Were this account merely a work of fiction, it would harmonise things so
as to have no unaccountables in it. As it is, the present writers will
have to make this quite clear:
It is not known why the Rhamda Avec failed to show himself at the
crucial moment. Perhaps he could have changed everything. We can only
surmise; he has not been seen or heard from since.
Which also is true of Mr. Chick Watson. He disappeared immediately after
the closing of the Spot, saying that he was going to Bertha Holcomb's
home. No trace has been found of either to date. Doubtless the reader
has noted advertisement in the papers, appealing to the authorities to
report any one of Watson's description applying for a marriage licence.
As for his two friends, Wendel and Fenton, together with the Aradna and
the Nervina, they and MacPherson and the doctor absolutely vanished from
all the knowledge, either of the Thomahlia or the earth. The Jarados
alone can tell of them.
Mme. Le Fabre, however, feels that she can explain the matter
satisfactorily. Abridged, her theory runs:
“There is but one way to explore the Occult. That way is to die.
“For all that we were so strongly impressed with the reality of
Mr. Watson, I am firmly convinced that he was simply a spirit; that
everything we saw was spirit manifestation.
“Dr. Holcomb and all the rest have simply gone on to another plane. We
shall never see them again. They are dead; no other explanation will
hold. They are spirits.”
Giving this version to the public strictly for what it is worth, the
present writers feel it only right to submit the conclusions reached
by Dr. Malloy and concurred in by Drs. Higgins and Hansen, also, with
reservations, by Professor Herold and by Miss Clarke.
“To a certain extent, and up to a certain point, it is possible
to account for the astonishing case of the Blind Spot by means of
well-known psychological principles. Hallucinations will cover a great
deal of ground.
“But we feel that our personal experiences, in witnessing the interior
of the Thomahlia cannot be thus explained away. Our accounts tally too
exactly; and we are not subject to group hypnosis.
“To explain this we believe a new hypothesis is called for. We submit
that what we saw was not unreal. Assuming that a thing is real or
unreal, and can never be in a third state which is neither one nor the
other, then we should have to insist that what we saw was REAL.
“We stand ready and prepared to accept any theory which will fit all
facts, not merely a portion.”
Again refraining from any comment we pass on to the more exhaustive
opinion of Sir Henry Hodges. Inasmuch as this seems to coincide very
closely with the hypothesis of Professor Holcomb, and as the reputation
of Sir Henry is a thing of weight, we are quoting him almost verbatim:
“There is a well-known experiment in chemistry, wherein equal quantities
of water and alcohol are mixed. Let us say, a pint of each. Now, the
resulting mixture ought to be a quart; but it is not. It is somewhat
less than a quart.
“Strange, indeed, to the novice, but a commonplace to every student of
the subject. It is strange only that, except for Dr. Holcomb and
this man Avec, science has overlooked the stupendous significance and
suggestion of this particular fact.
“Now, consider another well-known fact: No matter how you try you cannot
prevent gravity from acting. It will pull every object down, regardless
of how you try to screen it from the earth.
“Why? Because gravity penetrates all things. Again, why? Why should
gravity penetrate all things?
“The answer is, because gravity is a function of the ether. And the
ether is an imponderable substance, so impalpable that it passes right
through all solids as though they were not there.
“These are two highly suggestive points. They show us, first, that two
substances can exist within the space formerly thought to be completely
filled by one. Second, they show that ALL substances are porous to the
ether.
“Very well. Bear in mind that we know nothing whatever directly about
the ether; our knowledge is all indirect. Therefore--
“It may be that there is more than one ether!
“Conceive what this means. If there were another ether, how could we
become aware of it? Only through the medium of some such phenomenon as
the Blind Spot; not through ordinary channels. For the ordinary channels
are microscopes and test-tubes, every one of which, when traced to the
ultimate, is simply a concrete expression of THE ONE ETHER WE KNOW!
“In the nature of the case our five senses could never apprehend a
second ether.
“Yet, knowing what we do about the structure of the atom, of electronic
activity, of quantels, we must admit that there is a huge, unoccupied
space--that is, we can't see that it is occupied--in and between the
interstices of the atom.
“It is in the region, mingled and intertwined with the electrons which
make up the world we know so well, that--in my opinion--the Thomahlian
world exists. It is actually coexistent with our own. It is here, and
so are we. At this very instant, at any given spot, there can be,
and almost certainly is, more than one solid object--two systems of
materiality, two systems of life, two systems of death. And if two, why,
then, perhaps there are even more!
“Holcomb is right. We are Infinity. Only our five senses make us
finite.”
Charlotte Fenton does not indulge in speculation. She seems to bear up
wonderfully well in the face of Harry Wendel's affinity for the
Nervina, and also in the face of her brother's disappearance. And she
philosophically states:
“When Columbus returned from his search for the East Indies, he
triumphantly announced that he had found what he sought.
“He was mistaken. He had found something else--America.
“It may be that we are all mistaken. It may be that something entirely
different from what any one has suspected has been found. Time will
tell. I am willing to wait.”
To make it complete, it is felt that the following statement of General
Hume is not only essential, but convincing to the last degree.
“My view regarding this mystery is simply this: I have eyes, and I
have seen. I don't know whether the actors were living or dead. I am
no scientist; I have no theory. I only know. And I will swear to what I
saw.
“I am a soldier. The two men who are bringing this to press have shown
me their copy.
“It is correct.”