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Show mm : ' - - - 111 1 CHAPTER XXI. (Cont'd.) The Lesson. 7-BS, Allan," she replied, "as ' $ do people who remain upon this globe, whence those othera hare departed. Do if men and women still remarry Id . the world, Allan, as in my day they J (,, were wont to do?" ,". "Of course it is allowed." HS I "As many other things, or per- HHf, chance this same thing, may be al- m lowed elsewhere, for when thert Hb are so many habitations from Hf which to choose, why should we Hpjt always dwell In one of them, how- HjH j ever strait the rooms or poor the Hpj i. Now, understanding that I was Hp symbolized by the "strait room" Hgjjg i and the "poor prospect" I should HB ' have grown angry, bad not a cer- HfjE tain sense of humor come to my HfiSfl rescue, who remembered that after fra all her satire was profoundly true. HHi Why on -earth, or, rather, beyond 89 the earth, should anyone desire to HEK remain unalterably bound to and HH inextricably wrapped up in such a H personality as my own, especially HBO if others of superior texture Hd sC abounded about them? MfHc' Now that I came to think oMi, KalP tlie tnn W3S absurd and not to be Hflf expected in the least In the midst Hwi of a thousand new and vivid ln- HB1 terests. I bad met with one more Hh disillusionment, that was all. Hfljl "Dost understand, Allan," went on HB8 Ayesha, who evidently was deter- mined that I should drink this cup HBy: to the last drop, "that these dwell- HflBj ers in the sun, or the far planet Hfllj ' where thou hast been according to HHL thy tale, saw thee not and knew HHH naught of thee? It may chance, IDi " therefore, that at this time thou HHSj wast not in their minds who at IHiL others dream of thee, continually, IH I or it may chance that they never I dream at all, having quite forgotten HHI I thee, as the weaned cub forgets its Ih9K "At least there was one who BrW ' seemed to remember," I exclaimed, ISIh for ner poisoned mocking drove the IflH words out of me, "one woman and HKHPS? "Aye, the savage, who being Na- IhHS ture's child, a sinner that departed IffiHK hence by her own act (how Ayesha BffHf " ' knew this I cannot say, I never InHm ' tol(1 ner nas not J'et put on per" Hmw lection and therefore still remem- IkBa erB uIm 3Q kiss vras last upou IKijg her lips. But surely, Allan, It Is BBkH not thy desire to pass from the fljBgjg gentle, ordered clasping of those IBSre white souls to the tumultuous IKi ' arms of such a one as this. IK "Still let that be, for who knows IIBh what men will or will not do In HHi jealousy and disappointed love? IHpij And the dog, it remembered also IB" and even sought thee out, since IBfe dogs are more faithful and single IHgL hearted than mankind. There at liHii ieast ihu bast tby iessn' nameiv IHE4 -o Srow more humble and never IIHPh think again that thou holdest all a jwi! woman'B soul for aye, because once llUm. sne was kInd to thee 011 eartu-" Kw1 "Yes," I answered, jumping up in IliiliwPi1 a rase "as yu say 1 kave my ISjPfe lesson, and more of it than I want. limtf'r So y yur eave 1 n0Vt' Dld - on wOm lr 1 ' farewell, hoping that when it comes IHP to your turn to learn a lesson, as I l)SB' i am sure t wil1 one da7, you may IqE enjoy it more than I have done." jiH ' CHAPTER XXII. iH Ayesha' 's Farewell. t-fHUS I spoke whose nerves I were on edge after all that I had seen or, as even then Wm l suspected, seemed to see. For lH cuid 1 dubt tnat these v,slt ors of mine had any higher origin th3n Ayesha's rather malicious SH imagination? Already I had formed my theory. It was that she must be a hypnotist of power, who after she had put a spell upon her subject could project into his mind euch fancies as, she chose, together ' with a seitetiafc her own Only two point remained ob-H, ob-H, scure. The first was, how did she H get the necessary information H about the private affairs .of a Hu humble individual like myself, for these were not known even to . -si t Zikall, with whom she seemed tu 1 x ' be in some kind of correspondence, Hi or to Hans, at any rate, with such H completeness? T could only pre- sume that In some mysterious why BJQ she drew them from, or, rather, ex cited them in my own mind and 9MJ memory, so that I seemed to see H those with whom once I had been Intimate, with modifications and in surroundings that her intelligence ' had carefully prepared. It would not be difficult for a mind like hers, familiar as T gath-HP gath-HP ered It was with the ancient lore of the Greeks and the Egyptians. 