CHAPTER XXII.

As the four were returning from the auriculum to the quarters of the corps, a week or more after the padre’s return, he overtook them and listened to their conversation unperceived. As each entertained one or two Manatitlan aura-lists in his ear, the conversation was strangely diversified in irrelevancy, which would have caused a stranger to the events transpiring, possessed with the least taint of superstition, to have supposed them insane or bewitched. The padre listened with wondering attraction to catch the drift of their mirthful sallies, hoping to learn the cause, or obtain a clew to their mysterious convocations. Their incoherent address of questions, which although unanswered, appeared to provoke outbursts of merriment, in one, without attracting the least notice from the others, caused him at first to think it was the prelude to one of Mr. Welson’s practical essays of humor designed to entrap him. But the earnest manner in which the conversation was conducted, and the unmistakable evidences of genuine mirth, put this conjecture to flight. His next suggestive impression was ushered in with a shudder; could it be possible that they were subject to a spell of enchantment, and that the seeming city of Heraclea was the abode of enchanters, the spirits of darkness against which the fathers had especially warned the heedless? This frightful ghost of a suspicion received such evident confirmation that he immediately had recourse to his rosary that had been 294bestowed by Fraile Gallagato, of Amelcoy, for numbering exorcising prayers. The rattling of the beads, with the muttering sound of his Ave Marias, attracted the attention of Mr. Welson, as he turned aside to allow the others to enter the puerta in advance, and he for the first time became aware of the padre’s presence. The anxious dismay of the padre’s countenance revealed the source of his emotions, prompting Mr. Welson to play upon his fears, but the Dosch auramented the inquiry:—

“Well padre, what is it that causes you to look so frightened?”

Padre. “Wha-wha-what does it all mean, I should like to know? Are you bewitched or leagued with the devil [crossing himself], or what are you doing at any rate? I wish to goodness I had gone back to Montevideo!”

Mr. Welson. “Are you not comfortable, padre? Just tell us what you lack, and we will endeavor to supply your wants. The pr?tor has within an hour made particular inquires for your welfare.”

Padre. “It’s not that, I have everything my body requires,—but my conscience,—my mind,—I declare upon the welfare of my soul, I can’t endure the thoughts of subjecting myself any longer to the temptations of the evil one.”

Mr. Welson. “Why padre, there is nothing to my knowledge that should alarm your conscience, or soul, for we are only holding intercourse with human beings, and as you must feel from your own thoughts, we are farther from evil than ever in our lives before. Ease your mind from alarm, and suspicious fears, for in good and seasonable time everything that now appears mysterious will be explained for your privileged understanding. For your assurance and relief from imaginary fears, you have only to turn your thoughts to your own improvement, both mental and physical; which should convince you that from whatever source 295derived, the influence is good. Do we not appear far more happy here, than on board of the Tortuga? If you would but think, and give heed to the promptings of your thoughts, you could not fail to realize that the source of your happiness is derived from an example of purity and goodness, and of necessity, in direct opposition to evil.”

Padre. “But I have had warnings clear and distinct, as from the voice of a spirit, in a still small voice, as if coming from afar. Then at another time, I felt like one possessed with thoughts that were not his own, and could not do as I had been taught, without self-reproof, and was lead away from parental instruction, and my Christian education. In fact, as it were, I have been prevented from keeping company with my own conscience, and could not pray and do as I liked.”

Mr. Welson (losing his prompted direction). “But you did attempt to do as you liked, when the viper offered visible objection to your taking the dried tobacco leaves in the garden of the old mission of Amyntas, in passing on your way to Amelcoy.”

The padre’s consternation when exposed to the reared head of the viper,—which had in fact darted from its coil upon a leaf beneath the one the padre’s hand was approaching, and struck its fangs into the loose sleeve of his coat,—was not greater than from this display of “second sight,” on the part of Mr. Welson, which revealed a scene that he felt confident was only known to himself and Fraile Gallagato, to whom he confessed in Amelcoy. Staring upon Mr. Welson with eyes aghast, he staggered backward with hands upraised, in repellant attitude, as if deprecatingly warding off some dangerous influence that had possessed itself of his personal embodiment.

Mr. Welson (laughing). “There now, you have tempted me to play with your superstitions, or rather I have been tempted. Be content for the present, 296and in time all will be revealed to you in freedom from supernatural agency.”

With this parting admonition Mr. Welson entered the house. The padre, after he had sufficiently recovered the use of his faculties, uttered in self-defense an abjuring protest of two Marias, kissing in addenda the beads and cross with transubstantial desire for their seal of effectual grace, then soliloquized: “They can’t convince me that they are not leagued with the spirit of darkness; and if I live to see the morrow’s sun I’ll shake the dust,—well, if they had any,—off the soles of my feet, if I am obliged to traverse the paths of the wilderness that separates me from civilization alone.”

