Chapter XV.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 5761, 4 January 1897, Page 1

Chapter XV.

'A (JBEAT BISCOVEP.Y

"For the sake of clearness it will be better for me, in continuing, to refer to my other self as Gunnery. 1 wanted the doctor to go with me at .once to visit the prisoner, for having come to athis decision I was impatient to cany it taut, without further loss of time. A •desire .had come over me to look intelli.gently .at my physical body and human •soul, from without. Previously I had regarded my body as in the.ocou-pation of a demon. Now I was persuaded that it was simply a human derelict, • cast adrift upon the ocean of life without spiritual guidance. Handed over ; as it were to animalism to become earthly, sensual, and devilish, for lack of the divine essence which comes from, and returns to, Him who gave it. The doctor, however, could not visit "Gunnery >with me that day, for many patients were awaiting him. He urged me to go alone and see him, but this I was . disinclined to do ; so he arranged to go . with me on the following day. I knew he wished to be rid of me ; but I was afraid of myself, and dreaded now to be left alone ; so to please me he suggested . that I should accompany him in his gig, and return with him to dinner, after he ;had visited centaSin patients. I began now to realise that my case had so taken hold of the doctor, that its investigation was absorbing his almost every -thought. He commenced talking as soon ;as we started, and we resumed the conversation, after each visit he paid, as though ■ nothing else was^worthy of a thought. "I never did believe in the efficacy of what people called spiritualism" commenced the doctor, "your case appears to me simply ah illustration of the marvellous possibihties'of man's complex natuie. " I believe there are thousands of people in the world," he continued impressively, "no better, and no worse, and no more accountable for their actions, than is tGunnery in ,;the igaol yonder. Bo you •remember ihow St Eaul prayed and the spirit, and soul, and body, of . some of his ,couvetts might be kept blameless. It's the spirit, t&e jmeuntii,'., . that makes men to differ from one another ; but heaven <x?JjJy.Jjnows how many of. the men iWd ■tvornen vre meet with., hare .."one."".". *■".'.. : ' - . "•', . .>v'. ';'•'■

I listened to himiia amazement." Could .it be possible that of the men and women around us, many had no spiritual aspirattions, no heavenward longing? The Doctor evidently read my 'thoughts. * " You see Mark Gunnery, I can talk to you about this, because I knpw that my ■words are not being thrown away upon a mere soul., I can recognise the psyche in .some people by their eyes; but yours is the : first case in which I have been able to actually demonstrate its existence apart from the soul as a fact.- '.'I would give ten years of my life " he exclaimed vehemently "if I could prove it befoi;e an audience of scientific men; Why, if it could only be"' made an absolute certainty, it might change the whole of our system of jurisprudence, and give the key to solve some of the worst social problems which now perplex and sadden the nobler men and •women of the race." The last remark seemed to hold out a hope to me, and I eagerly took hold of it.

" Doctor, why do you not make use of 'Gunnery and myself to demonstrate the ■truth of it ?" J said. But my question was unnoticed, " Yes/ he continued, stroking the horse with the whip, and speaking more to himself than to me, " they talk about setting a trap to catch a sunbeam ,• but De Vere has somehow managed to catch a man's spirit, and confine it in a body, which that spirit has actually quickened into life. " Do you know," he said, turning around and looking fixedly at me, " you are the scientific marvel of the age! And yet I dare not make use of my knowledge." " What do you mean ? " I asked startled by his appearance. : " I mean," he said, " that through your case I have learnt the secret of bringing a dead body to life again — Ibut nothing is accomplished in this world without sacrifice, and in evei'y such case the miracle of resurrection would mean the loss of the pncuma by some living man." My very hair bristled with horror and astonishment. • I grasped what he meant. He would multiply similar cases to my, own and in doing so launch other spiritless men and women like Gunnery upon the world. He again read my thoughts. "What would a few more or less •matter?" he said, "-there are hundreds of them around us as it is. ' Besides, see what a solace it would be to thousands, what mourners might be comforted, what tears dried, what blighted hopes restored again. And think, too," he said, lowering his voice almost to a whisper, " think, too, what I should be — a physician ? — nay ! I should be a King, the lord of death and jjife; theithought t of it is marvellous !"

I began now to fear this man, and yet I clung to him, for he was my only hope ; and after all, the suggestion he had thrown out was purely scientific, and only fearful because so new and strange. If instead of being imprisoned in an aged form, I had been united by De Vere's mishap to a more youthful body, I might have been less dissatisfied with my. lot. Hooked at the doctor again, his eyes were glistening, and I noticed the same strange throbbing movement in his hair, he was evidently powerfully affected. He now drew up the horse » at the entrance gateway of a handsome residence, arid handing me the reins, stepped from the gig without a word. I sat there patiently for fully half an hour, pondering over the doctor's words, when my mind became absorbed with a project of which J sha have more to say presently. The afternoon sun Jshone hotly overhead j some well dressed children in an adjoining garden laughed loudly as they sportively chased each other on a grassy lawn. How light-hearted they were ! How little they thought of the storm and stress of the life which lay v before them. Alas ! that we could not always remain children ; or at any rate retain the child heart, which loves -and trusts,, and laughs and sings, and even when it weeps sheds tears, which flashing, tell of summer sunshine in the life, as well 'as summer rain. Suddenly, however, my thoughts were broken in upon by the appearance of a man servant who touched his cap to me, and betraying evident concern said : " Sir, the doctor wishes V. consult with you, and has asked me to remain with the horse and gig. One of the maids awaits you in the hall, and will show you s to the room where the doctor is with the young mistress. • Alas, her sister is dead." I stepped out of the vehicle and passed along a * well-kept gravel pathway to the entrance hall, wondering the while-'^why I .should be called in for consultation ; ,but. the thought suddenly flashed into my mind, that I was wanted because the doctor -was about to use his newly acquired knowledge and make his first original experiment. That, in a word, he was about to attempt r t6' bring the dead to life again; and in doing so, turn adrift upon society another derelict, similar to the Gunnery of the X3rolde"n Gate Hotel! I passed into the mansion like one stunned. It was too terrible ! The servant took my hat and stick from me in the hall, and I followed her toward the chamber of death like a man walking in a dream.