ILLINOIS UBRARY^ 
 M URBANA-CHAMBAIfir 
 STACKS 
 
THE SOUL OF LILITH 
 
THE SOUL OF LILITH 
 
 MARIE CORELLI 
 
 AL; I HOR OF 
 
 ■ARIMTH,' 'a F<0I\IANCE OF TWO WORLDS,' ' J HKI.MA, 
 
 ' VENDKTTA I' ETC. 
 
 Not a drop of her blood was human, 
 
 But she was made like a soft sweet woman ' 
 
 Dantk G. RossEiri 
 
 IN Til rep: volumes 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 LONDON: 
 RICHARD BENTLEY AND SON 
 
 i3ttblishcr5 in ODrbinnrjp to ]kUv ^Hajcstii the (Quern 
 1892 
 
 \A// rights reserved] 
 
©Jb^ 
 
 ,f 
 
 INTRODUCTORY NOTE. 
 
 The following story does not assume to be 
 
 what is generally understood by a "novel." 
 
 It is simply the account of a strange and 
 
 "^ daring experiment once actually attempted, 
 
 i'cind is offered to those who are interested in 
 
 t the unseen "possibilities" of the Hereafter, 
 
 merely for what it is, — a single episode in 
 
 •^the life of a man who voluntarily sacrificed 
 
 M^iis whole worldly career in a supreme effc^rt 
 
 to prove the apparently Unprovable. 
 
 I 
 
THE SOUL OF LILITH 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 The theatre was full, — crowded from fioor to 
 ceiling ; the lights were turned low to give 
 the stage full prominence, — and a large 
 audience packed close in pit and gallery as 
 well as in balcony and stalls, listened with 
 or without interest, whichever way best 
 suited their different temperaments and 
 manner of breeding, to the well - worn 
 famous soliloquy in "Hamlet" — ''To be or 
 not to bey It was the first night of a new 
 rendering of Shakespeare's ever puzzling 
 play, — the chief actor was a great actor, 
 albeit not admitted as such by the petty 
 cliques, — he had thought out the strange 
 
 VOL. I. I 
 
THE SOUL OF LILITH 
 
 and complex character of the psychological 
 Dane for himself, with the result that even 
 the listless, languid, generally impassive 
 occupants of the stalls, many of whom had 
 no doubt heard a hundred Hamlets, were 
 roused for once out of their chronic state 
 of boredom into something like attention, as 
 the familiar lines fell on their ears with a 
 slow and meditative richness of accent not 
 commonly heard on the modern stage. This 
 new Hamlet chose his attitudes well, — instead 
 of walking or rather strutting about as he 
 uttered the soliloquy, he seated himself and 
 for a moment seemed lost in silent thought ; — 
 then, without changing his position he began, 
 his voice gathering deeper earnestness as the 
 beauty and solemnity of the immortal lines 
 became more pronounced and concentrated. 
 
 " To die — to sleep ; — 
 To sleep !— perchance to dream ; ay, there's the rub, 
 For in that sleep of death what dreams may come 
 When we have shuffled off this mortal coil 
 Must give us pause. . .'' 
 
 Here there was a brief and impressive 
 silence. In that short interval, and before 
 the actor could resume his speech, a man 
 entered the theatre with noiseless step and 
 
THE SOUL OF LILITH 
 
 seated himself in a vacant stall of the second 
 row. A few heads were instinctively turned 
 to look at him, but in the semi-gloom of the 
 auditorium, his features could scarcely be 
 discerned, and Hamlet's sad rich voice again 
 compelled attention. 
 
 " Who would fardels bear, 
 To grunt and sweat under a weary life, 
 But that the dread of something after death, 
 The undiscovered country from whose bourne 
 No traveller returns, puzzles the will 
 And makes us rather bear those ills we have 
 Than fly to others that we know not of? 
 Thus conscience does make cowards of us all ; 
 And thus the native hue of resolution 
 Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought ; 
 And enterprises of great pith and moment, 
 With this regard, their currents turn awry 
 And lose the name of action." 
 
 The scene went on to the despairing inter- 
 view with Ophelia, which was throughout 
 performed with such splendid force and feel- 
 ing as to awaken a perfect hurricane of ap- 
 plause ; — then the curtain went down, the 
 lights went up, the orchestra recommenced, 
 and again inquisitive eyes were turned to- 
 wards the latest new-comer in the stalls who 
 had made his quiet entrance in the very 
 midst of the great philosophical Soliloquy. 
 
THE SOUL OF LI LIT H 
 
 He was Immediately discovered to be a 
 person well worth observing ; and observed 
 he was accordingly, though he seemed quite 
 unaware of the attention he was attracting. 
 Yet he was singular-looking enough to excite 
 a little curiosity even among modern fashion- 
 able Londoners, who are accustomed to see 
 all sorts of eccentric beings, both male and 
 female, aesthetic and common-place, and he 
 was so distinctively separated from ordinary 
 folk by his features and bearing, that the 
 rather loud whisper of an irrepressible young 
 American woman — " I'd give worlds to know 
 who that man is !" was almost pardonable 
 under the circumstances. His skin was dark 
 as a mulatto's, — yet smooth, and healthily 
 coloured by the warm blood flushing through 
 the olive tint, — his eyes seemed black, but 
 could scarcely be seen on account of the 
 extreme length and thickness of their dark 
 lashes, — the fine, rather scornful curve of his 
 short upper lip was partially hidden by a 
 black moustache ; and with all this blackness 
 and darkness about his face, his hair, of which 
 he seemed to have an extraordinary pro- 
 fusion, was perfectly white. Not merely a 
 
THE SOUL OF LI LITE 
 
 silvery white, but a white as pronounced as 
 that of a bit of washed fleece or newly-fallen 
 snow. In looking at him it was impossible 
 to decide whether he was old or young, — 
 because, though he carried no wrinkles or 
 other defacing marks of Time's power to 
 destroy, his features wore an impress of such 
 stern and deeply resolved thought as is seldom 
 or never the heritage of those to whom youth 
 still belongs. Nevertheless, he seemed a long 
 way off from being old, — so that, altogether, 
 he was a puzzle to his neighbours in the 
 stalls, as well as to certain fair women in the 
 boxes, who levelled their opera-glasses at 
 him with a pertinacity which might have 
 made him uncomfortably self-conscious had 
 he looked up. Only he did not look up ; 
 he leaned back in his seat with a slightly 
 listless air, studied his programme intently, 
 and appeared half asleep, owing to the way in 
 which his eyelids drooped, and the drowsy 
 sweep of his lashes. The irrepressible 
 American girl almost forgot " Hamlet," so 
 absorbed was she in staring at him, in spite 
 of the sotto-voce remonstrances of her decorous 
 mother, who sat beside her, — and presently, 
 
THE SOUL OF LI LIT H 
 
 as if aware of, or annoyed by, her scrutiny, 
 he lifted his eyes, and looked full at her. 
 With an instinctive movement she recoiled, — 
 and her own eyes fell. Never in all her 
 giddy, thoughtless little life had she seen 
 such fiery, brilliant, night-black orbs, — they 
 made her feel uncomfortable, — gave her the 
 "creeps," as she afterwards declared; — she 
 shivered, drawing her satin opera- wrap more 
 closely about her, and stared at the stranger 
 no more. He soon removed his piercing 
 gaze from her to the stage, for now the great 
 " Play scene " of '' Hamlet " was in progress, 
 and was from first to last a triumph for the 
 actor chiefly concerned. At the next fall of 
 the curtain, a fair, dissipated-looking young 
 fellow leaned over from the third row of 
 stalls, and touched the white-haired individual 
 lightly on the shoulder. 
 
 ''My dear El-Rami ! You here .^ At a 
 theatre ? Why, I should never have thought 
 you capable of indulging in such frivolity !" 
 
 "Do you consider 'Hamlet' frivolous .'^" 
 queried the other, rising from his seat to 
 shake hands, and showing himself to be a 
 man of medium height, though having such 
 
THE SOUL OF LI LIT H 
 
 peculiar dignity of carriage as made him 
 appear taller than he really was. 
 
 "Well, no!" — and the young man yawned 
 rather effusively. " To tell you the truth, I 
 find him insufferably dull." 
 
 ''You do?" and the person addressed as 
 El-Rami smiled slightly. '' Well, — naturally 
 you go with the opinions of your age. You 
 would no doubt prefer a burlesque ?" 
 
 " Frankly speaking, I should ! And now 
 I begin to think of it, I don't know really 
 why I came here. I had intended to look 
 in at the Empire — there's a new ballet going 
 on there — but a fellow at the club gave me 
 this stall, said it was a 'first-night,' and all 
 the rest of it---and so " 
 
 " And so Fate decided for you," finished 
 El-Rami sedately. " And instead of admiring 
 the pretty ladies without proper clothing at 
 the Empire, you find yourself here, wonder- 
 ing why the deuce Hamlet the Dane could 
 not find anything better to do than bother 
 himself about his father's ghost ! Exactly ! 
 But, being here, you are here for a purpose, 
 my friend ;" and he lowered his voice to a 
 confidential whisper. " Look ! — Over there — 
 
THE SOUL OF LILITH 
 
 observe her well ! — sits your future wife ;" — 
 and he indicated, by the slightest possible 
 nod, the American girl before alluded to. 
 " Yes, — the pretty creature in pink, with 
 dark hair. You don't know her ? No, of 
 course you don't — but you will. She will be 
 introduced to you to-night before you leave 
 this theatre. Don't look so startled — there's 
 nothing miraculous about her, I assure you ! 
 She is merely Miss Chester, only daughter 
 of Jabez Chester, the latest New York 
 millionaire. A charmingly shallow, delight- 
 fully useless, but enormously wealthy little 
 person ! — you will propose to her within a 
 month, and you will be accepted. A very 
 good match for you, Vaughan — all your 
 debts paid, and everything set straight with 
 certain Jews. Nothing could be better, 
 really —and, remember, — I am the first to 
 congratulate you !" 
 
 He spoke rapidly, with a smiling, easy 
 air of conviction ; his friend meanwhile 
 stared at him in profound amazement and 
 something of fear. 
 
 ** By Jove, El-Rami !" — he began nervously 
 — "you know, this is a little too much of a 
 
THE SOUL OF LI LIT H 
 
 good thing. It's all very well to play 
 prophet sometimes, but it can be overdone." 
 
 '* Pardon !" and El- Rami turned to resume 
 his seat. *' The play begins again. Insuffer- 
 ably dull as ' Hamlet ' may be, we are bound 
 to give him some slight measure of atten- 
 tion. 
 
 Vaughan forced a careless smile in response, 
 and threw himself indolently back in his own 
 stall, but he looked annoyed and puzzled. 
 His eyes wandered from the back of El- 
 Rami's white head to the half-seen profile 
 of the American heiress who had just been 
 so coolly and convincingly pointed out to 
 him as his future wife. 
 
 " I don't know the girl from Adam," — he 
 thought irritably, "and I don't want to know 
 her. In fact, I won't know her. And if I 
 won't, why, I shan't know her. Will Is 
 everything, even according to El-Rami. The 
 fellow's always so confoundedly positive of 
 his prophecies. I should like to confute him 
 for once and prove him wrong." 
 
 Thus he mused, scarcely heeding the 
 progress of Shakespeare's great tragedy, till, 
 at the close of the scene of Ophelia's burial. 
 
THE SOUL OF LILITH 
 
 he saw El- Rami rise and prepare to leave 
 the auditorium. He at once rose himself. 
 
 " Are you going ?" he asked. 
 
 "Yes ; — I do not care for ' Hamlet's' end, 
 or for anybody's end in this particular play. 
 I don't like the hasty and wholesale slaughter 
 that concludes the piece. It is inartistic." 
 
 "Shakespeare inartistic?" queried Vaughan, 
 smiling. 
 
 "Why yes, sometimes. He was a man, 
 not a god ; — and no man's work can be 
 absolutely perfect. Shakespeare had his 
 faults like everybody else, — and with his great 
 genius he would have been the first to own 
 them. It is only your little mediocrities who 
 are never wrong. Are you going also ?" 
 
 " Yes ; I mean to damage your reputation 
 as a prophet, and avoid the chance of 
 Introduction to Miss Chester - 
 evening, at any rate." 
 
 He laughed as he spoke, ^mi said 
 
 nothing. The two passed * .f the stalls 
 together into the lobby, wh they had to 
 wait a few minutes to get r hats and 
 
 overcoats, the man in charge of the cloak- 
 room having gone to cool his chronic thirst 
 
THE SOUL OF LILITH ii 
 
 at the convenient " bar." Vaughan made 
 use of the enforced delay to light his 
 cigar. 
 
 ** Did you think it a good ' Hamlet ' ?" he 
 asked his companion carelessly while thus 
 occupied. 
 
 '* Excellent," replied El-Rami. " The lead- 
 ing actor has immense talent, and thoroughly 
 appreciates the subtlety of the part he has 
 to play ; — but his supporters are all sticks, — 
 hence the scenes drag where he himself is 
 not in them. That is the worst of the ' star ' 
 system, — a system which is perfectly ruinous 
 to histrionic art. Still — no matter how it is 
 performed, ' Hamlet ' is always interesting. 
 Curiously inconsistent, too, but impressive." 
 
 " Inconsistent ? how ?" asked Vaughan, 
 beginning to puff rings of smoke into the air, 
 and to wonder impatiently how much longer 
 the keeper of the cloak-room meant to stay 
 absent from his post. 
 
 " Oh, in many ways. Perhaps the most 
 glaring inconsistency of the whole conception 
 comes out in the great soliloquy, ' To be or 
 not to be.' " 
 
 " Really ?" and Vaughan became interested. 
 
12 THE SOUL OF LI LIT H 
 
 — "I thought that was considered one of the 
 finest bits in the play." 
 
 " So it is. I am not speaking of the lines 
 themselves, which are magnificent, but of 
 their connection with ' Hamlet's ' own 
 character. Why does he talk of a ' bourne 
 from whence no traveller returns,' when he 
 has, or thinks he has, proof positive of the 
 return of his own father in spiritual form ; — 
 and it is just concerning that return that he 
 makes all the pother ? Don't you see in- 
 consistency there ?" 
 
 " Of course, — but I never thought of it," 
 said Vaughan, staring. " I don't believe 
 anyone but yourself has ever thought of it. 
 It is quite unaccountable. He certainly does 
 say ' no traveller returns, ' — and he says it 
 after he has seen the ghost too." 
 
 " Yes," went on El-Rami, warming with 
 his subject. " And he talks of the ' dread 
 of something after death," as if it were only 
 a ' dread,' and not a Fact ;- whereas if he is 
 to believe the spirit of his own father, which 
 he declares is * an honest ghost,' there is no 
 possibility of doubt on the matter. Does 
 not the mournful phantom say — 
 
THE SOUL OF LI LIT H 13 
 
 " ' But that I am forbid 
 To tell the secrets of my prison-house 
 I could a tale unfold, whose lightest word 
 Would harrow up thy soul ; freeze thy young blood ; 
 Make thy two eyes like stars start from their spheres ; 
 Thy knotted and combined locks to part, 
 And each particular hair to stand on end. . .' ?" 
 
 '' By Jove ! I say, El-Rami ; don't look 
 at me like that !" exclaimed Vaughan un- 
 easily, backing away from a too close 
 proximity to the brilliant flashing eyes and 
 absorbed face of his companion, who had 
 recited the lines with extraordinary passion 
 and solemnity. 
 
 El-Rami laughed. 
 
 " Did I scare you ? Was I too much in 
 earnest ? I beg your pardon ! True enough, — 
 ' this eternal blazon must not be, to ears of 
 flesh and blood !' But, the ' something after 
 death ' was a peculiarly aggravating reality 
 to that poor ghost, and Hamlet knew that it 
 was so when he spoke of it as a mere 'dread.' 
 Thus, as I say, he was inconsistent, or, 
 rather. Shakespeare did not argue the case 
 logically." 
 
 "You would make a capital actor," — said 
 Vaughan, still gazing at him in astonishment. 
 
14 THE SOUL OF LILITH 
 
 "Why, you went on just now as if, — well, as 
 if you meant it, you know." 
 
 " So I did mean it," replied El-Rami 
 lightly — ''for the moment! I always find 
 * Hamlet ' a rather absorbing study ; so will 
 you, perhaps, when you are my age." 
 
 ''Your age?" and Vaughan shrugged his 
 shoulders. " I wish I knew it ! Why, 
 nobody knows it. You may be thirty or a 
 hundred — who can tell Y' 
 
 "Or two hundred — or even three hundred?" 
 queried El-Rami, with a touch of satire in 
 his tone; — "why stint the measure of limit- 
 less time ? But here comes our recalcitrant 
 knave" — this, as the keeper of the cloak- 
 room made his appearance from a side-door 
 with a perfectly easy and unembarrassed air, 
 as though he had done rather a fine thing 
 than otherwise in keeping two gentlemen 
 waiting his pleasure. " Let us get our 
 coats, and be well away before the decree 
 of Fate can be accomplished in making 
 you the winner of the desirable Chester 
 prize. It is delightful to conquer Fate — if 
 one can !" 
 
 His black eyes fiashed curiously, and 
 
THE SOUL OF LI LIT H 
 
 Vaughan paused In the act of throwing on 
 his overcoat to look at him again in some- 
 thing of doubt and dread. 
 
 At that moment a gay voice exclaimed : 
 •'Why, here's Vaughan! — Freddie 
 Vaughan — how lucky !" and a big handsome 
 man of about two or three and thirty 
 sauntered into the lobby from the theatre, 
 followed by two ladies. " Look here, 
 Vaughan, you're just the fellow I wanted to 
 see. We've left Hamlet in the thick of 
 his fight, because we're going on to the 
 Somers's ball, — will you come with us ? 
 And I say, Vaughan, allow me to introduce 
 to you my friends — Mrs. Jabez Chester, 
 Miss Idina Chester — Sir Frederick Vaughan." 
 For one instant Vaughan stood inert and 
 stupefied ; the next he remembered himself, 
 and bowed mechanically. His presentation 
 to the Chesters was thus suddenly effected 
 by his cousin. Lord Melthorpe, to whom he 
 was indebted for many favours, and whom 
 he could not afford to offend by any show 
 of brusquerie. As soon as the necessary 
 salutations were exchanged, however, he 
 looked round vaguely, and in a sort of 
 
i6 THE SOUL OF LI LIT H 
 
 superstitious terror, for the man who had 
 so surely prophesied this introduction. But 
 El-Rami was gone. Silently and without 
 adieu he had departed, having seen his word 
 fulfilled. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 " Who is the gentleman that just left you ?" 
 asked Miss Chester, smiling prettily up into 
 Vaughan's eyes, as she accepted his proffered 
 arm to lead her to her carriage, — " Such a 
 distinguished-looking dreadful person !" 
 
 Vaughan smiled at this description. 
 
 " He is certainly rather singular in personal 
 appearance," he began, when his cousin. Lord 
 Melthorpe, interrupted him. 
 
 ''You mean El-Rami ? It was El-Rami, 
 wasn't it? Ah, I thought so. Why did 
 he give us the slip, I wonder .-^ I wish he 
 had waited a minute — he is a most interesting 
 fellow." 
 
 " But who is \\^T persisted Miss Chester. 
 She was now comfortably ensconced in 
 her luxurious brougham, her mother beside 
 
 VOL. I. 2 
 
i8 THE SOUL OF LILITH 
 
 her, and two men of "title" opposite to 
 her- — a position which exactly suited the 
 aspirations of her soul. " How v^ery tire- 
 some you both are ! You don't explain him 
 a bit; you only say he is 'interesting,' and 
 of course one can see that ; people with such 
 white hair and such black eyes are always 
 interesting, don't you think so ?" 
 
 "Well, I don't see why they should be," 
 said Lord Melthorpe dubiously. " Now, just 
 think what horrible chaps Albinos are, and 
 they have white hair and pink eyes " 
 
 " Oh, don't drift off on the subject of 
 Albinos, please !" pleaded Miss Chester, with 
 a soft laugh. \' If you do, I shall never 
 know anything about this particular person — 
 El-Rami, did you say? Isn't it a very odd 
 name ? Eastern, of course ?" 
 
 " Oh yes ! he is a pure Oriental thorough- 
 bred," replied Lord Melthorpe, who took 
 the burden of the conversation upon himself, 
 while he inwardly wondered why his cousin 
 Vaughan was in such an evidently taciturn 
 mood. "That is, I mean, he is an Oriental 
 of the very old stock, not one of the modern 
 Indian mixtures of vice and knavery. But 
 
THE SOUL OF LILITH 
 
 when he came from the East, and why he 
 came from the East, I don't suppose anyone 
 could tell you. I have only met him two 
 or three times in society, and on those 
 occasions he managed to perplex and fasci- 
 nate a good many people. My wife, for 
 instance, thinks him quite a marvellous man ; 
 she always asks him to her parties, but he 
 hardly ever comes. His name in full is 
 El-Rami-Zaranos, though I believe he is 
 best known as El-Rami simply. " 
 
 ''And what is he .'^" asked Miss Chester. 
 " An artist ? — a literary celebrity ?" 
 
 " Neither, that I am aware of. Indeed, 
 I don't know what he is, or how he lives. 
 I have always looked upon him as a sort 
 of magician — a kind of private conjurer, you 
 know." 
 
 " Dear me !" said fat Mrs. Chester, waking 
 up from a semi-doze, and trying to get in- 
 terested in the subject. " Does he do draw- 
 ing-room tricks ?" 
 
 '' Oh no, he doesn't do tricks ;" and Lord 
 Melthorpe looked a little amused. "He 
 isn't that sort of man at all ; I'm afraid I 
 explain myself badly. I mean that he can 
 
20 THE SOUL OF LILITH 
 
 tell you extraordinary things about your past 
 and future " 
 
 "Oh, by your hand — / know!" and the 
 pretty Idina nodded her head sagaciously. 
 " There really is something awfully clever 
 in palmistry. / can tell fortunes that way !" 
 
 '* Can you ?" Lord Melthorpe smiled in- 
 dulgently, and went on, — " But it so happens 
 that El- Rami does not tell anything by the 
 hand, — he judges by the face, figure, and 
 movement. He doesn't make a profession 
 of it ; but, really, he does foretell events in 
 rather a curious way now and then." 
 
 ''He certainly does !" agreed Vaughan, 
 rousing himself from a reverie into which he 
 had fallen, and fixing his eyes on the small 
 piquante features of the girl opposite him. 
 " Some of his prophecies are quite remark- 
 able." 
 
 '' Really ! How very delightful !" said 
 Miss Chester, who was fully aware of Sir 
 Frederick's intent, almost searching, gaze, 
 but pretended to be absorbed in buttoning 
 one of her gloves. " I must ask him to tell 
 me what sort of fate is in store for me — 
 something awful, I'm positive! Don't you 
 
THE SOUL OF LI LIT H 21 
 
 think he has horrid eyes ? — splendid, but 
 horrid ? He looked at me in the 
 theatre " 
 
 " My dear, you looked at him first," mur- 
 mured Mrs. Chester. 
 
 "Yes; but I'm sure I didn't make him 
 shiver. Now, when he looked at me, I felt 
 as if someone were pouring cold water very 
 slowly down my back. It was suck a creepy 
 sensation ! Do fasten this, mother — will 
 you ?" and she extended the hand with the 
 refractory glove upon it to Mrs. Chester, but 
 Vaughan promptly interposed : 
 
 *' Allow me !" 
 
 '* Oh, well ! if you know how to ^x. a 
 button that is almost off!" she said laugh- 
 ingly, with a blush that well became her 
 transparent skin. 
 
 "■ I can make an attempt " — said Vaughart, 
 with due humility. " If I succeed, will you 
 give me one or two dances presently ?" 
 
 ''With pleasure!" 
 
 " Oh ! you are coming in to the Somers's, 
 then !" said Lord Melthorpe, in a pleased 
 tone. *' That's right. You know, Fred, 
 you're so absent-minded to-night, that you 
 
22 THE SOUL OF LILITH 
 
 never said ' Yes ' or ' No ' when I asked 
 you to accompany us." 
 
 "Didn't I? I'm awfully sorry!" and, 
 having fastened the glove with careful dainti- 
 ness, he smiled. " Please set down my rude- 
 ness and distraction to the uncanny influence 
 of El-Rami ; I can't imagine any other 
 reason." 
 
 They all laughed carelessly, as people in 
 an idle humour laugh at trifles, and the 
 carriage bore them on to their destination — 
 a great house in Queens Gate, where a 
 magnificent entertainment was being held in 
 honour of some Serene and Exalted foreign 
 potentate who had taken it into his head to 
 see how London amused itself during a 
 "season." The foreign potentate had heard 
 that the splendid English capital was full of 
 gloom and misery — that its women were un- 
 approachable, and its men difficult to make 
 friends with ; and all these erroneous notions 
 had to be dispersed in his serene and exalted 
 brain, no matter what his education cost the 
 " Upper Ten " who undertook to enlighten 
 his barbarian ignorance. 
 
 Meanwhile, the subject of Lord Mel- 
 
THE SOUL OF LI LIT H 23 
 
 thorpe's conversation — El-Rami, or El-Rami- 
 Zaranos, as he was called by those of his 
 own race — was walking quietly homewards 
 with that firm, swift, yet apparently unhasting 
 pace which so often distinguishes the desert- 
 born savage, and so seldom gives grace to 
 the deportment of the cultured citizen. It 
 was a mild night in May ; the weather was 
 unusually fine and warm ; the skies were un- 
 darkened by any mist or cloud, and the stars 
 shone forth with as much brilliancy as though 
 the city lying under their immediate ken had 
 been the smiling fairy, Florence, instead 
 of the brooding giant, London. Now and 
 again El-Rami raised his eyes to the spark- 
 ling belt of Orion, which glittered aloft with 
 a lustre that is seldom seen in the hazy 
 English air ; — he was thinking his own 
 thoughts, and the fact that there were many 
 passers to and fro in the streets besides him- 
 self did not appear to disturb him in the 
 least, for he strode through their ranks, with- 
 out any hurry or jostling, as if he alone 
 existed, and they were but shadows. 
 
 '' What fools are the majority of men !" 
 he mused. ''How easy to gull them, and 
 
24 THE SOUL OF LI LIT H 
 
 how willing they are to be gulled ! How 
 that silly young Vaughan marvelled at my 
 prophecy of his marriage ! — as if it were not 
 as easy to foretell as that two and two in- 
 evitably make four ! Given the characters 
 of people in the same way that you give 
 figures, and you are certain to arrive at a 
 sum-total of them in time. How simple the 
 process of calculation as to Vaughan's matri- 
 monial prospects ! Here are the set of 
 numerals I employed : Two nights ago I 
 heard Lord Melthorpe say he meant to 
 marry his cousin Fred to Miss Chester, 
 daughter of Jabez Chester, of New York,^ — 
 Miss Chester herself entered the room a few 
 minutes later on, and I saw the sort of 
 young woman she was. To-night at the 
 theatre I see her again ; — in an opposite box, 
 well back in shadow, I perceive Lord Mel- 
 thorpe. Young Vaughan, whose character I 
 know to be of such weakness that it can be 
 moulded whichever way a stronger will turns 
 it, sits close behind me ; and I proceed to 
 make the little sum-total. Given Lord Mel- 
 thorpe, with a determination that resembles 
 the obstinacy of a pig rather than of a man ; 
 
THE SOUL OF LI LIT H 25 
 
 Frederick Vaughan, with no determination 
 at all ; and the little Chester girl, with her 
 heart set on an English title, even though it 
 only be that of a baronet, and the marriage 
 is certain. What was ?^;^certain was the 
 possibility of their all meeting to-night ; but 
 they were all there, and I counted that pos- 
 sibility as the fraction over - there is always 
 a fraction over in character-sums ; it stands 
 as Providence or Fate, and must always be 
 allowed for. I chanced it, — and won. I 
 always do win in these things, — these 
 ridiculous trifles of calculation, which are 
 actually accepted as prophetic utterances by 
 people who never will think out anything for 
 themselves. Good heavens ! what a monster- 
 burden of crass ignorance and wilful stupidity 
 this poor planet has groaned under ever 
 since it was hurled into space! Immense! — 
 incalculable ! And for what purpose ? For 
 what progress } For what end ?" 
 
 He stopped a moment ; he had walked 
 from the Strand up through Piccadilly, and 
 was now close to Hyde Park. Taking out 
 his watch, he glanced at the time — it was 
 close upon midnight. All at once he was 
 
26 THE SOUL OF LILITH 
 
 Struck fiercely from behind, and the watch 
 he held was snatched from his hand by a 
 man who had no sooner committed the theft 
 than he uttered a loud cry, and remained 
 inert and motionless. El-Rami turned quietly 
 round, and surveyed him. 
 
 " Well, my friend?" he inquired blandly— 
 " What did you do that for .^" 
 
 The fellow stared about him vaguely, but 
 seemed unable to answer, — his arm was 
 stiffly outstretched, and the watch was clutched 
 fast within his palm. 
 
 *' You had better give that little piece of 
 property back to me," w^ent on El-Rami, 
 coldly smiling, — and, stepping close up to his 
 assailant, he undid the closed fingers one by 
 one, and, removing the watch, restored it to 
 his own pocket. The thief's arm at the 
 same moment fell limply at his side ; but he 
 remained where he was, trembling violendy 
 as though seized with a sudden ague-fit. 
 
 '' You would find it an inconvenient thing 
 to have about you, I assure you. Stolen 
 goods are always more or less of a bore. I 
 believe. You seem rather discomposed ? 
 Ah ! you have had a little shock, — that's all. 
 
THE SOUL OF LILITH 
 
 You've heard of torpedos, I dare say ? Well, 
 in this scientific age of ours, there are human 
 torpedos going about ; and I am one of 
 them. It is necessary to be careful whom 
 you touch nowadays, — it really is, you know ! 
 You will be better presently — take time !" 
 
 He spoke banteringly, observing the thief 
 meanwhile with the most curious air, as 
 though he were some peculiar specimen of 
 beetle or frog. The wretched man's features 
 worked convulsively, and he made a gesture 
 of appeal : 
 
 " Yer won't 'ave me took up !" he muttered 
 hoarsely. '' I'm starvin' !" 
 
 " No, no !" said El-Rami persuasively — 
 " you are nothing of the sort. Do not tell 
 lies, my friend ; that is a great mistake — as 
 great a mistake as thieving. Both things, as 
 you practise them, will put you to no end 
 of trouble, — and to avoid trouble is the chief 
 aim of modern life. You are not starving — 
 you are as plump as a rabbit," — and, with a 
 dexterous touch, he threw up the man's loose 
 shirt-sleeve, and displayed the full, firm flesh 
 of the strong and sinewy arm beneath. ''You 
 have had more meat in you to-day than I 
 
THE SOUL OF LI LIT H 
 
 can manage in a week ; you will do very 
 well. You are a professional thief, — a sort of 
 — lawyer, shall we say ? Only, instead of 
 protesting the right you have to live, politely 
 by means of documents and red-tape, you 
 assert it roughly by stealing a watch. It's 
 very frank conduct, — but it is not civil ; and, 
 in the present state of ethics, it doesn't pay — 
 it really doesn't. I'm afraid I'm boring you ! 
 You feel better ? Then — good-evening !" 
 
 He was about to resume his walk, when 
 the now-recovered rough took a hasty step 
 towards him. 
 
 " I wanted to knock yer down !" he 
 began. 
 
 "I know you did," — returned El - Rami 
 composedly. ''Well — would you like to try 
 again .^" 
 
 The man stared at him, half in amaze- 
 ment, half in fear. 
 
 " Yer see," he went on, " yer pulled out 
 yer watch, and it was all jools and 
 sparkles " 
 
 " And it was a glittering temptation " — 
 finished El-Rami. " I see. I had no busi- 
 ness to pull it out ; I grant it ; but, being 
 
THE SOUL OF LI LIT H 29 
 
 pulled out, you had no business to want it. 
 We were both wrong ; let us both endeavour 
 to be wiser in future. Good-night !" 
 
 "Well, I'm blowed if ye're not a rum un, 
 and an orful un !" ejaculated the man, who 
 had certainly received a fright, and was still 
 nervous from the effects of it. '' Blowed if 
 he ain't the rummest card !" 
 
 But the ''rummest card" heard none of 
 these observations. He crossed the road, 
 and went on his way serenely, taking up the 
 thread of his interrupted musings as though 
 nothing had occurred. 
 
 " Fools — fools all !" he murmured. 
 "Thieves steal, murderers slay, labourers 
 toil, and all men and women lust and live 
 and die — to what purpose ? For what pro- 
 gress ? For what end ? Destruction or new 
 life ? Heaven or hell ? Wisdom or caprice } 
 Kindness or cruelty ? God or the Devil ? 
 Which? If I knew that I should be wise, — 
 but till I know, I am but a fool also, — a 
 fool among fools, fooled by a Fate whose 
 secret I mean to discover and conquer — and 
 defy !" 
 
