CHAPTER IV.

iHILE sitting, one evening, by myself, the tropical moon shining in all its fervency, and lighting up the whole interior of my apart- ment, I remembered my Guru's words about the coin. I took it in my right hand. Adjusting my body com- fortably in a reclining attitude, I fixed my gaze upon it. Almost instantly, a little thrill passed over me. Then came the feeling of lightness, with which I was already familiar. A moment later, and my astral body was looking at the grosser, bodily vesture, as it lay, immovable and stolid, upon the divan. This was attached to me by a bright cord running from the coin to myself, in some indefinable way, through the body.
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^^ Going down the long flight of steps, I went to the fountain in the garden, and sat down to think. As I mnsed, the whirring noises, of which I had been so dimly consdons in my first journey, became more and more distinct, until I could hear the converse of the Unseen. Look- ing up and beyond the limits of the mountain- closed grounds, from which the sounds pro- ceeded, I noticed immediately above the inclosure, a radiant space. No clouds, nor dim- ness obscured the pellucid eminences along which my clear sight mounted from heighth to heighth, conscious simply of immensity. It was the direct ray from Him of the Seven Builders, who was 'in charge/
'^ But beyond the guarded precincts came the sounds to my unveiled ear, which had first attracted my attention. Misty Masses, con- stantly on the move, shaped themselves to my vision, as ungainly forms, creatures whose horror would overcome the stoutest heart.
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Monsters, unfinished or half made up, creations of helpless malignance, jostled each other, while out of their malevolent thought, they hurled vain words of terrible import and design at me, so amply protected by the barrier at once trans- parent and to them impassible, long since firmly set about the temple grounds. We could pass to them, but they could not come to us. Secure, for a few moments I watched the impotent hate of the hostile races, who detest the Good, and all his creatures, and especially man, of whose unbridled, rebellious will, these are the creations. They are a wonderfully prolific cause of misery and suffering to mankind, and one which he little suspects.
"Satisfied with my experiment, I willed to return to my sleeping body. A little constric- tion, a sense of falling, like the changes of a dream, and I found myself once more in the position of gazing at the coin. This I carefully put away for future use.
106 THREE SEVENS.
^ The next morning, my Gara, on meeting me, addressed me at once : ^ Thou didst well, my brother, not to adventure further. The full of the moon is not a favorable season for weak travelers to begin their excursions into the bor- derlands of the earth.'
^^ One more month had winged its way. Our studies had brought us to the point, where organized force, unintelligent of itself could be made to serve man, who was so masterfial of himself and his environment as to be able to demand it. The teacher said :
"/ In the earlier ages of the world, before man had sworn allegiance to the physical, thereby enslaving his best and highest self, he had dominance over the ' creeping things,' the mal- formed monsters of immense force. By their strength and enforced labor, were piled up the immortal monuments of antiquity, whose ruins, even, surpass the noblest structures that man has since been able to erect without their help.
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^^ * Do yon suppose that our brotherhood, whose Knot here numbers but fifteen in the visible, could have hewn this temple out of the solid rock, to say nothing of the beautifying and adorning and fitting it for its intended purpose, by the labor of our hands only ? Not in a million years. When I tell you we have been here only since Atlantis fell, from one of whose provinces we escaped, you will conclude that we have had other help. You have courage and discretion. Oome with me ! '
^^ Accompanying him, we descended upon one of the main corridors of the temple. Branching off from the first, at right-angles, toward the heart of the mountain, we entered another corridor inclining downward at an angle of twenty degrees. After walking a long dis- tance, we came at last to a flight of forty-five steps. At the foot of these, passing through a short tunnel, we stood in a waiting or ante-room. Beyond this, through an immense, arched door-
108 THREE SEVENS.
way, waSy in process of construction, a Hall, whose vastness forced physical man to his relative condition of pigmyhood.
" My Gum told me that it was exactly in the heart of the moontainy and when finished, would be for the convocation of all the brotherhood, throughout the world, and for their instruction in the manifestation of the Unseen, wherever its influence can be perceived in all the spaces of the Infinite.
^' It had the shape of an immense sphere flattened at the poles. The solid rock was above, below, all around. In what, to us, would be the path of the ecliptic, was a broad vein of gold, passing entirely around the broad- est diameter.
