The Life Everlasting: A Reality of Romance

the speaker, Morton Harland sta

ot possible! Rafel Santoris

anger l

ich is beyond all performance. A man cannot be his own offspring! I am that

ars of age. He was well built, with the straight back and broad shoulders of an athlete,-his face was finely featured and radiant with the glow of health and strength, and as h

are his living image,-but you can

ent sparkled in t

ccentric' college acquaintance whom you and several other fellows fought shy of

arland turned to us where we had withdrawn ours

w HIM. I spoke of him only the other night at dinner-you remember?-but I did not tell you his nam

wing courteously to Catherine and myself-"that I do not fulfi

ld of memories-memories tender, wistful and pathetic, entangled as in tears and fire. All the inward instincts of my spirit told me that I knew him well-as well as one knows the gold of the s

hat you are interested in

wered Catherine, in her coldest tone of c

nt up with a sl

called the 'Dream'-and she is, as her name implies, a 'dream' fulfilled. Her sails are her only motive power. They are charged with electricity, and that is why th

standing close by, was unable to

uddenly-"but may I ask how i

e from the air and water as we move. This force fills the sails and propels the vessel with amazing swiftness wherever she is steered. Neither calm nor storm affects her progress. When there is a good gale blowing our way, we naturally lessen the draft on our own supplies-but we can make excellent

for the first time and putting the question with an air of incredulous amusemen

him over with p

Captain Derrick he said, kindly, "I hope the matter seems clearer to you? We

hook his head

take it in,"-he confesse

cht to-morrow? There may be some excursion we could do t

he mastery in his expression and he did not at once answer. Th

,"-he said, with a gesture of in

suggestion, and the two men entered t

ment,-then she called to Mr. Swinton, who had been standing abou

have with that gentleman when you

ary! More than princely! Mr. Santoris himself I found particularly agreeable. When he had read Mr. Harland's note, he said he was

him, then?" queried Dr

well-bred, and I should sa

rayle-"The best in the world! What do YOU th

inion,"-I ans

he was, of one who had entered my life as insistently as a

t Catherine c

" she wh

Swinton had moved away to light fresh cigars, and we two women were for the

You ARE S

music of a grave and infinitely tender compassion-"Why did you doubt

d my heart was full of pity for her. She was excited beyond her usual self-I could see that the appearance of the stranger from the yacht ha

isten,"-I said-"Ca

ook he

tly breathed-"I

r. Harland

n hardly wonder at my disbelief, considering your appearance, which i

e of Santoris

such thing as time, but only eternity? The soul is always youn

r eyes upon me in w

be mad!"

but in a lower tone, and we could not distinguish what he said. Pres

sisting roughness the thinker and worker can mould an Apollo or a Psyche. You find nothing marvellous in this, though the result of its shaping is due to nothing but Thought and Labour. Yet when you see the human body, which is far easier to shape than marble, brought into submis

waited to gather further fragments of the conversation, he suddenly threw open the saloon door and called t

r college friend! He IS Rafel Santoris-I ought to have known that there's only one of his type!

is in such splendid prime and Morton Harland in his bent, lean and wizened condition, as being of t

wn old more quickly, fa

not lived at su

ble tinder the full blaze of the electric

and,"-he said-"I do not drowse it or kill it-I LIVE it! This lady,

with a light, warm clasp-gently releasing it again as he bowed. "I call her our little friend, because she brings such an atmosphere of joy along with her wherever she goes. We persuaded her to come with us yachting this summer for a very selfish reason-because we are disposed

l. When will you realise that there is no such thing as '

e a slight, inc

kely to agree with you,-when I was speaking of you to her I told her she had somewh

s, with a grave smile-"It is easy

d other refreshments to offer to our guest. Mr. Harland's former uneasiness and embarrassment seemed now at an end, and he gave himself up to the pleasure of renewing association with one who had known him as a young man, and they began talking easily together of their days at college, of the men they had both been acquainted with, some of whom were dead, some settled abroad and some l

reless modern nod or jerk of the head by which the other men barely acknowledged their introduction to him. "He was afraid of his life to go to you"-continued Mr. Harland, with a laugh-"He thought you might be an illusion-or even the devil himself, with those fiery sails!" Mr. Swinton looked sheepish; Santoris smiled. "This fai

my veins,-I felt my face crimsoning, yet I knew not why I should

ll-heather is quite common in this part of the world. I shouldn't like

end by a wild Highland fellow, presumably a native of Mull, the very morning after she had seen your yacht for the first time, and

