess the one we love, body and

The smile flitted away from Morgana's lips, and her expression became almost sorrowful.

"You are like a trusting animal!" she said"An animal all innocent of guns and steeltraps! You poor girl! I

should like you to come with me out of these mountain solitudes into the world! What is your name?"

"Manella Soriso"the girl answered"I am Spanish by both parents,they are dead now. I was born at

"Oh yes, I have!" and Manella tossed her head airily"Men all more or less alikegreedy for dollars, fond

of smoke and cinema women,I do not care for them. Some have asked me to marry, but I would rather

Morgana slid off the edge of her bed and stood upright, her white silk nightgown falling symmetrically round

her small figure. With a dexterous movement she loosened the knot into which she had twisted her hair for

the night, and it fell in a sinuous coil like a golden snake from head to knee. Manella stepped back in

"Oh!" she cried"How beautiful! I have quite as much in quantity, but it is black and heavyugly!no

good! And he, that man who lives in the hut on the hillsays there is nothing he hates so much as a

"Each one to his taste!" she said, airily"Some like black hairsome redsome goldsome nutbrown.

But does it matter at all what men think or care for? To me it is perfectly indifferent! And you are quite right

Fascinated by her wonderful elfin look as she stood like a white iris in its silken sheath, her small body's

outline showing dimly through the folds of her garment, Manella drew nearer, somewhat timidly.

"Ah, but I do not mean that I prefer hanging to real, true marriage!" she said"When one loves, it is

different! In love I would rather hang than not give myself to the man I lovegive myself in all I am, and all

I have! And youyou who look so pretty and wonderfulalmost like a fairy!do you not feel like that

"No, indeed!" she answered"I have never felt like that! I hope I shall never feel like that! To feel like that

is to feel like the female beasts of the field who only wait and live to be used by the males, giving `all they

are and all they have,' poor creatures! The bull does not `love' the cowhe gives her a calf. When the calf is

born and old enough to get along by itself, it forgets its mother just as its mother forgets it, while the sire is

blissfully indifferent to both! It's really the same thing with human animals,especially nowadaysonly we

haven't the honesty to admit it! No, Manella Soriso!with your good looks you ought to be far above

`feeling like that!'you are a nobler creature than a cow! No wonder men despise women who are always on

"I must dress;"she said"And you can take a message to my chauffeur and tell him to get everything

ready to start. I've had a lovely night's rest and am quite fit for a long run."

"Oh, are you going?" and Manella gave a little cry of pain"I am sorry! I do want you to stay!"

Morgana's eyes flashed mingled humour and disdain. "You quaint creature! Why should I stay? There's

This was an unexpected question, the result of a subconscious suggestion in Manella's mind which she herself

"What did I come for? Really, I hardly know! I am full of odd whims and fancies, and I like to humour

myself in my various ways. I think I wanted to see a bit of California,that's all!"

"Enough is better than too much!" laughed Morgana"I am easily bored! This Plaza hotel would bore me to

"No!" Manella replied, with sudden sharpness"No! I would not like you to see him! He would either hate

"You are a curious girl!" she said, slowly"You might be a tragic actress and make your fortune on the

stage, with that voice and that look! And yet you stay here as `help' in a Sanatorium! Well! It's a dull, dreary

"I don't like it!" declared Manella, vehemently, "I hate it! But what am I to do? I have no home and no

Manella stared in a kind of childlike wonderment,her big dusky eyes grew brilliant,then clouded with

"Thank you, Se*ora!" she answered, pronouncing the Spanish form of address with a lingering sweetness, "It

is very good of you! But I should not please you. I do not know the world, and I am not quick to learn. I am

"Yes!perhaps you are!" she said"I understand! You would not like to leave him! I am sure that is so!

You want to feed your big bear regularly with bread and milkyes, you poor deluded child! Courage! You

may still have a chance to be, as you say, `his woman!' And when you are I wonder how you will like it!"

She laughed, and began to brush her shining hair out in two silky lengths on either side. Manella gazed and

gazed at the glittering splendour till she could gaze no more for sheer envy, and then she turned slowly and

Alone, Morgana continued brushing her hair meditatively, then, twisting it up in a great coil out of her

way, she proceeded with her toilette. Everything of the very finest and daintiest was hers to wear, from the

silken hose to the delicate lace camisole, and when she reached the finishing point in her admirably cut

summer serge gown and becoming closefitting hat, she studied herself from head to foot in the mirror with

fastidious care to be sure that every detail of her costume was perfect. She was fully aware that she was not a

newspaper camera `beauty' and that she had subtle points of attraction which no camera could ever catch, and

"I hate untidy travellers!"she would say"Horrors of men and women in oilskins, smelling of petrol! No

She had no luggage with her, save an adaptable suitcase which, she declared `held everything.' This she

quickly packed and locked, ready for her journey. Then she stepped to the window and waved her hand

"Fool of a bear man!" she said, apostrophising the individual she chose to call by that name"Here you

come along to a wild place in California running away from me,and here you find a sort of untutored

female savage eager and willing to be your `woman!' Well, why not? She's just the kind of thing you want

to fetch wood, draw water, cook food, andbear children! And when the children come they'll run about the

hill like savages themselves, and yell and dance and be greedy and dirtyand you'll presently wonder

whether you are a civilised man or a species of unthinking baboon! You will be living the baboon life,and

your brain will grow thicker and harder as you grow older,and your great scientific discovery will be

buried in the thickness and hardness and never see the light of day! All this, if she is `your woman!' It's a

great `if' of course!but she's big and handsome, with a beautiful body and splendid strength, and I never

heard of a man who could resist beauty and strength together. As for me and my `vulgar wealth' as you call it,

I'm a little wisp of straw not worth your thought!or so you assumeno, good Bear!not till we come to a

She took up her gloves and handbag and went downstairs, entering the broad, airy flowerbordered lounge

of the Plaza with a friendly nod and smile to the bookkeeper in the office where she paid her bill. Her

chauffeur, a smart Frenchman in quiet livery, was awaiting her with an assistant groom or page beside him.

"Yes,we go on"she replied"as quickly and as far as possible. Just fetch my valiseit's ready packed

The groom hurried away to obey this order, and Morgana glancing around her saw that she was an object of

intense curiosity to some of the hotel inmates who were in the lounge men and women both. Her

greyblue eyes flashed over them all carelessly and lighted on Manella who stood shrinking aside in a corner.

"Come and see me off!" she said"Take a look at my car and see how you'd like to travel in it!"

"As you please!" she said"You are an odd girl, but you are quite beautiful! Don't forget that! Tell the man

She passed through the lounge with a swift grace of movement and entered her sumptuous limousine, lined

richly in corded rose silk and fitted with every imaginable luxury like a queen's boudoir on wheels, while

Manella craned her neck forward to see the last of her. Her valise was quickly strapped in place, and in

another minute to the sound of a high silvery bugle note (which was the only sort of `hooter' she would

tolerate) the car glided noiselessly away down the broad, dusty white road, its polished enamel and silver

points glittering like streaks of light vanishing into deeper light as it disappeared.

"There goes the richest woman in America!" said the hotel clerk for the benefit of anyone who might care to

"Is that so?" drawled a sallowfaced man, reclining in an invalid chair"She's not much to look at!"

He was right. She was not much to look at. But she was more than looks ever made. So, with sorrow and with

envy, thought Manella, who instinctively felt that though she herself might be something to look at and `quite

beautiful,' she was nothing else. She had never heard the word `fey.' The mystic glamour of the Western

Highlands was shut away from her by the wide barrier of many seas and curtains of cloud. And therefore she

did not know that `fey' women are a race apart from all other women in the world.

THAT evening at sunset Manella made her way towards the hill and the `House of the Dying,' moved by she

knew not what strange impulse. She had no excuse whatever for going; she knew that the man living up there

in whom she was so much interested had as much food for three days as he asked for or desired, and that he

was likely to be vexed at the very sight of her. Yet she had an eager wish to tell him something about the

wonderful little creature with lightning eyes who had left the Plaza that morning, and had told her, Manella,

that she was `quite beautiful.' Pride, and an innocent feminine vanity thrilled her; "if another woman thinks

so, it must be so,"she argued, being aware that women seldom admire each other. She walked swiftly, with

head bent,and was brought to a startled halt by meeting and almost running against the very individual she

sought, who in his noiseless canvas shoes and with his pantherlike tread had come upon her unawares.

Checked in her progress she stood still, her eyes quickly lifted, her lips apart. In her adoration of the strength

and magnificent physique of the stranger whom she knew only as a stranger, she thought he looked splendid

as a god descending from the hill. Far from feeling godlike, he frowned as he saw her.

"If you want nothing why do you come down into the valley?" she asked, "You say you hate the Plaza!"

"I do!" and he spoke almost vindictively"But, at the moment, there's some one there I want to see."

"Oh, I know nothing!" and there was a sobbing note of pathos in her voice"But I feel here!"and she

pressed her hands against her bosom"something tells me that you have seen her the little wonderful

white woman, sweetly perfumed like a rose,with her silks and jewels and her fairy car!and her golden

hair . . . ah!you said you hated a woman with golden hair! Is that the woman you hate?"

"I do not believe that!" she said"You are not speaking truly. More likely it is, I think, you love her!"

"Stop that!" he exclaimed, angrily"You are foolish and insolent! Whether I love or hate anybody or

She shrank away from him. Her lips quivered, and tears welled through her lashes.

"So you ought to be!" he retorted"YouManellaimagine yourself in love with me . . . yes, you

do!and you cannot leave me alone! No amorous man ever cadged round for love as much or as

shamelessly as an amorous woman! Then you see another woman on the scene, and though she's nothing but

a stray visitor at the `Plaza' where you help wash up the plates and dishes, you suddenly conceive a lot of

romantic foolery in your head and imagine me to be mysteriously connected with her! Oh, for God's sake

don't cry! It's the most awful bore! There's nothing to cry for. You've set me up like a sort of doll in a shrine

and you want to worship mewell!I simply won't be worshipped. As for your `little wonderful white

woman sweetly perfumed like a rose,' I don't mind saying that I know her. And I don't mind also telling you

"No thief and no serpent in it!" he said"And no darkness, but in the full light of the moon! Such a moon it

was, too! A regular stage moon! A perfect setting for such an actress, in her white gown and her rope of gold

hair! Yesit was very well planned!effective in its way, though it left me cold!"

"Ah, but it did not leave you cold!" cried Manella; "Else you would not have come down to see her today!

"Of course she did"he interrupted her"She would ferret out any man she wanted for the moment. Forests

could not hide him, caves could not cover him if she made up her mind to find him. I had hoped she would

"I hope not!" And he threw himself carelessly down on the turf to rest"Come and sit beside me here and

But Manella was silent. Her dark, passionate eyes rested upon him with a word of scorn and sorrow in their

"I think you are!" she said, coldly"You seem to be a man, but you have not the feelings of a man!"

"Oh, have I not!" and he gave a light gesture of indifference "I have the feelings of a modern man,the

`Kultur' of a perfect superGerman! Yes, that is so! Sentiment is the mere flytrap of sensualitythe feeler

thrust out to scent the prey, but once the fly is caught, the trap closes. Do you understand? No, of course you

"Nor did I!" and he laughed"Nor am I. I said just now that I had the `Kultur' of a superGermanand a

superGerman means something above every other male creature except himself. He cannot get away from

himselfnor can I! That's the trouble! Come, obey me Manella! Sit down here beside me!"

Very slowly and very reluctantly she did as he requested. She sat on the grass some three or four paces off.

He stretched out a hand to touch her, but she pushed it back very decidedly. He smiled.

"I mustn't make love to you this morning, eh?" he queried. "All right! I don't want to make loveit doesn't

interest me I only want to put you in a good temper! You are like a rumpled pussycatyour fur must be

"Oh, dire tragedy!" And he stretched himself out on the turf with his arms above his head"But what does it

matter! Give me your news, silly child! What did the `little wonderful white woman' say to you?"

"I think so! I am conscious of a certain barbaric spirit of curiosity, like that of a savage who sees a

photograph of himself for the first time! Yes! I want to know what the modern feminine said to the

"I do not understand all your fine words"she said"But I will answer you. I told her about youhow you

had come to live in the hut for the dying on the hill rather than at the Plaza and how I took to you all the

"Yesamused. She laughed,she looks very pretty when she laughs. Andand she seemed to fancy"

"That I was not bad to look at" and Manella, gathering sudden boldness, lifted her dark eyes to his

face"She said I could tell you that she thinks me quite beautiful! Yes!quite beautiful!"

"So you are! I've told you so, often. `There needs no ghost come from the grave' to emphasise the fact. But

shethe purring cat!she told you to repeat her opinion to me, because can you guess why?"

"Simpleton! Because she wishes you to convey to me the message that she considers me your lover and that

she admires my taste! Now she'll go back to New York full of the story! Subtle little devil! But I am not your

"I know that!" she said, and her splendid eyes flashed proud defiance"I know I have been a fool to let

myself care for you! I do not know why I didit was an illness! But I am well now!"

"You are well now? Good! O let us be joyful! Keep well, Manella!and be `quite beautiful'as you are! To

be quite beautiful is a fine thingnot so fine as it used to be in the Greek periodstill, it has its advantages!

"What will you do with it?" he repeated"You must give it to somebody! You must transmit it to your

offspring! That's the old law of natureit's getting a bit monotonous, still it's the law! Now shethe

wonderful white womanshe's all for upsetting the law! Fortunately she's not beautiful"

"Really! You think her so! And she thinks you so! Quite a mutual admiration society! And both of you

obsessed by the same one man! I pity that man! The only thing for him to do is to keep out of it! No,

Manella!think as you like, she is not beautiful. You are beautiful. But she is clever. You are not clever.

You may thank God for that! She is outrageously, unnaturally, cursedly clever! And her cleverness makes her

see the sham of life all through; the absurdity of birth that ends in death, the freakishness of civilisation to no

purposeand she's out for something else. She wants something newer than sexattraction and family life. A

husband would bore her to extinctionthe care of children would send her into a lunatic asylum!"

"Some women do!" he answered"Not all! There are a good few who don't want to stay on the animal level.

Men try to keep them therebut it's a losing game nowadays. `Foxes have holes and birds of the air have

nests'but we cannot fail to see that when Mother Fox has reared her puppies she sends them off about their

own business and doesn't know them any more likewise Mother Bird does the same. Nature has no

sentiment. We have, because we cultivate artificial feelingswe imagine we `love,' when we only want

something that pleases us for the moment. To live, as you say, for husband and children would make a

woman a slavea great many women are slavesbut they are beginning to get emancipatedthe woman

"That only means she is free to do as she likes,"she said "To marry or not to marryto love or not to

love. I think if she loved at all, she would love very greatly. Why did she go so secretly in the evening to see

"Yes!"he answered with a kind of vindictive slowness"I suppose she does! You, Manella, are after me

as a man merely she is after me as a Brain! You would steal my physical liberty, she would steal my

innermost thought! And you will both be disappointed! Neither my body nor my brain shall ever be

He turned from her abruptly and began the ascent that led to his solitary retreat. Once he looked back

"Don't let me see you for two days at least!" he called "I've more than enough food to keep me going."

He strode on, and Manella stood watching him, her tall handsome figure silhouetted against the burning sky.

Her dark eyes were moist with suppressed tears of shame and suffering, she felt herself to be wronged and

slighted undeservedly. And beneath this personal emotion came now a smarting sense of jealousy, for in spite

of all he had said, she felt that there was some secret between him and `the little wonderful white woman,'

which she could not guess and which was probably the reason of his selfsought exile and seclusion.

"I wish now I had gone with her!" she mused"For if I am `quite beautiful,' as she said, she might have

She walked slowly and dejectedly back to the Plaza, knowing in her heart that lady or no lady, her rich beauty

was useless to her, inasmuch as it made no effect on the one man she had elected to care for, unwanted and

unasked. Certain physiologists teach that the law of natural selection is that the female should choose her

mate, but the difficulty along this line of argument is that she may choose where her choice is unwelcome and

irresponsive. Manella was a splendid type of primitive womanhood,healthy, warmblooded and full of

hymeneal passion,as a wife she would have been devoted,as a mother superb in her tenderness; but,

measured by modern standards of advanced and restless femininity she was a mere drudge, without the ability

to think for herself or to analyse subtleties of emotion. Intellectuality had no part in her; most people's talk

was for her meaningless, and she had not the patience to listen to any conversation that rose above the food

and business of the day. She was confused and bewildered by everything the strange recluse on the hill said

to her,she could not follow him at all,and yet, the purely physical attraction he exercised over her nature

drew her to him like a magnet and kept her in a state of feverish craving for a love she knew she could never

win. She would have gladly been his servant on the mere chance and hope that possibly in some moment of

abandonment he might have yielded to the importunity of her tenderness; Adonis himself in all the freshness

of his youth never exercised a more potent spell upon enamoured Venus than this plain, big bearded man over

the lonely, untutored Californian girl with the large loveliness of a goddess and the soul of a little child. What

was the singular fascination which like the `pull' of a magnetic storm on telegraph wires, forced a woman's

tender heart under the careless foot of a rough creature as indifferent to it as to a flower he trampled in his

path? Nature might explain it in some unguarded moment of selfbetrayal,but Nature is jealous of her

secrets,they have to be coaxed out of her in the slow course of centuries. And with all the coaxing, the

subtle work of her woven threads between the Like and the Unlike remains an unsolved mystery.

FROM California to Sicily is a long way. It used to be considered far longer than it is now, but in these

magical days of aerial and motor travelling, distance counts but little, indeed as almost nothing to the mind of

any man or woman brought up in America and therefore accustomed to `hustle.' Morgana Royal had `hustled'

the whole business, staying in Paris a few days only,in Rome but two nights; and now here she was, as if

she had been spirited over sea and land by supernatural power, seated in a perfect paradisegarden of flowers

and looking out on the blue Mediterranean with dreamy eyes in which the lightning flash was nearly, if not

wholly subdued. About a quarter of a mile distant, and seen through the waving tops of pines and branching

oleander, stood the house to which the garden belonged,a `restored' palace of ancient days, built of

rosemarble on the classic lines of Greek architecture. Its `restoration' was not quite finished; numbers of

busy workmen were employed on the fa�ade and surrounded loggia; and now and again she turned to watch

them with a touch of visible impatience in her movement. A slight smile sweetened her mouth as she

presently perceived one figure approaching her,a lithe, dark handsome man, who, when he drew near

enough, lifted his hat with a profoundly marked reverence, and, as she extended her hand, raised it to his lips.

"A thousand welcomes, Madama!" he said, speaking in English with a scarcely noticeable foreign accent;

"Last night I heard you had arrived, but could hardly believe the good fortune! You must have travelled

"Never quickly enough for my mind!" she answered"The whole world moves too slowly for me!"

"You must carry that complaint to the buon Dio!" he said, gaily"Perhaps He will condescend to spin this

rolling planet a little faster! But in my mind, time flies far too rapidly! I have workedwe all have

"The interior is quite perfect"she said"You have carried out my instructions more thoroughly than I

imagined could be possible. It is now an abode for fairies to live in,for poets to dream in"

"You poor Marchese!"she said"Still you think of love! I really believe Italians keep all the sentiment of

le moyen �ge in their hearts,other peoples are gradually letting it go. You are like a child believing in

childish things! You imagine I could be happy with a loveror several lovers! To moon all day and embrace

all night! Oh fie! What a waste of time! And in the end nothing is so fatiguing!" She broke off a spray of

flowering laurel and hit him with it playfully on the hand. "Don't moon or spoon, caro amico! What is it all

about? Do I leave you nothing on which to write poetry? I find you out in Sicilya delightful poor nobleman

with a family history going back to the C�sars!handsome, clever, with beautiful ideasand I choose and

commission you to restore and rebuild for me a fairy palace out of a halfruined ancient one, because you

have taste and skill, and I know you can do everything when money is no objectand you have done, and

are doing it all perfectly. Why then spoil it by falling in love with me? Fie, fie!"

"Hold that!" she said"And while you hold it, tell me of my other palacethe one with wings!"

He clasped her small white fingers in his own sunbrowned palm and walked beside her bareheaded.

"Ah!" And he drew a deep breath"That is a miracle! What we called your `impossible' plan has been made

"Stop there!" she interrupted"Do not repeat the old gandercackle of barbaric man, who, while owing his

every comfort as well as the continuance of his race, to woman, denied her every intellectual initiative! `Who

would have thought that a woman'could do anything but bend low before a man with grovelling humility

saying `My lord, here am I, the waiting vessel of your lordship's pleasure!possess me or I die!' We have

Her eyes flashed,her voice rang outthe little fingers he held, stiffened resolutely in his clasp. He looked

"No!Of course you `did not mean' anything, Marchese! You are naturally surprised that my `idea' which

was little more than an idea, has resolved itself into a scientific factbut you would have been just as

surprised if the conception had been that of a man instead of a woman. Only you would not have said so!"

"Amazing!" and the Marchese lowered his voice to almost a whisper"I hardly dare speak of it!it is like

something supernatural! We have carried out your instructions to the letterthe thing is living, in all respects

save life. I made the test with the fluid you gave meI charged the cells secretlynone of the mechanics

"Brave souls!" said Morgana, and now she withdrew her hand from his grasp"So you went up alone?"

"I did. The steering was easyshe obeyed the helm,it was as though she were a light yacht in a

sea,wind and tide in her favour. But her speed outran every airship I have ever known as also the

"We will take a trip in her tomorrow pour passer le temps" said Morgana, "You shall choose a place for

us to go. Nothing can stop usnothing on earth or in the air!and nothing can destroy us. I can guarantee

Giulio Rivardi gazed at her wonderingly,his dark deep Southern eyes expressed admiration with a

"You are very sure of yourself"he said, gently, "Of course one cannot but marvel that your brain should

have grasped in so short a time what men all over the world are still trying to discover"

"Men are slow animals!" she said, lightly. "They spend years in talking instead of in doing. Then again, when

one of them really does something, all the rest are up in arms against him, and more years are wasted in

trying to prove him right or wrong. I, as a mere woman, ask nobody for an opinionI risk my own

existencespend my own moneyand have nothing to do with governments. If I succeed I shall be sought

"Why not? The world is too full of inventions as it isand it is not the least grateful to its inventors or

explorers. It would make the fool of a film a threefold millionairebut it would leave a great scientist or a

noble thinker to starve. No, no! Let it swing on its own roundI shall not enlighten it!"

"The men who are working here"he at last ventured to say "are deeply interested. You can hardly expect

them not to talk among each other and in the outside clubs and meetingplaces of the wonderful mechanism

on which they have been engaged? They have been at it now steadily for fifteen months."

"Do I not know it?" And she turned her head to him, smiling, "Have I not paid their salaries regularly?and

yours? I do not care how they talk or where,they have built the White Eagle, but they cannot make her

fly!not without me! You were as brave as I thought you would be when you decided to fly alone, trusting

She broke off and was silent for a moment, then laying her hand lightly on his arm, she added

"I thank you for your confidence in me! As I have said, you were brave!you must have felt that you risked

your life on a chance!nevertheless, for once, you allowed yourself to believe in a woman!"

"Not only for once but for always would I so believe!in such a womanif she would permit me!" he

"Ah! The old story! My dear Marchese, do not fret your intellectual perception uselessly! Think what we

have in store for us!such wonders as none have yet explored, the mysteries of the high and the lowthe

light and the darkand in those faroff spaces strewn with stars, we may even hear things that no mortal has

"Yesthe use of itwithout love!" he answered, his voice shaken with a sudden emotion"Madonna,

forgive me!Listen with patience for one moment!and think of the whole world mastered and

possessedbut without anyone to love in it without anyone to love you! Suppose you could command the

elementssuppose every force that science could bestow were yours, and yet!no love for youno love in

She raised her delicate eyebrows in a little surprise,a faint smile was on her lips.

"Dear Marchese, I do think! I have thought!" she answered "And I have observed! Lovesuch as I

imagined it when I was quite a young girldoes not exist. The passion called by that name is too petty and

personal for me. Men have made love to me oftennot as prettily perhaps as you do!but in America at

least love means dollars! Yes, truly! Any man would love my dollars, and take me with them, just thrown in!

"Would you? Don't be angry if I doubt it! If I were `quite poor' I could not have given you your big

commission here this house would not have been restored to its former beauty, and the White Eagle would

be still a bird of the brain and not of the air! No, you very charming Marchese!I should not have the same

fascination for you without my dollars!and I may tell you that the only man I ever felt disposed to

like,just a little,is a kind of rude brute who despises both my dollars and me!"

"I'm not sure!" she answered, lightly"I said I felt `disposed' to like him! But that's only in the spirit of

contradiction, because he detests me! And it's a sort of duel between us of sheer intellectuality, because he is

trying to discoverin the usual slow, laborious, calculating methods of manthe very thing I have

"And sohe may outstrip you?" And the Marchese's eyes glittered with sudden anger"He may claim your

Morgana smiled. She was ascending the steps of the loggia, and she paused a moment in the full glare of the

Sicilian sunshine, her wonderful gold hair shining in it with the hue of a daffodil.

"I think not!" she said"Though of course it depends on the use he makes of it. Helike all menwishes

One or two of the workmen who were busy polishing the rose marble pilasters of the loggia, here saluted

"How delightful it all is!" she said"I feel the real use of dollars at last! This beautiful `palazzo,' in one of

the loveliest places in the worldall the delicious flowers running down in garlands to the very shore of the

seaand liberty to enjoy life as one wishes to enjoy it, without hindrance or argumentwithout even the

hindrance and argument oflove!" She laughed, and gave a mirthful upward glance at the Marchese's

somewhat sullen countenance. "Come and have luncheon with me! You are the majordomo for the

presentyou have engaged the servants and you know the run of the house you must show me everything

and tell me everything! I have quite a nice chaperonesuch a dear old English lady `of title' as they say in

the `Morning Post'so it's all quite right and properonly she doesn't know a word of Italian and very little

PERHAPS there is no lovelier effect in all nature than a Sicilian sunset, when the sky is one rich blaze of

colour and the sea below reflects every vivid hue as in a mirror,when the very air breathes voluptuous

indolence, and all the restless work of man seems an impertinence rather than a necessity. Morgana, for once

in her quick restless life, felt the sudden charm of sweet peace and holy tranquillity, as she sat, or rather

reclined at ease in a long lounge chair after dinner in her rosemarble loggia facing the sea and watching the

intense radiance of the heavens burning into the still waters beneath. She had passed the afternoon going over

her whole house and gardens, and to the Marchese Giulio Rivardi had expressed herself completely

satisfied,while he, to whom unlimited means had been entrusted to carry out her wishes, wondered silently

as to the real extent of her fortune, and why she should have spent so much in restoring a `palazzo' for herself

alone. An occasional thought of `the only man' she had said she was `disposed' to like, teased his brain; but he

was not petty minded or jealous. He was keenly and sincerely interested in her intellectual capacity, and he

knew, or thought he knew, the nature of woman. He watched her now as she reclined, a small slim figure in

white, with the red glow of the sun playing on the gold uptwisted coil of her hair,a few people of the

neighbourhood had joined her at dinner, and these were seated about, sipping coffee and chatting in the usual

frivolous way of afterdinner guestsone or two of them were English who had made their home in

"I guess you're pretty satisfied with your location, Miss Royal"said one of these, a pleasantfaced

greyhaired man, who for four or five years past had wintered in Sicily with his wife, a frail little creature

always on the verge of the next world "It would be difficult to match this place anywhere! You only want

Morgana turned her lovely eyes indolently towards him over the top of the soft feather fan she was waving

"The usual appendage!" she said"To my mind, quite unnecessary, and likely to spoil the most perfect

environment! Though the Marchese Rivardi did ask me today what was the use of my pretty `palazzo' and

She glanced at Rivardi as she spokehe was rolling a cigarette in his slim brown fingers and his face was

"Well, that's so!"and her American friend looked at her kindly"Even a fairy palace and a fairy garden

"And boresome for two!" laughed Morgana"My dear Colonel Boyd! It is not every one who is fitted for

matrimonyand there exist so many that are,eminently fittedwe can surely allow a few exceptions! I

am one of those exceptions. A husband would be excessively tiresome to me, and very much in my way!"

"You won't always think so!" he said"Such a charming little woman must have a heart somewhere!"

"Oh yes, dear!" chimed in his fragile invalid wife, "I am sure you have a heart!"

Morgana raised herself on her cushions to a sitting posture and looked round her with a curious little air of

"A heart I must have!" she said"otherwise I could not live. It is a necessary muscle. But what you call

`heart'and what the dear delusive poets write about, is simply brain,that is to say, an impulsive

movement of the brain, suggesting the desirability of a particular person's companionshipand we elect to

"It's a good impulse"said Colonel Boyd, still smiling broadly"It founds families and continues the race!"

"Ah yes! But I often wonder why the race should be continued at all!" said Morgana"The time is ripe for a

A slow footfall sounded on the garden path, and the tall figure of a man clad in the everyday ecclesiastical

"Don Aloysius!" quickly exclaimed the Marchese, and every one rose to greet the newcomer, Morgana

receiving him with a profound reverence. He laid his hand on her head with a kindly touch of benediction.

"So the dreamer has come to her dream!" he said, in soft accents"And it has not broken like an

As he spoke he courteously saluted all present by a bend of his head,and stood for a moment gazing at the

view of the sea and the dying sunset. He was a very striking figure of a man tall, and commanding in air

and attitude, with a fine face which might be called almost beautiful. The features were such as one sees in

classic marblesthe full clear eyes were set somewhat widely apart under shelving brows that denoted a

brain with intelligence to use it, and the smile that lightened his expression as he looked from the sea to his

"Yes"he continued"you have realised your vision of loveliness, have you not? Our friend Giulio Rivardi

"Everything is perfect!" said Morgana"Or will be when it is finished. The workmen still have things to

"All workmen always have things to do!" said Don Aloysius, tranquilly"And nothing is ever finished! And

The priest smiled and after a pause took the chair which the Marchese Rivardi offered him. The other guests

in the loggia looked at him with interest, fascinated by his grave charm of manner. Morgana resumed her

"`Man never is but always to be blest'!" quoted Colonel Boyd "And woman the same! I have been telling

this lady, reverend father, that maybe she will find her `palazzo' a bit lonesome without some one to share its

"I have not thought at all"said Morgana, quickly, "I can always fill it with friends. No end of people are

"But will such `friends' care for you or your happiness?" suggested the Marchese, pointedly.

"Oh no, I do not expect that! Nowadays no one really cares for anybody else's happiness but their own.

Besides I shall be much too busy to want company. I'm bent on all sorts of discoveries, you know!I want

"You will only find deeper depths!" said Don Aloysius, slowly "And in the very deepest depth of all is

"How wonderful it is that He should be there,and yet here! No one need `dive deep' to find Him. He is as

close to us as our very breathing! Ah!" and he sighed"I am sorry for all the busy `discoverers'they will

never arrive at the end,and meanwhile they miss the cluethe little secret by the way!"

"Dear Don Aloysius, you are a `religious' as they sayand naturally you mistrust all seekers of

"My child, there is no science that can upset the Source of all science! The greatest mathematician that lives

"That is perfectly true"said the Marchese Rivardi"But la Signora Royal means that the dogma of the

"I have not found it so"said Don Aloysius, tranquilly"We have believed in what you call your `wireless

telephony'for centuries;when the Sanctus bell rings at Mass, we think and hope a message from Our

Lord comes to every worshipper whose soul is `in tune' with the heavenly current; that is one of your

`scientific discoveries'and there are hundreds of others which the Church has incorporated through a

mystic foreknowledge and prophetic instinct. NoI find nothing upsetting in science, the only students

who are truly upset both physically and morally, are they who seek to discover God while denying His

There followed a silence. The group in the loggia seemed for the moment mesmerised by the priest's suave

calm voice, steady eyes and noble expression. A bell rang slowly and sweetlya call to prayer in some not

far distant monastery, and the first glimmer of the stars began to sparkle faintly in the darkening heavens. A

"If one could always live in this sort of mood!" she suddenly exclaimed"This lovely peace in the glow of

the sunset and the perfume of the flowers!and you, Don Aloysius, talking beautiful things!why then,

one would be perpetually happy and good! But such living would not be life!one must go with the

"Must one? Is it so vitally necessary? If I might take the liberty to go on speaking I would tell you a storya

A general chorus of protest from all present assured him of their eagerness to hear.

"As if you could weary anybody!" Morgana said, "You never do only you have an effect upon me which is

"You are small, physically"said Don Aloysius"Do you mind that? Small things are always sweetest!"

She flushed, and turned her head away as she caught the Marchese Rivardi's eyes fixed upon her.

"You should not make pretty compliments to a woman, reverend father!" she said, lightly"It is not your

"Dear lady, what do you know of my vocation?" he asked "Will you teach it to me? No!I am sure you

will not try! Listen now!as you all give me permissionlet me tell you of certain people who once `went

with the time'and decided to stop en route, and are still at the stoppingplace. Perhaps some of you who

"Those who visit the East know of it"went on Aloysius "And some say they have seen a glimpse of its

shining towers and cupolas in the far distance. However this may be, tradition declares that it exists, and that

it was founded by St. John, the `beloved disciple.' You will recall that when Our Lord was asked when and

how John should die He answered`If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee?' Soas we

readthe rumour went forth that John was the one disciple for whom there should be no death. And

nowto go on with the legendit is believed by many, that deep in the as yet unexplored depths of the

deserts of Egyptmiles and miles over rolling sand waves which once formed the bed of a vast ocean,

there stands a great city whose roofs and towers are seemingly of brass,a city barricaded and built in by

walls of brass and guarded by gates of brass. Here dwells a race aparta race of beautiful human creatures

who have discovered the secret of perpetual youth and immortality on this earth. They have seen the centuries

come and go,the flight of time touches them not, they only await the day when the whole world will be

free to themthat `world to come' which is made not for the `many,' but the `few.' All the discoveries of our

modern science are known to themour inventions are their common everyday appliancesand on the

wings of air and rays of light they hear and know all that goes on in every country. Our wars and politics are

no more to them than the wars and politics of ants in anthills,they have passed beyond all trivialities such

as these. They have discovered the secret of life's true enjoymentandthey enjoy!"

"That's a fine story if true!" said Colonel Boyd"But all the same, it must be dull work living shut up in a

"YesI think it would be dull after a couple of hundred years or so"she said"One would have tested all

"I am not so sure of that!" put in the Marchese Rivardi "With youth nothing could become

"I cannot quite agree to that"said a lady who had not yet spoken"Nowadays the very children are `bored'

and ever looking for something newit is just as if the world were `played out'and another form of planet

"That is where we retain the vitality of our faith"said Don Aloysius"We expectwe hope! We believe

"But I think even a soul may grow tired!" said Morgana, suddenly"so tired that even the Highest Good

"Povera figlia!" murmured Aloysius, hardly above his breath, but she caught the whisper, and smiled.

"I am too analytical and pessimistic," she said"Let us all go for a ramble among the flowers and down to

the sea! Nature is the best talker, for the very reason that she has no speech!"

The party broke up in twos and threes and left the loggia for the garden. Rivardi remained a moment behind,

"She is not happy!" said the priest"With all her wealth, and all her gifts of intelligence she is not happy,

"No woman is happy or satisfied till love has kissed her on the mouth and eyes!" answered Rivardi, with a

touch of passion in his voice,"But who will convince her of that? She is satisfied with her beautiful

surroundings,all the work I have designed for her has pleased her, she has found no fault"

"And she has paid you royally!" interpolated Aloysius"Do not forget that! She has made your fortune. And

no doubt she expects you to stop at that and go no farther in an attempt to possess herself as well as her

The Marchese flushed hotly under the quiet gaze of the priest's steady dark eyes.

"It is a great temptation," went on Aloysius, gently,"But you must resist it, my son! I know what it would

mean to you the restoration of your grand old homethat home which received a Roman Emperor in the

long ago days of history and which presents now to your eyes so desolate a picture with its crumbling walls

and decaying gardens beautiful in their wild desolation!yes, I know all this!I know how you would like

to rehabilitate the ancient family and make the venerable genealogical tree sprout forth into fresh leaves and

branches by marriage with this strange little creature whose vast wealth sets her apart in such

loneliness,but I doubt the wisdom or the honour of such a courseI also doubt whether she would make a

The Marchese raised his eyebrows expressively with the slightest shrug of his shoulders.

"You may doubt that of every modern woman!" he said"Few are really `fitting' for marriage nowadays.

"It must be something more `sensational' than husband and children!" said Rivardi, a trifle bitterly;"only a

"Come, come! Do not be cynical, my son! I think with you that if anything can find an entrance to a woman's

soul it is lovebut the woman must be capable of loving. That is the difficulty with the little millionairess

Aloysius raised his eyes and looked straight ahead of him with a curious, faroff, yet searching intensity.

"I cannot tell you how or why"he answered"You would not believe me if I told you that sometimes in

this wonderful world of ours, beings are born who are neither man nor woman, and who partake of a nature

that is not so much human as elemental and etherealor might one not almost say, atmospheric? That is,

though generated of flesh and blood, they are not altogether flesh and blood, but possess other untested and

unproved essences mingled in their composition, of which as yet we can form no idea. We grope in utter

ignorance of the greatest of mysteriesLife!and with all our modern advancement, we are utterly unable

to measure or to account for life's many and various manifestations. In the very early days of imaginative

prophecy, the `elemental' nature of certain beings was accepted by men accounted wise in their own time,

in the long ago discredited assertions of the Count de Gabalis and others of his mystic cult,and I am not

entirely sure that there does not exist some ground for their beliefs. Life is manysided;humanity can only

"You seem to imply then"he said"that this rich woman, Morgana Royal, is hardly a woman at all?a

"Incapable of the usual kind of socalled `love'yes!" answered Aloysius"But of love in other forms I

can say nothing, for I know nothing!she may be capable of a passion deep and mysterious as life itself. But

come!we might talk all night and arrive no closer to the solving of this little feminine problem! You are

fortunate in your vocation of artist and designer, to have been chosen by her to carry out her conceptions of

structural and picturesque beautylet the romance stay there!and do not try to become the husband of a

"See where she stands!" he continued,and they both looked towards the beautiful flowerbordered terrace

at the verge of the gardens overhanging the sea where for the moment Morgana stood alone, a small white

figure bathed in the deep rose after glow of the sunken sun"Like a pearl dropped in a cup of red

"You admire her very much, my father!" he said, with a touch of delicate irony in his tone.

"I do, my son!" responded Aloysius, composedly, "But only as a poor priest mayat a distance!"

The Marchese glanced at him again quickly,almost suspiciouslyand seemed about to say something

further, but checked himself,and the two walked on to join their hostess, side by side together.

EARLY dawn peered through the dark sky like the silvery light of a pale lamp carried by an advancing

watchman,and faintly illumined the outline of a long, high, vastly extending wooden building which, at

about a mile distant from Morgana's `palazzo' ran parallel with the seashore. The starsparkle of electric

lamps within showed it to be occupiedand the murmur of men's voices and tinkle of working tools

suggested that the occupants were busy. The scarcely visible sea made pleasant little kissing murmurs on the

lipedges of the sand, and Nature, drowsing in misty space, seemed no more than the formless void of the

Outside the building which, by its shape, though but dimly defined among shadows, was easily recognisable

as a huge aerodrome, the tall figure of Giulio Rivardi paced slowly up and down like a sentinel on guard. He,

whose Marquisate was inherited from many noble Sicilian houses renowned in C�sar's day, apparently found

as much satisfaction in this occupation as any warrior of a Roman Legion might have experienced in

guarding the tent of his Emperor,and every now and then he lifted his eyes to the sky with a sense of

impatience at the slowness of the sun's rising. In his mind he reviewed the whole chapter of events which

during the past three years had made him the paid vassal of a rich woman's fancyhis entire time taken up,

and all the resources of his inventive and artistic nature (which were exceptionally great) drawn upon for the

purpose of carrying out designs which at first seemed freakish and impossible, but which later astonished him

by the extraordinary scientific acumen they displayed, as well as by their adaptability to the forces of nature.

