THE PASSING OF THE GOOBA.

Press, Volume LXI, Issue 11871, 19 April 1904, Page 10

THE PASSING OF THE GOOBA.

Br \X. L. Moore. 'Aβ Mr# Jonathan Dusk idled at the breakfast table reading her mail, her eyes opened with surprise as she came to an odd-shaped envelope addressed in a quaint and characteristic chirography. Her surprise increased as she turned it over, not ing the strange- foreign paper, and culminated in a mingling of emotions when she had nead the following communication, which it contained: — Would the Difoipie learn to eve the Soul without eelf-Mcriflce; become cultured without etady ; attain power over thing* material .For Lieht upon the path knock at the Door of number 777. Seventh Avenue, where thy rteps shall be directed, by the Outer Keeper, toward the Way leading to the Temple ot the Channacarid Gooba. Calling her maid, Mrs Dusk asked if this letter had been received with the other nail. "\ T o, Ma'rm, it came after. "Who brought it?" The maid did not know. "Was it given to you at the door.' "W'y {Ma'am, I can't seem to recollect— I know I brought it and put it beside yer plate, Ma'am, but I can't seem to say how I came by it," the girl answered confuiedly, putting her hand to litr head. A few minutes !at-er. Mrs Dusk was on her way to communicate th<» strange occurrence, to her frigid, Mrs Swift. She met her friend halfway, arid each observed that the otli.r hi-ld in her hand an oddshaped envelope. "You have one also':" they gaf-ped simultaneously. "I wo#der if they are alike, observed Mrs Dusk, withdrawing her missive from the envelope. Mrs Swift did likewise. Each gazed upon a blank page! In vain they sought for a line upon the strange, "fore : .gn-looking paper. Each related the manner of receiving the mysterious communication. They had been, undoubtedly, identical in purport, and delivered in "a like manner, whatever that manner may have been. ' Nor were they the only ones to receive this eerie summons. Astonishment, curiosity, eager anticipation dwelt in many a breast in the kittle city of Gnawsig upon that memorable morning. Some time previous, a Hindoo had appeared in th:it community, and addressing himself to Mrs Jonathan Dusk, the unchallenged leader of Gnawsig society, had so infected her with his philosophy that she hud'opentd her glittering mansion for an "afternoon," when the Esoteric theories of the Oriental were propounded to a select hundred or s-o of the -"very creamiest cream," as Mrs Dusk confidentially imparted in her verh;tl invitations. Gnawsig society thus imbibed a- number of Hindoo words, together with a nebulous idea tnat there exLstod ft sort of transcendent religion which had not been incorporated into the creeds of any of its churches, but/which was not only "quite the go" in other parts of the world, but, on other grounds, a highly desirable possession. It also gathered that there were forces more subtle and powerful than those generated in its own costly electric works ; and so instinctively commercial was the Gnawsig mind that Mrs Deering approached the Hindoo with a proposition to erect a plant to corner the new commodity in that locality, assuring him that "whatever Deering undertook was sure to go, us he had a bigger bank account tnan anybody." "Karma," "Incarnation," and "Aura" became part of the common vocabulary of Gnawsig society, and the Browning Club united with the "ftroad A" Cult, in universal brotherhood for the purpose of "Concentration." They met at twilight, took deep breaths, and "Went into the Silence,' gazing meantime, jvith one accord,' at -virs Dusk's thousand-dollar chandelier, the cutglass pendants of which emitted a. -faint dazzle in the reflected light from a street lamp. As all w%re upon a (scant diet, and the meetings) before dinner (or ( rather suppsr) , . they were able to describe to each other after* "coming out," tlie peculiar sensations of giddiness and detachment experienced during "Concentration." They were inform**! by the Brother, before his departure, that each would receive, from time to time» in some occult way, instructions as she attained to fitness and required them. And so each was, presumably, «ver on the alert for an opening which would admit her to a region above the heads.ofi her fellows; and when the mysterious communication came, each believed herself to be Exclusively called at last. In the meantime, each dutiful wife had Dent her energies toward the instruction of her benighted epouse, who had listened with indifference or a sniff, but with diplomatic acquiescence. the strange