 He paused, — and, drawing a long, deep 
 
30 THE SOUL OF LI LIT H 
 
 breath, raised his eyes to the stars once 
 more. His lips moved as though he repeated 
 inwardly some vow or prayer, then he pro- 
 ceeded at a quicker pace, and stopped no 
 more till he reached his destination, which 
 was a small, quiet and unfashionable square 
 off Sloane Street. Here he made his way 
 to an unpretentious-looking little house, semi- 
 detached, and one of a row of similar build- 
 ings ; the only particularly distinctive mark 
 about it being a heavy and massively-carved 
 ancient oaken door, which opened easily at 
 the turn of his latch-key, and closed after 
 him without the slightest sound as he 
 entered. 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 A DIM red light burned in the narrow hall, 
 just sufficient to enable him to see the 
 wooden peg on which he was accustomed 
 to hang his hat and overcoat, — and as soon 
 as he had divested himself of his outdoor 
 garb, he extinguished even that faint glimmer 
 of radiance. Opening a side-door, he entered 
 his ow^n room — a picturesque apartment 
 running from east to west, the full length 
 of the house. From its appearance it had 
 evidently once served as drawing-room and 
 dining - room, with folding - doors between ; 
 but the folding -doors had been dispensed 
 with, and the place they had occupied was 
 now draped with heavy amber silk. This 
 silk seemed to be of some peculiar and costly 
 make, for it sparkled with iridescent gleams 
 of silver like diamond-dust when El-Rami 
 
THE SOUL OF LI LIT H 
 
 turned on the electric burner, which, in the 
 form of a large flower, depended from the 
 ceiling by quaintly-worked silver chains, and 
 was connected by a fine wire with a shaded 
 reading-lamp on the table. There was not 
 much of either beauty or value in the 
 room, — yet without being at all luxurious, 
 it suggested luxury. The few chairs were 
 of the most ordinary make, all save one, 
 which was of finely carved ebony, and was 
 piled with silk cushions of amber and red, — 
 the table was of plain painted deal, covered 
 with a dark woollen cloth worked in and out 
 with threads of gold, — there were a few 
 geometrical instruments about, — a large pair 
 of globes, — a rack on the wall stocked with 
 weapons for the art of fence, — and one large 
 book-case full of books. An ebony-cased 
 pianette occupied one corner, — and on a 
 small side-table stood a heavily-made oaken 
 chest, brass-bound and double-locked. The 
 furniture was completed by a plain camp- 
 bedstead such as soldiers use, which at the 
 present moment was partly folded up and 
 almost hidden from view by a rough bear- 
 skin thrown carelessly across it. 
 
THE SOUL OF LI LIT H ^2> 
 
 EI-Rami sat down in the big ebony chair 
 and looked at a pile of letters lying on his 
 writing-table. They were from all sorts 
 of persons, — princes, statesmen, diplomats, 
 financiers, and artists in all the professions, — 
 he recognised the handwriting on some of 
 the envelopes, and his brows contracted in a 
 frown as he tossed them aside still unopened. 
 
 ''They must wait," he said half aloud. 
 "Curious that it is impossible for a man to 
 be original without attracting around him 
 a set of unoriginal minds, as though he were 
 a honey-pot and they the flies ! Who would 
 believe that I, poor in worldly goods, and 
 living in more or less obscurity, should, 
 without any wish of my own, be in touch 
 with kings } — should know the last new 
 policy of governments before it is made ripe 
 for public declaration } — should hold the 
 secrets of ' my lord ' and ' my lady ' apart 
 from each other's cognisance, and be able 
 to amuse myself with their little ridiculous 
 matrimonial differences, as though they were 
 puppets playing their parts for use at a 
 marionette show ! I do not ask these people 
 to confide in me, — I do not want them to 
 
 VOL. I. 3 
 
34 THE SOUL OF LI LIT H 
 
 seek me out, — and yet the cry is, ' still they 
 come !' — and the attributes of my own nature 
 are such, that like a magnet, I attract, and 
 so am never left in peace. Yet perhaps 
 it is well it should be thus, — I need the 
 external distraction, — otherwise my mind 
 would be too much like a bent bow, — fixed 
 on the one centre, — the Great Secret, — and 
 its powers might fail me at the last. But 
 no ! — failure is impossible now. Steeled 
 against love, — hate, — and all the merely 
 earthly passions of mankind as I am, — I 
 must succeed — and I will !" 
 
 He leaned his head on one hand, and 
 seemed to suddenly concentrate his thoughts 
 on one particular subject, — his eyes dilated 
 and grew luridly brilliant as though sparks 
 of fire burnt behind them. He had not 
 sat thus for more than a couple of minutes, 
 when the door opened gently, and a beautiful 
 youth clad in a loose white tunic and vest 
 of Eastern fashion, made his appearance, 
 and standing silently on the threshold seemed 
 to wait for some command. 
 
 " So, Feraz ! you heard my summons ?" 
 said El- Rami gently. 
 
THE SOUL OF LI LIT H 35 
 
 '' I heard my brother speak," — responded 
 Feraz in a low melodious voice that had 
 a singularly dreamy far-away tone within 
 it — *' Through a wall of cloud and silence 
 his beloved accents fell like music on my 
 ears ; — he called me and I came." 
 
 And sighing lightly, he folded his arms 
 cross-wise on his breast and stood erect and 
 immovable, looking like some fine statue 
 just endowed by magic with the flush of 
 life. He resembled El- Rami in features, 
 but was fairer-skinned, — his eyes were softer 
 and more femininely lovely, — his hair, black 
 as night, clustered in thick curls over his 
 brow, and his figure, straight as a young- 
 palm-tree, was a perfect model of strength 
 united with grace. But just now he had 
 a strangely absorbed air, — his eyes, though 
 they were intently fixed on El-Rami's face, 
 looked like the eyes of a sleep-walker, so 
 dreamy were they while wide-open, — and 
 as he spoke he smiled vaguely as one who 
 hears delicious singing afar off 
 
 El-Rami studied him intently for a minute 
 or two, — then, removing his gaze, pressed 
 a small silver hand-bell at his side. It rang 
 sharply out on the silence. 
 
36 THE SOUL OF LI LIT H 
 
 " Feraz !" 
 
 F6raz started, — rubbed his eyes, — glanced 
 about him, and then sprang towards his 
 brother with quite a new expression, — one 
 of grace, eagerness and animation, that in- 
 tensified his beauty and made him still more 
 worthy the admiration of a painter or a 
 sculptor. 
 
 '* El-Rami ! at last! How late you are! 
 I waited for you long — and then I slept. 
 I am sorry ! But you called me in the usual 
 way, I suppose ? — and I did not fail you ? 
 Ah no ! I should come to you if I were 
 dead !" 
 
 He dropped on one knee, and raised 
 El-Rami's hand caressingly to his lips. 
 
 *' Where have you been all the evening .f^" 
 he went on. '' I have missed you greatly — 
 the house is so silent." 
 
 El - Rami touched his clustering curls 
 tenderly. 
 
 " You could have made music in it with 
 your lute and voice, Feraz, had you chosen," 
 he said. ''As for me, I went to see 
 * Hamlet.' " 
 
 *' Oh, why did you go ?" demanded Feraz 
 
THE SOUL OF LILITH 37 
 
 impetuously, "/would not see it— -no! not 
 for worlds ! Such poetry must needs be 
 spoilt by men's mouthing of it, — it is better 
 to read it, to think it, to feel it, — and so one 
 actually sees it, — best." 
 
 "You talk like a poet,"^ — said El- Rami 
 indulgently. "You are not much more than 
 a boy, and you think the thoughts of youth. 
 Have you any supper ready for me ?" 
 
 F^raz smiled and sprang up, left the room, 
 and returned in a few minutes with a daintily 
 arranged tray of refreshments, which he set 
 before his brother with all the respect and 
 humility of a well-trained domestic in atten- 
 dance on his master. 
 
 "You have supped.'^" El- Rami asked, as 
 he poured out wine from the delicately shaped 
 Italian flask beside him. 
 
 Feraz nodded. 
 
 " Yes. Zaroba supped with me. But 
 she w^as cross to-night — she had nothing to 
 say." 
 
 El-Rami smiled. " That is unusual !" 
 
 Feraz went on. "There have been many 
 people here, — they all wanted to see you. 
 They have left their cards. Some of them 
 
38 THE SOUL OF LILITH 
 
 asked me my name and who I was. I said 
 I was your servant, — but they would not 
 believe me. There were great folks among 
 them — they came In big carriages with 
 prancing horses. Have you seen their 
 
 names ?' 
 
 '' Not I." 
 
 " Ah, you are so indifferent," said Feraz 
 gaily, — he had now quite lost his dreamy 
 and abstracted look, and talked on in an 
 eager boyish way that suited his years, — he 
 was barely twenty. "You are so bent on 
 great thoughts that you cannot see little 
 things. But these dukes and earls who 
 come to visit you do not consider themselves 
 little, — not they !" 
 
 "Yet many of them are the least among 
 little men," said El-Rami with a touch of 
 scorn in his mellow accents. " Dowered 
 with great historic names which they almost 
 despise, they do their best to drag the 
 memory of their ancient lineage into dis- 
 honour by vulgar passions, low tastes, and 
 a scorn as well as lack of true intelligence. 
 Let us not talk of them. The English 
 aristocracy was once a magnificent tree, but 
 
THE SOUL OF LI LIT H 39 
 
 its broad boughs are fallen, — lopped off and 
 turned into saleable timber, — and there is 
 but a decaying stump of it left. And so 
 Zaroba said nothing to you to-night ?" 
 
 " Scarce a word. She was very sullen. 
 She bade me tell you all was well, — that 
 is her usual formula. I do not understand 
 it ; — what is it that should be well or ill } 
 You never explain your mystery !" 
 
 He smiled, but there was a vivid curiosity 
 in his fine eyes, — he looked as if he would 
 have asked more had he dared to do so. 
 
 El-Rami evaded his questioning glance. 
 "Speak of yourself," he said. "Did you 
 wander at all into your Dreamland to- 
 day ?" 
 
 " I was there when you called me," replied 
 Feraz quickly. " I saw my home, — its trees 
 and flowers, — I listened to the ripple of its 
 fountains and streams. It is harvest-time 
 there, do you know ? I heard the reapers 
 singing as they carried home the sheaves." 
 
 His brother surveyed him with a fixed and 
 wondering scrutiny. 
 
 " How absolute you are in your faith!" he 
 said half enviously. " You t/iink it is your 
 
40 THE SOUL OF LI LIT H 
 
 home, — but it is only an idea after all, — an 
 idea, born of a vision." 
 
 '' Does a mere visionary idea engender 
 love and longing ?" exclaimed Feraz im- 
 petuously. " Oh no, El- Rami, — it cannot 
 do so ! I know the land I see so often in 
 what you call a 'dream,' — its mountains are 
 familiar to me, — its people are my people ; 
 yes ! — I am remembered there, and so are 
 you, — we dwelt there once, — we shall dwell 
 there again. It is your home as well as 
 mine, — that bright and far-off star where there 
 is no death but only sleep, — why were we 
 exiled from our happiness, El- Rami ? Can 
 your wisdom tell ?" 
 
 " I know nothing of what you say," 
 returned El-Rami brusquely. ''As I told 
 you, you talk like a poet, — harsher men than 
 I, would add, like a madman. You imagine 
 you were born or came into being in a 
 different planet to this, — that you lived 
 there, — that you were exiled from thence 
 by some mysterious doom, and were con- 
 demned to pass into human existence here ; — 
 well, I repeat, F6raz — this is your own 
 fancy, — the result of the strange double life 
 
THE SOUL OF LI LIT H 41 
 
 you lead, which Is not by my will or teaching. 
 I believe only in what can be proved — and 
 this that you tell me is beyond all proof." 
 
 *'And yet," said Feraz meditatively, — 
 "though I cannot reason it out, I am sure 
 of what I feel. My ' dream ' is more life-like 
 than life itself, — and as for my beloved 
 people yonder, I tell you I have heard them 
 singing the harvest-home." 
 
 And with a quick soft step, he went to 
 the piano, opened it and began to play. 
 El-Rami leaned back in his chair mute and 
 absorbed, — did ever common keyed instru- 
 ment give forth such enchanting sounds ? 
 Was ever written music known that could, 
 when performed, utter such divine and dulcet 
 eloquence ? There was nothing earthly in 
 the tune, — it seemed to glide from under 
 the player's fingers like a caress upon the 
 air, — and an involuntary sigh broke from 
 El-Rami's lips as he listened. Feraz heard 
 that sigh, and turned round smiling. 
 
 *' Is there not something familiar in the 
 strain ?" he asked. '' Do you not see them 
 all, so fair and light and lithe of limb, coming 
 over the fields homewards as the red Ring 
 
42 THE SOUL OF LILITH 
 
 burns low in the western sky ? Surely — 
 surely you remember ?" 
 
 A slight shudder shook El-Rami's frame, — 
 he pressed his hands over his eyes, and 
 seemed to collect himself by a strong effort, — 
 then walking over to the piano, he took 
 his young brother's hands from the keys 
 and held them for a moment against his 
 breast. 
 
 " Keep your illusions " — he said in a low- 
 voice that trembled slightly. ''Keep them, — 
 and your faith, — together. It is for you to 
 dream, and for me to prove. Mine is the 
 hardest lot. There may be truth in your 
 dreams, — there may be deception in my 
 proofs — Heaven only knows! Were you 
 not of my own blood, and dearer to me than 
 most human things, I should, like every 
 scientist worthy of the name, strive to break 
 off your spiritual pinions and make of you 
 a mere earth-grub even as most of us are 
 made, — but I cannot do it, — I have not the 
 heart to do it,— and if I had the heart " — 
 he paused a moment, — then went on slowly 
 — " I have not the power. Good-night!" 
 
 He left the room abruptly without another 
 
THE SOUL OF LILITH 43 
 
 word or look, — and the beautiful young 
 Feraz gazed after his retreating figure doubt- 
 fully and with something of wondering regret. 
 Was it w^orth while, he thought, to be so 
 wise, if wisdom made one at times so sad ? — 
 was it well to sacrifice Faith for Fact, when 
 Faith was so warm and Fact so cold ? Was 
 it better to be a dreamer of things possible, 
 or a worker-out of things positive ? And 
 how much was positive after all ? and how 
 much possible ? He balanced the question 
 lightly with himself, — it was like a discord 
 in the music of his mind, and disturbed his 
 peace. He soon dismissed the jarring- 
 thought, however, and closing the piano, 
 glanced round the room to make sure that 
 nothing more was required for his brother's 
 service or comfort that night, and then he 
 went away to resume his interrupted 
 slumbers, — perchance to take up the chorus 
 of his " people " singing in what he deemed 
 his native star. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 El- Rami meanwhile slowly ascended the 
 stairs to the first floor, and there on the 
 narrow landing paused, listening. There was 
 not a sound in the house, — the delicious 
 music of the strange " harvest-song " had 
 ceased, though to El-Rami's ears there still 
 seemed to be a throb of its melody in the 
 air, like perfume left from the carrying by of 
 flowers. And with this vague impression 
 upon him he listened, — listened as it were to 
 the deep silence ; and as he stood in this 
 attentive attitude, his eyes rested on a closed 
 door opposite to him, — a door which might, 
 if taken off its hinges and exhibited at some 
 museum, have carried away the palm for 
 perfection in panel - painting. It was so 
 designed as to resemble a fine trellis-work, 
 
THE SOUL OF LI LIT H 45 
 
 hung with pale clambering roses and purple 
 passion-flowers, — on the upper half among 
 the blossoms sat a meditative cupid, pressing 
 a bud against his pouting lips, while below 
 him, stretched in full-length desolation on a 
 bent bough, his twin brother wept childishly 
 over the piteous fate of a butterfly that lay 
 dead in his curled pink palm. El - Rami 
 stared so long and persistently at the pretty 
 picture that it might have been imagined he 
 was looking at it for the first time and was 
 absorbed in admiration, but truth to tell he 
 scarcely saw it. His thoughts were pene- 
 trating beyond all painted semblances of 
 beauty, — and, — as in the case of his young 
 brother Feraz, — those thoughts were speedily 
 answered. A key turned in the lock, — the 
 door opened, and a tall old woman, bronze- 
 skinned, black-eyed, withered, uncomely yet 
 imposing of aspect, stood in the aperture. 
 
 *' Enter, El-Rami !" she said in a low yet 
 harsh voice — "The hour is late, — but when 
 did ever the lateness of hours change or 
 deter your sovereign will ! Yet truly as 
 God liveth, it is hard that I should seldom be 
 permitted to pass a night in peace !" 
 
46 THE SOUL OF LILITH 
 
 El- Rami smiled indifferently, but made no 
 reply, as it was useless to answer Zaroba. 
 She was stone deaf, and therefore not in a 
 condition to be argued with. She preceded 
 him into a small ante-room, provided with 
 no other furniture than a table and chair ; — 
 one entire side of the wall however was 
 hung with a magnificent curtain of purple 
 velvet bordered in gold. On the table were 
 a slate and pencil, and these implements El- 
 Rami at once drew towards him. 
 
 "Has there been any change to-day ?" 
 he wrote. 
 
 Zaroba read the words. 
 
 *' None," she replied. 
 
 " She has not moved ?" 
 
 " Not a finger." 
 
 He paused, pencil in hand, — then he 
 wrote — 
 
 '' You are ill-tempered. You have your 
 dark humour upon you." 
 
 Zaroba's eyes flashed, and she threw up 
 her skinny hands with a wrathful gesture. 
 
 *' Dark humour !" she cried in accents that 
 were almost shrill — "Ay! — and if it be so, 
 El- Rami, what is my humour to you ? Am 
 
THE SOUL OF LILITH 47 
 
 I anything more to you than a cipher, — a 
 mere slave ? What have the thoughts of a 
 foolish woman, bent with years and close to 
 the dark gateways of the tomb, to do with 
 one who deems himself all wisdom ? What 
 are the feelings of a wretched perishable 
 piece of flesh and blood to a self-centred 
 god and opponent of Nature like El-Raml- 
 Zaranos !" She laughed bitterly. " Pay no 
 heed to me, great Master of the Fates in- 
 visible ! — superb controller of the thoughts 
 of men ! — pay no heed to Zaroba's ' dark 
 humours ' as you call them. Zaroba has no 
 wings to soar with — she is old and feeble, 
 and aches at the heart with a burden of 
 unshed tears, — she would fain have been 
 content with this low earth whereon to tread 
 in safety, — she would fain have been happy 
 with common joys, — but these are debarred 
 her, and her lot is like that of many a better 
 woman, — to sit solitary among the ashes of 
 dead days and know herself desolate !" 
 
 She dropped her arms as suddenly as she 
 had raised them. El - Rami surveyed her 
 with a touch of derision, and wrote again on 
 the slate. 
 
48 THE SOUL OF LI LIT H 
 
 " I thought you loved your charge?" 
 
 Zaroba read, and drew herself up proudly, 
 looking almost as dignified as El-Rami him- 
 self. 
 
 " Does one love a statue ?" she demanded. 
 " Shall I caress a picture ? Shall I rain tears 
 or kisses over the mere semblance of a life 
 that does not live, — shall I fondle hands that 
 never return my clasp ? Love ! Love is in 
 my heart — yes ! like a shut - up fire in a 
 tomb, — but you hold the key, El-Rami, and 
 the flame dies for want of air." 
 
 He shrugged his shoulders, and putting 
 the pencil aside, wrote no more. Moving 
 towards the velvet curtain that draped the 
 one side of the room he made an imperious 
 sign. Zaroba, obeying the gesture mechani- 
 cally and at once, drew a small pulley, by 
 means of which the rich soft folds of stuff 
 parted noiselessly asunder, displaying such 
 a wonderful interior of luxury and loveliness 
 as seemed for the moment almost unreal. 
 The apartment opened to view was lofty 
 and perfectly circular in shape, and was hung 
 from top to bottom with silken hangings of 
 royal purple embroidered all over with 
 
THE SOUL OF LI LIT H 49 
 
 curious arabesque patterns In gold. The 
 same rich material was caught up from the 
 edges of the ceiling to the centre, like the 
 drapery of a pavilion or tent, and was there 
 festooned with golden fringes and tassels. 
 From out the midst of this warm mass of 
 glistening colour, swung a gold lamp which 
 shed its light through amber-hued crystal, — 
 while the floor below was carpeted with the 
 thickest velvet pile, the design being pale 
 purple pansies on a darker ground of the 
 same almost neutral tint. A specimen of 
 everything beautiful, rare and costly seemed 
 to have found its way into this one room, 
 from the exquisitely wrought ivory figure 
 of a Psyche on her pedestal, to the tall vase 
 of Venetian crystal which held lightly up to 
 view, dozens of magnificent roses that seemed 
 born of full midsummer, though as yet in the 
 capricious English climate, it was scarcely 
 spring. And all the beauty, all the grace, 
 all the evidences of perfect taste, art, care 
 and forethought, were gathered together 
 round one centre, — one unseeing, unre- 
 sponsive centre, — the figure of a sleeping 
 girl. Pillowed on a raised couch such as 
 
 VOL. I. 4 
 
50 THE SOUL OF LI LIT H 
 
 might have served a queen for costliness, 
 she lay fast bound in slumber, — a matchless 
 piece of loveliness, — stirless as marble, — 
 wondrous as the ideal of a poet's dream. 
 Her delicate form was draped loosely in a 
 robe of purest white, arranged so as to 
 suggest rather than conceal its exquisite 
 outline, — a silk coverlet was thrown lightly 
 across her feet, and her head rested on 
 cushions of the softest, snowiest satin. Her 
 exceedingly small white hands were crossed 
 upon her breast over a curious jewel, — a sort 
 of giant ruby cut in the shape of a star, which 
 scintillated with a thousand sparkles in the 
 light, and coloured the under - tips of her 
 fingers with a hue like wine, and her hair, 
 which was of extraordinary length and 
 beauty, almost clothed her body down to 
 the knee, as with a mantle of shimmering 
 gold. To say merely that she was lovely 
 would scarcely describe her, — for the loveli- 
 ness that is generally understood as such, was 
 here so entirely surpassed and intensified that 
 it would be difficult if not impossible to express 
 its charm. Her face had the usual attributes 
 of what might be deemed perfection, — that 
 
THE SOUL OF LILITH 51 
 
 is, the lines were purely oval, — the features 
 delicate, the skin most transparently fair, the 
 lips a dewy red, and the fringes of the closed 
 eyes were long, dark and delicately up- 
 curled ; — but this was not all. There was 
 something else, — something quite unde- 
 finable, that gave a singular glow and 
 radiance to the whole countenance, and 
 suggested the burning of a light through 
 alabaster, — a creeping of some subtle fire 
 through the veins which made the fair body 
 seem the mere reflection of some greater 
 fairness within. If those eyes were to open, 
 one thought, how wonderful their lustre must 
 needs be ! — if that perfect figure rose up and 
 moved, what a harmony would walk the 
 world in maiden shape ! — and yet, — watching 
 that hushed repose, that scarcely perceptible 
 breathing, it seemed more than certain that 
 she would never rise, — never tread earthly 
 soil in common with earth's creatures, — never 
 be more than what she seemed, — a human 
 flower, gathered and set apart — for whom ? 
 For God's love ? or Man's pleasure ? Either, 
 neither, or both ? 
 
 El - Rami entered the rich apartment 
 
 iNlVFRSITY OF ILLINOIS 
 
52 THE SOUL OF LILITH 
 
 followed by Zaroba, and stood by the couch 
 for some minutes in silence. Whatever his 
 thoughts were, his face gave no clue to 
 them, — his features being as impassive as 
 though cast in bronze. Zaroba watched him 
 curiously, her wrinkled visage expressive of 
 some strongly - suppressed passion. The 
 sleeping girl stirred and smiled in her 
 sleep, — a smile that brightened her counten- 
 ance as much as if a sudden glory had circled 
 it with a halo. 
 
 " Ay, she lives for you !" said Zaroba. 
 "And she grows fairer every day. She is 
 the sun, and you the snow. But the snow- 
 is bound to melt in due season, — and even 
 you, El-Rami-Zaranos, will hardly baffle the 
 laws of Nature !" 
 
 El-Rami turned upon her with a herce 
 mute gesture that had something of the 
 terrible in it, — she shrank from the cold 
 glance of his intense eyes, and in obedience 
 to an imperative wave of his hand moved 
 away to a further corner of the room, where, 
 crouching down upon the floor, she took 
 up a quaint implement of work, a carved 
 triangular frame of ebony, with which she 
 
THE SOUL OF LI LIT H 53 
 
 busied herself, drawing glittering threads in 
 and out of it with marvellous speed and 
 dexterity. She made a weird picture there, 
 squatted on the ground in her yellow cotton 
 draperies, her rough gray hair gleaming like 
 spun silk in the light, and the shining thread- 
 work in her withered hands. El - Rami 
 looked at her sitting thus, and was suddenly 
 moved with compassion — she was old and 
 sad, — poor Zaroba! He went up to her 
 where she crouched, and stood above her, 
 his ardent fiery eyes seeming to gather all 
 their wonderful lustre into one long, earnest 
 and pitiful regard. Her work fell from her 
 hands, and as she met that burning gaze, 
 a vague smile parted her lips, — her frowning 
 features smoothed themselves into an expres- 
 sion of mingled placidity and peace. 
 
 '* Desolate Zaroba!" said El-Rami slowly 
 lifting his hands. ''Widowed and solitary 
 soul ! Deaf to the outer noises of the world, 
 let the ears of thy spirit be open to my 
 voice — and hear thou all the music of the 
 past ! Lo, the bygone years return to thee 
 and picture themselves afresh upon thy tired 
 brain ! — again thou dost listen to the voices 
 
54 THE SOUL OF LILITH 
 
 of thy children at play, — the wild Arabian 
 desert spreads out before thee in the sun like 
 a sea of gold, — the tall palms lift themselves 
 against the burning sky — the tent is pitched 
 by the cool spring of fresh water, — and thy 
 savage mate, wearied out with long travel, 
 sleeps, pillowed on thy breast. Thou art 
 young again, Zaroba ! — young, fair and 
 beloved ! — be happy so ! Dream and rest !" 
 
 As he spoke he took the aged woman's 
 unresisting hands and laid her gently, gently, 
 by gradual degrees down in a recumbent 
 posture, and placing a cushion under her head 
 watched her for a few seconds. 
 
 " By Heaven !" he muttered, as he heard 
 her regular breathing and noted the perfectly 
 composed expression of her face. " Are 
 dreams after all the only certain joys of life } 
 A poet's fancies, — a painter's visions — the 
 cloud - castles of a boy's imaginings — all 
 dreams ! — and only such dreamers can be 
 called happy. Neither Fate nor Fortune 
 can destroy their pleasure, — they make sport 
 of kings and hold great nations as the merest 
 toys of thought — oh sublime audacity of 
 Vision ! Would I could dream so ! ■ — or 
 
THE SOUL OF LILITH 55 
 
 rather, would I could prove my dreams not 
 dreams at all, but the reflections of the 
 absolute Real ! ' Hamlet ' again ! 
 
 " To die — to sleep — 
 To sleep, perchance to dream — ay ! there's the rub !" 
 
 Imagine it! — to die and dream of Heaven — 
 or Hell, — and all the while if there should be 
 no reality in either !" 
 
 With one more glance at the now soundly 
 slumbering Zaroba, he went back to the 
 couch, and gazed long and earnestly at the 
 exquisite maiden there reclined, — then bend- 
 ing over her, he took her small fair left hand 
 in his own, pressing his fingers hard round 
 the delicate wrist. 
 
 •' Lilith ! — Lilith!" he said in low, yet 
 commanding accents. ''Lilith! — Speak to 
 me ! I am here !" 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 Deep silence followed his invocation, — a 
 silence he seemed to expect and be prepared 
 for. Looking at a silver timepiece on a 
 bracket above the couch, he mentally counted 
 slowly a hundred beats, — then pressing the 
 fragile wrist he held still more firmly between 
 his fingers, he touched with his other hand 
 the girl's brow, just above her closed eyes. 
 A faint quiver ran through the delicate 
 body, — he quickly drew back and spoke 
 again. 
 
 " Lilith ! Where are you ?'' 
 
 The sweet lips parted, and a voice soft as 
 whispered music responded — 
 
 *' 1 am here !" 
 
 ** Is all well with you i^" 
 
 " All is well !" 
 
THE SOUL OF LILITH t^y 
 
 And a smile irradiated the fair face with 
 such a light as to suggest that the eyes must 
 have opened, — but no ! — they were fast shut. 
 
 El-Rami resumed his strange interroga- 
 tion. 
 
 " Lilith ! What do you see ?" 
 
 There was a moment's pause, — then came 
 the slow response — 
 
 " Many things, — things beautiful and 
 wonderful. But you are not among them. 
 I hear your voice and I obey it, but I cannot 
 see you — I have never seen you." 
 
 El-Rami sighed, and pressed more closely 
 the soft small hand within his own. 
 
 '' Where have you been ?" 
 
 " Where my pleasure led me " — came the 
 answer in a sleepy yet joyous tone — " My 
 pleasure and — your will." 
 
 El - Rami started, but immediately con- 
 trolled himself, for Lilith stirred and threw 
 her other arm indolently behind her head, 
 leaving the great ruby on her breast flash- 
 ingly exposed to view. 
 
 " Away, away, far, far away !" she said, 
 and her accents sounded like subdued sing- 
 ing — '' Beyond, — in those regions whither I 
 
58 THE SOUL OF LILITH 
 
 was sent — beyond " her voice stopped 
 
 and trailed off into drowsy murmurings — 
 "beyond — Sirius — I saw " 
 
 She ceased, and smiled — some happy 
 thought seemed to have rendered her mute. 
 
 El-Rami waited a moment, then took up 
 her broken speech. 
 
 '* Far beyond Sirius you saw — what .^" 
 
 Moving, she pillowed her cheek upon her 
 hand, and turned more fully round towards 
 him. 
 
 " I saw a bright new world " — she said, 
 now speaking quite clearly and connectedly 
 — '*A royal world of worlds; an undis- 
 covered Star. There were giant oceans In 
 it, — the noise of many waters was heard 
 throughout the land, — and there were great 
 cities marvellously built upon the sea. I 
 saw their pinnacles of white and gold — spires 
 of coral, and gates that were studded with 
 pearl, — flags waved and music sounded, and 
 two great Suns gave double light from 
 heaven. I saw many thousands of people^ — 
 they were beautiful and happy — they sang 
 and danced and gave thanks in the ever- 
 lasting sunshine, and knelt in crowds upon 
 
THE SOUL OF LILITH 59 
 
 their wide and fruitful fields to thank the 
 Giver of life Immortal." 
 
 " Life immortal !" repeated El- Rami, — 
 *' Do not these people die, even as we ?" 
 
 A pained look, as of wonder or regret, 
 knitted the girl's fair brows. 
 
 "There is no death — neither here nor 
 there" — she said steadily — " I have told you 
 this so often, yet you will not believe. 
 Always you bid me seek for death, — I have 
 looked, but cannot find it." 
 
 She sighed, and El-Rami echoed the 
 sigh. 
 
 " I wish " — and her accents sounded plain- 
 tively — " I wish that I could see you ! There 
 is some cloud between us. I hear your voice 
 and I obey It, but I cannot see who it is that 
 calls me." 
 
 El-Rami paid no heed to these dove-like 
 murmurlngs, — moreover, he seemed to have 
 no eyes for the wondrous beauty of the 
 creature who lay thus tranced and in his 
 power, — set on his one object, the attain- 
 ment of a supernatural knowledge, he looked 
 as pitiless and impervious to all charm as 
 any Grand Inquisitor of old Spain. 
 
6o THE SOUL OF LILITH 
 
 '* Speak of yourself and not of me " — he 
 said authoritatively, — '' How can you say 
 there is no death ?" 
 
 '' I speak truth. There is none." 
 
 '' Not even here ?" 
 
 " Not anywhere." 
 
 " O daughter of vision, where are the 
 eyes of your spirit !" demanded El-Rami 
 angrily — "Search again and see! Why 
 should all Nature arm itself against Death 
 if there be no death ?" 
 
 "You are harsh," — said Lilith sorrowfully 
 — " Should I tell you what is not true ? If 
 I would, I cannot. There is no death — 
 there is only change. Beyond Sirius, they 
 sleep." 
 
 El-Rami waited ; but she had paused 
 again. 
 
 "Go on" — he said — "They sleep — why 
 and when ?" 
 
 " When they are weary " — responded 
 Lilith. " When all is done that they can 
 do, and when they need rest, they sleep, 
 and in their sleep they change ; — the change 
 is 
 
 She ceased. 
 
THE SOUL OF LILITH 6i 
 
 '' The change is death," — said El-Rami 
 positively, — ''for death is everywhere." 
 
 " Not so !" repHed Lilith quickly, and in 
 a ringing tone of clarion -like sweetness. 
 "The change is life, — for Life is every- 
 where !" 
 
 There ensued a silence. The girl turned 
 away, and bringing her hand slowly down 
 from behind her head, laid it again upon her 
 breast over the burning ruby gem. El-Rami 
 bent above her closely. 
 
 ** You are dreaming, Lilith," — he said as 
 though he would force her to own something 
 against her will. "You speak unwisely and 
 at random." 
 
 Still silence. 
 
 " Lilith !— Lilith !" he called. 
 
 No answer ; — only the lovely tints of her 
 complexion, the smile on her lips and the 
 tranquil heaving of her rounded bosom in- 
 dicated that she lived. 
 
 "Gone!" and El- Rami's brow clouded; 
 he laid back the little hand he held in its 
 former position and looked at the girl long 
 and steadily — "And so firm in her asser- 
 tion ! — as foolish an assertion as any of the 
 
62 THE SOUL OF LI LIT H 
 
 fancies of Feraz. No death ? — Nay — as well 
 say no life. She has not fathomed the secret 
 of our passing hence ; no, not though her 
 flight has outreached the realm of Sirius. 
 
 "'But that the dread of something after death, 
 The undiscovered country from whose bourne 
 No traveller returns, puzzles the will.' 
 