Then, the money! the immense sums which this strange creature, Morgana Royal, had entrusted to

him!and with it all, the keen business aptitude she had displayed, knowing to a centime how much she had

spent, though there seemed no limit to how much she yet intended to spend! He looked back to the time he

had first seen her, when on visiting Sicily apparently as an American tourist only, she had taken a fancy to a

ruined `palazzo' once an emperor's delight, but crumbling slowly away among its glorious gardens, and had

purchased the whole thing then and there. Her guide to the ruins at that period had been Don Aloysius, a

learned priest, famous for his arch�ological knowledgeand it was through Don Aloysius that he, the

Marchese Rivardi, had obtained the commission to restore to something of its pristine grace and beauty the

palace of ancient days. And now everything was done, or nearly done; but much more than the `palazzo' had

been undertaken and completed, for the lady of many millions had commanded an airship to be built for her

own personal use and private pleasure, with an aerodrome for its safe keeping and anchorage. This airship

was the crux of the whole business, for the men employed to build it were confident that it would never fly,

and laughed with one another as they worked to carry out a woman's idea and a woman's design. How could

it fly without an engine? they very sensibly demanded,for engine there was none! However, they were

paid punctually and most royally for their labours; and when, despite their ominous predictions, the ship was

released on her trial trip, manipulated by Giulio Rivardi, who ascended in her alone, sailing the ship with an

ease and celerity hitherto unprecedented, they were more scared than enthusiastic. Surely some devil was in

it!for how could the thing fly without any apparent force to propel it? How was it that its enormous wings

spread out on either side as by self volition and moved rhythmically like the wings of a bird in full flight?

Every man who had worked at the design was more or less mystified. They had, according to plan and

instructions received, `plumed' the airship for electricity in a new and curious manner, but there was no

battery to generate a current. Two small boxes or chambers, made of some mysterious metal which would not

`fuse' under the strongest heat, were fixed, one at either end of the ship;these had been manufactured

secretly in another country and sent to Sicily by Morgana herself, but so far, they contained nothing. They

seemed unimportantthey were hardly as large as an ordinary petrol can holding a gallon. When Rivardi

had made a trial ascent he had inserted in each of these boxes a cylindrical tube made to fit an interior socket

as a candle fits into a candlestick,all the workmen watched him, waiting for a revelation, but he made

none. He was only particular and precise as to the firm closing down of the boxes when the tubes were in.

And then in a few minutes the whole machine began to palpitate noiselessly like a living thing with a beating

heart,and to the amazement and almost fear of all who witnessed what seemed to be a miracle, the ship

sprang up like a bird springing from the ground, and soared free and away into space, its vast white wings

cleaving the air with a steady rise and fall of rhythmic power. Once aloft she sailed in level flight, apparently

at perfect easeand after several rapid `runs,' and circlings, descended slowly and gracefully, landing her

pilot without shock or jar. He was at once surrounded and was asked a thousand questions which it was

"How can I tell!" he replied, to all interrogations. "The secret is the secret of a woman!"

A woman! Man's pretty toy!man's patient slave! How should a woman master any secret! Engineers and

mechanics laughed scornfully and shrugged their shouldersyetyetthe great airship stared them in the

face as a thing created,a thing of such power and possibility as seemed wholly incredible. And now the

creator,the womanhad arrived,the woman whose rough designs on paper had been carefully followed

and elaborated into actual shape;and there was a tense state of expectation among all the workers awaiting

her presence. Meanwhile the lanterngleam in the sky broadened and the web of mist which veiled the sea

began to lift and Giulio Rivardi, pacing to and fro, halted every now and then to look in the direction of a

path winding downward from the mainland to the shore, in watchful expectation of seeing an elfin figure,

more spiritlike than mortal, floating towards him through the dividing vapours of the morning. The words of

Don Aloysius haunted him strangely, though his common sense sharply rejected the fantastic notions to

which they had given rise. She,Morgana Royal,was `not capable' of love, the priest had implied,and

yet, at timesonly at times,she seemed eminently lovable. At times,again, only at timeshe was

conscious of a sweeping passion of admiration for her that wellnigh robbed him of his selfcontrol. But a

strong sense of honour held him in check he never forgot that he was her paid employ�, and that her

wealth was so enormous that any man presuming too personally upon her indulgence could hardly be

exonerated from ulterior sordid aims. And while he mused, somewhat vexedly, on all the circumstances of his

position, the light widened in the heavens, showing the very faintest flush of rose in the east as an indication

"At last!" he exclaimed, with relief, as he saw a small gliding shadow among shadows approaching

him,the figure of Morgana so wrapped in a grey cloak and hood as to almost seem part of the slowly

dispersing mists of the morning. She pushed back the hood as she came near, showing a small eager white

"I have slept till now,"she said"Imagine!all night through without waking! So lazy of me!but the

long rest has done me good and I'm ready for anything! Are you? You look very solemn and morose!like a

"Not that I am aware of"he replied"The men are finishing some small detail of ornament. I have only

"Madama, they are not of a class to be either pleased or displeased"he said"They are instructed to

perform certain work, and they perform it. In all that they have been doing for you, according to your orders,

A streak of rose and silver flared through the sky flushing the pallor of Morgana's face as she lifted it towards

"Quite natural!" she said"No man is ever `interested' in woman's work, but he is always `curious.' Woman

is a many cornered mazeand man is always peeping round one corner or another in the hope to discover

"Never!" she affirmed, emphatically"Don't be sarcastic, amico!even in this dim morning light I can see

the scornful curve of your upper lip!you are really very goodlooking, you know!and you imply the

same old Garden of Eden story of man giving away woman as a wholly incomprehensible bad job! Adam

flung her back as a reproach to her Creator`the woman thou gavest me;'oh, that woman and that apple!

But he had to confess `I did eat.' He always eats,he eats everything woman can give himhe will even eat

her if he gets the chance!" She laughed and pointed to the brightening sky. "See? `'Tis almost morning!' as

Shakespeare's Juliet remarkedbut I would not `have thee gone'not unless I go also. Whither shall we

"It is for you to decide"he answered"You know best the possibilitiesand the risks"

"I know the possibilities perfectly,"she said"But I know nothing of risksthere are none. This is our

safety"and she drew out from the folds of her cloak two small packets of cylindrical form"This

emanation of Nature's greatest force will keep us going for a year if needful! Oh man!I do not mean you

particularly, but man generally!why could you not light on this little, little clue!why was it left to a

woman! Come!let us see the White Eagle in its nest,it shall spread its wings and soar todaywe will

The dawn was spreading in threads of gold and silver and blue all over the heavens, and the sea flushed softly

under the deepening light, as she went towards the aerodrome, he walking slowly by her side.

"My life? What is it? The life of a midge in the sun! It is no good to me unless I do something with it! I

would live for ever if I could!here, on this dear little ball of EarthI do not want a better heaven. The

heaven which the clergy promise us is so remarkably unattractive! But I run no risk of losing my life or yours

in our aerial adventures; we carry the very essence of vitality with us. Come!I want to see my flying

palace! When I was a small child I used to feed my fancy on the `Arabian Nights,' and most dearly did I love

the story of Aladdin and his palace that was transported through the air. I used to say `I will have a flying

"That remains to be proved"said Rivardi"With all our work we may not have entirely carried out your

"If not, it will have to be carried out"returned Morgana, tranquilly"There is no reason, moral or

scientific, why it should not be carried outwe have all the forces of Nature on our side."

He was silent, and accompanied her as she walked to the aerodrome and entered it. There were half a dozen

or more men within, all workingbut they ceased every movement as they saw her,while she, on her part,

scarcely seemed to note their presence. Her eyes were uplifted and fixed on a vast, smooth oblong object, like

the body of a great bird with shut wings, which swung from the roof of the aerodrome and swayed lightly to

and fro as though impelled by some mysterious breathing force. Morgana's swift glance travelled from its one

end to the other with a flash of appreciation, while at the same time she received the salutations of all the men

"You have done well, my friends!"she said, speaking in fluent French"This beautiful creature you have

A small, dark, intelligent looking man, in evident command of the rest, smiled and shrugged his shoulders.

"Ah, Signora! It is as you commanded!" he answered"It is beautifullike a chrysalis for a butterfly. But a

"Quite true, Monsieur Gaspard!" and Morgana gave him a smile as sunny as his own. "But what is life? Is it

not a composition of many elements? And should we not learn to combine such elements to vitalise our

"We are taught that God made man `in His image. In the image of God created He him.' If this is true, all

things should be possible to man"said Morgana, quietly"To man,and to that second thought of the

CreatorWoman! And we mustn't forget that second thoughts are best!" She laughed, while the man called

Gaspard stared at her and laughed also for company. "Now let me see how I shall be housed in air!" and with

very little assistance she climbed into the great birdshaped vessel through an entrance so deftly contrived

that it was scarcely visible,an entrance which closed almost hermetically when the ship was ready to start,

Once inside it was easy to believe in Fairyland. Not a scrap of any sort of mechanism could be seen. There

were two exquisitely furnished saloonsone a kind of boudoir or drawing room where everything that

money could buy or luxury suggest as needful or ornamental was collected and arranged with thoughtful

selection and perfect taste. A short passage from these apartments led at one end to some small, daintily fitted

sleepingrooms beyond,at the other was the steering cabin and accommodation for the pilot and observer.

The whole interior was lined with what seemed to be a thick rosecoloured silk of a singularly smooth and

shining quality, but at a sign from Morgana, Rivardi and Gaspard touched some hidden spring which caused

this interior covering to roll up completely, thus disclosing a strange and mysterious `installation' beneath.

Every inch of wallspace was fitted with small circular plates of some thin, shining substance, set close

together so that their edges touched, and in the centre of each plate or disc was a tiny white knob resembling

the button of an ordinary electric bell. There seemed to be at least two or three thousand of these discsseen

all together in a close mass they somewhat resembled the `suckers' on the tentacles of a giant octopus.

Morgana, seating herself in an easy chair of the richly carpeted `drawingroom' of her `air palace,' studied

every line, turn and configuration of this extraordinary arrangement with a keenly observant and criticising

"What do you think about it?" she queried"You are an expert in modern scientific workyou understand

"What is soul?" she said"Is it not breath?the breath of life? Is it not said that God `made man of the dust

of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living soul!' And what is the

breath of life? Is it not composed of such elements as are in the universe and which we may all discover if we

will, and use to our advantage? You cannot deny this! Come, Marchese!and you, Monsieur Gaspard! Call

to them below to set this Eagle free; we will fly into the sunrise for an hour or two,no farther, as we are not

"You are frightened, my friend!" and Morgana smiled, laying her little white hand soothingly on his

arm"But if I tell you there is no cause for fear, will you not believe me? Do you not think I love my own

life? Oh yes, I love it so much that I seek to prolong it, not risk it by sudden loss. Nor would I risk your

lifeor his!" and she looked towards Rivardi"He is not frightenedhe will come with me wherever I go!

Now, Monsieur Gaspard, see! Here is our breath of life!" And she held up before his eyes the two

cylindrically shaped packages she had previously shown to Rivardi"The Marchese has already had some

experience of it"here she unfastened the wrappings of the packages, and took out two tubes made of some

metallic substance which shone like purest polished gold"I will fix these in myselfwill you open the

Silently the two men obeyed her gesture and opened the small compartment fixed at what might be called the

hull end of the airship. The interior was seen to be lined with the same round discs which covered the walls

of the vessel, every disc closely touching its neighbour. With extreme caution and delicacy Morgana set one

of the tubes she held upright in the socket made to receive it, and as she did this, fine, sharp, needlelike

flashes of light broke from it in a complete circle, filling the whole receptacle with vibrating rays which

instantly ran round each disc, and glittered in and out among them like a stream of quicksilver. As soon as

this manifestation occurred, Morgana beckoned to her two assistants to shut the compartment. They did so

with scarcely an effort, yet it closed down with a silent force and tenacity that suggested some enormous

outward pressure, yet pressure there seemed none. And now a sudden throbbing movement pulsated through

"Quick! Tell them below to lose no time! Open the shed and let her rise!when the contact is once

Hurriedly the man Gaspard, though obviously terrified, shouted the necessary orders, while Morgana went to

the other end of the ship, where Rivardi opened for her the second compartment into which she fixed the

second tube. Once again the circular flashes broke out, but this time directly the compartment was closed

down, the shining stream of light was seen to run rapidly and completely round the interior of the vessel,

touching every disc that lined the walls as with the sparkling point of a jewel. The wings of the ship

"Let her go!" cried Morgana"Away to your place, pilot!" and she waved a commanding hand as Rivardi

sprang to the steering gear"Hold her fast! . . . Keep her steady! Straight towards the sunrise!"

As she spoke, a wonderful thing happenedevery disc that lined the interior of the ship started throbbing

like a pulse, every little white knob in the centre of each disc vibrated with an extraordinary rapidity of

motion which dazzled the eyes like the glittering of swiftly falling snow, and Gaspard, obeying Morgana's

sign, drew down at once all the rose silk covering which completely hid the strange mechanism from view.

There was absolutely no noise in this intense vibration,and there was no start or jar, or any kind of

difficulty, when the air ship, released from bondage, suddenly rose, and like an actual living bird sprang

through the vast opening gateway of the aerodrome and as it sprang, spread out its wings as though by its

own volition. In one moment, it soared straight upright, far far into space, and the men who were left behind

stood staring amazedly after it, themselves looking no more than tiny black pinheads down below,then,

with a slow diving grace it righted itself as it were, and as if it had of its own will selected the particular

current of air on which to sail. It travelled with a steady swiftness in absolute silence,its great wings moved

up and down with a noiseless power and rhythm for which there seemed no possible explanation,and

Morgana turned her face, now delicately flushed with triumph, on the pale and almost breathless Gaspard,

smiling as she looked at him, her eyes questioning his. He seemed stricken dumb with astonishment, his

"You believe me now, do you not?" she said"We have nothing further to do but to steer. The force we use

recreates itself as it worksit cannot become exhausted. To slow down and descend to earth one need only

open the compartments at either end then the vibration grows less and less, and like a living creature the

While she yet spoke, the light of the newly risen sun bathed her in its golden glory, the long dazzling beams

filtering through mysterious apertures inserted cunningly in the roof of the vessel and mingling with the

roseate hues of the silken sheathing that covered its walls. So fired with light she looked ethereala very

spirit of air or of flame; and Rivardi, just able to see her from his steering place, began to think there was

some truth in the strange words of Don Aloysius "Sometimes in this wonderful world of ours beings are

born who are neither man nor woman and who partake of a nature that is not so much human as

At the moment Morgana seemed truly `atmospheric'a small creature so fine and fair as to almost suggest

an evanescent form about to melt away in mist. Some sudden thrill of superstitious fear moved Gaspard to

make the sign of the cross and mutter an `Ave,'Morgana heard him and smiled kindly.

"I am not an evil spirit, my friend!" she said"You need not exorcise me! I am nothing but a student with a

little more imagination than is common, and in the moving force which carries our ship along I am only using

a substance which, as our scientists explain, `has an exceptional capacity for receiving the waves of energy

emanating from the sun and giving them off.' On the `giving off' of those waves we moveit is all natural

and easy, and, like every power existent in the universe, is meant for our comprehension and use. You cannot

say you feel any sense of danger?we are sailing with greater steadiness than any ship at seathere is

scarcely any consciousness of movementand without looking out and down, we should not realise we are

"Too far!" said Gaspard, nervously"Madama, if we go too far we may also go too highwe may not be

"That is a very remote possibility!" she said"The waves of energy which bear us along are concerned in

our own lifesupply, they make our air to breatheour heat to warm. All the same it is time we

She called to Rivardi, and he, with the slightest turn of the wheel, altered the direction in which the airship

moved, so that it travelled back again on the route by which it had commenced its flight. Soon, very soon, the

dainty plot of earth, looking no more than a gay flowerbed, where Morgana's palazzo was situated appeared

below,and then, acting on instructions, Gaspard opened the compartments at either end of the vessel. The

vibrating rays within dwindled by slow degrees their light became less and less intensetheir vibration

less powerful,till very gradually with a perfectly beautiful motion expressing absolute grace and lightness

the vessel descended towards the aerodrome it had lately left, and all the men who were waiting for its return

gave a simultaneous shout of astonishment and admiration, as it sank slowly towards them, folding its wings

as it came with the quiet ease of a nesting bird flying home. So admirably was the distance measured between

itself and the great shed of its local habitation, that it glided into place as though it had eyes to see its exact

whereabouts, and came to a standstill within a few seconds of its arrival. Morgana descended, and her two

companions followed. The other men stood silent, visibly inquisitive yet afraid to express their curiosity.

"I thank you, my friends!" she said"You have done well the work I entrusted you to do under the guidance

of the Marchese Rivardi, and you can now judge for yourselves the result. It mystifies you I can see! You

think it is a kind of `black magic'? Not so!unless all our modern science is `black magic' as well, born of

the influence of those evil spirits who, as we are told in tradition, descended in rebellion from heaven and

lived with the daughters of men! From these strange lovers sprang a race of giants,symbolical I think of

the birth of the sciences, which mingle in their composition the active elements of good and evil. You have

built this airship of mine on lines which have never before been attempted; you have given it wings which

are plumed like the wings of a bird, not with quills, but with channels many and minute, to carry the runlets

of the `emanation' from the substance held in the containers at either end of the vessel,its easy flight

therefore should not surprise you. Brieflywe have filled a piece of mechanism with the composition or

essence of Life!that is the only answer I can give to your enquiring looks!let it be enough!"

There was an instant's silence. Every man's head craned forward eagerly to hear the reply. Morgana smiled

"AND now you have attained your object, what is the use of it?" said Don Aloysius.

The priest was pacing slowly up and down the old halfruined cloister of an old halfruined monastery, and

beside his stately, blackrobed figure moved the small aerial form of Morgana, clad in summer garments of

pure white, her golden head uncovered to the strong Sicilian sunshine which came piercing in swordlike

rays through the arches of the cloister, and filtered among the clustering leaves which hung in cool twining

"What is the use of it?" he repeated, his calm eyes resting gravely on the little creature gliding sylphlike

beside him. "Suppose your invention outleaped every limit of known possibilitysuppose your airship to

be invulnerable, and surpassing in speed and safety everything ever experienced, suppose it could travel to

heights unimaginable, what then? Suppose even that you could alight on another staranother world than

"I have not worked for peace or happiness,"she said and there was a thrill of sadness in her

voice"because to my mind neither peace nor happiness exist. From all we can see, and from the little we

can learn, I think the Maker of the universe never meant us to be happy or peaceful. All Nature is at strife

with itself, incessantly labouring for such attainment as can hardly be won,all things seem to be haunted by

fear and sorrow. And yet it seems to me that there are remedies for most of our evils in the very composition

of the elementsif we were not ignorant and stupid enough to discourage our discoverers on the verge of

discovery. My application of a certain substance, known to scientists, but scarcely understood, is an attempt

to solve the problem of swift aerial motion by light and heatlight and heat being the chiefest supports of

life. To use a force giving out light and heat continuously, seemed to me the way to create and command

equally continuous movement. I haveI think and hopefairly succeeded, and in order to accomplish my

design I have used wealth that would not have been at the service of most inventors,wealth which my

father left to me quite unconditionally,but were I able to fly with my `White Eagle' to the remotest parts of

The priest's simple query had a note of tender pity in it. Morgana looked up at him with a little smile, but her

"Dear Don Aloysius, how can I tell `why'? Nobody is really happy, and I cannot expect to have what is

"Have you ever thought what happiness is," he asked, then "Have you ever felt it for a passing moment?"

"Poor little rich child!" he said, kindly"Tell me some of those `intervals'! Cannot they be repeated? Let us

sit here" and he moved towards a stone bench which fronted an ancient disused well in the middle square

of the cloistered court,a well round which a crimson passionflower twined in a perfect arch of

He sat down, and the sunshine sent a dazzling ray on the silver crucifix he wore, giving it the gleam of a great

"Interval one!" he said, playfully"What was this little lady's first experience of happiness? When she

"No, oh no!" cried Morgana, with sudden energy"That was anything but happiness! I hated

"Horrid little stuffed things of wood and wax and sawdust!" continued Morgana, emphatically"With great

beads for eyesor eyes made to look like beadsand red cheeks,and red lips with a silly smile on them!

Of course they are given to girl children to encourage the `maternal instinct' as it is called to make them

think of babies,but I never had any `maternal instinct'!and real babies have always seemed to me as

"Do you think I was?" she queried meditatively"I cannot imagine it! I suppose I must have been, but I

never remember being a child at all. I had no children to play with memy father suspected all children of

either disease or wickedness, and imagined I would catch infection of body or of soul by association with

them. I was always alonealone!yet not lonely!" She broke off a moment, and her eyes grew dark with

the intensity of her thought. "Nonever lonely! And the very earliest `interval' of happiness I can recall was

"Dear Father Aloysius, what a wise priest you are! Not a word falls from those beautifully set lips of yours! If

you were a fool(so many men are!) you would have repeated my phrase, `the inside of a sunray,' with an

accent of scornful incredulity, and you would have stared at me with all a fool's contempt! But you are not a

fool,you know, or you perceive instinctively exactly what I mean. The inside of a sunray!it was

disclosed to me suddenlya veritable miracle! I have seen it many times since, but not with all the wonder

and ecstasy of the first revelation. I was so young, too! I told a renowned professor at one of the American

colleges just what I saw, and he was so amazed and confounded at my description of rays that had taken the

best scientists years to discover, that he begged to be allowed to examine my eyes! He thought there must be

something unusual about them. In fact there is!and after his examination he seemed more puzzled than

ever. He said something about `an exceptionally strong power of vision,' but frankly admitted that power of

vision alone would not account for it. Anyhow I plainly saw all the rays within one raythere were seven.

The ray itself wasor so I fanciedthe octave of colour. I was little more than a child when this `interval'

of happinessperfect happiness!was granted to meI felt as if a window had been opened for me to look

"I used to,in those days. As I have just said I was only a child, and heaven was a real place to me,even

He was silent. His fine, calm features expressed a certain grave patience, but nothing more.

"That was my first experience of real `happiness.' Till then I had lived the usual monotonous life of

childhood, doing what I was told, and going whither I was taken, but the disclosure of the sunray was a key

to individuality, and seemed to unlock my prison doors. I began to think for myself, and to find my own

character as a creature apart from others. My second experience was years after,just when I left school and

when my father took me to see the place where I was born, in the north of Scotland. Oh, it is such a wild

corner of the world! Beautiful craggy hills and dark, deep lakesrough moorlands purple with heather, and

such wonderful skies at sunset! The cottage where my father had lived as a boy when he herded sheep is still

thereI have bought it for myself now,it is a little stone hut of three rooms,and another one about a

mile off where he took my mother to live, and where I came into the world!I have bought that too. YesI

felt a great thrill of happiness when I stood there kneedeep among the heather, my father clasping my hand,

and looking, with me, on those early scenes of his boyhood when he had scarcely a penny to call his own!

Yet he was sad!very sad! and told me then that he would give all his riches to feel as light of heart and free

from care as he did in those old days! And thenthen we went to see old Alison" Here she broke

off,a strange light came into her eyes and she smiled a little. "I think I had better not tell you about old

"Why not?" and Don Aloysius returned her smile. "If old Alison has anything to do with your happiness I

"Well, you see you are a priest," went on Morgana, slowly "and she is a witch. Oh yes, truly!a real witch!

There is no one in all that part of the Highlands that does not know of her, and the power she has! She is very

very oldsome folks say she is more than a hundred. She knew my father and grandfather she came to

my father's cottage the night I was born, and said strange things about a `May child'I was born in May. We

went as I tell youto see her, and found her spinning. She looked up from her wheel as we enteredbut

she did not seem surprised at our coming. Her eyes were very brightnot like the eyes of an old person. She

spoke to my father at onceher voice was very clear and musical. `Is it you, John Royal?' she said`And

you have brought your fey lass along with you!' That was the first time I ever heard the word `fey.' I did not

"Yes"she replied,"I understand it now! It is a wonderful thing to be born `fey'! But it is a kind of

"At what should I be displeased?" and the priest bent his eyes very searchingly upon her"At the

fact,which none can disprove,that `there are things in heaven and earth' which are beyond our

immediate knowledge? That there are women strangely endowed with premonitory instincts and preternatural

gifts? Dear child, there is nothing in all this that can or could displease me! My faiththe faith of my

"YesI know what you mean!"she said"But I am sure you cannot possibly realise the weird nature of

old Alison! She made me stand before her, just where the light of the sun streamed through the open

doorway, and she looked at me for a long time with such a steady piercing glance that I felt as if her eyes

were boring through my flesh. Then she got up from her spinning and pushed away the wheel, and stretched

out both her hands towards me, crying out in quite a strange, wild voice `Morgana! Morgana! Go your

ways, child begotten of the sun and shower!go your ways! Little had mortal father or mother to do with

your making, for you are of the fey folk! Go your ways with your own people!you shall hear them

whispering in the night and singing in the morning,they shall command and you shall obey!they shall

beckon and you shall follow! Nothing of mortal flesh and blood shall hold youno love shall bind you,no

hate shall wound you!the clue is given into your hand,the secret is disclosedand the spirits of air and

fire and water have opened a door that you may enter in! Hark!I can hear their voices calling "Morgana!

Morgana!" Go your ways, child!go hence and far!the world is too small for your wings!' She looked so

fierce and grand and terrible that I was frightenedI was only a girl of sixteen, and I ran to my father and

caught his hand. He spoke quite gently to Alison, but she seemed quite beyond herself and unable to listen.

`Your way lies down a different road, John Royal!'she said`You that herded sheep on these hills and

that now hoard millions of moneyof what use to you is your wealth? You are but the worker,gathering

gold for herthe "fey" child born in an hour of May moonlight! You must go, but she must stay,her own

folk have work for her to do!' Then my father said `Dear Alison, don't frighten the child!' and she suddenly

changed in her tone and manner. `Frighten her?' she muttered. `I would not frighten her for the world!' And

my father pushed me towards her and whispered`Ask her to bless you before you go.' So I just knelt before

her, trembling very much, and said `Dear Alison, bless me!'and she stared at me and lifted her old brown

wrinkled hands and laid them on my head. Then she spoke some words in a strange language as to herself,

and afterwards she said `Spirit of all that is and ever shall be, bless this child who belongs to thee, and not to

man! Give her the power to do what is commanded, to the end!' And at this she stopped suddenly and

bending down she lifted my head in her two hands and looked at me hard`Poor child, poor child! Never a

love for younever a love! Alone you are, alone you must be! Never a love for a "fey" woman!' And she let

me go, and sat down again to her spinning wheel, nor would she say another wordneither to me nor to my

"And you call this your second experience of happiness?" said Don Aloysius, wonderingly"What

"Ah!" and Morgana smiled"You would not understand me if I tried to explain! Everything came to

me!yes, everything! I began to live in a world of my own" she paused, and her eyes grew dark and

pensive, "and I have lived in it ever since. That is why I say my visit to old Alison was my second experience

of happiness. I've seen her again many times since then, but not with quite the same impression."

There was a silence of some minutes. Morgana rose, and crossing over to the old well, studied with almost

"How beautiful they are!" she said"And they seem to serve no purpose save that of simple beauty!"

"That is enough for many of God's creatures,"said Aloysius "To give joy and recreate joy is the

"Not even with all my wealth!" she echoed. "Surely youa priestknow what a delusion wealth really is so

far as happiness goes?mere happiness? Of course you can buy everything with itand there's the trouble!

When everything is bought there's nothing left! And if you try to help the poor they resent itthey think you

are doing it because you are afraid of them! Perhaps the worst of all things to do is to help artistsartists of

every kind!for they say you want to advertise yourself as a `generous patron'! Oh, I've tried it all and it's no

use. I was just crazy to help all the scientists, once!but they argued and quarrelled so much as to which

`society' deserved most money that I dropped the whole offer, and started `scientising' myself. There is one

man I tried to lift out of his brainbog,but he would have none of me, and he is still in his bog!"

"Yes, good father!" And Morgana left the passionflowers and moved slowly back to her seat on the stone

bench"There is one man! He was my third and last experience of happiness. When I first met him, my

whole heart gave itself in one big pulsationbut like a wave of the sea, the pulsation recoiled, and never

again beat on that grim rock of human egoism!" She laughed gaily, and a delicate colour flushed her face.

"But I was happy while the `wave' lasted,and when it broke, I still played on the shore with its pretty

"I suppose sofor the moment! Yet no,it was not loveit was just an `attraction'he washe

isclever, and thinks he can change the face of the world. But he is fooling with fire! I tell you I tried to

help himfor he is deadly poor. But he would have none of me nor of what he calls my `vulgar wealth.' This

"Then"Morgana went on"Alison is right. The witchery of the Northern Highlands is in my

blood,never a love for me alone I amalone I must be!never a love for a `fey' woman!"

"You wrong yourself, my child"he said, slowly"you wrong yourself very greatly! You have a power of

which you appear to be unconsciousa great, a terrible power!you compel interest you attract the love

His voice shookand with his right hand he gripped the crucifix he wore as though it were a weapon of

selfdefence. Morgana looked at him wonderingly for a moment,then drooped her head with a strange

little air of sudden penitence. Aloysius drew a quick sharp breath as of one in effort,then he spoke again,

"I mean"he said, smiling forcedly"I mean that you should notyou should not break the heart

"No, it would not be kind!" she said, softly"Dear Don Aloysius, I understand! And I will remember!" She

glanced at a tiny diamondset watchbracelet on her wrist"How late it is! nearly all the morning gone! I

have kept you so long listening to my talkforgive me! I will run away now and leave you to think about

"Yes, indeed!yours! Your whole life is an interval of happiness between this world and the next, because

"A poor service!" he said, turning his gaze away from her elfin figure and shining

hair"Unworthy,shameful!marred by sin at every moment! A priest of the Church must learn to do

without happiness such as ordinary life can giveand without love,such as woman may givebutafter

"Very little!" she said"So little that it is not worth a regret! Goodbye! But not for long! Come and see me

Moving across the cloister with her light step she seemed to float through the sunshine like a part of it, and as

she disappeared a kind of shadow fell, though no cloud obscured the sun. Don Aloysius watched her till she

had vanished,then turned aside into a small chapel opening out on the cloistered squarea chapel which

formed part of the monastic house to which he belonged as Superior,and there, within that still,

incensesweetened sanctuary, he knelt before the noble, pictured Head of the Man of Sorrows in silent

ROGER SEATON was a man of many philosophies. He had one for every day in the week, yet none

wherewith to thoroughly satisfy himself. While still a mere lad he had taken to the study of science as a duck

takes to water,no new discovery or even suggestion of a new discovery missed his instant and close

attention. His avidity for learning was insatiable,his intense and insistent curiosity on all matters of

chemistry gave a knifelike edge to the quality of his brain, making it sharp, brilliant and incisive. To him the

ordinary social and political interests of the world were simply absurd. The idea that the greater majority of

men should be created for no higher purpose than those of an insect, just to live, eat, breed, and die, was to

"Think of it!" he would exclaim"All this wondrous organisation of our planet for that! For a biped so

stupid as to see nothing in his surroundings but conveniences for satisfying his stomach and his passions! We

men are educated chiefly in order to learn how to make money, and all we can do with the money when

made, is to build houses to live in, eat as much as we want and more, and breed children to whom we leave

all the stuff we have earned, and who either waste it or add to it, whichever suits their selfishness best. Such

lives are absolutely useless,they repeat the same old round, leading nowhere. Occasionally in the course of

centuries a real Brain is bornand at once, all who are merely Bodies leap up against it, like famished

wolves, striving to tear it to pieces and devour itif it survives the attack its worth is only recognised long

after its owner has perished. The whole scheme is manifestly unintelligent and ludicrous, but it is not

When urged to explain what he conceived as this `something else,' he would answer

"There has always been `something else' in our environment, something that stupid humanity has taken

centuries to discover. Soundwaves for example,lightrays,electricity these have been freely at our

service from the beginning. Electricity might have been used ages ago, had not dullwitted man refused to

find anything better for lighting purposes than an oillamp or a tallow candle! If, in past periods, he had been

told `there is something else'he would have laughed his informant to scorn. So with our blundering

methods of living `there is something else'not after death, but now and here. We are going about in the

darkness with a candle when a great force of wider light is all round us, only awaiting connection and

Those who heard him speak in this way(and they were few, for Seaton seldom discussed his theories with

others) convinced themselves that he was either a fool or a madman, the usual verdict given for any

human being who dares break away from convention and adopt an original line of thought and action. But

they came to the conclusion that as he was direfully poor, and nevertheless refused various opportunities of

making money, his folly or his madness would be brought home to him sooner or later by strong necessity,

and that he would then either arrive at a sane everyday realisation of `things as they are'or else be put

away in an asylum and quietly forgotten. This being the sagacious opinion of those who knew him best, there

was a considerable flutter in such limited American circles as call themselves `upper' when the wealthiest

young woman in the States, Morgana Royal, suddenly elected to know him and to bring him into prominent

notice at her parties as `the most wonderful genius of the time'`a man whose scientific discoveries might

change the very face of the globe'and other fantastically exaggerated descriptions of her own which he

himself strongly repudiated and resented. Gossip ran amok concerning the two, and it was generally agreed

that if the `madman' of science were to become the husband of a woman multimillionaire, he would not have

to be considered so mad after all! But the expected romance did not materialise, there came apparently a

gradual `cooling off' in the sentiments of both parties concerned,and though Roger Seaton was still

occasionally seen with Morgana in her automobile, in her operabox, or at her receptions, his appearances

were fewer, and other men, in fact many other men, were more openly encouraged and flattered,Morgana

herself showing as much indifference towards him as she had at first shown interest. When, therefore, he

suddenly left the social scene of action, his acquaintances surmised that he had got an abrupt dismissal, or as

"He's lost his chance!" they said, shaking their heads forlornly"And he's poorer than job! He'll be selling

However, he was never met engaged in this lucrative way of business,he simply turned his back on

everybody, Morgana Royal included, and so far as `society' was concerned, just disappeared. In the `hut of

the dying' on that lonely hillslope in California he was happy, feeling a relief from infinite boredom, and

thankful to be alone. He had much to think about and much to doinhabited places and the movement of

people were to him tedious and fatiguing, and he decided that nature, wild nature in a solitary and savage

aspect,would suit his speculative and creative tendencies best. Yet, like all human beings, he had his odd,

almost childlike moods, inexplicable even to himselfmoods illogical, almost pettish, and wholly

incongruous with his own accepted principles of reasoning. For instance, he maintained that women had

neither attraction nor interest for himyet he found himself singularly displeased when after two or three

days of utter solitude, and when he was rather eagerly expecting Manella to arrive with the new milk which

was his staple food, a lanky, redhaired ugly boy appeared instead of hera boy who slouched along,

swinging the milk pail in one hand and clutching a halfmunched slice of pine apple in the other.

For answer Seaton strode forward and taking the milkpail from him gripped him by the dirty cotton shirt

"I'mI'm Jakethey calls me Irish Jake"he gasped"O blessed Mary!my breath! I clean the knives

"I'll clean knives for you presently!" remarked Seaton, with a threatening gesture"Yes, Irish Jake, I will!

"She didoh, Mary mother!" and the youth gave a further wriggle"Miss Sorisothe girl they call

"Too busy to come herself!" he repeated, slowlythen smiled "Well! That's all right!" Here he lifted the

pail of milk, took it into his hut and brought it back empty, while `Irish Jake' as the boy had called himself,

stood staring"Tell Miss Soriso that I quite understand! And that I'm delighted to hear she is so busy! Now,

let us see!" Here he pulled some money out of his pocket, and fingered a few dirty paper notes"There, Irish

Jake! You'll find that's correct. And when you come here again don't forget your manners! See? Then you

may be able to keep that disgraceful shirt of yours on! Otherwise it's likely to be torn off! If you are Irish you

should remember that in very ancient days there used to be manners in the Emerald Isle. Yes, positively!

Fine, gracious, lovely manners! It doesn't look as if that will be ever any morebut we live in hope.

Anyway, youyou young offspring of an Irish hybrid gorillayou'd best remember what I say, or there'll

The redhaired youth remained for a moment stockstill with mouth and eyes open,then, snatching up the

"Ugly little devil!" he soliloquised"And yet Nature made him,as she makes many hideous thingsin a

hurry, I presume, without any time for details or artistic finish. Well!"here he stretched his arms out with a

long sigh"And the silly girl is `too busy' to come! As if I could not see through that little game! She'd give

her eyes to come!fine eyes they are, too! She just thinks she'll pay me out for being rough with her the

other dayshe's got an idea that she'll vex me, and make me want to see her. She's right,I am

It was midmorning, and the sun blazed down upon the hill side with the scorching breath of a volcano. He

turned into his hut,it was a dark, cool little dwelling, comfortable enough for a single inhabitant. There was

a campbed in one corner and there were a couple of wicker chairs made for easy transposition into

fulllength couches if so required. A good sized deal table occupied the centre of the livingroom,and on

the table was a clear crystal bowl full of what appeared at a first glance to be plain water, but which on closer

observation showed a totally different quality. Unlike water it was never still,some interior bubbling

perpetually moved it to sway and sparkle, throwing out tiny flashes as though the smallest diamond cuttings

were striving to escape from itwhile it exhaled around itself an atmosphere of extreme coldness and

freshness like that of ice. Seaton threw himself indolently into one of the wicker chairs by the windowa

window which was broad and wide, commanding a full view of distant mountains, and far away to the left a

"I am vexed, and I want to see her"he repeated, speaking aloud to himself"Nowwhy? Why am I

vexed?and why do I want to see her? Reason gives no answer! If she were here she would bore me to

death. I could do nothing. She would ask me questionsand if I answered them she would not understand,

she is too stupid. She has no comprehension of anything beyond simple primitive animalism. Now if it

He stopped in his talk, and started as if he had been stung. Some subtle influence stole over him like the

perfumed mist of incensehe leaned back in his chair and half closed his eyes. What was the stealthy,

creeping magnetic power that like an invisible hand touched his brain and pulled at his memory, and forced

him to see before him a small elflike figure clad in white, with a rope of gold hair twisting, snakelike,

down over its shoulders and glistening in the light of the moon? For the moment he lost his usual iron

mastery of will and let himself go on the white flood of a dream. He recalled his first meeting with

Morgana,one of accident, not designin the great laboratory of a distinguished scientist,he had taken

her for a little girl student trying to master a few principles of chemistry, and was astonished and incredulous

when the distinguished scientist himself had introduced her as `one of our most brilliant theorists on the

future development of radio activity.' Such a description seemed altogether absurd, applied to a little fair

creature with beseeching blue eyes and gold hair! They had left the laboratory together, walking some way in

company and charmed with each other's conversation; then, when closer acquaintance followed, and he had

learned her true position in social circles and the power she wielded owing to her vast wealth, he at once

withdrew from her as much as was civilly possible, disliking the suggestion of any sordid motive for his

friendship. But she had so sweetly reproached him for this, and had enticed him onyes!he swore it

within himself, she had enticed him on in a thousand ways,most especially by the amazing `grip' she

had of scientific problems in which he was interested and which puzzled him, but which she seemed to

unravel as easily as she might unravel a skein of wool. Her clear brightness of brain and logical precision of

argument first surprised him into unqualified admiration, calling to his mind the assertion of a renowned

physiologist that `From the beginning woman had lived in another world than man. Formed of finer

vibrations and consequently finer chemical atoms she is in touch with more subtle planes of existence and of

sensation and ideation. She holds unchallenged the code of Life.' Then admiration yielded to the usual

undersense of masculine resentment against feminine intellectuality, and a kind of smouldering wrath and

opposition took the place of his former chivalry and the almost tender pleasure he had previously felt in her

exceptional genius and ability. And there came an eveningwhy did he think of it now, he wondered?

when, after a brilliant summer ball given at the beautiful residence of a noted society woman on Long

Island, he had taken Morgana out into their hostess's garden which sloped to the sea, and they had strolled

together almost unknowingly down to the shore where, under the light of the moon, the Atlantic waves,

sunken to little dainty frills of lacelike foam, broke murmuringly at their feet,and he, turning suddenly to

his companion, was all at once smitten by a sense of witchery in her looks as she stood garmented in her

white, vaporous ball gown, with diamonds in her hair and on her bosomsmitten with an overpowering

lightningstroke of passion which burnt his soul as a desert is burnt by the hot breath of the simoon, and,

yielding to its force, he had caught the small, fine, fairy creature in his arms and kissed her wildly on lips and

eyes and hair. And she,she had not resisted. Thenas swiftly as he had clasped her he let her goand

An amazed scorn flashed into her face, clouding its former sweetnessthen she smiled coldly, turned away

and left him. In a kind of stupor he watched her go, her light figure disappearing by degrees, as she went up

the ascending path from the sea to the house where gay music was still sounding for dancers not yet grown

weary. And from that evening a kind of silence fell between them,they were separated as by an ice floe.