1 to create a kind of hades and by 1 way of difference to change it Wl from one of shadow to one of in- HfH tenBd illumination, and into it Hal plunge the consciousness of him H&p upon whom she had laid her charm Mfm of sleep. I had seen nothing and H heard nothing that she might not H 1 thus have moulded, always given WH jt that she had access to the needful Bj fla-y J actB which I alone could H ' Granting this hypothesis for the sake of argument, what was the object of her elaborate and rather bitter jest? Well, I thought that I could guess Flrsf, she wished to show her power, or, rather, to make me be-"lieve be-"lieve that she had power of a very unusual sort. Secondly, she owed Umslopogaas and myself a debt for our services in the war with Rezu repaid in this way. Thirdly, I had offended her in some fashion and she took the opportunity of settling set-tling the score. Also there was a fourth possibility that she really considered herself a moral instructress instruct-ress and desired, as she said, to teach me a lesson hy showing how futile were human hopes and vanities' van-ities' in respect to the departed and their affections. Now, I do not pretend that all this analysis of Ayesha's motives occurred to me at the moment of my interview with her; indeed, I only completed it later after much careful thought, when I found it sound and good. At that time, although al-though I had inklings, I was too bewildered to form a just judgment. judg-ment. Further, I was too angry, and It was from this bow of my anger that I loosed a shaft at a venture as to some lesson which awaited her. Perhaps certain words spoken by the dying Rezu had shaped that shaft. The success of the shot, however, was remarkable. Evidently it pierced the joints of her harness and indeed went home to Ayesha's heart. She turned pale; all the peach-bloom hues faded from her lovely face, her great eyes seemed to lessen and grow dull and her cheeks to fall in. Indeed, for a moment she looked quite old, very old, quite an aged woman. Moreover, More-over, she wept, for I saw two big tears drop upon her white raiment and was horrified. "What has happened to you?" I said, or, rather, gasped. "Naught." she answered, "save that thou hast hurt me sore. Dost ' thou not know, Allan, that it is cruel to prophesy ill to anj since such words feathered from Fate's own wing and barbed with venom, fester in the breast and mayhap bring about their own accomplishment. accomplish-ment. Most cruel of all is it when with them are repaid friendship and gentleness." I reflected to myself yes, friendship of the order that is called candid, and gentleness, such as is hid in a cat's velvet paw, but contented myself with asking how It was that she who said she was so powerful came to fear anything at all. "Because, as I have told thee, Allan, there is no armor that can turn the spear of Destiny, which when I heard those words of thine, it seemed to me, I know not why, was directed by thy hand. Look now on Rezu who thought himself unconquerable and yet was slain by the black Axejbearcr. and whose bones to-night stay the famine of the jackals. Moreover, there is a curse upon me who stole her servant from a goddess to be my love, and how know I when and where it will fall at last? Indeed, It has fallen already al-ready on me. who through the long years must mourn amid savages sav-ages alone, but not all of It oh! I think, not all." Then she beg3n to weep in good earnest, and watching her, for the first time I understood that this glorious creature, who seemed to be so powerful, was. after all, one of the most miserable of women and. as much a prey to loneliness, every sort of passion and apprehensive appre-hensive fear, as can be any common com-mon mortal. If, as she said, she had found the secret of life, which, of course. I did not believe, at least It was obvious that she had lost that of happiness. She sobbed softly and wept, and while she did so the loveliness which had left her for a little while returned to her like light to a gray and darkened sky. Oh' how beautiful she seemed with the abundant locks in disorder over her tear-stained face, how beautiful beyond be-yond Imagining. My heart melted as I studied her; I could think of nothing else except her surpassing charm and glory. "I pray you. do not weep," I said, "it hurts me and indeed I am sorry if I said anything to give vou pain." But she only shook that glorious hair further about her face and behind Its veil wept on. "You know. Ayesha." I continued, "you have said many hard things to me, making me the target of vonr bitter wit, therefore it is not strange that at last I answered you." "And hast thou not deserved them, Allan?" she murmured In soft and buoken tones from bohind that veil of scented locks. "Why?" I asked. "Because from the beginning thou didst defy me, showing in thine every word that thou heldest me a liar and one of no account in body or spirit, one not worthy of thy kind look, or those gentle words which once were my portion among men. Ch! thou hast dealt hardly with me and therefore perchance per-chance I know not I paid thoe back with such poor weapons as a woman holds, though all the. while I HkeC thee well," and again