DANO AND VALLOA.
De L'Ester--Exactly two o'clock, and you are awaiting us, so at once
we will be off. Only George and I have come for you. Bernard and our
friends will meet us at Kûltymo Tylû. Now, be at rest. Ready, George.
No, mortals can have no realization of the rapidity with which wholly
freed spirits are able to move. You, who to a degree are freed, do not
realize it.
Gentola--No, I do not. Always, to me, we appear to be stationary, while
all else is falling away from us. Now, as we near Ento, it seems to be
rushing toward us, and now I perceive its divisions of land and water,
and yonder is Kûltymo Tylû, and on yonder great tower our friends and
my dear boy are watching and waiting for us. A greeting for you all,
dear friends, and for you, too, my dear lad. Yes, from afar off I saw
you waving your hand to me, you dear, dear boy.
George--While De L'Ester shall relate to you something that certainly
will interest you, Inez and I will make a hurried visit to D[a:]o, but
ere he shall have concluded his narration we again will be with you.
De L'Ester--We find that, until our mission shall have culminated, we
must defer visiting certain localities of peculiar interest, and as
some untoward event might, during your mortal existence, prevent your
gaining through personal observation, information concerning them, we
have decided that I shall endeavor to acquaint you with some of their
features.
Far within Ento's Arctic and Antarctic regions there are lands which,
during a large part of the year, are covered with ice and snow. Still
farther northward and southward and at the poles such intense cold
perpetually prevails that the land surfaces are uninhabitable. In
these regions are vast deposits of precious and other ores, and to
gain access to them many difficulties had to be surmounted. I say had
to be surmounted; for, during many centuries, mining within the Arctic
and Antarctic Circles has been a settled industry. In remote times, as
at present, throughout Ento's Torrid and Temperate Zones, the mining
industry has progressed northward, and to a lesser degree southward,
and so gradual have been its movements that, almost imperceptibly,
it has penetrated polar lands, and mainly through the agency of
electrical appliances has the achievement been made possible. You have
been informed that more than fifty Ento centuries ago, the Entoans
understood electrical engineering and many electrical appliances, and
that then, as now, Tûz[a:]mos and air Transports were used as common
carriers, but, of course, they were less perfect than those of to-day.
Still, they served the requirements of their time, which were less
exacting than the requirements of to-day. But you have not known that,
quite within Ento's Arctic and Antarctic Circles, there are large
underground communities of men, women and children, whose occupations,
almost solely, are connected with the mining industry. Naturally, one
might infer that the disadvantages of their environments would be both
discouraging and depressing. Not so. Through the agency of electricity
their underworlds are brilliantly lighted and where necessary
comfortably warmed, and it enables them to keep in constant touch with
the outer world which, at any time, they may visit, and from whence
they may command such luxuries and comforts as they may desire.
Lines of Tûz[a:]mos penetrate far northward and southward, and where
they cannot go air Transports can and do go. Thus these communities
are not at all isolated, and they go and come where and when they
will. Some time, if you may so desire, you shall visit some of them,
and I may assure you that you will find them very interesting. Yes,
all mines are owned by the general government, and the remuneration
of those engaged in them is so liberal, so equitable, as to assure
to them prosperity and contentment. At the entrances of the various
great mines are enormously lofty light towers, whose several floors
are devoted to educational and other purposes. In the schools some of
Ento's foremost scientists of the past and of the present day have
been taught electric and hydraulic engineering, geology, mineralogy
and other specialties. Other floors are for living rooms, nurseries,
hospitals and the inevitable Istoir[a:]. The several departments are
attractively finished and furnished, and are quite as desirable as are
well appointed dwellings of milder climes. On the summits of these
lofty towers are immense electric lights which are to navigators of
space what beacon lights are to mariners of seas. To air voyagers
they afford cheering assurance of their whereabouts and of hospitable
entertainment; for, at all mining centres, are air Transport Stations
for the accommodation of travellers and for shipping purposes.
Frequently, in Arctic and Antarctic regions, terrific snow storms
occur, and were it not for the far reaching tower lights, air pilots
would not be able to find Transport landings, which ever are kept in
readiness for their arrival. Yes, the mines are located in mountainous
regions, for as the poles are approached the planet's surface is
very rugged and mountainous, and as on all stable planets the more
nearly the poles are approached the vaster are the mineral deposits.
Yes, the same law applies to Earth, and were I not somewhat opposed
to prophesying, I might say that within ten years the insatiable gold
worshippers of our planet will set up their altars in localities nearly
as frigid as are Ento's northern and southern mining regions. Much more
in this direction I might relate, but we anticipate that later on we
may afford you views of what I have given you a mere idea. Ah, here are
George and Inez.