missive had been addressed to.men as well as women, and ■within a week. The Temple of the Gooba became the meeting-place of much of the "solid" element of Gnawsig. It would Have been apparent, to' a thoughtful observer, that a sifting process must have ■occurred at the door of No. 777 Seventh avenue, for the Temple seemed somehow to have been attained by only the wealthy and influential citizens of the place. This was • not 'surprising to those who participated for the dollar sign had ever been the' feign of fitness among- them. So ingenu-. ously sordid was, the little, city, that its elite- had not even suspected irony when a lady from abroad recommended a newcomer to their consideration, saying, "I'm sure you will like Mrs Waters; her misband is rated Al in Bradstreets." Wonderful things occurred in the Temple. Any but the most cane might have doubted the evidence of their senses; but .Gnawsig —and by Gnawsig I mean, of course, her weighty citizens—was accustomed to test all things by the rule of common sense—or rather, common dollars and cento. Nothing was accepted upon faith; and the intensely practical miracles of the new cult placed it beyond scepticism. "Deering always says,". remarked the wife of the financial leader, '''that he don't tike no stock in things that ain't prac. iical; but when he seen the Charmacarin turn that dollar bill into a thing never leavin , his own hand—when he eeen that, he says, JThat gits me!'rand he's ben one of the faithful ever eenee." • Rumours of some .of the wonders worked in the Temple became noised abroad. It T/as said that forms materialised—not in the vulgar manner employed by spirit mediums—no;" but Great Hasten, lying wrapped in the Thought of Ages, in caves in India, projected , their Astral bodies before the Disciples, in order to impart Occult Truth. The uninitiated sneered at these reports, dubbing the cult "The Oligarchy of Idiocy"; and when it was un- i derstood that Mrs Deering wee a High' Priestess of the Order, there were those emong the merely intellectual outsiders who suggested that, while miracles were ! being performed, the lady's English should be reduced to its original elements, and reincarnated upon a - higher plane. Swathed from head to foot in spotless linen, the Charmacarin Gooba preached a welcome gospel to the society of Gnawsig. Truth came not from books. Gnawsig hated books; but the era. of Woman's Club culture made it necessary to seem to have ta read; iienoe the success of Miss James's morning talks on literature. She so condensed and simplified the literary news of the day that, by sitting for an hoar a week under the droppings from her brain, one could converse upon literary topics quite as intelligently as though one had gone to the personal inconvenience of reading. The church doctrine of self-sacrifice wae quite reversed by the Gooba. One must conserve all ones forces, protect ooeeelf from the unpleasant emanations of others, and gaz« steadfastly wrtihin. "Not by works, by charities, or philanthropies, would the world be saved, but by the. concentrated meditation of the Master*." The senior Dusk, who, in a fit of compunction over & questionable stock deal, had endowed a hospital, sincerely regretted his. rashness. Meditation was so much cheaper than philanthropy that it appealed directly to the Gnawsig mind. "Gooba," theg were told by the Outer

Keeper, "was a nave* c© transcendental at* to be untranslatable into cur cumbrous language. "It indicated, in fact/ , he eaid, "the rank of their teacher among the masters on the Other Side;" while "Charmacarin," he explained, "proclaimed to those wL«e in smeh lore, his Degree among the leaders of the Order in India." All this was most fascinating; and.the name of their circle, which the Gooba said had been communicated to him from the Other Side, gave them a feeling of exaltation and exclusiveness which no church had ever conferred. -'Venom Frater' has euch a foreign, distinguished sound!" exclaimed Mrs Swift. When Mr Deering discovered that, spelled backward, it gave the common word "money," the Gooba looked shocked, and Mr Steele, the humourist, averred that Deering was bound to make money anywhere. The symbol of the Circle was SII. This was never to be pronounced above the breath; io fact, the Gcoba said, it was co Occult ac to be superior to formulation in the human thought, but was given them in A*ral projection from another plane. Mrs Deering had it made into a diamond brooch, and was reprimanded for vainglorjousness, but was forgiven when tii© Gooba chanced to observe that the diamond was her Astral Gem. The Temple meetings were delightful affairs, pervaded by an atmosphere of wellfed, well-clad, well-groomed self-satisfac-tion. They took the place of Church to Gnawsig society, and, as Mrs hush remarked, "It was so much nicer th?n church, for you never knew jus-t who you might meet, even in the best of churches." The Temple consisted of a large room upstairs in a down-town block. It.