They met often in the social round, but scarcely spoke more than the ordinary words of conventional civility,

and Morgana apparently gave herself up to frivolity, coquetting with her numerous admirers and wouldbe

husbands in a casual, not to say heartless, manner which provoked Seaton past endurance, so much so that

he worked himself up to a kind of cynical detestation and contempt for her, both as a student of science and a

woman of wealth. And yetand yethe had almost loved her! And a thing that goaded him to the quick

was that so far as scientific knowledge and attainment were concerned she was more than his equal. Irritated

by his own quarrelsome set of sentiments which pulled him first this way and then that, he decided that the

only thing possible for him was to put a `great divide' of distance between himself and her. This he had

doneand to what purpose? Apparently merely to excite her ridicule!and to prick her humour up to the

mischievous prank of finding out where he had fled and following him! And she even shewho had kept

him aloof ever since that fatal moment on the seashore,had discovered him on this lonely hillside, and

had taunted him with her light mockeryhad actually said that `to kiss him would be like kissing a bunch of

nettles!' she said that!she who for one wild moment he had held in his armsbah!he sprang up from

his chair in a kind of rage with himself, as his thoughts crowded thick and fast one on the otherwhy did he

think of her at all! It was as if some external commanding force compelled him to do so. Thenshe had seen

Manella, and had naturally drawn her own conclusions, based on the girl's rich beauty which was so

temptingly set within his reach. He began to talk to himself aloud once more, picking up the thread of his

"If it were Morgana it would be far worse than if it were Manella!" he said"The one is too stupidthe

other too clever. But the stupid woman would make the best wifeif I wanted onewhich I do not; and the

best mother, if I desired children,which I do not. The question is,what do I want? I think I knowbut

supposing I get it, shall I be satisfied? Will it fulfil my life's desire? What is my life's desire?"

He stood inerthis tall figure erecthis eyes full of strange and meditative earnestness, and for a moment

he seemed to gather his mental forces together with an effort. Turning towards the table where the bowl of

constantly sparkling fluid danced in tiny flashing eddies within its crystal prison, he watched its movement.

"There's the clue!" he said"So littleyet so much! Life that cannot ceaseforce that cannot die! For

mefor me alone this secret!to do with it what I willto destroy or to re create! How shall I use it? If I

could sweep the planet clean of its greedy, contentious human microbes, and found a new race I might be a

power for good,but should I care to do this? If God does not care, why should I?"

He lost himself anew in musingthen, rousing his mind to work, he put paper, pens and ink on the table, and

started writing busilyonly interrupting himself once for a light meal of dry bread and milk during a stretch

of six or seven hours. At the end of his selfappointed time, he went out of the hut to see, as he often

expressed it, `what the sky was doing.' It was not doing much, being a mere hot glare in which the sun was

beginning to roll westwards slowly like a sinking fireball. He brought out one of the wicker chairs from the

hut and set it in the only patch of shade by the door, stretching himself full length upon it, and closing his

eyes, composed himself to sleep. His face in repose was a remarkably handsome one,a little hard in

outline, but strong, nobly featured and expressive of power,an ambitious sculptor would have rejoiced in

him as a model for Achilles. He was as unlike the modern hideous type of man as he could well be,and

most particularly unlike any specimen of American that could be found on the whole huge continent. In truth

he was purely and essentially English of England,one of the fine old breed of men nurtured among the

winds and waves of the north, for whom no labour was too hard, no service too exacting, no death too

difficult, provided `the word was the bond.' His natural gifts of intellect were very great, and profound study

had ripened and rounded them to fruition,certain discoveries in chemistry which he had tested were

brought to the attention of his own country's scientists, who in their usual way of accepting new light on old

subjects smiled placidly, shook their heads, poohpoohed, and finally set aside the matter `for future

discussion.' But Roger Seaton was not of a nature to sink under a rebuff. If the Wise Men of Gotham in

England refused to take first advantage of the knowledge he had to offer them, then the Wise Men of Gotham

in Germany or the United States should have their chance. He tried the United States and was received with

open arms and open minds. So he resolved to stay there, for a few years at any rate and managed to secure

a position with the tireless magician Edison, in whose workshops he toiled patiently as an underling,

obtaining deeper grasp of his own instinctive knowledge, and further insight into an immense nature secret

which he had determined to master alone. He had not mastered it yetbut felt fairly confident that he was

near the goal. As he slept peacefully, with the still shade of a heavily foliaged vine, which ramped over the

roof of the hut, sheltering his face from the sun, his whole form in its relaxed, easy attitude expressed force in

The sun sank lower, its hue changing from poppy red to burning orangeand presently a woman's figure

appeared on the hillslope, and cautiously approached the sleepera beautiful figure of classic mould and

line, clothed in a simple white linen garb, with a red rose at its breast. It was Manella. She had taken

extraordinary pains with her attire, plain though it wassomething dainty and artistic in the manner of its

wearing made its simplicity picturesque,and the red rose at her bosom was effectively supplemented by

another in her hair, showing brilliantly against its rich blackness. She stopped when about three paces away

from the sleeping man and watched him with a wonderful tenderness. Her lips quivered sweetlyher lovely

eyes shone with a soft wistfulness,she looked indeed, as Morgana had said of her, `quite beautiful.'

Instinctively aware in slumber that he was not alone, Seaton stirredopened his eyes, and sprang up.

She held out a telegram. He opened and read it. It was very brief"Shall be with you tomorrow. Gwent."

"He is taking luggage down from the rooms," she answered "Many people are going away today."

"And how fine we are today!" he said, glancing over her with an air of undisguised admiration"White

suits you, Manella! You should always wear it! For what fortunate man have you dressed yourself so

"For me? Oh, Manella! What a frank confession! And what a contradiction you are to yourself! For did you

not send word by that Irish monkey that you were `too busy to come'? And yet you dress yourself in white,

with red roses, for me! And you come after all! Capricious child! Oh Se*ora Soriso, how greatly honoured I

"You laugh, you laugh!" she said"But I do not care! You can laugh at me all the time if you like.

"You cannot help it!" she repeated"That little white lady that friend of yours whom you hate and love at

the same time! she told me I was `quite beautiful!' I know I am!and you know it too!"

She made a swift step towards him and laid a hand on his arm. Her ardent, glowing face was next to his.

Her physical fascination was magnetic, and for a moment he had some trouble to resist its spell. Very gently

he put an arm round her,and with a tender delicacy of touch unfastened the rose she wore at her bosom.

"There, dear!" he said"I will keep this with me for company! It is like youexcept that it doesn't talk and

"Has it? Well,perhaps it has!" He pausedthen stooping his tall head kissed her once on the lips as a

brother might have kissed her. "And perhapsone daywhen the right man comes along, you will have it

MR. SAM GWENT stood in what was known as the `floral hall' of the Plaza Hotel, so called because it was

built in colonnades which opened into various vistas of flowers and clambering vines growing with all the

luxuriance common to California. He had just arrived, and while divesting himself of a light dust overcoat

"Mr. Seaton has taken the hill hut"replied the bookkeeper "`The hut of the dying' it is sometimes

"Air? Lungs?"Gwent sniffed contemptuously. "There's very little the matter with his lungs if he's the man I

The bookkeeper touched a bell, and Manella appeared. Gwent stared openly. Hereif `prize beauties' were

"This gentleman wants Mr. Seaton"said the bookkeeper "Just show him the way up the hill."

"Sorry to trouble you!" said Gwent, raising his hat with a courtesy not common to his manner.

"Oh, it is no trouble!" and Manella smiled at him in the most ravishing way"The path is quite easy to

She preceded him out of the `floral hall,' and across the great gardens, now in their most brilliant bloom, to a

gate which she opened, pointing with one hand towards the hill where the flat outline of the `hut of the dying'

"There it is,"she explained"It's nothing of a climb, even on the warmest day. And the air is quite

Manella waved her hands expressively with a charming Spanish gesture of indifference.

Sam Gwent uttered a curious inward sound, something between a grunt and a cough.

"Take him his food!" Sam Gwent growled out something like an oath"What! Can't he come and get it for

"Oh, you are rough!" she said"He pays for whatever little trouble he gives. Indeed it is no trouble! He lives

very simply only on new milk and bread. I expect his health will not stand anything elsethough truly he

"Well, thank you for showing me the way, Se*ora or Se*orita, whichever you areI think you must be

"Se*orita,"she said, with gentle emphasis"I am not married. You are right that I am Spanish."

"Such eyes as yours were never born of any blood but Spanish!" said Gwent"I knew that at once! That you

are not married is a bit of luck for some manthe man you will marry! For the moment adios! I shall dine at

She turned away, back towards the Hotel, and Gwent started to ascend the hill alone.

"Here's a new sort of game!"he thought"A game I should never have imagined possible to a man like

Roger Seaton! Hiding himself up here in a consumption hut, and getting a beautiful woman to wait on him

and `take him his food'! It beats most things I've heard of! Dollar sensation books aren't in it! I wonder what

Halfway up the hill he paused to rest, and saw Seaton striding down at a rapid pace to meet him.

"I got your wire at the beginning of the week"said Gwent "and came as soon as I could get away. It's

"Thanks,it's as much your affair as mine"said Seaton "The thing is ripe for action if you care to act.

"Oh yesthat's all right! But reply wires don't always clinch business. Yours arrived last night."

"I wonder it was ever delivered!" grumbled Gwent"It was addressed to the Plaza Hotelnot to a hut on a

"You've heard all about it I see! But the hut on the hill is a `dependence' of the Plazaa sort of annexe where

"You are not a dying man!" said Gwent, very meaningly"And I can't make out why you pretend to be

"I'm not pretending!my dear Gwent, we're all dying men! One may die a little faster than another, but it's

all the same sort of `rot, and rot, and thereby hangs a tale!' What's the news in Washington?"

"Not startling"answered Gwentthen pausedand repeated "Not startlingthere's nothing startling

nowadaysthough some folks made a very good show of being startled when my nephew Jack shot

"Of course!according to the coroner. Everybody is called `insane' who gets out of the world when it's too

difficult to live in. Some people would call it sane. I call it just cowardice! Jack had lost his last chance,

"Rather! She leads all men `on'or they think she does. She led you on at one time!"

"Well! Washington thought you were the favoured `catch' and envied your luck! Certainly she showed a great

"I'm sorry!" said Seaton, hastily, conscious that he had been lacking in sympathy"He was your heir, I

"Yes,he might have been, had he kept a bit straighter;" said Gwent"But heirs are no good anywhere

or anyhow. They only spend what they inherit and waste the honest work of a lifetime. Is that your prize

"That's it!" answered Seaton"And I prefer it to any palace ever built. No servants, no furniture, no useless

"A tub was enough for Diogenes!"commented Gwent"If we all lived in his way or your way it would be

Seaton made no reply, but led the way into his dwelling, offering his visitor a chair.

"I hope you've had breakfast?"he said"For I haven't any to give you. You can have a glass of milk if you

"I'm not a good subject for primitive nourishment"he said "I've been weaned too long for it to agree

He sat down. His eyes were at once attracted by the bowl of restless fluid on the table.

"Only a trifle!"he answered"Just health! It's a sort of talisman;germproof, dustproof,

diseaseproof! No microbe of mischief, however infinitesimal, can exist near it, and a few drops, taken into

"If that's so, your fortune's made!"said Gwent, "Give your discovery, or recipe, or whatever it is, to the

"To keep the world alive? No, thank you!" And the look of dark scorn on Seaton's face was astonishing in its

almost satanic expression"That is precisely what I wish to avoid! The world is overripe and

overrotten,and it is overcrowded with a festering humanity that is inhuman, and worse than bestial in its

furious grappling for self and greed. One remedy for the evil would be that no children should be born in it

for the next thirty or forty yearsthe relief would be incalculable,a monstrous burden would be lifted, and

there would be some chance of betterment,but as this can never be, other remedies must be sought and

found. It's pure hypocrisy to talk of love for children, when every day we read of mothers selling their

offspring for so much cash down,lately in China during a spell of famine parents killed their daughters like

young calves, for food. Ugly facts like these have to be looked in the faceit's no use putting them behind

one's back, and murmuring beautiful lies about `motherlove' and such nonsense. As for the old Mosaic

commandment `Honour thy father and mother'it's ordinary newspaper reading to hear of boys and girls

"You've got the ugly facts by heart!"said Gwent, slowly "But there's another and more cheerful

outlookif you choose to consider it. Newspaper reading always gives the worst and dirtiest side of

everythingit wouldn't be newspaper stuff if it was clean. Newspapers remind me of the rotting heaps in

gardensall the rubbish piled together till the smell becomes a nuisancethen a good burning takes place

of the whole collection and it makes a sort of fourthrate manure." He paused a momentthen went on

"I'm not given to sentiment, but I dare say there are still a few folks who love each other in this world,and

it's good to know of when they do. My sister"he paused again, as if something stuck in his throat; "My

sister loved her boy,Jack. His death has driven her silly for the timedoctors say she will recoverthat

it's only `shock.' `Shock' is answerable for a good many tragedies since the European war."

"You're a bit on the fidgets,"resumed Gwent, placidly"You want me to come to businessand I will.

His companion nodded, and he drew out his cigarcase, selecting from it a particularly fragrant Havana.

"You don't do this sort of thing, or I'd offer you one,"he said,"Pity you don't, it soothes the nerves. But I

know your `fads'; you are too closely acquainted with the human organism to either smoke or drink.

Well!every man to his own method! Now what you want me to do is thisto represent the force and

meaning of a certain substance which you have discovered, to the government of the United States and

"That is so!" and Roger Seaton fixed his eyes on Gwent's hard, lanternjawed face with a fiery

intensity,"Remember, it's not child's play! Whoever takes what I can give, holds the mastery of the world!

I offer it to the United Statesbut I would have preferred to offer it to Great Britain, being as I am, an

Englishman. But the dilatory British men of science have snubbed me onceand I do not intend them to

have the chance of doing it again. BrieflyI offer the United States the power to end wars, and all thought or

possibility of war for ever. No Treaty of Versailles or any other treaty will ever be necessary. The only thing I

ask in reward for my discovery is the government pledge to use it. That is, of course, should occasion arise.

For my material needs, which are small, an allowance of a sum per annum as long as I live, will satisfy my

ambition. The allowance may be as much or as little as is found convenient. The pledge to use my discovery

is the one all important pointit must be a solemn, binding pledgenever to be broken!"

"Now listen!" he said"Suppose two nations quarrelor rather, their governments and their press force

them to quarrel the United States (possessing my discovery) steps between and says`Very well! The

first move towards warthe first gun firedmeans annihilation for one of you or both! We hold the power

"Just soabsolute annihilation!" and Seaton smiled with a pleasant air of triumph"A holocaust of

microbes! The United States must let the whole world know of their ability to do this, (without giving away

my discovery). They must say to the nations `We will have no more wars. If innocent people are to be killed,

they can be killed quite as easily in one way as another, and our way will cost nothingneither ships nor

ammunition nor guns.' And of course the disputants will be given time to decide their own fate for

Sam Gwent, holding his cigar between his fingers and looking meditatively at its glowing end, smiled

"All very well!"he said"But you forget the money interests. Money interests always start a warit isn't

nations that do it, it's `companies.' Your stuff won't annihilate companies all over the globe. Governments are

not likely to damage their own financial moves. Suppose the United States government agreed to your

proposition and took the sole possession and proprietorship of your discovery, and gave you their written,

signed and sealed pledge to use it, it doesn't at all follow that they would not break that pledge at the first

opportunity. In these days governments break promises as easily as eggshells. And there would be ample

"War is inhumanity!"said Seaton"The use of my discovery would be no worse than war."

"Granted!but war makes money for certain sections of the community,you must think of that!" and

clothingtransportall these things in war mean fortunes to the contractorswhile the wiping out of a

nation in your way would mean loss of money. Loss of life wouldn't matter,it never does really

matternot to governments!but loss of moneyah well!that's a very different and much more serious

A cynical smile twisted his features as he spoke, and Roger Seaton, standing opposite to him with his fine

head well thrown back on his shoulders and his whole face alive with the power of thought, looked rather like

"So you think the United States wouldn't take my discovery?" he said"Orif they took itcouldn't be

"Of course our government could be trusted as much as any other government in the world,"he

said"Perhaps more. But it would exonerate itself for breaking even a pledged word which necessitated an

inhuman act involving loss of Money! See? War is an inhuman act, but it brings considerable gain to those

"Well!you are a senator, and you ought to knew!" replied Seaton"And if your opinion is against my

offer, I will not urge you to make it. Butas I live and stand here talking to you, you may bet every dollar

you possess that if neither the United States nor any other government will accept the chance I give it of

holding the nations like dogs in leash, I'll hold them myself! I! One single unit of the overteeming millions!

GWENT was silent. With methodical care he flicked off the burnt end of his cigar and watched it where it

fell, as though it were something rare and curious. He wanted a few minutes to think. He gave a quick upward

glance at the tall athletic figure above him, with its magnificent head and flashing eyes,and the words `I'll

be Master of the world' gave him an unpleasant thrill. One man on the planet with power to destroy nations

seemed quite a fantastic ideayet science made it actually possible! He bethought himself of a book he had

lately read concerning radioactivity, in which he had been struck by the following

passage`Radioactivity is an explosion of great violence; the energy exerted is millions of times more

powerful than the highest explosive substance yet made in our laboratories; one bomb loaded with such

energy would be equal to millions of bombs of the same size and energy as used in the trenches. One's mind

stands aghast at the thought of what could be possible if such power were used for destructive purposes; a

single aeroplane could carry sufficient to annihilate a whole army, or lay the biggest city in ruins with the

death of all its inhabitants.' The writer of the book in question had stated that, so far, no means had been

found of conserving and concentrating this tremendous force for such uses,but Gwent, looking at Roger

Seaton, said within himself "He's got it!" And this impression, urging itself strongly in on his brain, was

"Well, `master of the world' is a pretty tall order! Now, look here, Seatonyou're a plain, straight man, and

so am I, as much as my business will let me. What are you after, anyway? What is your aim and end? You

say you don't want moneyyet money is the chief goal of all men's ambition. You don't care for fame,

though you could have it for the lifting of a finger, and I suppose you don't want love"

Seaton laughed heartily, pushing back with a ruffling hand the thick hair from his broad open brow.

"All three propositions are nil to me,"he said"I suppose it is because I can have them for the asking!

And what satisfaction is there in any one of them? A man only needs one dinner a day, a place to sleep in and

ordinary clothes to wear very little money is required for the actual necessaries of life enough can be

earned by any daylabourer. As for fame whosoever reads the life of even one `famous' man will never be

such a fool as to wish for the capricious plaudits of a fool public. And love!love does not existnot what

"Why yes!of course you may! Love, to my thinking, means complete harmony between two soulslike

two notes that make a perfect chord. The man must feel that he can thoroughly trust and reverence the

woman,the woman must feel the same towards the man. And the sense of `reverence' is perhaps the best

and most binding quality. But nowadays what woman will you find worth reverence?what man so free

from drink and debauchery as to command it? The human beings of our day are often less respectable than

the beasts! I can imagine love, what it might bewhat it should bebut till we have a very different and

"Apparently the spirit of destructiveness is strong in you. As `master of the world'to quote your own

words, I presume that in the event of a nation or nations deciding on war, you would give them a timelimit

to consider and hold conference with their alliesand thenif they were resolved to begin hostilities"

"Then I couldand wouldwipe them off the face of the earth in twentyfour hours!" said Seaton,

calmly"From nations they should become mere dustheaps! War makes its own dustheaps, but with

infinitely more cost and troublethe way of exit I offer would be cheap in comparison!"

"Well, I come back to my former question,"he said "Suppose the occasion arose, and you did all this,

"The pleasure of clearing the poor old earth of some of its pestilential microbes!"answered Seaton,

"Something of the same thankful satisfaction Sir Ronald Ross must have experienced when he discovered the

mosquitobreeders of yellow fever and malaria, and caused them to be stamped out. The men who organise

national disputes are a sort of mosquito, infecting their fellowcreatures with perverted mentality and

"Why not begin with the newspaper offices?" suggested Gwent "The purlieus of cheap journalism are the

"True! And it wouldn't be a bad idea to stamp them out," here Seaton threw back his head with the

challenging gesture which was characteristic of his temperament"But what is called `the liberty of the

press' (it should be called `the licence of the press') is more of an octopus than a mosquito. Cut off one

tentacle, it grows another. It's entirely octopus in character too,it only lives to fill its stomach."

"Oh, come, come!" and Gwent's little steely eyes sparkled "It's the `safeguard of nations' don't you

"Good God!" burst out Seaton, impatiently"When it does, then the `new world' about which men talk so

much may get a beginning! `Honest free speechtruth?' Why, modern journalism is one GREAT LIE

"I agree!" said Gwent"And there you have the root and cause of war! No need to exterminate nations with

your destructive stuff,you should get at the microbes who undermine the nations first. When you can do

that, you will destroy the guilty and spare the innocent,whereas your plan of withering a nation into a

"It does. And your aim is to do away with all chance or possibility of war for ever. Good! But you need to

"You're a careful man, Gwent,"he said"And, in the main, you are right. I know as well as you do that

the licence of the press is the devil's finger in the cauldron of affairs, stirring up strife between nations that

would probably be excellent friends and allies, if it were not for this `licensed' mischief. But so long as the

mob read the lies, so long will the liars flourish. And my argument is that if any two peoples are so brainless

as to be led into war by their press, they are not fit to liveno more fit than the mosquitoes that once made

"Not when it is diseased lifenot when it is perverted life;" returned Seaton"Then it is mere deformity

and encumbrance. For life itself in all its plenitude, health and beauty, I have the deepest, most passionate

"I do,most utterly! That is to say I believe in an all pervading Mind originating and commanding the plan

of the Universe. We talk of `ions' and `electrons'but we are driven to confess that a Supreme Intelligence

has the creation of electrons, and directs them as to the formation of all existing things. To that Mindto that

IntelligenceI submit my soul! And I do not believe that this Supreme Mind desires evil or sorrow,we

create disaster ourselves, and it is ourselves that must destroy it. We are given freewill,if we `will' to

create disease, we must equally `will' to exterminate it by every means in our power."

"I think I follow you,"said Gwent, slowly"But now, as regards this Supreme Intelligence, I suppose you

will admit that the plan of creation is a dual sort of schemethat is to say `male and female created He

"I asked it," went on Gwent"because you seem to eliminate the female element from your life altogether.

Therefore, so I take it, you are not at your full strength, either as a scientist or philosopher. You are a kind of

eagle, trying to fly high on one wing. You'll need the other! There, don't look at me in that savage way! I'm

merely making my own comments on your position,you needn't mind them. I want to get out of the

tangleup of things you have suggested. You fancy it would be easy to get the United States Government to

purchase your discovery and pledge themselves to use it on occasion for the complete wiping out of a

nation,any nationthat decided to go to war,and, failing their acceptance, or the acceptance of any

government on these lines, you purpose doing the deed yourself. Well!I can tell you straight away it's no

use my trying to negotiate such a business. The inhumanity of it is too palpable."

"That pays!" replied Gwent, with emphasis"You don't, or won't, seem to recognise that blistering fact! The

inhumanity of war pays everybody concerned in it except the fellows who fight to order. They are the `raw

material.' They get used up. Your business wouldn't `pay.' And what won't `pay' is no good to anybody in this

Seaton, still standing erect, bent his eyes on the lean hard features of his companion with eloquent scorn.

"So! Everything must be measured and tested by money!" he said"And yet you senators talk of

"Yes, we talk!"interrupted Gwent"But we don't mean what we say!we should never think of meaning

"Just so! The Lord Christ said it two thousand years ago, and it's true today! We haven't improved!"

With an impatient movement, Seaton strode to the door of his hut and looked out at the wide sky,then

"After all," he said, "It isn't as if you wanted anything of anybody. Money is no object of yours. If it were I

should advise your selling your discovery to Morgana Royal,she'd buy it and, I tell you what!she'd

"True!" And Gwent looked interestedly at his dwindling Havana "You can!" There followed a pause

during which Gwent thought of the strange predicament in which the world might find itself, under the

scientific rule of one man who had it in his power to create a terrific catastrophe without even `showing his

hand.' "Anyway, Seaton, you surely want to make something out of life for yourself, don't you?"

"I am happy!"declared Seaton"and I entirely appreciate the physical pleasure of living. But I should be

happier and better pleased with life if I could rid the earth of some of its mischief, disease and sorrow"

"That's just it! The Supreme Intelligence led me to the discovery I have madeand I feel that it has been

given into my hands for a purpose. Gwent, I am positive that this same Supreme Intelligence expects his

creature, Man, to help Him in the evolvement and work of the Universe! It is the only reasonable cause for

Man's existence. We must help, not hinder, the scheme of which we are a part. And wherever hindrance

The last ash of Gwent's cigar fell to the floor, and Gwent himself rose from his chair.

"Well, I suppose we've had our talk out"he said; "I came here prepared to offer you a considerable sum for

your discoverybut I can't go so far as a Government pledge. So I must leave you to it. You know"here

"Oh, that goes without saying! Did you ever hear of any scientist possessing a secret drawn from the soul of

nature that was not called `mad' at once by his compeers and the public? I can stand that accusation! Pray

"Let the nations beware how they gamble with their own lives!" retorted Seaton"You say war is a method

of money makinglet them take heed how they touch money coined in human blood! Ione man

only,but an instrument of the Supreme Intelligence,I say and swear there shall be no more wars!"

As he uttered these words there was something almost supernatural in the expression of his facehis

attitude, proudly erect, offered a kind of defiance to the world,and involuntarily Gwent, looking at him,

"I laid me down and slept; I awaked for the Lord sustained me. I will not be afraid of ten thousands of the

"Nohe would not be afraid!" Gwent mused"He is a man for whom there is no such thing as fear!

Aloud he said"Well, you may put an end to war, but you will never put an end to men's hatred and envy of

one another, and if they can't `let the steam off' in fighting, they'll find some other way which may be worse.

If you come to consider it, all nature is at war with itself,it's a perpetual struggle to live, and it's evident

that the struggle was intended and ordained as universal law. Life would be pretty dull without effortand

"Against whatever or whoever opposes the effort," replied Gwent, promptly"There must be opposition,

otherwise effort would be unnecessary. My good fellow, you've got an idea that you can alter the fixed plan

of things, but you can't. The cleverest of us are only like goldfish in a glass bowlthey see the light through,

but they cannot get to it. The old ship of the world will sail on in its appointed way to its destined port,and

the happiest creatures are those who are content to sail with it in the faith that God is at the helm!" He broke

off, smiling at his own sudden eloquence, then added"Bythe by, where is your laboratory?"

"You think I'm going to tell you? Mr. Senator Gwent, you take me for a greater fool than I am! My `stuff'

needs neither fire nor crucible,the formula was fairly complete before I left Washington, but I wanted quiet

and solitude to finish what I had begun. It is finished now. That's why I sent for you to make the proposition

"Finished, is it?" queried Gwent, abstractedly"And you have it here?in a finished state?"

"Then I suppose"said Gwent with a nervous laugh"you could `finish' me, if it suited your humour?"

"I could, certainly!" and Seaton gave him quite an encouraging smile"I could reduce Mr. Senator Gwent

into a small pinch of grey dust in about forty seconds, without pain! You wouldn't feel it I assure you! It

"Thanks! Much obliged!" said Gwent"I won't trouble you this morning! I rather enjoy being alive."

"You've a fine, wild view here"he said"I think I shall stay at the Plaza a day or two before returning to

"Oh, you mean Manella"said Seaton, carelessly; "Yes, she's quite a beauty. She's the maid, waitress or

"She's a good `draw' for male visitors"said Gwent"Many a man I know would pay a hundred dollars a

"Well!perhaps not a hundred dollars a day, but pretty near it! Her eyes are the finest I've ever seen."

"You'll come and dine with me tonight, won't you?" went on Gwent"You can spare me an hour or two of

"No, thanks"Seaton replied"Don't think me a churlish brutebut I don't like hotels or the people who

"Unfortunately there was no business doing!" said Gwent "Sorry I couldn't take it on."

"Don't be sorry! I'll take it on myself when the moment comes. I would have preferred the fiat of a great

Government to that of one unauthorised manbut if there's no help for it then the one man must act."

"Seaton, these new scientific discoveries are dangerous tools!" he said"If they are not handled carefully

they may work more mischief than we dream of. Be on your guard! Why, we might break up the very planet

"Very possible!" answered Seaton, lightly"But it wouldn't be missed! Come,I'll walk with you halfway

He threw on a broad palmetto hat as a shield against the blazing sun, for it was now the full heat of the

afternoon, while Gwent solemnly unfurled a white canvas umbrella which, folded, served him on occasion as

a walkingstick. A greater contrast could hardly be imagined than that afforded by the two men,the

conventionally clothed, stiffjointed Washington senator, and the fine, easy supple figure of his roughly

garbed companion; and Manella, watching them descend the hill from a coign of vantage in the Plaza

"Poof!" she said to herself, snapping her fingers in air"He is so ugly!that one manso dry and yellow

And she snapped her fingers again,then kissed them towards the object of her adoration,an object as

unconscious and indifferent as any senseless idol ever worshipped by blind devotees.

ON his return to the Plaza Mr. Sam Gwent tried to get some conversation with Manella, but found it difficult.

She did not wait on the visitors in the diningroom, and Gwent imagined he knew the reason why. Her

beauty was of too brilliant and riante a type to escape the notice and admiration of men, whose open

attentions were likely to be embarrassing to her, and annoying to her employers. She was therefore kept very

much out of the way, serving on the upper floors, and was only seen flitting up and down the staircase or

passing through the various corridors and balconies. However, when evening fell and its dark, still heat made

even the hotel lounge, cooled as it was by a fountain in full play, almost unbearable, Gwent, strolling forth

into the garden, found her there standing near a thick hedge of myrtle which exhaled a heavy scent as if every

leaf were being crushed between invisible fingers. She looked up as she saw him approaching and smiled.

Manella gave her peculiar little uplift of the head which was one of her many fascinating gestures.

"He is not ill"she said"He only pretends! That is all! He has some reason for pretending. I think it is

"Ah, perhaps you do not know!" And she waved her hands expressively. "There was a wonderful lady came

here to see him some weeks agoshe stole up the hill at night, like a spirita little, little fairy woman with

"She wore the most lovely clothes"went on Manella, clasping her hands in ecstasy"She stayed at the

Plaza one nightI waited upon her. I saw her in her bedshe had skin like satin, and eyes like blue

starsher hair fell nearly to her anklesshe was like a dream! And she went up the hill by moonlight all by

"Oh yes, she found him! He told me that. And I am sure something tells me here" and she pressed one

"You seem to be a very observant young woman," said Gwent, smiling"One would think you were in love

"I am!" she said"I see no shame in that! He is a fine man it is good to love him!"

Gwent was completely taken aback. Here was primitive passion with a vengeance!passion which admitted

its own craving without subterfuge. Manella's eyes were still uplifted in a kind of childlike confidence.

"I am happy to love him!" she went on"I wish only to serve him. He does not love meoh no!he loves

her! But he hates her tooah!" and she gave a little shivering movement of her shoulders"There is no love

without hate!and when one loves and hates with the same heartbeat, that is a love for life and death!" She

checked herself abruptlythen, with a simplicity which was not without dignity added"I am saying too

much, perhaps? But you are his friendand I think he must be very lonely up there!"

Mr. Senator Gwent was perplexed. He had not looked to stumble on a romantic episode, yet here was one

ready made to his hand. His nature was ill attuned to romance of any kind, but he felt a certain compassion

for this girl, so richly dowered with physical beauty, and smitten with love for a man like Roger Seaton who,

according to his own account, had no belief in love's existence. And the `fairy woman' she spoke ofwho

could that be but Morgana Royal? After his recent interview with Seaton his thoughts were rather in a whirl,

and he sought for a bit of commonplace to which he could fasten them without the risk of their drifting into

greater confusion. Yet that bit of commonplace was hard to find with a woman's lovely passionate eyes

looking straight into his, and the woman herself, a warmblooded embodiment of exquisite physical beauty,

framed like a picture among the scented myrtle boughs under the dusky violet sky, where glittered a few stars

with that large fiery brilliance so often seen in California. He coughed it was a convenient thing to

"IIwell!I hardly think he is lonely,"he said at last, hesitatingly"Perhaps you don't know itbut

He stopped. How could this girl understand him? What would she know of `inventors'and `thinkers with

new ideas'? A trifle embarrassed, he looked at her. She nodded her dark head and smiled.

Sam Gwent almost jumped. A god! Oh, these women! Of what fantastic exaggerations they are capable!

"A god!" she repeated, nodding again, complacently; "He can do anything! I feel that all the time. He could

Gwent's nerves `jumped' for the second time. Roger Seaton's own words`I'll be master of the world,'

knocked repeatingly on his brain with an uncomfortable thrill. He gathered up the straying threads of his

"That's all nonsense!" he said, as gruffly as he could"He's not a god by any means! I'm afraid you think too

"Thank you!" and Gwent sought for a helpful cigar which he lit"You have a very charming name!

"No,I am scarcely his friend,"he replied"`Friend' is a big word,it implies more than most men ever

mean. I just know himI've met him several times, and I know he worked for a while under

Edisonandand that's about all. Then I think" he was cautious here"I think I've seen him at the

"She too is very clever,she is also an inventor and a scientistand if it was she who came here(I

daresay it was!) it was probably because she wished to ask his advice and opinion on some of the difficult

"Ahbah!" she exclaimed"Not at all! No difficult thing takes a woman out by moonlight, all in soft white

and diamonds to see a man!no difficult thing at all, except to tempt him to love! Yes! That is the way it is

done! I begin to learn! And you, if you are not his friend, what are you here for?"

"I came to see him at his own request on business;" he answered curtly"The business is concluded and I go

Manella was silent. The low chirping of a cicada hidden in the myrtle thicket made monotonous sweetness on

Moved by some sudden instinct which he did not attempt to explain to himself, Gwent decided to venture on

"Now don't you fly off in a rage at what I'm going to say," he began, slowly"You're only a child to

meso I'm just taking the liberty of talking to you as a child. Don't give too much of your time or your

thought to the man you call a `god.' He's no more a god than I am. But I tell you one thinghe's a dangerous

"Dangerous!"repeated Gwent, shaking his head at her"Not to you, perhaps, for you probably wouldn't

mind if he killed you, so long as he kissed you first! Oh yes, I know the ways of women! God made them

trusting animals, ready to slave all their lives for the sake of a caress. You are one of that kind you'd

willingly make a doormat of yourself for Seaton to wipe his boots on. I don't mean that he's dangerous in

that way, because though I might think him so, you wouldn't! No, what I mean is that he's dangerous to

Here he paused, checked by the sudden terror in the beautiful eyes that stared at him.

"No, nobless my soul, he doesn't intend to kill himself," said Gwent, testily"He's not such a fool as

all that! Now look here!try and be a sensible girl! The man is busy with an inventiona

discoverywhich might do him harmI don't say it willbut it might. You've heard of bombs, haven't

Manella noddedher lips trembled, and she clasped her hands nervously across her bosom.

"Well!I believeI won't say it for certain,that he's got something worse than that!" said Gwent,

impressively"And that's why he has chosen to live up on that hill in the `hut of the dying' away from

everybody. See? Andof courseanything may happen at any moment. He's plucky enough, and is not the

sort of man to involve any other man in troubleand that's why he stays alone. Now you know! So you can

put away your romantic notions of his being `in love'! A very good thing for him if he were. It might draw

him away from his present occupation. In fact, the best that could happen to him would be that you should

"Yes, with you! Why not? Why don't you manage it? A beautiful woman like you could win the game in less

"Ah! That's a pity!" said Gwent"Men are curious monsters in their loveappetites; they always refuse the

offered dish and ask for something that isn't in the bill of fare. You should have pretended to hate him!"

"I could not pretend that!" said Manella, sadly"But if I could, it would not matter. He does not want a

"Oh, doesn't he?" Gwent was amused at her quaint way of putting it. "Well, he's the first man I ever heard of,

that didn't! That's all bunkum, my good girl! Probably he's crying for the moon!"

"Crying for the moon? Just hankering after what can't be got. Lots of men are afflicted that way. But they've

"He would never content himself!" she said"If shethe woman that came here, is the moon, he will

"Yes! I want to see her again!" A puzzled look contracted her brows. "Since she spoke to me I have always

thought of her,I cannot get her out of my mind! She just holds meyes!in one of her little white hands!

There are few women like that I think!women who hold the souls of others as prisoners till they choose to

Mr. Senator Gwent was fairly nonplussed. This darkeyed Spanish beauty with her romantic notions was

almost too much for him. Had he met her in a novel he would have derided the author of the book for

delineating such an impossible character,but coming in contact with her in real life, he was at a loss what

to say. Especially as he himself was quite aware of the mysterious `hold' exercised by Morgana Royal on

those whom she chose to influence either near or at a distance. After a few seconds of deliberation he

"YesI should say there are very few women of that rather uncomfortable sort of habit,the fewer the

better in my opinion. Now, Miss Manella Soriso, remember what I say to you! Don't think about being `held'

by anybody except by a lover and husband! See? Play the game! With such looks as God has given you, it

should be easy! Win your `god' away from his thunderbolts before he begins havoc with them from his

miniature Olympus. If he wants the `moon' (and possibly he doesn't!) he won't say no to a star,it's the next

best thing. Seriously now,"and Gwent threw away the end of his cigar and laid a hand gently on her

arm"be a good girl and think over what I've said to you. Marry him if you can!it will be the making of

Manella gazed about her in the darkness, bewildered. A glittering little mob of fireflies danced above her

"Oh, you talk so strangely!" she said"You forget!I am a poor girlI have no money"

"Neither has he,"and Gwent gave a short laugh, "But he could make a million dollars tomorrowif he

chose. Having only himself to consider, he doesn't choose! If he had you, he'd change his opinion. Seaton's

not the man to have a wife without keeping her in comfort. I tell you again, you can be the making of him.