George--I fear that we may have abused our leave of absence; if so I
can only say that we have been so engrossed as to not note the passing
moments. Since our visit of the early morning her Spirit attendants
have succeeded in temporarily stimulating her vital energy, but ere
long they will have to yield to the inevitable, and Vallo[a:], the
golden haired, will be borne to Ento's Spirit World. Evidently she
realizes that death, the dread terror, is drawing near and it is
touching to see her young, lovely face wearing a smile while her
faintly throbbing heart is full of anguish at thought of leaving her
adored father and Dano, her betrothed. Inez, my dear one, will you tell
our sister about the dying girl?
Inez--Words cannot describe the pathos of the scene. Since witnessing
it my heart is burthened with measureless sympathy for mortal sorrow.
By one side of Vallo[a:]'s couch sat her father, his woful face
betraying his consuming grief and anxiety. By the other side knelt
Dano, his rapt gaze wearing the expression of one who sees with clear
eyes. So emaciated, so wan is Vallo[a:]'s lovely face that it is as
snow amid the wealth of her golden, flowing hair. As we looked and
listened she turned to her father with encouraging words, then she
smiled into his and her lover's eyes, and said, "Dearest ones, pray
do not regard me so wistfully. I am growing stronger; soon I shall
be well;" and they, to hide from her their despair, smiled back at
her, assuring her of their confidence in her speedy recovery. About
her were Ministering Spirits who, to their utmost were sustaining her
physical energy, and for a moment I stood near her and Dano, who with
a startled look, turned toward me, and quickly I moved away. He grows
very sensitive, and Vallo[a:]'s Spirit vision is so clear that as she
recedes from the mortal condition, in exceeding bewilderment she gazes
into the thinly veiled Spirit World, whose glory fills her soul with
ecstasy. I now am satisfied that our Band have acted wisely in not
taking you into the presence of the dying girl, for assuredly your
easily aroused sympathy would endanger your safety.
De L'Ester--Which we dare not trifle with, as in it is involved the
success or failure of our Mission. This, you perceive, is the loftiest
tower of the city. It is a signal tower, and through this telescope,
which is one of its scientific features, it commands a view of the
immense distances of this levelled portion of the planet. Gaze now over
the city and express your impression of the view.
Gentola--Beautiful, wondrously beautiful! Toward the east the city
gently inclines downward, and across Ins[a:]lû Valley, merging itself
into the country, which is so closely dotted with white dwellings and
Istoir[a:]s, gleaming amid the green of lawns, orchards and lofty
bûd[a:]s and other forest trees, that one cannot say where the city
ends and the country begins. Southward the plateau rises gradually in
broad terraces, on which are white and gold structures like stately
palaces, amid blooming gardens and the feathery foliage of bûd[a:]s
trees. Some are less spacious, but scarcely less attractive in the
beauty of their architecture and surroundings. There are open squares
lined with palatial white and gold residences and other structures
whose great domes and towers look down upon fountains so lovely as
to defy my descriptive ability. Upward and upward the terraces rise
until against the background of the deep blue sky the southern portion
of the city appears as a dim, mist-veiled, never-to-be-forgotten,
magnificently lovely picture. I cannot imagine a scene more beautiful;
no, not even in Celestial Worlds. Seeing this wonderful city and
learning to what heights humanity may attain arouses within me a hope
for the future of our own sorrowful planet.
De L'Ester--Alas and alas, that many, many centuries must elapse ere
your hope shall bear fruition. Development of the peoples of a planet,
as a whole, is not a matter of centuries, _but of ages_. Centuries come
and go, and only Infinite Intelligence can discern that all along the
line one step has been taken. Like the rising and falling of ocean's
unquiet waves, now amid mad tempests, dashing their white crests toward
the sky, anon with gentle undulations laving the sand strewn shore, so
amid storm and calm, the peoples of planets slowly, but surely, evolve
toward higher planes of being.
Wars, with their lamentable features, are the upheavals of the animal
impulses of crude civilizations, and Earth's peoples are far from being
civilized. All over our planet civil corruption and social, selfish
greed and ambition for place and power are eating into the very vitals
of society, hence of governments, and if Spirit agencies cannot sway
the minds of some who may serve as Saviors, the poverty and agony of
the masses in time will produce a state of delirium, in which the sense
of accountability will be lost; then woe be to those who, through
standing on the shoulders of their defrauded and oppressed brethren,
have climbed to high places.