« walls were hung with Oriental stuffs, its floors covered with rugs, and the air was heavy with incense. A screened doorway led to the Inner Court, where none save the Gooba and the Outer Keeper ever penetrated. Within two weeks after its initial meeting, the Venom Frater had plans drawn for an edifice befitting so august, a circle, for its members believed in the revised maxim, "handsome is I hat handsome looks.'' When, one evening, to illustrate the working of Occult forces in the transmutation of materials, the Gooba had performed the miracle with the one-dollar bill, the Venom Frater made low obeisance to the powers of their Master. Mr Deering was asked to take from his pocket a dollar bill. This he placed upon a saucer in his own hand. The Gooba, then explained that there were certain rites necessary to tno focussing of forces, and that these rites must be performed by himself alone within the Inner Court. They weoe, as yet, insufficiently advanced to follow him "thither; but they could assist him by chanting, as he withdrew to the Inner Court, the ancient Egyptian hymn, which "he had taught them. And so. bearing the dollar bill upon the saucer, he with- measured tread receded to the Inner Court, while the. Venom Frater, with bowed heads, chanted the invocation which was to assist in reducing the material in hand to its Astral elements, whence the Master would materialise it in changed form. There was a brief interval of siknee, following the' cfiant; then the Gooba returned, and fixing his gaze upon Mr Deering's eyes, he remarked, as he handed him the saucer: "You observe," my brother, the one dollar note, as yet unaltered." A pang of disappointment sought expression in Mr Deering's face; but the Gooba was. muttering Hindoo words, and adorning the air with mystic symbols made by the middle finger of the left hand. Glancing quickly at the saucer, .W Deering saw the bill, reposing exactly as he had placed it, with one corner slightly curled up. and one side curved under— but—it was a twenty dollar bill! Tlie financier's first idea was to take advantage of the Gooba's apparent ignorance of,the profitable stace to which the-miracle had progressed, and to pocket his greatlyimproved property without comment; but the broad principle of finance presently .triumphed over the narrow impulse of avarice, and his hand was stayed from so unwise an act. This was an industry, not an incident: th"c future was richer than die present, He had made moT<ry rapidly many times, but thisjaras a record breaker! His mind instinctively entered upon a computation of ; the financial result, could he but incorporate the Gooba, and thus control his exclusive services. But the Master meanwhile was preaching. ."Not that I would advise the transmutation of money. It is but an emblem by which I would illustrate. Thus, by material things, would I symbolise the transmutation of the faculties of the body and brain into those of the spirit.' . But the Venom Frater, etill chained to the concrete, desired to be convinced again and again, by the transmutation of cash into more cash. Here was something which they could fully grasp. It was all right to talk about enlarging and clarifying one's Aura by means of certain foods and practice's, and of course each desired to have as large and as beautiful an Aura as his neighbour, if not more so; but, after all, no one but Adepts could see one's Aura, and it seemed rather useless, not to say selfish, to acquire anything so intangible. But more money —why that was obvious, and just what every one wanted! In vain.the Gooba preached, with sorrowful mien, against sordid desires. Each evening ended with a request from some one that he transmute just once, more a small bill into a large* one, even a large bill" into one of higher denomination. The Gooba; seemed oblivious of the fact that he must be, by his transmutations, defraying most of the expenses of the society, but he continued to strive to concentrate their thoughts upon the transformation of the spirit. But when, finally, Mr Deering approached him with a proposition for individual