" The virgin gold shone and glittered in the light from nowhere, that made all things visible. There was in sight enough treasure to have bought outright the richest empire upon the earth's surface. Here, it had no value, any
THREE SEVENS. 109
more than the other cumbering masseB. It served its purpose as an interior decoration, that and nothing more. These wise ones had no need to buy that which was all their own. Did they have occasion for anything from the great storehouse of the uumanifested, theirs was the potency, which could bring it into the visible. The ordinary processes of life faded into nothing- ness, before the dominance of the Will.
^' About two-thirds of the space needed was already hollowed out. Two of the Brotherhood, clad in the usual white robes, stood calmly by, as if overseeing. In their hands they held wands made of some dark flexible material, resembling ebony.
^'A word, or signal, passed between them. Moving to the outer circumference, at opposite points, they simultaneously directed their wands forward. At the same instant, a stream of fire, blinding as the lightning's flash, struck the apparently impenetrable rock. Huge fragments
110 THREE SEVENS.
88 the resiilty covered the floor with debrifl.
^ Then, out of the fiurther gloom, two mon- 8troii8 shapes defined themselves. Seizing the huge blocks, they bore them out of the hall by a tunnel perforated for the purpose. Where has all the rubbish been carried ? was the question in my mind.
" ' Come and see,' was my Guru's answer tp my unvoiced question. Following the elemen- tals, who were just entering the tunnel with a splinter of rock, tons in weight, we were obliged to walk rapidly to keep them in sight. The passage ended abruptly, at an immense cleft sinking down perpendicularly into the bowels of the earth. Into this, the burden- bearers flung the immense mass of rock. Down down, amidst the reverberating echoes, it thun- dered and roared, for full two minutes, and this was succeeded by a soughing sobbing, deepen- ing by irregular intervals into a long silence.
" ^ That great rift in the mountain has
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absorbed the whole of the waste material taken from all the rooms of the temple, save only that used in the building of outside steps, terraces, and colonnades. All the lifting and carrying and carving has been done by the strong, deft agency of elemental force. They do our menial work. This is what they were intended for. Unrestrained they grow mischievous to man's plans, because of ^the surplus of unemployed strength, but are not malignant.
^^ ^ Mankind, in this age, and in the nearest fiiture ages, worshiping blindly a physical idea, will be content only with the making visible to his personal sense of some material form, which is but the outer garb of elemental force. Its rigidity always prevents the ftiU exercise of the power inclosed in the machine of iron, steel and brass. All that he thus accomplishes, might have been obtained in its primitive shape, had he not closed his eyes to all spirit life and power.
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^' ^ There is but one force, an emanation from the Supreme, which can be seized and appor- tioned in parcels, by man. These he names according to his own fancies, having no regard for the reality of the thing itself. Potent thought first formulates out of this ever-present plastic material the things called elementals, having no intelligence of their own, but simply potency for accomplishment.'
" ^ One of our Egyptian Brothers said :
" ' " The Lord God made man out of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of lives." The making out of the dust of the ground, was the formulating of elemental Jbrce. The breath of lives is intelligence, the mark set upon man by the Infinite, to distin- guish him from other existences, of the same grade of formulation.'
^^Retuming to the great Hall of Convocationi he continued : ' Our brothers take turns, day by day, at this work. It cannot be pursued
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uninterruptedly, for we incur the hostility of the unseen races : First, in undertaking so vast a work, which shall still farther extend and strengthen our authority, already obnoxious to them. Secondly, because of their sympathy with those who are forced to serve us. They impede us to the extent of their power. Con- sequently, we deem it best to have all the advantages possible in our favor. We work in pairs, by turns, resting between, and for the seven days which bring the full moon, on the fourth day, because in the inspiration of its highest rays, all occult powers, for good, develop their highest strength.'
" ' Those who travel the other path, seek, on the contrary, the absence of her light. In the old nomenclature, she stood as the symbol of chastity and purity, the favoring patroness of all the good, which bom of itself, seeks strength from the same. Then the force sent out by the workers is an exercise of potency which must
114 THREE SEVENS.
renew itself. Even the Supreme Intelligence, Itself^ at the end of seven days' exercise of the highest potency, is declared to have rested. So do we, in this exercise of our potency.'
