"Plague the luck!"said he;"I went blind just as I was about to pull.A haze seemed to cover both barrels,and completely screened the bird.""The Callisto will soon be hidden by those trees,"said Cortlandt."I think we had better take our bearings,for,if our crack shot is going to miss like that,we may want canned provisions."Accordingly,he got out his sextant,took the altitude of the sun,got cross-bearings and a few angles,and began to make a rough calculation.For several minutes he worked industriously,used the rubber at the end of his pencil,tried again,and then scratched out."That humming confuses me so that I cannot work correctly,"said he,"while the most irrelevant things enter my mind in spite of me,and mix up my figures.""I found the same thing,"said Bearwarden,"but said nothing,for fear I should not be believed.In addition to going blind,for a moment I almost forgot what I was trying to do."Changing their course slightly,they went towards a range of hills,in the hope of finding rocky or sandy soil,in order to test the sounds,and ascertain if they would cease or vary.
Having ascended a few hundred feet,they sat down near some trees to rest,the musical hum continuing meanwhile unchanged.The ground was strewn with large coloured crystals,apparently rubies,sapphires,and emeralds,about the size of hens'eggs,and also large sheets of isinglass.Picking up one of the latter,Ayrault examined it.Points of light and shade kept forming on its surface,from which rings radiated like the circles spreading in all directions from a place in still water at which a pebble is thrown.He called his companions,and the three examined it.The isinglass was about ten inches long by eight across,and contained but few impurities.In addition to the spreading rings,curious forms were continually taking shape and dissolving.
"This is more interesting,"said Bearwarden,"than sounding shells at the sea-shore.We must make a note of it as another thing to study."They then spread their handkerchiefs on a mound of earth,so as to make a table,and began examining the gems.
"Does it not seem to you,"asked Ayrault,a few minutes later,addressing his companions,"as though we were not alone?I have thought many times there was some one--or perhaps several persons--here besides ourselves.""The same idea has occurred to me,"replied Cortlandt."I was convinced,a moment ago,that a shadow crossed the page on which I was taking notes.Can it be there are objects about us we cannot see?We know there are vibrations of both light and sound that do not affect our senses.I wish we had brought the magnetic eye;perchance that might tell us.""Anything sufficiently dense to cast a shadow,"said Ayrault,"should be seen,since it would also be able to make an image on our retinas.I believe any impressions we are receiving are produced through our minds,as if some one were thinking very intently about us,and that neither the magnetic eye nor a sensitive plate could reveal anything."They then returned to the study of the isinglass,which they were able to split into extremely thin sheets.Suddenly a cloud passed over the table,and almost immediately disappeared,and then a sharpened pencil with which Ayrault had been writing began to trace on a sheet of paper,in an even hand,and with a slight frictional sound.
"Stop!"said Bearwarden;"let us each for himself describe in writing what he has seen."In a moment they had done this,and then compared notes.In each case the vision was the same.Then they looked at the writing made by the invisible hand."Absorpta est mors in Victoria,"it ran.
"Gentlemen,began Bearwarden,as if addressing a meeting,"this cannot be coincidence;we are undoubtedly and unquestionably in the presence of a spirit or of several spirits.That they understand Latin,we see;and,from what they say,they may have known death.Time may show whether they have been terrestrials like ourselves.Though the conditions of life here might make us delirious,it is scarcely possible that different temperaments like ours should be affected in so precisely the same way;besides,in this writing we have tangible proof.""It is perfectly reasonable,"said Ayrault,"to conclude it was a spirit,if we may assume that spirits have the power to move the pencil,which is a material object.Nobody doubts nowadays that after death we live again;that being the case,we must admit that we live somewhere.Space,as I take it,can be no obstacle to a spirit;therefore,why suppose they remain on earth?""This is a wonderful place,"said Cortlandt."We have already seen enough to convince us of the existence of many unknown laws.
I wish the spirit would reveal itself in some other way."As he finished speaking,the rays of the distant and cold-looking sun were split,and the colours of the spectrum danced upon the linen cloth,as if obtained by a prism.In astonishment,they rose and looked closely at the table,when suddenly a shadow that no one recognized as his own appeared upon the cover.Tracing it to its source,their eyes met those of an old man with a white robe and beard and a look of great intelligence on his calm face.
They knew he had not been in the little grove thirty seconds before,and as this was surrounded by open country there was no place from which he could have come.
CHAPTER II.
THE SPIRIT'S FIRST VISIT.
"Greetings and congratulations,"he said."Man has steadfastly striven to rise,and we see the results in you.""I have always believed in the existence of spirits,"said Cortlandt,"but never expected to see one with my natural eyes.""And you never will,in its spiritual state,"replied the shade,"unless you supplement sight with reason.A spirit has merely existence,entity,and will,and is entirely invisible to your eyes.""How is it,then,that we see and hear you?"asked Cortlandt.
