The Swoop of the Vulture

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10712, 3 October 1912, Page 2

The Swoop of the Vulture

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OHAITKH XII. (Continued.) if Hunilti Kiisttmt' could connwt ■liia past. hi* present, and prove, that Hodle.y Siemens was idontical with Collier Han field, tlio Western gambler a.::d de-speradp, it would certainly mean Koehil ruiii and disgrace, a.';d poa'siluy iinancia! catastrophe as well. It Sii- Godfrey Enstono had left .in;» dohnue record of tho discovery of ti)>-- Lor.e Kill mines, which were- tiiio «~0/nev clones of his fortune, it would be ;vi/yl.;ii.w hub cosvoniont or picas-ant to sati-ty the chum:; of lm heir .>t. hi*. Finally, there was tho even more, unpleasant contingency 'id Ids be<ng called tr: account for procur'nig i'ie murder of HaroniV owu -father ■■;• Yokohama,, for he knew thai hi;--, accomplice had l'.'it a sworn <>oniv-. ; - ; on behind him. There was every reason to consider Harold JCnstone. !w< a tno-st dangerous obstacle in tho path of his progress, and it was .not only necessary, but obligatory, to got him' removed. The only question, now that he had come to his decision, was: Had .Tenner Halkino reallv returned to life':' and, it so, would he help him? that was a question which lie determined to solve before he left the institute Ho had to admit to himself that he entered Izah-Ramal's private simctum with feelings somewhat aJun to anxious apprehension. "Good evening, 'friend—brother, 1 trust wo may be able to greet you before you depart," said Ramal as Ram Dass .salaamed him into the room, and vanished. "Good evening, doctor," ve P >ed his visitor, as they shook hands. We ■iro fronds, at least I hope .so; but brothers—will you pardon me jnr askng yeur interpretation of the ditferoiice between friendship and brotherhood?" ~ . "Whv should you not?" rep.iod the doctor, in his most gentle tones. "It is just the subject that l wished to discuss with you." He paused, looted !:n+o Ms oves as though, he would read th» thoughts that were passing through \k mird at, te moment. His fruest returned his paae with perfect steadiness, and said, gently:

"T* th*>t so?" "Now." continued Tzah-Ramal, still holding his eyes with that magnetic glance which Hedlev Siemens had come to know so well. "v--v will he vou whose fortitude will be tested. "You will he brought face to face with one who is not the least of , the adepts. You will see .him eye to eye and soul to soul, and if you sustain that ordeal, you will henceforth ho one of rs. Miether with your will or against it." "I'm afraid T dont quite follow you there, doctor," interrupted Sierc""-' in something like his usual mnsWrVl tone. "With my w'll or : t." "It is easily explained. The loud of our brotherhood, consists in absolute knowledce, and. therefore, in absol- | ute confidence. If t"o human brings / know each other as they know them- | selves, they are obliged to trust each j other, whether they will or not. You" i own studies in mental science will make that position perfectly plain to vou." "I think T follow you. You mean that a man who knows everything, hidden and unhidden, about another man, must be trusted by him. simply because, if he didn't trust him, the other fellow could always give him away; and as it may bo taken for granted that the veneer of civilization is not. much thicker than a satin, •wo aro all savages under the .skin, and could all find means of putting a brother criminal outside the palo of society."

"Yes, you aro completely right in your unconventional estimate of the situation. After what you havo said, I think there is little fear of your surviving the ordeal." "Surviving, doctor?" said the millionaire, with a perceptible start. "I wasn't aware that this was a matter of life and death." "Only of mental life and death, not physical. Now," ho went on rising from his chair, "if you are quite prepared for the experiment, will you follow me? Only, for tho last time, T must warn you that the threshold of the Chamber of Secrets must be for you the borderland between two roads —the road of half knowledge you have now, and that of perfect knowledge, if you are found worthy to bear the burden." "And perfect knowledge—does that also mean perfect power?" "That depends upon tho way in which perfect knowledge is used. We do not measure right or wrong, virtue or vice, according to the conventional standards of the world populated by human beings in a verv lev stage of moral and intellectual development. Wo do not judge ourselves or each other bv the standards of the law of England " "Exactly," interrupted Siemens, who had been waiting for his advantage. "I see what you mean, and it is hardly necessary to quote the case in point " "There is no necessity," interrupted Izah-Ramal, with a motion of his right hand toward the door. "I think that we shall understand each other quite well enough without any further explanation. Now," he continued, stepping into the passage, "there

BY OWEN MASTERS.