"Ah, just that!" said Gwent impressively"Think of it! I'm not speaking liesthat's not my way. The man is

making for himself what we in the European war called a `danger zone,' where everybody not `in the know'

was warned off hidden mines. Hidden mines! He's got them! That's so! You can take my word! It's no good

looking for them,no one will ever find them but himself, and he thinks of nothing else. But if he fell in

"Oh, he says that, does he?" and Gwent smiled"Well, he'd be a fool if he didn't!"

"Ah, but he does not care for beauty!"Manella went on"He sees it and he smiles at it, but it does not

Gwent looked at her in perplexity, not knowing quite how to deal with the subject he himself had started.

Truth to tell his nerves had been put distinctly `on edge' by Seaton's cool, calculating and seemingly callous

assertion as to the power he possessed to destroy, if he chose, a nation,and all sorts of uncomfortable

scraps of scientific information gleaned from books and treatises suggested themselves vividly to his mind at

this particular moment when he would rather have forgotten them. As, for example"A pound weight of

radioactive energy, if it could be extracted in as short a time as we pleased, instead of in so many million

years, could do the work of a hundred and fifty tons of dynamite." This agreeable fact stuck in his brain as a

bone may stick in a throat, causing a sense of congestion. Then the words of one of the `pulpit thunderers' of

New York rolled back on his ears"This world will be destroyed, not by the hand of God, but by the wilful

and devilish malingering of Man!" Another, pleasant thought! And he felt himself to be a poor weak fool to

even try to put up a girl's beauty, a girl's love as a barrier to the output of a destroying force engineered by a

terrific human intention,it was like the old story of the Scottish heroine who thrust a slender arm through

She was right. Nothing was likely to move Roger Seaton from any purpose he had once resolved upon. What

to him was beauty? Merely a `fortuitous concourse of atoms' moving for a time in one personality. What was

a girl? Just the young `female of the species'no more. And love? Sexual attraction, of which there was

enough and too much in Seaton's opinion. And the puzzled Gwent wondered whether after all he would not

have acted more wiselyor diplomaticallyin accepting Seaton's proposal to part with his secret to the

United States Government, even with the proviso and State pledge that it was to be `used' should occasion

arise, rather than leave him to his own devices to do as he pleased with the apparently terrific potentiality of

which he alone had the knowledge and the mastery. And while his thoughts thus buzzed in his head like

swarming bees, Manella stood regarding him in a kind of pitiful questioning like a child with a broken toy

who cannot understand `why' it is broken. As he did not speak at once she took up the thread of conversation.

"You see how it is no use!" she said"No use to think of his ever loving me! But love for himah!that I

have, and that I will ever keep in my heart!and to save his life I would myself gladly die!"

"There it is! You women always run to extremes! `Gladly die' indeed! Poor girl, why should you `die' for him

or for any man! That's sheer sentimental nonsense! There's not a man that ever lived, or that ever will live,

that's worth the death of a woman! That's so! Men think too much of themselvesthey've been killing

"Yes, my good girl!that is what they do! The silly trusting creatures go to them like lambs, and get their

throats cut! In marriage or out of itthe throatcutting goes on, for men are made of destructive stuff and

love the sport of killing. They are never satisfied unless they can kill somethinga bird, a fox or a woman.

"No,not I, my child! I'm too old. I've done with love making and `sport' of all kinds. I don't even drive a

golfball, in makebelieve that it's a woman I'm hitting as fast and far as I can. Oh yes!you stare!you

are wondering why, if I have such ideas, I should suggest lovemaking and marriage to you, well, I don't

actually recommend it!but I'm rather thinking more of your `god' than of you. You might possibly help

"Noyou're not cleverthank God for it! But you're devoted and devotion is sometimes more than

cleverness." He paused, reflectively. "Well, I'll have to go away tomorrowit wouldn't be any use my

staying on here. In fact, I'd rather be out of the way. But I've a notion I may be able to do something for

Seaton in Washington when I get backin the meantime I'll leave a letter for you to give him"

"You will not write of me in that letter!" interrupted the girl, hastily. "Noyou must notyou could

"Don't be afraid, my girl! I'm not a cad. I wouldn't give you away for the world! I've no right to say a word

about you, and I shall not. My letter will be a merely business oneyou shall read it if you like"

Gwent gave her a comprehensively admiring glance. Even in the dusk of evening her beauty shone with the

brilliance of a white flower among the dark foliage. "What a sensation she would make in New York!" he

And a vague regret for his lost youth moved him; he was a very wealthy man, and had he been in his prime

he would have tried a matrimonial chance with this unspoilt beautiful creature,it would have pleased him

to robe her in queenly garments and to set the finest diamonds in her dark tresses, so that she should be the

wonder and envy of all beholders. He answered her last remark with a kindly little nod and smile.

"Good! You needn't doubt it ever!"he said"If at any time you want a friend you can bet on Sam Gwent.

I'm a member of Congress and you can always find me easy. But remember my advicedon't make a `god'

As he spoke a sudden jagged flash of lightning tore the sky, followed almost instantaneously by a long, low

And like children they ran together through the garden into the Plaza lounge, reaching it just before a second

"Storm!" observed a longfaced invalid man in a rocking chair, looking at them as they hurried in.

"Yes! Storm it is!" responded Gwent, releasing the hand of his companion"Goodnight, Miss Soriso!"

CONVENTION is still occasionally studied even in these unconventional days, and Morgana Royal,

independent and wealthy young woman as she was, had subscribed to its rule and ordinance by engaging a

chaperone,a `dear old English lady of title,' as she had described her to the Marchese Rivardi. Lady

Kingswood merited the description thus given of her, for she was distinctly a dear old English lady, and her

title was the least thing about her, especially in her own opinion. There was no taint of snobbery in her

simple, kindly disposition, and when her late husband, a distinguished military officer, had been knighted for

special and splendid service in the war, she had only deplored that the ruin of his health and disablement by

wounds prevented him from taking any personal pleasure in the `honour.' His death followed soon after the

King's recognition of his merit, and she was left with his pension to live upon, and a daughter who having

married in haste repented at leisure, being deserted by a drunken husband and left with two small children to

nourish and educate. Naturally, Lady Kingswood took much of their care upon herselfbut the pension of a

war widow will not stretch farther than a given point, and she found it both necessary and urgent to think of

some means by which she could augment her slender income. She was not a clever woman,she had no

special talents,her eyes would not stand her in good stead for plain sewing, and she could not even manage

a typing machine. But she had exquisitely gentle manners,she was wellbred and tactful, and, rightly

judging that goodbreeding and tact are valuable assets in some quarters of the `new' society, she sought,

through various private channels, for a post as companion or `chaperone' to `one lady.' Just when she was

rather losing hope as to the success of her effort, the `one lady' came along in the elfin personality of

Morgana Royal, who, after a brief interview in London, selected her with a decision as rapid as it was

inexplicable, offering her a salary of five hundred a year, which to Lady Kingswood was a small fortune.

"You will have nothing to do but just be pleasant!" Morgana had told her, smilingly. "And enjoy yourself as

you like. Of course I do not expect to be controlled or questioned,I am an independent woman, and go my

own way, but I'm not at all `modern.' I don't drink or smoke or `dope,' or crave for male society. I think you'll

And Lady Kingswood had indeed `found herself all right.' Her own daughter had never been so thoughtful for

her comfort as Morgana was, and she became day by day more interested and fascinated by the original turn

of mind and the bewitching personality of the strange little creature for whom the ordinary amusements of

society seemed to have no attraction. And, now, installed in her own sumptuously fitted rooms in the Palazzo

d'Oro, Morgana's Sicilian paradise, she almost forgot there was such a thing as poverty, or the sordid business

of `making both ends meet.' Walking up and down the rosemarble loggia and looking out to the exquisite

blue of the sea, she inwardly thanked God for all His mercies, and wondered at the exceptional good luck that

had brought her so much peace, combined with comfort and luxury in the evening of her days. She was a

handsome old lady; her refined features, soft blue eyes and white hair were a `composition' for an eighteenth

century French miniature, and her dress combined quiet elegance with careful taste. She was inflexibly loyal

to her stated position; she neither `questioned' nor `controlled' Morgana, or attempted to intrude an opinion as

to her actions or movements,and if, as was only natural, she felt a certain curiosity concerning the aims

and doings of so brilliant and witchlike a personality she showed no sign of it. She was interested in the

Marchese Rivardi, but still more so in the priest, Don Aloysius, to whom she felt singularly attracted, partly

by his own dignified appearance and manner, and partly by the leanings she herself had towards the Catholic

Faith, where `Woman' is made sacred in the person of the Holy Virgin, and deemed worthy of making

intercession with the Divine. She knew, as we all in our innermost souls know, that it is a symbol of the

greatest truth that can ever be taught to humanity. The special morning on which she walked, leaning slightly

on a silverknobbed stick, up and down the loggia and looked at the sea, was one of rare beauty even in

Sicily, the sky being of that pure ethereal blue for which one can hardly find a comparison in colour, and the

ocean below reflecting it, tone for tone, as in a mirror. In the terraced garden, half lost among the intertwining

blossoms, Morgana moved to and fro, gathering roses,her little figure like a white rose itself set in among

the green leaves. Lady Kingswood watched her, with kindly, half compassionate eyes.

"It must be a terrible responsibility for her to have so much money!" she thought"She can hardly know

At that moment Morgana came slowly up the steps cut in the grass bordered on either side by flowers, and

"Here are some roses for you, dear `Duchess!'" she said, `Duchess' being the familiar or `pet' name she

elected to call her by. "Specially selected, I assure you! Are you tired?or may I have a talk?"

Lady Kingswood took the roses with a smile, touching Morgana's cheek playfully with one of the paler pink

"A talk by all means!" she replied"How can I be tired, dear child? I'm a lazy old woman, doing nothing all

"That's right!I'm glad!" she said"That's what I want you to do! It's a pretty place, this Palazzo d'Oro,

"More than prettyit's a perfect paradise!" declared Lady Kingswood, emphatically.

"Well, I'm glad you like it"went on Morgana"because then you won't mind staying here and looking

Morgana gave a wistful glance round her at the beautiful gardens and blue sea beyond.

"Yesperhaps it is a pity!" she said, with a light shrug of her shoulders"But I have a great deal to do, and

ever so much to learn. I told you, didn't I?that I have had an airship built for me quite on my own

lines?an airship that moves like a bird and is quite different from any other airship ever made or

"Yes, you told me something about it"answered Lady Kingswood"But you know, my dear, I am very

stupid about all these wonderful new inventions. `Progress of science' they call it. Well, I'm rather afraid of

the `progress of science.' I'm an oldfashioned woman and I cannot bear to hear of aeroplanes and airships

and poor wretched people falling from the sky and being dashed to pieces. The solid earth is quite good

"You dear Duchess!" she said, affectionately"Don't worry! I'm not going to ask you to travel in my

airshipI wouldn't so try your nerves for the world! Though it is an absolutely safe ship,nothing"and

she emphasised the word"nothing can upset it or drive it out of its course, unless natural law is itself upset!

Now let us sit here"and she drew two wicker chairs into the cool shadow of the loggia and set them facing

the sea"and have our talk! I've begun itI'll go on! Tell me" and she nestled down among the

chaircushions, watching Lady Kingswood seat herself in slower, less supple fashion"tell me what does

"Oh, surely you know what I mean!" pursued Morgana"You have been married. Well, when you were first

married were you very, very happy? Did your husband love you entirely without a thought for anybody or

Lady Kingswood was quite taken aback by the personal directness of these questions, but deciding within

herself that Morgana must be contemplating marriage on her own behalf, answered simply and truthfully

"My husband and I were very fond of each other. We were the best of friends and good companions. Of

"And you stayed at home and kept house,"interpolated Morgana, musingly"I see! That is what all wives

"`Adore' is a very strong word to use, my dear!" she said"I doubt if any married people `adore' each other!

If they can be good friends and rub along pleasantly through all the sorrows and joys of life together, they

"And you call that love!" said Morgana, with a passionate thrill in her voice"Love! `Love that is blood

within the veins of time!' Just `rubbing along pleasantly together'! Dear `Duchess,' that wouldn't suit me!"

"But then, what would suit you?" she queried"You know you mustn't expect the impossible!"

"What the world calls the impossible is always the possible" said Morgana"And only the impossible

This was going beyond the boundaryline of Lady Kingswood's brain capacity, so she merely remained

"And when your child was born"pursued Morgana"did you feel a wonderful ecstasy?a beautiful

peace and joy?a love so great that it was as if God had given you something of His Own to hold and

"My dear girl, you are too idealistic! Having a baby is not at all a romantic business!quite the reverse! And

babies are not interesting till they `begin to take notice' as the nurses say. Then when they get older and have

to go to school you soon find out that you have loved them far more than they have loved or ever will love

"I see! I think I quite understand!" said Morgana"And it is just what I have always imaginedthere is no

great happiness in marriage. If it is only a matter of `rubbing along pleasantly together' two friends can

always do that without any `sex' attraction, or tying themselves up together for life. And it's not much joy to

bring children into the world and waste treasures of love on them, if after you have done all you can, they

leave you without a regret,like the birds that fly from a nest when once they know how to use their wings."

"My daughter was a very pretty girl,"she said"Her father and I were proud of her looks and her charm

of manner. We spared every shilling we could to give her the best and most careful educationand we

surrounded her with as much pleasure and comfort at home as possible,but at the first experience of

`society,' and the flattery of strangers, she left us. Her choice of a husband was most unfortunatebut she

would not listen to our advice, though we had loved her so muchshe thought `he' loved her more."

"Yes! She thought he loved her! That's what many a woman thinksthat `he'the particular `he' loves her!

"You must not be cynical, my dear!" said Lady Kingswood, gently"Life is certainly full of

disappointments, especially in love and marriagebut we must endure our sorrows patiently and believe that

This was the usual panacea which the excellent lady offered for all troubles, and Morgana smiled.

"Yes!it must be hard work for God!" she said"Cruel work! To do everything for the best and to find it

being turned into the worst by the very creatures one seeks to benefit, must be positive torture! Well, dear

`Duchess,' I asked you all these questions about love and marriage just to know if you could say anything that

might alter my viewsbut you have confirmed them. I feel that there is no such thing in the world as the

love I want!and marriage without it would be worse than any imagined hell. So I shall not marry."

"You say that just now"she said"But I think you will alter your mind some day! You would not like to

"That's not true," said Morgana, decisively"You have not `lived your day' since you are living now! And if

you are old, that is just a reason why you should not be alone. But you are. Your husband is dead, and your

daughter has other ties. So even marriage left you high and dry on the rocks as it were till my little boat came

"A very welcome little boat!" said Lady Kingswood, with feeling"A rescue in the nick of time!"

"Never mind that!" and Morgana waved her pretty hand expressively"My point is that marriagejust

marriagehas not done much for you. It is what women clamour for, and scheme for,and nine out of ten

regret the whole business when they have had their way. There are so many more things in life worth

Lady Kingswood looked at her interestedly. She made a pretty picture just then in her white morning gown,

seated in a low basket chair with pale blue silk cushions behind her on which her golden head rested with the

"So many more things!" she repeated"My airship for instance!it's worth all the men and all the

marriages I've ever heard of! My beloved `White Eagle'!my own creationmy babysuch a baby!" She

"I hope you will do nothing rash!"said Lady Kingswood, mildly; she was very ignorant of modern

discovery and invention, and all attempt to explain anything of the kind to her would have been a hopeless

business"I understand that it is always necessary to take a pilot and an observer in these terrible

"Terrible?Oh, dear `Duchess,' you are too funny! There's nothing `terrible' about my `skymachine'! Do

you ever read poetry? No?Well then you don't know that lovely and prophetic line of Keats

`For the surprise of the skychildren.' Poets are always prophetic,that is, real poets, not modern

versemongers; and I fancy Keats must have imagined something in the far distant future like my `White

Eagle'! For it really is `a beautiful thing made new'a beautiful natural force put to new usesand who

Lady Kingswood's mind floundered helplessly in this flood of what, to her, was incomprehensibility.

"If you haven't read Keats, you must have read at some time or other the `Arabian Nights' and the story of

`Sindbad the Sailor'? Yes? You think you have? Well, you know how poor Sindbad got into the Valley of

Diamonds and waited for an eagle to fly down and carry him off! That's just like me! I've been dropped into a

Valley of Diamonds and often wondered how I should escapebut the Eagle has arrived!"

"I'm afraid I don't quite follow you"said Lady Kingswood "I'm rather dense, you know! Surely your

"Exactly! If there had been no Valley of Diamonds there would have been no Eagle! But, all the same, this

"My dear child, if you are making a sort of allegory on your wealth, you are not `out of the valley' nor are you

"Oh no, he isn't. He's eccentric, but not vulgar. He's aristocratic to the tips of his toesand English. That

accounts for his rudeness. Sometimes, you knowonly sometimes Englishmen can be very rude! But I'd

rather have them soit's a sort of wellbred clumsiness, like the manners of a Newfoundland dog. It's not

"Nonot English in any sense. I'm pure Celtic of Celt, from the farthest Highlands of Scotland. But I hate to

say I'm `Scotch,' as slangy people use that word for whisky! I'm just Highlandborn. My father and mother

were the same, and I came to life on a wild moor, among mists and mountains and stormy seasI'm always

glad of that! I'm glad my eyes did not look their first on a city! There's a tradition in the part of Scotland

where I was born which tells of a history far far back in time when sailors from Ph*nicia came to our

shores,men greatly civilised when we all were but savages, and they made love to the Highland women

and had children by them, then when they went away back to Egypt they left many traces of Eastern customs

and habits which remain to this day. My father used always to say that he could count his ancestry back to

"Nobut I'm going! My `White Eagle' will take me there in a very short time! But, as I've already told you, I

"I don't ask him!" replied Morgana, indifferently"What I may decide to do is not his business." She broke

off abruptly then continued"He is coming to luncheon,and afterwards you shall see my airship. I

"I couldn't!" said Lady Kingswood, emphatically"I've no nerve for such an adventure."

"Dear `Duchess,' be quite easy in your mind!" she said"I want you very much on land, but I shall not want

you in the air! You will be quite safe and happy here in the Palazzo d'Oro" she turned as she saw the

shadow of a man's tall figure fall on the smooth marble pavement of the loggia"Ah! Here is the Marchese!

"Tropp' onore!" he murmured, as he kissed the little hand she held out to him in the Sicilian fashion of

"Oh no! We were about to go in to luncheonI know the hour by the bell of the monastery down

A soft `tingting tong'rang from the olive and ilex woods below the Palazzo,and Morgana, listening,

"Poor Don Aloysius!" she said"He will now go to his soup maigreand we to our poulet, sauce b�chamel,

"More so, probably!" said Rivardi, as he courteously assisted Lady Kingswood, who was slightly lame, to

"I think so,yes! He has faith in Goda great support that has given way for most of the peoples of this

"I am sorry myself to say it, miladi, but I fear it is true!" he rejoined"It is one sign of a general breakup."

"Oh, you are right! You are very right!" exclaimed Morgana suddenly, and with emphasis"We know that

when even one human being is unable to recognise his best friend we say `Poor man! His brain is gone!'

It's the same thing with a nation. Or a world! When it is so ailing that it cannot recognise the Friend who

brought it into being, who feeds it, keeps it, and gives it all it has, we must say the same thing `Its brain is

"You feel that deeply?" he said"And yetpardon me!you do not assume to be religious?"

"Marchese, I `assume' nothing!" she answered"I cannot `pretend'! To `assume' or to `pretend' would hardly

serve the Creator adequately. Creative or Natural Force is so far away from sham that one must do more than

Her voice thrilled on the air, and Lady Kingswood, who was crossing the loggia, leaning on her stick, paused

to look at the eloquent speaker. She was worth looking at just then, for she seemed inspired. Her eyes were

extraordinarily brilliant, and her whole personality expressed a singular vitality coupled with an ethereal

"Yesone must Be!" she repeated"I have not been a student of science so long without learning that there

is no `assuming' anything in the universe. One must see straight, and think straight too! I could not `assume'

religion, because I feel it in the very depths of my soul! As Don Aloysius said the other day, it is

marvellous how close we are to the Source of all life, and yet we imagine we are far away! If we could only

realise the truth of the Divine Nearness, and work with it and in it, we should make discoveries worth

knowing! We work too much with ourselves and of ourselves." She paused,then added slowly and

seriously"I have never done any work that way. I have always considered myself Nothing,the Force I

"And sobeing Nothing,you still made your airship possible!" said Rivardi, smiling indulgently at her

"It is as you saybeing Nothing myself, and owning myself to be Nothing, the Force that is Everything

TWO or three hours later the `White Eagle' was high in air above the Palazzo d'Oro. Down below Lady

Kingswood stood on the seashore by the aerodrome, watching the wonderful ship of the sky with dazzled,

scared eyesamazed at the lightning speed of its ascent and the steadiness of its level flight. She had seen it

spread its great wings as by selfvolition and soar out of the aerodrome with Morgana seated inside, like an

elfin queen in a fairy carshe had seen the Marchese Giulio Rivardi `take the helm' with the assistant

Gaspard, now no longer a prey to fear, beside him. Up, up and away they had flown, waving to her till she

could see their forms no longertill the `White Eagle' itself looked no bigger than a dove soaring in the blue.

And while she waited, even this faint doveimage vanished! She looked in every direction, but the skies were

empty. To her there was something very terrifying in this complete disappearance of human beings in the vast

stretches of the air they had gone so silently too, for the `White Eagle's' flight made no sound, and though

the afternoon was warm and balmy she felt chilled with the cold of nervous apprehension. Yet they had all

assured her there was no cause for alarm,they were only going on a short trial trip and would be back to

Nothing more,but to Lady Kingswood it seemed much more. She belonged to simple Victorian

daysdays of quiet homelife and home affections, now voted `deadly dull!' and all the rushing to and fro

and gadding about of modern men and women worried and distressed her, for she had the plain common

sense to perceive that it did no good either to health or morals, and led nowhere. She looked wistfully out to

sea,the blue Sicilian sea so exquisite in tone and play of pure reflections,and thought how happy a life

lived after the old sweet ways might be for a brilliant little creature like Morgana, if she could win `a good

man's love' as Shakespeare puts it. And yetwas not this rather harking back to mere sentiment, often

proved delusive? Her own `good man's love' had been very precious to her,but it had not fulfilled all her

heart's longing, though she considered herself an entirely commonplace woman. And what sort of a man

would it be that could hold Morgana? As well try to control a sunbeam or a lightningflash as the restless,

vital, and intellectual spirit that had, for the time being, entered into feminine form, showing itself

nevertheless as something utterly different and superior to women as they are generally known. Some

thoughts such as these, though vague and disconnected, passed through Lady Kingswood's mind as she

turned away from the seashore to reascend the flowerbordered terraces of the Palazzo d'Oro,and it was

with real pleasure that she perceived, on the summit of the last flight of grassy steps, the figure of Don

"I saw the airship flying over the monastery,"he explained, greeting her"And I was anxious to know

whether la Signora had gone away into the skies or was still on earth! She has gone, I suppose?"

"Yes, she has gone!" sighed Lady Kingswood"and the Marchese with her, and one assistant. Her `nerve' is

"You did not think of venturing on a trip with her yourself?" and the priest smiled kindly, as he assisted

"No indeed! I really could not! I feel I ought to be braver but I cannot summon up sufficient courage to

"Then what will you do when you are an angel, dear lady?" queried Aloysius, playfully"You will have to

"I'm afraid I don't think!" she said"I take my life on trust. I always believe that God who brought me here

will take care of me there!wherever `there' is. You understand me, don't you? You speak English so well

"YesI understand you perfectly"he replied"That I speak English is quite natural, for I was educated at

Stonyhurst, in England. I was then for a time at Fort Augustus in Scotland, and studied a great many of the

strange traditions of the Highland Celts, to which mystic people Miss Royal by birth belongs. Her ancestry

While he spoke Lady Kingswood gazed anxiously into the sky, searching it north, south, east, west, for the

"You must not worry yourself,"went on the priest, putting a chair for her in the loggia, and taking one

himself"If we sit here we shall see the airship returning, I fancy, by the western line,certainly near the

"Surely there must be danger?" she said"The terrible accidents that happen every day to these flying

"Yesbut you speak of ordinary flying machines," said Aloysius,"This `White Eagle' is not an ordinary

thing. It is the only one of its kind in the worldthe only one scientifically devised to work with the laws of

"Then how did its engines move, if it had engines?" pursued Aloysius"Had you no curiosity about it?"

"I'm afraid I hadn'tI was really too nervous! Morgana begged me to go inside, but I could not!"

Don Aloysius was silent for a minute or two, out of gentle tolerance. He recognised that Lady Kingswood

belonged to the ordinary class of good, kindly women not overburdened with brains, to whom thought,

particularly of a scientific or reflective nature, would be a kind of physical suffering. And how fortunate it is

that there are, and always will be such women! Many of them are gifted with the supreme talent of making

happiness around themselves,and in this way they benefit humanity more than the often too selfabsorbed

"I understand your feeling;"he said, at last"And I hardly wonder at your very natural fears. I must admit

that I think human daring is going too fast and too farthe science of to day is not tending to make men

A slight sigh escaped him, and Lady Kingswood looked at his fine, composed features with deep interest.

"It is a dubious question!" he answered"When we view the majesty and loveliness of naturewe cannot

but believe we were intended to enjoy the splendid treasures of beauty freely spread out before us,then

again, if we look back thousands of years and consider the great civilisations of the past that have withered

into dust and are now forgotten, we cannot help wondering why there should be such a waste of life for

apparently no purpose. I speak in a secular sense,of course my Church has but one reply to doubt, or what

we call `despair of God's mercy'that it is sin. We are not permitted to criticise or to question the Divine."

"And surely that is best!" said Lady Kingswood, "And surely you have found happiness, or what is nearest to

"Miladi, I have never sought happiness," he replied; "From my earliest boyhood I felt it was not for me.

Among the comrades of my youth many started the race of life with me happiness was the winningpost

they had in viewand they tried many ways to reach itsome through ambition, some through wealth,

some through lovebut I have never chanced to meet one of them who was either happy or satisfied. My

mind was set on nothing for myselfexcept thisto grope through the darkness for the Great Mind behind

the Universeto drop my own `ego' into it, as a drop of rain into the seaand soto be content! And in

this way I have learned much,more than I consider myself worthy to know. Modern science of the surface

kind(not the true deep discoveries)has done its best to detach the raindrop from the sea!but it has

He spoke as it were to himself with the air of one inspired; he had almost forgotten the presence of Lady

"Oh, if I could only think as you do!" she said, in a low tone "Is it truly the Catholic Church that teaches

"The Catholic Church is the sign and watchword of all these things!" he answered"Not only that, but its

sacred symbols, though ancient enough to have been adopted from Babylonia and Chaldea, are actually the

symbols of our most modern science. Catholicism itself does not as yet recognise this. Like a blind child

stumbling towards the light it has felt the discoveries of science long before discovery. In our sacraments

there are the hints of the transmutation of elements,the `Sanctus' bell suggests wireless telegraphy or

telepathy, that is to say, communication between ourselves and the divine Unseen,and if we are permitted

to go deeper, we shall unravel the mystery of that `rising from the dead' which means renewed life. I am a

`prejudiced' priest, of course"and he smiled, gravely"but with all its mistakes, errors, crimes (if you

will) that it is answerable for since its institution, through the sins of unworthy servants, Catholicism is the

only creed with the true seed of spiritual life within itthe only creed left standing on a firm foundation in

"There are only three things that can make a nation great, the love of God, the truth of man, the purity of

woman. Without these three the greatest civilisation existing must perish,no matter how wide its power or

how vast its wealth. Ignorant or vulgar persons may sneer at this as `the obvious' but it is the `obvious' sun

"How truly you speak!" she murmured"And yet we live in a time when such truths appear to have no

"As every one was in the `Cities of the Plain'"he said, "and we may well expect another rain of fire!"

Here, lifting his eyes, he saw in the soft blush rose of the approaching sunset a small object like a white bird

"Here it comes!" he exclaimed"Not the rain of fire, but something more agreeable! I told you, did I not,

"At this distance it is small"answered Aloysius"But wait! Watch,and you will soon perceive its great

They stood together, gazing into the reddening west, thrilled with expectancy,while with a steady

swiftness and accuracy of movement the birdlike object which at the first glimpse had seemed so small

gradually loomed larger with nearer vision, its enormous wings spreading wide and beating the air

rhythmically as though the true pulsation of life impelled their action. Neither Lady Kingswood nor Don

Aloysius exchanged a word, so absorbed were they in watching the `White Eagle' arrive, and not till it began

to descend towards the shore did they relax their attention and turn to each other with looks of admiration and

At that moment the `White Eagle' swooped suddenly over the gardens, noiselessly and with an enormous

spread of wing that was like a white cloud in the skythen gracefully swerved aside towards its `shed' or

aerodrome, folding its huge pinions as of its own will and sliding into its quarters as easily as a hand may

slide into a loose fitting glove. The two interested watchers of its descent and swift `run home' had no time to

exchange more than a few words of comment before Morgana ran lightly up the terrace, calling to them with

"It was glorious!" she exclaimed"Just glorious! We've been to Naples,crowds gathered in the street to

stare at us,we were ever so high above them and they couldn't make us out, as we moved so silently! Then

we hovered for a bit over Capri, the island looked like a lovely jewel shining with sun and sea,and now

here we are!home in plenty of time to dress for dinner! You see, dear `Duchess'you need not have been

nervous, the `White Eagle' is safer than any railway train, and ever so much pleasanter!"

"Well, I'm glad you've come back all right"said Lady Kingswood"It's a great relief! I certainly was

"Oh, you must never be afraid of anything!" laughed Morgana "It does no good. We are all too much

afraid of everything and everybody,and often when there's nothing to be afraid of! Am I not right, most

reverend Father Aloysius?" and she turned with a radiant smile to the priest whose serious dark eyes rested

upon her with an expression of mingled admiration and wonder"I'm so glad to find you here with Lady

KingswoodI'm sure you told her there was no danger for me, didn't you? Yes? I thought so! Now do stay

and dine with us, please!I want you to talk to the Marchese Rivardihe's rather cross! He cannot bear me

to have my own way!I suppose all men are like that!they want women to submit, not to command!" She

laughed again. "See!here he comes,with the sulky air of a naughty boy!" this, as Rivardi slowly

mounted the terrace steps and approached"I'm off to dress for dinnercome, `Duchess!' We'll leave the

She slipped her arm through Lady Kingswood's and hurried her away. Don Aloysius was puzzled by her

words,and, as Rivardi came up to him raised his eyebrows interrogatively. The Marchese answered the

"Altr�! She is impossible!" he said irritably"Wild as the wind!uncontrollable! She will kill

"What has she done?" asked Aloysius, smiling a little"Has she invented something new?a parachute in

"Nothing of the kind"retorted Rivardi; vexed beyond all reason at the priest's tranquil air of

goodhumoured tolerance "But she insists on steering the airship herself! She took my place today."

"Well! You think that nothing? I tell you it is very serious very foolhardy. She knows nothing of aerial

"No, it was wonderful"he admitted, reluctantly; "Especially for a first attempt. And now she declares she

will travel with the `White Eagle' alone! Alone! Think of it! That little creature alone in the air with a huge

"Have patience, Giulio!" said Don Aloysius, gently"I think she cannot mean what she says in this

particular instance. She is naturally full of triumph at the success of her invention, an amazing invention

you must own!and her triumph makes her bold. But be quite easy in your mind!she will not travel

"She willshe will!" declared Rivardi, passionately"She will do anything she has a mind to do! As well

try to stop the wind as stop her! She has some scheme in her brain,some fantastic vision of that Brazen

"Only a legend!" replied Aloysius, slowly"Some travellers say it is a mirage of the desert,others tell

stories of having heard the bells in the brazen towers ring,but no oneno one" and he repeated the words

with emphasis"has ever been able to reach even the traditional environs of the place. Our hostess"and

he smiled"is a very wonderful little person, but even she will hardly be able to discover the

"Perhaps not!"he said, at last"Our life all through is a voyage of discovery wherein we have no certainty

of the port of arrival. The puzzling part of it is that we often `discover' what has been discovered before, in

past ages where the discoverers seemed to make no use of their discoveries!and so we lose ourselves in

wonderand often in weariness!" He sighed, then added"Had we not better go in and prepare to meet

our hostess at dinner? And Giulio!unbend your brows!you must not get angry with your charming

benefactress! If you do not let her have her way, she will never let you have yours!"

"Oh, mine! I must give up all hopeshe will never think of me more than as a workman who has carried out

her design. There is something very strange about hershe seems, at certain moments, to withdraw herself

from all the interests of mere humanity. Today, for instance, she looked down from the airship on the

swarming crowds in the streets of Naples and said `Poor little microbes! How sad it is to see them crawling

about and festering down there! What is the use of them! I wish I knew!' Then, when I ventured to suggest

that possibly they were more than `microbes,'they were human beings that loved and worked and thought

and created, she looked at me with those wonderful eyes of hers and answered`Microbes do the same

only we don't take the trouble to think about them! But if we knew their lives and intentions, I daresay we

should find they are quite as clever in their own line as we are in ours!' What is one to say to a woman who

"But she argues quite correctly after all! My son, you are like the majority of menthey grow impatient with

clever women,they prefer stupid ones. In fact they deliberately choose stupid ones to be the mothers of

their childrenhence the ever increasing multitude of fools!" He moved towards the open doors of the

beautiful loungehall of the Palazzo, Rivardi walking at his side. "But you will grant me a measure of

wisdom in the advice I gave you the other daythe little millionairess is unlike other womenshe is not

capable of loving,not in the way loving is understood in this world,therefore do not seek from her what

she cannot give!As for her `flying alone' leave that to the fates!I do not think she will attempt it."

They entered the Palazzo just as a servant was about to announce to them that dinner would be served in a

quarter of an hour, and their talk, for the time being, ended. But the thoughts of both men were busy; and

unknown to each other, centred round the enigmatical personality of one woman who had become more

interesting to them than anything else in the world,so much so indeed that each in his own private mind

THAT evening Morgana was in one of her most bewitching moods even the old Highland word `fey'

scarcely described her many brilliant variations from grave to gay, from gay to romantic, and from romantic

to a kind of humoroussatiric vein which moved her to utter quick little witticisms which might have seemed

barbed with too sharp a point were they not so quickly covered with a sweetness of manner which deprived

them of all malice. She looked her best too,she had robed herself in a garment of pale shimmering blue

which shone softly like the gleam of moonbeams through crystalher wonderful hair was twisted up in a

coronal held in place by a band of diamonds, tiny diamonds twinkled in her ears, and a star of diamonds

glittered on her breast. Her elfin beauty, totally unlike the beauty of accepted standards, exhaled a subtle

influence as a lily exhales fragranceand the knowledge she had of her own charm combined with her

indifference as to its effect upon others gave her a dangerous attractiveness. As she sat at the head of her

daintily adorned dinnertable she might have posed for a fairy queen in days when fairies were still believed

in and queens were envied,and Giulio Rivardi's thoughts were swept to and fro in his brain by

crosscurrents of emotion which were not altogether disinterested or virtuous. For years his spirit had been

fretted and galled by poverty,he, the descendant of a long line of proud Sicilian nobles, had been forced to

earn a precarious livelihood as an art decorator and adviser to `newly rich' people who had neither taste nor

judgment, teaching them how to build, restore or furnish their houses according to the pure canons of art, in

the knowledge of which he excelled,and now, when chance or providence had thrown Morgana in his way,

Morgana with her millions, and an enchanting personality,he inwardly demanded why he should not

win her to have and to hold for his own? He was a personable man, nobly born, finely educated,was it

possible that he had not sufficient resolution and force of character to take the precious citadel by storm?

These ideas flitted vaguely across his mind as he watched his fair hostess talking, now to Don Aloysius, now

to Lady Kingswood, and sometimes flinging him a light word of badinage to rally him on what she chose to

"He can't get over it!" she declared, smiling"Poor Marchese Giulio! That I should have dared to steer my

"I cannot forgive your putting yourself into danger," said Rivardi"You ran a great riskyou must pardon

"It is good of you to think it valuable,"and her wonderful blue eyes were suddenly shadowed with

"Only because I feel it!"replied Morgana"I daresay my life is not more valueless than other livesthey

are all without ultimate meaning. If I knew, quite positively, that I was all in all to some one being who

would be unhappy without me,to whom I could be helper and inspirer, I daresay I should value my life

more,but unfortunately I have seen too much of the modern world to believe in the sincerity of even that

`one' being, could I find himor her. I am very positively alone in life,no woman was ever more alone

"Quite!" she answered, smiling"I fully admit it. I am what they call `difficult' I know,I do not like

`society' or its amusements, which to me seem very vulgar and senseless,I do not like its conversation,

which I find excessively banal and often coarseI cannot set my soul on tennis or golf or bridge so I'm

quite an `outsider.' But I'm not sorry!I should not care to be inside the human menagerie. Too much

barking, biting, scratching, and general howling among the animals!it wouldn't suit me!"

"That's why I say my life is valueless to anyone but myself. And that's why I'm not afraid to risk it in flying

Her hearers were silent. Indeed there was nothing to be said. Whatever her will or caprice there was no one

with any right to gainsay it. Rivardi was inwardly seething with suppressed irritationbut his handsome face

showed no sign of annoyance save in an extreme pallor and gravity of expression.

"I think,"said Don Aloysius, after a pause"I think our hostess will do us the grace of believing that

whatever she has experienced of the world in general, she has certainly won the regard and interest of those

whom she honours with her company at the present moment!"and his voice had a thrill of irresistible

kindness"And whatever she chooses to do, and however she chooses to do it, she cannot avoid involving

"Dear Father Aloysius!" interrupted Morgana, quickly and impulsively"Forgive me!I did not think!I

am sure you and the Marchese and Lady Kingswood have the kindest feeling for me!but"

"But!"and Aloysius smiled"Butit is a little lady that will not be commanded or controlled! Yesthat

is so! However this may be, let us not imagine that in the rush of commerce and the marvels of science the

Morgana's eyes flashed up, then drooped under their white lids fringed with gold.

It was broken by the entrance of a servant announcing that coffee was served in the loggia. They left the

dinnertable and went out into the wonder of a perfect Sicilian moonlight. All the gardens were illumined

and the sea beyond, with wide strands of silver spreading on all sides, falling over the marble pavements and

steps of the loggia and glistening on certain white flowering shrubs with the smooth sheen of polished pearl.

The magical loveliness of the scene, made lovelier by the intense silence of the hour, held them as with a

binding spell, and Morgana, standing by one of the slender columns which not only supported the loggia but

the whole Palazzo d'Oro as with the petrified stems of trees, made a figure completely in harmony with her

"Could anything be more enchantingly beautiful!" sighed Lady Kingswood"One ought to thank God for

"And many people with eyes would not see it at all,"said Don Aloysius"They would go indoors, shut

"Ah, poor Shakespeare!" said Morgana"What a lesson he gives us miserable little moderns in the worth of

fame! So great, so unapproachable,and yet!doubted and slandered and reviled three hundred years after

"But what does that matter?" returned Aloysius, "Envy and detraction in their blackness only emphasise his

brightness, just as a star shines more brilliantly in a dark sky. One always recognises a great spirit by the

littleness of those who strive to wound it,if it were not great it would not be worth wounding!"