Man is in one, angel and animal, and ever as the angel strives
for ascendency, the animal snarls and shows its teeth, and you may
believe me that, were it not that Spirits of highest Realms control
illumined minds of Earth, who serve as restraining influences in the
consciousness of the masses, a chaotic state of society quickly would
ensue. Apparently, it is a provision of Divine Law that the wise and
strong shall aid the unwise and weak; that the higher shall reach down
to uplift the lowly, and those who fail to fulfill this righteous
law thereby so lessen their Spiritual estate that, in the world of
equitable adjustments, they find themselves in a state of poverty
undreamed of by mortal man.
Yes, even as the peoples of Earth agonize in the throes of evolution,
so in past ages have the Entoans agonized; so, to a degree, do they yet
agonize, for though they are more highly evolved than are the peoples
of our planet, they, as I have once said, are yet in their swaddling
clothes.
Yes, ages elapsed ere they evolved from savagery to a civilization
which made it possible for their ideals to assume form and expression
in the construction of this wonderful and beautiful city. Wonderful not
only in its architecture, but in its many fine expressions of science,
of art, of social amenities and usages, and other admirable features of
an advanced evolution, which has carried from the past into the living
present such lessons of wisdom as have been learned in the school of
experience. The school whose pupils never play truant and who ever are
learning their lessons well or ill, and who, perforce of natural law,
_must_ advance onward toward clearer, higher views of the meaning of
life, of love, of God in humanity.
Now again look southward. Is not it a vision to enrapture the soul
of an artist or a lover of the beautiful? See how temples, domes and
light towers lose themselves in the cloudlike, luminous haze which
the slanting sun rays glorify into an indescribable loveliness. Toward
the lovely valley Ins[a:]lû the shadows of declining day are falling
over the whiteness of the city and over domed temples and light towers.
Afar, gray and empurpled mist wreaths are rising and veiling the pallid
beauty of fountain groups, whose silvery treasures, thrown high into
the quiet air, are tinted by the glory of the setting sun, which gleams
athwart T[a:]imon, over which, like dream phantoms, vessels great and
small are noiselessly gliding. Lower, lower sinks the red disk of the
solar king, and fleecy clouds, catching the reflection of his last
beams, put on their robes of crimson and gold, and like angels in
flight, drift across the deepening azure of the sky.
George, we now will ascend, but not to a great height, for soon the
light towers will be ablaze, and you, Gentol[a:] and Bernard, will
witness a spectacle you will not soon forget.
Look downward now. Shadows are brooding over the great city, and save
for the musical tones of the temple bells every sound is hushed, but
wait a little and the scene will change.
Ah, you are startled, as well you may be. Is not the transformation
marvellous? Is not the scene grandly, weirdly beautiful? Below us is
the wide-spreading city, whose lofty electric light towers suddenly
have turned night into day, and southward, where the terraced plateau
attains its greatest elevation, is the great light tower on whose
summit is an immense golden and crimson crystal Symbol of Andûman[a:]'s
abode, and as the afterglow of its radiance fades from the sky,
suddenly the Sacred Symbol will blaze into the splendor of its amazing
beauty. Now, from every temple, the music of chiming bells floats
upward and the atmosphere is vibrant with their rhythmic notes.
With expectant gaze, all eyes are turned toward the Symbol of their
Religion, and now flashing upon the bosom of night behold the glowing,
scintillating, radiant wonder. Simultaneously from every lip bursts
forth a prayer, which I will translate into your language.
Andûman[a:], Creator and Preserver, even as the shadows of night
wrap us about, so may Thy Love infold us while we sleep, and may Thy
Messengers, who read our inmost thoughts, bear to Thee the fervent
adoration of Thy loving but ever sorrowful children. Oirah, oirah,
oirah. (So be it.)
In low, plaintive tones the chiming bells accompany the intoned prayer,
and every face is uplifted toward the great glowing Sun, whose dazzling
radiance penetrates the dense fog enveloping the city as with a snowy
mantle.
Gentola--Ever since you promised me that some time I should at night
behold some portion of Ento, I have tried to imagine how it might
appear, but never have I imagined a scene so grand, so beautiful, so
marvellously strange as this.
Oh, that the peoples of our planet might, if but for a moment, behold
this illustration of the possibilities inherent in humanity, for surely
it would stimulate them to higher endeavor, to emulate the attainments
of the Entoans, whose peace, prosperity, learning, culture, refinement
and kindliness is in strong contrast with the turmoil, poverty,
selfishness and lack of real friendliness prevalent among the masses
of our rightly named Sorrowful Star. Yes, I know that the Entoans are
sorrowful, but it is not of a nature that debases them, and I hope and
pray that soon it may give way to measureless joy.
