«Have you my record?» was his first question.
Mrs. Mailey, smiling, handed him an envelope. «We kept it all ready for you but you can read it at home. You see,» she explained, «poor Mr. Terbane is in trance and knows nothing of the wonderful work of which he is the instrument, so after each sitting my husband and I draw up an account for him.»
«Very much astonished I am when I read it,» said Terbane.
«And very proud, I should think,» added Mason.
«Well, I don't know about that,» Terbane answered humbly. «I don't see that the tool need to be proud because the worker happens to use it. Yet it is a privilege, of course.»
«Good old Terbane!,» said Mailey, laying his hand affectionately on the railwayman's shoulder. «The better the medium the more unselfish. That is my experience. The whole conception of a medium is one who gives himself up for the use of others, and that is incompatible with selfishness. Well, I suppose we had better get to work or Mr. Chang will scold us.»
«Who is he?» asked Malone.
«Oh, you will soon make the acquaintance of Mr. Chang! We need not sit round the table. A semi-circle round the fire does very well. Lights half-down. That is all right. You'll make yourself comfortable, Terbane. Snuggle among the cushions.»
The medium was in the corner of a comfortable sofa, and had fallen at once into a doze. Both Mailey and Malone at with notebooks upon their knees awaiting developments.
They were not long in coming. Terbane suddenly sat up, his dreamy self transformed into a very alert and masterful individuality. A subtle change had passed over his ace. An ambiguous smile fluttered upon his lips, his eye seemed more oblique and less open, his face projected. The two hands were thrust into the sleeves of his blue lounge jacket.
«Good evening,» said he, speaking crisply and in short staccato sentences. «New faces! Who these?»
«Good evening, Chang,» said the master of the house.
«You know Mr. Mason. This is Mr. Malone who studies our subject. This is Lord Roxton who has helped me to-day.»
As each name was mentioned, Terbane made a sweeping Oriental gesture of greeting, bringing his hand down from his forehead. His whole bearing was superbly dignified and very different from the humble little man who had sat down a few minutes before.
«Lord Roxton!» he repeated. «An English milord! I knew Lord – Lord Macart No – I – I cannot say it. Alas I I called him 'foreign devil' then. Chang, too, had much to learn.»
«He is speaking of Lord Macartney. That would be over a hundred years ago. Chang was a great living philosopher then,» Mailey explained.
«Not lose time!» cried the control. «Much to do to-day. Crowd waiting. Some new, some old. I gather strange folk in my net. Now I go.» He sank back among the cushions. A minute elapsed, then he suddenly sat up.
«I want to thank you,» he said, speaking perfect English. «I came two weeks ago. I have thought over all you said. The path is lighter.»
«Were you the spirit who did not believe in God?»
«Yes, yes! I said so in my anger. I was so weary – so weary. Oh, the time, the endless time, the grey mist, the heavy weight of remorse! Hopeless! Hopeless! And you brought me comfort, you and this great Chinese spirit. You gave me the first kind words I have had since I died.»
«When was it that you died?»
«Oh! It seems an eternity. We do not measure as you do. It is a long, horrible dream without change or break.»
«Who was king in England?»
«Victoria was queen. I had attuned my mind to matter and so it clung to matter. I did not believe in a future life. Now I know that I was all wrong, but I could not adapt my mind to new conditions.»
«Is it bad where you are?»
«It is all – all grey. That is the awful part of it. One's surroundings are so horrible.»
«But there are many more. You are not alone.»
«No, but they know no more than I. They, too, scoff and doubt and are miserable.»
«You will soon get out.»
«For God's sake, help me to do so!»
«Poor soul!» said Mrs. Mailey in her sweet, caressing voice, a voice which could bring every animal to her side. «You have suffered much. But do not think of yourself. Think of these others. Try to bring one of them up and so you will best kelp yourself.»
«Thank you, lady, I will. There is one here whom I brought. He has heard you. We will go on together. Perhaps some day we may find the light.»