^^ Later on, in my life in the Temple, I was fiftvored with other views of this Hall.
more and more instruction, the days flew on. In a conversation about the Astral, my Guru said: ^This is variously called astral light, astral fluid, or simply the astral. It might better be called the astral conditions, for out of it comes everything conceivable, and into it returns and is stored up the essential essence of all things, created or dreatable. In it is recorded every thought, word or action occurring in the Universe. The Infinite One looks upon it, and sees, even as we look upon our mentalily and say : ^^ I remember." The astral then can well be called the Divine Memory. So no essence is lost, no force is lost, no effect of
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action is lost, but everytliing is recorded. If we hare the key of the recording cipher, and are in alignment with the Truth, no knowledge is impossible for us to obtain. No power that we can handle is beyond our grasp. No wish that we are strong enough to accomplish can be denied us. Failure to receive, is simply the consequence of our own weakness. Everything is ours and is fully prepared for us, when we are ready. Ah! how many years of vexatious re-incarnation are necessary to bring us to the acknowledgment of this truth even to ourselves.
" * Whoever will take the pains to train him- self can have at his command all the thoughts of the wise and good in all ages. It is best for him always, under all conditions and circum- stances, to strengthen his own powers, and not to depend upon the thoughts and deductions of other men, save as starting points for his own reasoning.'
'^ While he had been talking, I had been
116 THBEE SEVENS.
transcribing his words for farther study, when I should be by myself. Just at this point, I noticed with some little vexation that my ink- horn was empty. He, perceiving my plight, said:
" * Hand it to me/
hand a single instant, and returned it to me filled to the brim with the finest ink.
" * You see,' he said, ^ supplies are every- where. There is no desert so bare, no wilder- ness so solitary, but that the supplies necessary for life are close at hand, for those who will, and dare receive.*
^^From this time on, to both him and myself, came often supplies for urgent needs out of the astral conditions.
^^ During the ninth month, my teacher's instructions were more and more pointedly directed towards the utter subjugation of all personal sensation and emotion to the power and direction of the spirit.
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"Not only was potency urged for any wish, but all wishes were to be deemed idle and a waste of time, which would not be esteemed worthy of enforcing with all the strength of possible power.
"As my Guru said:
" * Do not formulate any expression of will which has nothing to be gained by its attain- ment. It is worse than idle, for it divides and scatters force, and success depends always upon the completeness of its focalization. To be thoroughly master of self, one must be able to introvert their personal sense, and instead of receiving impressions from without, receive them from the inner. Instead of dealing with the manifestations of the physical, learn how to gain knowledge through the soul of the astral conditions. This is accomplished by meditation and by the h«lp of introversion, passing into the regions of one's own mentality. He who stands face to &ce with his own soul, has accom-
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plished Tery much in hici journey toward final attainment.
^^ ' No one can fully describe it No one can do it for another vicariously. It must be entirely the work of him who is to receive bene- fit thereby.*
'^ As the moon rounded into completeness for the tenth time since my preparation commenced, I noticed my Guru frequently looking upon me with an expression of tenderness, for which I could not account. But the mystery was soon solved. On the day of the full moon, as he left me at the usual hour, he said :
'^ ^ My brother, tonight one comes to you, to whom you are to listen, but not necessarily to obey. Whatever he may say to you, must be judged by its merits, in the light of your own knowledge. May it be well with thee.'
^^ At midnight, a slight touch awoke me from a sound sleep. Springing to my feet, I con- fronted a tall, ashy-gray robed figure, who held
I
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in his left hand a crystal globe, that glimmered and sparkled like a big glow-worm. In husky tones, he said :
** ' Come with me.'
^^ Perceiving him to be one of the attendant elementals, I should have refused to comply, if I had not remembered my Guru's parting words.
^^ So, without question, I followed him. Pass- ing through the brilliantly lighted corridors I was already acquainted with, he turned to the lefty into a region in which I was an entire stranger. The corridors here were so dimly lighted, that the attendant's glow-worm seemed by contrast very bright indeed. Walking rapidly through the various windings, we came at last to a blank wall entirely barring our
^^ My guide knowing the secret of entrance, for he was the guardian of that department of the temple, put forth the potency of his will within limits. Silently as the grave a door moved back.