 Ay, puzzles the will and confounds it! 
 But must I be baffled then ? — or is it my 
 own fault that / cannot believe ? Is it 
 truly her spirit that speaks to me ? — or is it 
 my own brain acting upon hers in a state of 
 trance ? If it be the latter, why should she 
 declare things that I never dream of, and 
 which my reason does not accept as possible? 
 And if it is indeed her Soul, or the ethereal 
 Essence of her that thus soars at periodic 
 intervals of liberty into the Unseen, how is it 
 that she never comprehends Death or Pain ? 
 Is her vision limited only to behold harmo- 
 nious systems moving to a sound of joy ?" 
 
 And seized by a sudden resolution, he 
 caught both the hands of the tranced girl and 
 held them in his own, the while he fixed his 
 eyes upon her quiet face with a glance that 
 seemed to shoot forth flame. 
 
THE SOUL OF LI LIT H 63 
 
 " Lilith ! Lilith ! By the force of my 
 will and mastery over thy life, I bid thee 
 return to me ! O flitting spirit, ever bent 
 on errands of pleasure, reveal to me the 
 secrets of pain ! Come back, Lilith ! I call 
 thee — come !" 
 
 A violent shudder shook the beautiful 
 reposeful figure, — the smile faded from her 
 lips, and she heaved a profound sigh. 
 
 '' I am here !" 
 
 ** Listen to my bidding!" said El-Rami, 
 in measured accents that sounded almost 
 cruel. ''As you have soared to heights 
 ineffable, even so descend to lowest depths 
 of desolation ! Understand and seek out 
 sorrow, — pierce to the root of suffering, — 
 explain the cause of unavailing agony ! 
 These things exist. Here in this planet of 
 which you know nothing save my voice, — 
 here, if nowhere else in the wide Universe, 
 we gain our bread with bitterness and drink 
 our wine with tears. Solve me the mystery 
 of Pain, — of Injustice, — of an innocent child's 
 anguish on its death-bed, — ay ! though you 
 tell me there is no death ! — of a good man's 
 ruin, — of an evil woman's triumph, — of 
 
64 THE SOUL OF LI LIT H 
 
 despair — of self-slaughter, — of all the horrors 
 upon horrors piled, which make up this 
 world's present life. Listen, O too ecstatic 
 and believing Spirit ! — we have a legend 
 here that a God lives, — a wise all-loving 
 God, — and He, this wise and loving one, 
 has out of His great bounty invented for the 
 torture of his creatures, — Hell! Find out 
 this Hell, Lilith ! — Prove it ! — bring the plan 
 of its existence back to me. Go, — bring 
 me news of devils, — and suffer, if spirits can 
 suffer, in the unmitigated sufferings of others ! 
 Take my command and go hence, — find out 
 God's Hell ! — so shall we afterwards know 
 the worth of Heaven !" 
 
 He spoke rapidly, — impetuously, — pas- 
 sionately ; — and now he allowed the girl's 
 hands to fall suddenly from his clasp. She 
 moaned a little, — and instead of folding them 
 one over the other as before, raised them 
 palm to palm in an attitude of prayer. The 
 colour faded entirely from her face, — but 
 an expression of the calmest, grandest 
 wisdom, serenity and compassion came over 
 her features as of a saint prepared for 
 martyrdom. Her breathing grew fainter and 
 
THE SOUL OF LILITH 65 
 
 fainter till it was scarcely perceptible, — and 
 her lips parted in a short sobbing sigh, 
 then they moved and whispered something. 
 El-Rami stooped over her more closely. 
 
 '* What is it ?" he asked eagerly — '* what 
 did you say ?" 
 
 '' Nothing, . . . only . . . farewell !" and 
 the faint tone stirred the silence like the 
 last sad echo of a song — " And yet . . . 
 once more . . . farewell !" 
 
 He drew back, and observed her intently. 
 She now looked like a recumbent statue, 
 with those upraised hands of hers so white 
 and small and delicate, — and El - Rami 
 remembered that he must keep the machine 
 of the Body living, if he desired to receive 
 through its medium the messages of the 
 Spirit. Taking a small phial from his breast, 
 together with the necessary surgeon's instru- 
 ment used for such purposes, he pricked the 
 rounded arm nearest to him, and carefully 
 injected into the veins a small quantity of 
 a strange sparkling fluid which gave out a 
 curiously sweet and pungent odour ; — as he 
 did this, the lifted hands fell gently into their 
 original position, crossed over the ruby star. 
 
 VOL. T. 5 
 
66 THE SOUL OF LI LIT H 
 
 The breathing grew steadier and lighter, — 
 the lips took fresh colour, — and El-Rami 
 watched the effect with absorbed interest 
 and attention. 
 
 " One might surely preserve her body so 
 for ever," he mused half aloud. " The tissues 
 renewed, — the blood re-organized, — the whole 
 system completely nourished with absolute 
 purity ; and not a morsel of what is con- 
 sidered food, which contains so much organic 
 mischief, allowed to enter that exquisitely 
 beautiful mechanism, which exhales all waste 
 upon the air through the pores of the skin 
 as naturally as a flower exhales perfume 
 through Its leaves. A wonderful discovery ! 
 — if all men knew it, would not they deem 
 themselves truly immortal, even here ? But 
 the trial Is not over yet, — the experiment is 
 not perfect. Six years has she lived thus, 
 but who can say whether Indeed Death has 
 no power over her ? In those six years she 
 has changed, — she has grown from childhood 
 to womanhood, — does not change imply age ? 
 — and age suggest death, in spite of all 
 science ? O inexorable Death ! — I will pluck 
 Its secret out If I die In the effort !" 
 
THE SOUL OF LILITH 67 
 
 He turned away from the couch, — then 
 seemed struck by a new idea. 
 
 '' If \ die, did I say? But ca7i I die? Is 
 her Spirit right? Is my reasoning wrong? 
 Is there no pause anywhere? — no cessation 
 of thought ? — no end to the insatiability of 
 ambition ? Must we plan and work and 
 live — For Ever ?" 
 
 A shudder ran through him, — the notion 
 of his own perpetuity appalled him. Passing 
 a long mirror framed in antique silver, he 
 caught sight of himself in it, — his dark hand- 
 some face, rendered darker by the contrasting 
 whiteness of his hair, — his full black eyes, — 
 his fine but disdainful mouth, — all looked 
 back at him with the scornful reflex of his 
 own scornful regard. 
 
 He laughed a little bitterly. 
 
 " There you are, El-Rami Zaranos !" he 
 murmured half aloud. '' Scoffer and scientist, 
 —master of a few common magnetic secrets 
 such as the priests of ancient Egypt made 
 sport of, though in these modern days of 
 'culture,' they are sufficient to make most 
 men your tools! What now? Is there no 
 rest for the inner calculations of your mind ? 
 
68 THE SOUL OF LI LIT H 
 
 Plan and work and live for ever ? Well, 
 why not ? Could I fathom the secrets of a 
 thousand universes, would that suffice me ? 
 No ! I should seek for the solving of a 
 thousand more !" 
 
 He gave a parting glance round the 
 room, — at the fair tranced form on the 
 couch, at the placid Zaroba slumbering in 
 a corner, at the whole effect of the sumptuous 
 apartment, with its purple and gold, its roses, 
 its crystal and ivory adornments, — then he 
 passed out, drawing to the velvet curtains 
 noiselessly behind him. In the small ante- 
 room, he took up the slate and wrote 
 upon it — 
 
 " I shall not return hither for forty-eight 
 hours. During this interval admit as much 
 full daylight as possible. Observe the 
 strictest silence, and do not touch her. 
 
 ** El-Rami." 
 
 Having thus set down his instructions he 
 descended the stairs to his own room, where, 
 extinguishing the electric light, he threw him- 
 self on his hard camp-bedstead and was soon 
 sound asleep. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 '* I DO not believe in a future state. I am 
 very much distressed about it." 
 
 The speaker was a stoutish, able-bodied 
 individual in clerical dress, with rather a 
 handsome face and an easy agreeable manner. 
 He addressed himself to El-Rami, who, seated 
 at his writing-table, observed him with some- 
 thing of a satirical air. 
 
 "You wrote me this letter .'^" queried El- 
 Rami, selecting one from a heap beside him. 
 The clergyman bent forward to look, and 
 recognising his own handwriting, smiled a 
 bland assent. 
 
 " You are the Rev. Francis Anstruther, 
 Vicar of Laneck, — a great favourite with the 
 Bishop of your diocese, I understand i^" 
 
 The gentleman bowed blandly again, — 
 
70 THE SOUL OF LILITH 
 
 then assumed a meek and chastened expres- 
 sion. 
 
 " That is, I was a favourite of the Bishop's 
 at one time " — he murmured regretfully — 
 ''and I suppose I am now, only I fear that 
 this matter of conscience " 
 
 ''Oh, it is a matter of conscience?" said 
 El-Rami slowly — "You are sure of that?" 
 
 " Quite sure of that !" and the Reverend 
 Francis Anstruther sighed profoundly. 
 
 " ' Thus conscience does make cowards of 
 us all 
 
 " I beg your pardon ?" and the clergyman 
 opened his eyes a little. 
 
 " Nay, I beg yours ! — I was quoting 
 ' Hamlet.' " 
 
 " Oh !" 
 
 There was a silence. El-Rami bent his 
 dark flashing eyes on his visitor, who seemed 
 a little confused by the close scrutiny. It 
 was the morning after the circumstances 
 narrated in the previous chapter, — the clock 
 marked ten minutes to noon, — the weather 
 was brilliant and sunshiny, and the tempera- 
 ture warm for the uncertain English month 
 of May. El-Rami rose suddenly and threw 
 
THE SOUL OF LILITH 71 
 
 Open the window nearest him, as if he found 
 the air oppressive. 
 
 ** Why did you seek me out ?" he de- 
 manded, turning towards the reverend gentle- 
 man once more. 
 
 " Well, it was really the merest acci- 
 dent " 
 
 " It always is !" said El- Rami with a slight 
 dubious smile. 
 
 " I was at Lady Melthorpe's the other 
 day, and I told her my difficulty. She 
 spoke of you, and said she felt certain you 
 would be able to clear up my doubts " 
 
 "Not at all. I am too busy clearing up 
 my own," said El-Rami brusquely. 
 
 The clergyman looked surprised. 
 
 "Dear me! — I thought, from what her 
 ladyship said, that you were scientifically 
 certain of " 
 
 " Of what ?" interrupted El-Rami—" Of 
 myself.-^ Nothing more uncertain in the 
 world than my own humour, I assure you ! 
 Of others ? I am not a student of human 
 caprice. Of life ? — of death ? Neither. I 
 am simply trying to prove the existence of a 
 * something after death ' — but I am certain 
 
n THE SOUL OF LILITH 
 
 of nothing, and I believe in nothing, unless 
 proved." 
 
 " But," said Mr. Anstruther anxiously — 
 '' you will, I hope, allow me to explain that 
 you leave a very different impression on the 
 minds of those to whom you speak, than the 
 one you now suggest. Lady Melthorpe, for 
 instance, " 
 
 " Lady Melthorpe believes what it pleases 
 her to believe," — said El-Rami quietly — '' All 
 pretty, sensitive, imaginative women do. 
 That accounts for the immense success of 
 Roman Catholicism with women. It is a 
 graceful, pleasing, comforting religion, — 
 moreover it is really becoming to a woman, 
 — she looks charming with a rosary in her 
 hand, or a quaint old missal, — and she 
 knows it. Lady Melthorpe is a believer in 
 ideals, — well, there is no harm in ideals, — 
 long may she be able to indulge in them." 
 
 " But Lady Melthorpe declares that you 
 are able to tell the past and the future," 
 persisted the clergyman — "And that you 
 can also read the present ; — if that is so, 
 you must surely possess visionary power .•*" 
 
 El-R4mi looked at him stedfastly. 
 
THE SOUL OF LI LIT H y^ 
 
 ** I can tell you the past ;" — he said — 
 '* And I can read your present ; — and from 
 the two portions of your life I can calculate 
 the last addition, the Future, — but my cal- 
 culation may be wrong. I mean wrong as 
 regards coming events ; — past and present I 
 can never be mistaken in, because there 
 exists a natural law, by which you are bound 
 to reveal yourself to me." 
 
 The Reverend Francis Anstruther moved 
 uneasily in his chair, but managed to convey 
 into his countenance the proper expression of 
 politely incredulous astonishment. 
 
 "This natural law," went on El-R^mi, 
 laying one hand on the celestial globe as he 
 spoke, "has been in existence ever since 
 man's formation, but we are only just now 
 beginning to discover it, or rather re-discover 
 it, since it was tolerably well-known to the 
 priests of ancient Egypt. You see this 
 sphere ;" — and he moved the celestial globe 
 round slowly — " It represents the pattern of 
 the heavens according to our solar system. 
 Now a Persian poet of old time, declared in 
 a few wild verses, that solar systems tak(Mi 
 in a mass, could be considered the brain o{ 
 
74 THE SOUL OF LILITH 
 
 heaven, the stars being the thinking, moving 
 molecules of that brain. A sweeping idea, — 
 what your line-and-pattern critics would call 
 ' far-fetched ' — but it will serve me just now 
 for an illustration of my meaning. Taking 
 this ' brain of heaven ' by way of simile then, 
 it is evident we — we human pigmies, — are, 
 notwithstanding our ridiculous littleness and 
 inferiority, able to penetrate correctly enough 
 into some of the mysteries of that star-teem- 
 ing intelligence, — we can even take patterns 
 of its shifting molecules " — and again he 
 touched the globe beside him, — *'we can 
 watch its modes of thought — and calculate 
 when certain planets will rise and set, — and 
 when we cannot see its action, we can get 
 its vibrations of light, to the marvellous 
 extent of being able to photograph the moon 
 of Neptune, which remains invisible to the 
 eye even with the assistance of a telescope. 
 You wonder what all this tends to ? — well, — 
 I speak of vibrations of light from the brain 
 of heaven, — vibrations which we know are 
 existent ; and which we prove by means o( 
 photography ; and because we see the results 
 in black and white, we believe in them. But 
 
 I 
 
THE SOUL OF LILITH 75 
 
 there are other vibrations in the Universe, 
 which cannot be photographed, — the vibra- 
 tions of the human brain, which like those 
 emanating from the ' brain of heaven ' are 
 full of light and fire, and convey distinct 
 impressions or patterns of thought. People 
 speak of ' thought-transference ' from one 
 subject to another as if it were a remarkable 
 coincidence, — whereas you cannot put a stop 
 to the transference of thought. — it is in the 
 very air, like the germs of disease or 
 health, — and nothing can do away with 
 it." 
 
 '' I do not exactly understand " — murmured 
 the clergyman with some bewilderment. 
 
 •'Ah, you want a practical demonstration 
 of what seems a merely abstract theory ? 
 Nothing easier !" — and moving again to the 
 table he sat down, fixing his dark eyes keenly 
 on his visitor — " As the stars pattern heaven 
 in various shapes, like the constellation Lyra, 
 or Orion, so you have patterned your brain 
 with pictures or photographs of your past 
 and your present. A// your past, every 
 scene of it, is impressed in the curious little 
 brain-particles that lie in their various cells, — 
 
76 THE SOUL OF LILITH 
 
 you have forgotten some incidents, but they 
 would all come back to you if you were 
 drowning or being hung ; — because suffoca- 
 tion or strangulation would force up every 
 infinitesimal atom of brain-matter into extra- 
 ordinary prominence for the moment. Natu- 
 rally your present existence is the most vivid 
 picture with you, therefore perhaps you would 
 like me to begin with that ?" 
 
 ''Begin? — how?" asked Mr. Anstruther, 
 still in amazement. 
 
 "Why, — let me take the impression of 
 your brain upon my own. It is quite simple, 
 and quite scientific. Consider yourself the 
 photographic negative, and me the sensitive 
 paper to receive the impression ! I may 
 offer you a blurred picture, but I do not 
 think it likely. Only if you wish to hide 
 anything from me I would advise you not to 
 try the experiment.' 
 
 "Really, sir, — this is very extraordinary! 
 — I am at a loss to comprehend " 
 
 "Oh, I will make it quite plain to you — ** 
 said El-Rami with a slight smile — "There 
 is no witchcraft in it — no trickery, — nothing 
 but the commonest ABC science. Will 
 
THE SOUL OF LIUIH y-j 
 
 you try ? — or would you prefer to leave the 
 matter alone ? My demonstration will not 
 convince you of a 'future state/ which was 
 the subject you first spoke to me about, — it 
 will only prove to you the physiological 
 phenomena surrounding your present con- 
 stitution and condition." 
 
 The Reverend Francis Anstruther hesi- 
 tated. He was a little startled by the cold 
 and convincing manner with which El-Rami 
 spoke, — at the same time he did not believe 
 in his words, and his own incredulity inclined 
 him to see the ''experiment," whatever it was. 
 It would be all hocus-pocus, of course, — this 
 Oriental fellow could know nothing about 
 him, — he had never seen him before, and 
 must therefore be totally ignorant of his 
 private life and affairs. Considering this 
 for a moment, he looked up and smiled. 
 
 " I shall be most interested and delighted," 
 • — he said — " to make the trial you suggest. 
 I am really curious. As for the present 
 picture or photograph on my brain, I think 
 it will only show you my perplexity as to m\ 
 position with the Bishop in my wavering state 
 of mind " 
 
78 THE SOUL OF LILITH 
 
 " Or conscience — " suggested El-Rami — 
 " You said it was a matter of conscience." 
 
 "Quite so — quite so! And conscience is 
 the most powerful motor of a man's actions 
 Mr. — Mr. El-Rami ! It is indeed the voice 
 of God !" 
 
 " That depends on what it says, and how 
 we hear it — " said El-Rami rather dryly — 
 " Now if we are to make this * demonstra- 
 tion,' will you put your left hand here, in my 
 left hand } So, — your left palm must press 
 closely upon my left palm, — yes — that will 
 do. Observe the position, please ; — you see 
 that my left fingers rest on your left wrist, 
 and are therefore directly touching the nerves 
 and arteries running through your heart from 
 your brain. By this, you are, to use my 
 former simile, pressing me, the sensitive 
 paper, to your photographic negative — and I 
 make no doubt we shall get a fair impression. 
 But to prevent any interruption to the brain- 
 wave rushing from you to me, we will add 
 this little trifle," and he dexterously slipped 
 a steel band over his hand and that of his 
 visitor as they rested thus together on the 
 table, and snapt it to, — "a sort of handcuff, 
 
THE SOUL OF LI LITE 79 
 
 as you perceive. It has nothing in the world 
 to do with our experiment. It is simply- 
 placed there to prevent your moving your 
 hand away from mine, which would be your 
 natural impulse if I should happen to say 
 anything disagreeably true. And to do so, 
 would of course cut the ethereal thread of 
 contact between us. Now, are you ready }'' 
 
 The clergyman grew a shade paler. El- 
 Rimi seemed so very sure of the result of 
 this singular trial, that it was a little bit dis- 
 agreeable. But having consented to the 
 experiment, he felt he was compelled to go 
 through with it, so he bowed a nervous 
 assent. Whereupon El - Rami closed his 
 brilliant eyes, and sat for one or two minutes 
 silent and immovable. A curious fidgeti- 
 ness began to trouble the Reverend Francis 
 Anstruther, — he tried to think of something 
 ridiculous, something altogether apart from 
 himself, but in vain, — his own personality, 
 his own life, his own secret aims seemed all 
 to weigh upon him like a sudden incubus. 
 Presently tingling sensations pricked his arm 
 as with burning needles, — the hand that was 
 fettered to that of El-Rami felt as hot as 
 
8o THE SOUL OF LJLITH 
 
 though it were being held to a fire. All at 
 once El-Rami spoke in a low tone, without 
 opening his eyes — 
 
 " The shadow-impression of a woman. 
 Brown-haired, dark-eyed, — of a full, luscious 
 beauty, and a violent, unbridled, ill-balanced 
 will. Mindless, but physically attractive. 
 She dominates your thought." 
 
 A quiver ran through the clergyman's 
 frame, — if he could only have snatched away 
 his hand he would have done it then. 
 
 " She is not your wife — " went on El- 
 Rami — " she is the wife of your wealthiest 
 neighbour. You have a wife, — an invalid, — 
 you have also eight children, — but these are 
 not prominent in the picture at present. 
 The woman with the dark eyes and hair is 
 the chief figure. Your plans are made for 
 her " 
 
 He paused, and again the wretched Mr. 
 Anstruther shuddered. 
 
 *' Wait — wait !" exclaimed El-Rami sud- 
 denly in a tone of animation — "Now it 
 comes clearly. You have decided to lea\e 
 the Church, not because you do not believe 
 in a future state, — for this you never have 
 
THE SOUL OF LILITH 
 
 believed at any time — but because you wish 
 to rid yourself of all moral and religious 
 responsibility. Your scheme is perfectly 
 distinct. You will make out a ' case of 
 conscience ' to your authorities, and resign 
 your living, — you will then desert your wife 
 and children, — you will leave your country in 
 the company of the woman whose secret 
 lover you are " 
 
 "Stop!" cried the Reverend Mr. Anstruther, 
 savagely endeavouring to wrench away his 
 hand from the binding fetter which held it 
 remorselessly to the hand of El - Rami — 
 " Stop ! You are telling me a pack of lies !" 
 
 El-Rami opened his great flashing orbs 
 and surveyed him first in surprise, then with 
 a deep unutterable contempt. Unclasping 
 the steel band that bound their two hands 
 together, he flung it by, and rose to his feet. 
 
 " Lies .'^" he echoed indignantly. "Your 
 whole life Is a lie, and both Nature and 
 Science are bound to give the reflex of it. 
 What ! would you play a double part with 
 the Eternal Forces and think to succeed in 
 such desperate fooling ? Do you imagine 
 you can deceive supreme Omniscience, which 
 
 VOL. I. 6 
 
82 THE SOUL OF LILITH 
 
 holds every star and every infinitesimal atom 
 of life in a network of such instant vibrating 
 consciousness and contact, that in terrible 
 truth there are and can be ' no secrets hid ' ? 
 You may if you like act out the wretched 
 comedy of feigning to deceive your God — 
 the God of the Churches, — but beware of 
 trifling with the 7^eal God, — the absolute 
 Ego Sum of the Universe." 
 
 His voice rang out passionately upon the 
 stillness, — the clergyman had also risen from 
 his chair, and stood, nervously fumbling with 
 his gloves, not venturing to raise his eyes. 
 
 " I have told you the truth of yourself," 
 — continued El- Rami more quietly — "You 
 know I have. Why then do you accuse me 
 of telling you lies } Why did you seek me 
 out at all if you wished to conceal yourself 
 and your intentions from me 1 Can you deny 
 the testimony of your own brain reflected on 
 mine ? Come, confess ! be honest for once, — 
 do you deny it .^" 
 
 " I deny everything ;" — replied the clergy- 
 man, — but his accents were husky and 
 indistinct. 
 
 "So be it!"--and El-Rami gave a short 
 
THE SOUL OF LILITH 83 
 
 laugh of scorn. '' Your * case of conscience ' 
 is evidently very pressing ! Go to your 
 Bishop — and tell him you cannot believe in 
 a future state, — I certainly cannot help you 
 to prove ^/la^ mystery. Besides, you would 
 rather there were no future state, — a ' some- 
 thing after death ' must needs be an un- 
 pleasant point of meditation for such as you. 
 Oh yes ! — you will get your freedom ; — you 
 will get all you are scheming for, and you 
 will be quite a notorious person for awhile 
 on account of the delicacy of your sense of 
 honour and the rectitude of your principles. 
 Exactly ! — and then your final co^p, — your 
 running away with your neighbour's wife will 
 make you notorious again — in quite another 
 sort of fashion. Ah ! — every man is bound 
 to weave the threads of his own destiny, and 
 you are weaving yours ; — do not be surprised 
 if you find you have made of them a net 
 wherein to become hopelessly caught, tied 
 and strangled. It is no doubt unpleasant 
 for you to hear these things, — what a pity 
 you came to me !" 
 
 The Reverend Francis Anstruther buttoned 
 his glove carefully. 
 
84 THE SOUL OF LILITH 
 
 '* Oh, I do not regret it," he said. "Any 
 other man might perhaps feel himself in- 
 sulted, but " 
 
 ''But you are too much of a 'Christian' 
 to take offence — yes, I dare say !" interposed 
 El-Rami satirically, — " I thank you for your 
 amiable forbearance ! Allow me to close this 
 interview " — and he was about to ring the 
 bell, when his visitor said hastily and with 
 an effort at appearing unconcerned — 
 
 " I suppose I may rely on your secrecy 
 respecting what has passed ?" 
 
 " Secrecy ?" and El-Rami raised his black 
 
 eyebrows disdainfully " What you call 
 
 secrecy I know not. But if you mean that 
 I shall speak of you and your affairs, — why, 
 make yourself quite easy on that score. I 
 shall not even think of you after you have 
 left this room. Do not attach too much 
 importance to yourself, reverend sir, — true, 
 your name will soon be mentioned in the 
 newspapers, but this should not excite you 
 to an undue vanity. As for me, I have other 
 things to occupy me, and clerical ' cases of 
 conscience ' such as yours, fail to attract either 
 my wonder or admiration !" Here he touched 
 
THE SOUL OF LI LIT H 85 
 
 the bell. — '' Feraz !" this, as his young brother 
 instantly appeared — " The door !" 
 
 The Reverend Francis Anstruther took 
 up his hat, looked into it, glanced nervously 
 round at the picturesque form of the silent 
 Feraz, then with a sudden access of courage, 
 looked at El-Rami. That handsome Oriental's 
 fiery eyes were fixed upon him, — the superb 
 head, the dignified figure, the stately manner, 
 all combined to make him feel uncomfortable 
 and awkward ; but he forced a faint smile — it 
 was evident he must say something. 
 
 " You are a very remarkable man, Mr. . . . 
 El-Rami " — he stammered. ... ''It has been 
 a most interesting . . . and . . . instructive 
 morning !" 
 
 El-Rami made no response other than a 
 slight frigid bow. 
 
 The clergyman again peered into the 
 depths of his hat. 
 
 '* I will not go so far as to say you were 
 correct in anything you said " — he went on — 
 "but there was a little truth in some of your 
 allusions, — they really applied, or might be 
 made to apply to past events, — by-gone 
 circumstances . . . you understand } . . 
 
86 THE SOUL OF LILITH 
 
 El-Rami took one step towards him. 
 
 *' No more lies in Heaven's name !" he 
 said in a stern whisper. " The air is poisoned 
 enough for to-day. Go !" 
 
 Such a terrible earnestness marked his 
 face and voice that the Reverend Francis 
 retreated abruptly in alarm, and stumbling 
 out of the room hastily, soon found himself 
 in the open street with the great oaken door 
 of El-Rami's house shut upon him. He 
 paused a moment, glanced at the sky, then 
 at the pavement, shook his head, drew a 
 long breath, and seemed on the verge of 
 hesitation ; then he looked at his watch, — 
 smiled a bland smile, and hailing a cab, was 
 driven to lunch at the Criterion, where a 
 handsome woman with dark hair and eyes, 
 met him with mingled flattery and upbraid- 
 ing, and gave herself pouting and capricious 
 airs of offence, because he had kept her 
 ten minutes waiting. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 That afternoon El- Rami prepared to go out 
 as was his usual custom, immediately after 
 the mid-day meal, which was served to him 
 by Feraz, who stood behind his chair like 
 a slave all the time he ate and drank, attend- 
 ing to his needs with the utmost devotion 
 and assiduity. Feraz indeed was his brother s 
 only domestic, — Zaroba's duties being entirely 
 confined to the mysterious apartments up- 
 stairs and their still more mysterious oc- 
 cupant. El-Rami was in a taciturn mood, — 
 the visit of the Reverend Francis Anstruther 
 seemed to have put him out, and he scarcely 
 spoke, save in monosyllables. Before leaving 
 the house, however, his humour suddenly 
 softened, and noting the wistful and timorous 
 gaze with which Feraz regarded him, he 
 laughed outright. 
 
88 THE SOUL OF LILITH 
 
 *' You are very patient with me, Feraz !" he 
 said — "And I know I am as sullen as a 
 bear." 
 
 '' You think too much ;" — replied Feraz 
 gently — "And you work too hard." 
 
 " Both thought and labour are neces- 
 sary, " said El-Rami — "You would not 
 have me live a life of merely bovine 
 repose ?" 
 
 Feraz gave a deprecating gesture. 
 
 "Nay — but surely rest is needful. To 
 be happy, God Himself must sometimes 
 sleep." 
 
 " You think so ?'' and El-Rami smiled — 
 " Then it must be during His hours of repose 
 and oblivion that the business of life goes 
 wrong, and Darkness and the Spirit of 
 Confusion walk abroad. The Creator should 
 never sleep." 
 
 "Why not, if He has dreams?" asked 
 Feraz — " For if Eternal Thought becomes 
 Substance, so a God's Dream may become 
 Life." 
 
 " Poetic as usual, my Feraz " — replied his 
 brother — "and yet perhaps you are not so 
 far wrong in your ideas. That Thought 
 
THE SOUL OF LI LIT H 89 
 
 becomes Substance, even with man's limited 
 powers, is true enough ; — the thought of a 
 perfect, form grows up embodied in the 
 weight and Substance of marble, with the 
 sculptor, — the vague fancies of a poet, being 
 set in ink on paper, become Substance in 
 book-shape, solid enough to pass from one 
 hand to the other ; — even so may a God's 
 mere Thought of a world create a Planet. 
 It is my own Impression that thoughts, like 
 atoms, are Imperishable, and that even 
 dreams, being forms of thought, never die. 
 But I must not stay here talking, — adieu ! 
 Do not sit up for me to-night — I shall not 
 return, — I am going down to the coast." 
 
 "To llfracombe?" questioned Feraz — 
 " So long a journey, and all to see that poor 
 mad soul T' 
 
 El- Rami looked at him stedfastly. 
 
 •* No more 'mad,' Feraz, than you are 
 with your notions about your native star ! 
 Why should a scientist who amuses himself 
 with the reflections on a Disc of magnetic 
 crystal be deemed * mad ' } Fifty years ago 
 the electric inventions of Edison would have 
 been called * impossible,' — and he, the in- 
 
90 THE SOUL OF LI LIT H 
 
 ventor, considered hopelessly Insane. But 
 now we know these seeming ' miracles ' are 
 facts, we cease to wonder at them. And 
 my poor friend with his Disc is a harmless 
 creature; — his 'craze,' if it be a craze, is as 
 innocent as yours." 
 
 "But I have no craze" — said Feraz com- 
 posedly, — ''all that I know and see, lives in 
 my brain like music,^ — and though I remem- 
 ber It ^ perfectly, I trouble no one with the 
 story of my past." 
 
 "And he troubles no one with what he 
 deems may be the story of the future " — said 
 El- Rami — "Call no one * mad ' because he 
 happens to have a new Idea — for time may 
 prove such ' madness ' a merely perfected 
 method of reason. I must hasten, or I shall 
 lose my train." 
 
 " If it is the 2.40 from Waterloo, you have 
 time," said Feraz — " It Is not yet two 
 o'clock. Do you leave any message for 
 Zaroba T' 
 
 " None. She has my orders." 
 
 Feraz looked full at his brother, and a 
 warm flush coloured his handsome face. 
 
 "Shall I never be worthy of your con- 
 
THE SOUL OF LILITH 91 
 
 fidence ?" he asked in a low voice — '* Can you 
 never trust vie with your great secret, as well 
 as Zaroba ?" 
 
 El-Rami frowned darkly. 
 
 "Again, this vulgar vice of curiosity? I 
 thought you were exempt from it by this 
 time." 
 
 '' Nay, but hear me, El-Rami " — said Feraz 
 eagerly, distressed at the anger in his 
 brother's eyes — '' It is not curiosity, — it *is 
 something else,^ — something that I can hardly 
 explain, except. . . . Oh, you will only laugh 
 at me if I tell you . . . but yet " 
 
 " But what ?" demanded El-Rami sternly. 
 
 *' It is as if a voice called me," — answered 
 Feraz dreamily — ''a voice from those upper 
 chambers, which you keep closed, and of 
 which only Zaroba has the care — a voice 
 that asks for freedom and for peace. It is 
 such a sorrowful voice, — but sweet, — more 
 sweet than any singing. True, I hear it but 
 seldom, — only when I do, it haunts me for 
 hours and hours. I know you are at some 
 great work up there, — but can you make 
 such voices ring from a merely scientific 
 laboratory ? Now you are angered !" 
 
92 THE SOUL OF LI LIT H 
 
 His large soft brilliant eyes rested appeal- 
 ingly upon his brother, whose features had 
 grown pale and rigid. 
 
 ''Angered!" he echoed, speaking as it 
 seemed with some effort, — " Am I ever 
 angered at your — your fancies ? For fancies 
 they are, Feraz, — the voice you hear is like 
 the imagined home in that distant star you 
 speak of, — an image and an echo on your 
 brain — no more. My 'great work,' as you 
 call it, would have no interest for you ; — it is 
 nothing but a test-experiment, which, if it 
 fails, then I fail with it, and am no more 
 El-Rami-Zaranos, but the merest fool that 
 ever clamoured for the moon." He said this 
 more to himself than to his brother, and 
 seemed for the moment to have forgotten 
 where he was, — till suddenly rousing himself 
 with a start, he forced a smile. 
 
 "Farewell for the present, gentle visionary!" 
 he said kindly, — " You are happier with your 
 dreams than I with my facts, — do not seek 
 out sorrow for yourself by rash and idle 
 questioning." 
 