De L'Ester--So hope, so pray all who are engaged in this Mission.
Gentola--As I listen to the chiming of the temple bells I do not
distinguish one discordant note, and all ring in perfect unison. I
should like to know how this is accomplished?
Inidora--All Ento temples possess chimes of bells, and all the chimes
of each city are tuned to the same key note. They are electrically
connected, and by means of electrical mechanism all are simultaneously
rung. Our people have stated times of worship, which are at sunrise, at
midday and at sunset, and when in a few moments yonder radiant Symbol
of Ento's faith shall be extinguished, again the waiting people will
implore Divine protection through the night, and the chiming bells
again will ring their plaintive Oirah, oirah, oirah. (Amen or be it so.)
Yes, in cities and towns and country places the same religious
ceremonies are observed. At sunrise the blessing of Andûman[a:] and the
protection of the Divine Ones who dwell in Astranol[a:] are invoked. At
midday all Sacrifices and Offerings of value are laid upon the altar.
At sunset in temples flowers alone are laid upon the altar, and the
High Priest invokes for his people the protection of Andûman[a:]'s
Messengers. No, it is only in Kûltymo, D[a:]o, Camariss[a:] and two
other cities of Ento that there are such Symbols as we now are gazing
upon. But see, the glory of its beauty is paling and--now it has
disappeared. Again the chiming bells fill the air with melody. Again
from every lip ascends a prayer for protection through the darkness
of night. Gradually the melody dies into silence, and through the
deepening twilight and the soft radiance of its many light towers,
Kûltymo Tylû gleams in pallid whiteness, in phantom-like loveliness.
Quietly, tranquilly, the people are returning to their homes. No sounds
of traffic or of labor break the stillness of the great white and gold
city, but from soiv[a:]s (parks) and ilofēn mûn[a:][a:] (amusement
gardens) strains of sweet music float upward and thither, presently,
men, women and children will wend their ways.
And thus, Kûltymo Tylû, queen city of my beloved Ento, we leave thee,
and as our faces turn away from thee, our backward, lingering glances
stray over thy peerless loveliness, and we regretfully murmur Info
oovistû.
Gentola--Dear friends, so strange, so enchanting are some of the
experiences that you are affording me that I am at a loss to express
either my emotions or my boundless gratitude. Oh, if only I might
remember all that I see, all that occurs. Why is it that, after I have
regained full consciousness, I can no more recall these experiences
than I can recall a dimly remembered dream?
De L'Ester--Cannot you comprehend that it is _you_, the Ego or Spirit
Self which alone takes cognizance of these experiences? That the
magnetic chord connecting _you_, the Spirit Self, with your conscious
mind, which is the animal soul consciousness, is, so to say, the
telegraphic wire through which, under our control, your physical
organism is made to automatically record the words transmitted by
whichever member of our Band may be acting as operator? While you are
with us your Soul consciousness is in abeyance; hence, is not an active
factor in these experiences, and can record nothing concerning them.
Take comfort from this statement. When under my control you shall
rewrite, and as far as feasible correct the imperfect record of our
journeys to and experiences on Ento; imperfect because you are not yet
fully developed in your peculiar phase of mediumship; your memories
relating to our Mission will experience a sort of resurrection, and you
will recall much, if not all, that has and yet will transpire while
engaged in our endeavor to serve as we would be served. Not until
you shall be wholly freed, will you fully comprehend this statement,
but when you shall be enabled to recall these experiences, also
to a degree, you will realize that they are more than dreams. Yes,
doubtless, there are those who will regard you as a visionary. That
will be their mistake, not yours.
Now we are over the intersection of the Central Waterway, with one
running toward the northwest, which also intersects with one traversing
a portion of the North Temperate Zone. Since Genessano Allis Immo
demonstrated the practicability of great Waterways, several have been
completed and others are in course of construction. Through them
and their feeders the retention of the annual floods and control of
irrigation has been greatly simplified and their measureless value
demonstrated.
To-morrow we all will meet at this point. We held you too long
yesterday and you are yet somewhat devitalized. We will see to it that
you shall sleep restfully to-night, and in the morning at nine o'clock
we will be en evidence.
George, Inez and your wistful-eyed lad will see you safely home, and we
will repair to D[a:]o.
Au revoir.