The Washington times., 1918-08-25
Continued from Preceding P0OsJ

giO" 'SSSN'''b NbN<
decorations have been engraved By the
hand of a master artiSt-castanets, Q bas-
'.et of flowers, the huts of Han HSiang-
Tzu. a lotus flower. the magic sword and
,her emblems Of the Eight Taoist I'm
r11rtaIs.
In his extensive travels abroad Doctor
5 ar had obtained possession Of this won.
derful Jar. have it now. II unveiled to
ne the purple heights of heaven; II rolled
back for me the yawning doors of hell.
You cannot buy it from me.
Whenever look at it I seem to see him
again, the great surgeon, sitting at the
head of the table in that softly lighted
room, holding the jar in his hands-strong,
steady, white and wonderful hands. amaz-
ingly skilled in the artful use of the knife.
Beneath his heavy brows seem to see the
flash Of his piercing eyes, like lightning
cleaning below the edge Of a lowering
black cloud. Like the distant sound Of a
strong wind in dense forest, hear his
voice as he explained to us, his smiling
and skeptical guests, what would happen
to everyone present if he were to remove
the air-tight stopper from the jar.
Although we smiled. we were not wholly
at ease. He had spent months in solitary
experimenting in the laboratory Of his
lonely Long Island bungalow. There we're
rumors that his mind had become a little
unbalanced during those months. We did
not wholly credit what he told us about his
discovery. Even in that time of marvels,
happening daily. it was too preposterous
for us to swallow. Disbelieving. we chal
lenged demonstration. That challenge was
accepted; the jar was opened.
Like Don Cleofas, when he broke the
bottle in the astrologer's chamber Doctor
Spear let loose a spirit that might have
truthfully repeated the boast Of the dwarf
demon on crutches, who rose from the
black liquid that flowed from the shat
tered vessel and proclaimed himself to be
the most active and indefatigabIe devil in
hell.
Following his release from the broken
bottle, the first act of Asmodeus, the Grip
UIed demon, was to whisk Don Cleofas to
lofty heights above Madrid. Then he
opened the roofs of the surrounding houses
that the amazed pupil could look into
them and behold all that was taking place.
Thus were revealed scenes of suffering and
Eorrow. and deeds of wickedness and crime
'rd tragedy.
Even SO the magic that leaped from the
jade jar seemed to fling open the locked
doors to the hearts and souls Of eight per-
sons who sat about the table In that bungs-
low. To me, at least, was revealed in the
most astounding way what appeared to
be the hidden but true nature, character
and motives of them all. Ny own soul,
even. was stripped Of the disguise with
which it had been masked by egotism and
pride; I saw 1t naked and ashamed.
That was merely the prelude TO greater
marvels. Doctor Spear had said that who
ever passed beneath the enchantmept of
what the jar contained, that persons soul
and body would practically become de-
tached and disassociated His body would
keep on breathing and pulsing, yet be as
inert and helpless as clay or stone.
With all connection temporarily cut be-
tween mind and matter, whatever happened
to the lumpish yet living body, even to
utter annihilation, would nowhere produce
any registration Of pain or knowledge.
Nevertheless. no usual blankness, no pc
riod Of Oblivion such as Is brought about
by the familiar anaesthetics, would occur.
Throughout the duration Of the spell,
any one it had fallen upon would believe
himself to be passing through q progress
sion of experiences having much Of the
reality of events actually taking place. All
of which would be vividly remembered
afterward. Thus II happened to me before
finally awoke to find that the index finger
of my right hand was
But this is not the way the story should
be told. I will try to find a proper begin
ming and start there.