 With a parting nod he went out, and 
 F6raz, closing the door after him, remained 
 
THE SOUL OF LI LIT H 93 
 
 in the hall for a few moments in a sort of 
 vague reverie. How silent the house seemed, 
 he thought with a half- sigh. The very 
 atmosphere of it was depressing, and even 
 his favourite occupation, music, had just now 
 no attraction for him. He turned listlessly 
 into his brother's study, — he determined to 
 read for an hour or so, and looked about in 
 search of some entertaining volume. On 
 the table he found a book open, — a manu- 
 script, written on vellum in Arabic, with 
 curious uncanny figures and allegorical designs 
 on the headings and margins. El- Rami had 
 left it there by mistake, — it was a particularly 
 valuable treasure which he generally kept 
 under lock and key. F^raz sat down in front 
 of it, and resting his head on his two hands, 
 began to read at the page where it lay open. 
 Arabic was his native tongue, — yet he had 
 some difficulty in making out this especial 
 specimen of the language, because the writing 
 was anything but distinct, and some of the 
 letters had a very odd way of vanishing 
 before his eyes, just as he had fixed them on 
 a word. This was puzzling as well as irritating, 
 — he must have something the matter with 
 
94 THE SOUL OF LILITH 
 
 his sight or his brain, he concluded, as these 
 vanishing letters always came into position 
 again after a little. Worried by the pheno- 
 menon, he seized the book and carried it to 
 the full light of the open window, and there 
 succeeded in making out the meaning of one 
 passage which was quite sufficient to set him 
 thinking. It ran as follows : 
 
 ^ '* Wherefore, touching illusions and im- 
 pressions, as also strong emotions of love, 
 hatred, jealousy or revenge, these nerve and 
 brain sensations are easily conveyed from 
 one human subject to another by Suggestion. 
 The first process is to numb the optic nerve. 
 This is done in two ways — I. By causing 
 the subject to fix his eyes steadily on a 
 round shining case containing a magnet, 
 while you shall count two hundred beats of 
 time. II. By wilfully making your own eyes 
 the magnet, and fixing your subject thereto. 
 Either of these operations will temporarily 
 paralyze the optic nerves, and arrest the 
 motion of the blood in the vessels pertain- 
 ing. Thus the brain becomes insensible to 
 
 * From " The Natural Law of Miracles," written in Arabic 
 400 B.C. 
 
THE SOUL OF LILITH 95 
 
 external impressions, and is only awake to 
 internal suggestions, which you may make 
 as many and as devious as you please. Your 
 subject will see exactly what you choose him 
 to see, hear what you wish him to hear, do 
 what you bid him do, so long as you hold 
 him by your power, which if you understand 
 the laws of light, sound, and air-vibrations, 
 you may be able to retain for an indefinite 
 period. The same force applies to the 
 magnetising of a multitude as of a single 
 individual." 
 
 Feraz read this over and over again, — 
 then returning to the table, laid the book 
 upon it with a deeply engrossed air. It had 
 given him unpleasant matter for reflection. 
 
 ''A dreamer — a visionary, he calls me — " 
 he mused, his thoughts reverting to his 
 absent brother — " Full of fancies poetic and 
 musical, — now can it be that I owe my very 
 dreams to his dominance ? Does he ma^e 
 me subservient to him, as I am, or is my 
 submission to his will, my own desire ? Is 
 my ' madness ' or ' craze,' or whatever he 
 calls it, of h's working ? and should I be 
 more like other men if I were separated 
 
96 THE SOUL OF LILITH 
 
 from him ? And yet what has he ever done 
 to me, save make me happy ? Has he 
 placed me under the influence of any magnet 
 such as this book describes ? Certainly not 
 that I am aware of He has made my 
 inward spirit clearer of comprehension, so 
 that I hear him call me even by a thought, 
 — I see and know beautiful things of which 
 grosser souls have no perception, — and am I 
 not content ? — Yes, surely I am ! — surely I 
 should be, — though at times there seems a 
 something missing, — a something to which I 
 cannot give a name." 
 
 He sighed, — and again buried his head 
 between his hands, — he was conscious of a 
 dreary sensation, unusual to his bright and 
 fervid nature, — the very sunshine streaming 
 through the window seemed to lack true 
 brilliancy. Suddenly a hand was laid upon 
 his shoulder, — he started and rose to his feet 
 with a bewildered air, — then smiled, as he 
 saw that the intruder was only Zaroba. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Only Zaroba, — gaunt, grim, fierce - eyed 
 Zaroba, old and unlovely, yet possessing 
 withal an air of savage dignity, as she 
 stood erect, her amber-coloured robe bound 
 about her with a scarlet girdle, and her gray 
 hair gathered closely under a small coif of thtt 
 same vivid hue. Her wrinkled visage had 
 more animation in it than on the previous 
 night, and her harsh voice grew soft as she 
 looked at the picturesque glowing beauty of 
 the young man beside her, and addressed 
 him. 
 
 " El-Rami has gone ?" she asked. 
 
 F6raz nodded. He generally made her 
 understand him either by signs, or the use 
 of the finger-alphabet, at which he was very 
 dexterous. 
 
 VOL. I. 7 
 
98 THE SOUL OF LI LIT H 
 
 *'On what quest?" she demanded. 
 
 Feraz explained rapidly and mutely that 
 he had gone to visit a friend residinpf at a 
 distance from town. 
 
 " Then he will not return to-night ;"- — 
 muttered Zaroba thoughtfully — " He will 
 not return to-night." 
 
 She sat down, and clasping her hands 
 across her knees, rocked herself to and fro 
 for some minutes in silence. Then she 
 spoke, more to herself than to her listener. 
 
 ** He is an angel or a fiend," she said in 
 low meditative accents. " Or maybe he is 
 both in one. He saved me from death 
 once — I shall never forget that. And by 
 his power he sent me back to my native 
 land last night — I bound my black tresses 
 with pearl and gold, and laughed and sang, — 
 I was young again ! ' — and with a sudden cr)^ 
 she raised her hands above her head and 
 clapped them fiercely together, so that the 
 silver bangles on her arms jangled like bells ; 
 — " As God liveth, I was young ! Yoit 
 know what it is to be young " — and she 
 turned her dark orbs half enviously upon 
 F^raz, who, leanin^y acrainst his brother's 
 
THE SOUL OF LI LIT H 99 
 
 writing-table, regarded her with interest and 
 something of awe — *' or you should know it ! 
 To feel the blood leap in the veins, while the 
 happy heart keeps time like the beat of a 
 joyous cymbal, — to catch the breath and 
 tremble with ecstasy as the eyes one loves 
 best in the world flash lightning-passion into 
 your own, — to make companions of the 
 roses, and feel the pulses quicken at the 
 songs of birds, — to tread the ground so 
 lightly as to scarcely know whether it is 
 earth or air — this is to be young! — young! — 
 and I was young last night. My love was 
 with me, — my love, my more than lover — 
 * Zaroba, beautiful Zaroba !' he said, and his 
 kisses were as honey on my lips — * Zaroba, 
 pearl of passion ! fountain of sweetness in a 
 desert land ! — thine eyes are fire in which I 
 burn my soul, — thy round arms the prison in 
 which I lock my heart ! Zaroba, beautiful 
 Zaroba !' — Beautiful ! Ay ! — through the 
 power of El- Rami I was fair to see — last 
 night ! . . . only last night !" 
 
 Her voice sank down into a feeble wailing, 
 and Feraz gazed at her compassionately and 
 in a little wonder, — he was accustomed to 
 
THE SOUL OF LI LIT H 
 
 see her in various strange and incompre- 
 hensible moods, but she was seldom so 
 excited as now. 
 
 *' Why do you not laugh ?" she asked 
 suddenly and with a touch of defiance — 
 *' Why do you not laugh at me? — at me, 
 the wretched Zaroba, — old and unsightly — 
 bent and wrinkled ! — that I should dare to 
 say I was once beautiful ! — It is a thing to 
 make sport of — an old forsaken woman's 
 dream of her dead youth." 
 
 With an impulsive movement that was as 
 graceful as it was becoming, Feraz, for sole 
 reply, dropped on one knee beside her, and 
 taking her wrinkled hand, touched it lightly 
 but reverently with his lips. She trembled, 
 and great tears rose in her eyes. 
 
 '' Poor boy !" she muttered — " Poor child ! 
 — a child to me, and yet a man ! As God 
 liveth, a man !" She looked at him with a 
 curious stedfastness. " Good Feraz, forgive 
 me — I did you wrong — I know you would 
 not mock the aged, or make wanton sport of 
 their incurable woes, — you are too gentle. I 
 would in truth you were less mild of spirit — 
 less womanish of heart !" 
 
THE SOUL OF LILITH 
 
 ** Womanish !" and F6raz leaped up, stung 
 by the word, he knew not why. His heart 
 beat strangely — his blood tingled, — it seemed 
 to him that if he had possessed a weapon, his 
 instinct would have been to draw it then. 
 Never had he looked so handsome ; and 
 Zaroba, watching his expression, clapped her 
 withered hands in a sort of witch-like triumph. 
 
 "Ha!" — she cried — "The man's mettle 
 speaks ! There is something more than the 
 dreamer in you then — something that will 
 help you to explain the mystery of your 
 existence — something that says — ' F^raz, you 
 are the slave of destiny — up ! be its master ! 
 F6raz, you sleep — awake !'" and Zaroba stood 
 up tall and imposing, with the air of an in- 
 spired sorceress delivering a prophecy — 
 " F^raz, you have manhood — prove it ! 
 F^raz, you have missed the one joy of life — 
 LOVE !— Win it !" 
 
 F^raz stared at her amazed. Her words 
 were such as she had never addressed to 
 him before, and yet they moved him with a 
 singular uneasiness. Love ? Surely he knew 
 the meaning of love ? It was an ideal passion, 
 like the lifting-up of life in prayer. Had not 
 
THE SOUL OF LILITH 
 
 his brother told him that perfect love was 
 unattainable on this planet ? — and was It not 
 a word the very suggestions of which could 
 only be expressed in music ? These thoughts 
 ran through his mind while he stood Inert 
 and wondering, — then rousing himself a little 
 from the effects of Zaroba's outburst, he sat 
 down at the table, and taking up a pencil, 
 wrote as follows — 
 
 " You talk wildly, Zaroba — you cannot be 
 well. Let me hear no more — you disturb 
 my peace. I know what love is — I know 
 what life is. But the best part of my life 
 and love is not here, — but elsewhere." 
 
 Zaroba took the paper from his hand, read 
 it, and tore it to bits in a rage. 
 
 '' O foolish youth !" she exclaimed — '' Your 
 love Is the love of a Dream, — your life Is the 
 life of a Dream ! You see with another's 
 eyes — you think through another's brain. 
 You are a mere machine, played upon by 
 another's will ! But not forever shall you be 
 deceived — not forever, — " here she gave a 
 slight start and looked around her nervously 
 as though she expected someone to enter the 
 room suddenly — " Listen ! Come to me to- 
 
THE SOUL OF LILITH 105 
 
 night, — to-night when all is dark and silent, 
 — ^when every sound in the outside street is 
 stilled, — come to me — and I will show you a 
 marvel of the world !— one who, like you, is 
 the victim of a Dream !" She broke off 
 abruptly and glanced from right to left in 
 evident alarm, — then with a fresh impetus of 
 courage, she bent towards her companion 
 again and whispered in his ear — " Come !" 
 
 " But where ?" asked Feraz in the language 
 of signs. 
 
 " Up yonder!" said Zaroba firmly, regard- 
 less of the utter amazement with which 
 F^raz greeted this answer — *' Up, where El- 
 Rami hides his great secret. Yes — I know 
 he has forbidden you to venture there, — even 
 so has he forbidden me to speak of what 
 he cherishes so closely, — but are we slaves, 
 you and I ? Do you purpose always to obey 
 him ? So be it, an you will ! But if I were 
 you,- a man — I would defy both gods and 
 fiends if they opposed my liberty of action. 
 Do as it pleases you, — I, Zaroba, have given 
 you the choice, — stay and dream of life — or 
 come and live it ! Till to-night — farewell !" 
 
 She had reached the door and vanished 
 
I04 THE SOUL OF LILITH 
 
 through it, before Feraz could demand more 
 of her meaning, — and he was left alone, a 
 prey to the most torturing emotions. '* The 
 vulgar vice of curiosity !" That was the 
 phrase his brother had used to him scarcely 
 an hour agone, — and yet, here he was, yield- 
 ing to a fresh fit of the intolerable desire that 
 had possessed him for years to know El- 
 Rami's great secret. He dropped wearily 
 into a chair and thought all the circumstances 
 over. They were as follows,— 
 
 In the first place he had never known any 
 other protector or friend than his brother, 
 who, being several years older than himself, 
 had taken sole charge of him after the almost 
 simultaneous death of their father and mother, 
 an event which he knew had occurred some- 
 where in the East, but how or when, he could 
 not exactly remember, nor had he ever been 
 told much about it. He had always been 
 very happy in El-Rami's companionship, and 
 had travelled with him nearly all over the 
 world, — and though they had never been 
 rich, they had always had sufficient where- 
 with to live comfortably, though how even 
 this small competence was gained, F6raz 
 
THE SOUL OF LILITH 105 
 
 never knew. There had been no particular 
 mystery about his brother's life, however, till 
 on one occasion, when they were travelling 
 together across the Syrian desert, where they 
 had come upon a caravan of half-starved 
 Arab wanderers in dire distress from want 
 and sickness. Among them was an elderly 
 woman at the extreme point of death, and 
 an orphan child named Lilith, who was also 
 dying. El- Rami had suddenly, for no special 
 reason, save kindness of heart and compas- 
 sion, offered his services as physician to the 
 stricken little party, and had restored the 
 elderly woman, a widow, almost miraculously 
 to health and strength in a day or two. This 
 woman was no other than Zaroba. The sick 
 child however, a girl of about twelve years 
 old, died. And here began the puzzle. On 
 the day of this girl's death, El-Rami, with 
 sudden and inexplicable haste, had sent his 
 young brother on to Alexandria, bidding him 
 there take ship immediately for the Island of 
 Cyprus, and carry to a certain monastery 
 some miles from Famagousta, a packet of 
 documents, which he stated were of the most 
 extraordinary value and importance. F'^raz 
 
io6 THE SOUL OF LI LIT H 
 
 had obeyed, and according to further instruc- 
 tions, had remained as a visitor in that 
 Cyprian religious retreat, among monks un- 
 like any other monks he had ever seen or 
 heard of, till he was sent for, whereupon, 
 according to command, he rejoined El- Rami 
 in London. He found him, somewhat to his 
 surprise, installed in the small house where 
 they now w^ere, — with the woman Zaroba, 
 whose presence was another cause of blank 
 astonishment, especially as she seemed to 
 have nothing to do but keep certain rooms 
 upstairs in order. But all the questions 
 Feraz poured out respecting her, and every- 
 thing that had happened since their parting 
 in the Syrian desert, were met by equivocal 
 replies or absolute silence on his brother's 
 part, and by-and-bye the young man grew 
 accustomed to his position. Day by day he 
 became more and more subservient to El- 
 Rami's will, though he could never quite 
 comprehend why he was so willingly sub- 
 missive. Of course he knew that his brother 
 was gifted with certain powers of physical 
 magnetism, — because he had allowed himself 
 to be practised upon, and he took a certain 
 
THE SOUL OF LILITH 107 
 
 interest in the scientific development of those 
 powers, this being, as he quite comprehended, 
 one of the branches of study on which El- 
 Rami was engaged. He knew that his 
 brother could compel response to thought 
 from a distance, — but, as there were others 
 of his race who could do the same thing, 
 and as that sort of mild hypnotism was 
 largely practised in the East, where he was 
 born, he attached no special importance to it. 
 Endowed with various gifts of genius such 
 as music and poetry, and a quick perception 
 of everything beautiful and artistic, Feraz 
 lived in a tranquil little Eden of his own, — 
 and the only serpent in it that now and then 
 lifted its head to hiss doubt and perplexity 
 was the inexplicable mystery of those upstair 
 rooms over which Zaroba had guardianship. 
 The merest allusion to the subject excited 
 El-Raml's displeasure ; and during the whole 
 time they had lived together In that house, 
 now nearly six years, he had not dared to 
 speak of it more than a very few times, 
 while Zaroba, on her part, had faithfully 
 preserved the utmost secrecy. Now, she 
 seemed disposed to break the long - kept 
 
io8 THE SOUL OF LILITH 
 
 rules, — and F6raz knew not what to think 
 of it. 
 
 '* Is everything destiny, as El-Rami says ?" 
 he mused — ** Or shall I follow my own 
 desires in the face of destiny ? Shall I yield 
 to temptation — or shall I overcome it? Shall 
 I break his command, — lose his affection and 
 be a free man, — or shall I obey him still, and 
 be his slave ? And what should I do with 
 my liberty if I had it, I wonder ? Womanish ! 
 What a word ! Am \ womanish ?" He paced 
 up and down the room in sudden irritation 
 and haughtiness ; — the piano stood open, but 
 its ivory keys failed to attract him, — his brain 
 was full of other suggestions than the making 
 of sweet harmony. 
 
 " Do not seek out sorrow for yourself by 
 rash and idle questioning." 
 
 So his brother had said at parting. And 
 the words rang in his ears as he walked to 
 and fro restlessly, thinking, wondering, and 
 worrying his mind with vague wishes and 
 foreboding anxieties, till the shining afternoon 
 wore away and darkness fell. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 A ROUGH night at sea, — but the skies were 
 clear, and the great worlds of God which 
 we call stars, throbbed in the heavens like 
 lustrous lamps, all the more brilliantly for 
 there being no moon to eclipse their glory. 
 A high gale was blowing, and the waves 
 dashed up on the coast of Ilfracombe with 
 an organ-like thud and roar as they broke 
 in high jets of spray, and then ran swiftly 
 back again with a soft swish and ripple 
 suggestive of the downward chromatic scale 
 played rapidly on well - attuned strings. 
 There was freshness and life in the dancing 
 wind ; — the world seemed well in motion ; — 
 and, standing aloft among the rocks, and 
 looking down at the tossing sea, one could 
 realize completely the continuous whirl of the 
 
lo THE SOUL OF LILITH 
 
 globe beneath one's feet, and the perpetual 
 movement of the planet -studded heavens. 
 High above the shore, on a bare jutting 
 promontory, a solitary house faced seaward ; — 
 it was squarely built and surmounted with 
 a tower, wherein one light burned fitfully, 
 its pale sparkle seeming to quiver with fear 
 as the wild wind fled past joyously, with a 
 swirl and cry like some huge sea-bird on the 
 wing. It looked a dismal residence at its 
 best, even when the sun was shining, — but 
 at night its aspect was infinitely more dreary. 
 It was an old house, and it enjoyed the 
 reputation of being haunted, — a circumstance 
 which had enabled its present owner to pur- 
 chase the lease of it for a very moderate sum. 
 He it was who had built the tower, and 
 whether because of this piece of extravagance 
 or for other unexplained reasons, he had won 
 for himself personally, almost as uncanny 
 a reputation as the house had possessed 
 before he occupied it. A man who lived 
 the life of a recluse, — who seemed to have 
 no relations with the outside world at all, — 
 who had only one servant, (a young German 
 whom the shrewder gossips declared was his 
 
THE SOUL OF LILITH m 
 
 "keeper") — who lived on such simple fare 
 as certainly would never have contented a 
 modern Hodge earning twelve shillings a 
 week, and who seemed to purchase nothing 
 but strange astronomical and geometrical 
 instruments, — surely such a queer personage 
 must either be mad, or in league with some 
 evil ''secret society," — the more especially 
 that he had had that tower erected, into 
 which, after it was finished, no one but him- 
 self ever entered so far as the people of the 
 neighbourhood could tell. Under all these 
 suspicious circumstances, it was natural he 
 should be avoided ; and avoided he was by 
 the good folk of Ilfracombe, in that pleasantly 
 diverting fashion which causes provincial 
 respectability to shudder away from the 
 merest suggestion of superior intelligence. 
 
 And yet poor old Dr. Kremlin was a being 
 not altogether to be despised. His appear- 
 ance was perhaps against him, inasmuch as 
 his clothes were shabby, and his eyes rather 
 wild, — but the expression of his meagre face 
 was kind and gentle, and a perpetual com- 
 passion for everything and everybody, seemed 
 to vibrate In his voice and reflect Itself in his 
 
THE SOUL OF LI LIT H 
 
 melancholy smile. He was deeply occupied 
 — so he told a few friends in Russia, where 
 he was born, — in serious scientific investiga- 
 tions, — but the "friends," deeming him mad, 
 held aloof till those investigations should 
 become results. If the results proved dis- 
 appointing, there would be no need to notice 
 him any more, — if successful, why then, by 
 a mystic process known only to themselves, 
 the ''friends" would so increase and multiply 
 that he would be quite inconveniently sur- 
 rounded by them. In the meantime, nobody 
 wrote to him, or came to see him, except 
 El-Rami ; and it was El-Rami now, who, 
 towards ten o'clock in the evening, knocked 
 at the door of his lonely habitation and was 
 at once admitted with every sign of deference 
 and pleasure by the servant Karl. 
 
 " I'm glad you've come, sir," — said this 
 individual cheerfully, — "The Herr Doctor 
 has not been out all day, and he eats less 
 than ever. It will do him good to see 
 you. 
 
 •* He is in the tower as usual, at work ?" 
 enquired El-Rami, throwing off his coat. 
 
 Karl assented, with rather a doleful look, — 
 
THE SOUL OF LI LIT H 
 
 and opening the door of a small dining-room, 
 showed the supper-table laid for two. 
 
 El-Rami smiled. 
 
 "It's no good, Karl!" he said kindly — 
 *' It's very well meant on your part, but it's 
 no good at all. You will never persuade 
 your master to eat at this time of night, or 
 me either. Clear all these things away, — 
 and make your mind easy, — go to bed and 
 sleep. To-morrow morning prepare as ex- 
 cellent a breakfast as you please — I promise 
 you we'll do justice to it! Don't look so 
 discontented — don't you know that over-feed- 
 ing kills the working capacity ?" 
 
 " And over-starving kills the man, — work- 
 ing-capacity and all " — responded Karl lugu- 
 briously — " However, I suppose you know 
 best, sir!" 
 
 "In this case I do" — replied El-Rami — 
 " Your master expects me ?" 
 
 Karl nodded, — and El-Rami, with a brief 
 "good- night," ascended the staircase rapidly 
 and soon disappeared. A door banged aloft 
 — then all was still. Karl sighed profoundly, 
 and slowly cleared away the useless supper. 
 
 " Well I How wise men can bear to 
 
 VOL. I. 8 
 
114 THE SOUL OF LILITH 
 
 Starve themselves just for the sake of teach- 
 ing fools, is more than I shall ever under- 
 stand !" he said half aloud — '' But then I shall 
 never be wise— I am an ass and always was. 
 A good dinner and a glass of good wine 
 have always seemed to me better than all 
 the science going, — there's a shameful con- 
 fession of ignorance and brutality together, if 
 you like. ' Where do you think you will go 
 to when you die, Karl ?' says the poor old 
 Herr Doctor. And what do / say ? I say 
 — ' I don't know, 77zem Herr — and I don't 
 care. This world is good enough for me 
 so long as I live in it.' ' But afterwards 
 Karl, — afterwards!' he says, with his gray 
 head shaking. And what do / say ? Why, 
 I say — ' I can't tell, vtein Herr ! but who- 
 ever sent me Here will surely have sense 
 enough to look after me There !' And he 
 laughs, and his head shakes worse than ever. 
 Ah ! Nothing can ever make me clever, and 
 I'm very glad of it !" 
 
 He whistled a lively tune softly, as he 
 went to bed in his little side-room off the 
 passage, and wondered again, as he had 
 wondered hundreds of times before, what 
 
 ( 
 
THE SOUL OF LILITH 
 
 caused that solemn low humming noise that 
 throbbed so incessantly through the house, 
 and seemed so loud when everything else 
 was still. It was a grave sound, — suggestive 
 of a long-sustained organ-note held by the 
 pedal-bass ; — the murmuring of seas and 
 rivers seemed in it, as well as the rush of the 
 wind. Karl had grown accustomed to it, 
 though he did not know what it meant, — and 
 he listened to it, till drowsiness made him 
 fancy it was the hum of his mother's spinning 
 wheel, at home in his native German village 
 among the pine-forests, and so he fell happily 
 asleep. 
 
 Meanwhile El - Rami, ascending to the 
 tower, knocked sharply at a small nail- 
 studded door in the wall. The mysterious 
 murmuring noise was now louder than ever, — 
 and the knock had to be repeated three or 
 four times before it was attended to. Then 
 the door was cautiously opened, and the 
 " Herr Doctor" himself looked out, his 
 wizened, aged, meditative face illumined like 
 a Rembrandt picture by the small hand-lamp 
 he held in his hand. 
 
 "Ah! — El- Rami!" he said in slow yet 
 
ii6 THE SOUL OF LILITH 
 
 pleased tones — *' I thought it might be you. 
 And like ' Bernardo ' — you ' come most care- 
 fully upon your hour.' " 
 
 He smiled, as one well satisfied to have 
 made an apt quotation, and opened the door 
 more widely to admit his visitor. 
 
 " Come in quickly," — he said — " The great 
 window is open to the skies, and the wind is 
 high, — I fear some damage from the draught, 
 — come in — come in !" 
 
 His voice became suddenly testy and 
 querulous, — and El-Rami stepped in at once 
 without reply. Dr. Kremlin shut to the 
 door carefully and bolted it — then he turned 
 the light of the lamp he carried, full on the 
 dark handsome face and dignified figure of 
 his companion. 
 
 **You are looking well — well," — he 
 muttered — '* Not a shade older — always 
 sound and strong! Just Heavens! — if I had 
 your physique, I think with Archimedes, that 
 I could lift the world ! But I am getting 
 very old, — the life in me is ebbing fast, — and 
 I have not done my work — . . . . God ! . . . 
 God ! I have not done my work !" 
 
 He clenched his hands, and his voice 
 
THE SOUL OF LILITH 117 
 
 quavered clown into a sound that was almost 
 a groan. El -Rami's black beaming eyes 
 rested on him compassionately. 
 
 '* You are worn out, my dear Kremlin," — 
 he said gently — '* worn out and exhausted 
 with long toil. You shall sleep to-night. I 
 have come according to my promise, and I 
 will do what I can for you. Trust me — you 
 shall not lose the reward of your life's work 
 by want of time. You shall have time, — 
 even leisure to complete your labours, — I will 
 give you ' length of days ' !" 
 
 The elder man sank into a chair trembling, 
 and rested his head wearily on one hand. 
 
 *' You cannot ;" — he said faintly — " you 
 cannot stop the advance of death, my friend ! 
 You are a very clever man — you have a far- 
 reaching subtlety of brain, — but your learn- 
 ing and wisdom must pause ^/^ere — there at 
 the boundary-line of the grave. You cannot 
 overstep it or penetrate beyond it — you 
 cannot slacken the pace of the on-rushing 
 years ; — no, no ! I shall be forced to dej^art 
 with half my discovery uncompleted." 
 
 El-Rami smiled, — a slightly derisive smile. 
 
 " You, who have faith in so much that 
 
ii8 THE SOUL OF LILITH 
 
 cannot be proved, are singularly incredulous 
 of a fact that can be proved ;" — he said — 
 "Anyway, ^yhatever you choose to think, here 
 1 am in answer to your rather sudden sum- 
 mons — and here is your saving remedy; — " 
 and he placed a gold -stoppered flask on 
 the table near which they sat — *' It is, or 
 might be called, a veritable distilled essence 
 of time, — for it will do what they say God 
 cannot do, make the days spin backward !" 
 
 Dr. Kremlin took up the flask curiously. 
 
 " You are so positive of its action .^" 
 
 " Positive. I have kept one human 
 creature alive and in perfect health for six 
 years on that vital fluid alone." 
 
 "Wonderful! — wonderful!" — and the old 
 scientist held it close to the light, where it 
 seemed to flash like a diamond, — then he 
 smiled dubiously — "Am I the new Faust, 
 and you Mephisto i^" 
 
 " Bah !" and Ei - Rami shrugged his 
 shoulders carelessly — " An old nurse's tale !- — 
 yet, like all old nurses' tales and legends of 
 every sort under the sun, it is not without 
 its grain of truth. As I have often told 
 you, there! is really nothing imagined by 
 
THE SOUL OF LI LIT H 119 
 
 the human brain that Is not possible of 
 realization, either here or hereafter. It 
 would be a false note and a useless calcula- 
 tion to allow thought to dwell on what 
 cannot be, — hence our airiest visions are 
 bound to become facts in time. All the 
 same, I am not of such superhuman ability 
 that I can make you change your skin like 
 a serpent, and blossom into youth and the 
 common vulgar lusts of life, which to the 
 thinker must be valueless. No. What you 
 hold there, will simply renew the tissues, and 
 gradually enrich the blood with fresh globules 
 — nothing more, — but that is all you need. 
 Plainly and practically speaking, as long as 
 the tissues and the blood continue to renew 
 themselves, you cannot die except by 
 violence." 
 
 ** Cannot die!" echoed Kremlin, in stupefied 
 wonder — '' Cannot die ?" 
 
 " Except by violence — " repeated El- Rami 
 with emphasis — " Well ! — and what now ? 
 There is nothing really astonishing in the 
 statement. Death by violence is the only 
 death possible to anyone familiar with the 
 secrets of Nature, and there is more than 
 
20 THE SOUL OF LILITH 
 
 one less(;n to be learned from the old story 
 of Cain and Abel. The first death in the 
 world, according to that legend, was death by 
 violence. Without violence, life should be 
 immortal, or at least renewable at pleasure." 
 
 " Immortal !" muttered Dr. Kremlin — 
 "Immortal! Renewable at pleasure! My 
 God ! — then I have time before me — plenty 
 of time !" 
 
 " You have, if you care for it — " said El- 
 Rami with a tinge of melancholy in his 
 accents — ''and if you continue to care for it. 
 Few do, nowadays." 
 
 But his companion scarcely heard him. 
 He was balancing the little flask in his hand 
 in wonderment and awe. 
 
 " Death by violence ?" — he repeated slowly. 
 " But, my friend, may not God Himself 
 use violence towards us ? May He not 
 snatch the unwilling soul from its earthly 
 tenement at an unexpected moment, — and 
 so. all the scheming and labour and patient 
 calculation of years be ended in one flash of 
 time ?" 
 
 " God — if there be a God, which some are 
 fain to believe there is, — uses no violence — " 
 
THE SOUL OF LILITH 
 
 replied El-Rami — "Deaths by violence are 
 due to the ignorance, or brutality, or long- 
 inherited fool-hardiness and interference of 
 man alone." 
 
 " What of shipwreck ? — storm ? — light- 
 ning ?"— queried Dr. Kremlin, still playing 
 with the flask he held. 
 
 "You are not going to sea, are you?" 
 asked El-Rami, smiling — " And surely you, 
 of all men, should know that even shipwrecks 
 are due to a lack of mathematical balance in 
 ship-building. One little trifle of exactitude, 
 which is always missing, unfortunately, — one 
 little delicate scientific adjustment, and the 
 fiercest storm and wind could not prevail 
 against the properly poised vessel. As for 
 lightning — of course people are killed by it 
 if they persist in maintaining an erect position 
 like a lightning-rod or conductor, while the 
 electrical currents are in full play. If they 
 were to lie flat down, as savages do, they 
 could not attract the descending force. But 
 who, among arrogant stupid men, cares to 
 adopt such simple precautions ? Any way, I 
 do not see that you need fear any of these 
 disasters." 
 
22 THE SOUL OF LILITH 
 
 " No no," — said the old man meditatively, 
 *' I need not fear, — no, no! I have nothing 
 to fear." 
 
 His voice sank into silence. He and El- 
 Rami were sitting in a small square chamber 
 of the tower, — very narrow, with only space 
 enough for the one tiny table and two chairs 
 which furnished it, — the walls were covered 
 with very curious maps, composed of lines 
 and curves and zig-zag patterns, meaningless 
 to all except Kremlin himself, whose dreamy 
 gaze wandered to them between-whiles with 
 an ardent yearning and anxiety. And ever 
 that strange deep, monotonous humming 
 noise surged through the tower as of a 
 mighty wheel at work, the vibration of the 
 sound seeming almost to shake the solid 
 masonry, while mingling with it now and 
 again came the wild sea-bird cry of the wind. 
 El-Rami listened. 
 
 *' And still it moves ?'' he queried softly, 
 using almost the words of Galileo, — " e pftr 
 si muoveT 
 
 Dr. Kremlin looked up, his pale eyes full 
 oi a sudden fire and animation. 
 
 " Ay ! — still it moves !" he responded with 
 
THE SOUL OF LI LIT H 123 
 
 a touch of eager triumph in his tone — " Still 
 it moves — and still it sounds ! The music of 
 the Earth, my friend ! — the dominant note of 
 all Nature's melody! Hear it! — round, full, 
 grand and perfect ! — one tone in the ascend- 
 ing scale of the planets, — the song of one 
 Star, — our Star^ — as it rolls on its predestined 
 way! Come! — come with me!" and he sprang 
 up excitedly — '* It is a night for work ; — the 
 heavens are clear ss a mirror, — come and see 
 my Dial of the Fates, — you have seen it 
 before, I know, but there are new reflexes 
 upon it now, — new lines of light and colour, 
 — ah, my good El- Rami, if you could solve 
 my Problem, you would be soon wiser than 
 you are ! Your gift of long life would be 
 almost valueless compared to my proof of 
 what is beyond life " 
 
 " Yes — if the proof could be obtained — " 
 interposed El-Rami. 
 
 "It shall be obtained!" cried Kremlin 
 wildly — " It shall ! I will not die till the 
 secret is won. I will wrench it out from the 
 Holy of Holies — I will pluck it from the 
 very thoughts of God !" 
 