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IfoUowed him into a vast room, whose floor, roof, wallsy were one hnge deposit of gold, out of which the room had been hollowed. On every hand were great heaps of the yellow metal, and precious stones of every description named upon earth, were piled up, any one of which would have sufficed for a monarch's ransom.
^^ Waiting a moment or two, until my dazzled senses could comprehend that more than the earth's known wealth was in sight here, the guardian said :
" * I am bidden to tell thee that one-fifteenth of all this treasure is thine. I will transport it for thee, wherever thou seest fit. Thou hast been in the world. Thou knowest what it can bring to thee, of all that man deems most desirable. Beauty, luxury and power are all urchasable, and wealth recreates itself. Thy share is freely offered thee.
" * But thou must also know, if, taking thy portion, thou wilt go into a far country, thou
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shalt no more return hither, nor again meet the brotherhood in this incarnation, nor perhaps in many others, for its Earma lieth heavy on the shoulders of him who may undertake to bear it. Choose freely, and go thy way if thou wilt.*
^^ For a single instant, visions of all the ele- gance, ease, and efficiency such boundless wealth would command among men, flitted before me. Then like the aroma of sweet flowers, that had bloomed long ago, came the memory of my instructor's words :
« ' God is All, the Only Real. All else is as unreal as the baseless fabric of a dream.
^^ My courage and strength came back to me. Kising to my full stature, I ordered my guide to conduct me hence, for this wealth had no value for me, when weighed against the privi- leges of the Brotherhood. We stepped out of the treasury of the Temple. The door closed behind us with a sullen clang. My guide re-
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conducted me to iny own apartment, and suddenly vanished, without taking the trouble to walk away.
'^ Flinging myself upon my couch, from out the moonbeams came restful quiet, that soon gave me sleep.
'*In the morning, on meeting my Guru, a grave smile overspread his face, as he said :
^^ ' And thou hast learned the true value of riches. It is well.*
" Once more, I apply myself vigorously to my
daily duties. Week follows week, until another
momentous day has come. As we sit at work in
the laboratory, a letter drops without warning
upon the open scroll before him. He looks at
the superscription and breaks the seal. After
reading, he hands me the following:
" * Madrid, Spain. To THE Brother-in-chabge:
Say to our youngest brother: The heir to the throne of Spain, standing between him and the succession, has passed into the invisible. He is entitled to the Scepter. If he shall so choose, he
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can be at once transported hither, and his rights maintained. Let us know his decision at once. Fraternally,
He who Watches/
" ' What is your answer ? ' said my teacher.
" * May I ask you two questions ? '
"* Certainly.'
" * Can I, by acceptance, be of any benefit to the Brotherhood ? *
" *Not the slightest,* was the answer.
" ' Shall I be cut off from the Brotherhood, henceforth ? '
" ' Most certainly.'
" ' Then say to him from me, the next heir is more willing and needy than I, let him receive it.'
^^ My Guru bowed his head in silent assent. Then taking a sheet of parchment, he wrote thereon, folded and sealed it. Poising it on the end of his stylus, in my full sight, it vanished into thin air. I had unwittingly added another, in the person of the new king, to my list of tormentors; but had, in compensation, advanced
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one step neaier the perfection of mortal life.
^^ And now, on the morrow, would commence the twelfth and last month of my probation. My Gam said :
" ' Heretofore, yon haye had help and com- panionship to sustain yon in your trials ; bat now, for the month to come, yoa mast alone meet your last trial of the novi tiate. To-morrow, at sanrise, yoa will be condacted to the meant of fastingr. For thirty days, save water from the spring, no sustenance mast pass year lips.'
" On the morrow, my Gura accompanied me to a little plateau, on the very peak of the mountain, outlooking upon the gardens. Here I found a rock-hewn cell, whose entrance &ced the South. Within, a divan, with skins stretched upon it, and a single stone block for a seat, was all the furnishing. Outside the door, a spring clear as crystal, bubbled into, and overflowed a rocky basin.
" Taming to me, my Guru said :
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^^ ^ You are to sustain your physical self upon that which you have learned. Be faithful. Be strong. Let your thought dwell constantly in contemplation of the Good. Farewell ! ' I was alone.
