The Washington herald., 1908-05-19
CHAPTER TX.

Fabian Dare had meant 70 be q clergy
man, but he had never really been or
thodox. It was not 50 much that be did
not believe in revealed religion, as that
he dreamed that more was being reveal
ed to him than had yet been written in
the Bible He was too vague and poetic
to notice whether the ideas which came
to him clashed with accepted theology
or not; he simply considered that they
enriched It. His experience OF life for
the last few months had made him drift
more than ever from the church as he
knew it; yet his first thought was, that
II he got this ten thousand pounds. he
would resume his studies, and be ordain-
ed. All his sufTerings had only increased
his longing TO deliver his massage. The
church was the only channel he could
conceive OF.
He was too numbed by suffering to en-
tirely realize what a terrible thing he
was doing BY submitting his will TO be
experimental on by hypnotism. II the
temptation had come in any conventional
manner-if he had been told that what
he was doing was very naar selling his
soul to the devil in the medieval fashion,
he would probably have resisted But
there were no horns or hoofs on the devil
who had tempted him in Leicester Square,
and, after all, he was not much more
than a boy.
Every day Won Tarseaheim threw him
into a hypnotic sleep for at least two
hours. The fact that he always woke
up feeling none the worse, encouraged
him to hope that he was going to earn
his money easily. though the largeness Of
the sum often caused him wonder
Won Tarsenheim was kind enough TO
Fabian. In his curious. moCking way. He
sent out and got clothes for him. TO re-
place his rags. and ak the little things
a gentleman needs he provided. Also,
Fabian noticed that the food was Of the
best, and calculated to build him up
His host also gave him some tonic drug
which was magical in its effect.
Each day which followed remained
blurred dream in Fabian Dares mem
ory. He did not even distinguish between
waking and sleeping. The dream simply
went forward.
He had always kept a journal since the
writing impulse had come 10 him. Il
was not the orderly diary Of the method
ical man, who jots down each night the
commonplace doings Of the day, in an ef-
fort 10 save the nothingness Of his life
from kindly oblivion, but a fragmen-
tary record Of bizarre sensations. Dur
ing the last few months 1t read az though
an electric pen had been attached TO the
ends OF his tortured nerves. All through
It rang the cry, y can feel so much-I
can DO so littlei Where does il lead?"
The first night under Won Tarsenhein's s
roof he wrote:
Il begin to see a meaning in ii all. I
have sold myself to be experimental on.
Why not? We are all being experimental
on and without pay. We are only mi
crobes in the culture tube, and the sell
enlist never tells the microbe the result
of the experiment Out Of IL all the Great
Scientist will make something wonder
ful-something worth keeping"
There are some men on whom the
knowledge Of affinity between themselves
and any woman dawns gradually, Ike the
point OF a joke on a slow-moving brain
There are others who know what place
q woman Is going to take IN the story of
their lives after five minutes eonversa-
ton, as well as though they had passed
through every Phase, from acquaintance
ship to intellectual friendship; through
soulful silence to love itself. Il Is a mat
ter Of intuition. in which women are sell
dom surprised into a mistake. They
diagnose emotional symptoms admirably,
and, Just as admirably, conceal their
knowledge I'll, the proper or improper
moment arises to stop fencing.
Fabian Dare was one of the men who
decide Immediately whether a woman at
-
to say that he fell in love with Elsa at
first sight. but he felt that he would fall
IN love with her IL he saw much OF her.
II Won Tarsenheim had cared 10 explain
such a trivial matter as human affinity
in its relation to love. he would have
demonstrated TO Fabian that his SOUL and
Elsa's inhabited the same star, and that
they were, therefore. liable to be attract
ed toward love by the spiritual Rad, the
entrance to which is so hidden by subtle
mists that few ever find IT,
The following extract from the diary
of Fabian Dare, on the fourth day, shows
that he recognized this spiritual affinity.
though his perception was slightly blurred
by Eisa's physical beauty. The extract
is from a page in which he had tried to
write down some meaning for all the
sufferings he had undergone.
"Meaningl Isn't Elsa meaning enough?
Every pinch Of hungeri ! thank you.
Every crushed hopei l give you my
gratitude.
'Humiliationsi sordidness! grim reali-
ties. am beholden to youi you have led
me at Elsa. I have not fallen IN love with
you at first sight, Elsa; that is not pos
sible. have known you always I rec
ognized your voice before I saw you
knew everything about you. exeept-ex-
cept that your name was Elsa.
Il knew that your hair steamed down
Ia q FURNISHED plat, for I have seen