The independent-reporter. [volume] (Skowhegan, Me.) 1909-1955, 1923-11-08

Language | had learned from Janet
and made use Of with her. Here was
a new a interesting Development
Janet and the Lunites had common
means of communication. The signi-
ficance of this was not at first appar-
emit: later on all was made clear. A
decidedly odd thing about 1t was that
they seemed to know the thoughts that
were passing through my mind and
would answer my questions before l
expressed them.
/ had the most intense desire to un-
derstand this strange. power of body
sight and absence Of usual vision. The
desire for an explanation was hardly
formed when a Lunite commenced to
crafty 1t through touch upon my
arm, using his sign code. your
earth-born race" he signalled, MAD
the same cosmic origin as ours, but
you should know that sight is only
the sense of touch highly specialized.
Early life had no sight, as you speak
of it. In succeeding ages, by the
resistless process of evolution, the
sense of touch developed until even
reflected light rays produced impress
sion enough to register the image OF
the object from which they were ema-
mated. With us, chance has ordain-
ed that all parts of the body surface
shall be receptive to light impressions,
although the more facile parts, like
the hand and the head, have taken on
somewhat greater sensitiyeness.
With you, this has progressed until
a special organ OF sight, the eye. has
come into being. So completely does
this serve, that other portions of your
body, while not wholly ob1ivious to
light, register. no useful Impressions
except those received from more tan
gible objects.
The Lunar queen 1t seems was their
deity as well as their temporal ruler.
That the eyes of man should ever rest
upon her or even upon the apart
ments she occupied, was held to be
proclamation. During the consultation
which occurred at this point 1t be-
came apparent to me that l was to be,
to some extent, the first exception in
a million years of lunar history. l
was to be admitted to the royal apart
ments, to exercise my healing art, but
l was further told that, before going
into the actual presence of this demi-
goddess, was to be securely hood
winked
Right here my pride got real Jolt.
1t had been running through my mind
that the Lunar queen had the entire
universe at her command. She
might have chosen. thought l, not
only among surgeons on the earth,
but from any of the planatery or stel-
Ter bodies. Had she so specified,
physician from Mars or from the
Pleiades could have been brought to
her. That / should have been selec-
ed from out the entire universe was
naturally quite. fiattering. | had
even thought Of ,the pleasure 1t would
be to read that fact in the headlines
of the daily papers on my return to
earth. A large share of my self con-
graduation was shorn away when
learned that the choice had been limit
ed to earth. OF the entire universe,
We were the only beings with sight,
limited to the eyes. The operation
upon the queen face would require
the most skillfHl manipulation. Hands
that could see must not be permitted.
Mine were not open to that objection.
Securely blindfolded and guided by
a Lunite maiden, i proceeded, Janet
keeping always near and, from time to
time, talking on my arm with her deft
fingers. / was conscious of entering
an apartment which, through some
indefinable sense. possibly the echo OF
our footballs, gave the impression of
vast space. Guided forward into this
soon felt strange hand upon my
arm. Then came the signal, under
those strange circumstances, and in
that silence most impressive: Il AM
THE QUEEN Mindful of the rea-
son for my being in the royal pres
ence. my hand sought the injury.
working as | was by feeling only
could yet determine that my five
senses would be necessary If | were
to heal the mangled tissue without
hideous scars. l sent a message to
this effect through my finger tips up
on the queens arm. There was not
the protest had looked for--only de-
lay, during which the sensuous should
er l had just used for my message be-
came firm, like that of an athlete.
Would she shatter precedent to pre-
serve her beauty? There could be
but one ending to such a quandary.
Beauty is priced the highest of all
physical attributes. To attain it, the
gentler sex will sacrifice and strive as
for nothing else. Its possession gives
more power than wealth. Its loss
has no measure In dollars. Convinced
that l spoke the truth, the queen was
ready to set at naught an important
tened of her religion, willing to risk
the curse supposed to menace, and
allow me view OF the royal features
that I might do my best.
When my sight was liberated, I
found that Janet, the queen and my
self were alone In an apartment so
vast that 1t seemed like an open plane.
noted comparatively little of the sur
roundings, however. Curious to see
my patient. the ruler of the Lunar
planet, first sought her, when lib
Grated from my blindfold. Little can
| convey to others the tumult into
which I was thrown. The mysterious
approach to the Lunar Deity had set
my imagination working overtime.
The walk through the long spaces of
u 4 n = Il