CHAPTER XII.-(Continued.)

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XVI, Issue 49, 29 March 1889, Page 5

CHAPTER XII.-(Continued.)

To this observation I made no answer, and we trudged along fur a time in silence, keeping well down to the water's edge, where the sandß afforded a good foot-hold. The sand dunes which hoed the coast formed a continuous ridge upon our left, cutting us off entirely from all human observation, while on the right the broad channel stretched away with hardly a sail to break its silvery uniformity. The Buddhist pri* st and 1 were absolutely alone with Nature. I could not help reflecting that if he were really the dangerous man that the m»te affected to conbider him, or that might be inferred from the words of General Heathestone, I had placed myself completely in his power. Yet such was the majestic benignity of the man's aspect, and the unruffled serenity of his deep dark eyes, that I could afford in his presence to let fear and suspicion blow past me as lightly as the breeze which whistled rounJ us. His face might be stern, and even terrible ; but I felt that he could never be unjust. As I glanced from time to time at his noble profile and the fcweep of his jet black beard, his rcugb-spun tweed travelling suit struck me with an almost painful sense of incongruity, and I re-clothud him in my imagination with the grand sweeping Oriental costume which is the fitting and proper frame for such a picture—the only garb which does not detract from the dignity and grace of the wearer. The place to which he led me was a small fieher cottage which had been deserted some years before by its tenant, but still stood gaunt and bare, with the thatch partly blown away and tbe windows and door in sad disrepair. This dwelling, which the poorest Scotch beggar would have shrunk from, was the one which these singular men bad preferred to the proffered hospitality of the Laird's house. A small garden, now a mass of tangled brambles, stood round it. and through this my acqunintaace picked his way to the ruined door. He glanced into the house and thea waved his hand for me to follow him. "You have now an opportunity," he said in a subdued reverential voice, "of set ing a spectacle which few Europeans have haa the privilege of beholding. Inside that cottage you will find two Yogis —men who are only one remove from the highest plane of adeptship. They are both wrapped in an ecstatic trance, otherwise I should not venture to obtrude your presence upon them. Their astral bodieß have departed from them, to be present at the feast of lampß in the holy lamastery of Kudok in Thibet. Tread lightly, lest by stimulating their corporal functions you recall them before their devotions are completed." Walking slowly aud on tiptoe, I picked my way through the weed-grown garden s aud peered though the open doorway. There