«Do you like to be prayed for?»
«Yes, yes, indeed I do!»
«I will pray for you,» said Mason. «Could you say the 'Our Father' now?» He uttered the old universal prayer, but before he had finished Terbane had collapsed again among the cushions. He sat up again as Chang.
«He come on well,» said the control. «He give up time for others who wait. That is good. Now I have hard case. Ow!»
He gave a comical cry of disapprobation and sank back. Next moment he was up, his face long and solemn, his hands palm to palm.
«What is this?» he asked in a precise and affected voice. «I am at a loss to know what right this Chinese person has to summon me here. Perhaps you can enlighten me.»
«It is that we may perhaps help you.»
«When I desire help, sir, I ask for it. At present I do not desire it. The whole proceeding seems to me to be a very great liberty. So far as this Chinaman can explain it, I gather that I am the involuntary spectator of some sort of religious service.»
«We are a spiritualistic circle.»
«A most pernicious sect. A most blasphemous proceeding. As a humble parish priest I protest against such desecrations.»
«You are held back, friend, by those narrow views. It is you who suffer. We want to relieve you.»
«Suffer? What do you mean, sir?»
«You realize that you have passed over?»
«You are talking nonsense!»
«Do you realize that you are dead?»
«How can I be dead when I am talking to you?»
«Because you are using this man's body.»
«I have certainly wandered into an asylum.»
«Yes, an asylum for bad cases. I fear you are one of them. Are you happy where you are?»
«Happy? No, sir. My present surroundings are perfectly inexplicable to me.»
«Have you any recollection of being ill?»
«I was very ill indeed.»
«So ill that you died.»
«You are certainly out of your senses.»
«How do you know you are not dead?»
«Sir, I must give you some religious instruction. When one dies and has led an honourable life, one assumes a glorified body and one associates with the angels. I am now in exactly the same body as in life, and I am in a very dull, drab place. Such companions as I have are not such as I have been accustomed to associate with in life, and certainly no one could describe them as angels. Therefore your absurd conjecture may be dismissed.»
«Do not continue to deceive yourself. We wish to help you. You can never progress until you realize your position.»
«Really, you try my patience too far. Have I not said –?»
The medium fell back among the cushions. An instant later the Chinese control, with his whimsical smile and his hands tucked away in his sleeves, was talking to the circle.
«He good man – fool man – learn sense soon. Bring him again. Not waste more time. Oh, my God! My God! Help! Mercy! Help!»
He had fallen full length upon the sofa, face upwards, and his cries were so terrible that the little audience all sprang to their feet. «A saw! A saw! Fetch a saw!» yelled the medium. His voice sank into a moan.
Even Mailey was agitated. The rest were horrified.
«Someone has obsessed him. I can't understand it. It may be some strong evil entity.»
«Shall I speak to him?» asked Mason.
«Wait a moment! Let it develop. We shall soon see.»
The medium writhed in agony. «O
h, my God! Why don't you fetch a saw!» he cried. «It's here across my breast-bone. It is cracking! I feel it! Hawkin! Hawkin! Pull me from under! Hawkin! Push up the beam! No, no, that's worse! And it's on fire! Oh, horrible! Horrible!»
His cries were blood-curdling. They were all chilled with horror. Then in an instant the Chinaman was blinking at them with his slanting eyes.
«What you think of that, Mister Mailey?»
«It was terrible, Chang. What was it?»
«It was for him,» nodding towards Malone. «He want newspaper story, I give him newspaper story. He will understand. No time 'splain now. Too many waiting. Sailor man come next. Here he come!»
The Chinaman was gone, and a jovial, puzzled grin passed over the face of the medium. He scratched his head.
«Well, damn me,» said he. «I never thought I would take orders from a Chink, but he says 'hist!' and by crums you've got to hist and no back talk either. Well, here I am. What did you want?»
«We wanted nothing.»