'Author of "Hib Hpart's De-sir e," "One Impassioned Hoar" "Captain Emlyn's Bride," 'Tho Dovorel! Heritage," "Tii© Ironmaster? Daughter " etc

are two W ay.<: before vou—the ono to trie right will take you into ot:r oi.iraneo hall, and from there back to j world you have livI <d in co far. This one," with a mol- : ;on of bis loft hand toward the eur- | turned corridor, will take you into an- • other world— the world 'of perfect ' J!i:n:ar. krTMvled.yo. and, therefore, of mfhierco and power." "Then I will take thi s one." «;,-,;<] Siemens, trniing to the left, and la.yir.g hi~ hand lightly on Ramal's right 1 .'■boulder; "but there are other things j dear to tho heart of man—prize* nhioh all the political power in the wo rid cannot compel, and all the money that ever was coined cannot I hi'v. Can this knowledge and power j com no] the-'.-o also?" j "It is not T who have undertaken j tho task of leadin.g you across the j border of your world to ours," replied .Wh-Ramal, in his strangoly ; impersonal tone. "What I want to know is just, this : "When Igo into that room shall T meet Jeniier Halkine in rife flesh? I mean the man who " "Yes, not onlv in tho flesh, but soul to soul! When you have done that, it will he time for us three to talk over those other smaller matters which now seem of such importance to you." "I can ask for nothing more than that," replied Siemens, dropping his hand. "I am entirely at your service and ready to learn all that the Chamber of .Secrets can teach me." "Very well, then," said Izah-Ram-al, parting the curtains afc the end of the corridor; "this way lies knowledge ; but do not blame me if afterward you remember what the wisest 'ho wi.se said many centuries ago. 'Whoso gettoth knowledge getteth sorrow. ' "

CHAPTER XXIV. JFIN'N'ER HALKINE REAPPEARS. Hedlev Siemens had not seen .Tenner Halkine in the fkwh. In fact, sice his marvellous escape from Xethermoor, no human eyes had seen him undisguised, save those of I'/.nhRamal and Ra.m Dass. The electric cluster over T.he< tabic was alight, a.nd as tho director ushered him in. he saw :», rather tall, spare man dressed in black, clean-shaven, gray-hair-ed, and wearing blue spectacles, rise from one of the seats of the tables, and bow in silence as Izah-Ramal said: "Brother, this is Hedlev Siemens." "Welcome." replied Halkine, staring straight into Siemen's eyes. For the first- time in his life Siemens fonvd himself under the power of a wil 1 stronger thrrn bin own. The mag-net-io pvps, bad cauirht. bis glance and held it just as a man's grin might hold the hand, of a child. He simplv stared helplessly rnti'.(h" seemed t-o have only one clear idea, in his mind. Somowliero and some time, far away and Ion": ago. these eye') had. looked into his as they wer" doing row. Then h'> beard Halkine's clear, strangely familiar voice say in a low. almost rjent!'' tone: "I never fonret a face, and T know voei-s. T mv.v it last in Jaoa." —yes, | i" Yokoham-i : bur *-. hen it was not th- face nf Hedlev Siemens." The words, qnietlv spoken, and in :i nlnio' 1 - a.s soft as a woman's, bit Hedlev Siemens like so manv blows in the face. Never to his | knowledge had he seen .Tenner Hal--1 kin'-, before, and yet-.hero was ;l man with, penetrating, magnetic eyes, looking into his very brain, and teilig him about that other self of his which that day had begun to follow him like a specter from the grave. If this man had not only recognised him, but named the place in which his other self had deliberately secured tho killing of Harold Enstone's father, what chance could there be that Enstono himself had made a mistake? Thcro was practically none. His quick intellect told him that TzahRamal, possibly speaking from more personal knowledge, had been right when he told him that absolute understanding of each other was the most unbreakable" bond, that could be forered between man and man. ' CTo be Continued.)