The herald-advance. (Milbank, S.D.) 1890-1922, 1907-12-13
ALIVE or Dead?'
The Strange Disappearance of
Gerald Rathbone.
~ oUY ThoRN8.

lam, the forces of Nature had beer
Eassing themselves upon the frontier
line of experience and thought.
And now, at this great moment, thu
clouds broke, the thunder stammered
and in that darkened place the white
and amethyst lightning came ant
| flickered like a spear thrown from i'm
mensity.
The gong of the thunder, the crack
and fame Of the lightning passed
There was a dead silence. Still the
SPECTATORS saw the mapped landscape
of the Holy City shining before then
glad, radiant, and serene.
And then old Lady Poole dropped
her fan, a heavy fan made of ebony
and black silk. 1t clattered down the
tier OF seats and brought an alien note
into the tension and the darkness oil
the laboratory.
Everybody started in the gloom
There was a little momentary lutter OF
excitement. And as they all watched
the cleaning circle of light upon
which the brain Of the bishop had
painted his memories SO truthfully and
we'll they saw a sudden change.
The whole beautiful picture became
troubled, misty. 1t shook like a thing
seen through water at a great depth.
Then the vision of the city where our
Lord suffered went straight away.
There was no more Of it. 1t vanished
AZ a breath breathed upon a window
clouds and vanishes.
The concentration Of mind of the
bishop must then-as 1t was said after.
ward-have been interrupted by the
sudden sound of the falling fan, for all
those celebrated men and women who
sat and watched saw dim gray words,
like clouds of smoke which had formed
themselves into the written symbols OF
speech, appear in the light.
And these were the words:
God will not allow"
At that moment the silence was
broken by a tiny sound.
1t is always the small sound that de.
fines blackness and silence.
Sir William, who perhaps had real.
lied where the thoughts of the bishop
were leading him, who had doubtless
understood the terror of the naked
soul, the terror which he himself had
made possible, switched on the light.
The whole laboratory was Illuminated.
and 1t was seen that the people were
looking at each other with white faces.
and that folk who were almost straug-
ers we're grasping each other by the
wrist.
And the bishop himself was sitting
quietly in the chair, with a very pale
face and a slight smile. At that mo-
ment the people who had come to
catch the visual truth of this supreme
wonder rose as one man. Voices were
heard laughing and sobbing-little
chOked voices mingled and merged in
a cacophony Of fear. 1t was all light
now, light and bright, and these men
and women Of the world were weeping
on each others shoulders.
The bishop rose. ooh, please" he
said-"please, my friends, be quiet.
This Is wonderful, this is inexplicable.
but we have only begun. Let us see
this thing through to the very, very
end. Hush! Be quiet! There is no
reason, nor is there any need, for hys-
terra or for fear"
The words of the churchman calm
ed them all. They looked at him, they
looked at each other with startled y
and once more there was a great and
enduring silence.
Then Sir William spoke.
His face was as white as chalk: he
was not at all the person whom they
had seen half an hour ago, but he
spoke swiftly to them.
His lordship." he said, has given
us n instance of how the brain
works, and he has enabled us to watch
his marvellous memory of what he has
SO lately seen. And now l will ask
some n or other Of you to come
down here and help me-"
Young Lord Landsend looked At
Lady Hosken-Heath and winked. IT
shall be very pleased, Sir William" he
said. In the foolish. staccato voice Of
his class and kind-"I shall be very
pleased. Sir William, to think for you
and all the rest of W here"
Lord Landsend stumbled down from
where he sat and went toward the
chair. AS he did so there were not
wanting people who whispered to each
other that a penny for his thoughts
was an enormous price to pay.
The cap was fitted on his head: thew
all saw it cleaning there above the
small and vacuous face; and then, once
more. the lights went out. The great
circle of white light upon the screen
remained fixed and immovable. No
picture formed itself or occurred with
in the frome of light and shadow. For
nearly a minute the circle remained
unsullied.
Then Lady-Hosken-Heath began to
litter. Every one relieved from the
tension Of the first experiment, Joined
her in the laugh. They all realized
that young Lord Landsend could not
think, and had not any thoughts at all!
In the middle Of their laughter,
which grew and rose until the whole
place vas filled with it, the young man,
doubtless spurred on by this unaccus-
toned derision, began to think.
And what thew saw was inst th}s-