Francis Worcester Doughty

“ Clouds began to form where previously I had not perceived them, and my vision was in a measure obscured, but only for a moment; before I knew it, I had penetrated the clouds, and the roundness of the earth beneath me was lost. Now it was as I fancy an aeronaut must feel when gazing down from a height a few thousand feet.
“Maurice!” I shouted. “Oh, Maurice, it is glorious!”
He did not seem to hear me, for he never turned his head, though I could perceive by the expression on his face that he was fully alive to the beauties of the mighty panorama which was unrolling itself to my gaze. ”

“ Nearer and nearer we approached the surface of the planet. We were descending upon a city beside which London is but an infant. I could see the people swarming through the streets. Here Mr. Mirrikh and his parti-colored face would be no novelty, for every face I saw was of the same mould, half black—half yellow; otherwise the people were like the dwellers on our earth except in the matter of dress, which was, with the men only a simple girdle of some dark cloth about the waist, while the women wore a loose gown of blue material, gathered in about the hips and thence dropping to the feet. ”

“ This time I felt the child’s hand, and the Doctor swore by all good and holy, that the hand which touched him was a man’s. Indeed he clapped his own hand to his head and tried to grasp it, but failed, of course. When our eyes next opened, there stood old Padma again with a small brazier, a bronze dish and a basket of charcoal at his side. Now who could longer doubt the diablerie of the whole affair?
The old lama placed the brazier at some little distance from Walla, and stood the dish upon it, having previously lighted the coals beneath. ”

“ The old lama muttered a few words in reply, to me, of course, wholly unintelligible, and after that paid no further attention to either of us, but went straight on with his work.
“By Jove, he’s a good one!” said the Doctor.
“What does he say?” I whispered.
“Well, it amounted to telling me to mind my own business, George. He says if we keep still we shall see Maurice. Of course you understand that this is the black magic of the East. It is simply a hallucination produced by the reflex action of a strong will upon a weaker one. All these preparations are mere clap-trap. ”

“ I gasped; a vague sense of uneasiness creeping over me, for I could read something of the truth on the Doctor’s face.
“Brace up, old man! Pull yourself together!” he answered hastily. “As near as I can make out we are in danger of flood. A lake has broken loose somewhere in the mountains behind the lamasery, and a few million gallons of ice water are about to be dumped upon us—that’s all!”
By this time Ni-fan-lu was grovelling at Padma’s feet, repeating his cry. I flung myself toward the altar and had one arm about Maurice’s body as it came. ”

“ The Doctor tried it in Hindustanee, and if I may believe his assertion, got along splendidly.
“It’s no use to interfere with his plans, George,” he said, after a moment. “He says the girl is all right. He claims that she is a powerful sensitive, and more amazing than all; he swears—what do you suppose?”
“Don’t keep me in suspense, I beg of you, Doctor.”
“He says he is going to show us Maurice and Mr. Mirrikh in the astral body. We are to see them on their road to Mars.” ”

“ Black magic is turned against a man, not for his benefit.”
“Bah! It’s all equally rubbish, black or white—but let us watch him. We may discover some part of the trick.”
Watch! There was no need to urge me. I could not have taken my eyes off Padma had I tried.
He had been blowing the coals while the Doctor was speaking, and now as they burst forth into flame he laid aside the little brass-backed bellows used for the purpose, and drew from beneath his loose robe a small box of beaten gold. This he opened and placed upon the altar in close proximity to Maurice’s head. ”

“ Where is that scoundrel Mirrikh? What——”
“Hush—sh!” he interposed. For God’s sake restrain yourself and remember that we are entirely at the mercy of these people. Look behind you—we are not alone.”
His words produced their effect, for they brought me to a realizing sense of the fact that if I meant to stay by Maurice I had to keep in the good graces of the powers which controlled the lamasery. There was Walla, too! Had I forgotten her?
Yes, Walla was there. When I looked around I saw her.
She lay crouched all in a heap at the foot of the altar where she had first flung herself. ”

“ I don’t know what you’ve been about, Wylde, but I have been to the planet Mars!”
I could not answer him. Old Padma had his ear before I was able to speak, and was uttering hurried words.
“Dshambi-nor! Dshambi-nor!” yelled Ni-fan-lu, as he came rushing up to us. ”

“ Only for a moment they remained visible, but in that moment the index finger of each hand was directed downward, pointing toward the dish. At last I saw them merge themselves seemingly with the cloud again—next, cloud and all had vanished, and the rod descended, until it, in turn, was pointed toward the dish.
Suddenly the flame shot higher, yet I am certain that Padma made no effort to replenish the agents which had produced it, and which ought to have been long ago consumed. Higher, and higher still it rose, growing broader at the same time, until the whole room was as bright as day ”

“ I saw no building of any elegance; no vehicles, no animals of any kind; no sign of market place, churches, shops or any sort of business, Suddenly in their roaming my eyes seemed to fix themselves upon one huge building which I can only compare with the Mormon tabernacle at Salt Lake City ”