instruction, in order that he might carry on a transmutation business of his own, the Gooba was in a rage/ "My friends," he said at last, "it is deep grief-—yes chagrin—that I note always your sordid thought. I !tad hoped by my word and by my influence to change this, but I make slow progress. It ia money, money! always money 1 Thie fe the stone wall in your minds from which all my ! teachings rebound. I have been discbur- ! age. I have enter the Inner Court in deep Concentration. I have achieve a plan. i Sometime the body have appetite which cannot be appease until satiety. I have. decide—or better to say-4-I am guide, to give to you satiety of this money transmutation. Then, perhaps, your great desire will be allay, and I can. progress more in the true transmutation, which is the great objec , of the soul-life; the 'transmutation of the mind-thought, and the bodyforce, into the spirit." Eagerly they grasped his plan. They were to bring to the next meeting any amount of money, and the Gooba would transmute it as they might wish. All the money they desired, for the mere breath it cost to name it! It practically amounted to that, as Mr Deering pointed out, on the way home. The only limit was that of the imagination. Stop! There was a condition. Yes. They had forgotten in their excitement. The Gooba had said that, owing- to the strain upon his forces, he would but triple the sums brought; a subtle facility being lent by the mystic number three. - — "Well, to go* home with three times the amount we take, that's a fair evening's Deering remarked ;. and he mentally congratulated himself upon his prudence in always keeping a large amount of available cash fornmmediate investment. Daring the next twenty-four hours, the moneyed citizens of Gnawsig were busy. Every dollar that could be withdrawn from the banks was called out. Fortunately, many vera officers in banks and could summon money from many sources. Notes were discounted, loans cancelled at a loss and, ia short, every available means of getting cash watt employed. It was learned, afterward, that Mr Deering borrowed upon.all sides, at fabulous interest. Rumour said that he did not disdain same as small as one dollar. I would not dare to name the amount brought by the Venom Frater to the Temple on the eventful night. The Gooba gazed upon its bulk as one who beheld, laid bare, the , frailty of the human race, and found the sight too sad for ears, too' disgusting for anger, too humiliating for speech. Bβ covered his face with bia

hands for a moment, then withdrawing them, as though He swept a cloud from before his vision, he ordered the Outer Keeper to remove the money to the loner Court. In a voice hoars*, as -with despair, he said: "So vast an? the sums brought here tonight, that I slia.ll ask each member"— he did not call them ."brothers' , when displeased—"to write upon a slip of paper the amount which he has brought. This ■will act aR a receipt, and will Twlp him to claim the proper share after transmutation has taken place. ,. This done, the- Gooba stood before them in silence, his jdark, inscrutable eyes fixed upon them. He essayed to speak, but sorrow seemed to close his lips, and it is possible that even the most sordid among them felt a momentary compunction over his persistent disregard of this Saint's admonitions. Mrs Dusk said, afterward, that she then and there Tesolved to place her three-fold fortune in some safe investment, the next day, and never give it another thought. Perhaps the Gooba, with his wondrous power, read these hopeful signs in the thoughts of his disciples, for he summoned strength to request them to begin the familiar chant with which they had often assisted him in. the work of transmutation. "Much concentration, long thought for mc to-night, my friends. It may take several hour. Repeat the invocation from the Nik—repeat it at interval of forty - r.me minute —the seven time seven interval I need all your holp. You—my friends"— hi; Vi.ke quavered and broke—"have impose upon your master a heavy task tonight—heavy to the spirit." He ceased, with an indrawn breath resembling a sob. The Venom Frater bowed its heads, almost in shame, but its eyes watched furtively the fclowly" receding form, as the familiar hymn was chanted forth, "From the icy bonds of matter Set us free; Let our thoughts for aye and ever Follow thee. From our gross material senses Thou dost flee." As the last notes of the invocation lapsed into silenc-e, the Charmacarin Gooba was passing from the sight of his disciples for ever.