shook h

id, smilingly. "Did the 'wi

d you 'the shentleman

chts! He may have got mixed in his customers. In any case, I am glad to hav

curiously,"-put in Cat

the moon-rays striking a steel-like glitter on the still waters of Loch Scavaig, and at the same time hear all that was being said without taking any part in it. I did not wish to speak,-the uplifted joy of my soul was too intense for anything but silence. I could not tell why I was so happy,-I only knew by inward instinct that some point in my life had been reached towards which I had striven for a far longer period t

ford,"-he said-but here

-"You talk as if you ha

there I was like the prodigal son,-exiled from my Father's House. And I 'did eat the husks that the swine did eat.' Many fellows

rs with the husks,

a gesture of

are perfectly childish. They scarcely deserve to be called the pothooks and hangers of an education. I always got my work done in two or three hours-

mysteries and thi

ris, with a mirthful look-"You will not find it, for instance, in the earlier editions of Stor

that?" asked Cat

Nature?" "That's too deep for me!" said Dr. Brayle, pouring himself out a g

. Then Catherine leaned forward across the tabl

ot explain?"

ons of beauty and wisdom, expresses the Soul of herself, or the spiritual force which supports her existence. 'Spiritual science' is the knowledge, not of the outward effect so much as of the inward cause which makes the effect manifest. It is a knowledge which can be applie

h your researches, the

smiled

man that has fai

handsome face and figure

ad from Oxford

ept as a Royal Chamber in the Pyramids with the funeral offerings untouched and a perpetual lamp burning. It was the best of all possible places in which to continue my particular line

d hesitated, then wen

nd regarded his former col

nnecessary"-he said

pause. Dr. Brayle looked

bably taught you to beware

ntoris, coldly-"But if you mean that I am not

man-the one rare pearl

yle, un

yle," interrupted Mr. Harland, quickly,

his simple courtesy between the two principals in the conversatio

to Mr. Santoris," said Catherine then

d at her with

d"-he said-"It is our own fau

nswered, in a plaintive tone-"But if you were afflicted a

omewhat comp

my own neglect, thoughtlessness, carelessness or selfishness I had injured my organisation

YOU! Why, as a matter of fact a wretched human being is not only cursed with his own poisoned blood but with the poisoned blood of his

called disease, but they never begin their work till the being they attack has either wasted a vital opportunity or neglected a vital necessity. Far more numerous are the beneficial germs of revivifying and creative power-and if these find place, they are bound to conquer those whose agency is destructive. It all depends on the soil and pasture you offer them. Evil thoughts make evil blood, and in

all proper care?"

o child should be permitted to have its own way or expect to have

therine's faded cheeks. Mr.

himself, no one else wil

his livelihood chiefly in order not to become a burden on others. In the same way he should take care of his health so that he may avoid being a

hard and fast rule, M

e people are ill throug

de. And suppose him to be born with some inherited trouble, he can eliminate even that from his blood if he so determines. Man was not meant to be sickly, but strong-he is not intended to dwell on this earth as a servant but as a master,-and all the elements of stren

arranged that we were to join him on board his vessel next day, and either take a sail with him along the island coast or else do the excursion on foot to Loch Coruisk, which was a point not to be missed. As we walked all together along the moonlit deck a chance moment pla

he said, quietly-"I have known you by

ting rapidly with an excitation of

lk together, I hope,-I feel that there are man

could no

wo people who are not immediately conscious of having met before, feel on firs

scarcely au

archingly,-a smile was on his lips a

o wait,"-he said-"Not long-af

and sweet assura

th a smile of happy response

d was on his way back to his own vessel. The boat in which he sat, rowed strongly by our men, soon disappeared like a black blot on th

ay at last, flinging the end of his cigar over the y

turned quick

certainly genius. He's of the same mind as he was when I knew hi

should meet him ag

ly, father, he's no

and a half years y

ayle l

-"I think he's playing a part. He's probab

the night, and Mr. Harland paused a

table peace of conventions. You"-here he regarded me suddenly, as if he had almost forgotten my presence-"will like him. You have many ideas in common and will be sure to get on well together. As for me, I am his direct opposite,-the two poles are not wider apart than we are in our feelings, sentiments and beliefs." He paused, seeming to be troubled by the passing cl

lf immune from the comm

with a touch

ion of progressive changes, and he holds that a change IS never and CAN never be made till the person concerned h

exclaimed Catherin

mil

id-"For I believe as he d

lad to be alone with myself