The Ghost of Guir House

as seeming more subtle and far-reaching than crime itself, if such a thing were possible. Paul was determined to investigate the secret of the closet stairs; for while

inue his efforts in earnest. There were two serious difficulties to contend with; on

st before they had finished, partook of a little dry lettuce and a small cup of coffee. Dorothy

he great hall, where Ah Ben prepared a

himmering lustre, reducing the lamp to a mere spectral ornament. It was the flickering fireligh

one side, while Paul sat opposite. The men were soon engaged with their pipes, while M

the old man, by way of opening the conversation, and with the hope

re day in this house. There are few things that give me more pleasure than roaming alone through the forest. O

ing what else to say, and wondering at

from the parrot, which seemed to be lodged somewhere in the upper regions of the obscure

orothy! it

"Good night," left Ah Ben

"indeed, I must have fallen asleep, as it is my habit to take a nap in th

ng my pipe, and as Miss Guir seemed disposed to

her pipe and a midnight talk," inquired

again accepted eagerly. Ah Ben seemed pleased, declaring it was a great treat to have a friend who was as much of an owl as he him

ith my temper, the better half would be blotted out, were

Paul, "and yet the wisdom of the

prosperous; and what is worldly prosperity but the accumulation of

self to the cheerful disregard for money which you seem to have. For my part, I c

rld!" exclaimed Ah Ben, "an

rtable in this latter part of the

uries that eat out the life while pampering the body. It has taught us to depend upon the poison that paralyzes the will, and that pe

surely you will admit that the discoveries of the last few

those eyes that was wont to impress the beholder with a species of interest which he felt might be developed into awe; and yet they were neither large nor handsome, as eyes are generally counted. Deep set, mounted with withere

enley's last idea interrogatively,

the old maxim of 'early to bed' says somethin

at a man must needs be

intain that it's a p

rize-fighter. But if you will pardon me, I think you have put the cart before the horse; for once having granted that personal power, happiness must ensue, and your health as

are able to follow it, but for my humble attainmen

y only shows the narrowness of your scientific training. Had men been taught the power of the will as the underlying principle of ev

ded Paul, "I should think that a judicious application of the world's wis

ect to the word 'theory,' as associated with my positive knowledge on this subject. Every man must do as he thinks right,

and looked at his host in the

k I quite und

y and emphasizing the words, "I disregard all la

he were speaking seriously. He could not help remembering his abstinence

" he continued, relaxing into his former positi

he ashes down into the bowl of his pipe with his long emaciated fingers, and watched the little threads of smoke as they came curling out from

fore him for several minutes, in a kind of mesmeric fascination, "and I should lik

y," answered Ah Ben; "but when once gained, no man would relinquish it for the gold of a th

read his thoughts. It was th

ed Paul. "How did you know I

, but continued to gaze into the fire and bl

ter," Paul resumed after a few minutes,

pain, because of the unnatural excitement of the moment; but there you only rivet the argument against yourself; for I maintain-and not from theory, but from

although I believe there is something in what y

er way, through the exercise of their will in controlling their minds and bodies? This exaltation of spirit is only attained t

ossible!" cried Pa

men-it is the man himself-and when once recognized, the body is relegated to its proper sphere as the

o say that this occult or soul power can conque

forever," an

death; but I

h Ben quietly, as if he were merely giving ex

t about us every

r no man has ever seen t

ng with words,"

r man never dies. He goes right on living; and it is generally a considerable time before he realizes the change that has taken place in

d Paul. "One might almost imagine that y

you. But there is a difference between us; I know that I am in it, because I

s was not theory; it was the result of experience. There was a difference as vast as the night

u are dead, but when you have been

e of yours is in demand more than all other knowledge. Positive information about the ot

onception of the world in which he has always lived? But couch his eyes, remove the worthless film that has covered them, and for the fir

ly through death that most of us

film over the eye that reveals the world to the blind; but I should hardly

that you have gained this knowledge i

as in some great physical shock, and of a necessity comes to all in the event called death. Were I to tell you how I acquired this knowledge, Mr. Henley, it would st

Ah Ben stretched his hand toward the chimney, and as he did so, a ball of misty light appeared against it, just below the mantel. It was ill defined and hazy, l

asked the old man,

"and I was just wonder

and you

t while Paul was staring into the

a table in the centre. Two persons sat at this table, the one a woman, the other a boy, and near at hand was an English army officer. The woman was small, with dark eyes and hair, and a skin the color of tan bark. Her head was bowed forward and rested upon her arms, which were crossed upon the table. The man was looking down

She will wake ever

ge room went out, and the chimney closed over the scene, leavin

len asleep. I've

been quite as wide awake as I have, and

he old man gave by telling him w

y, "for surely no room can be

"is mere assertion, whi

g was real? There is a secret about t

dupe of the man before him, the prey to some clever t

ould disturb you. The room has disappeared from our sight

h the old pines. He was trying to account for what he had seen, but could not. The mystery was deepening into an overpowering gloom. The house, with its eccentric inmates; the girl Dorothy, with her freaks and man

otism? He put the question straight to Ah Ben. The man passed

for a condition that has been known in the East for thous

hat condition?

ration," answere

of what?"

uned to his form of vibration, are in sympathy with it, and apprehend all its phenomena. There is but one mind, of which man is a part. Thought is a product of mind. Thought is real, and, when sufficiently concentrated, becomes tangible and vi

impossible to see through a brick wall, even if there should be such a room in the house; and, secon

it, which is certainly all the evidence you have of the existence of the room in which we are now sitting. Hypnotism is not a cause of hallucination, as is commonly supposed, but of fact. Its effects are not illusory, but real. Perhaps it would be more correct to say that

was now hearing. Ah Ben's words were endowed with

tween the real and the unreal, and that matter has no real e

rrows in his withered cheek thoughtf

tter as viewed from the Idealist's or the Materialist's point of view? At first there is apparently none, but a deeper insight will show us that the difference is vast and radical, for in the one case the tree or the chair that I am looking at, owing its very existence to mind, is governed by mind, which could never be did they exist as separate and distinct entities. Therefore I say with perfect truth that matter does not exist in the one sense, and yet that it does exist in the other. I dream of a green field; a beautiful landscape, never before beheld; I awake and it is gone. Where was that enchanting scene? I can tell you: for it was in the mind, where everything else is. But upon waking I have changed my mind, and the scene has vanished. Thus it is with the Adept of the East, with the Yoghis, the Pundit, the Rishis, and the common Fakir; through the power of hypnotism they alter the condition of the subject's mind, and with it his world has likewise undergone a change. You say this is not real, that it is merely illusion; but in reply I would say that these

r chair before me, owing its existence to mind, is subject to that mind; do you mean by that to say tha

call realities is cast aside; the will becomes free and controls its own environment-in short, we are out of prison. But even here, Mr. Henley, by practicing the self-control we were speaking of, the will becomes so powerful that it can sometimes break through

it a prison, if no mo

will was insufficient to free you from the horrid scene that ha

it had the same forceful existence to him as anything in life. Ah Ben, seeing that he was still puzzling

tions-which may possibly tend to throw a little light upon this

many as

tians as being idolatrous, and yet to me it is the most ennobling of all creeds. With

ered affi

Deity-I mean as an exaggerated man

rit," Pau

ou believe that Spirit

fin

ere can be no part of space

s my id

ct, all matter must, in its very essence, be a part of it; it must be formed

se it seems to me that we are a part of God oursel

the spiritual world now, although much of it is screened from our view, beca

s, which he lighted by the expirin