 He trembled with the violence of his own 
 
124 THE SOUL OF LILITH 
 
 emotions, — -then passing his hand across his 
 forehead, he relapsed into sudden calm, and 
 smiling gently, said again — 
 
 "Come!" 
 
 El-Rami rose at once in obedience to this 
 request, — and the old man preceded him to 
 a high narrow door which looked like a slit 
 in the wall, and which he unbarred and 
 opened with an almost jealous care. A brisk 
 puff of wind blew in their faces through the 
 aperture, but this subsided into mere cool 
 freshness of air, as they entered and stood 
 together within the great central chamber of 
 the tower, — a lofty apartment, where the 
 strange work of Kremlin's life was displayed 
 in all its marvellous complexity, — a work 
 such as no human being had ever attempted 
 before, or would be likely to attempt again. 
 
O '^Oi^^ o^Ao'jiot.Q^^^^^i 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 The singular object that at once caught and 
 fixed the eye in fascinated amazement and 
 something of terror, was a huge Disc, sus- 
 pended between ceiling and floor by an 
 apparently inextricable mesh and tangle of 
 wires. It was made of some smooth glitter- 
 ing substance like crystal, and seemed from 
 its great height and circumference to occupy 
 nearly the whole of the lofty tower-room. 
 It appeared to be lightly poised and balanced 
 on a long steel rod, — a sort of gigantic needle 
 which hung from the very top of the tower. 
 The entire surface of the Disc was a sub- 
 dued blaze of light, — light which fluctuated 
 in waves and lines, and zig-zag patterns like a 
 kaleidoscope, as the enormous thing circled 
 round and round, as it did, with a sort of 
 
126 THE SOUL OF LI LIT H 
 
 measured motion, and a sustained solemn 
 buzzing sound. Here was the explanation 
 of the mysterious noise that vibrated through- 
 out the house, — it was simply the movement 
 of this round shield-like mass among its 
 wonderful network of rods and wires. 
 Dr. Kremlin called it his ''crystal" Disc, — 
 but it was utterly unlike ordinary crystal, for 
 it not only shone with a transparent watery 
 clearness, but possessed the scintillating lustre 
 of a fine diamond cut into numerous prisms, 
 so that El-Rami shaded his eyes from the 
 flash of it as he stood contemplating it in 
 silence. It swirled round and round steadily ; 
 facing it, a large casement window, about the 
 size of half the wall, was thrown open to the 
 night, and through this could be seen a 
 myriad sparkling stars. The wind blew in, 
 but not fiercely now, for part of the wrath 
 of the gale was past, — and the wash of the 
 sea on the beach below had exactly the same 
 tone in it as the monotonous hum of the Disc 
 as it moved. At one side of the open window 
 a fine telescope mounted on a high stand, 
 pointed out towards the heavens, — there 
 were numerous other scientific implements 
 
THE SOUL OF LILITH 127 
 
 in the room, but it was impossible to take 
 much notice of anything but the Disc itself, 
 with its majestic motion and the solemn 
 sound to which it swung. Dr. Kremlin 
 .seemed to have almost forgotten El-Rami's 
 presence, — going up to the window, he sat 
 down on a low bench in the corner, and 
 folding his arms across his breast gazed at 
 his strange invention with a fixed, wondering, 
 and appealing stare. 
 
 " How to unravel the meaning — how 
 to decipher the message !" he muttered — 
 '* Sphinx of my brain, tell me, is there No 
 answer ? Shall the actual offspring of my 
 thought refuse to clear up the riddle I pro- 
 ]:)ound ? Nay, is it possible the creature should 
 baffle the creator ? See ! the lines change 
 again — the vibrations are altered, — the circle 
 is ever the circle, but the reflexes differ, — how 
 can one separate or classify them — how ?'' 
 
 Thus far his half- whispered words were 
 audible, — when El - Rami came and stood 
 beside him. Then he seemed to suddenly 
 recollect himself, and looking up, he rose to 
 his feet and spoke in a perfectly calm and 
 collected manner. 
 
128 THE SOUL OF LILITH 
 
 " You see " — he said, pointing to the Disc 
 with the air of a lecturer illustrating his 
 discourse — '* To begin with, there is the 
 fine hair's-breadth balance of matter which 
 gives perpetual motion. Nothing can stop 
 that movement save the destruction of the 
 whole piece of mechanism. By some such 
 subtly delicate balance as that, the Universe 
 moves, — and nothing can stop it save the 
 destruction of the Universe. Is not that 
 fairly reasoned ?" 
 
 '* Perfectly," replied El - Rami, who was 
 listening with profound attention. 
 
 " Surely that of itself, — the secret of per- 
 petual motion, — is a great discovery, is it 
 not ?" questioned Kremlin eagerly. 
 
 El-Rami hesitated. 
 
 *' It is," he said at last. '' Forgive me if I 
 paused a moment before replying, — the reason 
 of my doing so was this. You cannot claim 
 to yourself any actual discovery of perpetual 
 motion, because that is Nature's own par- 
 ticular mystery. Perhaps I do not explain 
 myself with sufficient clearness, — well, what 
 I mean to imply is this — namely, that your 
 wonderful dial there would not revolve as it 
 
THE SOUL OF LI LIT H 
 
 I2i) 
 
 does, if the Earth on which we stand were 
 not also revolving. If we could imagine our 
 planet stopping suddenly in its course, your 
 Disc would stop also, — is not that correct ?" 
 
 " Why, naturally !" assented Kremlin im- 
 patiently. '* Its movement is mathematically 
 calculated to follow, in a slower degree, but 
 with rhythmical exactitude, the Earth's own 
 movement, and is so balanced as to be abso- 
 lutely accurate to the very half-quarter of a 
 hair's-breadth." 
 
 " Yes, — and there is the chief wonder of 
 your invention," said El-Rami quietly. ''It 
 is that peculiarly precise calculation of yours 
 that is so marvellous, in that it enables you 
 ^0 follow the course of perpetual viotion. 
 With perpetual motion itself you have 
 nothing to do, — you cannot find its why 
 or its when or its how, — it is eternal as 
 Eternity. Things must move, — and we all 
 move with them — your Disc included." 
 
 " But the moving things are balanced — 
 so!" said Kremlin, pointing triumphantly to 
 his work — '' On one point — one pivot!" 
 
 *'And that point ?" queried El-R^mi 
 
 dubiously. 
 
 VOL. I. 9 
 
THE SOUL OF LI LIT H 
 
 " Is a Central Universe " — responded 
 Kremlin — "where God abides." 
 
 El-Rami looked at him with dark, dilating, 
 burning eyes. 
 
 "Suppose," he said suddenly — "suppose 
 — for the sake of argument — that this Central 
 Universe you imagine exists, were but the 
 outer covering or shell of another Central 
 Universe, and so on through innumerable 
 Central Universes for ever and ever and 
 ever, and no point or pivot reachable !" 
 
 Kremlin uttered a cry, and clasped his 
 hands with a gesture of terror. 
 
 " Stop — stop !" he gasped — ■'" Such an idea 
 is frightful! — horrible! Would you drive 
 me mad ? — mad, I tell you ? No human 
 brain could steadily contemplate the thought 
 of such pitiless infinity !" 
 
 He sank back on the seat and rocked 
 himself to and fro like a person in physical 
 pain, the while he stared at El-Rami's 
 majestic figure and dark meditative face as 
 though he saw some demon in a dream. 
 El-Rami met his gaze with a compassionate 
 glance in his own eyes. 
 
 " You are narrow, my friend," — he observed 
 
THE SOUL OF LI LIT H 131 
 
 — *'as narrow of outward and onward con- 
 ception as most scientists are. I grant you 
 the human brain has Hmits ; but the human 
 Soul has none! There is no 'pitiless in- 
 finity ' to the Soul's aspirations, — it is never 
 contented, — but eternally ambitious, eternally 
 enquiring, eternally young, it is ready to 
 scale heights and depths without end, uncon-. 
 scious of fatigue or satiety. What of a 
 million million Universes ? I — even I — can 
 contemplate them without dismay, — the brain, 
 may totter and reel at the multiplicity of 
 them, — but the Soul would absorb them all 
 and yet seek space for more !" 
 
 His rich, deep tranquil voice had the effect 
 of calming Kremlin's excited nerves. He 
 paused in his uneasy rocking to and fro, and 
 listened as though he heard music. 
 
 "You are a bold man, El-Rami," he said 
 slowly — " I have always said it, — bold even 
 to rashness. Yet with all your large ideas 
 1 find you inconsistent ; for example, you , 
 talk of the Soul now, as if you believed in 
 it, — but there are times when you declare, 
 yourself doubtful of its existence." 
 
 " It is necessary to split hairs of argument 
 
132 THE SOUL OF LI LIT II 
 
 with you, I see" — returned El-RamI with 
 a sHght smile, — ''Can you not understand 
 that I may believe in the Soul without being 
 sure of it ? It is the natural instinct of every 
 man to credit himself with immortality, 
 because this life is so short and unsatisfactory, 
 — the notion may be a fault of heritage 
 perhaps, still it is implanted in us all the 
 same. And I do believe in the Soul, — but 
 I require certainty to make my mere belief 
 an undeniable Fact. And the whole busi- 
 ness of my life is to establish that fact 
 provably, and beyond any sort of doubt 
 whatever, — what inconsistency do you find 
 there ?" 
 
 ** None — none — " said Kremlin hastily — 
 "But you will not succeed, — yours is too 
 daring an attempt, — too arrogant and 
 audacious a demand upon the Unknown 
 Forces." 
 
 "And what of the daring and arrogance 
 displayed here .'*" asked El- Rami, with a wave 
 of his hand towards the glittering Disc in 
 front of them. 
 
 Kremlin jumped up excitedly. 
 
 " No, no ! — you cannot call the mere scien- 
 
THE SOUL OF LI LIT H 133 
 
 tific investigation of natural objects arrogant," 
 he said — *' Besides, the whole thing is so 
 very simple after all. It is well known that 
 every star in the heavens sends forth per- 
 petual radiations of light ; which radiations 
 in a given number of minutes, days, months 
 or years, reach our Earth. It depends of 
 course on the distance between the particular 
 star and our planet, as to how long these 
 light-vibrations take to arrive here. One 
 ray from some stars will occupy thousands 
 of years in its course, — in fact, the original 
 planet from which it fell, may be swept out 
 of existence before it has time to penetrate 
 our atmosphere. All this is in the lesson - 
 books of children, and is familiar to every 
 beginner in the rudiments of astronomy. 
 But apart from time and distance, there is 
 no cessation to these light-beats or vibrations ; 
 they keep on arriving for ever, without an 
 instant's pause. Now, my great idea, was, 
 as you know, to catch these reflexes on a 
 mirror or dial of magnetic spar, — and you 
 see for yourself that this thing, which seemed 
 impossible, is to a certain extent done. 
 Magnetic spar is not a new substance to you, 
 
34 THE SOUL OF LILITH 
 
 any more than it was to the Egyptian priests 
 of old — and the quality it has, of attracting 
 light in its exact lines wherever light falls, 
 is no surprise to you, though it might seem 
 .a marvel to the ignorant. Every little zig- 
 zag or circular flash on that Disc, is a vibra- 
 tion of light from some star, — but what 
 puzzles and confounds my skill is this ; — That 
 there is a Meaning in those lines — a distinct 
 Meaning which asks to be interpreted, — a 
 picture which is ever on the point of 
 declaring itself, and is never declared. Mine 
 is the torture of a Tantalus watching night 
 after night that mystic Dial !" 
 
 He went close up to the Disc, and pointed 
 out one particular spot on its surface where 
 at that moment there was a glittering tangle 
 of little prismatic tints. 
 
 "Observe this with me^ — " he said, and 
 El-Rami approached him — "Here is a per- 
 fect cluster of light - vibrations, — in two 
 minutes by my watch they will be here no 
 Jonger, — and a year or more may pass before 
 they appear again. From what stars they 
 fall, and why they have deeper colours than 
 most of the reflexes, I cannot tell. There — 
 
THE SOUL OF LI LIT H 135 
 
 see !" and he looked round with an air of 
 melancholy triumph mingled with wonder, as 
 the little spot of brilliant colour suddenly 
 disappeared like the moisture of breath from 
 a mirror — " They are gone ! I have seen 
 them four times only since the Disc was 
 balanced twelve years ago, — and 1 have tried 
 in every way to trace their origin — in vain — 
 .all, all in vain ! If 1 could only decipher the 
 Meaning ! — for as sure as God lives there is 
 a Meaning there." 
 
 El-Rami was silent, and Dr. Kremlin went 
 on. 
 
 " The air is a conveyer of Sound — " he 
 said meditatively-^" The light is a conveyer 
 of Scenes. Mark that well. The light may 
 be said to create landscape and generate 
 Colour. Reflexes of light make pictures, — 
 witness the instantaneous flash, which with 
 the aid of chemistry, will give you a photo- 
 graph in a second. I firmly believe that all 
 reflexes of light are so many letters of a 
 marvellous alphabet, which if we could only 
 read it, would enable us to grasp the highest 
 secrets of creation. The seven tones of 
 music, for example, are in Nature ;— in anv 
 
136 THE SOUL OF LILITH 
 
 ordinan storm, where there is wind and rain 
 and the rustle of leaves, you can hear the 
 complete scale on which ever}^ atom of 
 musical composition has ever been written. 
 ^ et what ages it took us to reduce that 
 scale to a visible tangible form, — and even 
 now we have not mastered the quarter-tones 
 heard in the songs of birds. And just as 
 the whole realm of music is in seven tones 
 of natural Sound, so the whole realm of light 
 is in a pictured Language of Design, Colour, 
 and Method, with an intention and a message, 
 which wc — we human beings — are intended 
 to discover. Yet with all these great mysteries 
 waiting to be solved, the most of us are con- 
 tent to eat and drink and sleep and breed 
 and die, like the lowest cattle, in brutish 
 ignorance of more than half our intellectual 
 privileges. I tell you, El-Rami, if I could 
 only find out and place correctly one of those 
 light-vibrations, the rest might be easy." 
 
 He heaved a profound sigh, -and the great 
 Disc, circling steadily with its grave monoto- 
 nous hum, might have passed for the wheel of 
 Fate which he. poor mortal, was powerless to 
 stop though it should grind him to atoms. 
 
THE SOUL OF LILITH 137 
 
 El- Rami watched him with interest and 
 something of compassion for a minute or 
 two, — then he touched his arm gently. 
 
 " Kremlin, is it not time for you to rest ?" 
 he asked kindly — " You have not slept well 
 for many nights, — you are tired out, — why 
 not sleep now, and gather strength for future 
 labours ?" 
 
 The old man started, and a slight shiver 
 ran through him. 
 
 *' You mean .^" he began. 
 
 " I mean to do for you what I promised — " 
 replied El-Rami — " You asked me for this — " 
 and he held up the gold-stoppered flask he 
 had brought in with him from the next room 
 — '* It is all ready prepared for you — drink 
 it, and to-morrow you will find yourself a 
 new man." 
 
 Dr. Kremlin looked at him suspiciously — 
 and then began to laugh with a sort of 
 hysterical nervousness. 
 
 " I believe — " he murmured indistinctly 
 and with affected jocularity — " I believe that 
 you want to poison me ! Yes — yes ! — to 
 poison me and take all my discoveries for 
 yourself! You want to solve the great Star- 
 
138 THE SOUL OF LILITH 
 
 problem and take all the glory and rob me — 
 yes, rob me of my hard-earned fame ! — yes 
 — it is poison — poison!'' 
 
 And he chuckled feebly, and hid his face 
 between his hands. 
 
 El-Rami heard him with an expression of 
 pain and pity in his fine eyes. 
 
 " My poor old friend — ' he said gently — 
 " You are wearied to death — so I pardon 
 you your sudden distrust of me. As for 
 poison — see !" and he lifted the flask he held 
 to his lips and drank a few drops — " Have 
 no fear ! Your Star-problem is your own, — 
 and I desire that you should live long enough 
 to read its great mystery. As for me, 1 have 
 other labours ; — to me stars, solar systems, 
 aye! whole Universes are nothing, — my 
 business is with the Spirit that dominates 
 Matter — not with Matter itself. Enough ;- - 
 will you live or will you die? It rests with 
 yourself to choose — for you are ill, Kremlin 
 — very ill, — your brain is fagged and weak 
 — you cannot go on much longer like this. 
 Why did you send for me if you do not 
 believe in me T 
 
 The old Doctor tottered to the window- 
 
THE SOUL OF LI LIT H 139 
 
 bench and sat down, — then looking up, he 
 forced a smile. 
 
 " Don't you see for yourself what a coward 
 I have become ?" he said — " I tell you I am 
 afraid of everything ; — of you — of myself — 
 and worst of all, of that — " and he pointed 
 to the Disc — " which lately seems to have 
 grown stronger than I am." He paused a 
 moment — then went on with an effort — " I 
 had a strange idea the other night, — I 
 thought, suppose God, in the beginning, 
 created the Universe simply to divert Him- 
 self — just as I created my Dial there ; — and 
 suppose it had happened that instead of 
 being His servant as He originally intended, 
 it had become His master? — that He actually 
 had no more power over it } Suppose He 
 were dead ? We see that the works of men 
 live ages after their death, — why not the 
 works of God ? Horrible — horrible ! Death 
 is horrible ! I do not want to die, El- Rami !" 
 and his faint voice rose to a querulous wail — 
 " Not yet — not yet ! I cannot ! — I must finish 
 my work — I must know — I must live ' 
 
 "You shall live," interrupted El-Rami. 
 . ' Trust me — there is no death in this /" 
 
HO THE SOUL OF UUTH 
 
 He held up the mysterious flask again. 
 Kremlin stared at it, shaking all over with 
 nervousness — then on a sudden impulse 
 clutched it. 
 
 "Am I to drink it all?" he asked 
 faintly. 
 
 El-Rami bent his head in assent. 
 
 Kremlin hesitated a moment longer — then 
 with the air of one who takes a sudden 
 desperate resolve, he gave one eager yearn- 
 ing look at the huge revolving Disc, and 
 putting the flask to his lips, drained its con- 
 tents. He had scarcely swallowed the last 
 drop, when he sprang to his feet, uttered a 
 smothered cry, staggered, and fell on the 
 floor motionless. El-Rami caught him up 
 at once, and lifted him easily in his strong 
 arms on to the window-seat, where he laid 
 him down gently, placing coverings over 
 him and a pillow under his head. The old 
 man's face was white and rigid as the face 
 of a corpse, but he breathed easily and 
 quietly, and El-Rami, knowing the action 
 of the draught he had administered, saw 
 there was no cause for anxiety in his con- 
 dition. He himself leaned on the sill of the 
 
THE SOUL OF LIUTH 141 
 
 great open window and looked out at the 
 starlit sky for some minutes, and listened to 
 the sonorous plashing of the waves on the 
 shore below. Now and then he glanced 
 back over his shoulder at the great Dial 
 and its shining star-patterns. 
 
 "Only Lilith could decipher the meaning 
 of it all," he mused. '* Perhaps, — some day 
 — it might be possible to ask her. But then, 
 do I in truth believe what she tells me ? — 
 would Ae believe ? The transcendentally 
 uplifted soul of a woman ! — ought we to 
 credit the message obtained through so 
 ethereal a means ? I doubt it. We men 
 are composed of such stuff that we must 
 convince ourselves of a fact by every 
 known test before we finally accept it, — 
 like St. Thomas, unless we put our rough 
 hand into the wounded side of Christ, and 
 thrust our fingers into the nail-prints, we 
 will not believe. And I shall never resolve 
 myself as to which is the wisest course. — to 
 accept everything with the faith of a child, or 
 dispute everything with the arguments of a 
 controversialist. The child is happiest ; hut 
 then the question arises — Were we meant to 
 
142 THE SOUL OF LI LIT H 
 
 be happy ? I think not, — since there is 
 nothing that can make us so for long." 
 
 His brow clouded and he stood absorbed, 
 looking at the stars, yet scarcely conscious 
 of beholding them. Happiness! It had a 
 sweet sound, — an exquisite suggestion ; and 
 his thoughts clung round it persistently as 
 bees round honey. Happiness ! — What could 
 engender it ? The answer came unbidden to 
 his brain — "Love!" He gave an involun- 
 tary gesture of irritation, as though someone 
 had spoken the word in his ear. 
 
 " Love !" he exclaimed half aloud. " There 
 is no such thing — not on earth. There is 
 Desire, — the animal attraction of one body 
 for another, which ends in disgust and satiety. 
 Love should have no touch of coarseness in 
 it, — and can anything be coarser than the 
 marriage - tie ? — the bond which compels a 
 man and woman to live together in daily 
 partnership of bed and board, and reproduce 
 their kind like pigs, or other common cattle. 
 To call that love is a sacrilege to the very 
 name, — for Love is a divine emotion, and 
 demands divinest comprehension." ' 
 
 He went up to where Kremlin lay reclined, 
 
THE SOUL OF LI LIT H 145 
 
 — the old man slept profoundly and peace- 
 fully, — his face had gained colour and seemed 
 less pinched and meagre in outline. El-Ram i 
 felt his pulse, — it beat regularly and calmly. 
 Satisfied with his examination, he wheeled 
 away the great telescope into a corner, and 
 shut the window against the night air, — -then 
 he lay down himself on the floor, with his 
 coat rolled under him for a pillow, and com- 
 posed himself to sleep till morning. 
 
CHAPTER XL 
 
 The next day dawned in brilliant sunshine ; 
 the sea was as smooth as a lake, and the air 
 pleasantly warm and still. Dr. Kremlin's 
 servant Karl got up in a very excellent 
 humour, — he had slept well, and he awoke 
 with the comfortable certainty of finding his 
 eccentric master in better health and spirits, 
 as this was always the case after one of 
 El- Rami's rare visits. And Karl, though he 
 did not much appreciate learning, especially 
 when the pursuit of it induced people, as he 
 said, to starve themselves for the sake of 
 acquiring wisdom, did feel in his own heart 
 that there was something about El-Rami that 
 was not precisely like other men, and he had 
 accordingly for him not only a great attrac- 
 tion, but a profound respect. 
 
THE SOUL OF LILITH 145 
 
 "If anybody can do the Herr Doctor 
 good, he can — " he thought, as he laid the 
 breakfast - table in the little dining-room 
 whose French windows opened out to a tiny 
 green lawn fronting the sea, — '' Certainly one 
 can never cure old age, — that is an ailment 
 for which there is no remedy ; but however 
 old we are bound to get, I don't see why we 
 should not be merry over it and enjoy our 
 meals to the last. Now let me see — what 
 have I to get ready — " and he enumerated 
 on his fingers — * ' Coffee — toast — rolls, — 
 butter — eggs — fish, — I think that will do ; — 
 and if I just put these few roses in the 
 middle of the table to tempt the eye a bit," — 
 and he suited the action to the word — 
 "There now! — if the Herr Doctor can be 
 pleased at all " 
 
 "Breakfast, Karl! breakfast!" interrupted 
 a clear cheerful voice, the sound of which 
 made Karl start with nervous astonishment. 
 " Make haste, my good fellow ! My friend 
 here has to catch an early train." 
 
 Karl turned round, stared, and stood 
 motionless, open-mouthed, and struck dumb 
 with sheer surprise. Could it be the old 
 
 VOL. I 10 
 
146 THE SOUL OF LI LIT H 
 
 Doctor who spoke ? Was it his master at 
 all, — this hale, upright, fresh-faced individual 
 who stood before him, smiling pleasantly and 
 giving his orders with such a brisk air of 
 authority ? Bewildered and half afraid, he 
 cast a desperate glance at El- Rami, who had 
 also entered the room, and who. seeing his 
 confusion, made him a quick secret sign. 
 
 "Yes — be as quick as you can, Karl,' he 
 said. " Your master has had a good night, 
 and is much better, as you see. We shall be 
 glad of our breakfast ; I told you we should, 
 last night. Don't keep us waiting !" 
 
 *' Yes, sir — no, sir !' stammered Karl, trying 
 to collect his scattered senses and staring 
 again at Dr. Kremlin, — then, scarcely know- 
 ing whether he was on his head or his heels, 
 he scrambled out of the room into the 
 passage, where he stood for a minute stupe- 
 fied and inert. 
 
 "It must be devil's work!' he ejaculated 
 amazedly. " Who but the devil could make 
 a man look twenty years younger in a single 
 night ? Yes — twenty years younger, — he 
 looks that, if he looks a day. God have 
 mercy on us ! — what will happen next — what 
 
THE SOUL OF LILITH 147 
 
 sort of a service have I got into? — Oh, my 
 poor mother !" 
 
 This last was Karl's supremest adjuration, 
 — when he could find nothing else to say, the 
 phrase "Oh, my poor mother!" came as 
 
 naturally to his lips as the familiar " D n 
 
 it !" from the mouth of an old swaggerer in 
 the army or navy. He meant nothing by it, 
 except perhaps a vague allusion to the inno- 
 cent days of his childhood, when he was 
 ignorant of the wicked ways of the wicked 
 world, and when " Oh, my poor mother !" 
 had not the most distant idea as to what 
 was going to become of her hopeful first- 
 born. 
 
 Meantime, while he went down into the 
 kitchen and bustled about there, getting the 
 coffee, frying the fish, boiling the eggs, and 
 cogitating with his own surprised and half- 
 terrified self, Dr. Kremlin and his guest had 
 stepped out into the little garden together, 
 and they now stood there on the grass-plot 
 surveying the glittering wide expanse of 
 ocean before them. They spoke not a word 
 for some minutes, — then, all at once, Kremlin 
 turned round and caught both El- Rami's 
 
148 THE SOUL OF LILITH 
 
 hands in his own and pressed them fervendy 
 — there were tears in his eyes. 
 
 ''What can I say to you ?" he murmured 
 in a voice broken by strong emotion — " How 
 can I thank you ? You have been as a god 
 to me ; — I Hve again, — I breathe again,- — 
 this morning the world seems new to my 
 eyes, — as new as though I had never seen it 
 before. I have left a whole cycle of years, with 
 all their suffering and bitterness, behind me, 
 and I am ready now to commence life afresh." 
 
 '* That is well !" said El- Rami gently, 
 cordially returning the pressure of his hands. 
 " That is as it should be. To see your 
 strength and vitality thus renewed, is more 
 than enough reward for me." 
 
 "And do 1 really /oo^ younger.-^ — am I 
 actually changed in appearance ?" asked 
 Kremlin eagerly. 
 
 El-Rami smiled. *' Well, you saw poor 
 Karl's amazement" — he replied. "He was 
 afraid of you, I think — and also of me. Yes, 
 you are changed, though not miraculously 
 so. Your hair is as gray as ever, — the same 
 furrows of thought are on your face ; — all 
 that has occurred is the simple renewal of 
 
THE SOUL OF LI LIT H 149 
 
 the tissues, and re-vivifying of the blood, — 
 and this gives you the look of vigour and 
 heartiness you have this morning." 
 
 '* But will it last? — will it last?" queried 
 Kremlin anxiously. 
 
 ''If you follow my instructions, of course 
 it will — " returned El-Rami — " I will see to 
 that. I have left with you a certain quantity 
 of the vital fluid, — all you have to do is to 
 take ten drops every third night, or inject it 
 into your veins if you prefer that method ; — 
 then, — as 1 told you, — you cannot die, except 
 by violence." 
 
 "And no violence comes here" — said 
 Kremlin with a smile, glancing round at the 
 barren yet picturesque scene — *' I am as 
 lonely as an unmated eagle on a rock, — and 
 the greater my solitude the happier I am. 
 The world is very beautiful — that I grant, — 
 but the beings that inhabit it spoil it for me, 
 albeit I am one of them. And so I cannot 
 die, except by violence ? Almost I touch 
 immortality! Marvellous El-Rami! You 
 should be a king of nations I" 
 
 "Too low a destiny!" replied El-Rami - 
 ** I had rather be a ruler of planets." 
 
150 THE SOUL OF LILITH 
 
 ** Ah, there is your stumbling-block !" said 
 Kremlin, with sudden seriousness, — ''You 
 soar too high — you are never contented." 
 
 "Content is impossible to the Soul" — 
 returned El-Rami, — "Nothing is too high 
 or too low for its investigation. And what- 
 e\'er ca?i be done, should be done, in order 
 that the whole gamut of life may be pro- 
 perly understood by those who are forced to 
 live It. 
 
 "And do not you understand it.'^" 
 
 *' In part — yes. But not wholly. It is 
 not sufficient to have traced the ripple of a 
 brain-wave through the air and followed its 
 action and result with exactitude, — nor is it 
 entirely satisfactory to have all the secrets of 
 physical and mental magnetism, and attrac- 
 tion between bodies and minds, made clear 
 and easy without knowing the reason of these 
 things. It is like the light-vibrations on 
 your Disc, — they come — and go ; but one 
 needs to know why and whence they come 
 and go. I know much — but I would fain 
 know more." 
 
 " But is not the pursuit of knowledge 
 infinite T 
 
THE SOUL OF LI LIT H 151 
 
 ** It may be^ — if Infinity exists. Infinity 
 is possible — and I believe in it, — all the 
 same I must prove it." 
 
 " You will need a thousand life -times 
 to fulfil such works as you attempt !" ex- 
 claimed Kremlin. 
 
 " And I will live them all ;" — responded 
 El- Rami composedly — "I have sworn to 
 let nothing baffle me, and nothing shall !" 
 
 Dr. Kremlin looked at him in vague awe, 
 — the dark haughty handsome face spoke 
 more resolvedly than words. 
 
 ''Pardon me, El-Rami" — he said with a 
 little diffidence — " It seems a very personal 
 question to put, and possibly you may resent 
 it, still I have often thought of asking it. 
 You are a very handsome and very fascinat- 
 ing man — you would be a fool if you were 
 not perfectly aware of your own attractive- 
 ness, — well, now tell me — have you never 
 loved anybody } — any woman ?" 
 
 The sleepy brilliancy of El-Rami's fine 
 eyes lightened with sudden laughter. 
 
 "Loved a woman? — 17' he exclaimed-- 
 "The Fates forbid! What should I do with- 
 the gazelles and kittens and toys of life, such 
 
152 THE SOUL OF LILITH 
 
 as women are ? Of all animals on earth, they 
 have the least attraction for me. I would 
 rather stroke a bird's wings than a woman's 
 hair, and the fragrance of a rose pressed 
 against my lips is sweeter and more sincere 
 than any woman's kisses. As the females 
 of the race, women are useful in their way, 
 but not interesting at any time — at least, not 
 to me." 
 
 '' Do you not believe in love then ?'' asked 
 Kremlin. 
 
 ''No. Do you ?'' 
 
 "Yes," — and Kremlin's voice was very 
 tender and impressive — '* I believe it is the 
 only thing of God in an almost godless 
 world." 
 
 El- Rami shrugged his shoulders. 
 
 " You talk like a poet. I, who am not 
 poetical, cannot so idealize the physical 
 attraction between male and female, which 
 is nothing but a law of nature, and is shared 
 by us in common with the beasts of the 
 field." 
 
 " 1 think your wisdom is in error there " — 
 said Kremlin slowly — "Physical attraction 
 there is, no doubt — but there is something 
 
THE SOUL OF LI LITE 153 
 
 else — something more subtle and delicate, 
 which escapes the analysis of both philoso- 
 pher and scientist. Moreover it is an 
 imperative spiritual sense, as well as a 
 material craving, — the soul can no more be 
 satisfied without love than the body." 
 
 *' That is your opinion — " and El-Rami 
 smiled again, — " But you see a contradiction 
 of it in me. / am satisfied to be without 
 love, — and certainly I never look upon the 
 ordinary woman of the day, without the dis- 
 agreeable consciousness that I am beholding 
 the living essence of sensualism and folly." 
 
 ** You are very bitter," said Kremlin 
 wonderingly — " Of course no ' ordinary ' 
 woman could impress you, — but there are 
 remarkable women, — women of power and 
 genius and lofty ambition." 
 
 " Les femmes incomprises — oh yes, I 
 know!" laughed El-Rami — "Troublesome 
 creatures all, both to themselves and others. 
 Why do you talk on these subjects, my dear 
 Kremlin? — Is it the effect of your rejuvenated 
 condition ? I am sure there are many more 
 interesting matters worthy of discussion. I 
 shall never love — not in this planet ; in some 
 
154 THE SOUL OF LI LIT H 
 
 Other state of existence I may experience 
 the ' divine * emotion. But the meannesses, 
 vanities, contemptible jealousies, and low 
 spites of women such as inhabit this earth 
 fill me with disgust and repulsion, — besides, 
 women are treacherous, — and 1 loathe 
 treachery." 
 
 At that moment Karl appeared at the 
 dining-room window as a sign that breakfast 
 was served, and they turned to go indoors. 
 
 *' All the same, El -Rami — " persisted 
 Kremlin, laying one hand on his friend's arm 
 — *' Do not count on being able to escape 
 the fate to which all humanity must suc- 
 cumb " 
 
 " Death ?" interposed El- Rami lightly — " I 
 have almost conquered that !" 
 
 " Aye, but you cannot conquer Love !" 
 said Kremlin impressively — "Love is stronger 
 than Death." 
 
 El- Rami made no answer, — and they went 
 in to breakfast. They did full justice to the 
 meal, much to Karl's satisfaction, though he 
 could not help stealing covert glances at his 
 master's changed countenance, which had 
 become so much fresher and younger since 
 
THE SOUL OF LI LIT J I 155 
 
 the previous day. How such a change had 
 been effected he could not imagine, but on 
 the whole he was disposed to be content 
 with the evident improvement. 
 