"Shakespeare might have imagined my airship!" said Morgana, suddenly"He was perhaps dreaming

"Quite true!"said the Marchese Rivardi, looking at her as she stood, bathed in the moonlight, a nymphlike

figure of purely feminine charm, as unlike the accepted idea of a `science' scholar as could well be

imagined"And the manner of its sailing is a mystery which you only can explain! Surely you will reveal

this secret?especially when so many rush into the aircraft business without any idea of the scientific laws

by which you uphold your great design? Much has been said and written concerning new schemes for

"That is so like men!" interrupted Morgana, with a laugh "They will think of steam power when they are

actually in possession of electricity!and they will stick to electricity without moving the one step further

which would give them the full use of radioactivity! They will `bungle' to the end!and their bungling is

always brought about by an ineffable conceit of their own socalled `logical' conclusions! Poor dears!they

`get there' at lastand in the course of centuries find out what they could have discovered in a month if they

"Well, then,help them now,"said Rivardi"Give them the chance to learn your secret!"

Morgana moved away from the column where she had leaned, and came more fully into the broad moonlight.

"My dear Marchese Giulio!" she said, indulgently, "You really are a positive child in your very optimistic

lookout on the world of today! Suppose I were to `give them the chance,' as you suggest, to learn my

secret, how do you think I should be received? I might go to the great scientific institutions of London and

Paris and I might ask to be heardI might offer to give a `demonstration,'" here she began to laugh; "Oh

dear!it would never do for a woman to `demonstrate' and terrify all the male professors, would it!

No!well, I should probably have to wait months before being `heard,'then I should probably meet with

the chill repudiation dealt out to that wonderful Hindu scientist Jagadis Bose by Burdon Sanderson when the

brilliant Indian savant tried to teach men what they never knew before about the life of plants. Not only that, I

should be met with incredulity and ridicule`a woman! a woman dares to assume knowledge superior to

ours!' and so forth. No, no! Let the wise men try their steam airships and spoil the skies by smoke and

vapour, so that agriculture becomes more and more difficult, and sunshine an almost forgotten

benediction!let them go their own foolish way till they learn wisdom of themselvesno one could ever

teach them what they refuse to learn, till they tumble into a bog or quicksand of dilemma and have to be

"Very often! Marja Sklodowska Curie, for example, has pulled many scientists out of the mud, but they are

not grateful enough to acknowledge it. One of the greatest women of the age, she is allowed to remain in

comparative obscurity,even Anatole France, though he called her a `genius,' had not the generosity or

largeness of mind to praise her as she deserves. Though, of course, like all really great souls she is indifferent

to praise or blamethe notice of the decadent press, noisy and vulgar like the beating of the cheapjack's

drum at a country fair, has no attraction for her. Nothing is known of her private life,not a photograph of

her is obtainableshe has the lovely dignity of complete reserve. She is one of my heroines in this lifeshe

does not offer herself to the cheap journalist like a milliner's mannequin or a film face. She will not give

"But you might benefit the human race"said Rivardo "Would not that thought weigh with you?"

"Not in the least!"and she smiled"The human race in its present condition is `an unweeded garden,

things rank and gross in nature possess it merely,' and it wants clearing. I have no wish to benefit it. It has

always murdered its benefactors. It deludes itself with the idea that the universe is for It alone, it ignores

the fact that there are many other sharers in its privileges and surroundingspresences and personalities as

real as itself. I am almost a believer in what the oldtime magicians called `elementals'especially now."

Don Aloysius rose from his chair and put aside his emptied coffeecup. His tall fine figure, silhouetted more

densely black by the whiteness of the moonrays, had a singularly imposing effect.

"Why especially now?" he asked, almost imperatively"What has chanced to make you accept the ideaan

old idea, older than the lost continent of Atlantis!of creatures built up of finer lifecells than ours?"

"Nothing has chanced that causes me any wonder," she said "or that would `make' me accept any theory

which I could not put to the test for myself. But, out in New York while I have been away, a fellowstudent

of minejust a boy, has found out the means of `creating energy from some unknown source'that is,

unknown to the scientists of ruleandline. They call his electric apparatus `an atmospheric generator.'

Naturally this implies that the atmosphere has something to `generate' which has till now remained hidden

and undeveloped. I knew this long ago. Had I not known it I could not have thought out the secret of the

She paused to allow the murmured exclamations of her hearers subside,then she went on"You can

easily understand that if atmosphere generates one form of energy it is capable of many other forms,and on

these lines there is nothing to be said against the possibility of `elementals.' I feel quite `elemental' myself in

this glorious moonlight!just as if I could slip out of my body like a butterfly out of a chrysalis and spread

She lifted her fair arms upward with a kind of expansive rapture,the moonbeams seemed to filter through

the delicate tissue of her garments adding brightness to their folds and sparkling frostily on the diamonds in

her hair,and even Lady Kingswood's very placid nature was conscious of an unusual thrill, half of surprise

"You have rather the look of a butterfly!" she said, kindly "One of those beautiful tropical thingsor a

Morgana laughed, and let her arms drop at her sides. She felt rather than saw the admiring eyes of the two

"Yesit is a lovely night,for Sicily,"she said. "But it would be lovelier in California!"

"Why? Oh, I don't know why! I often think of Californiait is so vast! Sicily is a speck of gardenland

compared with itand when the moon rises full over the great hills and spreads a wide sheet of silver over

the Pacific Ocean you begin to realise a something beyond ordinary natureit helps you to get to the

Just then the soft slow tolling of a bell struck through the air and Don Aloysius prepared to take his leave.

"The `beyond' calls to me from the monastery," he said, smiling"I have been too long absent. Will you

"Willingly!" and the Marchese bowed over Lady Kingswood's hand as he bade her `Good night.'

"I will accompany you both to the gate,"said Morgana, suddenly"and thenwhen you are both gone I

Lady Kingswood looked dubiously at her, but was too tactful to offer any objection such as the `danger of

catching cold' which the ordinary duenna would have suggested, and which would have seemed absurd in the

warmth and softness of such a summer night. Besides, if Morgana chose to `wander by the light of the moon'

who could prevent her? No one! She stepped off the loggia on to the velvety turf below with an aerial grace

more characteristic of flying than walking, and glided along between the tall figures of the Marchese and Don

Aloysius like a dreamspirit of the air; and Lady Kingswood, watching her as she descended the garden

terraces and gradually disappeared among the trees, was impressed, as she had often been before, by a strange

sense of the supernatural,as if some being wholly unconnected with ordinary mortal happenings were

visiting the world by a mere chance. She was a little ashamed of this `uncanny' feeling,and after a few

minutes' hesitation she decided to retire within the house and to her own apartments, rightly judging that

Morgana would be better pleased to find her so gone than waiting for her return like a sentinel on guard. She

gave a lingering look at the exquisite beauty of the moonlit scene, and thought with a sigh

And then she turned, slowly pacing across the loggia and entering the Palazzo, where the gleam of electric

Meanwhile, Morgana, between her two escorts, stepped lightly along, playfully arguing with them both on

"You are so very serious, you good Padre Aloysius!" she said "And you, Marcheseyou who are

generally so charming!to night you are a very morose companion! You are still in the dumps about my

"And I also!"said Aloysius, earnestly"Dear lady, be advised! Think no more of flying in the vast spaces

of air alone alone with an enormous piece of mechanism which might fail at any moment"

"It cannot fail unless the laws of nature fail!"said Morgana, emphatically"How strange it is that neither

of you seems to realise that the force which moves the `White Eagle' is natural force alone! Howeveryou

are but men!" Here she stopped in her walk, and her brilliant eyes flashed from one to the

other"Men!with preconceived ideas wedged in obstinacy! yes!you cannot help yourselves! Even

"Well!" he said, gently"What of Father Aloysius? He is `but man' as you say!a poor priest having

nothing in common with your wealth or your selfwill, my child!one whose soul admits no other

instruction than that of the Great Intelligence ruling the universe, and from whose ordinance comes forth joy

or sorrow, wisdom or ignorance. We are but dust on the wind before this mighty power!even you, with all

"True!" she said"And you would save this phantom from vanishing into air utterly?"

"I would!" he answered"I would fain place you in God's keeping,"and with a gesture infinitely tender

and solemn, he made the sign of the cross above her head"with a prayer that you may be guided out of the

tangled ways of life as lived in these days, to the true realisation of happiness!"

"You are good!far too good!" she said"And I am wild and wilfulforgive me! I will say good night

herewe are just at the gate. Good night, Marchese! I promise you shall fly with me to the EastI will not

go alone. There!be satisfied!" And she gave him a bewitching smilethen with another markedly gentle

`Good night' to Aloysius, she turned away and left them, choosing a path back to the house which was thickly

"I? My son, I have no aim in view with regard to her! I should like to see her happy,she has great wealth,

and great gifts of intellect and abilitybut these do not make real happiness for a woman. And yetI doubt

"No, because she is not an `ordinary' woman," said Rivardi, quickly"More's the pity I thinkfor her!"

Rivardi made no answer, and they walked on in silence, the priest parting with his companion at the gate of

the monastery, and the Marchese going on to his own halfruined villa lifting its crumbling walls out of wild

verdure and suggesting the historic past, when a C�sar spent festal hours in its great gardens which were now

Meantime, Morgana, the subject of their mutual thoughts, followed the path she had taken down to the

seashore. Alone there, she stood absorbed,a fairylike figure in her shimmering soft robe and the

diamonds flashing in her hair now looking at the moonlit water,now back to the beautiful outline of the

Palazzo d'Oro, lifted on its rocky height and surrounded by a paradise of flowers and foliagethen to the

long wide structure of the huge shed where her wonderful air ship lay, as it were, in harbour. She stretched

"I have all I want!"she said softly aloud,"All!all that money can buymore than money has ever

bought!and yetthe unknown quantity called happiness is not in the bargain. What is it? Why is it? I am

like the princess in the `Arabian Nights' who was quite satisfied with her beautiful palace till an old woman

came along and told her that it wanted a roc's egg to make it perfect. And she became at once miserable and

discontented because she had not the roc's egg! I thought her a fool when I read that story in my

She laughed to herself and looked up at the splendid moon, round as a golden shield in heaven.

"How the moon shone that night in California!" she murmured "And Roger Seatonbearman as he

iswould have given worlds to hold me in his arms and kiss me as he did once when he `didn't mean it!' Ah!

And there swept over her mind the memory of Manellaher rich, warm, dark beautyher frank

abandonment to passions purely primitive,and she smiled, a cold little weird smile.

"He may marry her"she said"And yetI think not! Butif he does marry her he will never love

heras he loves me! How we play at crosspurposes in our lives!he is not a marrying manI am not a

marrying womanwe are both out for conquest on other lines,and if either of us wins our way, what

Roger Seaton asked the question of Manella; twirling in his hand an unopened letter she had just given him.

She nodded in the affirmative. He looked at her critically, amused at the evident pains she had taken with her

dress and general appearance. He twirled the letter again like a toy in his fingers.

"Not a bit of it!" and Roger stretched himself lazily and yawned"He's the friend of nobody who is poor.

But he's the comrade of everybody with plenty of cash. He's as hard as a dried old walnut, without the shred

"You are wrong!" said Manella, flushing up suddenly"You are wrong and unjust! He is an ugly old man,

"Manella, oh Manella!" he exclaimed"What has he said or done to you to win your good opinion? Has he

made you some pretty compliments, and told you that you are beautiful? Every one can tell you that, my

dear! It does not need Mr. Senator Gwent's assurance to emphasise the fact! That you find him an ugly old

Manella gazed at him seriouslyher lovely eyes gleaming like jewels under her long black lashes.

"My dear girl, I really cannot regard Mr. Senator Gwent as a figure to be reverenced!"he said"He's one

of the dustiest, driest old dollargrabbers in the States. I gave him the chance of fresh grabbut he was too

"Of shadows!shadows of coming events!yes, they scared him! Now if you are a good girl, and will sit

very quiet, you can come into my hut out of this scorching sun, and sit down while I read the letterI may

He went before her into the hut, and she followed. He bade her sit down in the chair by the window,she

obeyed, and glanced about her shyly, yet curiously. The room was not untidy, as she expected it would be

without a woman's hand to set it in order,on the contrary it was the perfection of neatness and cleanliness.

Her gaze was quickly attracted by the bowl of perpetually moving fluid in the centre of the table.

"That? Oh, nothing! An invention of minejust to look pretty and cool in warm weather! It reminds me of

women's caprices and fanciesalways on the jump! Yes!don't frown, Manella!that is so! Nowlet me

see what Mr. Sam Gwent has to say that he didn't say before" and seating himself, he opened the letter

Manella watched him from under the shadow of her long fringed eyelidsher heart beat quickly and

uncomfortably. She was fearful lest Gwent should have broken faith with her after all, and have written of her

and her vain passion, to the man who already knew of it only too well. She waited patiently for the `god of

her idolatry' to look up. At last he did so. But he seemed to have forgotten her presence. His brows were

"A syndicate! Old humbug! He knows perfectly well that the thing could not be run by a syndicate! It must be

a State's own single possessiona State's special secret. If I were as bent on sheer destructiveness as he

imagines me to be, I should waste no more time, but offer it to Germany. Germany would take it at

onceGermany would require no persuasion to use it! Germany would make me a millionaire twice over

for the monopoly of such a force!that is, if I wanted to be a millionaire, which I don't. But Gwent's a

foolI must have scared him out of his wits, or he wouldn't write all this stuff about risks to my life,

advising me to marry quickly and settle down! Good God! I?Marry and settle down? What a tame ending

His eyes lighted upon her as if he had only just seen her. He rose from his chair and went over to where she

"Patient girl!" he said, patting her dark head with his big sunbrowned hand"As good as gold and quieter

than a mouse! Well! You may go now. I've read the letter and there's no answer. Nothing for me to write, or

She lifted her brilliant eyes to hiswhat glorious eyes they were! He would not have been man had he not

been conscious of their amorous fire. He patted her head again in quite a paternal way.

"Nothing for me to write or for you to post!"he repeated, abstractedly"and how satisfactory that is!"

"Pleased? My dear, there is nothing to be pleased or displeased about! The ugly old man whom you found so

`very kind,' tells me to take care of myselfwhich I always do. Also to marry and settle downwhich I

She stood upright, turning her head away from the touch of his hand. She had never looked more attractive

than at that moment,she wore the white gown in which he had before admired her, and a cluster of roses

which were pinned to her bodice gave rich contrast to the soft tone of her smooth, sun tanned skin, and

swayed lightly with the unquiet heaving of the beautiful bosom which might have served a sculptor as a

"You always don't? That sounds very droll! You will be unlike every man in the world, then,they all

And he looked at her, smiling. Her passionate eyes, full of glowing ardour, met his,a flashing fire seemed

to leap from them into his own soul, and for the moment he almost lost his selfpossession.

"Wise Manella!" he repeated, his voice shaking a little, while he fought with the insidious temptation which

beset him,the temptation to draw her into his arms and take his fill of the love she was so ready to

give"They always marry? No dear, they do not! Many of them avoid marriage" he paused, then

"Because it is the end of romance! Because it rings down the curtain on a beautiful Play! The music

ceasesthe lights are put outthe audience goes home,and the actors take off their fascinating costumes,

wash away their paint and powder and sit down to supperpossibly fried steak and onions and a pot of beer.

In this flippant talk he gained the mastery over himself he had feared to loseand laughed heartily as he saw

"I do not understand!" she said, plaintively"What is steak and onions?how do they make a marriage?

"Yes, don't I?" he rejoined"But not half such strange things as I could say if I were so inclined! I'm a queer

He touched her hair gently, putting back a stray curl that had fallen across her forehead.

"Now, dear," he continued, "It's time you went. You'll be wanted at the Plazaand they mustn't think I'm

"There's no danger of that!" she said, with a little suppressed tremor in her throat like the sob of a nightingale

"Isn't there?" and putting his arm round her, he drew her close to himself and looked full in her

She remained still and passive in his armshardly daring to breathe, so rapt was she in a sudden ecstasy, but

"A moment ago!" he repeated, in a half whisper. "A moment ago I could have made such desperate love to

you as would have astonished myself!and you! And I should have regretted it ever afterwardsand so

"No, nonot I!" she said, in quick little passionate murmurs "I could not regret it!If you loved me for

an hour it would be the joy of my lifetime!You might leave me,you might forget!but that would not

take away my pride and gladness! You might kill meI would die gladly if it saved your life! ah, you do

And she lifted her face to hisa face so lovely, so young, so warm with her soul's inward rapture that its

glowing beauty might have made a lover of an anchorite. But with Roger Seaton the impulses of passion were

briefthe momentary flame had gone out in vapour, and the spirit of the anchorite prevailed. He looked at

the dewy red lips, delicately parted like rose petalsbut he did not kiss them, and the clasp of his arms round

"Hush, hush, Manella!" he said, with a mild kindness, which in her overwrought state was more distracting

than angry words would have been"Hush! You talk foolishnessbeautiful foolishnessall women do

when they set their fancies on men. It is nature, of course,you think it is love, but, my dear girl, there is no

such thing as love! There!now you are cross!" for she drew herself quickly away from his hold and stood

apart, her eyes sparkling, her breast heaving, with the air of a goddess enraged,"You are cross because I

"It is not the truth," she said, in a low voice quivering with intense feeling"you tell me lies to disguise

yourself. But I can see! You yourself love a womanbut you have not my courage!you are afraid to own

it! You would give the world to hold her in your arms as you just now held mebut you will not admit

itnot even to yourselfand you pretend to hate when you are mad for love!just as you pretend to be ill

when you are well! You should be ashamed to say there is no such thing as love! What mean you then by

She looked lovelier than ever in her anger, and he was taken by surprise at the impetuous and instinctive

guess she had made at the complexity of his moods, which he himself scarcely understood. For a moment he

stood inert, embarrassed by her straight, halfscornful glancethen he regained his usual mental poise and

"Temper, Manella!temper again! A pity, a pity! Your Spanish blood is too fiery, Manella!it is indeed!

You have been very rudedo you know how rude you have been? But there! I forgive you! You are only a

"Manella, there is a big cloud in the west just over the ocean. It is shaped like a great white eagle and its

wings are edged with gold,it is the beginning of a fine sunset. Come and look at it,and while we watch it

She hesitated,her whole spirit was up in arms against this man whom she loved, and who, so she argued

with herself, had allowed her to love him, while having no love for her; and yet, since Gwent had told her

that his mysterious occupation might result in disaster and danger to his life, her devotion had received a new

impetus which was wholly unselfish,that of watchful guardianship such as inspires a faithful dog to defend

its master. And, moved by this thought, she obeyed his beckoning hand, and stood with him on the sward

outside the hut, looking at the cloud he described. It was singularly white, newfallen snow could be no

whiter,and, shaped like a huge bird, its great wings spread out to north and south were edged with a

redgold fire. Seaton pushed an old tree stump into position and sat down upon it, making Manella sit beside

"Now for this talk!" he said"Love is the subject,Love the theme! We are taught that we must love God

and love our neighbourbut we don't, because we can't! In the case of God we cannot love what we don't

know and don't see,and we cannot love our neighbour because he is often a person whom we do know and

can see, and who is extremely offensive. Now let us consider what is love? You, Manella, are angry because I

say there is no such thingand you accuse me of indulging in love for a woman myself. YetI still declare,

in spite of you, there is no such thing as love! I ought to be ashamed of myself for saying thisso you

think!but I'm not ashamed. I know I'm right! Love is a divine idea, never realised. It is like a ninth new

note in the musical scalenot to be attained. It is suggested in the highest forms of poetry and art, but the

suggestion can never be carried out. What men and women call `love' is the ordinary attraction of sex,the

same attraction that pulls all male and female living things together and makes them mate. It is very

"You have much talk"she said"and no doubt you are clever. But I think you are all wrong!"

"You do? Wise child! Now listen to my much talk a little longer! Have you ever watched silkworms? No?

They are typical examples of humanity. A silkworm, while it is a worm, feeds to repletion,you can never

get it as many mulberry leaves as it would like to eatthen when it is gorged, it builds itself a beautiful

house of silk, (which is taken away from it in due course) and comes out at the door in wings!wings it

hardly uses and seems not to understandthen, if it is a female moth, it looks about for `love' from the male.

If the male `loves' it, the female produces a considerable number of eggs like pin headsand then?what

then? Why she promptly dies, and there's an end of her! Her sole aim and end of being was to produce eggs,

which in their turn become worms and repeat the same dull routine of business. Nowthink me as brutal as

you likeI say a woman is very like a female silkworm,she comes out of her beautiful silken cocoon of

maidenhood with wings which she doesn't know how to useshe merely flutters about waiting to be

`loved'and when this dream she calls `love' comes to her, she doesn't dream any longershe wakesto

find her life finished!finished, Manella!dry as a gourd with all the juice run out!"

Manella rose from her seat beside him. The warm light in her eyes had goneher face was pale, and as she

"I am sorry for you!" she said. "If you think these things your thoughts are quite dreadful! You are a cruel

man after all! I am sorry I spoke of the beautiful little lady who came here to see youyou do not love

heryou cannot!I felt sure you didbut I am wrong!there is no love in you except for yourself and

She spoke, breathing quickly, and trembling with suppressed emotion. He smiled,and, rising, saluted her

"Thank you, Manella! You give me a true character!Myself and my own will are certainly the chief factors

in my lifeand they may work wonders yet!who knows! And there is no love in meno!not what you

call love!butas concerns the `beautiful little lady,' you may know this much of methat I want her!"

He threw out his hands with a gesture that was almost tragic, and such an expression came into his face of

savagery and tenderness commingled that Manella retreated from him in vague terror.

"I want her!" he repeated"And why? Not to `love' her,but to break her wings,for she, unlike a

silkworm moth, knows how to use them! I want her, to make her proud mind bend to my will and way!I

want her, to show her how a man can, shall, and must be master of a woman's brain and soul!"

A sudden heat of pentup feeling broke out in this impulsive rush of words;he checked himself,and

"You see, Manella?" he said, in quiet tones"There is no such thing as `love,' but there is such a thing as

The colour rushed back to her cheeks in a warm glowher great dark eyes were ablaze with indignation. She

"And I hope you will never get her!" she said, passionately "I will pray the Holy Virgin to save her from

you! For you are wicked! She is like an angeland you are a devil!yes, surely you must be, or you could

not say such horrible things! You do not want me, you say? I know that! I am a fool to have shown you my

heartyou have broken it, but you do not careyou could have been master of my brain and soul whenever

The touch of satire in these words was lost on her,she took them quite literally, and a sudden softness

"Yes!quite easy!" she said"And you would be pleased! You would do as you wished with memen

"When it is worth while!" he thought, looking at her with a curious pitifulness as one might look at a

"Yes, Manella!men like to rule women. It is their special privilegethey have enjoyed it always, even in

the days when the Indian `braves' beat their squaws out here in California, and killed them outright if they

dared to complain of the beating! Women are busy just now trying to rule menit's an experiment, but it

won't do! Men are the masters of life! They expect to be obeyed by all the rest of creation. I expect to be

obeyed!and so, Manella, when I tell you to go home, you must go! Yes!love, tempers and all!you

"I am going!" she answered"But I shall come again. Oh, yes! And yet again! and very often! I shall come

even if it is only to find you dead on this hillkilled by your own secret! YesI shall come!"

He gave an involuntary movement of surprise and annoyance. Had Mr. Senator Gwent discussed his affairs

with this beautiful foolish girl who, like some forest animal, cared for nothing but the satisfaction of mating

"What do you mean, Manella?" he demanded, imperatively"Do you expect to find me dead?"

She nodded vehemently. Tears were in her eyes and she turned her head away that he might not see them.

"What a cheerful prospect!" he exclaimed, gaily"And I'm to be killed by my own secret, am I? I wonder

what it is! Ah, Manella, Manella! That stupid old Gwent has been at you, stuffing your mind with a lot of

nonsensedon't you believe him! I've no `secret' that will kill meI don't want to be killed! No, Manella!

Though you come `again and yet again and ever so often' as you say, you will not find me dead! I'm too

But Manella, yielding to her inward excitement, pointed a hand at him with the warning air of a tragedy

"Do not boast!" she said"God is always listening! No man is too strong for God! I am not cleverI have

no knowledge of what you dobut this I will tell you surely! You may have a secret,or you may not have

it,but if you play with the powers of God you will be punished! Yes!of that I am quite certain! And this

I will also sayif you were to pull all the clouds down upon you and the thunders and the lightnings and all

the terrible things of destruction in the world, I would be there! And you would know what love

is!Yes!"her voice choked, and then pealed out like that of a Sibylline prophetess, "If God struck you

And with a wild, sobbing cry she rushed away from him down the hill before he could move or utter a word.

A RED sky burned over Egypt,red with the deep intensity of spreading fire. The slowcreeping waters of

the Nile washed patches of dull crimson against the oozy mudbanks, tipping palms and swaying reeds with

colour as though touched with vermilion, and here and there long stretches of wet sand gleamed with a tawny

gold. All Cairo was out, inhabitants and strangers alike, strangers especially, conceiving it part of their

`money's worth' never to miss a sunset,and beyond Cairo, where the Pyramids lifted their summits

aloft,stern points of warning or menace from the past to the present and the future,a crowd of tourists

with their Arab guides were assembled, staring upward in amazement at a white wonder in the red sky, a

great airship, which, unlike other airships, was noiseless, and moved vast wings up and down with the

steady, swift rhythm of a bird's flight, as though of its own volition. It soared at an immense height so that it

was quite impossible to see any pilot or passenger. It hung over the Pyramids almost motionless for three or

four minutes as if about to descend, and the watching groups below made the usual alarmist prognostications

of evil, taking care to look about for the safest place of shelter for themselves should the huge piece of

mechanism above them suddenly escape control and take a downward dive. But apparently nothing was

further from the intention of its invisible guides. Its pause above the Pyramids was briefand almost before

any of the observers had time to realise its departure it had floated away with an easy grace, silence and

swiftness, miraculous to all who saw it vanish into space towards the Libyan desert and beyond. The

Pyramids, even the Sphinxlost interest for the time being, every eye being strained to watch the strange

aerial visitant till it disappeared. Then a babble of question and comment began in all languages among the

travellers from many lands, who, though most of them were fairly wellaccustomed to aeroplanes, airships

and aerial navigation as having become part of modern civilisation, found themselves nonplussed by the

absolute silence and lightning swiftness of this huge birdshaped thing that had appeared with extraordinary

suddenness in the deep rose glow of the Egyptian sunset sky. Meanwhile the object of their wonder and

admiration had sped many miles away, and was sailing above a desert which, from the height it had attained,

looked little more than a small stretch of sand such as children play upon by the sea. Its speed gradually

slackened and its occupants, Morgana, the Marchese Rivardi and their expert mechanic, Gaspard, gazed

down on the unfolding panorama below them with close and eager interest. There was nothing much to see.

Every sign of humanity seemed blotted out. The red sky burning on the little stretch of sand was all.

"How small the world looks from the air!" said Morgana "It's not worth half the fuss made about it! And

She smiled,and in her smiling expressed a lovely sweetness. Rivardi raised his eyes from his steering gear.

"Yet we have travelled a thousand miles since we left Sicily this morning"said Rivardi"We have kept

up the pace, have we not, Gaspard?or rather, the `White Eagle' has proved its speed!"

"About two hundred and fifty to three hundred miles an hour,"he said"One does not realise it in the

"But you realise that the flight is as safe as it is quick?" said Morgana"Do you not?"

"Madama, I confess my knowledge is outdistanced by yours," replied Gaspard"I am baffled by your

"Good! Now let us dine!" and Morgana, opening a leather case such as is used for provisions in motoring, set

plates, glasses, wine and food on the table"A cold collationbut we'll have hot coffee to finish. We could

have dined in Cairo, but it would have been a bore! Marchese, we'll stop here, suspended in mid air, and the

stars shall be our festal lamps, vying with our own!" and she turned on a switch which illumined the whole

interior of the airship with a soft bright radiance "Whereabouts are we? Still over the Libyan desert?"

"NoI think not. We have passed beyond it. We are over the Sahara. Just now we can take no

observationsthe sunset is dying rapidly and in a few minutes it will be quite dark."

As he spoke he brought the ship to a standstillit remained absolutely motionless except for the slightest

swaying as though touched by wavelike ripples of air. Morgana went to the window aperture of her

silkenlined `drawingroom' and looked out. All round the great airship were the illimitable spaces of the

sky, now of a dense dark violet hue with here and there a streak of dull red remaining of the glow of the

vanished sun, below there was only blackness. For the first time a nervous thrill ran through her frame at

the look of this dark chaos and she turned quickly back to the table where Rivardi and Gaspard awaited her

before sitting down to their meal. Something quite foreign to her courageous spirit chilled her blood, but she

fought against it, and seating herself, became the charming hostess to her two companions as they ate and

drank, though she took scarcely anything herself. For, most unquestionably there was something uncanny in a

meal served under such strange circumstances, and so far as the two men were concerned it was only eaten to

"Well, now, have I not been very good?" she asked suddenly of Rivardi"Did I not say you should fly with

me to the East, and are you not here? I have not come alonethough that was my wish,I have even

"That is true, Madama,"he said"The art of flying is still in its infancy, and though in my profession as

an engineer I have studied and worked out many problems, I dare not say I have fathomed all the mysteries of

the air or the influences of atmosphere. I am glad that we have made this voyage safely so farbut I shall be

"We can do that tomorrow, I daresay!" she said; "If there is nothing to see in the whole expanse of the desert

"Butwhat do you expect to see, Madama?" enquired Gaspard, with lively curiosity.

"Why,ruins of templescolumnscolossia new Sphinx all sorts of things!" she replied"But at

night of course we can see nothingand we must move onward slowlyI cannot rest swaying like this in

midair." She put aside the dinner things, and served them with hot coffee from one of the convenient flasks

that hold fluids hot or cold for an interminable time, and when they had finished this, they went back to their

separate posts. The great ship began to moveand she was relieved to feel it sailing steadily, though at

almost a snail's pace, `on the bosom of the air.' The oppressive nervousness which affected her had not

diminished; she could not account for it to herself,and to rally her forces she went to the window,

socalled, of her luxurious cabin. This was a wide aperture filled in with a transparent, crystalclear material

which looked like glass, but which was wholly unbreakable, and through this she gazed, awesmitten, at the

magnificence of the starry sky. The millions upon millions of worlds which keep the mystery of their being

veiled from humanity flashed upon her eyes and moved her mind to a profound sadness.

"What is the use of it all!" she thought"If one could only find the purpose of this amazing creation! We

learn a very little, only to see how much more there is to know! We live our lives, all hoping, searching,

prayingand never an answer comes for all our prayers! From the very beginningnot a word from the

mysterious Poet who has written the Poem! We are to breed and dieand there an end!it seems strange

and cruel, because so purposeless! Or is it our fault? Do we fail to discover the things we ought to know?"

So she mused, while her `White Eagle' ship sailed serenely on with a leisurely, majestic motion through a

seeming wilderness of stars. Courageous as she was, with a veritable lionheart beating in her delicate little

body, and firm as was her resolve to discover what no woman had ever discovered before, tonight she was

conscious of actual fear. Somethingshe knew not what crept with a compelling influence through her

blood,she felt that some mysterious force she had never reckoned with was insidiously surrounding her

"Wellbe careful! To my mind we seem to be in a new atmospherethere is a sensation of greater tension

in the air orit is my fancy. We must not be too adventurous,we must avoid the Great Nebula in Orion

"Madama, you jest! We are trillions upon trillions of miles distant from any great constellation"

"Do I not know it? You are too literal, Marchese! Of course I jestyou could not suppose me to be in

earnest! But I am sure we are passing through the waves of a new ethernot altogether suited to the average

human being. The average human being is not made to inhabit the higher spaces of the upper airhark!

She held up a warning hand, and listened. There was a distinct and persistent chiming of bells! Bells loud and

soft, bells mellow and deep, clear and silveryclanging in bass and treble shocks of rising and falling

Rivardi and Gaspard simultaneously rose to their feet, amazed. Undoubtedly they heard! It was impossible

not to hear such a clamour of concordant sound! Startled beyond all expression, Morgana sprang to the

window of her cabin, and looking out uttered a cry of mingled terror and rapture . . . for there below her, in

the previously inky blackness of the Great Desert, lay a great City, stretching out for miles, and glittering

from end to end with a peculiarly deep golden light which seemed to bathe it in the lustre of a setting sun.

Towers, cupolas, bridges, streets, squares, parks and gardens could be plainly seen from the airship, which

had suddenly stopped, and now hung immovably in midair; though for some moments Morgana was too

But she called in vain. Turning for response, she saw, to her amazement and alarm, both men stretched on the

floor, senseless! She ran to them and made every effort to rouse them,they were breathing evenly and

quietly as in profound and comfortable sleepbut it was beyond her skill to renew their consciousness. Then

it flashed upon her that the `White Eagle' was no longer moving,that it was, in fact, quite stationary,and

a quick rush of energy filled her as she realised that now she was as she had wished to be, alone with her

airship to do with it as she would. All fear had left her, her nerves were steady, and her daring spirit was

fired with resolution. Whatever the mischance which had so swiftly overwhelmed Rivardi and Gaspard, she

could not stop now to question, or determine it,she was satisfied that they were not dead, or dying. She

went to the steeringgear to take it in hand but though the mysterious mechanism of the airship was

silently and rapidly throbbing, the ship itself did not move. She grasped the propellerit resisted her touch

with hard and absolute inflexibility. All at once a low deep voice spoke close to her ear

Her heart gave one wild bound, then almost stood still from sheer terror. She felt herself swaying into

unconsciousness, and made a violent effort to master the physical weakness that threatened her. That

voicewhat voice? Surely one evoked from her own imagination! It spoke againthis time with an

She raised her eyes and looked about her nervously. The soft luminance which lit the `White Eagle's' interior

from end to end showed nothing new or alarming,her dainty, roselined cabin held no strange or

supernatural visitant,all was as usual. After a pause she rallied strength enough to question the audible but

"One from the city below,"was the instant reply given in full clear accents"I am speaking on the Sound

"You know the use of wireless telephonywe have it as you have it, only your methods are imperfect. We

speak on Sound Rays which are not yet discovered in your country. We need neither transmitter nor receiver.

Wherever we send our messages, no matter how great the distance, they are always heard."

Slowly Morgana began to regain courage. By degrees she realised that she was attaining the wish of her

heartnamely, to know what no woman had ever known before. Again she questioned the voice

"Because our city is guarded and fortified by the air,"was the answer"We are surrounded by a belt of

etheric force through which nothing can pass. A million bombs could not break it,everything driven

against it would be dashed to pieces. We saw you comingwe were surprised, for no airship has ever

ventured so farwe rang the bells of the city to warn you, and stopped your flight."

"That was kind!" she said, and smiled. Someone smiled in responseor she thought so. Presently she spoke

"Because you are not one of us." The Voice hesitated. "And because you are not alone."

Morgana glanced at the prostrate and unconscious forms of Rivardi and Gaspard with a touch of pity.

"Is it that force you speak ofthe force which guards your citythat has struck them down?" she asked.

At this every nerve in her body started quivering like harp strings pulled by testing fingers. The unseen

speaker knew her name!and uttered it with a soft delicacy that made it sound more than musical. She

"As we all know you,"came the answer"Even as you have known the inside of a sunray!"

She listened, amazedutterly mystified. Whoever or whatever it was that spoke knew not only her name, but

the trend of her earliest studies and theories. The `inside of a sunray'! This was what she had only the other

day explained to Father Aloysius as being her first experience of real happiness! She tried to set her thoughts

in orderto realise her position. Here she was, a fragile human thing, in a flying ship of her own design, held

fast by atmospheric force above an unknown city situate somewhere in the Great Desert,and some one in

that city was conversing with her by a method of `wireless' as yet undiscovered by admitted science,yet

communication was perfect and words distinct. Following up the suggestion presented to her she said

"None. We are one people. But we speak every language that ever has been spoken in the past, or is spoken in

the present. I speak English to you because it is your manner of talk, though not your manner of life."

"Because you are not happy in it. Your manner of life is ours. It has nothing to do with nations or peoples.

"And you?" she cried with sudden eagerness"Oh, who are you that speak to me?man, woman, or angel?

"Look again and see!" answered the voice"Convince yourself! do not be deceived! You are not

Impelled to movement, she went to the window which she had left to take up the steeringgear,and from

there saw again the wonderful scene spread out below, the towers, spires, cupolas and bridges, all lit with that

"It is trueit is real"the Voice replied"It has been seen by many travellers,but because they can

never approach it they call it a desert `mirage.' It is more real and more lasting than any other city in the

There was a silence, which seemed to her very long. Still standing at the window of her cabin she looked

down on the shining City, a broad stretch of splendid gold luminance under the canopy of the dark sky with

These words sounded so close to her ear that she felt sure the speaker must be standing beside her.

"I will come!" she said, impulsively"Somehowsome way! no matter how difficult or dangerous! I

As she spoke she was conscious of a curious vibration round her, as though some other thing than the

ceaseless, silent throbbing of the airship's mechanism had disturbed the atmosphere.

"Wait!" said the Voice"You say this without thought. You do not realise the meaning of your words.

"Because you have learned the LifeSecret,"answered the Voice"And, as you have learned it, so must

An inrush of energy came to her as she listenedshe felt that the unseen speaker acknowledged the power

"With all my soul I care to hear!" she said"But where do you speak from? And who are you that speak?"

"I speak from the central WatchTower,"the Voice replied "The City is guarded from that pointand

from there we can send messages all over the world in every known language. Sometimes they are

understoodmore often they are ignored, but we, who have lived since before the coming of Christ, have

no concern with such as do not or will not hear. Our business is to wait and watch while the ages go

by,wait and watch till we are called forth to the new world. Sometimes our messages cross the `wireless'

Marconi systemand some confusion happensbut generally the `Sound Ray' carries straight to its mark.

You must well understand all that is implied when you say you will come to us,it means that you leave the

human race as you have known it and unite yourself with another human race as yet unknown to the world!"

Here was an overwhelming mysterybut, nothing daunted, Morgana pursued her enquiry.

"You can talk to me on the Sound Ray"she said"And I understand its possibility. You should equally be

able to project your own portraita true similitude of yourselfon a Light Ray. Let me see you!"

"You are something of a wilful spirit!" answered the Voice "But you know many secrets of our science

Another second, and the cabin was filled with a pearly lustre like the vapour which sweeps across the hills in

an early summer dawnand in the centre of this as in an aureole stood a nobly proportioned figure, clad in

goldcoloured garments fashioned after the early Greek models. Presumably this personage was

human,but never was a semblance of humanity so transfigured. The face and form were those of a

beautiful youth,the eyes were deep and brilliant,and the expression of the features was one of fine

serenity and kindliness. Morgana gazed and gazed, bending herself towards her wonderful visitor with all her

soul in her eyes,when suddenly the vision, if so it might be called, paled and vanished. She uttered a little

"It is not I who have gone,"replied the Voice"It is only the reflection of me. We cannot project a light

picture too far or too long. And even nowwhen you come to usif you ever do come!do you think you

"Where every being has beauty for a birthright, how should you know me more than another!" said the

Voice"Beauty is common to all in our cityas common as health, because we obey the Divine laws of

"Patience!" and the Voice grew softer"There is something for you to do in the world. You must lose a love

"It is time for you now to turn homeward,"went on the Voice"You must not be seen above this City at

dawn. You would be attacked and instantly destroyed, as having received a warning which you refused to

"It is our rule to keep away the mischief of the modern world"replied the Voice"As well admit a

"No, you are not, you are a woman of the future!" and the Voice was grave and insistent"You are one of

the new race. At the appointed hour you will take your part with us in the new world!"

