Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1888-03-03

borrid man. He is always staring at me
as If he wanted to see through me. Please
don't introduce him to me, for | shan't
sneak to him if you do" Ny daughter
} has will of her own; she inherits it from
her mother. :,
Naturally, the opposition of my family
only served to increase my liking for Mr..
Macairidis. We took our daily walks to-
getber. and found him most entertain
ing companion. He was a very attentive
listener, and never wearied of hearing me
expound my political views am very
strong on politics, as | have said before
or expatiate on the enormous extent OF my
business relations. OF himself he spoke
but rarely, until one day, apropos of one
of our many political discussions, he
offered to tell me his history, and very
Astounding revelation it was.
was thinking, my friend" he said
to me, of the conversation we had yes
terday about Irish affairs and of a remark
of yours that struck me very forcibly.
| You said that to maintain existing instltu-
tons one should have recourse to the same
means by which these institutions were
created, and that, as a combination of law
ish bribery and the craftsmanship of Pitt
had brought about the Union, it would
require like combination to maintain it. J"
Certainly" l said modestly, " that is
my idea but you see that nowadays there
are certain difficulties about bribery that
did not then exist, and besides We have no
statesman like Pitt"
"En efet, you have no statesman like
Pitt. Yet, if you pleased, you might have
Pitt himself"
"Why, good heavens, the man is dead
and buried these eighty years"
Just so. The respectable Pitt has long
that? You might yourself be Pitt %
81 become a second Pitt My dear sir,
you fiatter me too much, or else you are
laughing at me-"
a never laugh, nor do l wish to aatter.''
The black eyes looked at me searchingly,
and his tongue took a more foreign accent
as he rapidly proceeded: Listen, my
friend, will explain what l mean. You
who are so intelligent and widely in
structed, you, at any rate, cannot
be unaware of problem that has engaged
the minds of many men in every genera
| ton. Ever since the world began attempts
have been made to bridge over the gulf
that lies between the living and the
dead, to form some means of communica-
ton by which the living intelligence can
be put en- rapport with the spirits of the
departed To-day that system of COM
munication has been brought by some
men to pitch of almost absolute per-
fectionn
"Ah! you mean spirit rapping and
| ghostly hands made of kid gloves and
sawdust. But that is all humbug, you
know"
GAS you say, my friend, in your ex-
pressive language, that is ali humbug; but
| do not mean that at all. / speak not of
the vulgar charlatan, the miserable i'm
poster, who calls himself Spiritualist, and
has so little esprit as to descend to such
wretched tricks. The art that / speak
of is known to but very few, and by those
few it is kept an inviolable secret; if |
speak of it to you it is because you are an
honorable English gentleman, of an in
telligence that is rare, and possessing rarer
qualities for profting by such Knowledge.
| will tell you my own story; but first look
me in the face and tell me if you can be-
lieve me, for | cannot speak to one whose
mind harbors distrustn
You may imagine / was considerably
staggered by such an address. Neverthe-
less / did turn my eyes, almost unwill-
ingly, to meet his. What did those ewes
of his not express? They seemed at once
to entreat me, to command, to menace
An age seemed to pass and | was still fix
eddy staring. Then a kind of mist came
between us; my strength suddenly de-
serted me, and had | not clutched at a
rail should have fallen to the ground.
With a violent effort | wrenched my gaze
from his. / did not wish to answer, and
yet | answered him in spite of myself, and
my own voice seemed to me far away and
strange as it stammered out the words:
81 shall believe you"
You can believe? 1t is well, then.
Had you been in the habit of reading the
Greek papers you would have heard of
| the name of Robert Macairidis You
would have heard of his scheme of revo-
luton that would have possessed Greece
again of all that she has ever lost of his
great speech before the Assembly that
brought to life once again the old Hell
lenic patriotism of the cowardice of a
trucking Government, and the shameful
exile of the patriot himself. Yes; / was
that Robert Macairidis, and yet it was not
/. 1t was the voice of Macairidis that
thrilled the Assembly and smote shrilly
on their deaf ears, but the spirit
and words that pierced their dull
hearts and made them once again
Hellens and heroes, they were the words
and spirit of Demosthenes | was Robert
Macairidis, but l was Demosthenes, also
l tell you that had it not been for those
miserable towards of Ministers who
bounded me from the country, Greece to-
day would have been European power
and | should have been the greatest mar
in Greece; /, who had at my call all the
eloquence and the wisdom of the ages
failed, tor those that should have followed
me feared me too much and thrust me out
They have lost me now forever, for t.
them | will never return"
Was the man mad? 1t was impossible
to look in his face and think so. Wild
though his words were, his eyes seemed t.
force conviction on me; though his voice
quivered with passionate excitement, there
was no eagerness in their steady, intense
gaze. He paused for moment and thel
went on more calmly:
"Such as | was then / can make vol
now. l could give you the power of learn
ing all the secrets, Of possessing all tn,
wisdom that now lies hidden in the grave
Think what that means and what tina
power might do for you. There would b.
conditions though | want no reward, for
would do it freely for you as my friend
still | should require secrecy on your par
and obedience to my orders for shor
time. At present / will say no more
You have told me that you are going t,
London in a few days time also go Their
shortly. Here is my address, but if yol
wish to see me go there soon. And now
au repoir."
dropped into the nearest seat and triet
to collect my scattered idea. / do no
think that even for moment | doubtec
the truth of what | had heard. | hav,
never been of very skeptical turn O
mind, and it would have taken even &
stranger tale than that to have shaken m,
faith in Macairidis, who, moreover, ap
pealed to me as Greek and patriot. S,
possessed was | by my blind belief that i
was not the strangeness of the tale that oc
cupied my mind, but he dazzling prospec
of all that might become should | &C
qujre such powers. might be a create
orator than Burke; l might be a create
poet than-whoeyer is the greatest poet
don't read poetry myself; / might writ,
a history or even a dictionary. but. aboy