«Well, the Chink seemed to think you did, for he slung me in here.»
«It was you that wanted something. You wanted knowledge.»
«Well, I've lost my bearings, that's true. I know I am dead 'cause I've seen the gunnery lootenant, and he was blown to bits before my eyes. If he's dead I'm dead and all the rest of us, for we are over to the last man. But we've got the laugh on our sky-pilot, for he's as puzzled as the rest of us. Damned poor pilot, I call him. We're all taking our own soundings now.»
«What was your ship?»
«The Monmouth.»
«She that went down in battle with the German?»
«That's right. South American waters. It was clean hell. Yes, it was hell.» There was a world of emotion in his voice. «Well,» he added more cheerfully, «I've heard our mates got level with them later. That is so, sir, is it not?»
«Yes, they all went to the bottom.»
«We've seen nothing of them this side. Just as well, maybe. We don't forget nothing.»
«But you must,» said Mailey. «That's what is the matter with you. That is why the Chinese control brought you through. We are here to teach you. Carry our message to your mates.»
«Bless your heart, sir, they are all here behind me.»
«Well, then, I tell you and them that the time for hard thoughts and worldly strife is over. Your faces are to be turned forward, not back. Leave this earth which still holds you by the ties of thought and let all your desire be to make yourself unselfish and worthy of a higher, more peaceful, more beautiful life. Can you understand?»
«I hear you, sir. So do they. We want steering, sir, for, indeed, we've had wrong instructions, and we never expected to find ourselves cast away like this. We had heard of heaven and we had heard of hell, but this don't seem to fit in with either. But this Chinese gent. says time is up, and we can report again next week. I thank you, sir, for self and company. I'll come again.»
There was silence.
«What an incredible conversation!» gasped Malone.
«If I were to put down that man's sailor talk and slang as emanating from a world of spirits, what would the public say?»
Mailey shrugged his shoulders.
«Does it matter what the public says? I started as a fairly sensitive person, and now a tank takes as much notice of small shot as I do of newspaper attacks. They honestly don't even interest me. Let us just stick fast to truth as near as we can get it, and leave all else to find its own level.»
«I don't pretend to know much of these things,» said Roxton, «but what strikes me most is that these folk are very decent ordinary people. What? Why should they be wanderin' about in the dark, and hauled up here by this Chinaman when they've done no partic'lar harm in life?»
«It is the strong earth tie and the absence of any spiritual nexus in each case,» Mailey explained. «Here is a clergyman with his mind entangled with formulas and ritual. Here is a materialist who has deliberately attuned himself to matter. Here is a seaman brooding over revengeful thoughts. They are there by the million million.»
«Where?» asked Malone.
«Here,» Mailey answered. «Actually on the surface of the earth. Well, you saw it for yourself, I understand, when you went down to Dorsetshire. That was on the surface, was it not? That was a very gross case, and that made it more visible and obvious, but it did not change the general law. I believe that the whole globe is infested with the earth-bound, and that when a great cleansing comes, as is prophesied, it will be for their benefit as much as for that of the living.»
Malone thought of the strange visionary Miromar and his speech at the Spiritualistic Church on the first night of his quest.
«Do you, then, believe in some impending event?» he asked.
Mailey smiled. «That is rather a large subject to open up,» he said. «I believe – But here is Mr. Chang again!»
The control joined in the conversation.
«I heard you. I sit and listen,» said he. «You speak now of what is to come. Let it be! Let it be! The Time is not yet. You will be told when it is good that you know. Remember this. All is best. Whatever come all is best. God makes no mistakes. Now others here who wish your help, I leave you.»
Several spirits came through in quick succession. One was an architect who said that he had lived at Bristol. He had not been an evil man, but had simply banished all thoughts of the future. Now he was in the dark and needed guidance. Another had lived in Birmingham. He was an educated man but a materialist. He refused to accept the assurances of Mailey, and was by no means convinced that he was really dead. Then came a very noisy and violent man of a crudely-religious and narrow, intolerant type, who spoke repeatedly of «the blood «.