There was a pause. Then, with an exceeding sweetness and solemnity the Voice replied

A sense of great awe swept over her, oppressive and humiliating. She looked once more through her cabin

window at the city spread out below, and saw that some of the lights were being extinguished in the taller

buildings and on the bridges which connected streets and avenues in a network of architectural beauty.

"You must!" The Voice became commanding. "If you stay now, you and your companions are doomed to

perish. There is no alternative. Be satisfied that we know youwe watch youwe shall expect you sooner

Quickly she sprang to the steeringgearshe felt the `White Eagle' moving, and lifting its vast wings for

"Not farewell!" came the reply, spoken softly and with tenderness"We shall meet again soon! I will speak

"There and everywhere!" answered the Voice"The Sound Ray knows no distance. I shall speakand you

The last syllables died away like faintly sung musicand in a few more seconds the great airship was

sailing steadily in a level line and at a swift pace onward,the last shining glimpse of the mysterious City

vanished, and the `White Eagle' soared over a sable blackness of empty desert, through a dark space

besprinkled with stars. Filled with a new sense of power and gladness, Morgana held the vessel in the

guidance of her slight but strong hands, and it had flown many miles before the Marchese Rivardi sprang up

suddenly from where he had lain lost in unconsciousness, and stared around him amazed and confused.

"A thousand pardons, Madama!" he stammered"I shall never forgive myself! I have been asleep!"

"Asleepasleep!" he exclaimed"Mon Dieu!the shame of it! the shame! What pigs are men! To sleep

"Poor Gaspard!" she said"You could not help it! You were so tired! And you, Marchese! You were both

quite worn out! I was glad to see you sleepingthere is no shame in it! As I have often told you, I can

"Gross pigs we are!" he said, hotly"Gaspard is right! And yet" here he passed a hand across his brow

and tried to collect his thoughts"yes!surely something unusual must have happened! We heard bells

"Yeswe all thought we heard bells"she said"But that was a noise in our own brainsthe clamour of

our own blood brought on by pressurewe were flying at too great a height and the tension was too

"No, Madama! It could not be so! I swear we never left our own level! What happened I cannot tellbut I

"Sleep struck you that sudden blow, you poor Gaspard!" said Morgana, "And you have not slept so

longbarely an hourjust long enough for me to hover a while above this black desert and then turn

"Rested!" he echoed the word disdainfully"I should never have rested at all had I been half the man I

profess to be! Why do you turn back? I thought you were bent on exploring the Great Desert?that you

"I do not like the prospect"she said"There is nothing but sandinterminable billows of sand! I can well

believe it was all ocean once,when the earth gave a sudden tilt, and all the water was thrown off from one

surface to another. If we could dig deep enough below the sand I think we should find remains of wrecked

ships, with the skeletons of antediluvian men and animals, remains of one of the many wasted

"You do not answer me"interrupted Rivardi, with impatience "What of your search for the Brazen

"Whether I believe or not is of no importance,"he answered "You have some idea about it, and you have

every means of proving the truth of your ideayet, after making the journey from Sicily for the purpose, you

"You must not mind the caprices of a woman!" she said, with a smile"And do please remember the

`Brazen City' is not my idea! The legend of this undiscovered place in the desert was related by your friend

Don Aloysiusand he was careful to say it was `only' a legend. Why should you think I accept it as a truth?"

"My dear Marchese, I allow no one to question my motives;" she said with sudden coldness"That I have

"Butnot even to wait for the full daylight!" he expostulated"You could not see it by night even if it

"Not unless it were lit like other cities!" she said, smiling "I suppose if such a city existed, its inhabitants

would need some sort of illuminantthey would not grope about in the dark. In that case it would be seen

"Then why not make a search for it while we are here?" he said"You evidently believe in it!"

"I have turned the `White Eagle' homeward, and shall not turn again"she said"But I do not see any

reason why such a city should not exist and be discovered some day. Explorers in tropical forests find the

remains or beginnings of a different race of men from our ownpygmies, and such like beingsthere is

nothing really against the possibility of an undiscovered City in the Great Desert. We modern folk think we

know a great dealbut our wisdom is very superficial and our knowledge limited. We have not mastered

"Do so, my friend! Why not?" she said"You are a daring airman on many forms of airshipI knew

that,before I entrusted you with the scheme of mine. Discover the legendary `Brazen City' if you can!I

promise not to be jealous!and return to the world of curiosity mongers(also, if you can!) with a full

report of its inhabitants and their manners and customs. And soyou will become famous! But you must not

"Do not be cross, amico!" she said, sweetly. "Think where we are!in the wide spaces of heaven, pilgrims

with the stars! This is no place for personal feeling of either disappointment or irritation. You asked me a

while ago if I was tiredI thought I was not, but I amvery tired!I am going to rest. And I trust you both

She retired into her sleepingcabin and disappeared. The Marchese Rivardi looked at Gaspard questioningly.

"She is a strange woman!" and as he spoke Rivardi gripped his steeringgear with a kind of vindictive

force"It seems absurd that we,two men of fair intelligence and scientific attainment,should be ruled

"This airship is not a `whim' or a `fancy'"he said, impressively"It is the most wonderful thing of its

kind ever invented! If it is given to the world it will revolutionise the whole system of aerial navigation. Here

we are, flying at top speed in perfect ease and safety with no enginenothing to catch firenothing to break

or burstand the whole mechanism mysteriously makes its own motive power as it goes. Radio activity it

may bebut its condensation and use for such a purpose is the secret invention of a womanand surely we

must admit her genius! As for our obedienceeccellenza, we are both royally paid to obey!"

"It is most things!" he replied"Without it even science is crippled. And this lady has so much of it!it

seems without end! Again,it is seldom one meets with money and brains and beautyall together!"

"Why, yes!beauty that only flashes out at momentsof all beauty the most fascinating! A face that is

always beautiful is fatiguing,it is the changeful face with endless play of expression that enthrals,or so it

is to me!" And Gaspard gave an eloquent gesture"This lady we both work for seems to have no

"I should not wonder," ventured Gaspard, presently"if while we sleptshe had seen her `Brazen City'!"

For a moment Rivardi looked puzzled,then he dismissed his companion's suggestion with a contemptuous

"Basta! There is no `Brazen City'! When she heard the old tradition she was like a child with a fairy talea

child who, reading of strawberries growing in the winter snow, goes out forthwith to find themshe did not

really believe in itbut it pleased her to imagine she did. The mere sight of the arid empty desert has been

"In our brains! Such sounds often affect the nerves when flying for a long while at high speed. For all our

cleverness we are only human. I have heard on the `wireless,' sounds that do not seem of this world at all."

"So have I"said Gaspard"And though it may be my own brain talking, I'm not so obstinate in my own

knowledge as to doubt a possible existing means of communication between one continent and another apart

from our special `wireless.' In fact I'm sure there is something of the kind,though where it comes from and

how it travels I cannot say. But certain people get news of occurring events somehow, from somewhere, long

before it reaches Paris or London. I daresay the lady we are with could tell us something about it."

Gaspard said no more, and there followed a silence,a silence all the more tense and deep because of the

amazing swiftness with which the `White Eagle' kept its steady level flight, making no sound despite the

rapidity of its movement. Very gradually the darkness of night lifted, as it were, one corner of its sable

curtain to show a grey peephole of dawn, and soon it became apparent that the ship was already far away

from the mysterious land of Egypt`The land shadowing with wings'and was flying over the sea. There

was something terrific in the complete noiselessness with which it sped through the air, and Rivardi, though

now he had a good grip on his nerves, hardly dared allow himself to think of the adventurous business on

which he was engaged. A certain sense of pride and triumph filled him, to realise that he had been selected

from many applicants for the post he occupiedand yet with all his satisfaction there went a lurking spirit of

envy and disappointed ambition. If he could win Morgana's love if he could make the strange elfin creature

with all her genius and inventive ability his own,why then!what then? He would share in her

fame,aye, more than share it, since it is the way of the world to give its honour to no woman whose life is

connected with that of a man. The man receives the acknowledgment invariably, even if he has done nothing

to deserve it, and herein is the reason why many gifted women do not marry, and prefer to stand alone in

effort and achievement rather than have their hardly won renown filched from them by unjust hands. When

Roger Seaton confessed to the girl Manella that his real desire was to bend and subdue Morgana's

intellectuality to his own, he spoke the truth, not only for himself but for all men. Absolutely disinterested

love for a brilliantly endowed woman would be difficult to find in any male nature,men love what is

inferior to themselves, not superior. Thus women who are endowed with more than common intellectual

ability have to choose one of two alternatives love, or what is called love, and childbearing,or fame,

The Marchese Rivardi, thinking along the usual line of masculine logic, had frequently turned over the

problem of Morgana's complex character such as it appeared to him,and had almost come to the

conclusion that if he only had patience he would succeed in persuading her that wifehood and motherhood

were more conducive to a woman's happiness than all the most amazing triumphs of scientific discovery and

attainment. He was perfectly right according to simple natural law,but he chose to forget that women's

mental outlook has, in these modern days, been greatly widened,whether for their gain or loss it is not yet

easy to say. Even for men `much knowledge increaseth sorrow,'and it may be hinted that women, with

their often overstrung emotions and exaggerated sentiments, are not fit to plunge deeply into studies which

tax the brain to its utmost capacity and try the nerves beyond the level of the calm which is essential to

health. Though it has to be admitted that married life is less peaceful than hard studyand the bright woman

who recently said, `A husband is more trying than any problem in Euclid,' no doubt had good cause for the

remark. Married or single, woman, both physically and mentally, is the greatest sufferer in the worldher

time of youth and unthinking joy is brief, her martyrdom longand it is hardly wonderful that she goes so

often `to the bad' when there is so little offered to attract her towards the good.

Rivardi, letting himself go on the floodtide of hope and ambition, pleased his mind with imaginary pictures

of Morgana as his wife and as mother of his children, rehabilitating his fallen fortunes, restoring his once

great house and building a fresh inheritance for its former renown. He saw no reason why this should not

be,yeteven while he indulged in his thoughts of her, he knew well enough that behind her small delicate

personality there was a powerful intellectual `lens,' so to speak, through which she examined the ins and outs

of character in man or woman; and he felt that he was always more or less under this `lens,' looked at as

carefully as a scientist might study bacteria, and that as a matter of fact it was as unlikely as the descent of the

moongoddess to Endymion that she would ever submit herself to his possession. Nevertheless, he argued,

The grey peep of dawn widened into a silver rift, and the silver rift streamed into a bar of gold, and the gold

broke up into long strands of blushpink and pale blue like festal banners hanging in heaven's bright pavilion,

and the `White Eagle' flew on swiftly, steadily, securely, among all the glories of the dawn like a winged car

for the conveyance of angels. And both Rivardi and Gaspard thought they were not far from the realisation of

an angel when Morgana suddenly appeared at the door of her sleepingcabin, attired in a fleecywool gown

of purest white, her wonderful gold hair unbound and falling nearly to her feet.

"What a perfect morning!" she exclaimed"All things seem new! And I have had such a good rest! The air

"We are some fifteen thousand feet above the Mediterranean" answered Rivardi, looking at her as he spoke

with unconcealed admiration;never, he thought, had she seemed so charming, youthful and entirely

lovable"I am glad you have restedyou look quite refreshed and radiant. After all, it is a test of

"Do you think so?" and Morgana smiled"It should be nothing it really is nothing! We ought to be quite

ready and willing to travel like this for a week on end! But you and Gaspard are not yet absolutely sure of our

motive power!you cannot realise that as long as we keep going so long will our `going' force be generated

Gaspard lifted his eyes towards her where she stood like a little white Madonna in a shrine.

"Ah! That, for the present, remains locked up in the mystery boxhere!" and she tapped her forehead with

her finger"The world is not ready for it. The world is a destructive savage, loving evil rather than good,

and it would work mischief more than usefulness with such a forceif it knew! Now I will dress, and give

She waved a hand to them and disappeared, returning after a brief interval attired in her `aviation' costume

"Thermos coffee!" she said, gaily"All hot and hot! We could have had Thermos tea, but I think coffee

more inspiriting. Tea always reminds me of an afternoon at a country vicarage where good ladies sit round a

table and talk of babies and rheumatism. Kind,but so dull! Comeyou must take it in turnsyou,

Marchese, first, while Gaspard steersand Gaspard nextjust as you did last night at what we called

dinner, before you fell asleep! Men do fall asleep after dinner you know!it's quite ordinary. Married men

She laughed, and her eyes flashed mirthfully as Rivardi seated himself opposite to her at table.

"Well, I am not married"he said, rather petulantly"Nor is Gaspard. But some day we may fall into

"Ah yes!" and Morgana shook her fair head at him with mock dolefulness"And that will be very sad!

Though nowadays it will not bind you to a fettered existence. Marriage has ceased to be a sacrament,you

"Yesit's a pity anyone reads it!"she answered"But what are we to read? If lowminded and illiterate

scavengers are employed to write for the newspapers instead of welleducated men, we must put up with the

mud the scavengers collect. We know well enough that every journal is more or less a calendar of lies,all

the same we cannot blind ourselves to the great change that has come over manners and moralsparticularly

in relation to marriage. Of course the Press always chronicles the worst items bearing on the subject"

"Oh, I think not!" and Morgana smiled as she poured out a second cup of coffee"The Press cannot create a

new universe. NoI think human nature alone is to blameif blame there be. Human nature is tired."

"In every way!"and a lovely light of tenderest pity filled her eyes as she spoke"Tired of the same old

round of working, mating, breeding and dyingfor no results really worth having! Civilisation after

civilisation has arisenalways with strife and difficulty, only to pass away, leaving, in many cases, scarce a

memory. Human nature begins to weary of the continuous `grind'it demands the `why' of its ceaseless

labour. Latterly, poor striving men and women have been deprived of faiththey used to believe they had a

loving Father in Heaven who cared for them,but the monkeys of the race, the atheists, swinging from point

to point of argument and chattering all the time, have persuaded them that they are as Tennyson once

bore!' Can we wonder then that they are tired?tired of pursuing a useless quest? Human nature is craving

for a changefor a newer worlda newer race,and those who see that Nature is not `brainless' but full of

"I do not say I am,that would be too much selfassertion," she answered"But I hope I am! I long to

see the world endowed more richly with health and happiness. See how gloriously the sun has risen! In what

splendour of light and air we are sailing! If we can do as much as this we ought to be able to do more!"

"In time!" echoed Morgana"What time the human race has already taken to find out the simplest forces of

nature! It is the horrible bulk of blank stupidity that hinders knowledge the heavy obstinate bulk that

declines to budge an inch out of its own fixity. Nowadays we triumph in our socalled `discoveries' of

wireless telegraphy and telephony, lightrays and other marvelsbut these powers have always been with us

from the beginning of things,it is we, we only, who have refused to accept them as facts of the universe.

Let us talk no more about it!Stupidity is the only thing that moves me to despair!"

She rose from the little table, and called Gaspard to breakfast, while Rivardi went back to the business of

steering. The day was now fully declared, and the great airship soared easily in a realm of ethereal

blueblue above, blue belowits vast wings moving up and down with perfect rhythm as if it were a

living, sentient creature, revelling in the joys of flight. For the rest of the day Morgana was very silent,

contenting herself to sit in her charming little roselined nest of a room, and read,now and then looking

out on the radiating space around her, and watching for the first slight downward movement of the `White

Eagle' towards land. She had plenty to occupy her thoughtsand strange to say she did not consider as

anything unexpected or remarkable, her brief communication with the `Brazen City.' On the contrary it

seemed quite a natural happening. Of course it had always been there, she said to herself,only people were

too dull and unenterprising to discover it,besides, if they had ever found it (certain travellers having

declared they had seen it in the distance) they would not have been allowed to approach it. This fact was the

one point that chiefly dwelt in her minda secret of science which she puzzled her brain to fathom. What

could be the unseen force that guarded the city?girding it round with an unbreakable band from all exterior

attack? A million bombs could not penetrate it,so had said the Voice travelling to her ears on the

Modern science had made the sea useless as a `wall' or `moat defensive' against attack from the air,but if

there existed an atmospheric or `etheric' force which could be utilised and brought to such pressure as to

encircle a city or a country with a protective ring that should resist all effort to break it, how great a security

would be assured `against the envy of less happy lands'! Here was a problem for study,study of the

intricate character which she lovedand she became absorbed in what she called `thinking for results,' a

form of introspection which she knew, from experience, sometimes let in unexpected light on the creative

cells of the brain and impelled them to the evolving of hitherto untried suggestions. She sat quietly with a

book before her, not reading, but bent on seeking ways and means for the safety and protection of

nations,as bent as Roger Seaton was on a force for their destruction. So the hours passed swiftly, and no

interruption or untoward obstacle hindered the progress of the `White Eagle' as it careered through the

halcyon blue of the calmest, loveliest sky that ever made perfect weather, till late afternoon when it began to

glide almost insensibly downward towards earth. Then she roused herself from her long abstraction and

looked through the window of her cabin, watching what seemed to be the gradual rising of the land towards

the airship, showing in little green and brown patches like the squares of a chessboard,then the houses

and towns, tiny as children's toysthen the azure gleam of the sea and the boats dancing like bits of cork

upon it, then finally the plainer, broader view, wherein the earth with its woods and hills and rocky

promontories appeared to heave up like a billow crowned with varying colours,and so steadily, easily

down to the pattern of grass and flowers from the centre of which the Palazzo d'Oro rose like a little white

"Well steered!" said Morgana, as the ship ran into its shed with the accuracy of a sword slipping into its

sheath, and the soundless vibration of its mysterious motivepower ceased "Home again safely!and

only away fortyeight hours! To the Sahara and back!how far we have been, and what we have seen!"

"We have seen nothing"said Rivardi meaningly, as he assisted her to alight"The seeing is all with you!"

"And the believing!" she answered, smiling"All my thanks to you both for your skilful pilotage. You must

be very tired" here she gave her hand to them each in turn"Again a thousand thanks! No airship

She left them, running up the garden path lightly like a child returning from a holiday, and disappeared.

"But that which she calls nothing"said Gaspard as he watched her go"is everything!"

FOR some days after her adventurous voyage to the Great Desert and back Morgana chose to remain in

absolute seclusion. Save for Lady Kingswood and her own household staff, she saw no one, and was not

accessible even to Don Aloysius, who called several times, moved not only by interest, but genuine curiosity,

to enquire how she fared. Many of the residents in the vicinity of the Palazzo d'Oro had gleaned scraps of

information here and there concerning the wonderful airship which they had seen careering over their heads

during its testing trials, and as a matter of course they had heard more than scraps in regard to its wealthy

owner. But nowadays keen desire to know and to investigate has given place to a sort of civil apathy which

passes for good formthat absolute indifferentism which is too much bored to care about other people's

affairs, and which would not disturb itself if it heard of a neighbour deciding to cross the Atlantic in a

washtub. `Nothing matters,' is the general verdict on all events and circumstances. Nevertheless, the size,

the swiftness and soundlessness of the `White Eagle' and the secrecy observed in its making, had somewhat

moved the heavy lump of human dough called `society,' and the whispered novelty of Morgana's invention

had reached Rome and Paris, nay, almost London, without her consent or knowledge. So that she was more

or less deluged with letters; and noted scientists, both in France and Italy, though all incredulous as to her

attainment, made it a point of `business' to learn all they could about her, which was not much more than can

be usually learned about any wealthy woman or man with a few whims to gratify. A murderer gains access to

the whole press,his look, his manner, his remarks, are all carefully noted and commented upon,but a

scientist, an explorer, a man or woman whose work is that of beneficence and use to humanity, is barely

mentioned except by way of a sneer. So it often chances that the public know nothing of the greatest till they

Morgana, however, had no desire that her knowledge or attainment should be admitted or praised. She was

entirely destitute of ambition. She had read too much and studied too deeply to care for socalled `fame,'

which, as she knew, is the mere noise of one moment, to be lost in silence the next. She was selfcentred and

yet not selfish. She felt that to understand her own entity, its mental and physical composition, and the

possibilities of its future development, was sufficient to fill her lifethat life which she quite instinctively

recognised as bearing within itself the seed of immortality. Her strange interview with the `Voice' from the

City in the Desert, and the glimpse she had been permitted to see of the owner of that voice, had not so much

surprised her as convinced her of a theory she had long held,namely that there were other types of the

human race existing, unknown to the generality of ordinary men and womentypes that were higher in their

organisation and mental capacity,types which by reason of their very advancement kept themselves hidden

and aloof from modern civilisation. And she forthwith plunged anew into the ocean of scientific problems,

where she floated like a strong swimmer at ease with her mind upturned to the stars.

Yet she did not neglect the graceful comforts and elegancies of the Palazzo d'Oro, and life went on in that

charming abode peacefully, Morgana always being the kindest of patrons to Lady Kingswood, and

discoursing feminine commonplaces with her as though there were no other subjects of conversation in the

world than embroidery and specific cures for rheumatism. She said littleindeed almost nothing,of her

aerial voyage to the East, except that she had enjoyed it, and that the Pyramids and the Sphinx were dwarfed

into mere insignificant dots on the land as seen from the air;she had apparently nothing more to describe,

and Lady Kingswood was not sufficiently interested in airtravel to press enquiry. One bright sunny

morning, after a week of her selfimposed seclusion, she announced her intention of calling at the monastery

"I have been rather rude"she said"Of course he has wanted to know how my flight to the East went

"He has called several times"replied Lady Kingswood"and I think he has been very much disappointed

"Poor reverend Father!" and Morgana smiled"He should not bother his mind about a woman! Well! I'm

Lady Kingswood looked at her critically. She was gowned in a simple white morning frock with touches of

blue,and she wore a broadbrimmed Tuscan straw hat with a fold of blue carelessly twined about it. She

made a pretty pictureone of extraordinary youthfulness for any woman out of her 'teensso much so that

Lady Kingswood wondered if voyages in the air would be found to have a rejuvenating effect.

"They do not admit women into the actual monastery"she went on"Feminine frivolities are forbidden!

But the ruined cloister is open to visitors and I shall ask to see Don Aloysius there."

She lightly waved adieu and went, leaving her amiable and contented chaperone to the soothing

companionship of a strip of embroidery at which she worked with the leisurely tranquillity which such an

The ruined cloister looked very beautiful that morning, with its crumbling arches crowned and festooned with

roses climbing every way at their own sweet will, and Morgana's light figure gave just the touch of human

interest to the solemn peacefulness of the scene. She waited but two or three minutes before Don Aloysius

appearedhe had seen her arrive from the window of his own private library. He approached her slowly

there was a gravity in the expression of his face that almost amounted to coldness, and no smile lightened it

"So you have come to me at last!" he said"I have not merited your confidence till now! Why?"

His rich voice had a ring of deep reproach in its toneand she was for a moment taken aback. Then her

"Dear Father Aloysius, you do not want my confidence! You know all I can tell you!" she saidand drawing

"Oh no, I imagine nothing!" and she smiled"I am sureyes, sure!that you have the secret of things that

seem fabulous and yet are true! It was you who first told me of the Brazen City in the Great Desert,you

"You know I did!" she replied"Why ask the question? Messages on a Sound Ray can reach you, as well as

He moved to the stone bench which occupied a corner of the cloister and sat down. He was very pale and his

eyes were feverishly bright. Presently he seemed to recover himself, and spoke more in his usual manner.

"Rivardi has been here every day"he said"He has talked of nothing but you. He told me that he and

Gaspard fell suddenly asleepfor which they were grievously ashamed of themselves and that you took

control of the airship and turned it homeward before you had given them any chance to explore the

"Quite true!" she answered, tranquilly"Andyou knew all that before he told you! You knew that I was

compelled to turn the ship homeward because it was not allowed to proceed! Dear Father Aloysius, you

cannot hide yourself from me! You are one of the few who have studied the secrets of the approaching

future,the `change' which is imminentthe `world to come' which is coming! Yes!and you are brave to

live as you do in the fetters of a conventional faith when you have such a far wider outlook"

He stopped her by a gesture, rising from where he sat and extending a hand of warning and authority.

"Child, beware what you say!" and his voice had a ring of sternness in its mellow tone"If I know what you

think I know, on what ground do you suppose I have built my knowledge? Only on that faith which you call

`conventional'that faith which has never been understood by the world's majority! That faith which teaches

of the GodinMan, done to death by the Man without God in him!and who, nevertheless, by the spiritual

strength of a resurrection from the grave, proves that there is no death but only continuous renewal of life!

This is no mere `convention' of faith,no imaginary or traditional taleit is pure scientific fact. The

virginal conception of divinity in woman, and the transfiguration of manhood, these things are trueand the

advance of scientific discovery will prove them so beyond all denial. We have held the faith, as it should be

held, for centuries,and it has led us, and continues to lead us, to all we know."

He looked at her for some moments without speaking. His tall fine figure seemed more than ever stately and

imposing and his features expressed a calm assurance and dignity of thought which gave them additional

"Your question is bold!" he said"Your enterprising spirit stops at nothing! You have learned muchyou

are resolved to learn more! Well,I cannot prevent you,nor do I see any reason why I should try! You are

a resolved student,you are also a woman:a woman different to ordinary women and set apart from

ordinary womanhood. So I say to you `We of the Brazen City'if you will! For more than three thousand

years `we' have existed`we' have studied,`we' have discovered `we' have known. `We,' the selected

offspring of all the races that ever were born,`we,' the pure blood of the earth,`we,' the progenitors of

the world TO BE,`we' have lived, watching temporary civilisations rise and fall,seeing generations born

and die, because, like weeds, they have grown without any root of purpose save to smother their neighbours

and destroy. `We' remain as commanded, waiting for the full declaration and culmination of those forces

"Then why are you here?" she asked"If you know,if you were ever in the `Brazen City' how did it

"Little child!" he said"Brilliant soul, that rejoiced in the perception that gave you what you called `the

inside of a sun ray,'you, for whom the things which interest men and women of the moment are mere toys

of poor inventionyou, of all others, ought to know that when the laws of the universe are understood and

followed, there can be no fetters on the true liberty of the subject! If I were ever in the `Brazen City' mind!

"I was told"she said slowly"by a Voice that spoke to me that if I went there I should have to stay

"Even so! Such love as you have never dreamed of, dear soul, weighted with millions of gold! Love!the

There was a silence. The sunshine burned down on the ancient grey flagstones of the cloister, and two

gorgeous butterflies danced over the climbing roses that hung from the arches in festal wreaths of pink and

white. A luminance deeper than that of the sun seemed to encircle the figures standing together the one so

elfin, light and delicate,the other invested with a kind of inward royalty expressing itself outwardly in

stateliness of look and bearing. Something mysteriously suggestive of superhumanity environed them; a

spirit and personality higher than mortal. After some minutes Aloysius spoke again

"The city is not a `Brazen' City"he said"It has been called so by travellers who have seen its golden

towers glistening afar off in a sudden refraction of light lasting but a few seconds. Gold often looks like brass

and brass like gold, in human entities as in architectural results." He pausedthen went on slowly and

impressively"Surely you remember,you must remember, that it is written `The city lieth foursquare,

and the length is as large as the breadth. The wall thereof is according to the measure of a manthat is, of

the Angel. And the city is of pure gold.' Does that give you no hint of the measure of a man, that is, of the

Angel?of the `new heavens and the new earth,' the old things having passed away? Dear child, you have

studied deeplyyou have adventured far and greatly!continue your quest, but do not forget to take your

"Oh, you must help me!" she cried"You must teach meI want to know what you know!"

"I know no more than you,"he answered"you work by ScienceI, by Faith, the bedrock from which

all science proceedsand we arrive at the same discoveries by different methods. I am a poor priest in the

temple of the Divine, serving my turnbut I am not alone in service, for in every corner of the habitable

globe there is one member of our `City' who communicates with the rest. One!but enough! To day's

commercial world uses old systems of wireless telegraphy and telephony which were known and done with

thousands of years agobut `we' have the sound raythe light which carries music on its wings and creates

"Knowing what you do know you have no need of my help"he continued"You have not found

happiness yet, because that only comes through one sourceLove. But I doubt not that God will give you

that in His own good time." He pausedthen went on "As you go out, enter the chapel for a moment and

send a prayer on the Sound Ray to the Centre of all Knowledge,the source of all discoveryhave no fear

"The Golden City!" he answered"Well, you have had your experience! Your name is known thereand

"The world is changed for me"she said"It will never be the same again! I do not seem to belong to

itother influences surround me,how shall I live in it?how shall I work?what shall I do?"

"You will do as you have always donego your own way"he replied"The way which has led you to so

much discovery and attainment. You must surely know in your own soul that you have been guided in that

wayand your success is the result of allowing yourself to be guided. In all things you will be guided

At that moment the monastery bell tolled the midday `Angelus.' Don Aloysius bent his headMorgana

instinctively did the same. Within the building the deep voices of the brethren sounded, chanting,

As the salutation to heaven finished, the mellow music of the organ in the chapel sent a wave of solemn and

prayerful tenderness on the air, and, moved by the emotion of the hour, Morgana's heart beat more quickly

"There is! And when the other things of life give you pause to listen, you will often hear it!"

She smiled happily in response, and then, with a silent gesture of farewell, left the cloister and made her way

to the chapel, part of which was kept open for public worship. It was empty, but the hidden organist was still

playing. She went towards the High Altar and knelt in front of it. She was not of the Catholic faith,she was

truly of no faith at all save that which is taught by Science, which like a door opened in heaven shows all the

wonders within,but her keen sense of the beautiful was stirred by the solemn peace of the shut Tabernacle

with the Cross above it, and the great lilies bending under their own weight of loveliness and fragrance on

"It is the Symbol of a great Truth which is true for all time"she thought, as she clasped her hands in an

attitude of prayer"And how sad and strange it is to feel that there are thousands among its bestintentioned

worshippers and priests who have not discovered its mystic meaning. The God in Man, born of purity in

She raised her eyes in half unconscious appealand, as she did so, a brilliant Ray of light flashed downward

from the summit of the Cross which surmounted the Altar, and remained extended slantwise towards her. She

saw it,and waited expectantly. Close to her ears a Voice spoke with extreme softness, yet very distinctly.

And Morgana listened,listened intently,the sapphire hue of the Ray lighting her gold hair, as she knelt,

absorbed. What she heard filled her with a certain dread; and a tremor of premonition, like the darkness

preceding storm, shook her nerves. But the inward spirit of her was as a warrior clothed in steel,she was

afraid of nothingleast of all of any event or incident passing for `supernatural,' knowing beyond all doubt

that the most seeming miraculous circumstances are all the result of natural movement and transmutation.

There never had been anything surprising to her in the fact that light is a conveyor of sound; and that she was

receiving a message by such means seemed no more extraordinary to her mind than receiving it by the

accepted telephonic service. Every word spoken she heard with the closest attentionuntilas though a

She rose at once from her knees, alert and ready for action her face was pale, her lips set, her eyes

She left the chapel and hurried home, where as soon as she reached her own private room she wrote to the

Marchese Rivardi the following note, which was more than unpleasantly startling to him when he received it.

"I shall need you and Gaspard for a long journey in the `White Eagle.' Prepare everything in the way of

provisioning and other necessary details. No time must be lost, and no expense need be spared. We must start

This message written, sealed and dispatched by one of her servants to the Marchese's villa, she sat for some

moments lost in thought, wistfully looking out on her flowerfilled gardens and the shimmering blue of the

"I may be too late!" she said, speaking aloud to herself "But I will take the risk! He will not careno!a

man like that cares for nothing but himself. He would have broken my life(had I given him the

chance!)for the sake of an experiment. Nowif I canI will rescue his for the sake of an ideal!"

Roger Seaton said these words aloud with defiant emphasis, addressing the dumb sky. It was early morning,

but an intense heat had so scorched the earth that not the smallest drop of dew glittered on any leaf or blade

of grass; it was all arid, brown and burned into a dryness as of fever. But Seaton was far too much engrossed

with himself and his own business to note the landscape, or to be troubled by the suffocating closeness of the

atmosphere,he stood gazing with the idolatry of a passionate lover at a small, plain metal case, containing

a dozen or more small plain metal cylinders, as small as women's thimbles, all neatly ranged side by side,

"There it is!" he went on, apostrophising the still air "Complete,perfected! If I sold that to any nation

under the sun, that nation could rule the world!could wipe out everything save itself and its own people! I

have wrested the secret from the very womb of Nature!it is mineall mine! I would have given it to

Britainor to the United Statesbut neither will accept my termsso therefore I hold itI, only!

which is just as well! Ijust Iam master of destiny!the Power we call God, has put this thing into

my hands! What a marvel and shall I not use it? I will! Let Germany but stir an inch towards aggression, and

Germany shall exist no longer! The same with any other nation that starts a quarrelII alone will settle

His eyes blazed with the light of fanaticismhe was obsessed by the force of his own ideas and schemes,

and the metal case on the table before him was, to his mind, time, life, present and future. He had arrived at

that questionable point of intellectual attainment when man forgets that there is any existing force capable of

opposing him, and imagines that he has but to go on in his own way to grasp all worlds and the secrets of

their being. At this juncture, so often arrived at by many, a kind of supersureness sets in, persuading the

finite nature that it has reached the infinite. The whole mental organisation of the man thrilled with an awful

consciousness of power. He said within himself "I hold the lives of millions at my mercy!"

Other thoughtsother dreams had passed away for the momenthe had forgotten life as it presents itself to

the ordinary human being. Now and again a flitting vision of Morgana vaguely troubled him,her

intellectual capacity annoyed him, and yet he would have been glad to discuss with her the scientific

unfolding of his great secretshe would understand it in all its bearings,she might adviseAdvice!

no!he did not need the advice of a woman! As for Manella, he had not seen her since her last violent

outburst of what he called `temper'and he had no wish for her presence. For now he had a thing to do

which was of paramount importance,and this was, to deposit the treasured discovery of his life in a secret

hidingplace he had found for it, till he should be ready to remove it to safer quartersortill he resolved

to use it. Had he been a religious man, of such humility as should accompany true religion, he would have

prayed that its use should never be called upon,but he had trained himself into an attitude of such complete

indifferentism towards life and the things of life, that to him it seemed useless to pray for what did not matter.

Sometimes the thought, appalling in its truth, flashed across his brain that the force he had discovered and

condensed within small compass might as easily destroy half the world as a nation! The fabled thunderbolts

of Jove were child's play compared with those plainlooking, thimble like cylinders which contained such

terrific power! A touch of hesitationof pure human dread affected his nerves for the moment,he

shivered in the sultry air as with cold, and looked about him right and left as though suspecting some hidden

witness of his actions. There was not so much as a bird or a butterfly in sight, and he drew a long deep breath

of relief. The day was treading in the steps of dawn with the full blazonry of burning Californian sunlight,

and away in the distance the ridges and peaks of distant mountains stood out sharply clear against the intense

blue of the sky. There was great stillness everywhere,a pause, as it seemed, in the mechanism of the

universe. The twitter of a bird or the cry of some wild animal would have been a relief,so Seaton felt,

"Better get through with this at once,"he said, aloud"Now that a safe place is prepared." Here he looked

at his watch. "In a couple of hours they will be sending up from the Plaza to know if I want anythingIrish

Jake or Manella will be coming on some trivial matterI'd better take the opportunity of complete secrecy

For the next few minutes or so he hesitated. With the sudden fancy that he had forgotten something, he turned

out his pockets, looking for he scarcely knew what. The contents were mixed and various, and among them

was a crumpled letter which he had received some days since from Sam Gwent. He smoothed it out carefully

"I think the States will never get involved in another war, but I am fairly sure Germany will. If she joins up

with Russia look out for squalls. In your old country, which appears to be peopled by madmen, there's a

writing chap who spent a fortnight in Russia, not long enough to know the ins and outs of a village, yet

assuming to know everything about the biggest territory in Europe, and the press is puffing up his ignorance

as if it were wisdom. Germany has her finger on the spotso perhaps your stuff will come in useful. But

don't forget that if you make up your mind to use it you will ruin America, commercially speaking. And

many other countries besides. So think it well over,more than a hundred times! Lydia Herbert, whom

perhaps you remember, and perhaps you don't, has caught her `ancient mariner'that is to say, her

millionaire,and all fashionable New York is going to the wedding, including yours truly. I had expected

Morgana Royal to grace the function, but I hear she is quite engrossed with the decoration and furnishing of

her Sicilian palace, as well as with her advising artist, a very goodlooking Marquis or Marchese as he is

called. It is also whispered that she has invented a wonderful airship which has no engines, and creates its

own motive power as it goes! Sounds rather tall talk!but this is an age of wonders and we never know what

next. There is a new Light Ray just out which prospects for gold, oil and all ores and minerals, and finds them

in a fifty mile circuitso probably nobody need be poor for the future. When we've all got most things we

want, and there's nothing left to work for, I wonder what the world will be worth!"

Suddenly struck by this thought, which had not always presented itself with such sharp and clear precision as

now, he took time to consider it. Capital and Labour, the two forces which are much more prone to rend each

other than to co operatethese would both possibly be nonexistent if Science had its full way. If gold,

silver and other precious minerals could be `picked up' as on the fabled Tom Tiddler's ground, by a ray of

light, then the striving for wealth would cease and work would be reduced to a minimum. The prospect was

stupendous, but hardly entirely pleasing. If there were no need for effort, then the powers of mind and body

"What object should we live for?" he mused"Merely to propagate our own kind and bring more effortless

beings into the world to cumber it? The very idea is horrible! Work is the very blood and bone of

existencewithout it we should rot! But one must work for something or some onewife?children?

Useless labour!for in nine cases out of ten the wife becomes a bore,and the children grow up

Thus mentally arguing, the exquisite lines of Tennyson's `Lotos Eaters' suddenly rang in his memory like a

chime of bells from the old English village where he had lived as a boy, when his mother, one of the past

sweet `oldfashioned' women, used to read to him and teach him much of the best in literature,

An effortless existence would be the existence of such as these fabled Lotos Eatersmoreover, it was not

possible it could go on, since all Nature shows effort without cessation. Roger Seaton knew this as all know

itbut his soul's demand remained unsatisfied, for he sought to know the Cause of all the toil and

trouble,the `Why' it should be. And at the back of his mind there was ever a teasing reminder of Morgana

and her strange theories, some of which she had half imparted to him when their friendship had first begun.

For her Tennyson's line `Death is the end of life'would be the statement of a foolish fallacy, as she held

that there is no such thing as death, only failure to adapt the spirit to advancing and higher change in its

physical organisation. Today he remembered with curious clearness what she had said on this subject

"Radioactivity is the chief secret of life. It is for us to learn how to absorb it into our systems as we

grow,to add by its means to our supplies of vitality and energy. It never gives out,nor should we. The

Natureintention is that we should become better, stronger, more beautiful, more mentally and spiritually

perfectand that we do not fulfil this intention is our own fault. The decimation of the human race by wars

and plagues and famines has always been traceable to human error. All accidents happen through those who

make accidents possible,diseases are bred through human dirt, greed, ignorance, and neglect. They are no

part of the divine scheme of things. The plan is to advance and make progress from one point of excellence to

another,not to stop halfway and turn back on the road. Humanity dies, because it will not learn how to

She had spoken these words with a quiet simplicity and earnestness that impressed him at the time as being

almost childlike, considering the depth of thought into which she must have plunged, notwithstanding her

youth and her sex,and on this morning of all others, this morning on which he had set himself a task for

which he had made long and considerable preparation, he found himself half mechanically repeating her

There was no fatalism,no fixed destiny in this; only the force of Will was impliedthe Will to learn,the

"And why should not humanity die?" he argued within himself "If, in the long course of ages, it is proved

that it will neither learn nor know,why should it remain? Room should be made for a new race! A clever

gardener can produce a perfectly beautiful flower from an insignificant and common weed, surely this is a

He bent his eyes lovingly on the case of small cylinders lying open before him;the just risen sun

brightened them to a glitter as of cold steel,and for a moment he fancied they flashed upon him with an

"Power of good or power of evil?" he questioned his inward spirit"Who can decide? If it is good to destroy

evil then the force is a good forceif it is evil to destroy good with evil, then it is an evil thing. But Nature

makes no such particular discriminationsshe destroys evil and good together at one blow. Why therefore

should Ior anyoneoffer to discriminate? since evil is always the preponderating factor. When the

Lusitania was torpedoed neither God nor Nature interfered to save the innocent from the guiltymen,

women and children were all plunged into the pitiless sea. Ias a part of Nature if I destroy, I only follow

her example. War is an evil,an abominable crimeand those that attempt to make it should be swept from

the face of the earth, even if good and peaceloving units are swept along with them. This cannot be helped."