'^ After the first three days, the imperative call of the body for food ceased and the chains which bind together the body and the spirit, loosed their tension. Every morning at sunrise, I drank a few swallows from the spring, then laved my face, hands and feet in the stream issuing from it. Then, going back to my- cell, I gave myself up to communion with the Silence, musing on the infinity and eternity of the One only God.
^^ Losing my sense of self in this exercise, I would perhaps pass unheeding into the hours of night ; or the first beams of the morrow's rising sun would find me still astonished at the immensity of the Soul of the Universe.
"As the days went by, the veil which sep-
126 THREE SEVENS.
arates man from the Creator, grew thinner and thinner. The spirit, no longer checked by the importunities and retarding weight of the physi- cal expression, exultantly soared lighter and lighter. Passing the cherubims, and the flam- ing sword which turns every way, it passed on and on, until the great white throne, symbol of Omnipotence, became continual sight. Time for me ceased to exist. They who, at that time, unknown to me, watched my wel&re, say my ecstacy and uplifting increased from day to day.
" On the morning of the twenty-eighth day, I drank from the spring for the last time, and retiring to my couch lay down to meditate. All consciousness of physical weakness or bonds had entirely disappeared. My body showed no sign of weakness. My face was lighted up, as are always the faces of those who are permitted to approach the mount of presence. This is the story of the watchers.
"The experience that came to me was ,as
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follows : Shortly after lying down, the impres- sion of freedom and lightness came upon me with the most intense conception.
"It was not the astral separation, but more an assimilation of accretions sublimed and purified concentrating in one mass. The way grew easier and easier, until the light of the Highest burst in full splendor upon my enrap- tured vision.
" There^ in the midst of Life and its Principle, enwrapped in the Oneness of All, gazing, gazing with unquenched aspiration for knowledge, at the light, the truth, towards which, in my soul, there was not the least shade of opposition but only the most perfect alignment and har- mony, came out of the silence, to my inner sense, the still, small voice, saying:
" * My son, to him that overcometh, will I give the crown of lives.'
•As the sun went down, I came back to the present, and my Guru came also.
128 THREE SEVENS.
^^ Looking upon me, he said:
« light that is not on land nor sea, is upon it. It shines as did the face of one of our brothers in the olden time, who underwent a similar ordeal.'
^^ Then he put forth his hand, and with the strong grip of the Brotherhood, lifted me to my feet. I was bathed, and sustenance, which man, outside of the Brotherhood, knows not of, was given me for the refreshment of the body.
^^ Once more, clothed in clean, white, linen robes, I stood in the Hall of Obligation. Kneeling before the invisible occupant of the throne, these words, from our Elder Brother, came to my ears :
" ' My younger brother, so far as thou hast been proved, thou hast borne thyself fearlessly and courageously; and thou hast made much progress for thyself into the realms of the unseen.
^'
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watched over by our immediate presence, pro- tected from opposing force by the potency of our wills, even as the tender infant is cher- ished by the arms of its parent.
" * We know that the jewel within is genuine, but no lapidary save thyself can so burnish it as to bring out its greatest beauties, and most valuable qualities. Polish comes not to jewel nor man by lying enwrapped in soft textures, but by attrition against the hardest substances and conditions of the outer life.
"'We have given you the theorems. Are you willing to undertake the demonstration V
" I bowed assent.
" ' You will be conducted from here to your native land, there to take up the thread of mor- tal life. To live and act as thou hast been taught in the Light of the Real. Thou shalt seek no fellowship with, nor have any depend- ence upon the transitory unrealities of time and sense. If at the end of seven years, thy con-
130 THREE SEVENS.
science is clear of intent to offend, thou mayst return hither and claim for thyself the degree of the Initiate, and so be able to solve the mys- teries of the Second Gate. May Truth and Peace dwell with thee. Remember the obliga- tion of the novitiate.'
^^ Thus gently dropped the veil of separation, until seven times should roll over my head. Conducted thence, when the morning dawned my Guru came to me.