she fell- tc sobbing, swaying herself gently to end fro in her sweet sorrow. sor-row. It was too much. Not knowing what else to do to comfort her, I patted her Ivory hand which la upon the couch beside me, and as this seemed to have no effect, I kissed it, which she did not seem to mind. Thensuddenly I remembered remem-bered and let it fall. She tossed back her hair from her face and fixing her big eyes on me said gently enough: "What ails thee. Allan?" and she looked down at her hand. "Oh! nothing." I answered, "only I remembered the story you tola me about some man called Kalll-krates." Kalll-krates." i She frowned. "And what of Kallikrates Allan? Is It not enough that for my sinB I must .be bound to him when he is with me? Must I also vear the chains of this fcallikratcs to whom I owe many a debt, when he is far away? Say, didst thou see him in that heaven of thine, Allan, for there perchance he dwells?" I shook my head and tried to think the thing out, while all the time those wonderful eyes of hers seemed to draw the soul from me. It seemed to me that she bent forward and held up 1 ' -VJi : & mm her face to me. Then I lost ray reason and also bent forward. She placed her hand upon my heart, saying: "Stay! What meanest thou? Dost love me, Allan?" "I think so that Is yes," 1 answered. an-swered. She sank back upon the couch away from me and began to laugh very softly. "What words are these," she said, "that they pass thy lips so easily, perchance from long practice? prac-tice? Oh! Allan, Allan, I am astonished as-tonished at thee. Art thou the same man who some few days ago told me, and that unasked, that as soon wouldst thou think of courting court-ing the moon as of courting me? And now. and now ?" I colored to my eyes and rose muttering: "Let me be gone!" "Nay, Allan, why? I see no mark there." and she held up her hand And scanned it carefully. "Thou, too. art much what thou wort before, be-fore, except perhaps in thy heart which is invisible," she added, with a touch of malice. "Nor am I angry with thee; Indeed, In-deed, hadst thou not tried to smooth away my tears I should have thought but poorly of thee as a man. There, let it rest and be forgotten or remembered, as thou wilt. Still, in answer to thy words concerning Kallikratos. what of those whom, according to thy talo, (hou didst find again in a place of light not an hour ago? Because (C) 1020. Internatlon; they seem faithless, shouldst thou be faithless also? Shame on thee, Allan!" She paused, waiting for me to speak. Well, I could noL I had nothing to say, who was disgraced and overwhelmed. "Thou thinkest, Allan," she went on, "that I have cast my net about thee, and it is true. Learn wisdom from it. Allan, and never again defy a wQman, that Is, If she be fair, since then she is stronger than thou art, since nature for its own purpose made her so. Whatever What-ever I have done, in this as In other ways, is for thy Instruction, ' Allan, that thou m'ayest benefit thereby." " "What, Indeed?" I echoed in-eager in-eager affirmation, "and as for Zi-kali's Zi-kali's message " and I paused. "It was to recall to my mind that he desired to learn whether a certain cer-tain great enterprise of his will succeed, the details of which he says thou canst tell me. Repeat them to me." So, glad enough to get away from more dangerous topics, I narrated to her as briefly and clearly as I could the history of the old witchdoctor's witch-doctor's first feud with the royal House of Zululand. She listened, taking in every word, and said: "And now ho yearns to know holt ho-lt will end and whether he wili flltf'Jf W "She placed her hand upon his PPf . ' i heart saying: 'Stay! What WlM P ' i 'ifv'' A ' meanest thou? Dost love ; S-1 KMM1' me, Allan?'" 1 S" Again I sprang up, uttering an English reclamation which 1 trust Ayesha did not understand, and again she motioned to me to be seated, saying: "Nay, leave me not yot since, even if the light fancy of a man .that comes and goes like the evening even-ing wind and made me dear to thee for a breath, has passed away, there remains certain work which we. must do together. Although, thinking of thyself alone, thou hast forgotten it having been paid thine own fee. one remains due to that old wizard in a far land who sent thee to visit Kor and me. as he has remindeu me and within an hour." This amazing statement aroused me from my personal and painful pre-occupation and caused me to stare at her blankly. "Again thou dlsbeliovedst me." she said, with a little stamp. "Do so once more, Allan, ami I swear I'll bring thee to grovel on the floor and kiss my foot and babble nonsense which never for all thy days thou shalt think of without a blush of shame." "Oh! no'," I broke In hurriedly; "I assure you you are mistaken. I believe be-lieve every word you have said, or say or will say, I do In truth." "Now thou Hest. Well, what is one more He among so maiy, bo lot it pass." il Fettura Serrlc. Inc. Groat Bri conquer or be conquered, con-quered, and that is why he sent thee on this Journey, not for thy sake, Allan, but for hit own. I cannot tell you, for v?hlt have I to do with the finish of this petty business, which to him seems so largo. Still, as 1 owe him a debt for sending the Axe-Bearer here to rid me of mine enemy, and thee to lighten my solitude soli-tude for a hour bv 1 burnishing thy mind, I will try. Get that bowl before me, Allan," and she pointed to a marble tripod on which stood a basin half full of water, and come, sit close by me and look into it and tell me what thou .seest." 