He went into his hut, and in a few minutes came out again clothed in thick garments of a dark earth colour,

and carrying a stout staff, steelpointed at its end something after the fashion of a Swiss alpenstock. He

brought with him a small metal box into which he placed the case of cylinders, covering it with a closely

fitting lid. Then he put the package into a basket made of rough twigs and strips of bark, having a strong

handle, to which he fastened a leather strap, and slung the whole thing over his shoulders like a knapsack.

Then, casting another look round to make sure that there was no one about, he started to walk towards a

steeper descent of the hill in a totally different direction from that which led to the `Plaza' hotel. He went

swiftly, at a steady swinging pace,and though his way took him among confused masses of rock, and fallen

boulders, he thought nothing of these obstacles, vaulting lightly across them with the ease of a chamois, till

he came to a point where there was a declivity running sheer down to invisible depths, from whence came the

rumbling echo of falling water. In this almost perpendicular wall of rock were a few ledges, like the

precarious rungs of a broken ladder, and down these he prepared to go. Clinging at first to the topmost edge

of the precipice, he let himself down warily inch by inch till his figure entirely disappeared, sunken, as it

were in darkness. As he vanished there was a sudden crya rush as of wingsand a woman sprang up from

amid bushes where she had lain hidden,it was Manella. For days and nights she had stolen away in the

intervals of her work, to watch himand nothing had chanced to excite her alarm till nowtill now, when

she had seen him emerge from his hut and pack up the mysterious box he carried,and when she had heard

him talking strangely to himself in a way she could not understand. As soon as he started to walk she

followed him, pushing through heavy brushwood and crawling along the ground where she could not be

seen;and now,with dishevelled hair, and staring, terrified eyes she leaned over the edge of the precipice,

"Oh God of mercy!" she moaned in suffocated accents"How can I follow him down there! Oh, help me,

She gathered up her hair in a close coil and wound her skirts tightly about her looking everywhere for a

footing. She saw a deep cranny which had been hollowed out by some torrent of waterit cut sharply

through the rock like a path,she could risk that perhaps, she thought?and yet her brain reeledshe felt

sick and giddywould it not be wiser to stay where she was and wait for the return of the reckless creature

who had ventured all alone into one of the deepest ca*ons of the whole country? While she hesitated she

caught a sudden glimpse of him, stepping with apparent ease over huge heaps of stones and fallen pieces of

rock at the bottom of the declivity,she watched his movements in breathless suspense. On he went towards

a vast aperture, shaped archwise like the entrance to a cavernhe paused a momentthen entered it. This

was enough for Manellaher wild love and wilder terror gave her an almost supernatural strength and

daring,and all heedless now of results she sprang boldly towards the deep cutting in the rock, swinging

herself from jagged point to point tillreaching the bottom of the declivity at last, bruised and bleeding, but

undaunted,she stopped, checked by a rushing stream which tumbled over great boulders and dashed its

cold spray in her face. Looking about her she saw to her dismay that the vaulted cavern wherein Seaton had

disappeared was on the other side of this streamshe stood almost opposite to itbut how to get across?

Gazing despairingly in every direction she suddenly perceived the fallen trunk of a tree lying half in and half

out of the brawling torrentit was green with slippery moss and offered but a dangerous

Getting astride the tree, it swayed under her,but she found she could push one of the larger boughs forward

to lengthen the extemporary bridge,and so, as it were, riding the waters, which surged noisily around her,

she managed by dint of superhuman effort to reach the projection of pebbly shore where the entrance to the

cavern yawned open before her, black and desolate. The sun in its full morning glory blazed slanting down

upon the darkness of the ca*on, and as she stood shivering, wet through and utterly exhausted, wondering

what next she should do, she caught sight of a form moving within the cave like a moving shadow, and

ascending a steep natural stairway of columnar rocks piled one on top of the other. Affrighted as she was by

the tomblike aspect of the deep vault, she had not ventured so far that she should now shrink from further

dangers or fail in her quest;the cherished object of her constant watchful care was within that subterranean

blackness,for what purpose?she did not dare to think! But there was an instinctive sense of dread

foreknowledge upon her,a warning of impending evil,and had she not sworn to him"If God struck

you down to Hell I would be there!" The entrance to the cavern looked like the mouth of Hell itself, as she

had seen it depicted in one of her Catholic early lesson books. There were serpents and dragons in the picture

ready to devour the impenitent sinner,there might be serpents and dragons in this cave, for all she knew!

But what matter? If the man she loved were actually in Hell she `would be there'as she had said!and

would surely find it Heaven! And so,seeing the mere outline of his form moving ghostlike in the gloom,

it was to her a guiding presence,alight amid darkness,and when,after a minute or twoher straining

eyes perceived him climbing steadily up the steep and perilous rocks, seeming about to disappear

altogether,she mastered the tremor of her nerves and crept cautiously step by step into the sombre vault,

blindly feeling her way through the damp, thick murkiness, reckless of all danger, and only bent on following

OF all the vagaries and humours of humanity when considered in crowds, there is nothing which appears

more senseless and objectless than the way in which it congregates outside the door of a church at a

fashionable or `society' wedding. The massed people pushing and shoving each other about have nothing

whatever to do with either bride or bridegroom; the ceremony inside the sacred edifice has in most cases

ceased to be a `sacrament'and has become a mere show of dressedup manikins and womenkins, many of

the latter being mere objets d'art,stands for the display of millinery. And yetthe crowds fight and

jostle,women scramble and scream,all to catch a glimpse of the woman who is to be given to the man,

and the man who has agreed to accept the woman. The wealthier the pair the wilder the frenzy to gaze upon

them. Savages performing a crazy wardance are decorous of behaviour in contrast with these `civilised' folk

who tramp on each other's feet and are ready to squeeze each other into pulp for the chance of staring at two

persons whom the majority of them have never seen before and are not likely to see again. The wedding of

Miss Lydia Herbert with her `ancient mariner,' a seventyfouryear old millionaire reputed to be as wealthy

as Rockefeller, was one of these `sensations'chiefly on account of the fact that every unmarried woman

young and old, and every widow, had been hunting him in vain for full five years. Miss Herbert had been

voted `no chance,' because she made no secret of her extravagant tastes in dress and jewels,yet despite

society croakers she had won the game. This in itself was interesting, as the millionaire she had secured

was known to be particularly closefisted and parsimonious. Nevertheless he had shown remarkable signs of

relaxing these tendencies; for he had literally showered jewels on his chosen bride, leaving no door open for

any complaint in that quarter. Her diamonds were the talk of New York, and on the day of her wedding her

gown literally flashed like a firework with numerous dazzling points of light. `The Voice that breathed o'er

Eden' had little to do with the magnificence of her attire, or with the brilliancy of the rosewreathed

bridesmaids, young girls of specially selected beauty and elegance who were all more or less disappointed in

failing to win the millionaire themselves. For these youthful persons in their teens had social ambitions

hidden in hearts harder than steel`a good time' of selfindulgence and luxury was all they sought for in

lifein fact they had no conception of any higher ideal. The millionaire himself, though old, maintained a

fairly middleaged appearancehe was a thin, wiry, wellpreserved man, his wizened and furrowed

countenance chiefly showing the marks of Time's ploughshare. It would have been difficult to say why, out.

of all the feminine butterflies hovering around him, he had chosen Lydia Herbert,but he was a shrewd

judge of character in his way, and he had decided that as she was not in her first youth it would be more

worth her while to conduct herself decorously as wife and housekeeper, and generally look after his health

and comfort, than it would be for a less responsible woman. Then, she had `manner,'her appearance was

attractive and she wore her clothes well and stylishly. All this was enough for a man who wanted some one to

attend to his house and entertain his friends, and he was perfectly satisfied with himself as he repeated after

the clergyman the words, `With my body I thee worship, and with all my worldly goods I thee endow,'

knowing that `with his body' he had never worshipped anything, and that the `endowment' of his worldly

goods was strictly limited to certain settlements. He felt himself to be superior to his old bachelor friend Sam

Gwent, who supported him as `best man' at the ceremony, and who, as he stood stiffly upright in immaculate

`afternoon visiting attire' among the restlessly swaying, semiwhispering throng, was all the time thinking of

the dusky nightgloom in the garden of the `Plaza' far away in California and a beautiful face set against the

"What a startling contrast she would be to these dolls of fashion!" he thought"What a sensation she would

make! There's not a woman here who can compare with her! If I were only a bit younger I'd try my

luck!anyway I'm younger than today's bridegroom!but sheManellawould never look at any other

man than Seaton, who doesn't care a rap for her or any other woman!" Here his thoughts took another turn.

womanexceptperhapsMorgana! And even if it were Morgana, it would be for himself and himself

alone! While she ah!it would be a clever brain indeed that could worry out what she cares for! Nothing

Here the organ poured the rich strains of a soft and solemn prelude through the crowded churchthe `sacred'

part of the ceremony was over, and bride and bridegroom made their way to the vestry, there to sign the

attended many such functions before, he was more curiously impressed than usual by the unctuous and

barefaced hypocrisy of the whole thingthe smiling humbug of the officiating clergy,the affected delight

of the `society' toadies fluttering like wasps round bride and bridegroom as though they were sweet dishes

specially for stinging insects to feed upon, and in his mind he seemed to hear the warm, passionate voice of

"It is good to love him!" she had said"I am happy to love him. I wish only to serve him!"

This was primitive passion,the passion of primitive woman for her mate whom she admitted to be stronger

than herself, to whom she instinctively looked for shelter and protection, and round whose commanding force

she sought to rear the lovely fabric of `Home,'a state of feeling as far removed from the sentiments of

modern women as the constellation of Orion is removed from earth. And Sam Gwent's fragmentary

reflections flitting through his brain were more seriousone might say more romantic, than the

consideration of dollars, which usually occupied all his faculties. He had always thought that there was a

good deal in life which he had missed somehow, and which dollars could not purchase; and a certain irate

contempt filled him for the man who, unlike himself, was in the prime of strength, and who, with all the

glories of Nature about him and the love and beauty of an exquisite womanhood at his hand for possession,

could nevertheless devote his energies to the science of destruction and the compassing of death without

compunction, on the lines Roger Seaton had laid down as the remedy against all war.

"The kindest thing to think of him is that he's not quite sane,"Gwent mused"He has been obsessed by

the horrible carnage of the Great War, and disgusted by the utter inefficiency of Governments since the

The crashing chords of the Bridal March from `Lohengrin' put an end to his thoughts for the

moment,people began to crush and push out of church, or stand back on each other's toes to stare at the

bride's diamonds as she moved very slowly and gracefully down the aisle on the arm of her elderly husband.

She certainly looked very well,and her smile suggested entire satisfaction with herself and the world.

Presscamera men clambered about wherever they could find a footing, to catch and perpetuate that smile,

which when enlarged and reproduced in newspapers would depict the grinning dental display so much

associated with Woodrow Wilson and the Prince of Wales,though more suggestive of a skull than anything

else. Skulls invariably show their teeth, we knowbut it has been left to the modern presscamera man to

insist on the deathgrin in faces that yet live. The crowd outside the church was far denser than the crowd

within, and the fighting and scrambling for points of view became terrific, especially when the wedding

guests' motorcars began to make their way, with sundry hoots and snorts, through the densely packed mob.

Women screamed,some faintedbut none thought of giving way to others, or retiring from the wild scene

of contest. Gwent judged it wisest to remain within the church portal till the crowd should clear, and there,

safely ensconced, he watched the maddened mass of foolish sightseers, all of whom had plainly left their

daily avocations merely to stare at a man and woman wedded, with whom, personally, they had nothing

"People talk about unemployment!" he mused"There's enough human material in this one street to make

wealth for themselves and the whole community, yet they are idle by their own choice. If they had anything

He laughed grimly,the utter stodginess and stupidity of humanity en masse had of late struck him very

forcibly, and he found every excuse for the socalled incapacity of Governments, seeing the kind of folk they

are called upon to govern. He realised, as we all who read history, must do, that we are no worse and no

better than the peoples of the past,we are just as hypocritical, fraudulent, deceptive and cruel as ever they

were in legalisedtorture times, and just as ineradicably selfish. The pagans practised a religion which they

did not truly believe in, and so do we. All through the ages God has been mocked;all through the ages

"And after all," thought Gwent"wars are as necessary as plagues to clear out a superabundant population,

only most unfortunately Nature adopts such recklessness in her methods that it most often happens the best

among us are taken, and the worst left. I tried to impress this on Seaton, whose system of destruction would

involve the good as well as the badbut these intellectual monsters of scientific appetite have no conscience

Here a sudden ugly rush of the crowd, dangerous to both life and limb, pushed him back against the church

portal with the force of a tidal wave,it was not concerned with the bridal pair who had already driven away

in their automobile, nor with the wedding guests who were following them to the great hotel where the bride's

reception was heldit was caused by the wild dash of half a dozen or so of unkempt men and boys who tore

a passage for themselves through the swaying mob of sightseers, waving newspapers aloft and shouting

"Earthquake in California! Terrible loss of life! Thousands dead! Awful scenes! Earthquake in California!"

The people swayed againthen stopped in massed groups, some clutching at the newsboys as they ran

and buying the papers as fast as they could be sold, while all the time above the muffled roar of the city they

"Thousands dead! Awful scenes! Towns destroyed! Terrible Earthquake in California!"

Sam Gwent stepped out from the church portal, elbowing his way through the confusion,the yells of the

newsvendors rang sharply in his ears and yet for the moment he scarcely grasped their meaning. `California'

was the one word that caught him, as it were, with a hammer stroke,then `Thousands dead!' Finding at last

an open passage through the dispersing crowd, he went at something of a run after one of the newsboys, and

"Dunno!" the boy replied, breathlessly"'Xpect everybody's dead down California way!"

Gwent unfolded the journal and stared at the great headlines, printed in fat black letters, still smelling

His eyes grew dim and dazzledhis brain swam,he gazed up unseeingly at the blue sky, the tall

`skyscraper' houses, the sweep of human and vehicular traffic around him; and to his excited fancy the

beautiful face of Manella came, like a phantom, between him and all else that was presented to his

visionthat face warm and glowing with woman's tenderness the splendid dark eyes aflame with love for

a man whose indifference to her only strengthened her adoration, and he seemed to hear the deep defiant

"Annihilation! A holocaust of microbes! I wouldand could wipe them off the face of the earth in

STRUCK by the hand of God! So men say when, after denying God's existence all their lives, the seeming

solid earth heaves up like a ship on a stormbillow, dragging down in its deep recoil their lives and

habitations. An earthquake! Its irresistible rise and fall makes human beings more powerless than insects,

their houses and possessions have less stability than the spider's web which swings its frail threads across

broken columns in greater safety than any manmade bridge of stone, and terror, mad, hopeless, helpless

terror, possesses every creature brought face to face with the dire cruelty of natural forces, which from the

very beginning have played havoc with struggling mankind. Struck by the hand of God!and with a

merciless blow! All the sunny plains and undulating hills of the beautiful stretch of land in Southern

California, in the centre of which the `Plaza' hotel and sanatorium had stood, were now unrecognisable,the

earth was torn asunder and thrown into vast heapsgreat rocks and boulders were tumbled over each other

pellmell in appalling heights of confusion, and, for miles around, towns, camps and houses were laid in

ruins. The scene was one of absolute horror,there was no language to express or describe itno word of

hope or comfort that could be fitly used to lighten the blackness of despair and loss. Gangs of men were at

relief work as soon as they could be summoned, and these busied themselves in extricating the dead, and

rescuing the dying whose agonised cries and moans reproached the Power that made them for such an

end,and perhaps as terrible as any other sound was the savage roar and rush of a loosened torrent which

came tearing furiously down from the cleft hills to the lower land, through the great ca*on beyond the site

where the Plaza had stood,a ca*on which had become enormously widened by the riving and the rending

of the rocks, thus giving free passage to wild waters that had before been imprisoned in a narrow gorge. The

persistent rush of the flood filled every inch of space with sound of an awful, even threatening character,

suggesting further devastation and death. The men engaged in their dreadful task of lifting crushed corpses

from under the stones that had fallen upon them, were almost overcome and rendered incapable of work by

the appalling clamour, which was sufficient to torture the nerves of the strongest; and some of them, sickened

at the frightful mutilation of the bodies they found, gave up altogether and dropped from sheer fatigue and

exhaustion into unconsciousness, despite the heroic encouragement of their director, a man well used to great

emergencies. Late afternoon found him still organising and administering aid, with the assistance of two or

three Catholic priests who went about seeking to comfort and sustain those who were passing "the line

between." All the energetic helpers were prepared to work all night, delving into the vast suddenlymade

grave wherein were tumbled the living with the dead,and it was verging towards sunset when one of the

priests, chancing to raise his eyes from the chaos of earth around him to the clear and quiet sky, saw what at

first he took to be a great eagle with outspread wings soaring slowly above the scene of devastation. It moved

with singular lightness and ease,now and then appearing to pause as though seeking some spot whereon to

descend,and after watching it for a minute or two he called the attention of some of the men around him to

its appearance. They looked up wearily from their gruesome task of excavating the dead.

"An airship!" echoed the priest amazedly,and then was silent, gazing at the shining expanse of sky

through which the birdshaped vessel made its leisurely way like the vision of a fairy tale more than any

reality. There was something weirdly terrible in the contrast it made, moving so tranquilly through clear

space in apparent safety, while down below on the so called `solid' earth, all nature had been convulsed and

overthrown. The wonderful result of human ingenuity as measured with the remorseless action of natural

forces seemed too startling to be real to the mind of a Spanish priest who, despite all the evidences of

triumphant materialism, still clung to the Cross and kept his simple, faithful soul high above the waves that

threatened to engulf it. Turning anew to his melancholy duties, he bent over a dying youth just lifted from

beneath a weight of stones that had crushed him. The boy's fast glazing eyes were upturned to the sky.

"See the angel coming?" he whispered, thickly"Never used to believe in them!but there's one sure

The priest crossed his hands upon his breast and said a prayerthen again looked up to where the airship

floated in the darkening blue. It was now directly over the ca*on, immediately above the huge rift made by

the earthquake, through which the clamorous rush of water poured. While he watched it, it suddenly stood

still, then dived slowly as though bent on descending into the very depths of the gully. He could not forbear

uttering an exclamation, which made all the men about him look in the direction where his own gaze was

"That airship's going to kingdomcome!" said one"Nothing can save it if it takes to nosediving down

They all stared amazedbut the dreadful work on which they were engaged left them no time for

consideration of any other matter. The priest watched a few minutes longer, more or less held spellbound

with a kind of terror, for he saw that without doubt the great vessel was either purposely descending or being

drawn into the vast abyss yawning black beneath it, and that falling thus it must be inevitably doomed to

destruction. Whoever piloted it must surely be determined to invite this frightful end to its voyage, for

nothing was ever steadier or more resolute than its downward movement towards the whirling waters that

rushed through the ca*on. All suddenly it disappeared, whelmed as it seemed in darkness and the roaring

Had he been able to see what happened he might have thought that the confused brain of the dying boy who

had imagined the airship to be an angel, was not so far wrong, for no romancer or teller of wild tales could

have pictured a stranger or more unearthly sight than the wonderful `White Eagle' poised at ease amid the

tossedup clouds of spray flung from the seething mass of waters, while at her prow stood a woman fair as

any fabled goddessa woman reckless of all danger, and keenly on the alert, with bright eyes searching

every nook and cranny that could be discerned through the mist. Clear above the roaring torrent her voice

rang like a silver trumpet as she called her instructions to the two men who, equally defying every peril, had

"Let her down very gently inch by inch!" she cried; "It must be here that we should seek!"

In absolute silence they obeyed. Both had given themselves up for lost and were resigned and ready to meet

death at any moment. From the first they had made no effort to resist Morgana's ordersshe and they had

left Sicily at a couple of hours' noticeand their three days' journey across the ocean had been accomplished

without adventure or accident, at such a speed that it was hardly to be thought of without a thrill of horror. No

information had been given them as to the object of their long and rapid aerial voyage,and only now when

the `White Eagle,' swooping over California, reached the scene of the terrific devastation wrought by the

earthquake, did they begin to think they had submitted their wills and lives to the caprice of a madwoman.

However, there was no drawing back, nothing for it but still to obey, for even in the stress and terror naturally

excited by their amazing position, they did not fail to see that the great airship was steadily controlled, and

that whatever was the force controlling it, it maintained its level, its mysterious vibrating discs still throbbing

with vital and incessant regularity. Apparently nothing could disturb its equilibrium or shatter its mechanism.

And, according to its womandesigner's command, they lowered it gently till it was, so to say, almost

immersed in the torrent and covered with sprayindeed Morgana's light figure itself at the prow looked like

a fair spirit risen from the waters rather than any form of flesh and blood, so wreathed and transfigured it was

by the dust of the ceaseless foam. She stood erect, bent on a quest that seemed hopeless, watching every

eddying curve of water, every flickering ripple,her eyes, luminous as stars, searched the black and riven

rocks with an eager passion of discovery, when all suddenly as she gazed, a thin ray of light,pure gold

in colour,struck sharply like a fingerpoint on a shallow pool immediately below her. She looked and

He hurried to her side, Gaspard following. The pool on which her eyes were fixed was shallow enough to

show the pebbly bed beneath the waterand there lay apparently two corpsesone of a man, the other of a

"They must be brought up here!" she said, insistently"You must lift them! We have emergency ropes and

"Because you demand the impossible!" said Rivardi"You send us to death to rescue the already dead!"

What a face confronted him! White as marble, and as terrible in expression as that of a Medusa, it had a

"You refuse to obey me?" she repeated"Thenif you doI destroy this airship and ourselves in less

He staggered back from her in terror at her looks, which gave her a supernatural beauty and authority. The

`fey' woman was `fey' indeed!and the powers with which superstition endows the fairy folk seemed now to

Without another word he turned to Gaspard, who in equal silence got out the ropes and pulleys of which she

had spoken. The airship stopped deadsuspended immovably over the wild waters and almost hidden in

spray; and though the strange vibration of its multitudinous discs continued, in itself it was fixed as a rock. A

smile sweet as sunshine after storm changed and softened Morgana's features as she saw Rivardi swing over

the vessel's side to the pool below, while Gaspard unwound the gear by which he would be able to lift and

"That's a true noble!" she exclaimed"I knew your courage would not fail! Believe me, no harm shall come

Inspirited by her words, he flung himself downand raising the body of the woman first, was entangled by

the wet thick strands of her long dark hair which, like seaweed, caught about his feet and hands and

impeded his movements. He had time just to see a face white as marble under the hair,then he had enough

to do to fasten ropes round the body and push it upward while Gaspard pulledboth men doubting whether

the weight of it would not alter the balance of the airship despite its extraordinary fixity of position.

Morgana, bending over from the vessel, watched every action,she showed neither alarm nor impatience

"It is easier than I thought it would be!" she merely smiled as if she knew. Another few moments and the

drowned woman's body was hauled into the cabin of the ship, where Morgana knelt down beside it. Parting

the heavy masses of dark hair that enshrouded it she lookedand saw what she had expected to see the

face of Manella Soriso. But it was the deathmask of a facestrangely beautifulbut awful in its white

rigidity. Morgana bent over it anxiously, but only for a moment,then drawing a small phial from her

bosom she forced a few drops of the liquid it contained between the set lips, and with a tiny syringe injected

the same at the pulseless wrist and throat. While she busied herself with these restorative measures, the

second body, that of the man,was landed almost at her feet and she found herself gazing in a sort of

blank stupefaction at what seemed to be the graven image of Roger Seaton. No effigy of stone ever looked

colder, harder, greyer than this inert figure of man,uninjured apparently, for there were no visible marks of

wounds or bruises upon his features, which appeared frozen into stiff rigidity, but a man as surely dead as

death could make him! Morgana heard, as in a faroff dream, the Marchese Rivardi speaking

"I have done your bidding because it was you who bade,"he said, his voice shaking with the tremor and

excitement of his daring effort"And it was not so very difficult. But it is a vain rescue! They are past

Morgana looked up from her awed contemplation of Seaton's rigid form. Her eyes were heavy with unshed

"I think not,"she said"There is life in themyes, there is life, though for the time it is paralysed.

But" here she gave him the loveliest smile of tenderness"You brave Giulio! you are exhausted and

wet throughattend to yourself first then you can help me with these unhappy onesand you, Gaspard,

"Only by God's mercy!" answered Gaspard"If the rope had broken; if the ship had lost balance"

"So many `ifs,' Gaspard? Have I not told you it cannot lose balance? And are not my words proved true? Now

"There is more weight on board!" he said meaningly, "If we are to carry two dead bodies through the air, it

may mean a heavenly funeral for all of us! The `White Eagle' has not been tested for heavy transport."

Like a man hypnotised he obeyed,and in a few moments the airship, answering easily to the helm, rose

lightly as a bubble from the depths of the ca*on, through the fiercely dashing showers of spray tossed by the

foaming torrent, and soared aloft, high and ever higher, as swiftly as any living bird born for long and

powerful flight. Night was falling; and through the dense purple shadows of the Californian sky a big white

moon rose, bending ghostlike over the scene of destruction and chaos, lighting with a pale glare the tired

and haggard faces of the relief men at their terrible work of digging out the living and the dead from the vast

pits of earth into which they had been suddenly engulfed,while far, far above them flew the `White Eagle,'

gradually lessening in size through distance till it looked no bigger than a dove on its homeward way. Some

priests watching by a row of lifeless men, women and children killed in the earthquake, chanted the `Nunc

Dimittis' as the evening grew darker,and only the one among them who had first seen the airship over the

ca*on, when it fell, as it were, into the deep gulf surrounded by flood and foam, now raised his eyes in

"Surely a miracle!" he ejaculated, under his breath"An escape from destruction through God's mercy! God

And he crossed himself devoutly, joining in the solemn chanting of his brethren, kneeling in the moonlight,

which threw a ghastly lustre on the dead faces of the victims of the earthquake,victims not `struck by the

hand of God' but by the hand of man! And he who was responsible for the blow lay unconscious of having

dealt it, and was borne through the air swiftly and safely away for ever from the tragic scene of the ruin and

A GREAT silence pervaded the Palazzo d'Oro,the strained silence of an intense activity weighted with

suspense. Servants moved about here and there with noiseless rapidity,Don Aloysius was seen constantly

pacing up and down the loggia absorbed in anxious thought and prayer, and the Marchese Rivardi came and

went on errands of which he alone knew the import. Overhead the sky was brilliantly blue and cloudless,

the sun flashed a round shield of dazzling gold all day long on the breast of the placid sea,but within the

house, blinds were drawn to shade and temper the light for eyes that perhaps might never again open to the

blessing and glory of the day. A full week had passed since the `White Eagle' had returned from its long and

adventurous flight over the vast stretches of ocean, bearing with it the two human creatures cast down to

death in the deep Californian ca*on,and only one of them had returned to the consciousness of life,the

other still stayed on the verge of the `Great Divide.' Morgana had safely landed the heavy burden of seeming

death her ship had carried,and simply stating to Lady Kingswood and her household staff that it was a case

of rescue from drowning, had caused the two corpses(such as they truly appeared)to be laid, each in a

separate chamber, surrounded with every means that could be devised or thought of for their resuscitation. In

an atmosphere glowing with mild warmth, on soft beds they were placed, inert and white as frozen clay, their

condition being apparently so hopeless that it seemed mere imaginative folly to think that the least breath

could ever again part their set lips or the smallest pulsation of blood stir colour through their veins. But

Morgana never wavered in her belief that they lived, and hour after hour, day after day she watched with

untiring patience, administering the mysterious balm or potion which she kept preciously in her own

possession,and not till the fifth day of her vigil, when Manella showed faint signs of returning

consciousness, did she send to Rome for a famous scientist and physician with whom she had frequently

"It is now time for further aid than mine. The girl will recoverbut the manthe man is still in the

And her eyes grew heavy with a cloud of sorrow and regret which softened her delicate beauty and made it

"My friend, there was a time when I should have considered that question an impertinence from you!" she

said, tranquilly "But yours is the great share of the rescueand your magnificent bravery wins you my

pardon,for many things!" And she smiled as she saw him flush under her quiet gaze"What is this man to

me, you ask? Why nothing!not now! Once he was everything,though he never knew it. Some quality in

him struck the keynote of the scale of life for me,he was the great delusion of a dream! The delusion is

endedthe dream is over! But for all that he was to me, though only in my own thoughts, I have tried to save

She bent her head in assent. Rivardi's eyes dwelt on her with greater tenderness than he had ever felt

before,she looked so frail and fairylike, and withal so solitary. He took her little hand and gently kissed it

"Thenafter allyou have known love!" he said in a low voice"You have felt what it is,though you

"My good Giulio, I do despise most heartily what the world generally understands as love"she replied;

"There is no baser or more selfish sentiment!a sentiment made up half of animal desire and half of a

personal seeking for admiration, appreciation and selfgratification! Yes, Giulio!it is so, and I despise it

for all these attributesin truth it is not what I understand or accept as love at all"

"Not what you can ever give, Giulio!" she said"Loveto my mindis the spiritual part of our beingit

should be the complete union of two souls that move as one,like the two wings of a bird making the body

subservient to the highest flights, even as far as heaven! The physical mating of man and woman is seldom

higher than the physical mating of any other animals under the sun,the animals know nothing

beyondbut wewe ought to know something!" She paused, then went on "There is sometimes a great

loftiness even in the physical way of socalled `love,'such passion as the woman we have rescued has for

the man she was ready to die with,a primitive passion of primitive woman at her best. Such feeling is out

of date in these dayswe have passed that boundary lineand a great unexplored world lies open before

uswho can say what we may find there! Perhaps we shall discover what all women have sought for from

"Am I?" she murmured,and a strange flitting smile brightened her features"Perhaps!and

She left him puzzled and uneasy. Somehow she always managed to evade his efforts to become more

intimate in his relations with her. Generous and kindhearted as she was, she held him at a distance, and

maintained her own aloof position inexorably. A less intelligent man than Rivardi would have adopted the

cynic's attitude and averred that her rejection of love and marriage arose from her own unlovableness and

unmarriageableness, but he knew better than that. He was wise enough to perceive the rareness and delicacy

of her physical and mental organisation and temperament,a temperament so finely strung as to make all

other women seem gross and material beside her. He felt and knew her to be both his moral and intellectual

superior,and this very fact rendered it impossible that he could ever master her mind and tame it down to

the subservience of married life. That dauntless spirit of hers would never bend to an inferior,not even love

(if she could feel it) would move her thus far. And the man she had adventured across ocean to rescuewhat

was he? She confessed that she had loved him, though that love was past. And now she had set herself to

watch night and day by his dead body (for dead he surely was in Rivardi's opinion) sparing no pains to

recover what seemed beyond recovery; while one of the greatest mysteries of the whole mysterious affair was

All these questions Rivardi discussed with Don Aloysius, who listened to him patiently without committing

himself to any reply. Whatever Morgana had confided to him(and she had confided much)he kept his

Within fortyeight hours of Morgana's summons the famous specialist from Rome, Professor Marco Ardini,

noted all over the world for his miraculous cures of those whom other physicians had given up as past curing,

arrived. He heard the story of the rescue of a man and woman from drowning with emotionless gravity, more

taken for the moment by Morgana herself, whom he had never seen before, but with whom he had

corresponded on current questions of scientific importance. From the extremely learned and incisive tone of

her letters he had judged her to be an elderly woman of profound scholarship who had spent the greater part

of her life in study, and his astonishment at the sight of the small, dainty creature who received him in the

library of the Palazzo d'Oro was beyond all verbal expression,in fact, he took some minutes to recover

"I must be quite frank with you,"she said, after a preliminary conversation with the great man in his own

Italian tongue"These two people have suffered their injuries by drowningbut not altogether. They are

the victims of an earthquake,and were thrown by the earth's upheaval into a deep chasm flooded by

"In California!" he echoed amazedly"Gran' Dio! You do not mean to say that you brought these people

"By airshipyes! Really nothing so very remarkable! You will not ask for further details just now,

Professor!" and she laid her pretty hand coaxingly on his arm"You and I both know how advisable it is to

say as little as possible of our own work or adventures, while any subject is awaiting treatment and every

moment counts! I will answer any questions you may ask when you have seen my patients. The girl is a

beautiful creature she is beginning to regain consciousnessbut the man I fear is past even your skill.

She led the way and Professor Ardini followed, marvelling at her ethereal grace and beauty, and more than

interested in the `case' on which his opinion was sought. Entering a beautiful room glowing with light and

warmth and colour, he saw, lying on a bed and slightly propped up by pillows, a lovely girl, pale as ivory,

with dark hair loosely braided on either side of her head. Her eyes were closed, and the long black lashes

swept the cheeks in a curved fringe,the lips were faintly red, and the breath parted them slowly and

reluctantly. The Professor bent over her and listened,her heart beat slowly but regularly,he felt her

"None"Morgana replied, as he put his questions"Some few bruisesbut no bones brokennothing

"No. I and my house people are sufficient." Her tone became slightly peremptory. "There is no need for

He looked at her. His face was a somewhat severe one, furrowed with thought and care,but when he

smiled, a wonderful benevolence gave it an almost handsome effect. And he smiled now.

"You shall not be interfered with,"he said"You have done very well! Complete rest, nourishment and

your care are all that this patient needs. She will be quite herself in a very short time. She is extraordinarily

Almost as if the uttered wish had touched some recess of her stunned brain, Manella's eyelids quivered and

lifted,the great dark glory of the stars of her soul shone forth for an instant, giving sudden radiance to the

"Magnificent!" said Ardini, under his breath"And full of the vital light,she will live!"

"The man she loves is in the next room,"she continued "We rescued him with herif it can be called a

rescue. His is the worst case. Only you may be able to bring him back to consciousness,I have done my

She preceded him into the adjoining chamber; as he entered it after her he pausedalmost intimidated,

despite his long medical and surgical experience, by the stonelike figure of man that lay before him. It was

as if one should have unearthed a statue, grey with timea statue nobly formed, with a powerful head and

severe features sternly set,the growth of beard revealing, rather than concealing, the somewhat cruel

contour of mouth and chin. The Professor walked slowly up to the bed and looked at this strange effigy of a

human being for many minutes in silence,Morgana watching him with strained but quiet suspense.

Presently he touched the foreheadit was stonecold,then the throat, stonecold and rigidhe bent

down and listened for the heart's pulsations,not a flutter not a beat! Drawing back from this examination

he looked at Morgana,she met his eyes with the query in her own which she emphasised by the spoken

"No!"he answered,"I think not. It is very difficult for a man of this type to die at all. Granted favourable

conditions and barring accidents caused by the carelessness of othershe ought to be one of those

destined to live for ever. But"here he hesitated"if I am right in my surmise,of course it is only a first

"Because the brain is damagedhopelessly! This man whoever he ishas been tampering with some

chemical force he does not entirely understand,his whole body is charged with its influence, and this it is

that gives his form its unnatural appearance which, though deathlike, is not death. If I leave him alone and

untouched he will probably expire unconsciously in a few days,but ifafter what I have just told

youyou wish me to set the life atoms going again,even as a clock is wound up,I can relax the tension

which now paralyses the cells, muscles and nerves, and he will liveyes!like most people without brains

Morgana moved to the bedside and gazed with a solemn earnestness at the immobile, helpless form stretched

out before her as though ready for burial. Her heart swelled with suppressed emotion,she thought with

anguish of the brilliant brain, the strong, selfsufficient nature brought to such ruin through too great an

"Oh, give him life!" she whispered"Give him life for the sake of the woman who loves him more than

She shivered at the question as though struck by a cold wind, then conquering the momentary weakness,

"No. The girl you have just seen. He is her world!" Ardini's brows met in a saturnine frown.

"Her world will be an empty one!" he said, with an expressive gesture"A world without fruit or

flower,without light or song! A dreary world! But such as it is,such as it is bound to be,it can live

"Are you quite sure of this?" Morgana asked"Can any of us, however wise, be quite sure of anything?"

His frown relaxed and his whole features softened. He took her hand and patted it kindly.

"Signora, you know as well as I do, that the universe and all within it represents law and order. A man is a

little universe in himselfand if the guiding law of his system is destroyed, there is chaos and darkness. We

scientists can say `Let there be light,' but the fulfilled result `And there was light' comes from God alone!"

"Ah, why!" and Ardini shrugged his shoulders"How can I tell? My long experience has taught me that

wherever the law has been broken God does not help! Who knows whether this frozen wreck of man has

"And you will do it!" interrupted Morgana eagerly, "You will use your best skill and knowledgeeverything

"Money does not count with me, Signora!" he said"Nor with you. The point with both of us in all our work

issuccess! Is it not so? Yes! And it is because I do not see a true success in this case that I hesitate; true

success would mean the complete restoration of this man to life and intelligence,but life without

"And you will do this `all'"said Morgana, eagerly"You will forego triumph for simple pity!pity for

the girl who would surely die if he were dead!and perhaps after all, God may help the recovery!"

"As long as you find it necessary"said Morgana"All your orders shall be obeyed."

"Good! Send me a trustworthy manservant who can help to move and support the patient, and we can get to

work. I left a few necessary appliances in your hallI should like them brought into this roomand

then"here he took her hand and pressed it kindly"you can leave us to our task, and take some rest. You

"I am never tired"she answered, gently"I thank you in advance for all you are going to do!"

She left the room then, with one backward glance at the inert stiff figure on the bed,and went to arrange

matters with her household that the Professor's instructions should be strictly carried out. Lady Kingswood,

"I think so"answered Morgana, with a thrill of sadness in her sweet voice"They will livepray God

She watched the manservant whom she had chosen to wait on Ardini depart on his errandshe saw him

open the door of the room where Seaton lay, and shut itthen there was a silence. Oppressed by a sudden

heaviness of heart she thought of Manella, and entered her apartment softly to see how she fared. The girl's

beautiful dark eyes were wide open and full of the light of life and consciousness. She smiled and stretched

"It is my angel!" she murmured faintly"My little white angel who came to me in the darkness! And this is

Swiftly and silently Morgana went to her side, and taking her outstretched arms put them round her own

"Indeed I know you!"and Manella's voice, weak as that of a sick child, sounded ever so far away"The

little white lady of my dreams! Oh, I have wanted you!wanted you so much! Why did you not come back

Afraid to trouble her brain by the sudden shock of too rapidly recurring memories, Morgana made no reply,

but merely soothed her with tender caresses, when all at once she made a violent struggle to rise from the

"I must go!" she cried"He is calling me! I must follow him yes, even if he kills me for ithe is in

"Hush, hush, dear!" she murmured"Be quite still! He is safe believe me! He is near youin the next

"Oh no, it is not possible!" and the girl's eyes grew wild with terror"He cannot be safe!he is destroying

himself! I have followed him every step of the wayI have watched him, oh!so long!and he came

out of the hut this morningI was hidden among the treeshe could not see me" she broke off, and a

violent trembling shook her whole body. Morgana tried to calm her into silence, but she went on rambling

incoherently. "There was something he carried as though it was precious to himsomething that glittered

like gold,and he went away quicklyquickly to the ca*on,I followed him like a dog, crawling through

the brushwoodI followed him across the deep waterto the cave where it was all darkblack as

midnight!" She pausedthen suddenly flung her arms round Morgana crying"Oh, hold me!hold

me!I am in this darkness trying to find him!there!there!he turns and sees me by the light of a lamp

he carries; he knows I have followed him, and he is angry! Oh, dear God, he is angryhe raises his arm to

strike me!" She uttered a smothered shriek, and clung to Morgana in a kind of frenzy. "No mercy, no pity!