 *' Even if he is the devil himself — " he 
 considered, his thoughts reverting to El- 
 Rami — " I am bound to say that the devil is 
 a kind-hearted fellow. There's no doubt 
 about that. I suppose I am an abandoned 
 sinner only fit for the burning — but if God 
 insists on making us old and sick and 
 miserable, and the devil is able to make us 
 young and strong and jolly, why let us be 
 friends with the devil, say I ! Oh my poor 
 mother !" 
 
 With such curious emotions as these in 
 his mind, it was rather difficult to maintain a 
 composed face, and wait upon the two gentle- 
 men with that grave deportment which it is 
 the duty of every well-trained attendant to 
 assume, — however, he managed fairly we'll, 
 and got accustomed at last to hand his 
 master a cup of coffee without staring at him 
 till his eyes almost projected out of his head. 
 
 El-Rami took his departure soon after 
 breakfast, with a few recommendations to his 
 
156 THE SOUL OF LILITH 
 
 friend not to work too hard on the problems 
 suggested by the Disc. 
 
 " Ah, but I have now found a new clue ;" 
 said Kremlin triumphantly — " I found it in 
 sleep. I shall work it out in the course of 
 a few weeks, I dare say — and I will let you 
 know if the result is successful. You see, 
 thanks to you, my friend, I have time now, 
 — there is no need to toil with feverish haste 
 and anxiety — death that seemed so near, is 
 thrust back in the distance " 
 
 "Even so!" said El-Rami with a strange 
 smile — " In the far, far distance, — ^baffled and 
 kept at bay. Oddly enough, there are some 
 who say there is no death " 
 
 " But there is — there must be ! — " ex- 
 claimed Kremlin quickly. 
 
 El-Rami raised his hand with a slight 
 commanding gesture. 
 
 '* It is not a certainty— " he said — " inas- 
 much as there is no certainty. And there 
 is no ' Must-Be,' — there is only the Soul's 
 'Shall-Be'!" 
 
 And with these somewhat 'enigmatical 
 words, he bade his friend farewell, and went 
 his wav. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 It was yet early in the afternoon when he 
 arrived back in London. He went straight 
 home to his own house, letting himself in as 
 usual with his latch-key. In the hall he 
 paused, listening. He half expected to hear 
 F6raz playing one of his delicious dreamy 
 improvisations, — but there was not a sound 
 anywhere, and the deep silence touched him 
 with an odd sense of disappointment and 
 vague foreboding. His study door stood 
 slightly ajar, — he pushed it wider open very 
 noiselessly and looked in. His young 
 brother was there, seated in a chair near the 
 window, reading. El-Rami gazed at him 
 dubiously, with a slowly dawning sense that 
 there was some alteration in his appearance 
 which he could not all at once comprehend. 
 
58 THE SOUL OF LILITH 
 
 Presently he realized that F^raz had evidently 
 yielded to some overwhelming suggestion of 
 j)ersonal vanity, which had induced him to 
 put on more brilliant attire. He had changed 
 his plain white linen garb for one of richer 
 material, composed In the same Eastern 
 fashion, — he wore a finely-chased gold belt, 
 from which a gold-sheathed dagger depended, 
 — ^and a few gold ornaments gleamed here 
 and there among the drawn silken folds of 
 his upper vest. He looked handsome enough 
 for a new Agathon as he sat there apparently 
 absorbed in study, — the big volume he 
 perused resting partly on his knee, — but 
 El-Rami's brow contracted with sudden anger 
 as he observed him from the half-open door- 
 way where he stood, himself unseen, — and 
 his dark face grew very pale. He threw the 
 door back on Its hinges with a clattering 
 sound and entered the room. 
 
 •' Feraz !" 
 
 F6raz looked up, lifting his eyelids indif- 
 ferently and smiling coldly. 
 
 '■ What, El- Rami ! Back so early ? 1 did 
 not expect you till nightfall." 
 
 ''Did you not?" said his brother, advancing 
 
THE SOUL OF LILITH 159 
 
 slowly — " Pray how was that ? You know I 
 generally return after a night's absence early 
 in the next day. Where is your usual word 
 of welcome ? What ails you ? You seem in 
 a very odd humour !" 
 
 " Do I ?" — and Feraz stretched himself a 
 little, — rose, yawning, and laid down the 
 volume he held on the table — *' I am not 
 aware of it myself, I assure you. How did 
 you find your old madman ? And did you 
 tell him you were nearly as mad as he ?" 
 
 El- Rami's eyes flashed indignant amaze- 
 ment and wrath. 
 
 *' Feraz ! — What do you mean ?" 
 
 With a fierce impulsive movement Feraz 
 turned and fully faced him, — all his forced 
 and feigned calmness gone to the winds, — a 
 glowing picture of youth and beauty and 
 rage commingled. 
 
 "What do I mean .'^" he cried — "I mean 
 this ! That I am tired of being your slave— 
 your * subject ' for conjurer's tricks of mes- 
 merism, — that from henceforth I resist your 
 power, — that I will not serve you — will not 
 obey you — will not yield — no ! — not an inch 
 of my liberty — to your influence, — that I am 
 
i6o THE SOUL OF LI LIT H 
 
 a free man, as you are, and that I will have 
 the full rights of both my freedom and man- 
 hood. You shall play no more with me ; I 
 refuse to be your dupe as I have been. 
 This is what I mean ! — and as I will have no 
 deception or subterfuge between us, — for I 
 scorn a lie, — hear the truth from me at once ; 
 — I know your secret — I have seen Her!" 
 
 El-Rami stood erect, — immovable; — he 
 was very pale ; his breath came and went 
 quickly — once his hand clenched, but he said 
 nothing. 
 
 ** I have seen Her!" cried Feraz again, 
 flinging up his arms with an ecstatic wild 
 gesture — '' A creature fairer than any vision ! 
 — and you — you have the heart to bind her 
 fast in darkness and in nothingness, — you it 
 is who have shut her sight to the world, 
 you have made for her, through your horrible 
 skill, a living death in which she knows 
 nothing, feels nothing, sees nothing, loves 
 nothing ! I tell you it is a cursed deed you 
 are doing, — a deed worse than murder — I 
 would not have believed it of you ! I thought 
 your experiments were all for good, — I never 
 would have deemed you capable of cruelty 
 
THE SOUL OF LI LIT H i6i 
 
 to a helpless woman ! But I will release her 
 from your spells, — she is too beautiful to be 
 made her own living monument, — Zaroba is 
 right — she needs life — joy — love ! — she shall 
 have them all ; — through vie /" 
 
 He paused, out of breath with the heat 
 and violence of his own emotions ; — El-Rami 
 stood, still immovably regarding him. 
 
 '' You may be as angered as you please " — 
 went on Feraz with sullen passion — "I care 
 nothing now. It was Zaroba who bade me 
 go up yonder and see her where she slept ; 
 ... it was Zaroba " 
 
 '''The woman tempted me and I did 
 eat — '" quoted El-Rami coldly, — " Of course 
 it was Zaroba. No other than a woman 
 could thus break a sworn word. Naturally 
 it was Zaroba, — the paid and kept slave of 
 my service, who owes to me her very exist- 
 ence, — who persuaded my brother to dis- 
 honour." 
 
 " Dishonour !" and Feraz laid his hand 
 with a quick, almost savage gesture on the 
 hilt of the dagger at his belt. El-Rami's 
 dark eyes blazed upon him scornfully. 
 
 " So soon a braggart of the knife ?" he 
 
 VOL. I. II 
 
i62 THE SOUL OF LILITH 
 
 said. ''What theatrical show is this ? You 
 — you — the poet, the dreamer, the musician 
 — the gentle lad whose life was one of peace- 
 ful and innocent reverie — are you so soon 
 changed to the mere swaggering puppy of 
 manhood who pranks himself out in gaudy 
 clothing, and thinks by vulgar threatening to 
 overawe his betters? If so, 'tis a pity — but 
 I shall not waste time in deploring it. Hear 
 me, Feraz — I said 'dishonour,' — swallow the 
 word as best you may, it is the only one that 
 fits the act of prying into secrets not your 
 own. But I am not angered, — the mischief 
 wrought is not beyond remedy, and if it were 
 there would be still less use in bewailing it. 
 What is done cannot be undone. Now tell 
 me, — you say you have seen Her. Whom 
 have you seen ?" 
 
 Fdraz regarded him amazedly. 
 
 " Whom have I seen ?" he echoed — 
 ''Whom should I see, if not the girl you 
 keep locked in those upper rooms, — a beauti- 
 ful maiden, sleeping her life away, in cruel 
 darkness and ignorance of all things true and 
 fair!" 
 
 "An enchanted princess, to your fancy — " 
 
THE SOUL OF LILITH 163 
 
 said El-Rami derisively. " Well, if you 
 thought so, and if you beUeved yourself to 
 be a new sort of Prince Charming, why, if 
 she were only sleeping, did you not wake 
 her?" 
 
 " Wake her ?" exclaimed Feraz excitedly, 
 — "Oh, I would have given my life to see 
 those fringed lids uplift and show the wonders 
 of the eyes beneath ! I called her by every 
 endearing name — I took her hands and 
 warmed them in my own — I would have 
 kissed her lips " 
 
 '* You dared not !" cried El-Rami, fired 
 beyond his own control, and making a fierce 
 bound towards him — '' You dared not pollute 
 her by your touch !" 
 
 Feraz recoiled, — a sudden chill ran through 
 his blood. His brother was transformed 
 with the passion that surged through him, — 
 his eyes flashed — his lips quivered — his very 
 form seemed to tower up and tremble and 
 dilate with rage. 
 
 *' El-Rami!" he stammered nervously, 
 feeling all his newly - born defiance and 
 bravado oozing away under the terrible 
 magnetism of this man, whose fury was 
 
[64 THE SOUL OF LI LIT H 
 
 nearly as electric as that of a sudden thunder- 
 storm, — " El-RamI, I did no harm, — Zaroba 
 was there beside me " 
 
 "Zaroba!" echoed El-Rami furiously — 
 " Zaroba would stand by and see an angel 
 violated, and think it the greatest happiness 
 that could befall her sanctity ! To be of 
 common clay, w4th household joys and 
 kitchen griefs, is Zaroba's idea of noble 
 living. Oh rash unhappy Feraz ! you say 
 you know my secret — you do not know it — 
 you cannot guess it ! Foolish, ignorant boy ! 
 — did you think yourself a new Christ with 
 power to raise the Dead ?" 
 
 *' The dead ?" muttered Feraz, with white 
 lips — "The dead? She — the girl I saw — 
 lives and breathes ..." 
 
 '' By 77iy will alone !" said El-Rami — " By 
 my force — by my knowledge — by my 
 constant watchful care, — by my control over 
 the subtle threads that connect Spirit with 
 Matter. Otherwise, according to all the 
 laws of ordinary nature, that girl is dead — 
 she died in the Syrian desert six years ago !" 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 At these words, pronounced slowly and with 
 emphatic distinctness, Feraz staggered back 
 dizzily and sank into a chair, — drops of 
 perspiration bedewed his forehead, and a 
 sick faint feeling overcame him. He said 
 nothing, — he could find no words in which 
 to express his mingled horror and amaze- 
 ment. El-Rami watched him keenly, — and 
 presently Feraz, looking up, caught the calm, 
 full and fiery regard of his brother's eyes. 
 With a smothered cry, he raised his hands 
 as though to shield himself from a blow. 
 
 " I will not have it ;" — he muttered faintly 
 — *' You shall not force my thoughts, — I will 
 believe nothing against my own will. You 
 shall no longer delude my eyes and ears — I 
 have read — I know, — I know how such 
 trickery is done !" 
 
J 66 THE SOUL OF LI LIT H 
 
 El-Rami uttered an impatient exclamation, 
 and paced once or twice up and down the 
 room. 
 
 " See here, Feraz ;" — he said, suddenly 
 stopping before the chair in which his 
 brother sat, — '' I swear to you that I am 
 not exercising one iota of my influence upon 
 you. When I do, I will tell you, that you 
 may be prepared to resist me if you choose. 
 I am using no power of any kind upon you — 
 be satisfied of that. But, as you have forced 
 your way into the difficult labyrinth of my 
 life's work, it is as well that you should have 
 an explanation of what seems to you full of 
 mysterious evil and black magic. You accuse 
 me of wickedness, — you tell me 1 am guilty 
 of a deed worse than murder. Now this is 
 mere rant and nonsense, — you speak in such 
 utter ignorance of the facts, that I forgive 
 you, as one is bound to forgive all faults com- 
 mitted through sheer want of instruction. I 
 do not think I am a wicked man ' — he 
 paused, with an earnest, almost pathetic 
 expression on his face — "at least I strive 
 not to be. I am ambitious and sceptical — 
 and I am not altogether convinced of there 
 
THE SOUL OF LILITH 167 
 
 being any real intention of ultimate good in 
 the arrangements of this world as they at 
 present exist, — but I work without any 
 malicious intention ; and without undue boast- 
 ing I believe I am as honest and con- 
 scientious as the best of my kind. But 
 that is neither here nor there, — as I said 
 before, you have broken into a secret not 
 intended for your knowledge — and that 
 you may not misunderstand me yet more 
 thoroughly than you seem to do, I will tell 
 you what I never wished to bother your 
 brains with. For you have been very happy 
 till now, Feraz — happy in the beautiful sim- 
 plicity of the life you led — the life of a poet 
 and dreamer, — the happiest life in the world !" 
 
 He broke off, with a short sigh of mingled 
 vexation and regret — then he seated himself 
 immediately opposite his brother and went 
 on — 
 
 "You were too young to understand the 
 loss it was to us both when our parents died, 
 — or to know the immense reputation our 
 father Nadir Zaranos had won throughout 
 the East for his marvellous skill in natural 
 science and medicine. He died in the prime 
 
i68 THE SOUL OF LI LIT H 
 
 of his life, — our mother followed him within 
 a month, — and you were left to my charge, 
 — you a child then, and I almost a man. 
 Our father's small but rare library came into 
 my possession, together with his own manu- 
 scripts treating of the scientific and spiritual 
 organization of Nature in all its branches, — 
 and these opened such extraordinary vistas 
 of possibility to me as to what might be 
 done if such and such theories could be 
 practically carried out and acted upon, that I 
 became fired with the ardour of discovery. 
 The more I studied, the more convinced and 
 eager I became in the pursuit of such know- 
 ledge as is generally deemed supernatural, 
 and beyond the reach of all human inquiry. 
 One or two delicate experiments in chemistry 
 of a rare and subtle nature were entirely 
 successful, — and by-and-bye I began to look 
 about for a subject on whom I could practise 
 the power I had attained. There was no 
 one whom I could personally watch and sur- 
 round with my hourly influence except your- 
 self, — therefore I made my first great trial 
 upon jj/^?/." 
 
 Feraz moved uneasily in his chair, — his 
 
THE SOUL OF LILITH 169 
 
 face wore a doubtful, half-sullen expression, 
 but he listened to El- Rami's every word 
 with vivid and almost painful interest. 
 
 ''At that time you were a mere boy—" 
 pursued El- Rami — "but strong and vigorous, 
 and full of the mischievous pranks and sports 
 customary to healthy boyhood. I began by 
 slow degrees to educate you — not with the 
 aid of schools or tutors — but simply by my 
 Will. You had a singularly unretentive brain, 
 — you were never fond of music — you would 
 never read, — you had no taste for study. Your 
 delight was to ride — to swim like a fish, — to 
 handle a gun — to race, to leap, — to play 
 practical jokes on other boys of your own 
 age and fight them if they resented it ; — all 
 very amusing performances no doubt, but 
 totally devoid of intelligence. Judging you 
 dispassionately, I found that you were a very 
 charming gamesome animal, — physically per- 
 fect — with a Mind somewhere if one could 
 only discover it, and a Soul or Spirit behind 
 the Mind — if one could only discover that 
 also. I set myself the task of finding out 
 both these hidden portions of your composi- 
 tion — and of not only finding them, but 
 
I70 THE SOUL OF LILITH 
 
 moulding and influencing them according to 
 my desire and plan." 
 
 A faint tremor shook the younger man's 
 frame — but he said nothing. 
 
 " You are attending to me closely, I hope ?" 
 said El- Rami pointedly — '' because you must 
 distinctly understand that this conversation is 
 the first and last we shall have on the matter. 
 After to-day, the subject must drop between 
 us forever, and I shall refuse to answer any 
 more questions. You hear ?" 
 
 Feraz bent his head. 
 
 '' I hear — " he answered with an effort — 
 ''And what I hear seems strange and terrible!" 
 
 ''Strange and terrible?" echoed El-Rami. 
 " How so ? What is there strange or 
 terrible in the pursuit of Wisdom ? Yet — 
 perhaps you are right, and the blank 
 ignorance of a young child is best, — for 
 there is something appalling in the infinitude 
 of knowledge — an infinitude which must 
 remain infinite, if it be true that there is a 
 God who is forever thinking, and whose 
 thoughts become realities." 
 
 He paused, with a rapt look, — then resumed 
 in the same even tone, — 
 
THE SOUL OF LILITH 171 
 
 '' When I had made up my mind to experi- 
 inentaHze upon you, I lost no time in com- 
 mencing my work. One of my chief desires 
 was to avoid the least risk of endangering 
 your health — your physical condition was 
 admirable, and I resolved to keep it so. In 
 this I succeeded. I made life a joy to you — 
 the mere act of breathing a pleasure — you 
 ^rew up before my eyes like the vigorous 
 sapling of an oak that rejoices in the mere 
 expansion of its leaves to the fresh air. 
 The other and more subtle task was harder, 
 — it needed all my patience — all my skill, — 
 but I was at last rewarded. Through my 
 concentrated influence, which surrounded you 
 as with an atmosphere in which you moved, 
 and slept, and woke again, and which forced 
 every fibre of your brain to respond to mine, 
 the animal faculties which were strongest in 
 you, became subdued and tamed, — and the 
 mental slowly asserted themselves. I resolved 
 you should be a poet and musician — you 
 became both ; — you developed an ardent 
 love of study, and every few months that 
 passed gave richer promise of your ripening 
 intelligence. Moreover, you were happy, — 
 
172 THE SOUL OF LJLITH 
 
 happy in everything — happiest perhaps in 
 your music, which became your leading 
 passion. Having thus, unconsciously to 
 yourself, fostered your mind by the silent 
 workings of my own, and trained it to grow- 
 up like a flower to the light, I thought I 
 might make my next attempt, which was to 
 probe for that subtle essence we call the 
 Soul — the large wings that are hidden in the 
 moth's chrysalis ; — and influence that too ; — 
 but there — there by some inexplicable op- 
 position of forces, I was baffled." 
 
 Feraz raised himself half out of his chair, 
 his lips parted in breathless eagerness — his 
 eyes dilated and sparkling. 
 
 " Baffled T' he repeated hurriedly — " How 
 do you mean ? — in what way ?" 
 
 " Oh, in various ways — " replied El-Rami. 
 looking at him with a somewhat melancholy 
 expression — " Ways that I myself am not 
 able to comprehend. I found I could in- 
 fluence your Inner Self to obey me, — but 
 only to a very limited extent, and in mere 
 trifles, — for example, as you yourself know. 
 I could compel you to come to me from a 
 certain distance in response to my thought. 
 
THE SOUL OF LILITH 173 
 
 — but in higher things you escaped me. 
 You became subject to long trances, — this I 
 was prepared for, as it was partially my work, 
 — and during these times of physical uncon- 
 sciousness, it was evident that your Soul 
 enjoyed a life and liberty superior to any- 
 thing these earth-regions can offer. But you 
 could never remember all you saw in these 
 absences, — indeed, the only suggestions you 
 seem to have brought away from that other 
 state of existence are the strange melodies 
 you play sometimes, and that idea you have 
 about your native Star." 
 
 A curious expression flitted across Feraz's 
 face as he heard — and his lips parted in a 
 slight smile, but he said nothing. 
 
 " Therefore," — pursued his brother medi- 
 tatively — '' as I could get no clear exposition 
 of other worlds from you, as I had hoped to 
 do, I knew I had failed to command you in a 
 spiritual sense. But my dominance over your 
 Mind continued ; it continues still, — nay, my 
 good F^raz !" — this, as Feraz seemed about 
 to utter some impetuous word — " Pray that 
 you may never be able to shake off my force 
 entirely, — for if you do, you will lose what 
 
174 THE SOUL OF LI LITE 
 
 the people of a grander and poetic day called 
 Genius — and what the miserable Dry-as- 
 Dusts of our modern era call Madness — the 
 only gift of the gods that has ever served to 
 enlighten and purify the world. But your 
 genius, Feraz, belongs to me ; — I gave it to 
 you, and I can take it back again if I so 
 choose ; — and leave you as you originally 
 were— a handsome animal with no more true 
 conception of art or beauty than my Lord 
 Melthorpe, or his spendthrift young cousin 
 Vaughan." 
 
 Feraz had listened thus far in silence, — 
 but now he sprang out of his chair with a 
 reckless gesture. 
 
 *' I cannot bear it !" he said — " I cannot 
 bear it ! El-Rami, I cannot — I will not !" 
 
 " Cannot bear what ?" inquired his brother 
 with a touch of satire in his tone — " Pray be 
 calm ! — there is no necessity for such melo- 
 dramatic excitement. Cannot bear what ?" 
 
 " I will not owe everything to you !" went 
 on F^raz, passionately — " How can I endure 
 to know that my very thoughts are not my 
 own, but emanate from you ? — that my music 
 has been instilled into me by you ? — that you 
 
THE SOUL OF LILITH 173 
 
 possess me by your power, body and brain, 
 — great Heaven ! it is awful — intolerable — 
 impossible !" 
 
 El-Rami rose and laid one hand gently on 
 his shoulder — he recoiled shudderingly — and 
 the elder man sighed heavily. 
 
 ''You tremble at my touch, — " he said 
 sadly — "the touch of a hand that has never 
 wilfully wrought you harm, but has always 
 striven to make life beautiful to you ? Well ! 
 — be it so ! — you have only to say the word, 
 Feraz, and you shall owe me nothing. I will 
 undo all I have done, — and you shall re- 
 assume the existence for which Nature 
 originally made you — an idle voluptuous 
 wasting of time in sensualism and folly. And 
 even ^Aa^ form of life you must owe to 
 Someone, — even that you must account for 
 —to God !" 
 
 The young man's head drooped, — a faint 
 sense of shame stirred in him, but he was 
 still resentful and sullen. 
 
 " What have I done to you," went on El- 
 Rami, " that you should turn from me thus, 
 all because you have seen a dead woman's 
 face for an hour ? I have made your thoughts 
 
76 THE SOUL OF LI LIT H 
 
 harmonious — I have given you pleasure such 
 as the world's ways cannot give — your mind 
 has been as a clear mirror in which only the 
 fairest visions of life were reflected. You 
 would alter this ? — then do so, if you decide 
 thereon, — but weigh the matter well and 
 long, before you shake off my touch, my 
 tenderness, my care." 
 
 His voice faltered a little — but he quickly 
 controlled his emotion, and continued — 
 
 '' I must ask you to sit down again and 
 hear me out patiently to the end of my story. 
 At present I have only told you what con- 
 cerns yourself — and how the failure of my 
 experiment upon the spiritual part of your 
 nature, obliged me to seek for another subject 
 on whom to continue my investigations. As 
 far as you are personally concerned, no failure 
 is apparent — for your spirit is allowed frequent 
 intervals of supernatural freedom, in which 
 you have experiences that give you peculiar 
 pleasure, though you are unable to impart 
 them to me with positive lucidity. You visit 
 a Star — so you say — with which you really 
 seem to have some home connection — but 
 you never get beyond this, so that it would 
 
THE SOUL OF ULITH 177 
 
 appear that any higher insight is denied you. 
 Now what I needed to obtain, was not only a 
 higher insight, but the highest knowledge 
 that could possibly be procured through a 
 mingled combination of material and spiritual 
 essences, and it was many a long and weary 
 day before I found what I sought. At last 
 my hour came — as it comes to all who have 
 the patience and fortitude to wait for it." 
 
 He paused a moment — then went on more 
 quickly — 
 
 '* You remember of course that occasion 
 on which we chanced upon a party of Arab 
 wanderers who were journeying across the 
 Syrian desert ? — all poor and ailing, and 
 almost destitute of food or water ?" 
 
 '' I remember it perfectly !" and F6raz, 
 seating himself opposite his brother again, 
 listened with renewed interest and attention. 
 
 *'They had two dying persons with them," 
 continued El-Rami — " An elderly woman — 
 a widow, known as Zaroba, — the other an 
 orphan girl of about twelve years of age 
 named Lilith. Both were perishing of fever 
 and famine. I came to the rescue. I saved 
 Zaroba, — and she, with the passionate im- 
 
 VOL. I. 12 
 
178 THE SOUL OF LILITH 
 
 pulsiveness of her race, threw herself in 
 gratitude at my feet, and swore by ail her 
 most sacred beliefs that she would be my 
 slave from henceforth as long as she lived. 
 All her people were dead, she told me — she 
 was alone in the world — she prayed me to 
 let her be my faithful servant. And truly. 
 her fidelity has never failed — till now. But 
 of that hereafter. The child Lilith, more 
 fragile of frame and weakened to the last 
 extremity of exhaustion — in spite of my un- 
 remitting care — died. Do you thoroughly 
 understand me — she diedr 
 
 ''She died!" repeated Feraz slowly^ — - 
 '•Well— what then ?" 
 
 " I was supporting her in my arms" — said 
 El-Rami, the ardour of his description grow- 
 ing upon him, and his black eyes dilating and 
 burning like great jewels under the darkness 
 of his brows — '' when she drew her last 
 breath and sank back — a corpse. But before 
 her flesh had time to stiffen, — before the 
 warmth had gone out of her blood, — an idea, 
 wild and daring, flashed across my mind. 
 * If this child has a Soul.' 1 said to myself — 
 ' I will stay it in its flight from hence ! It 
 
 i 
 
THE SOUL OF LILITH I7y 
 
 shall become the new Ariel of my wish and 
 will — and not till it has performed my bidding 
 to the utmost extent will I, like another 
 Prospero, give it its true liberty. And 1 will 
 preserve the body, its mortal shell, by arti- 
 ficial means, that through its medium I may 
 receive the messages of the Spirit in mortal 
 language such as I am able to understand.' 
 No sooner had I conceived my bold project 
 than I proceeded to carry it into execution. 
 I injected into the still warm veins of the 
 dead girl a certain fluid whose properties I 
 alone know the working of — and then 1 
 sought and readily obtained permission from 
 the Arabs to bury her in the desert, while 
 they went on their way. They were in haste 
 to continue their journey, and were grateful 
 to me for taking this office off their hands. 
 That very day — the day the girl died — I sent 
 you from me, as you know, bidding you 
 make all possible speed, on an errand which 
 I easily invented, to the Brethren of the Cross 
 in the Island of Cyprus, — you went obediently 
 enough, — surprised perhaps, but suspecting 
 nothing. That same evening when the heats 
 abated and the moon rose, the caravan re- 
 
i8o THE SOUL OF LI LIT H 
 
 sumed its pilgrimage, leaving Lilith's dead 
 body with me, and also the woman Zaroba, 
 who volunteered to remain and serve me in 
 my tent, an offer which I accepted, seeing 
 that it was her own desire, and that she 
 would be useful to me. She, poor silly 
 soul, took me then for a sort of god, because 
 she was unable to understand the miracle of 
 her own recovery from imminent death, and I 
 felt certain 1 could rely upon her fidelity. 
 Part of my plan I told her, — she heard with 
 mingled fear and reverence, — the magic of 
 the East was in her blood, however, and she 
 had a superstitious belief that a truly ' wise 
 man ' could do anything. So, for several 
 days we stayed encamped in the desert — 
 ■I passing all my hours beside the dead 
 Lilith, — dead, but to a certain extent living 
 through artificial means. As soon as I 
 received proof positive that my experiment 
 was likely to be successful, I procured means 
 to continue my journey on to Alexandria, and 
 thence to England. To all enquirers I said 
 the girl was a patient of mine who was 
 suffering from epileptic trances, and the 
 presence of Zaroba, who filled her post 
 
THE SOUL OF LI LIT H i8i 
 
 admirably as nurse and attendant, was 
 sufficient to stop the mouths of would - be 
 scandal-mongers. I chose my residence in 
 London, because it is the largest city in the 
 world, and the one most suited to pursue a 
 course of study in, without one's motives 
 becoming generally known. One can be 
 more alone in London than in a desert if 
 one chooses. Now, you know all. You 
 have seen the dead Lilith, — the human 
 chrysalis of the moth, — but there is a living 
 Lilith too — the Soul of Lilith, which is partly 
 free and partly captive, but in both conditions 
 is always the servant of my Will ! ' 
 
 Feraz looked at him in mingled awe and 
 fear. 
 
 " El-Rami," — he said tremulously — " What 
 you tell me is wonderful — terrible — almost 
 beyond belief, — but, 1 know something of 
 your power and I must believe you. Only 
 — surely you are in error when you say that 
 Lilith is dead } How can she be dead, if 
 you have given her life ?"' 
 
 "Can you call that life which sleeps per- 
 petually and will not wake ?" demanded 
 El-Rami. 
 
i82 THE SOUL OF LILITH 
 
 " Would you have her wake ?" asked 
 Feraz, his heart beating quickly. 
 
 El-Rami bent his burning gaze upon him. 
 
 "Not so, — for if she wakes, in the usual 
 sense of waking — she dies a second death 
 from which there can be no recall. There is 
 the terror of the thing. Zaroba's foolish 
 teaching, and your misguided yielding to her 
 temptation, might have resulted in the fatal 
 end to my life's best and grandest work. 
 But — I forgive you; — you did not know, — 
 and she — she did not wake." 
 
 *' She did not wake," echoed Feraz softly. 
 " No — but- — she smiled !" 
 
 El-Rami still kept his eyes fixed upon him, 
 — there was an odd sense of irritation in his 
 usually calm and coldly balanced organiza- 
 tion — a feeling he strove in vain to subdue. 
 She smiled ! — the exquisite Lilith — the life- 
 in-death Lilith smiled, because Feraz had 
 called her by some endearing name ! Surely 
 it could not be! — and smothering his annoy- 
 ance, he turned towards the writing - table 
 and feigned to arrange some books and 
 papers there. 
 
 " El-Rami — " murmured Feraz again, but 
 
THE SOUL OF LILITH 183 
 
 timidly — *' If she was a child when she died 
 as you say — how is it she has grown to 
 womanhood ?" 
 
 " By artificial vitality," — said El- Rami — 
 *' As a flower is forced under a hot-house,— 
 and with no more trouble, and less con- 
 sciousness of effort than a rose under a glass 
 dome." 
 
 " Then she lives, — " declared Feraz im- 
 petuously. " She lives, — artificial or natural, 
 she Aas vitality. Through your power she 
 exists, and if you chose, oh, if you chose, 
 El-Rami, you could wake her to the fullest 
 life — to perfect consciousness, — to joy — to 
 love! — Oh, she is in a blessed trance — you 
 cannot call her dead f' 
 
 El-Rami turned upon him abruptly. 
 
 '* Be silent!" he said sternly—''! read 
 your thoughts, control them, if you are 
 wise ! You echo Zarobas prating — Zaroba's 
 teaching. Lilith is dead, I tell you, — dead 
 to you, — and, in the sense yo/^ mean — dead 
 to me." 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 After this, a long silence fell between them. 
 Feraz sat moodily in his chair, conscious of a 
 certain faint sense of shame. He was sorry 
 that he had wilfully trespassed upon his 
 brother's great secret, — and yet there was an 
 angry pride in him, — a vague resentment at 
 having been kept so long in ignorance of 
 this wonderful story of Lilith, — which made 
 him reluctant to acknowledge himself in the 
 wrong. Moreover, his mind was possessed 
 and haunted by Lilith's face, — the radiant 
 face that looked like that of an angel sleep- 
 ing, — and perplexedly thinking over all he 
 had heard, he wondered if he would ever again 
 have the opportunity of beholding what had 
 seemed to him the incarnation of ideal love- 
 liness. Surely yes ! — Zaroba would be his 
 
THE SOUL OF LI LIT H i8: 
 
 friend, — Zaroba would let him gaze his fill 
 on that exquisite form — would let him touch 
 that little, ethereally delicate hand, as soft as 
 velvet and as white as snow ! Absorbed in 
 these reflections, he scarcely noticed that El- 
 Rami had moved away from him to the 
 writing-table, and that he now sat there in 
 his ebony chair, turning over the leaves ot 
 the curious Arabic volume which Feraz had 
 had such trouble in deciphering on the 
 previous day. Ihe silence in the room con- 
 tinued ; outside there was the perpetual sullen 
 roar of raging restless London, — now and 
 again the sharp chirruping of contentious 
 sparrows, arguing over a crumb of food as 
 parliamentary agitators chatter over a crumb 
 of difference, stirred the quiet air. Feraz 
 stretched himself and yawned, — he was 
 getting sleepy, and as he realized this fact, 
 he nervously attributed it to his brother's in- 
 fluence, and sprang up abruptly, rubbing his 
 eyes and pushing his thick hair from his 
 brows. At his hasty movement, El-Rami 
 turned slowly towards him with a grave yet 
 kindly smile. 
 
 "Well, Feraz" — he said- " Do you still 
 
i86 THE SOUL OF LILITH 
 
 think me ' wicked ' now vou know all ? 
 Speak frankly — do not be afraid." 
 
 Feraz paused, irresolute. 
 
 "I do not know what to think — " he 
 answered hesitatingly, ^ — ''Your experiment 
 is of course wonderful, — but — as I said before 
 -—to me, it seems terrible." 
 