1 obeyed her Instructions and presently found myself with my .head over the basin staring Into tho water In the exact attitude of ' a person who is about to be shampooed. sham-pooed. "This seems rather foolish," I said abjectly, for at that moment I resembled the Queen of Sheba in one particular, if in no other, namely, that there was no more spirit in me. "What am I supposed to do? I see nothing at nil " "Look again," she said, and as she spoke the water grew clouded. Then on it appeared a picture. I saw the Interior of a Kaffir hut dimly lighted by a single candle set in tho nock of a bottle. To the left of the door of the hut was a bedstead, and on it was stretched a, wasted and dying man, in whom, 1 to my astonishment, I recognized Cetywayo, King of the Zulus. At the foot of the bed stood another man myself, grown older by many years, and leaning over the bed, apparently whispering Into the dying man's ear, was a grotesque and malevolent figure, which I knew to be that of Zlkall, Opener of Roads, whoso glowing eyes wore fixed upon tho terrified and tortured tor-tured face of Cetywayo. I described what I saw to Ayesha. and while I was doing so the picture vanished away, so that italn Rlchts Rserrcd. nothing remained save the clear water in the marble bowl. The story did not seem to interest her; Indeed, she loaned back and yawned a little. "Thy vision is good, Allan," she said, indifferently, "and wide also, since thou canst see what passes in the sun or distant stars, and pictures pic-tures of things to be in the water, to say nothing of other pictures in a woman's eyes, all within an hour. Well, this savage business coucerns mo not, and of it I want to know no more. Yet it would appear that here the old wizard who is your fi. l has the answer that he de-Glres. de-Glres. For there in the picture the king he hates lies dying while he hisses curses Into his ear and you watch the end. What more can he seek? "Toll him It when you meet, and tell him also it is my will that in future he should trouble me less, since I love not to be wakened from ray sleep to listen to his half Instructed talk and savage vaporing?. vapor-ing?. Indeed he presumes too much. And now enough of him and his dark plots. You have your desires, de-sires, all of you, and are paid in full." "Over-paid, perhaps," I said, with a sigh. "Ah! Allan, I think that lesson thou hast learned pleases thee but little. Well, be comforted, for the thing Is common. Hast never heard that there Is but one morsel more bitter to the taste than desire denied, de-nied, namely, desire fulfilled? Believe Be-lieve me that there can be no happiness hap-piness for man until he attains a land where all desire Is dead." "That is what the Buddha preaohed, Ayesha." ' "Aye. I remember the doctrines of that wise man well, who without doubt, had found a key to the gate of Truth, one key only, for mark you, Allan, there are many. Yet, man being man, must know desires, . since without them, robbed M ambitions, am-bitions, strivings, hopes, fears, aye, and of life Itself, the race must die, which is not the will of the Lord of Life, who needs a nursery for his servants' souls, wherein his ' swords of Good and 111 shall shape them to his pattern. So it comes about, Allan, that what we think the worst Is oft the bGBt for us, and with that knowledge, If we are wise, let us assuage our griefs and wipe away our tears." "I have often thoaght that," I said. "I doubt it not, Allan, since though it has pleased me to make a jest of thee. I know that thou hast thy share of wisdom, such little lit-tle share as thou canst gather in thy few tfhort years. I know, too, that thy heart Ik good and aspires high, and friend, well, I find in thee a friend indeed, as I think not for the first timo. uor certainly for the last. "Mark, Allan, what T say, not a lover, but a friend, which is higher far. For when passion 'dies 'with j the passing of the flesh, if there ; was no friendship what will remain save certain memories that, maybe, i' are as well forgot? Aye, how "' would those lovers meet elsewhere ' who were never more than lovers T ,' With weariness, I hold, as they" ' H stared Into each other's empty soul, or even with disgust. Therefore 1 'j. the wise will seek to turn those . with whom fate matches, them into j friends, since otherwise soon they will be lost for aye. More, If they JM are wiser still, they will ma"ke them t their friends and let ,them And I lovers where they will. , .Good max- j jH ims, are they not?