That thing that glitters in his handit frightens mewhat is it? I kneel to him on the cold stonesI pray

him to forgive meto come with mebut his arm is still raised to strikehe does not care!"

Here a pale horror blanched her featuresshe drew herself away from Morgana's hold and put out her hands

with the instinctive gesture of one who tries to escape falling from some great height. Morgana, alarmed at

her looks, caught her again in her arms and held her tenderly, whereat a faint smile hovered on her lips and

"What is this?"she askedthen murmured"My little white lady, how did you come here? How could

you cross the flood? unless on wings? Ah!you are a fairy and you can do all you wish to dobut you

cannot save him!it is too late! He will not save himselfand he does not care,he does not care

She drooped her head against Morgana's shoulder and her eyes closed in utter exhaustion. Morgana laid her

back gently on her pillows, and pouring a few drops of the cordial she had used before, and of which she had

the sole secret, into a wineglassful of water, held it to her lips. She drank it obediently, evidently conscious

now that she was being cared for. But she was still restless, and presently she sat up in a listening attitude,

She lay down again passively and was silent for a long time. The hours passed and the day grew into late

afternoon, and Morgana, patiently watchful, thought she slept. All suddenly she sprang up, wideeyed and

Morgana, startled by her swift movement, stood transfixed, listening. The deep tones of a man's voice rang

"There shall be no more wars! There can be none! I say so! I am Master of the World!"

A BRILLIANT morning broke over the flowerfilled gardens of the Palazzo d'Oro, and the sea, stretched out

in a wide radiance of purest blue, shimmered with millions of tiny silver ripples brushed on its surface by a

light wind as delicate as a bird's wing. Morgana stood in her rosemarble loggia, looking with a pathetic

wistfulness at the beauty of the scene, and beside her stood Marco Ardini, scientist, surgeon and physician,

looking also, but scarcely seeing, his whole thought being concentrated on the `case' with which he had been

"It is exactly as I at first told you,"he said"The man is strong in muscle and sinew,but his brain is

ruined. It can no longer control or command the body's mechanism,therefore the body is practically

useless. Power of volition is gone,the poor fellow will never be able to walk again or to lift a hand. A

certain faculty of speech is left,but even this is limited to a few words which are evidently the result of the

last prevailing thoughts impressed on the braincells. It is possible he will repeat those words thousands of

"Strange enough for a man in his condition"replied Ardini "And always the same. `There shall be no

more wars! There can be none! I say it!I only! It is my Great Secret! I am master of the world!' Poor devil!

"Does he say nothing else?" she murmured"Is there no name no placethat he seems to remember?"

"He remembers nothinghe knows nothing"answered Ardini "He does not even realize me as a

manI might be a fish or a serpent for all his comprehension. One glance at his moveless eyes is enough to

prove that. They are like pebbles in his head without cognisance or expression. He mutters the words

`Great Secret' over and over again, and tacks it on to the other phrase of `No more wars' in a semiconscious

sort of gabble, this is, of course, the disordered action of the brain working to catch up and join together

Morgana lifted her seablue eyes and looked with grave appeal into the severely intellectual, halffrowning

"Is there no hope of an ultimate recovery?" she asked"With time and rest and the best of unceasing care,

"Medically and scientifically speaking, there is no hope, none whatever"he replied"Though of course

we all know that Nature's remedial methods are inexhaustible, and often, to the wisest of us, seem

miraculous, because as yet we do not understand one tithe of her processes. Butin this case,this strange

and terrible case"and he uttered the words with marked gravity,"It is Nature's own force that has

wrought the damage,some powerful influence which the man has been testing has proved too much for

"Tell me just what you mean,"she said"There is something you do not quite expressor else I am too

Ardini took a few paces up and down the loggia and then halted, facing her in the attitude of a teacher

"Signora,"he said"When you began to correspond with me some years ago from America, I realised that

I was in touch with a highly intelligent and cultivated mind. I took you to be many years older than you are,

with a ripe scientific experience. I find you young, beautiful, and pathetic in the pure womanliness of your

nature, which must be perpetually contending with an indomitable power of intellectuality and of

spirituality,spirituality is the strongest force of your being. You are not made like other women. This being

so I can say to you what other women would not understand. Science is my life subject, as it is yours,it is

a window set open in the universe admitting great light. But many of us foolishly imagine that this light

emanates from ourselves as a result of our own cleverness, whereas it comes from that Divine Source of all

things, which we call God. We refuse to believe this,it wounds our pride. And we use the discoveries of

science recklessly and selfishlywithout gratitude, humbleness or reverence. So it happens that the first

tendency of godless men is to destroy. The love of destruction and torture shows itself in the boy who tears

off the wing of an insect, or kills a bird for the pleasure of killing. The boy is father of the man. And we

come, after much ignorant denial and obstinacy, back to the inexorable truth that `they who take the sword

shall perish with the sword.' If we consider the `sword' as a metaphor for every instrument of destruction, we

shall see the force of its applicationthe submarine, for example, built for the most treacherous kind of

seawarfarehow often they that undertake its work are slain themselves! And so it is through the whole

gamut of scientific discovery when it is used for inhuman and unlawful purposes. But when this same `sword'

is lifted to put an end to torture, disease, and the manifold miseries of life, then the Power that has entrusted it

to mankind endows it with blessing and there are no evil results. I say this to you by way of explaining the

view I am forced to take of this man whose strange case you ask me to deal with,my opinion is that

through chance or intention he has been playing recklessly with a great natural force, which he has not

entirely understood, for some destructive purpose, and that it has recoiled on himself."

"You may be right,"she said"He isor wasone of the most brilliant of our younger scientists. You

know his nameI have sent you from New York some accounts of his work,he is Roger Seaton, whose

experiments in the condensation of radio activity startled America some four or five years ago"

"Roger Seaton!" he exclaimed"What! The man who professed to have found a new power which would

change the face of the world? . . . He,this wreck?this blind, deaf lump of breathing clay? Surely he has

Tears rushed to Morgana's eyes,she could not answer. She could only bend her head in assent.

Profoundly moved, Ardini took her hand, and kissed it with sympathetic reverence.

"Signora," he said"This is indeed a tragedy! You have saved this life at I know not what risk to

yourselfand as I am aware what a life of great attainment it promised to be, you may be sure I will spare no

pains to bring it back to normal conditions. But frankly I do not think it will be possible. There is the woman

"If he ever loved heryes!"and Morgana smiled rather sadly "But if he did notif the love is all on

"A great love is always on the woman's side,"he said"Men are too selfish to love perfectly. In this case,

of course there is no emotion, no sentiment of any sort left in the mere hulk of man. But still I will continue

He left her then,and she stood for a while alone, gazing far out to the blue sea and sunlight, scarcely seeing

them for the half unconscious tears that blinded her eyes. Suddenly a Ray, not of the sun, shot athwart the

loggia and touched her with a deep gold radiance. She saw it and looked up, listening.

The Voice quivered along the Ray like the touched string of an �olian harp. She answered it in almost a

"You grieve for sorrows not your own," said the Voice"And we love you for it. But you must not waste

your tears on the errors of others. Each individual Spirit makes its own destiny, and no other but Itself can

help Itself. You are one of the Chosen and Beloved!you must fulfil the happiness you have created for

The golden Ray decreased in length and brilliancy, and finally died away in a fine haze mingling with the air.

She watched it till it vanished,then with a sense of relief from her former sadness, she went into the house

to see Manella. The girl had risen from her bed, and with the assistance of Lady Kingswood, who tended her

with motherly care, had been arrayed in a loose white woollen gown, which, carelessly gathered round her,

intensified by contrast the striking beauty of her dark eyes and hair, and ivory pale skin. As Morgana entered

the room she smiled, her small even teeth gleaming like tiny pearls in the faint rose of her pretty mouth, and

"What has he said to you?" she asked"Tell me! Is he not glad to see you?to know he is with you?safe

"Dear Manella!"she answered, gently and with tenderest pity "He does not know me. He knows

nothing! He speaks a few words,but he has no consciousness of what he is saying."

"Ah, that is because he is not himself yet"she said"The crash of the rocksthe pouring of the

floodthis was enough to kill himbut he will recover in a little while and he will know you!yes, he will

Her unselfish joy in the idea that the man she loved would soon recognise the woman he preferred to herself,

"Dear, I am afraid he will never know anything more in this world"she said, sorrowfully"Neither man

nor woman! Nor can he thank God for a life which will be a long, living death! Unless you can help him!"

"I?" and Manella's eyes dilated with brilliant eagerness; "I will give my life for his! What can I do?"

And then, with patient slowness and gentleness, little by little, Morgana told her all. Lady Kingswood, sitting

in an arm chair near the window, worked at her embroidery, furtive tears dropping now and again on the

delicate pattern, as she heard the details of the tragic verdict given by one of Europe's greatest medical

scientists on the hopelessness of ever repairing the damage wrought by the shock which had shaken a

powerful brain into ruins. But it was wonderful to watch Manella's face as she listened. Sorrow, pity,

tenderness, love, all in turn flashed their heavenly radiance in her eyes and intensified her beauty, and when

she had heard all, she smiled as some lovely angel might smile on a repentant soul. Her whole frame seemed

"He will be my care!" she said"The good God has heard my prayers and given him to me to be all mine!"

She clasped her hands in a kind of ecstasy, "My life is for him and him alone! He will be my little

child!this big, strong, poor broken man! and I will nurse him back to himself,I will watch for every

little sign of hope!he shall learn to see through my eyesto hear through my earsto remember all that

he has forgotten! . . ." Her voice broke in a half sob. Morgana put an arm about her.

"Manella, Manella!" she said"You do not know what you say you cannot understand the

"Oh, I understand!" and Manella shook back her dark hair with the little proud, decisive gesture characteristic

of her temperament"Yes!and I wish to be so imprisoned! If we had not been rescued by you, we should

have died together!now you will help us to live together! Will you not? You are a little white angela

fairy!yes!to me you are!your heart is full of unspent love! You will let me stay with him

Morgana looked at her tenderly, touched to the quick by her eagerness and her beauty, now intensified by the

glow of excitement which gave a roseate warmth to her cheeks and deeper darkness to her eyes. All ignorant

and unsuspecting as she was of the world's malignity and cruel misjudgments, how could it be explained to

her that a woman of such youth and loveliness, electing to dwell alone with a man, even if the man were a

hopeless paralytic, would make herself the subject of malicious comment and pitiless scandal! Some

reflection of this feeling showed itself in the expression of Morgana's face while she hesitated to answer,

holding the girl's hand in her own and stroking it affectionately the while. Manella, gazing at her as a

"Ah, I know what you would say!" she exclaimed, "That I might bring shame to him by my companionship

alwaysyes! that is possible!wicked people would talk of him and judge him wrongly"

"Me?" She tossed back her wealth of hair, and smiled"What am I? Just a bit of dust in his path! I am

nothing at all! I do not care what anybody says or thinks of me!what should it matter! But see!to save

"His wife!" Morgana repeated the words in amazement, and Lady Kingswood, laying down her work, gazed

at the two beautiful women, the one so spiritlike and fair, the other so human and queenly, in a kind of

"His wife! Yes!" . . . Manella spoke with a thrill of exultation in her voice,and she caught Morgana's hand

and kissed it fondly"His wife! It is the only way I can be his slavewoman! Let me marry him while he

knows nothing, so that I may have the right to wait upon him and care for him! He shall never know! Forif

he comes to himself againplease God he will!as soon as that happens I will go away at once. He will

never know!he shall never learn who it is that has cared for him! You see? I shall never be really his

wifenor he my husbandonly in name. And thenwhen he comes out of the darknesswhen he is

Morgana silenced her by a gesture which was at once commanding and sweetly austere.

"Dear girl, he never loved me!" she said, gently"He has always loved himself. Yes!you know that as

well as I do! Once I fancied I loved himbut now I know my way of love is not his. Let us say no more

of it! You wish to be his wife? Do you think what that means? He will never know he is your husband

never recognise you,your life will be sacrificed to a helpless creature whose brain is gonewho will be

unconscious of your care and utterly irresponsive. Oh, sweet, too loving Manella! you must not pledge the

"I mustI must!" she said"It is the work God gives me to do! Do you not see how it is with me? It is my

one lovethe best of my heart!the pulse of my life! Youth and beauty! what are they without him? Ill

or well, he is all I care for, and if I may not care for him I will die! It is quite easy to die to make an

end!but if there is any youth or beauty to spend, it will be better to spend it on love than in death! My

white angel, listen and be patient with me! You are patient but still be more so!you know there will be

none in the world to care for him!ah!when he was well and strong he said that love would weary

himhe did not think he would ever be helpless and ill!ah no!but a broken brain is put awayout of

sightto be forgotten like a broken toy! He was at work on some wonderful inventionsome great

secret!it will never be known nownot a soul will ever ask what has become of it or of him! The world

does not care what becomes of anyoneit has no sympathy. Only those who love greatly have any pity!"

She clasped her hands and lifted them in an attitude of prayer, laying them against Morgana's breast.

"You will let me have my waysurely you will?" she pleaded "You are a little angel of mercy, unlike any

other woman I ever sawso white and pure and sweet!you understand it all! In his dreadful weakness and

loneliness, God gives him to me! happy me, who am young and strong enough to care for him and attend

upon him. I have no money,perhaps he has none either, but I will work to keep him,I am clever at my

needle I can embroider quite welland I will manage to earn enough for us both." Her voice broke in a

sob, and Morgana, the tears falling from her own eyes, drew her into a close embrace.

"His wife!I must be his wife,his servingwomanthen no one can forbid me to be with him! You will

find some good priest to say the marriage service for us and give us God's benedictionit will mean nothing

to him, because he cannot know or understand,but to me it will be a holy sacrament!"

Then she broke down and wept softly till the pentup passion of her heart was relieved, and Morgana,

mastering her own emotion, had soothed her into quietude. Leaning back in the armchair where she had

rested since rising from her bed, she looked up with an anxious appeal in her lovely eyes.

"Let me tell you something before I forget it again,"she said"It is something terriblethe earthquake."

"Yes, yes, do not think of it now"said Morgana, hastily, afraid that her mind would wander into painful

"Ah yes! But you should know the truth! It was not an earthquake!" she persisted"It was not God's doing!

A cold horror ran through Morgana's blood. His work!the widespread ruin of villages and townships,the

devastation of a vast tract of countrythe deaths of hundreds of men, women and little childrenhis work?

"I know it was his work!" she said"I was warned by a friend of his who came to `la Plaza' that he was

working at something which might lose him his life. And so I watched. I told you how I followed him that

morninghow I saw him looking at a box full of shining things that glittered like the points of swords,

how he put this box in a case and then in a basket, and slung the basket over his shoulder, and went down

into the ca*on, and then to the cave where I found him. I called himhe heard, and held up a miner's lamp

and saw me!thenthen, oh dear God! then he cursed me for following him,he raised his arm to

strike me, and in his furious haste to reach me he slipped on the wet, mossy stones. Something fell from his

hand with a great crash like thunderand there was a sudden glare of fire! oh, the awfulness of that sound

and that flame!and the rocks rose up and split asunderthe ground shook and broke under meand I

Morgana roused herself from the stupefaction of horror with which she had listened to this narration.

"Do not think of it any more!" she said in a low sad voice "Try to forget it all. Yes, dear!try to forget all

the mad selfishness and cruelty of the man you love! Poor, besotted soul!he has a bitter punishment!"

She could say no more then,stooping, she kissed the girl on the white forehead between the rippling waves

"Dear, beautiful angel, you will help me?" Manella pleaded "You will help me to be his wife?"

And with a sign to Lady Kingswood to come nearer and sit by the girl as she lay among her pillows more or

less exhausted, she herself left the room. As she opened the door on her way out, the strong voice of Roger

"There shall be no more wars! There can be none! I say it! My great secret! I am Master of the World!"

Shuddering as she heard, she pressed her hands over her ears and hurried along the corridor. Her thoughts

paraphrased the saying of Madame Roland on Liberty"Oh SCIENCE! what crimes are committed in thy

name!" She was anxious to see and speak with Professor Ardini, but came upon the Marchese Rivardi

"What is all this?" he demanded, insistently"I must speak to you! You have been weeping! What is

"Nothing, Giulio!" and she smiled kindly"I grieve for the griefs of othersquite uselessly!but I cannot

"Yes, far better! But the girl loves him. She is an ardent Spanish creaturewarmhearted and simple as a

child,she believes"and Morgana's eyes had a pathetic wistfulness"she believes,as all women

believe when they love for the first time,that love has a divine power next to that of God!that it will

work miracles of recovery when all seems lost. The disillusion comes, of course, sooner or later,but it has

to come of itselfnot through any other influence. SheManella Sorisohas resolved to be his wife."

"Gran' Dio!" Rivardi started back in utter amazement"His wife?That girl? Young, beautiful? She will

"Poor Giulio!" she said, softly"You are a most unfortunate descendant of your Roman ancestors as far as

we women are concerned! You fall in love with meand you find I am not for you!then you see a

perfectly lovely woman whom you cannot choose but admireand a little stray thought comes flying into

your headyes!quite involuntarily!that perhapsonly perhapsher love might come your way! Do

not be angry, my friend!it was only a thought that moved you when you saw her the other daywhen I

called you to look at her as she recovered consciousness and lay on her bed like a sleeping figure of the

loveliest of pagan goddesses! What man could have seen her thus without a thrill of tenderness!and now

you have to hear that all that beauty and warmth of youthful life is to be sacrificed to a stone idol!(for the

man she worships is little more!) ah, yes!I am sorry for you, Giulio!but I can do nothing to prevent the

Rivardi had alternately flushed and paled while she spoke, her keen, incisive probing of his most secret

fancies puzzled and vexed him,but with a wellassumed indifference he waved aside her delicately

"You have promised to assist? Can you reconcile it to your conscience to let this girl make herself a prisoner

"I can!" she answered quietly"For if she is opposed in her desire for such imprisonment she will kill

herself. So it is wisest to let her have her way. The man she loves so desperately may die at any moment, and

then she will be free. But meanwhile she will have the consolation of doing all she can for him, and the hope

of helping him to recover; vain hope as it may be, there is a divine unselfishness in it. For she says that if he

is restored to health she will go away at once and never let him know she is his wife."

"Marvellous woman!" and there was bitterness in his tone "But women are all amazing when you come to

know them! In love, in hate, in good, in evil, in cleverness and in utter stupidity, they are wonderful

creatures! And you, amica bella, are perhaps the most wonderful of them all! So kind and yet so cruel!"

She looked at him and smiled. That smile gave such a dreamy, spiritlike sweetness to her whole personality

that for the moment she seemed to float before him like an aerial vision rather than a woman of flesh and

blood, and the bold desire which possessed him to seize and clasp her in his arms was checked by a sense of

"If I am cruel to you, my friend"she said, gently, "it is only to be more kind!"

She left him then and went out. He saw her small, elfin figure pass among the chains of roses which at this

season seemed to tie up the garden in brilliant knots of colour, and then go down the terraces, one by one,

towards the monastic retreat half buried among pine and olive, where Don Aloysius governed his little group

"She will tell him all,"he thought"And with his strange semireligious, semiscientific notions, it will

be easy for her to persuade him to marry the girl to this demented creature who fills the house with his

shouting `There shall be no more wars!' I should never have thought her capable of tolerating such a crime!"

He turned to leave the loggia,but paused as he perceived Professor Ardini advancing from the interior of

the house, his hands clasped behind his back and his furrowed brows bent in gloomy meditation.

"More than difficult!" replied Ardini"Beyond human skill! Perhaps not beyond the mysterious power we

Rivardi shrugged his shoulders. He was a sceptic of sceptics and his modernworld experiences had

"The latest remedy proposed by the Signora islove!" he said, carelessly"The girl who is here,Manella

"Altr�! If she has made up her mind, heaven itself will not move her! It will be a sublime sacrifice of one life

for another,what would you? Such sacrifices are common, though the world does not hear of them. In this

"I have no power to approve or to tolerate,"replied the scientist, coldly"The matter is not one in which I

have any right to interfere. Nor,I think, have you!I have stated such facts as existthat the man's brain

is practically destroyed but that owing to the strength of the lifecentres he will probably exist in his

present condition for a full term of years. To keep him so alive will entail considerable care and expense. He

will need a male nurseprobably twofood of the best, and absolutely tranquil surroundings. If the

Signora, who is rich and generous, guarantees these necessities, and the girl who loves him desires to be his

wife under such terrible conditions, I do not see how anyone can object to the marriage."

"Then the poor devil of a man will be married without his knowledge, and probably (if he had his senses)

"Just so!" he answered"But he has neither knowledge nor willnor is he likely ever to have them again.

These great attributes of the god in man have been taken from him. Power and Will!Will and Power!the

two wings of the Soul!they are gone, probably for ever. Science can do nothing to bring them back, but I

will not deny the possibility of other forces which might work a remedy on this ruin of a `master of the world'

DON ALOYSIUS sat in his private library,a room little larger than a monastic cell,and at his feet knelt

Morgana like a child at prayer. The rose and purple glow of the sunset fell aslant through a high oriel window

of painted glass, shedding an aureole round her golden head, and intensified the fine, dark intellectual outline

of the priest's features as he listened with fixed attention to the soft pure voice, vibrating with tenderness and

pity as she told him of the love that sought to sacrifice itself for love's sake only.

"In your Creed and in mine,"she said"there is no union which is real or binding save the Spiritual,and

this may be consummated in some way beyond our knowledge when once the sacred rite is said. You need no

explanation from me,you who are a member and future denizen of the Golden City,you, who are set

apart to live long after these poor human creatures have passed away with the unthinking millions of the

timeand you can have no hesitation to unite them as far as they can be united, so that they may at least be

saved from the malicious tongues of an always evilspeaking world. You once asked me to tell you of the

few moments of real happiness I have known, this will be one of the keenest joys to me if I can satisfy this

lovinghearted girl and aid her to carry out her self chosen martyrdom. And you must help me!"

"It will be indeed a martyrdom!" he said, slowly, "Long and torturing! Think well of it!a woman, youthful

and beautiful, chained to a mere breathing image of man,a creature who cannot recognise either persons or

objects, who is helpless to move, and who will remain in that pitiable state all his life, if he lives!dear

"Not for her!" Morgana replied"She has set her soul to try if God will help her to restore him,she will

surround him with the constant influence of a perfectly devoted love. Dare we say there shall be no healing

He stroked her shining hair with a careful tenderness as one might stroke the soft plumage of a bird.

She raised her eyes to his. A light of heaven's own radiance shone in those blue orbsan angelic peace

"What should there be of me except the dream come true?" she responded, smiling"You know my

plans,you also know my destiny, for I have told you everything! You will be the controller of all my

wealth, entrusted to carry out all my wishes, till it is time either for you to come where I am, or for me to

return hither. We never know how or when that may be. But it has all seemed plain sailing for me since I saw

the City called `Brazen' but which we know is Golden!and when I found that you belonged to it, and were

only stationed here for a short time, I knew I could give you my entire confidence. It is not as if we were of

the passing world or its wayswe are of the New Race, and time does not count with us."

"Quite true,"he said"But for these persons in whom you are interested, time is still consideredand for

"Not with such love as hers!" replied Morgana. "Each moment, each hour will be filled with hope and prayer

and constant vigilance. Love makes all things easy! It is useless to contend with a fate which both the man

and woman have made for themselves. He isI should say he was a scientist, who discovered the means of

annihilating any section of humanity at his own wish and willhe played with the fires of God and brought

annihilation on himself. My discoverythe force that moves my airshipthe force that is the vital element

of all who live in the Golden Cityis the same as his!but I use it for health and movement, progress and

powernot for the destruction of any living soul! By one single false step he has caused the death and

misery of hundreds of helpless human creaturesand this terror has recoiled on his own head. The girl

Manella has no evil thought in hershe simply loves!her love is ill placed, but she also has brought her

own destiny on herself. You have workedand so have Iwith the universal force, not as the world does,

against it,and we have made ourselves what we are and what we shall be. There is no other way either

forward or backward,you know there is not!" Here she rose from her knees and confronted him, a light

aerial creature of glowing radiance and elfin loveliness"And you must fulfil her wishand mine!"

He rose also and stood erect, a noble figure of a man with a dignified beauty of mien and feature that seemed

"So be it!" he said"I will carry out all your commands to the letter! May I just say that your generosity to

Giulio Rivardi seems almost unnecessary? To endow him with a fortune for life is surely too indulgent! Does

"Dear Father Aloysius, Giulio has lost his heart to me!" she said"Or what he calls his heart! He should

have some recompense for the loss! He wants to restore his old Roman villaand when I am gone he will

have nothing to distract him from this artistic work,I leave him the means to do it! I hope he will

"Will become the abode of selfsacrificing love," she replied "It could not be put to better use! It was a

fancy of mine;I love it and its gardensand I should have tried to live there had I not found out the secret

of a larger and longer life!" She pausedthen added"Tomorrow morning you will come?"

With a salute of mingled reverence and affection she left him. He watched her go,and hearing the bell

begin to chime in the chapel for vespers, he lifted his eyes for a moment in silent prayer. A light flashed

downward, playing on his hands like a golden ripple,and he stood quietly expectant and listening. A Voice

floated along the Ray"You are doing well and rightly!" it said"You will release her now from the strain

of seeming to be what she is not. She is of the New Race, and her spirit is advanced too far to endure the

grossness and materialism of the Old generation. She deserves all she has studied and worked for,lasting

The Ray lessened in brilliancy and gradually diminished till it entirely vanished,and Don Aloysius, with

the rapt expression of a saint and visionary, entered the chapel where his brethren were already assembled,

The next morning, all radiant with sunshine, saw the strangest of nuptial ceremonies,one that surely had

seldom, if ever, been witnessed before in all the strange happenings of human chance. Manella Soriso, pale as

a white arum lily, her rich dark hair adorned with a single spray of orangeblossom gathered from the garden,

stood trembling beside the bed where lay stretched out the immobile form of the once active, world defiant

Roger Seaton. His eyes, wide open and staring into vacancy, were, like dull pebbles, fixed in his head,his

face was set and rigid as a mask of clayonly his regular breathing gave evidence of life. Manella's pitiful

gazing on this ruin of the man to whom she had devoted her heart and soul, her tender sorrow, her yearning

beauty, might have almost moved a stone image to a thrill of response,but not a flicker of expression

appeared on the frozen features of that terrible fallen pillar of human selfsufficiency. Standing beside the

bed with Manella was Marco Ardini, intensely watchful and eager to note even a quiver of the flesh or the

tremor of a muscle,and near him was Lady Kingswood, terrified yet enthralled by the scene, and anxious

on behalf of Morgana, who looked more delicate and ethereal than ever, standing statuesque and pensive like

a small attendant angel close to Don Aloysius. He, in his priestly robes, read the marriage service with soft

and impressive intonation, himself speaking the responses for the bridegroom, and taking Manella's hand

he placed it on Seaton's, clasping the two together, the one so yielding and warm, the other stiff as marble,

and setting the golden marriage ring which Morgana had given, on the bride's finger. As he made the sign of

the cross and uttered the final blessing, Manella sank on her knees and covered her face. There followed a

"God help and bless you!" he said, solemnly"Only the Divine Power can give you strength to bear the

"It is no burden!" she said"I have prayed to be his slave and now I am his wife! That is more than I ever

dared to dream of!for now I have the right to care for him, to work for him, and no one can separate me

from him! What happiness for me! But I will not take a mean advantage of thisah, no!no, good Father!

Listen!I swear before you and the holy Cross you wear, that if he recovers he shall never know!I will

leave him at once without a wordhe shall think I am a servant in his employor rather he shall not think

at all about me, for I will go where he can never find me, and he will be as free as ever he was! Yes,

truly!by the blessed Madonna I swear it! I will kill myself rather than let him know!"

She looked regally beautiful, her face flushed with the pride and love of her soul,and in her newly gained

privilege as a wife she bent down and kissed the pallid face that lay like the face of a corpse on the pillow

"He is a poor wounded child just now!" she murmured, tenderly"But I will care for him in his weakness

and sorrow! The doctor will tell me what to doand it shall all be done! I will neglect nothingas for

"Dear, do not think of that!" she said"For the present you will stay hereI am going on a journey very

soon, and you and Lady Kingswood will take care of my house till I return. Be quite satisfied!You will

have all you want for him and for yourself. Professor Ardini will talk to you now and tell you

But Manella was gazing intently at the figure on the bedshe saw its grey lips move. With startling

"There shall be no more wars! There can be none! My Great Secret! I am Master of the World!"

"Come!" said Morgana again,and gently led her away. The spray of orangeblossom fell from her hair as

she moved, and Don Aloysius, stooping, picked it up. Marco Ardini saw his action.

"No,"and Don Aloysius touched the white fragrant flowers with his crucifix"I will lay it as a votive

About a fortnight later life at the Palazzo d'Oro had settled into organised lines of method and routine.

Professor Ardini had selected two competent men attendants, skilled in surgery and medicine, to watch

Seaton's case with all the care trained nursing could give, and himself had undertaken to visit the patient

regularly and report his condition. Seaton's marriage to Manella Soriso had been briefly announced in the

European papers and cabled to the American Press, Senator Gwent being one of the first who saw it thus

"He has actually become sane at last!" he soliloquised, "And beauty has conquered science! I gave the girl

good adviceI told her to marry him if she could,and she's done it! I wonder how they escaped that

earthquake? Perhaps that brought him to his senses! Well, well! I daresay I shall be seeing them soon over

hereI suppose they are spending their honeymoon with Morgana. Curious affair! I'd like to know the ins

"Have you seen that Roger Seaton is married?" was the question asked of him by every one he knew,

especially by the flashing society butterfly, once Lydia Herbert, who in these early days of her marriage was

getting everything she could out of her millionaire"And not to Morgana! Just think! What a

"No, one never does!" laughed the fair Lydia"Poor Morgana! Left on the stalk! But she's so rich it won't

"The worser place!"agreed Lydia"And Morgana is not like ordinary women. I wonder what she's doing,

They might have had more than ordinary cause to `wonder' had they been able to form even a guess as to the

manner and intentions of life held by the strange half spiritual creature whom they imagined to be but an

ordinary mortal moved by the same ephemeral aims and desires as the rest of the grosser world. Who,even

among scientists, accustomed as they are to study the evolution of grubs into lovely rainbowwinged shapes,

and the transformation of ordinary weeds into exquisite flowers of perfect form and glorious colour,goes

far enough or deep enough to realise similar capability of transformation in a human organism selftrained to

so evolve and develop itself? Who, at this time of day,even with the hourly vivid flashes kindled by the

research lamps of science,reverts to former theories of men like De Gabalis, who held that beings in

process of finer evolution and formation, and known as `elementals,' nourishing their own growth into

exquisite existence, through the radioforce of air and fire, may be among us, all unrecognised, yet working

their way out of lowness to highness, indifferent to worldly loves, pleasures and opinions, and only bent on

the attainment of immortal life? Such beliefs serve only as material for the scoffer and iconoclast,

nevertheless they may be true for all that, and may in the end confound the mockery of materialism, which

The strangest and most dramatic happenings have the knack of settling down into the commonplace,and so

in due course the days at the Palazzo d'Oro went on tranquilly,Manella being established there and known

as `la bella Signora Seaton' by the natives of the little surrounding villages, who were gradually brought to

understand the helpless condition of her husband and pitied her accordingly. Lady Kingswood had agreed to

stay as friend and protectress to the girl as long as Morgana desired it,indeed she had no wish to leave the

beautiful Sicilian home she had so fortunately found, and where she was treated with so much kindness and

consideration. There was no lack or stint of wealth to carry out every arranged plan, and Manella was too

simple and primitive in her nature to question anything that her `little white angel' as she called her,

suggested or commanded. Intensely grateful for the affectionate care bestowed upon her, she acquiesced in

what she understood to be the methods of possible cure for the ruined man to whom she had bound her life.

"If he gets wellquite, quite well"she said, lifting her splendid dark eyes to Morgana's, blue as

And she meant it, having no predominant idea in her mind save that of making her elect beloved happy.

Meanwhile Morgana announced her intention of taking another aerial voyage in the `White Eagle'much to

the joy of Giulio Rivardi. Receiving his orders to prepare the wonderful airship for a long flight, he and

Gaspard worked energetically to perfect every detail. Where he had previously felt a certain sense of fear as

to the capabilities of the great vessel, controlled by a force of which Morgana alone had the secret, he was

"I am glad"he said"that you are leaving this place where you have installed people who to me seem

quite out of keeping with it. That terrible man who shouts `I am master of the world'!ah, cara

"I know you did not;"she answered, gently"Nor did I intend it to be so occupied. I dreamed of it as a

home of pleasure where I should dwellalone! And you said it would be lonely!you remember?"

"True!" and her eyes shone with a strange brilliancy"But loveas the world knows itis never anything

else! There, do not frown, my friend! You will never wear its crown of thorns! And you are glad I am going

"Yes!glad that you will have a change,"he said"Your constant care and anxiety for these people

whom we rescued from death must have tired you out unconsciously. You will enjoy a free flight through

space,and the ship is in perfect condition; she will carry you like an angel in the air!"

"Good Giulio!you are quite a romancist!you talk of angels without believing in them!"

"I believe in them when I look at you!" he said, with all an Italian's impulsive gallantry.

"Very pretty of you!" and she withdrew her hand from his too fervent clasp,"I feel sorry for myself that I

"You are what some people call `a good fellow,' Giulio!" she said"And you deserve to be very happy. I

hope you will be so! I want you to prosper so that you may restore your grand old villa to its former

beauty,I also want you to marryand bring up a big family"here she laughed a little"A family of

sons and daughters who will be grateful to you, and not waste every penny you give themthough that is the

She paused, smiling at his moody expression. "And you say everything is ready?the `White Eagle' is

"She will leave the shed at a moment's touch"he answered "when you supply the motive power!"

With that she left him. And he betook himself to the air shed where the superb `White Eagle' rested all

aquiver for departure, palpitating, or so it seemed to him, with a strange eagerness for movement which

The next day moved on tranquilly. Morgana wrote many lettersand varied this occupation by occasionally

sitting in the loggia to talk with Manella and Lady Kingswood, both of whom now seemed the natural

inhabitants of the Palazzo d'Oro. She spoke easily of her intended airtrip,so that they accepted her

intention as a matter of course, Manella only entreating"Do not be long away!" her lovely, eloquent eyes

emphasising her appeal. Now and again the terrible cries of `There shall be no more wars! There can be none!

My Great Secret! I am Master of the World!' rang through the house despite the closed doors,cries which

they feigned not to hear, though Manella winced with pain, as at a dagger thrust, each dine the sounds echoed

And the night came,mildly glorious, with a full moon shining in an almost clear skyclear save for little

delicate wings of snowy cloud drifting in the east like wandering shapes of birds that haunted the domain of

sunrise. Giulio Rivardi, leaning out of one of the richly sculptured window arches of his halfruined villa,

looked at the sky with pleasurable anticipation of the morrow's intended voyage in the `White Eagle.'

"The weather will be perfect!" he thought"She will be pleased. And when she is pleased no woman can be

more charming! She is not beautiful, like Manellabut she is something more than beautifulshe is

Suddenly a thought struck him,a vivid impression coming from he knew not whencean idea that he had

forgotten a small item of detail in the airship which its owner might or might not notice, but which would

certainly imply some slight forgetfulness on his part. He glanced at his watch,it was close on midnight.

Acting on a momentary impulse he decided not to wait till morning, but to go at once down to the shed and

see that everything in and about the vessel was absolutely and finally in order. As he walked among the

perfumed tangles of shrub and flower in his garden, and out towards the sea shore, he was impressed by the

great silence everywhere around him. Everything looked like a moveless picturea study in still life.

Passing through a little olive wood which lay between his own grounds and the sea, he paused as he came out

of the shadow of the trees and looked towards the height crowned by the Palazzo d'Oro, where from the upper

windows twinkled a few lights showing the position of the room where the `master of the world' lay stretched

in brainless immobility, waited upon by medical nurses ever on the watch, and a wife of whom he knew

nothing, guarding him with the fixed devotion of a faithful dog rather than of a human being. Going onwards

in a kind of abstract reverie, he came to a halt again on reaching the shore, enchanted by the dreamy

loveliness of the scene. In an open stretch of dazzling brilliancy the sea presented itself to his eyes like a

delicate network of jewels finely strung on swaying threads of silver, and he gazed upon it as one might gaze

on the `fairy lands forlorn' of Keats in his enchanting poesy. Never surely, he thought, had he seen a night so

beautiful,so perfect in its expression of peace. He walked leisurely,the long shed which sheltered the

airship was just before him, its black outline silhouetted against the skybut as he approached it more

nearly, something caused him to stop abruptly and stare fixedly as though stricken by some sudden

terrorthen he dashed off at a violent run, till he came to a breathless halt, crying out

Gone! The shed was empty! No airship was there, poised trembling on its own balance all prepared for

flight,the wonderful `White Eagle' had unfurled its wings and fled! Whither? Like a madman he rushed up

and down, shouting and calling in vainit was after midnight and there was no one about to hear him. He

started to run to the Palazzo d'Oro to give the alarmbut was held backheld by an indescribable force

Running down to the edge of the sea he gazed across it and up to the wonderful sky through which the moon

rolled lazily like a silver ball. Was there nothing to be seen there save that moon and the moondimmed

stars? With eager straining eyes he searched every quarter of the visible spacestay! Was that a white dove

"Morgana!" he cried again, stretching out his arms in despair "She has gone! And alone!"

Even as he spoke the dovelike shape was lost to sight beyond the shining of the evening star.

SEVERAL months ago the ruin of a great airship was found on the outskirts of the Great Desert so battered

and broken as to make its mechanism unrecognisable. No one could trace its origin,no one could discover

the method of its design. There was no remnant of any engine, and its wings were cut to ribbons. The

travellers who came upon its fragments half buried in the sand left it where they found it, deciding that a

terrible catastrophe had overtaken the unfortunate aviators who had piloted it thus far. They spoke of it when

they returned to Europe, but came upon no one who could offer a clue to its possible origin. These same

travellers were those who a short time since filled a certain section of the sensational press with tales of a

`Brazen City' seen from the desert in the distance, with towers and cupolas that shone like brass or like `the

city of pure gold,' revealed to St. John the Divine, where `in the midst of the street of it' is the Tree of Life.

Such tales were and are received with scorn by the world's majority, for whom food and money constitute the

chief interest of existence,nevertheless tradition sometimes proves to be true, and dreams become realities.

However this may be, Morgana lives,and can make her voice heard when she will along the `Sound

Ray'that wonderful `wireless' which is soon to be declared to the world. For there is no distance that is not

bridged by light,and no separation of sounds that cannot be again brought into unison and harmony. `There

are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamed of in our philosophy,' and the `Golden City' is one of

those things! `Masters of the world' are poor creatures at best,but the secret Makers of the New Race are