 " Life is terrible — " said El- Rami — *' Death 
 
 is terrible, — Love Is terrible,^ — ^God is terrible. 
 
 All Nature's pulses beat to the note of Terror, 
 
 -terror of the Unknown that May Be, — 
 
 terror of the Known that Ls !" 
 
 His deep voice rang with impressive 
 solemnity through the room, — his eyes were 
 full of that strange lurid gleam which gave 
 them the appearance of having a flame behind 
 them. 
 
 " Come here, F'eraz,"' he continued — " Why 
 do you stand at so cautious a distance from 
 me ? With that brave show-dagger at your 
 belt, are you a coward ? Silly lad ! I 
 swear to you my Influence shall not touch 
 you unless I warn you of it beforehand. 
 Come !" 
 
 F6raz obeyed, but slowly and with an un- 
 certain step. His brother looked at him 
 
THE SOUL OF LILITH 187 
 
 attentively as he came, — then, with a gesture 
 indicating the volume before him, he said — 
 
 ** You found this book on my table yester- 
 day and tried to read it, — is it not so ?" 
 
 *'I did." 
 
 *' Well, and have you learnt anything from 
 it ?" pursued El-Rami with a strange smile. 
 
 " Yes. I learnt how the senses may be 
 deceived by trickery — " retorted Feraz with 
 some heat and quickness — " and how a clever 
 magnetizer — like yourself — may fool the eye 
 and delude the ear with sights and sounds 
 that have no existence." 
 
 " Precisely. Listen to this passage ;" 
 and El-Rami read aloud — '' ' The King when 
 he had any affair, assembled the Priests with- 
 out the City Memphis, and the People met 
 together in the streets of the said City. Then 
 they (the Priests) made their entrance one 
 after another in order, the drum beating 
 before them to bring the people together ; 
 and every-one made some miraculous dis- 
 covery of his Magick and Wisdom. One 
 had, lo their thinking who looked on him, his 
 face surrounded with a light like that of the 
 Sun, so that none could look earnestly upon 
 
i88 THE SOUL OF LILITH 
 
 him. Another seemed clad with a Robe 
 beset with precious stones of divers colours, 
 green, red, or yellow, or wrought with gold. 
 Another came mounted on a Lion compassed 
 with Serpents like Girdles. Another came 
 in covered with a canopy or pavilion of 
 Light. Another appeared surrounded with 
 Fire turning about him, so as that nobody 
 durst come near him. Another was seen 
 with dreadful birds perching about his head 
 and shaking their wings like black eagles 
 and vultures. In fine, everyone did what 
 was taught him ; — ye^ all was but Apparition 
 and Ilhtsion withont any reality, insomuch 
 that when they came up to the King they 
 spake thus to him : — You imagined that it 
 was so-and-so, — but the truth is that it was 
 such or such a thing!^ The A B C of 
 magnetism is contained in the last words- 
 continued El- Rami lifting his eyes from the 
 book, — *' The merest tyro in the science 
 
 * This remarkable passage on the admitted effects of 
 hypnotism as practised by the priests of ancient Egypt, will 
 be found in an old history of the building of the Pyramids 
 entitled — "The Egyptian Account of the Pyramids" — 
 Written in the Arabic by Murtadi the son of Gaphiphus — 
 date about 1400. 
 
 i 
 
THE SOUL OF LILITH 189 
 
 knows that ; and also realizes that the 
 Imagination is the centre of both physical 
 and bodily health or disease. And did you 
 learn nothing more ?" 
 
 Fdraz made a half-angry gesture in the 
 negative. 
 
 *' What a pity !" — and his brother surveyed 
 him with good-humoured compassion — " To 
 know how a ' miracle ' is done is one thing 
 — but to do it is quite another matter. Now 
 let me recall to your mind what I previously 
 told you — that from this day henceforth, I 
 forbid you to make any allusion to the 
 subject of my work. I forbid you to mention 
 the name of Lilith, — and I forbid you to 
 approach or to enter the room where her 
 body lies. You understand me ? — I forbid 
 you !" 
 
 Feraz's eyes flashed angry opposition, and 
 he drew himself up with a haughty self- 
 assertiveness. 
 
 '* You forbid me !" he echoed proudly - 
 " What right have you to forbid me any- 
 thing } And how if I refuse to obey ?" 
 
 El-Rami rose and confronted him, one 
 hand resting on the big Arabic volume. 
 
I90 THE SOUL OF LILJTH 
 
 " You will not refuse — " he said — " because 
 I will take no refusal. You will obey, because 
 I exact your obedience. Moreover, you will 
 swear by the Most Holy Name of God, that 
 you will never, either to me, or to any other 
 living soul, speak a syllable concerning my 
 life's greatest experiment, — you will swear 
 that the name of Lilith shall never pass your 
 lips " 
 
 But here Feraz interrupted him. 
 
 " El -Rami, I will no^ swear!" he cried 
 desperately — '' The name of Lilith is sweet 
 to me ! — why should I not utter it, — why 
 should I not sing of it — why should I not 
 even remember it in my prayers ?" 
 
 A terrible look darkened El-Rami's coun- 
 tenance ; his brows contracted darkly, and 
 his lips drew together in a close resolute 
 line. 
 
 " There are a thousand reasons why — " 
 he said in low fierce accents, — " One is, that 
 the soul of Lilith and the body of Lilith are 
 mine, and that you have no share in their 
 possession. She does not need your songs 
 — still less has she need of your prayers. 
 Rash fool ! — you shall forget the name of 
 
THE SOUL OF LI LIT H 191 
 
 Lilith — and you s/iall swear, as I command 
 you. Resist my will if you can, — now ! — I 
 warn you in time !" 
 
 He seemed to grow in height as he spoke, 
 — his eyes blazed ominously, and Feraz, 
 meeting that lightning-like glance, knew how 
 hopeless it would be for him to attempt to 
 oppose such an intense force as was con- 
 tained in this man's mysterious organization. 
 He tried his best, — but in vain, — with every 
 second he felt his strength oozing out of him 
 — his power of resistance growing less and 
 less. 
 
 "Swear!" said El-Rami imperatively — 
 " Swear in God's Name to keep my secret — 
 swear by Christ's Death ! — swear on this r 
 
 And he held out a small golden crucifix. 
 
 Mechanically, but still devoutly, Feraz in- 
 stantly dropped on one knee, and kissed the 
 holy emblem. 
 
 " I swear!" he said — but as he spoke, the 
 rising tears were in his throat, and he mur- 
 mured — ** Forget the name of Lilith ! — 
 never !" 
 
 '* In God's Name!" said El-Rami. 
 
 " In God's Name !" 
 
192 THE SOUL OF LILITH 
 
 *' By Christ's Death !" 
 
 Feraz trembled. In the particular form 
 of religion professed by himself and his 
 brother, this was the most solemn and bind- 
 ing vow that could be taken. And his voice 
 was faint and unsteady as he repeated it — 
 
 ''By Christ's Death!" 
 
 El-Rami put aside the crucifix. 
 
 *' That is well ; — " he said, in mild accents 
 which contrasted agreeably with his previous 
 angry tone — " Such oaths are chronicled in 
 heaven, remember, — and whoever breaks his 
 sworn word is accursed of the gods. But 
 you, — you will keep your vow, Feraz, — and 
 . . . you will also forget the name of Lilith, 
 —if I choose !" 
 
 Feraz stood mute and motionless, — he 
 would have said something, but somehow 
 words failed him to express what was in his 
 mind. He was angry, he said to himself, — 
 he had sworn a foolish oath against his will, 
 and he had every right to be angry — very 
 angry, but with whom ? Surely not with his 
 brother — his friend, — his protector for so 
 many years ? As he thought of this, shame 
 and penitence and old affection grew stronger 
 
THE SOUL OF LI LIT H 193 
 
 and welled up in his heart, and he moved 
 slowly towards El-Rami, with hands out- 
 stretched. 
 
 " Forgive me ;" — he said humbly. " I 
 have offended you — I am sorry. I will 
 show my repentance in whatever way you 
 please, — but do not, El-Rami — do not ask 
 me, do not force me to forget the name of 
 Lilith, — it is like a note in music, and it 
 cannot do you harm that I should think of it 
 sometimes. For the rest I will obey you 
 faithfully, — and for what is past, I ask your 
 pardon." 
 
 El-Rami took his hands and pressed them 
 affectionately in his own. 
 
 '' No sooner asked than granted — " he 
 said — '* You are young, Feraz, — and I am 
 not so harsh as you perhaps imagine. The 
 impulsiveness of youth should always be 
 quickly pardoned — seeing how gracious a 
 thing youth is, and how short a time it lasts. 
 Keep your poetic dreams and fancies — take 
 the sweetness of thought without its bitter- 
 ness, — and if you are content to have it so, 
 let me still help to guide your fate. If not, 
 why, nothing is easier than to part company, 
 
 VOL. I. 13 
 
194 THE SOUL OF LILITH 
 
 — part as good friends and brethren always, 
 — you on your chosen road and I on mine, — 
 who knows but that after all you might not 
 be happier so ?" 
 
 Feraz lifted his dark eyes, heavy with un- 
 shed tears. 
 
 '' Would you send me from you ?" he 
 asked falteringly. 
 
 '' Not I ! I would not send you,- — but you 
 might wish to go." 
 
 "Never!" said Feraz resolutely — "I feel 
 that I must stay with you — till the end." 
 
 He uttered the last words with a sigh, and 
 El-Rami looked at him curiously. 
 
 "Till the end?"— he repeated— " What 
 end ?" 
 
 " Oh, the end of life or death or anything ;" 
 replied Feraz with forced lightness — '' There 
 must surely be an end somewhere, as there 
 was a beginning." 
 
 " That is rather a doubtful problem !" said 
 El-Rami — " The great question is, was there 
 ever a Beginning ? and will there ever be an 
 End r 
 
 Feraz gave a languid gesture. 
 
 "You inquire too far," — he said wearily — 
 
THE SOUL OF LILITH 195 
 
 " I always think you inquire too far. I 
 cannot follow you — I am tired. Do you 
 want anything ? — can I do anything ? or may 
 I go to my room ? I want to be alone for a 
 little while, just to consider quietly what my 
 life is, and what I can make of it." 
 
 *' A truly wise and philosophical subject 
 of meditation !" observed El-Rami, and he 
 smiled kindly and held out his hand. Feraz 
 laid his own slender fingers somewhat list- 
 lessly in that firm warm palm ; — then — with 
 a sudden start, looked eagerly around him. 
 The air seemed to have grown denser, — 
 there was a delicious scent of roses in the 
 room, and hush ! . . . What entrancing 
 voices were those that sang in the distance ? 
 He listened absorbed ; — the harmonies were 
 very sweet and perfect — almost he thought 
 he could distinguish words. Loosening his 
 hand from his brother's clasp, the melody 
 seemed to grow fainter and fainter, — recog- 
 nising this, he roused himself with a quick 
 movement, his eyes flashing with a sudden 
 gleam of defiance. 
 
 ** More magic music !" he said — '' I hear 
 the sound of singing, and you hiozu that I 
 
196 THE SOUL OF LILITH 
 
 hear it ! I understand ! — it is imagined music 
 — your work, El-Rami, — your skill. It is 
 wonderful, beautiful, — and you are the most 
 marvellous man on earth ! — you should have 
 been a priest of old Egypt ! Yes — I am 
 tired — I will rest ; — I will accept the dreams 
 you offer me for what they are worth, — but 
 I must remember that there are realities as 
 well as dreams, — and I shall not forget the 
 name of — Lilith !" 
 
 He smiled audaciously, looking as graceful 
 as a pictured Adonis in the careless yet proud 
 attitude he had unconsciously assumed, — then 
 with a playful yet affectionate salutation he 
 moved to the doorway. 
 
 " Call me if you want me," he said. 
 
 " I shall not want you ;" — replied his 
 brother, regarding him steadily. 
 
 The door opened and closed again, — Feraz 
 was gone. 
 
 Shutting up the great volume in front of 
 him, El-Rami rested his arms upon it, and 
 stared into vacancy with darkly - knitted 
 brows. 
 
 ''What premonition of evil is there in the 
 air T he muttered — " What restless emotion 
 
THE SOUL OF LILITH 197 
 
 is at work within me ? Are the Fates turning 
 against me ? — and am I after all nothing but 
 the merest composition of vulgar matter — a 
 weak human wretch capable of being swayed 
 by changeful passions ? What is it ? What 
 am I that I should vex my spirit thus — all 
 because Lilith smiled at the sound of a voice 
 that was not mine !" 
 

 iV\ *^n\ 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Just then there came a Hght tap at his door. 
 He opened it, — and Zaroba stood before him. 
 No repentance for her fault of disobedience 
 and betrayal of trust, clouded that withered 
 old face of hers, — her deep-set dark eyes 
 glittered with triumph, and her whole aspect 
 was one of commanding, and almost imperious 
 dignity. In fact, she made such an osten- 
 tatious show of her own self-importance in her 
 look and manner that El- Rami stared at her 
 for a moment in haughty amazement at what 
 he considered her effrontery in thus boldly 
 facing him after her direct violation of his 
 commands. He eyed her up and down — 
 she returned him glance for glance unquail- 
 ingly. 
 
 '' Let me come in — " she said in her strong 
 
THE SOUL OF LILITH 199 
 
 harsh voice — *' I make no doubt but that the 
 poor lad Feraz has told you his story — now, 
 as God liveth, you must hear mine." 
 
 El-Rami turned upon his heel with a con- 
 temptuous movement, and went back to his 
 own chair by the writing-table. Zaroba, pay- 
 ing no heed to the wrath conveyed by this 
 mute action, stalked in also, and shutting the 
 door after her, came and stood close beside 
 him. 
 
 '' Write down what you think of me — " 
 she said, pointing with her yellow forefinger 
 at the pens and paper — '' Write the worst. 
 I have betrayed my trust. That is true. I 
 have disobeyed your commands after keeping 
 them for six long years. True again. What 
 else ?" 
 
 El-Rami fixed his eyes upon her, a world 
 of indignation and reproach in their brilliant 
 depths, and snatching up a pencil he wrote 
 on a slip of paper rapidly — 
 
 '* Nothing else — nothing more than treach- 
 ery ! You are unworthy of your sacred task 
 — you are false to your sworn fidelity." 
 
 Zaroba read the lines as quickly as he 
 wrote them, but when she came to the last 
 
THE SOUL OF LI LIT H 
 
 words she made a swift gesture of denial and 
 drew herself up haughtily. 
 
 " No — not false !" she said passionately — 
 "Not false to yoti, El- Rami, I swear ! I 
 would slay myself rather than do you wrong. 
 You saved my life, though my life was not 
 worth saving, and for that gentle deed I 
 would pour out every drop of my blood to 
 requite you. No, no ! Zaroba is not false — 
 she is true !" 
 
 She tossed up her arms wildly, — then 
 suddenly folding them tight across her chest, 
 she dropped her voice to a gentler and more 
 appealing tone. 
 
 *' Hear me, El-Rami ! — Hear me, wise man 
 and Master of the magic of the East! — I 
 have done well for you ; — well ! I have dis- 
 obeyed you for your own sake, — I have 
 betrayed my trust that you may discover 
 how and where you may find your best 
 reward. I have sinned with the resolved 
 intent to make you happy, — as God liveth, I 
 speak truth from my heart and soul !" 
 
 El-Rami turned towards her, his face ex- 
 pressing curiosity in spite of himself. He 
 was very pale, and outwardly he was calm 
 
THE SOUL OF LI LIT H 
 
 enough — but his nerves were on the rack of 
 suspense — he wondered what sudden frenzied 
 idea had possessed this woman that she 
 should comport herself as though she held 
 some strange secret of which the very utter- 
 ance might move heaven and earth to wonder- 
 ment. Controlling his feelings with an effort, 
 he wrote again — 
 
 "There exists no reason for disloyalty. 
 Your excuses avail nothing — let me hear no 
 more of them. Tell me of Lilith — what 
 news ?" 
 
 ** News !" repeated Zaroba scornfully — 
 " What news should there be ? She breathes 
 and sleeps as she has breathed and slept 
 always — she has not stirred. There is no 
 harm done by my bidding Feraz look on her, 
 — no change is wrought except in yotc, El- 
 Rami ! — except in you !" 
 
 Half springing from his chair he con- 
 fronted her— then recollecting her deafness, 
 he bit his lips angrily and sank back again 
 with an assumed air of indifference. 
 
 "You have heard Feraz — " pursued Zaroba, 
 with that indescribable triumph of hers light- 
 ing up her strong old face — " You must now 
 
THE SOUL OF LI LIT H 
 
 hear me. I thank the gods that my ears are 
 closed to the sound of human voices, and 
 that neither reproach nor curse can move me 
 to dismay. And I am ignorant oi your magic, 
 El-Rami, — the magic that chills the blood 
 and sends the spirit flitting through the land 
 of dreams, — the only magic / know is the 
 magic of the heart — of the passions, — a 
 natural witchcraft that conquers the world !" 
 
 She waved her arms to and fro — then 
 crossing them on her bosom, she made a 
 profound half-mocking salutation. 
 
 *' Wise El - Rami Zaranos !" she said. 
 " Proud ruler of the arts and sciences that 
 govern Nature, — have you ever, with all your 
 learning, taken the measure of your own 
 passions, and slain them so utterly that they 
 shall never rise up again ? They sleep at 
 times, like the serpents of the desert, colled 
 up in many a secret place, — but at the touch 
 of some unwary heel, some casual falling 
 pebble, they unwind their lengths — they 
 raise their glittering heads, and sting ! I, 
 Zaroba, have felt them here " — and she 
 pressed her hands more closely on her 
 breast — '* I have felt their poison in my 
 
THE SOUL OF LI LIT H 203 
 
 blood — sweet poison, sweeter than life ! — 
 their stings have given me all the joy my 
 days have ever known. But it is not of 
 myself that I should speak — it is of you — 
 of you, whose life is lonely, and for whom 
 the coming years hold forth no prospect of 
 delight. When I lay dying in the desert 
 and you restored me to strength again, I 
 swore to serve you with fidelity. As God 
 liveth, El-Rami, I have kept my vow, — and in 
 return for the life you gave me I bid you 
 take what is yours to claim — the love of 
 Lilith !" 
 
 El-Rami rose out of his chair, white to the 
 lips, and his hand shook. If he could have 
 concentrated his Inward forces at that moment, 
 he would have struck Zaroba dumb by one 
 effort of his will, and so put an end to her 
 undesired eloquence, — but something, he 
 knew not what, disturbed the centre of his 
 self-control, and his thoughts were in a whirl. 
 He despised himself for the unusual emotion 
 which seized him — inwardly he was furious 
 with the garrulous old woman, — but out- 
 wardly he could only make her an angry 
 imperative sign to be silent. 
 
204 THE SOUL OF LI LITE 
 
 '' Nay, I will not cease from speaking — " 
 said Zaroba imperturbably — '' for all has to 
 be said now, or never. The love of Lilith ! 
 imagine it, El-Rami ! — the clinging of her 
 young white arms — the kisses of her sweet 
 red mouth, — the open glances of her innocent 
 eyes — all this is yours, if you but say the 
 word. Listen ! For six and more long 
 years I have watched her, — and I have 
 watched yotc. She has slept the sleep of 
 death-in-life, for you have willed it so, — and 
 in that sleep, she has imperceptibly passed 
 from childhood to womanhood. You — cold 
 as a man of bronze or marble, — have made 
 of her nothing but a ' subject ' for your 
 science, — and never a breath of love or 
 longing on your part, or even admiration 
 for her beauty, has stirred the virgin-trance 
 in which she lies. And I have marvelled at 
 it — I have thought — and I have prayed ; — 
 the gods have answered me, and now I 
 know !" 
 
 She clapped her hands ecstatically, and 
 then went on. 
 
 " The child Lilith died, — but you, El- 
 Rami, you caused her to live again. And 
 
THE SOUL OF LILITH 205 
 
 she lives still — yes, though it may suit your 
 fancy to declare her dead. She is a woman 
 — you are a man ; — you dare not keep her 
 longer in that living death — you dare not 
 doom her to perpetual darkness ! — the gods 
 would curse you for such cruelty, and who 
 may abide their curse? I, Zaroba, have 
 sworn it — Lilith shall know the joys of love ! 
 — and you, El-Rami Zaranos, shall be her 
 lover! — and for this holy end I have em- 
 ployed the talisman which alone sets fire to 
 the sleeping passions ..." and she craned 
 her neck forward and almost hissed the word 
 in his ear — ' Jealousy !' " 
 
 El-Rami smiled — a cold derisive smile, 
 which implied the most utter contempt for 
 the whole of Zaroba's wild harangue. She, 
 however, went on undismayed, and with 
 increasing excitement — 
 
 "Jealousy!" she cried — ''The little asp is 
 in your soul already, proud El-Rami Zaranos, 
 and why ? Because another's eyes have 
 looked on Lilith ! This was my work ! It 
 was I who led Feraz into her chamber, — it 
 was I who bade him kneel beside her as she 
 slept, — it was I who let him touch her hand, 
 
2o6 THE SOUL OF LI LIT H 
 
 ' — and though I could not hear his voice 
 I know he called upon her to awaken. In 
 vain ! — he might as well have called the 
 dead — I knew she would not stir for him — 
 her very breath belongs to you. But I — I 
 let him gaze upon her beauty and worship 
 it, — all his young soul was in his eyes — he 
 looked and looked again and loved what he 
 beheld ! And mark me yet further, El-Rami, 
 . — I saw her smile when Feraz took her 
 hand, — so, though she did not move, she 
 felt ; she felt a touch that was not yours, — 
 not yours, El-Rami ! — as God liveth, she is 
 not quite so much your own as once she was !" 
 
 As she said this and laughed in that 
 triumphant way, El-Rami advanced one step 
 towards her with a fierce movement as 
 though he would have thrust her from the 
 room, — checking himself, however, he seized 
 the pencil again and wrote — 
 
 '' I have listened to you with more patience 
 than you deserve. You are an ignorant 
 woman and foolish — your fancies have no 
 foundation whatever in fact. Your dis- 
 obedience might have ruined my life's work, 
 — as it is, I dare say some mischief has been 
 
THE SOUL OF LILITH 207 
 
 done. Return to your duties, and take heed 
 how you trespass against my command in 
 future. If you dare to speak to me on this 
 subject again I will have you shipped back 
 to your own land and left there, as friendless 
 and as unprovided for as you were when I 
 saved you from death by famine. Go — and 
 let me hear no more foolishness." 
 
 Zaroba read, and her face darkened and 
 grew weary — but the pride and obstinacy of 
 her own convictions remained written on 
 every line of her features. She bowed her 
 head resignedly, however, and said in slow 
 even tones — 
 
 *' El -Rami Zaranos is wise, — El - Rami 
 Zaranos is master. But let him remember 
 the words of Zaroba. Zaroba is also skilled 
 in the ways and the arts of the East, — and 
 the voice of Fate speaks sometimes to the 
 lowest as well as to the highest. There are 
 the laws of Life and the laws of Death — but 
 there are also the laws of Love. Without 
 the laws of Love, the Universe would cease 
 to be, — it is for El- Rami Zaranos to prove 
 himself stronger than the Universe, — if he 
 can !" 
 
2o8 THE SOUL OF LI LIT H 
 
 She made the usual obsequious " salaam " 
 common to Eastern races, and then with a 
 swift, silent movement left the room, closing 
 the door noiselessly behind her. El-Rami 
 stood where she had left him, idly tearing up 
 the scraps of paper on which he had written 
 his part of the conversation, — he was hardly 
 conscious of thought, so great were his emo- 
 tions of surprise and self-contempt. 
 
 " * O what a rogue and peasant-slave am 
 I !' " he muttered, quoting his favourite 
 "Hamlet" — "Why did I not paralyze her 
 tongue before she spoke ? Where had fled 
 my force, — what became of my skill } Surely 
 I could have struck her down before me 
 with the speed of a lightning-flash — only — 
 she is a woman — and old. Strange how these 
 feminine animals always harp on the subject 
 of love, as though it were the Be-all and 
 End-all of everything. The love of Lilith ! 
 Oh fool ! The love of a corpse kept breathing 
 by artificial means ! And what of the Soul 
 of Lilith.'* Can It love? Can It hate.-* Can 
 It even feel ? Surely not. It is an ethereal 
 transparency, — a delicate film which takes 
 upon itself the reflex of all existing things 
 
THE SOUL OF LILITH 209 
 
 without experiencing personal emotion. Such 
 is the Soul, as I believe in it — an immortal 
 Essence, in itself formless, yet capable of 
 taking all forms, — ignorant of the joys or 
 pains of feeling, yet reflecting all shades of 
 sensation as a crystal reflects all colours in 
 the prism. This, and no more." 
 
 He paced up and down the room — and a 
 deep involuntary sigh escaped him. 
 
 ** No — " he murmured, as though answering 
 some inward query — *' No, I will not go to 
 her now — not till the appointed time. I 
 resolved on an absence of forty-eight hours, 
 and forty-eight hours it shall be. Then I 
 will go, — and she will tell me all — I shall 
 know the full extent of the mischief done. 
 And so Feraz ' looked and looked again, and 
 /oved what he beheld !' Love ! The very 
 word seems like a desecrating blot on the 
 virgin soul of Lilith !" 
 
 VOL. I. 14 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 F^RAZ meanwhile was fast asleep in his own 
 room. He had sought to be alone for the 
 purpose of thinking quietly and connectedly 
 over all he had heard, — but no sooner had 
 he obtained the desired solitude than a sudden 
 and heavy drowsiness overcame him, such as 
 he was unable to resist, and throwing him- 
 self on his bed, he dropped into a profound 
 slumber, which deepened as the minutes crept 
 on. The afternoon wore slowly away, — sun- 
 set came and passed, — the coming shadows 
 lengthened, and just as the first faint star 
 peeped out in the darkening skies he awoke, 
 startled to find it so late. He sprang from 
 his couch, bewildered and vexed with him- 
 self, — it was time for supper, he thought, and 
 El-Rami must be waiting. He hastened to 
 
THE SOUL OF LILITH 
 
 the study, and there he found his brother 
 conversing with a gentleman, — n^ other than 
 Lord Melthorpe, who was talking in a loud 
 cheerful voice, which contrasted oddly with 
 El-Rami's slow musical accents, that ever 
 had a note of sadness in them. When Feraz 
 made his hurried entrance, his eyes humid 
 with sleep, yet dewily brilliant, — his thick 
 dark hair tangled in rough curls above his 
 brows. Lord Melthorpe stared at him in 
 honestly undisguised admiration, and then 
 glanced at El-Rami inquiringly. 
 
 " My brother, Feraz Zaranos — " said El- 
 Rami, readily performing the ceremony of 
 introduction — '' Feraz, this is Lord Mel- 
 thorpe, — you have heard me speak of him." 
 
 Feraz bowed with his usual perfect grace, 
 and Lord Melthorpe shook hands with him. 
 
 " Upon my word !" he said good- 
 humouredly, " this young gentleman re- 
 minds one of the ' Arabian Nights,' El-Rami ! 
 He looks like one of those amazing fellows 
 who always had remarkable adventures ; 
 Prince Ahmed, or the son of a king, or 
 something — don't you know ?" 
 
 El-Rami smiled gravely. 
 
212 THE SOUL OF LI LIT H 
 
 '* The Eastern dress is responsible for that 
 idea in your mind, no doubt — " he repHed — 
 " F6raz wears it in the house, because he 
 moves more easily and is more comfortable 
 in it than in the regulation British attire, 
 which really is the most hideous mode of 
 garb in the world. Englishmen are among 
 the finest types of the human race, but their 
 dress does them scant justice." 
 
 " You are right — we're all on the same 
 tailor's pattern — and a frightful pattern it is !" 
 and his lordship put up his eyeglass to survey 
 Feraz once more, the while he thought — 
 " Devilish handsome fellow ! — would make 
 quite a sensation in the room — new sort of 
 craze for my lady." Aloud he said — " Pray 
 bring your brother with you on Tuesday 
 evening — my wife will be charmed." 
 
 ** F6raz never goes into society — ' replied 
 El-Rami — " But of course, if you insist " 
 
 ''Oh, I never insist — " declared Lord Mel- 
 thorpe, laughing — ** You are the man for in- 
 sisting, not I. But I shall take it as a favour 
 if he will accompany you." 
 
 '' You hear, Feraz — " and El-Rami looked 
 at his brother inquiringly — '' Lord Melthorpe 
 
THE SOUL OF LI LIT H 213 
 
 invites you to a great reception next Tuesday 
 evening. Would you like to go ?" 
 
 Feraz glanced from one to the other half 
 smilingly, half doubtfully. 
 
 '* Yes, I should like it," he said at last. 
 
 " Then we shall expect you, — " and Lord 
 Melthorpe rose to take his leave, — '' It's a 
 sort of diplomatic and official affair — fellows 
 will look in either before or after the Foreign 
 Office crush, which is on the same evening, 
 and orders and decorations will be in full 
 force, I believe. Oh, by the way, Lady Mel- 
 thorpe begged me to ask you most particularly 
 to wear Oriental dress." 
 
 " I shall obey her ladyship ;" — and El-Rami 
 smiled a little satirically — the character of 
 the lady in question was one that always 
 vaguely amused him. 
 
 "And your brother will do the same, I 
 hope ?" 
 
 "Assuredly!" and El-Rami shook hands 
 with his visitor, bidding Feraz escort him to 
 the door. When he had gone, Feraz sprang 
 into the study again with all the eager im- 
 petuosity of a boy. 
 
 "What is it like — a reception in England ?" 
 
214 THE SOUL OF LILITH 
 
 he asked — " And why does Lord Melthorpe 
 ask me ?" 
 
 '' I cannot imagine !" returned his brother 
 dryly — " Why do you want to go ?" 
 
 '' I should like to see life ;" — said Feraz. 
 
 '' See life !" echoed El-Rami somewhat 
 disdainfully — " What do you mean ? Don't 
 you ' see life ' as it is ?" 
 
 "No!" answered Feraz quickly — "I see 
 men and women — but I don't know how 
 they live, and I don't know what they do." 
 
 " They live in a perpetual effort to out- 
 reach and injure one another " — said El-Rami, 
 " and all their forces are concentrated on 
 bringing themselves into notice. That is 
 how they live, — that is what they do. It is 
 not a dignified or noble way of living, but it 
 is all they care about. You will see illustra- 
 tions of this at Lord jMelthorpe's reception. 
 You will find the woman with the most 
 diamonds giving herself peacock -like airs 
 over the woman who has fewest, — you will 
 see the snob-millionaire treated with greater 
 consideration by everyone than the born 
 gentleman who happens to have little of this 
 world's wealth. You will find that no one 
 
THE SOUL OF LI LIT H 215 
 
 thinks of putting himself out to give 
 personal pleasure to another, — you will hear 
 the same commonplace observations froni 
 every mouth, — you will discover a lack of 
 wit, a dearth of kindness, a scarcity of cheer- 
 fulness, and a most desperate want of tact 
 in every member of the whole fashionable 
 assemblage. And so you shall ' see life ' — if 
 you think you can discern it there. Suffi- 
 cient for the day is the evil thereof! — mean- 
 while let us have supper, — time flies, and I 
 have work to do to-night that must be done." 
 Feraz busied himself nimbly about his 
 usual duties — the frugal meal was soon pre- 
 pared and soon dispensed with, and at its 
 close, the brothers sat in silence. El- Rami 
 watching Feraz with a curious intentness, 
 because he felt for the first time in his life 
 that he was not quite master of the young 
 man's thoughts. Did he still remember the 
 name of Lilith } El- Rami had willed that 
 every trace of it should vanish from his 
 memory during that long afternoon sleep in 
 which the lad had indulged himself unresist- 
 ingly, — but the question was now — Had that 
 force of will gained the victory? He, El-Rami, 
 
2i6 THE SOUL OF LILITH 
 
 could not tell — not yet — but he turned the 
 problem over and over in his mind with 
 sombre irritation and restlessness. Presently 
 Feraz broke the silence. Drawing from his 
 vest-pocket a small manuscript book, and 
 raising his eyes, he said — 
 
 '' Do you mind hearing something I wrote 
 last night ? I don't quite know how it 
 came to me — I think I must have been 
 dreaming " 
 
 " Read on ;"— said El-Rami— " If it be 
 poesy, then its origin cannot be explained. 
 Were you able to explain it, it would become 
 prose." 
 
 '' I dare say the lines are not very good," — 
 went on Feraz diffidently — " yet they are the 
 true expression of a thought that is in me. 
 And whether I owe it to you, or to my own 
 temperament, I have visions now and then — 
 visions not only of love, but of fame — strange 
 glories that I almost realize, yet cannot grasp. 
 And there is a sadness and futility in it all 
 that grieves me . . . everything is so vague 
 and swift and fleeting. Yet if love, as you 
 say, be a mere chimera, — surely there is such 
 a thing as Fame .'*" 
 
THE SOUL OF LILITH 217 
 
 "There Is — "and El-Rami's eyes flashed, 
 then darkened again — " There is the applause 
 of this world, which may mean the derision 
 of the next. Read on !" 
 
 Feraz obeyed. " I call it for the present 
 ' The Star of Destiny ' " — he said ; and then 
 his mellifluous voice, rich and well modulated, 
 gave flowing musical enunciation to the 
 following lines : 
 
 The soft low plash of waves upon the shore, 
 
 Mariners' voices singing out at sea, 
 The sighing of the wind that evermore 
 
 Chants to my spirit mystic melody, — 
 These are the mingling sounds I vaguely hear 
 
 As o'er the darkening misty main I gaze, 
 Where one fair planet, warmly bright and clear 
 
 Pours from its heart a rain of silver rays. 
 