- Yet' hard to . ! follow, or so, pei'chAnce, thou : j1 thinkest them." j She grew silent and brooded & ) , while, resting her chin upon her ', jH hand and staring down the hall. Thus her face was different- from !ji any aspect that I had seen it wear. ,! rs'o longer had it the allure of ; Aphrodite or the majesty of Hera; j' rather might it have been that of ! ' Athene herself. So wise It seemed, V so calm, so full of experience and of foresight, that almost it fright- rH ened me. i ijH What was this woman's true IH story, I wondered, what her real j self, and what the sum of her gath- j; ered knowledge? Perhaps It was !H accident, or perhaps she guessed 'i'jH my mind. At any rate her next ' jH words seemed in some sense an , answer to these speculations. Lift ing her eyes she contemplated ma I IH a while, then said: '11 "My friend, we part to meet no , IH more In thy life's day. Often thou IjH wilt wonder concerning me, what jjl in truth I am, and mayhap in the 1 jlH end thy judgment will be to write ; JIH me down as some false and beau- ' teous adventuress who, rejected of . the world or driven from it by her 1 crimes, made choice to rule among 'H savages, playing the part of oracle I 'H ; to that little audi vice and telling 11 strange tales to sty:h few traveller j JH as come her way. i i "Perhaps, indeed, I play this par ; among many others, and if so, thoi , ' JH Vllt not judge me wrongly. Allan j : JH X in the old days, mariners who hac ' 1 sailed the northern seas told mt IH that there amidst mist and storm floated mountains of ice that were M shed from dizzy cliffs which are 1 ; hid in darkness where no sue shines. They told me also that ,' whereas above the ocean's breast 'M appeared but a blue and dazzlin? point, hid beneath it was oft t JH whole isle of ice invisible to man. ' 'M Such am I, Allan. "Of my being thou seest but one ' little peak glittering in light or ' crowned with storm, as heaven's moods sweep over IL But in the ' depths beneath are hid the white and mighty foundations, hollowed j by the seas of time to caverns and to palaces which my spirit does inhabit. '-11 "So picture me, therefore, as fail of frame, but with a soul unknown, . 'M and pray that in a time to come ') thou mayest see it In its splendor. Hadst thou been other than thou art, I might have shown thee sec- I rets, making clear to thee the par- able of much that I have told thee in metaphor and fable, aye, and . JM given thee great gifts of power and ) JM enduring days of which thou know- i est nothing. "But of those who J , visit a shrine, Allan, two things are 1 required worship and faith, sines without these the oracle is dumb and the healing waters will not "Now I, Ayesha, am a shrine, and. to me thou broughtest no worship I ll until I won it by a woman's trick, and in me . thou hast no faitti. Therefore, for thee the oracle will j not speak and the waters of deliv- , , erance will not flow. Yet I blame IH thee not. who art as thou wast ' made and as the hard world has shaped thee. And so we part. "Think not I am far from thee I because thou seest me not in the days to come, since like that Isis whose majesty I alone still oxerclse on earth, I whom men name Aye- , sha am in all things. I tell thee IH that I am not One but Many, and IH being Many am both Here and Everywhere. When thou standest neath the sky at night and lookest on the stars, remember that in them mine eyes behold thee; when the soft winds of evening blow, that my breath is on thy brow, and when the thunder rolls that there I am I riding on the lightnings and , rushing with, the gale." "Do you mean that you are the goddess Isis?" I asked, bewildered. "Because if so why did you tell me that you were her priestess?" "Have it as thou wilt, Allan. All sounds do not reach thine ears; all sights are not open to thine eyes and therefore thou art deaf and blind. Perchance now that hei shrines are dust and her worship is forgot, some spark of the spirit of that immortal lady whose chariot Is the moon lingers on the IH earth In this woman's shape ol mine, though her essence dwells IH afar, and perchance her other name I is Nature, my mother and thine Allan. At the least hath not the world a soul and of that soul am IH I not perchance a part, aye, and I ' IH thou also? For the rest are not the I priest and the Divino he dowb to oft the same?" It was on my Hps to answer, "Yes. if the priest is a fraud or a self-deceiver," but I did not. "Farewell, Allan, and let Aye-sha's Aye-sha's benison go with thee. Safe 1 IH (Continued on Next Page) ' 1 1 |