** * My brother,* he said, ' I would this could be spared thee. But it is the road we all have trod. Attainment comes no other way. If thou hast importunate need of me, in any future time," look upon thy talisman and formulate thy desire, and thou shalt surely and speedily have tidings from me, according to thy necessity.
" * Yet three days dost thou remain with us, for thy bodily rest and refreshment.'
" All too quickly flew the hours in converse and retrospect with my beloved teacher. As the
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moon rose on the evening of the third day, attendants brought to me the garb of a Spanish cavalier, in which I attired myself. Then through a narrow passage, I was conducted to a wicket in the mountain-side, so cunningly con- structed that, from the outside, the most experi- enced eye would find it difficult to discern.
'^ Here we paused, and my Guru turning to me said:
^^ ' It is not lawful for me to step beyond the walls, so here we must part. * Outside the Tem« pie thou wilt find a horse waiting for thee. Mount him and give him rein and he will bear thee Eastward to the port by th^ sea, from whence thou didst commence thy journey toward us. There thou canst take ship and go thence to thy ancestral home. Have no thought of curb or rein. Sit easy. He who shall bear thee knows the bidding of the Master. May the night be good to thee. Farewell !'
" Such were his stately words of parting, as
182 THREE SEVENS.
tender in their cadenoe as the oaress of a loying mother. The wicket swnng wide open. I stepped out and it closed behind me. I was once more outside the walls that had protected me so steiadfiistlj and securely.
*^ But the Ego that stood there, once again fiicing the implacable, restless world, was not the impeded, burden-bearing I, who had obtained admittance therein. A new man, like the butterfly from the chrysalis, who had passed from death unto life, the life of the Infinite and
"Behind me, the wicket, every vestige of whose existence was lost in the rough face of the precipice. In front of me, a large, splendidly formed, black stallion, every item of wjiose mag- nificent form and muscles told truly of super- human strength. Vaulting into the saddle, I laid the reins lightly upon his neck. Heading north of East, he sprang forward at a speed that seemed to leave the earth beneath him. Hour
THREE SEVENS. 188
by hour he moved, his pace showing never a sign of slackening.
^* As the light began to grow in the East, he stopped at the country gate of the old fort, where St. Angostine now stands. I dismounted and the huge black without an instant's halt turned on his trail, and was out of sight as sud- denly as a flash of lightening.
^^ With his disappearance, the last link of the chain connecting me with those who had become indissolubly bound to me, seemed to drop away. All the bright hopes in the future manifestations of my existence assumed the dissolving phantasy of a dream. I saw myself a stranger, at the gate of a strange city, moneyless and alone. I sat down on a stone seat outside the wall, with an awful sense of desolation overshadowing me for the first time since, as an invalid, I had been carried into the great temple of ——Where ? Alas ! I knew not even its location, and I was banished, perhaps forever.
184 THREE SEVENS.
^^ In this critical moment, the Master's words sounded in my ear : ^ Be of good cheer, thy bur- den will never be beyond thy strength/
^^Half rising, involuntarily I put my hand in the pocket of my doublet and drew out a purse well filled with the yellow metal, gold, which the Spaniard adores so devoutly. I felt once more comforted, because the Masters had not for- gotten the needs of the ordinary life, with which I had again come in contact. I have learned since that they never do.
^^But the day came on apace. I could hear the call of the sentry, as the relief passed from post to post. Soon the gates were opened. 1 requested &om the officer of the guard an inter* view with the commandant, stating I was needy and must have help.
^' He stared at me and my accent, but courte- ously led the way, finishing the grand round, until we reached the castle, where I was con-r ducted into the presence of the chief officer, at
THREE SEVENS. 135
his morning coffee. He proved to be one of my comrades in the suite of De Soto. Having escaped the massacre, for especial bravery he had been appointed to his present position.
^^ He recognized me, and greeted me with the utmost cordiality and friendship, and asked me where I had spent the intervening time.
^^I told him I had been nursed and held among the Indians, and finally brought thither.
" * A miracle ! A miracle ! That these bloody, heathen dogs should ever show grace to a noble, Christian Spaniard. But what dost thou intend to do, Senor?'
" I replied : ' I desire to return to Spain, to see how it fares with my father and my estates.'
