Part 41 (2/2)
”Etidorhpa! Etidorhpa!” he pleaded, turning his eyes as if towards one I could not see, ”Etidorhpa, my old home calls. Thou knowest that the beginning of man on earth is a cry born of love, and the end of man on earth is a cry for love; love is a gift of Etidorhpa, and thou, Etidorhpa, the soul of love, should have compa.s.sion on a pleading mortal.”
He raised his hands in supplication.
”Have mercy on me, Etidorhpa, as I would on you if you were I and I were Etidorhpa.”
Then with upturned face he stood long and silent, listening.
”Ah,” he murmured at last, as if in reply to a voice I could not catch, a voice that carried to his ear an answer of deep disappointment; ”thou spokest truly in the vision, Etidorhpa: it is love that enslaves mankind; love that commands; love that ensnares and rules mankind, and thou, Etidorhpa, art the soul of Love. True it is that were there no Etidorhpa, there would still be tears on earth, but the cold, meaningless tears of pain only. No mourning people, no sorrowful partings, no sobbing mothers kneeling with upturned faces, no planting of the myrtle and the rose on sacred graves. There would be no child-love, no home, no tomb, no sorrow, no Beyond--”
He hesitated, sank upon his knees, pleadingly raised his clasped hands and seemed to listen to that far-off voice, then bowed his head, and answered:
”Yes; thou art right, Etidorhpa--although thou bringest sorrow to mortals, without thee and this sorrow-gift there could be no bright hereafter. Thou art just, Etidorhpa, and always wise. Love is the seed, and sorrow is the harvest, but this harvest of sadness is to man the richest gift of love, the golden link that joins the spirit form that has fled to the spirit that is still enthralled on earth. Were there no earth-love, there could be no heart-sorrow; were there no craving for loved ones gone, the soul of man would rest forever a brother of the clod. He who has sorrowed and not profited by his sorrow-lesson, is unfitted for life. He who heeds best his sorrow-teacher is in closest touch with humanity, and nearest to Etidorhpa. She who has drank most deeply of sorrow's cup has best fitted herself for woman's sphere in life, and a final home of immortal bliss. I will return to thy realms, Etidorhpa, and this silken strand of sorrow wrapped around my heart, reaching from earth to Paradise and back to earth, will guide at last my loved ones to the realms beyond--the home of Etidorhpa.”
Rising, turning to me, and subduing his emotion, ignoring this outburst, he said:
”If time should convince you that I have related a faithful history, if in after years you come to learn my name (I have been forbidden to speak it), and are convinced of my ident.i.ty, promise me that you will do your unbidden guest a favor.”
[Ill.u.s.tration: ”I STOOD ALONE IN MY ROOM HOLDING THE MYSTERIOUS Ma.n.u.sCRIPT.”]
”This I will surely do; what shall it be?”
”I left a wife, a little babe, and a two-year-old child when I was taken away, abducted in the manner that I have faithfully recorded. In my subsequent experience I have not been able to cast them from my memory.
I know that through my error they have been lost to me, and will be until they change to the spirit, after which we will meet again in one of the waiting Mansions of the Great Beyond. I beg you to ascertain, if possible, if either my children, or my children's children live, and should they be in want, present them with a substantial testimonial.
Now, farewell.”
He held out his hand, I grasped it, and as I did so, his form became indistinct, and gradually disappeared from my gaze, the fingers of my hand met the palm in vacancy, and with extended arms I stood alone in my room, holding the mysterious ma.n.u.script, on the back of which I find plainly engrossed:
”There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.”
EPILOGUE.
LETTER ACCOMPANYING THE MYSTERIOUS Ma.n.u.sCRIPT.
The allotted thirty years have pa.s.sed, and as directed, I, Llewellyn Drury, now break the seals, and open the envelope accompanying the mysterious package which was left in my hand, and read as follows:
Herein find the epilogue to your ma.n.u.script. Also a picture of your unwelcome guest, I--Am--The--Man, which you are directed to have engraved, and to use as a frontispiece to the volume. There are men yet living to bear witness to my ident.i.ty, who will need but this picture to convince them of the authenticity of the statements in the ma.n.u.script, as it is the face of one they knew when he was a young man, and will recognize now that he is in age. Do not concern yourself about the reception of the work, for you are in no wise responsible for its statements. Interested persons, if living, will not care to appear in public in connection therewith, and those who grasp and appreciate, who can see the pertinence of its truths, who can read between the lines and have the key to connected conditions, will a.s.suredly keep their knowledge of these facts locked in their own bosoms, or insidiously oppose them, and by their silence or their attacks cover from men outside the fraternity, their connection with the unfortunate author. They dare not speak.
Revise the sentences; secure the services of an editor if you desire, and induce another to publish the book if you shrink from the responsibility, but in your revision do not in any way alter the meaning of the statements made in the ma.n.u.script; have it copied for the printer, and take no part in comments that may arise among men concerning its reception.[15] Those who are best informed regarding certain portions thereof, will seemingly be least interested in the book, and those who realize most fully these truths, will persistently evade the endors.e.m.e.nt of them.
The scientific enthusiast, like the fraternity to which I belong, if appealed to, will obstruct the mind of the student either by criticism or ridicule, for many of these revelations are not recorded in his books.
[15] From a review of the fac simile (see p. 35), it will be seen that an exact print word for word could not be expected. In more than one instance subsequent study demonstrated that the first conception was erroneous, and in the interview with Etidorhpa (see p. 252), after the page had been plated, it was discovered that the conveyed meaning was exactly the reverse of the original. Luckily the error was discovered in time to change the verse, and leave the spirit of this fair creature unblemished.--J. U. L.
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