As if to put his intention into immediate execution he walked rapidly down the avenue of the latifundium and out of the gate; but when skirting the copse of the temple grove he met the Heraclean herdsmen and their wives. Their jocund mirth, sportive with songs and gladness, withdrew his thoughts from self by their grateful tokens of affection bestowed in the full outflow of joyful greeting, which caused him to forget his impressions of their enchantment from supernatural agency, and he was soon engaged, with Manatitlan aid, in the laughing exchange of Latin and English terms of idiomatic phrase. On his return to the quarters of the corps suspicion had been banished from his memory; but his doubts and fears were again revived, when on entering the dining-room he encountered the same mysterious impression of a communion with the presence of unseen spirits. The entrance of Dr. Baāhar, with the buzz and genealogical curators of sound, dispelled the influence, but they, as well as the padre, had questioned the source of its power. After the evening meal the padre sought the opportunity of renewing his petition for permission to depart in the morning; anointing it with grateful acknowledgments 297for their kindness to him personally, while in the style of exorcism he urged the necessity with the quotation, “What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul?” The effect of this appeal, for instinctive self-preservation, was so comical in its misplaced application that the four were obliged to join the auriculars in giving gleeful vent to their mirth; this, however, was as suddenly checked, when their supposed derisive lack of sympathy affected the padre to the extent of producing tears. Unable to restrain his contempt for the selfimposed shallowness of the padre’s perception, Mr. Welson,—under the auricular direction of Coryc?us, the familiar who attended him on his journey,—gave a final touch to his victim’s superstitious fears, by asking: “Did your conscience or soul find themselves in a purer atmosphere, or in less suspicious companionship, when subjected by Fraile Gallagato to the sacramental spirits of a Rosario punch, and the fumes of tobacco, than with us who have abjured their use? You need not answer upon the impulse of the moment; but if, after a night’s reflection, your fears for your soul’s safety still prompt you to leave us, and the affectionate interest enlisted in your behalf on the part of the Heracleans and Kyronese, the means for your conveyance to Amelcoy and deliverance into the keeping of your noble compadre shall not be wanting. But in bidding you a personal farewell, from your self-will in adhering to delusions that require proxied aid granted from confession and absolution administered by a being so manifestly corrupt as the Fraile Gallagato, we shall be obliged to forego the hopeful retaining interest that we feel in your welfare, unless by the contrast, your thoughtful eyes are opened to see and feel the great loss you will have sustained in the sacrifice of truthful and affectionate sincerity.”

Padre. “But why, Mr. Welson, have you kept 298from me anything that it was proper and useful for the rest of you to know.”

Mr. Welson. “In the first place, you were not particularly interested in scientific investigations, or book lore, else you would have participated in the discovery that has puzzled and alarmed you. In the second place, as you represented the instinctive class of ritualistic habit and creed followers, who believe in what they have been taught without questioning palpable absurdities, you have been exhibited to us as an illustration of the unthinking characteristics of our race. As you have subserved the purpose of showing the irrational subterfuges of sectarianism for shirking the responsibilities of honest example, for the delusive indulgence of instinctive desire in excess of reasonable gratification, I will now inform you that shortly after our arrival in Heraclea we were introduced, through the reflecting aid of the tympano-microscope, to a race of human Animalculans, by Mistress Correliana. These had been known to her Heraclean ancestors for many centuries, and were the originators of their system of education. The largest, or giantescoes as they are called, are perceptible in form to our unaided eyes; but, with a few exceptions, they belong solely to the Manatitlans, the race to which we were introduced. But the lower grades, which are styled mediums and tits, are in human resemblance indistinctly visible to the naked eye. The falcons, that visited Mistress Correliana on board of the Tortuga, were guided by individuals of this race, which accounts for their wonderful sagacity, and the mysterious intelligence which she had gained of the transactions of our race while immured within the walls of Heraclea. When M. Hollydorf commenced his investigations for tracing the relation of the dry, animalculan species with the representatives of our gigantic orders, the thought never occurred to his imagination that by any possibility the initial 299type of humanity would be discovered. You will now be able to judge, from your impressions, our emotions when we were obliged to recognize under the powerful reflection of the tympano-microscope our own representative embodiment in minute miniature; but with a perfection in beauty that put the pretensions of our race to shame. The object of the R. H. B. Society, was, as you have heard explained,—to obtain a knowledge of aboriginal animalculan dryad life for comparison with kindred species within the influence of civilization to judge of its progressive effects. As Dr. Baāhar was too much occupied with his naturalistic pursuits to attend on the day of discovery, he with the other members were held in probationary ignorance of the new race for experimental effects, allied to those to which you have been subject. You can now ponder for the night upon the revelation I have given you, and if to-morrow you wish for tangible evidence of its truth you can accompany us to the auriculum.”