«What is this ribald nonsense?» he asked several times.
«It is not nonsense. We are here to help,» said Mailey.
«Who wants to be helped by the devil?»
«Is it likely that the devil would wish to help souls in trouble?»
«It is part of his deceit. I tell you it is of the devil! Be warned! I will take no further part in it.»
The placid, whimsical Chinaman was back like a flash.
«Good man. Foolish man,» he repeated once more. «Plenty time. He learn better some day. Now I bring bad case – very bad case. Ow!»
He reclined his head in the cushion and did not raise it as the voice, a feminine voice, broke out:
«Janet! Janet t»
There was a pause.
«Janet, I say! Where is the morning tea? Janet! This is intolerable ! I have called you again and again I Janet!» The figure sat up, blinking and rubbing his eyes.
«What is this?» cried the voice. «Who are you? What right have you here? Are you aware that this is my house?»
«No, friend, this is my house.»
«Your house! How can it be your house when this is my bedroom? Go away this moment!»
«No, friend. You do not understand your position.»
«I will have you put out. What insolence! Janet! Janet! Will no one look after me this morning?»
«Look round you, lady. Is this your bedroom?»
Terbane looked round with a wild stare.
«It is a room I never saw in my life. Where am I? What is the meaning of it? You look like a kind lady. Tell me, for God's sake, what is the meaning of it? Oh, I am so terrified, so terrified! Where are John and Janet?»
«What do you last remember?»
«I remember speaking severely to Janet. She is my maid, you know. She has become so very careless. Yes, I was very angry with her. I was so angry that I was ill. I went to bed feeling very ill. They told me that I should not get excited. How can one help getting excited? Yes, I remember being breathless. That was after the light was out. I tried to call Janet. But why should I be in another room?»
«You passed over in the night.»
«Passed over? Do you mean I died?»
«Yes, lady, you died.»
There was a long silence. Then there came a shrill screa
m. «No, no, no ! It is a dream! A nightmare! Wake me! Wake me! How can I be dead? I was not ready to die? I never thought of such a thing. If I am dead, why am I not in heaven or hell? What is this room? This room is real room.»
«Yes, lady, you have been brought here and allowed to use this man's body
«A man?» She convulsively felt the coat and passed her hand over the face. «Yes, it is a man. Oh, I am dead! I am dead! What shall I do?»
«You are here that we may explain to you. You have been, I judge, a worldly woman – a society woman. You have lived always for material things.»
«I went to church. I was at St. Saviour's every Sunday.»
«That is nothing. It is the inner daily life that counts. You were material. Now you are held down to the world. When you leave this man's body you will be in your own body once more and in your old surroundings. But no one will see you. You will remain there unable to show yourself. Your body of flesh will be buried. You will still persist, the same as ever.»
«What am I to do? Oh, what can I do?»
«You will take what comes in a good spirit and understand that it is for your cleansing. We only clear ourselves of matter by suffering. All will be well. We will pray for you.»
«Oh, do! I need it so! Oh my God! . . .» The voice trailed away.
«Bad case,» said the Chinaman, sitting up. «Selfish woman! Bad woman ! Live for pleasure. Hard on those around her. She have much to suffer. But you put her feet on the path. Now my medium tired. Plenty waiting, but no more to-day.»
«Have we done good, Chang?»
«Plenty good. Plenty good.»
«Where are all these people, Chang?»
«I tell you before.»
«Yes but I want these gentlemen to hear.»
«Seven spheres round the world, heaviest below, lightest above. First sphere is on the earth. These people belong to that sphere. Each sphere is separate from the other. Therefore it is easier for you to speak with these people than for those in any other sphere.»
«And easier for them to speak to us?»
«Yes. That why you should be plenty careful when you do not know to whom you talk. Try the spirits.»
The Land Of Mist pcs-3 Page 14