" * Thou art in good time, for a Spanish gal- leon lies in the harbor, whose sails will be spread for favoring breezes on the morrow. Canst thou not wait a month, and bear us company? We shall be honored by thy presence. '
136 THREE SEVENS.
'^ When I told him my anxiety was pressing, he said:
^' ^ I do not blame thee. Thy impatience is natural. Thou shalt hare all the help I can give thee, and may all the saints in the calendar give thee swift journey to thy home.*
" So on the morrow, with such speedy prepa- ration as the shortness of the time permitted, I was again moving Eastward, toward my inevita- ble destiny.
" How different the return from the coming. Then, the Nemesis of the Past goaded me into constant activity. Now, the intent bom of the desire to do good, brought a far different state of feeling. There came to my spirit the possibility of wiping out the stain of blood, by fulfilling the three-fold Rule of Right. So should Karma, the Remorseless, be satisfied.
" Fair winds brought us rapidly to Lisbon. From thence I journeyed to my father's house, finding as I already knew, my father dead, and
THREE SEVENS, 137
my estate held in waiting by the officers of the crown, as was the custom of the country. I had no difficulty in proving my identity. Then I waited upon the king and queen at the Royal palace, to. pay the respects due from the subject.
^^ My family name gave me audience at once. The queen was very much interested in my recital of the adventures of the ill-fated De Soto. To the request that I detail my adventures with the red men, I answered but little, speaking mostly of my wounded conditiouj the care bestowed upon me, and my life amongst them. Description of the temple, or anything pertain- ing thereto was too sacred to be imparted to another who had neither sympathy nor percep- tion to understand, even if it had been lawful for me to tell.
"The audience was finally over, and per- mission was granted me to withdraw to my estate. There I fitted up a laboratory, modeled upon the one in which so much pure, unalloyed
138 THREE SEVENS.
hsppinees had oome to me, during the past year.
*^ Here for another year, I lived contentedly, pursuing my studies and recovering from the &tigue of my journey. To this was added the care of overseeing my estate and dependants. At the end of the year, a message by special courier from the king, informed me :
^^ ^ It was' a great deprivation to his majesty that I was not seen at court/ This courteously worded document, of course, was a most emphatic order.
'^Regretfully, I made my preparations, and soon found myself in daily attendance at one of the most brilliant courts of that period in Europe. Indeed, it has rarely been equalled in the world for its wealth, beauty and learning.
^^ Appointed to an office in the household, a bachelor, rich, and of fair presence, could there be wanting anything to make me happy ? To me, all this seemed rust, dust and mold. There was no satisfaction whatever in any of it. But
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I, at the first, submitted, because it had been the Master's will and teaching, that obedience to the symbol of law, wherever met with, was necessary, because it led to obedience to the law itself, which is man's first duty. All true law is of the Good — is#the Good.
^^ Haying no ambitions to satisfy, no schemes which set myself and my interests over and beyond the interests and selfishness of others, I had many friends, or rather those who called themselves friends. But I must confess I was startled, and at the first deeply pained, as my intuitive perception revealed their motives. Then the motive entirely overshadowed the apparent action, bringing to me in all its force, a percep- tion of the weakness of dependence upon smiles or honeyed words. In spite of all this, I was popular, and a favorite with the king, to whose business intrusted to my charge, I gave my best attention, because it was the duty I owed him.
" One day, when in attendance upon hig
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majesty, without any previous prefiice he said :
" * Senor, why do you not marry ? Are there no ladies in all our realm fair enough for thee, or didst thou leave a fairer inamorata in that savage Western country ? '
" ' Nay, your majesty^' I replied. ' I am heart-free, because the sex have no charms for me, nor I for them.'
" ' But, Senor, I have no liking that through caprice my oldest families should become extinct It were well that you select a wife, and thus add to the dignity and peace of the kingdom.'
" I simply bowed, and the matter was dropped. Not many days after this, I received orders to be present at a reception in the palace. Here 1 was presented to the younger daughter of one of the most noble houses of the kingdom. She was a most fitting consort for me, in every respect, as to family, station or wealth. In addition to this, she was most ravishingly beautiful. I was
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given to understand that it was the king's pleasure, that I should seek the hand of this beautifiil and desirable maiden in marriage. If I did not concur, without good excuse, his anger might be turned against me.