The padre had directed his attention chiefly to Mr. Welson during his admonitory explanation, with eyes amazedly questioning the faces of the others for confirmation, and mouth agape, which at certain passages of the rehearsal contracted with grimaced efforts to swallow; but with the closing invitation he relapsed into a ruminating mood of fitful cogitation. In this condition he remained, scarcely noticing the return of Dr. Baāhar and curators of sound, notwithstanding they were subjected to auramental impression for his especial detection, and proof edification, from the incongruous lack of method shown in their conversation, which the doctor, with aptness, styled the languaged lowing salutations of the herd at nightfall. Coryc?us, the padre’s auramental familiar, reported his ruminations at the hour of retiring to Mr. Welson, who sought the opportunity to give them direction by reading to him a postscript of Captain Greenwood’s letter, 300containing information that he was too much vexed to give him by word of mouth at Amelcoy. Calling the padre into the colonnade, after the other members of the corps had retired, he read the captain’s announcement to him by moonlight, which we will render verbatim:—

“P. S. The padre’s appearance, with the knowledge that he had passed the major portion of the night in drinking, smoking, and chewing, with Fraile Gallagato, who conducted him in a state of inebriation to the house of a woman of unmentionable fame, so annoyed me that I held no communication with him, and write that which it would have afforded me unalloyed pleasure to have imparted to him, by word of mouth, if he had been in a worthy condition. Please inform him that our success in collecting gold on the spits of the Pilcomayo, during our return trip down the river, so far exceeded our personal requirements, after equally sharing with the absent in Heraclea, that we have, at the suggestion of Jack and Bill,—who rightfully aver that he was the discoverer,—set aside a sufficient amount for insuring his family an ample token of his fatherly remembrance and desire for their welfare. The amount will be forwarded to the address of any reliable person he may name, subject to his childrens’ order.
T. R. G.”

The padre at the close of the message gave one audible gulp of choking shame, and sank down upon the pavement in groveling attitude, exclaiming in broken accents of woful misery, “unworthy brute that I am!” In this condition Mr. Welson left him, with a simple parting salutation. Coryc?us, in the morning, reported that he continued prone and imbecile in thought, until lunar impression caused his scattered faculties to become wild in intention, causing him to utter vehemently the talismanic Giga word, Reform! But as its suggestions encouraged moderation, as the source of saving grace, he wandered forth into the 301herald darkness of the morning’s dawn. Directing his steps in the gray light to the summit fora, his thoughts were led to view,—in the emergence of day, from the chill sombre darkness of night, as the first radiant rays of sunlight appeared above the horizon,—the bright perspective of Heraclean affection which began to dawn with its warmth and purity, beckoning him from the gloom of the past, with the determination that his example should contrast with it, as a day of light for the guidance of future generations in the path of happiness. As he stood in the rolling mist wafted by the air current of the falls, on its nourishing mission to the latifundium, Mr. Welson joined the pr?tor’s family to unite with them in their morning salutations. In turning their eyes upward to catch the first rays of the sun on the brink of the falls, the head of the padre appeared enveloped in a cloud of mist. When first discovered, his attention seemed to be attracted to objects beyond the walls; but with the first strains of the morning anthem he removed his hat and united his voice in the song of praise. At its close, he beckoned them to join him on the summit terrace. The pr?tor understanding the invitation, challenged Mr. Welson and Dr. Baāhar to a trial of speed, with his wife and daughter, up the ascent. Accepting the gage they started, the civilized competitors taking the shorter and direct avenue from the city gate. At the word, up the crescent avenue Correliana and her mother sped with equal steps, gliding upward in the pathway with graceful motions, and swiftness rivaling the fabled Camilla’s, the pr?tor following with a steady movement of practiced ease, content to hold his starting distance good. The padre’s past and future, as umpire of this novel race, quickly merged into the present. With jubilant mirth he urged the doctor, with hand and hat, to greater speed for the honor of the corps. But from the weissich of the falling water his words of encouragement 302failed to reach the object of his admonition. In the abandon of momentary excitement, his gestures were of that comical cast that we should expect from a man who had been aroused from a slumber that had continued from youth to age, and installed, when suddenly awakened, to preside as umpire over a scene like the one in review, without comprehending his growth in stature. On all, except the toiling object of his exhortations, his pantomimic gesticulations served as brakes to stay their speed. The diminution in speed of the pr?torial family became quite apparent from their mirthful checks; and Mr. Welson, who had for a time maintained an increasing distance in advance of the doctor, came to a full stop at the foot of the summit incline, where the latter passed him, attributing his disability to shortness of breath from overhaste in the beginning. Congratulating himself upon his own prudence in reserving his strength for the last stretch, the doctor reached the summit, but was chagrined to find the pr?tor and family awaiting his arrival at the goal. The padre, forgetful of his night’s vigil, and the cause, bantered Dr. Baāhar upon his signal defeat; but an inquiring look from Mr. Welson reminded him of his petition, and he became silent until asked, when descending, why he had beckoned them to the summit fora?

“Well, I declare,” he replied, “your race put it out of my mind altogether; but I wanted you to see what a beautiful effect the morning sun had upon the scenery.”

Correliana referred him to the visit he had paid to the summit in company with Cleorita and Oviata on the morning after his return from Amelcoy; a reference that caused him to become blushingly silent. Mr. Welson then informed the pr?tor and family that the padre and Dr. Baāhar had already been initiated into the object of their secret convocations, and that from henceforth there would be no reservations in conversation.