was no furniture in the dreary interior, nor anything to corer the uneven floor save a litter of fresh straw in a corner. Among this straw two men were crouching, the one small and wieened, the other large-boned aad gaunt, with their legs crossed in Oriental fashion and their heads sunk upon their breasts. Neither of them looked np, or took the smallest notice of oar presence. Tney were so still and silent that they might have been two bronco statues, bat for the slow and measured rhythm of their breathing. Their faces, however, had a peculiar a9hen grey colour, very different from the healthy brown of my companion's; and I observed, on stooping my head, that only the whiter of their eyes were visible, the balls being turned upwards beneath the lids. In front of them upon a small mat lay an earthen* ware pitcher of water and half a loaf of bread, together with a sheet of paper inscribed with certain cabalistic characters. Bam Singh glanced at these, and then, motioning to me to withdraw, followed me out into the garden. " I.am not to disturb them until ten o'clock," he said. " Ton have now seen in operation one of the grandest result* of our oconlt philosophy, the dissociation of spirit from body. Not only are the spirits of these holy men standing at the present moment by the banks of the Ganges, but those spirits are clothed in a material covering so identical with their real bodies that none of the faithful will ever doubt that Lai Hoomi and Mowdor Khan are actually among them. This is accomplished by our power of resolving aa object into its chemical atoms, of conveying these atoms with a speed which exceeds that of lightning to any given spot, and of there re-precipitating them and compelling them to retake their original form. Of old it was necessary to convey the whole body in this way, but we have since found that it was as easy and more convenient to transmit material; enough merely to build up an outside shell or semblance of a body. This we have termed the astral body." " But if you can transmit your spirits so readily," I observed, I " why should they be accompanied by any body at all f " " In communicating with brother initiates we are able to employ our spirits only ; but when we wish to come in contact with ordinary mankind it is essential that we should appear in some form which they can see and comprehend." " You have interested me deeply in all that you have told me," I said, grasping the hand which Bam Singh had beld out to me as a sign that our interview was at an end. '• I shall often think of our short acquaintance." " You will derive much benefit from it," he said, slowly, still holding my hand and looking gravely and sadly into my eyes. " You must remember that what will happen in the future is not necessarily bad because it does not fall in with your pre-conceived ideas of right. Be not hasty m your judgments. There are certain great rules which must be carried out, at whatever cost to individuals. Their operation may appear to you to be harsh and cruel, but that is as nothing compared to the dangerous precedent which would be established by not enforcing them. The ox and the Bheep are safe from us, but the man with the blood of the highest upon his hands should not and shall not live." He threw up his arms at the last words with a fierce, threatening gesture, and. turning away from me, strode bick to the ruined hut, I stood gazing after him until he disappeared through the doorway, and then started off for home, revolving in my mind all that I had heard, and more particularly this lasi outburst of the occult philosopher. Far on the right I could see the tall white Tower of Cloomber standing out clear-cut and Bharp against a dark cloud-bank which rose behind it. I thought how any trtveller who chanced to pasa that way would envy in his heart the tenant of that magnificent building, and how little they would guess the strange terrors, the nameless dangers, which were gathering about bis head. The black cloud-wrack was but the image, I reflected, of the darker, more sombre storm wh'ch was about to burft. "Whatever it all means, and however it happeDP," I ejaculated, " God grant that the innocent be not confounded wiih the guilty." " My father, when I rtached home, was still in a ferment over his learned disputation with the stranger. " I trust, Jack," he said, " that I did not handle him too roughly. I should remember that I am in, loco viagistri, and be less prone to argue with my guests. Yet, when he took up this most untenable position I could not refrain from attacking him and hurling him out of it, which indeed I did, though you, who are ignorant of the niceties of the question, may have failed to perceive it. You observed, however, that my reference to King Asoka's edicts was so conclusive that he at once ro6e and took his leave." " You held your own bravely," I answered ; " but what is your impression of the man now that you have seen him ? " '• Why," paid ray father, " he is one of those holy men who, under the various names of Sannasis, Yogis, Sevrae, Qulanders, Hakims, and Cufis, have devoted their lives to the etudy of the mysteries of the Buddhist faith. He is, I take it, a Theosophist, or worehipptr of the God of knowledge, the highest grade of which is the adept. This man and his coinpHnions have not attained this high position or they could not have crossed the sea without contamination. It is probable that they are all advanced chelas who hope in time to attain to the supreme honour of adeptship." " But, father," interrupted my sister, " this does not explain why men of such sanctity and attainments should choose to t-ke up their quarters on the shores of a desolate Scotch bay." " Ab, there you get beyond me," my father answered. " I may suggest, however, that it is nobody's business but their own, as long as they keep the peace and are amenable to the law of the land " " Have you ever heard," I asked, " that these higher prießta cf whom you speak have powers which are unknown to ub 1 " ''Why, Eastern literature is full of it. It is unquestionable that they have in the past known many of Nature's secrets which are lo«t to us. I cannot cay, however, that the modern Tleosoph s s really possess the powers that they claim." " Are they a vindictive class of people?' I sv-kcl. " U there any offence among tbem which can only be expiated by death ?" " Not that I know of." my father answered, rais.ng his white eyebrows in surprise. "You appear to be in an inquisitive humour

this afternoon —what is the object of all these questions ? Have our ' Eastern neighbours aroused your curiosity or suspicion in any way ?" I parried the question as best I might, for I was unwilling to let the old man know what was in my mind. No good purpose could come from his enlightenment; his age and his health demanded rest rather than anxiety ; and indeed with the best will in the world I should have found it difficult to explain to another what was so very obscure to myself. For every reason I felt that it was best that he should be kept in the dark. Never in my experience have I known a day pass bo slowly as did that eventful sth of October. In every possible manner I endeavoured to while away the tedious hours, and yet it seemed as if darkness would never arrive. I tried to read, I tried to write, I paced about the lawn, I walked to the end of the lane, I put new flies upon my fißhinghooks, I began to index my father's library —in a dozen ways I endeavoured to relieve the suspense which was becoming intolerable. My sister, I could see, was suffering from the same feverish restlessness. Again and again our good father remonstrated with us in bis mild way for our erratic behaviour and the continual interruption of his work which arose from it. At last, however, the tea waa brought, and the tea was taken, the curtains were drawn, the lamps lit, and after another interminable interval (he prayers were read and the servants dismissed to their rooms. My father compounded and swallowed his nightly jorum of toddy, and then shuffled off to his room, leaving the two of us in the parlour wiih our neives in a tingle and our minda full of the most vagus and yet terrible apprehensions.