 O patient Star of Love ! in yon pale sky 
 
 What absolute serenity is thine ! 
 Beneath thy stedfast, half-reproachful eye 
 
 Large Ocean chafes, — and white with bitter brine, 
 Heaves restlessly, and ripples from the light 
 
 To darker shadows, — ev'n as noble thought 
 Recoils from human passion, to a night 
 
 Of splendid gloom by its own mystery wrought. 
 
 '' What made you think of the sea ?" inter- 
 rupted El-Rami. 
 
 Feraz looked up dreamily. 
 
2i8 THE SOUL OF LJLITH 
 
 '* I don't know," — he said. 
 ''Well!— goon!" 
 Feraz continued, — 
 
 O searching Star, I bring my grief to thee, — 
 
 Regard it. Thou, as pitying angels may 
 Regard a tortured saint, — and, down to me 
 
 Send one bright glance, one heart-assuring ray 
 f>om that high throne where thou in sheeny state 
 
 Dost hang, thought-pensive, 'twixt the heaven and eaith : 
 Thou, sure, dost know the secret of my Fate, 
 
 For thou did'st shine upon my hour of birth. 
 
 O Star, from whom the clouds asunder roll, 
 
 Tell this poor spirit pent in dying flesh, 
 This fighting, working, praying, prisoned soul. 
 
 Why it is trapped and strangled in the mesh 
 Of foolish Life and Time ? Its wild young voice 
 
 Calls for release, unanswered and unstilled, — 
 It sought not out this world, — it had no choice 
 
 Of other worlds where glory is fulfilled. 
 
 How hard to live at all, if living be 
 
 The thing it seems to us ! — the few brief years 
 Made up of toil and sorrow, where we see 
 
 No joy without companionship of tears, — 
 What is the artist's fame ? — the golden chords 
 
 Of rapt musician ? or the poet's themes ? 
 All incomplete I — the nailed down coffin boards 
 
 Are mocking sequels to the grandest dreams. 
 
 " That is not your creed," — said El-Rami 
 with a searching look. 
 
 Feraz sighed. '* No — it is not my actual 
 creed — but it is my frequent thought." 
 
THE SOUL OF LI LIT 11 219 
 
 "A thought unworthy of you," — said his 
 brother — '' There is nothing left ' incomplete' 
 in the whole Universe — and there is no 
 sequel possible to Creation." 
 
 *' Perhaps not, — but again perhaps there 
 may be a sequel beyond all imagination or 
 comprehension. And surely you must admit 
 that some things are left distressingly incom- 
 plete. Shelley's ' Fragments ' for instance, 
 Keats's ' Hyperion ' — Schubert's ' Un- 
 finished ' Symphony ' 
 
 "Incomplete /le?^ — yes — ;" agreed El- 
 Rami — " But — finished elsewhere, as surely 
 as day is day, and night is night. There is 
 nothing lost, — no, not so much as the lightest 
 flicker of a thought in a man's brain, — nothing 
 wasted or forgotten, — not even so much as 
 an idle w^ord. JVe forget — but the forces of 
 Nature are non-oblivious. All is chronicled 
 and registered — all is scientifically set down 
 in plain figures that no mistake may be made 
 in the final reckoning." 
 
 " You really think that ? — you really believe 
 that ?" asked Feraz, his eyes dilating eagerly. 
 
 " I do, most positively ;'■ — said El-Rami — 
 *' It is a Fact which Nature most potently 
 
220 THE SOUL OF LI LIT H 
 
 sets forth, and insists upon. But is there no 
 more of your verse ?" 
 
 " Yes — " and Feraz read on — 
 
 O, we are sorrowful, my Soul and I : 
 
 We war together fondly — yet we pray 
 For separate roads, — the Body fain would die 
 
 And sleep i' the ground, low-hidden from the day— 
 The Soul erect, its large wings cramped for room, 
 
 Doth pantingly and passionately rebel, 
 Against this strange, uncomprehended doom 
 
 Called Life, where nothing is, or shall be well. 
 
 ''Good!" — murmured El - Rami softly — 
 " Good — and true !" 
 
 Hear me, my Star ! — star of my natal hour, 
 
 Thou calm unmoved one amid all clouds I 
 Give me my birth-right, — the imperial sway 
 
 Of Thought supreme above the common crowds,— 
 O let me feel thy swift compelling beam 
 
 Drawing me upwards to a goal divine ; 
 Fulfil thy promise, O thou glittering Dream, 
 
 And let one crown of victory be mine ; 
 
 Let me behold this world recede and pass 
 
 Like shifting mist upon a stormy coast 
 Or vision in a necromancer's glass ; — 
 
 For I, 'mid perishable earth can boast 
 Of proven Immortality, — can reach 
 
 Glories ungrasped by minds of lower tone ;— 
 Thus, in a silence vaster than all speech, 
 
 I follow thee, my Star of Love, alone I 
 
 He ceased. El-Rami, who had listened 
 attentively, resting his head on one hand, 
 
THE SOUL OF LILITH 221 
 
 now lifted his eyes and looked at his young 
 brother with an expression of mingled 
 curiosity and compassion. 
 
 *'The verses are good ;" — he said at last — 
 " good and perfectly rhythmical, but surely 
 they have a touch of arrogance ? — 
 
 " ' I 'mid[perishable earth can boastj 
 Of proven Immortality." 
 
 What do you mean by ' proven ' Immortality ? 
 Where are your proofs ?" 
 
 ** I have them in my inner consciousness ;" 
 replied Feraz slowly — ''But to put them 
 into the limited language spoken by mortals 
 is impossible. There are existing emotions — 
 existing facts, which can never be rendered 
 into common speech. God is a Fact — but 
 He cannot be explained or described." 
 
 El- Rami was silent, — a slight frown con- 
 tracted his dark even brows.* 
 
 " You are beginning to think too much " — 
 he observed, rising from his chair as he 
 spoke — " Do not analyse yourself, Feraz, 
 . . . self-analysis is the temper of the age, 
 but it engenders distrust and sorrow. Your 
 poem is excellent, but it breathes of sadness, 
 — I prefer your 'star' songs which are so 
 
222 THE SOUL OF LI LIT H 
 
 full of joy. To be wise is to be happy, — to 
 be happy is to be wise " 
 
 A loud rat-tat at the street-door inter- 
 rupted him. Feraz sprang up to answer 
 the imperative summons, and returned with 
 a telegram. El- Rami opened and read it 
 with astonished eyes, his face growing 
 suddenly pale. 
 
 "He will be here to-morrow night!" he 
 ejaculated in a whisper — " To-morrow night! 
 He, the saint — the king — here to-morrow 
 night ! Why should he come ? — What 
 would he have with me ?" 
 
 His expression was one of dazed bewilder- 
 ment, and Feraz looked at him inquiringly. 
 
 ''Any bad news?" he asked — "Who is it 
 that is coming ?" 
 
 El- Rami recollected himself, and folding 
 up the telegram, thrust it in his breast- 
 pocket. 
 
 "A poor monk who is travelling hither 
 on a secret mission solicits my hospitality 
 for the night" — he replied hurriedly — "That 
 is all. He will be here to-morrow." 
 
 Feraz stood silent, an incredulous smile in 
 his fine eyes. 
 
 i 
 
THE SOUL OF LI LIT H 223 
 
 '* Why should you stoop to deceive me, 
 El- Rami my brother?" he said gently at 
 last — " Surely it is not one of your ways to 
 perfection ? Why try to disguise the truth 
 from me ? — I am not of a treacherous nature. 
 If I guess rightly, this 'poor monk' is the 
 Supreme Head of the Brethren of the Cross, 
 from whose mystic band you were dismissed 
 for a breach of discipline. What harm is 
 there in my knowing of this ?" 
 
 El- Rami's hand clenched, and his eyes had 
 that dark and terrible look in them that 
 Feraz had learned to fear, but his voice was 
 very calm. 
 
 '' Who told you ?" he asked. 
 " One of the monks at Cyprus long ago, 
 when I went on your errand " — replied Feraz ; 
 " He spoke of your wisdom, your power, 
 your brilliant faculties, in genuine regret 
 that all for some slight matter in which you 
 would not bend your pride, you had lost 
 touch with their various centres of action in 
 all parts of the globe. He said no more 
 than this, — and no more than this I know." 
 
 ''You know quite enough," — said El-Rami 
 quietly — '' If I have lost touch with their 
 
224 '^^^^ SOUL OF LJLITH 
 
 modes of work, I have gained insight beyond 
 their reach. And, — I am sorry I did not at 
 once say the truth to you — it is their chief 
 leader who comes here to - morrow. No 
 doubt," — and he smiled with a sense of 
 triumph — " no doubt he seeks for fresh 
 knowledge, such as I alone can give him." 
 
 '* I thought," said Feraz in a low half-awed 
 tone — " that he was one of those who are 
 wise with the wisdom of the angels ?" 
 
 '* If there are angels !" said El-Rami with 
 a touch of scorn — " He is wise in faith alone 
 — he believes and he imagines, — and there is 
 no question as to the strange power he has 
 obtained through the simplest means, — but I 
 — I have no faith ! — I seek to prove — I work 
 to know, — and my power is as great as his, 
 though it is won in a different way." 
 
 Feraz said nothing, but sat down to the 
 piano, allowing his hands to wander over the 
 keys in a dreamy fashion that sounded like 
 the far-off echo of a rippling mountain 
 stream. El-Rami waited a moment, listen- 
 ing, — then glanced at his watch — it was 
 growing late. 
 
 '' Good-night, Feraz ;" — he said in gentle 
 
THE SOUL OF LILITH 225 
 
 accents — " I shall want nothing more this 
 evening. I am going to my work." 
 
 " Good - night," — answered Feraz with 
 equal gentleness, as he went on playing. 
 His brother opened and closed the door 
 softly ; — he was gone. 
 
 As soon as he found himself alone, Feraz 
 pressed the pedal of his instrument so that 
 the music pealed through the room in rich 
 salvos of sound — chord after chord rolled 
 grandly forth, and sweet ringing notes came 
 throbbing from under his agile finger-tips, 
 the while he said aloud, with a mingling of 
 triumph and tenderness — 
 
 " Forget! I shall never forget! Does one 
 forget the flowers, the birds, the moonlight, 
 the sound of a sweet song.-^ Is the world so 
 fair, that I should blot from my mind the 
 fairest thing in it ? Not so ! My memory 
 may fail me in a thousand things — but let 
 me be tortured, harassed, perplexed with 
 dreams, persuaded by fantasies, I shall never 
 forget the name of " 
 
 He stopped abruptly — a look of pain and 
 terror and effort flashed into his eyes, — his 
 hands fell on the keys of the piano with a 
 
 VOL. I. 15 
 
226 THE SOUL OF LILITH 
 
 discordant jangle, — he stared about him, 
 wondering and afraid. • 
 
 "The name — the name!" he muttered 
 hoarsely — "A flower's name — an angel's 
 name — the sweetest name I ever heard ! 
 How is this ? — Am I mad that my lips refuse 
 to utter it ? The name — the name of . . . 
 My God ! my God ! I Aave forgotten it !" 
 
 And springing from his chair he stood for 
 one instant in mute wrath, incredulity and 
 bewilderment, — then throwing himself down 
 again, he buried his face in his hands, his 
 whole frame trembling with mingled terror 
 and awe at the mystic power of El-Rami's 
 indomitable Will, which had, he knew, forced 
 him to forget what most he desired to • 
 remember. 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 Within the chamber of Lilith all was very 
 still. Zaroba sat there, crouched down in 
 what seemed to be her favourite and accus- 
 tomed corner, busy with the intricate thread- 
 work which she wove with so much celerity ; 
 — the lamp burned brightly, — there were 
 odours of frankincense and roses in the air, 
 — and not so much as the sound of a sup- 
 pressed sigh or soft breath stirred the deep 
 and almost sacred quiet of the room. The 
 tranced Lilith herself, pale but beautiful, lay 
 calm and still as ever among the glistening 
 satin cushions of her costly couch, and just 
 above her, the purple draperies that covered 
 the walls and ceiling were drawn aside to 
 admit of the opening of a previously-con- 
 cealed window, through which one or two 
 
228 THE SOUL OF LI LIT H 
 
 Stars could be seen dimly sparkling in the 
 skies. A white moth, attracted by the light, 
 had flown in by way of this aperture, and 
 was now fluttering heedlessly and aimlessly 
 round the lamp, — but by-and-bye it took a 
 lower and less hazardous course, and finally 
 settled on a shining corner of the cushion 
 that supported Lilith's head. There the 
 fragile insect rested. — now expanding its 
 velvety white wings, now folding them close 
 and extending its delicate feelers to touch 
 and test the glittering fabric on which it 
 found itself at ease, — but never moving from 
 the spot it had evidently chosen for its night's 
 repose. Suddenly, and without sound, El- 
 Rami entered. He advanced close up to 
 the couch, and looked upon the sleeping girl 
 with an eager, almost passionate intentness. 
 His heart beat quickly ; — a singular excite- 
 ment possessed him, and for once he was 
 unable to analyze his own sensations. Closer 
 and closer he bent over Lilith's exquisite 
 form,— doubtfully and with a certain scorn of 
 himself, he took up a shining tress of her 
 glorious hair and looked at it curiously as 
 though it were something new, strange or 
 
THE SOIL OF LI LIT H 229 
 
 unnatural. The little moth, disturbed, flew 
 off the pillow and fluttered about his head in 
 wild alarm, and El- Rami watched its reckless 
 flight as it made off towards the fatally-attrac- 
 tive lamp again, with meditative eyes, still 
 mechanically stroking that soft lock of Lilith's 
 hair which he held between his fingers. 
 
 "Into the light!" he murmured — "Into 
 the very heart of the light! — into the very 
 core of the Fire ! That is the end of all 
 ambition — to take wings and plunge so — into 
 the glowing, burning molten Creative Centre 
 — and die for our foolhardiness } Is that 
 all ? — or is there more behind ? It is a 
 question, — who may answer it ?" 
 
 He sighed heavily, and leaned more closely 
 over the couch, till the soft scarcely perceptible 
 breath from Lilith's lips touched his cheek 
 warmly like a caress. Observantly, as one 
 might study the parts of a bird or a flower, 
 he noted those lips, how delicately curved, 
 how coral-red they were, — and what a soft 
 rose-tint, like the flush of a pink sunrise on 
 white flowers, was the hue which spread 
 itself waveringly over her cheeks, — till there, 
 — there where the long eyelashes curled up- 
 
230 THE SOUL OF LILITH 
 
 wards, there were fine shadows, — shadows 
 which suggested Hght, — such Hght as must 
 be burning in those sweetly - closed eyes. 
 Then there was the pure, smooth brow, over 
 which little vine-like tendrils of hair caught 
 and clung amorously, — and then — that won- 
 drous wealth of the hair itself which like 
 twin showers of gold, shed light on either 
 side. It was all beautiful, — a wonderful gem 
 of Nature's handiwork, — a masterpiece of 
 form and colour which, but for him, El-Rami, 
 would long ere this have mouldered away to 
 unsightly ash and bone, in a lonely grave 
 dug hurriedly among the sands of the Syrian 
 desert. He was almost, if not quite, the 
 author of that warm if unnatural vitality that 
 flowed through those azure veins and branch- 
 ing arteries,— he, like the Christ of Galilee, 
 had raised the dead to life, — aye, if he chose, 
 he could say as the Master said to the 
 daughter of Jairus, " Maiden, arise !" and 
 she would obey him — would rise and walk, 
 and smile and speak, and look upon the 
 world, — if he chose ! The arrogance of 
 Will burned in his brain ; — the pride of power, 
 the majesty of conscious strength made his 
 
THE SOUL OF LI LIT H 231 
 
 pulses beat high with triumph beyond that 
 of any king or emperor, — and he gazed down 
 upon the tranced fair form, himself entranced, 
 and all unconscious that Zaroba had come 
 out of her corner, and that she now stood 
 beside him, watching his face with passionate 
 and inquisitive eagerness. Just as he reluc- 
 tantly lifted himself up from his leaning 
 position he saw her staring at him, and a 
 frown darkened his brows. He made his 
 usual imperative sign to her to leave the 
 room, — a sign she was accustomed to under- 
 stand and to obey — but this time she re- 
 mained motionless, fixing her eyes steadily 
 upon him. 
 
 " The conqueror shall be conquered, El- 
 Rami Zaranos — " she said slowly, pointing 
 to the" sleeping Lilith — "The victorious 
 master over the forces unutterable, shall yet 
 be overthrown ! The work has begun, — the 
 small seed has been sown — the great harvest 
 shall be reaped. For in the history of 
 Heaven itself, certain proud angels rose up 
 and fought for the possession of supreme 
 majesty and power — and they fell, — down- 
 beaten to the darkness, — unforgiven : and 
 
232 THE SOUL OF LILITH 
 
 are they not in darkness still ? Even so 
 must the haughty spirit fall that contends 
 against God and the Universal Law." 
 
 She spoke impressively, and with a certain 
 dignity of manner that gave an added force 
 to her words, — but El - Rami's impassive 
 countenance showed no sign of having either 
 heard or understood her. He merely re- 
 peated his gesture of dismissal, and this time 
 Zaroba obeyed it. Wrapping her Rowing 
 robe closely about her, she withdrew, but 
 with evident reluctance, letting the velvet 
 portiere fall only by slow degrees behind her, 
 and to the last keeping her dark deep- set 
 eyes fixed on El-Rami's face. As soon as 
 she had disappeared, he sprang to where the 
 dividing-curtain hid a massive door between 
 the one room and the antechamber, — this 
 door he shut and locked, — then he returned 
 to the couch, and proceeded according to his 
 usual method, to will the wandering spirit of 
 his '* subject " into speech. 
 
 "Lilith! Lilith!" 
 
 , As before, he had to wait ere any reply was 
 vouchsafed to him. Impatiently he glanced at 
 the clock, and counted slowly a hundred beats. 
 
THE SOUL OF LI LIT H 233 
 
 '' Lilith !" 
 
 She turned round towards him, smiled, and 
 murmured something — her lips moved, but 
 whatever they uttered did not reach his ear. 
 
 " Lilith ! Where are you ?" 
 
 This time, her voice, though soft, was per- 
 fectly distinct. 
 
 *• Here. Close to you, with your hand on 
 mine." 
 
 El-Rami was puzzled. True, he held her 
 left hand in his own, but she had never 
 described any actual sensation of human 
 touch before. 
 
 " Then, — can you see me ?" he asked 
 somewhat anxiously. 
 
 The answer came sadly. 
 
 " No. Bright air surrounds me, and the 
 colours of the air — nothing more." 
 
 *' You are alone, Lilith ?" 
 
 Oh, what a sigh came heaving from her 
 breast ! 
 
 " I am always alone !" 
 
 Half remorseful, he heard her. She had 
 complained of solitude before, — and it was a 
 thought he did not wish her to dwell upon. 
 He made haste to speak again. 
 
!34 THE SOUL OF LILITH 
 
 " Tell me," — he said — " Where have you 
 been Lilith, and what have you seen ?" 
 
 There was silence for a minute or two, and 
 she moved restlessly. 
 
 '' You bade me seek out Hell for you " — 
 she murmured at last — " I have searched but 
 I cannot find it." 
 
 Another pause, and she went on. 
 
 " You spoke of a strange thing," she said — 
 "A place of punishment, of torture, of dark- 
 ness, of horror and despair, — there is no such 
 dreary blot on all God's fair Creation. In 
 all the golden spaces of the furthest stars I 
 find no punishment, no pain, no darkness. I 
 can discover nothing save beauty, light, and 
 — Love !" 
 
 The last word was uttered softly, and 
 sounded like a note of music, sweet but 
 distant. 
 
 El-Rami listened, bewildered, and in a 
 manner disappointed. 
 
 " O Lilith, take heed what you say !" he 
 exclaimed with some passion — " No pain ? — 
 no punishment ? no darkness ? Then this 
 world is Hell and you know naught of it !" 
 
 As he said this, she moved uneasily 
 
THE SOUL OF LI LIT H 235 
 
 among her pillows, — then, to his amaze- 
 ment, she suddenly sat up of her own 
 accord, and went on speaking, enunciating 
 her words with singular clearness and 
 emphasis, always keeping her eyes closed 
 and allowing her left hand to remain in his. 
 
 " I am bound to tell you what I know ;" — 
 she said — " But I am unable to tell you what 
 is not true. In God's design I find no evil — 
 no punishment, no death. If there are such 
 things, they must be in your world alone, — 
 they must be Man's work and Man's imagin- 
 ing." 
 
 "Man's work — Man's imagining!^" re- 
 [)eated El- Rami — " And what is Man ?" 
 
 " God's angel," replied Lilith quickly — 
 '* With God's own attribute of Free- Will. 
 He, like his Maker, doth create,— he also 
 doth destroy, — what he elects to do, God 
 will not prevent. Therefore if Man makes 
 Evil, Evil must exist till Man himself 
 destroys it." 
 
 This was a deep and strange saying, and 
 El-Rami pondered over it without speak- 
 ing. 
 
 "In the spaces where I roam," went on 
 
236 THE SOUL OF LI LIT H 
 
 Lilith softly — ''there is no evil. Those who 
 are the Makers of Life in yonder fair regions, 
 seek only what is pure. Why should pain 
 exist, or sin be known ? I do not under- 
 stand." 
 
 "No" — said El-Rami bitterly — "You do 
 not understand, because you are yourself too 
 happy, — happiness sees no fault in anything. 
 Oh, you have wandered too far from earth 
 and you forget ! The tie that binds you to 
 this planet is over-fragile, — you have lost 
 touch with pain. I would that I could make 
 you feel my thoughts ! — for, Lilith, God is 
 cruel, not kind, . . . upon God, and God 
 alone, rests the weight of woe that burdens 
 the universe, and for the eternal sorrow of 
 things there is neither reason nor remedy." 
 
 Lilith sank back again in a recumbent 
 posture, a smile upon her lips. 
 
 "O poor blind eyes!" she murmured — 
 " Sad eyes that are so tired — too tired to 
 bear the light !" 
 
 Her voice was so exquisitely pathetic that 
 he was startled by its very gentleness, — his 
 heart gave one fierce bound against his side, 
 and then seemed almost to stand still. 
 
THE SOUL OF LILITH 237 
 
 " You pity me?" he asked tremulously. 
 
 She sighed. " I pity you " — she answered 
 —"I pity myself." 
 
 Almost breathlessly he asked '' Why ?" 
 
 " Because I cannot see you — because you 
 cannot see me. If I could see you — if you 
 could see me as I am, you would know all — 
 you would understand all." 
 
 " I do see you, Lilith ' he said — '' I hold 
 your hand." 
 
 "No — not my real hand" — she said — 
 " Only its shadow." 
 
 Instinctively he looked at the delicate 
 fingers that lay in his palm — so rosy-tipped 
 and warm. Only the "shadow" of a hand! 
 Then where was its substance ? 
 
 "It will pass away" — went on Lilith — 
 "like all shadows — but /shall remain — not 
 here, not here, — but elsewhere. When will 
 you let me go ?" 
 
 " Where do you wish to go .'^" he asked. 
 
 " To my friends," she answered swiftly 
 and with eagerness — " They call me often — I 
 hear their voices singing 'Lilith! Lilith!' 
 and sometimes I see them beckoning me — 
 but I cannot reach them. It is cruel, for 
 
238 THE SOUL OF LI LIT H 
 
 they love me and you do not, — why will you 
 keep me here unloved so long ?" 
 
 He trembled and hesitated, fixing his dark 
 eyes on the fair face, which, in spite of its 
 beauty, was to him but as the image of a 
 Sphinx that forever refused to give up its 
 riddle. 
 
 *' Is love your craving, Lilith ?" he asked 
 slowly — ''And what is your thought — or 
 dream — of love ?" 
 
 *' Love is no dream ;" — she responded — 
 " Love is reality — Love is Life. I am not 
 fully living yet — I hover in the Realms 
 Between, where spirits wait in silence and 
 alone." 
 
 He sighed. ''Then you are sad, Lilith.'^" 
 
 " No. I am never sad. There is light 
 within my solitude, and the glory of God s 
 beauty everywhere." 
 
 El- Rami gazed down upon her, an ex- 
 pression very like despair shadowing his own 
 features. 
 
 " Too far, too far she wends her flight ;" — 
 he muttered to himself wearily. " How can 
 I argue on these vague and sublimated utter- 
 ances ! I cannot understand her joy — she 
 
THE SOUL OF LILITH 239 
 
 cannot understand my pain. Evidently 
 Heaven's language is incomprehensible to 
 mortal ears. And yet ; — Lilith !" he called 
 again almost imperiously. " You talk of 
 God as if you knew Him. But I — I know 
 Him not — I have not proved Him, — tell me 
 of His Shape, His Seeming, — if indeed you 
 have the power." 
 
 She was silent. He studied her tranquil 
 face intently, — the smile upon it was in very 
 truth divine. 
 
 " No answer!" he said with some derision. 
 " Of course, — what answer should there 
 be ! What Shape or Seeming should there 
 be to a mere huge blind Force that creates 
 without reason, and destroys without neces- 
 sity !" 
 
 As he thus soliloquized, Lilith stirred, and 
 flung her white arms upward as though in 
 ecstasy, letting them fall slowly afterwards in 
 a folded position behind her head, 
 
 " To the Seven declared tones of Music, 
 add seventy million more," — she said — "and 
 let them ring their sweetest cadence, they 
 shall make but a feeble echo of the music of 
 God's voice. To all the shades of radiant 
 
240 THE SOUL OF LILITH 
 
 colour, to all the lines of noblest form, add 
 the splendour of eternal youth, eternal good- 
 ness, eternal joy, eternal power, and yet we 
 shall not render into speech or song the 
 beauty of our God! From His glance flows 
 Light — from His presence rushes Harmony, 
 — as He moves through Space great worlds 
 are born ; and at His bidding planets grow 
 within the air like flowers. Oh to see Him 
 passing 'mid the stars ! " 
 
 She broke off suddenly and drew a long 
 deep breath, as of sheer delight, — but the 
 shadow on El - Rami's features darkened 
 wearily. 
 
 "You teach me nothing, Lilith " — he said 
 sadly and somewhat sternly — " You speak of 
 what you see — or what you think you see — 
 but you cannot convince me of its truth." 
 
 Her face grew paler, — the smile vanished 
 from her lips, and all her delicate beauty 
 seemed to freeze into a cold and grave 
 rigidity. 
 
 " Love begets faith ;" — she said — "Where 
 we do not love, we doubt. Doubt breeds 
 Evil, and Evil knows not God." 
 
 "Platitudes, upon my life! — mere plati- 
 
THE SOUL OF LI LIT H 241 
 
 tudes !" exclaimed El -Rami bitterly — "If 
 this half-released spirit can do no more than 
 prate of the same old laws and duties our 
 preachers teach us, then indeed my service is 
 vain. But she shall not baffle me thus ;" — 
 and bending over Lilith's figure, he unwound 
 her arms from the indolent position in which 
 they were folded, took her hands roughly in 
 his own, and sitting on the edge of her 
 couch, fixed his burning eyes upon her as 
 though he sought to pierce her to the 
 heart's core with their ardent, almost cruel 
 lustre. 
 
 " Lilith!" he commanded — " Speak plainly, 
 that I may fully understand your words, You 
 say there is no hell T 
 
 The answer came steadily. 
 
 '' None." 
 
 " Then must evil go unpunished ?" 
 
 " Evil wreaks punishment upon itself. 
 Evil destroys itself. That is the Law." 
 
 **And the Prophets!" muttered El-Rami 
 scornfully — " Well ! Go on, strange sprite ! 
 Why — for such things are known — why does 
 goodness suffer for being good ?" 
 
 **That never is. That is impossible." 
 
 VOL. I. 16 
 
242 THE SOUL OF LI LIT H 
 
 '' Impossible ?" queried El-Rami incredu- 
 lously. 
 
 '' Impossible/' — repeated the soft voice 
 firmly. " Goodness seefns to suffer, but it 
 does not. Evil seems to prosper, but it does 
 not." 
 
 '' And God exists ?" 
 
 " God exists." 
 
 " And what of Heaven ?" 
 
 " Which heaven ?" asked Lilith — " There 
 are a million million heavens." 
 
 El-Rimi stopped — thinking, — then finally 
 said — 
 
 " Gods Heaven." 
 
 " You would say God's World ;" — returned 
 Lilith tranquilly — " Nay, you will not let me 
 reach that centre. I see it ; I feel it afar off 
 — but your will binds me — you will not let 
 me go." 
 
 " If I were to let you go what would you 
 do ?" asked El-Rami — " Would you return 
 to me ?" 
 
 " Never ! Those who enter the Perfect 
 Glory, return no more to an imperfect 
 
 light." 
 
 El-Rami paused — he was arranging other 
 
THE SOUL OF LILITH 243 
 
 questions to ask, when her next words 
 startled him — 
 
 " Someone called me by my name," — she 
 said — "Tenderly and softly, as though it 
 were a name beloved. I heard the voice — I 
 could not answer — but I heard it — -and I 
 know that someone loves me. The sense of 
 love is sweet, and makes your dreary world 
 seem fair !" 
 
 El-Rami's heart began to beat violently — 
 the voice of Feraz had reached her in her 
 trance then after all ! And she remembered • 
 it ! — more than this — it had carried a vague 
 emotion of love to that vagrant and ethereal 
 essence which he called her " soul " but which 
 he had his doubts of all the while. For he was 
 unable to convince himself positively of any 
 such thing as " Soul ;" — all emotions, even of 
 the most divinely transcendent nature, he was 
 disposed to set down to the action of brain 
 merely. But he was scientist enough to 
 know that the brain must gather its ideas 
 from something, — something either external 
 or internal, — even such a vague thing as an 
 Idea cannot spring out of blank Chaos. And 
 this was what especially puzzled him in his 
 
244 THE SOUL OF LILITH 
 
 experiment with the girl Lihth — for, ever 
 since he had placed her in the " life-in-death " 
 condition she was, he had been careful to 
 avoid impressing any of his own thoughts or 
 ideas upon her. And, as a matter of fact, all 
 she said about God, or about a present or a 
 future state, was precisely the reverse of what 
 he himself argued ; — the question therefore 
 remained — From Where and How did she 
 get her knowledge ? She had been a mere 
 pretty, ignorant, half- barbaric Arab child, 
 •when she died (according to natural law), 
 and, during the six years she had lived (by 
 scientific law) in her strange trance, her brain 
 had been absolutely unconscious of all ex- 
 ternal impressions, while of internal she could 
 have none, beyond the memories of her 
 childhood. Yet, — she had grown beautiful 
 beyond the beauty of mortals, and she spoke 
 of things beyond all mortal comprehension. 
 The riddle of her physical and mental 
 development seemed unanswerable, — it was 
 the wonder, the puzzle, the difficulty, the 
 delight of all El-Rami's hours. But now 
 there was mischief done. She spoke of love, 
 — -not divine impersonal love, as was her 
 
THE SOUL OF LILITH 245 
 
 wont, — but love that touched her own exist- 
 ence with a vaguely pleasing emotion. A 
 voice had reached her that never should 
 have been allowed to penetrate her spiritual 
 solitude, and realizing this, a sullen anger 
 smouldered in El-Rami's mind. He strove 
 to consider Zaroba's fault and Feraz's folly 
 with all the leniency, forbearance and for- 
 giveness possible, and yet the strange rest- 
 lessness within him gave him no peace. 
 What should be done ? What could be 
 answered to those wistful words — "The 
 sense of love is sweet, and makes your dreary 
 world seem fair " '^ 
 
 He pondered on the matter, vaguely un- 
 easy and dissatisfied. He, and he alone, was 
 the master of Lilith, — he commanded and 
 she obeyed, — but would it be always thus } 
 The doubt turned his blood cold, — suppose 
 she escaped him now, after all his studies and 
 calculations ! He resolved he would ask her 
 no more questions that night, and very gently 
 he released the little slender hands he held. 
 
 '' Go, Lilith !" he said softly—'' This world, 
 as you say, is dreary — I will not keep you 
 longer in its gloom — go hence and rest." 
 
46 THE SOUL Ot LI LIT H 
 
 "Rest?" sighed Lilith inquiringly — 
 "Where?" 
 
 He bent above her, and touched her loose 
 gold locks almost caressingly. 
 
 *' Where you choose !" 
 
 " Nay, that I may not !" murmured Lilith 
 sadly. " I have no choice — I must obey the 
 Master's will." 
 
 El-Rami's heart beat high with triumph at 
 these words. 
 
 *' My will !" he said, more to himself than 
 to her — " The force of it ! — the marvel of it ! 
 — viy will !" 
 
 Lilith heard, — a strange glory seemed to 
 shine round her, like a halo round a pictured 
 saint, and the voice that came from her lips 
 rang out v/ith singularly sweet clearness. 
 
 " Your will !" she echoed — " Your will — 
 and also — God's will !" 
 
 He started, amazed and irresolute. The 
 words were not what he expected, and he 
 would have questioned their meaning, but 
 that he saw on the girl's lovely features a 
 certain pale composed look which he recog- 
 nised as the look that meant silence. 
 
 " Lilith !" he whispered. 
 
THE SOUL OF LI LIT H 247 
 
 No answer. He stood looking down upon 
 her, his face seeming sterner and darker than 
 usual by reason of the intense, passionate 
 anxiety in his burning eyes. 
 
 " God's will !" he echoed with some dis- 
 dain — "God's will would have annihilated 
 her very existence long ago out in the desert ; 
 — what should God do with her now that I 
 have not done ?' 
 
 His arrogance seemed to him perfectly 
 justifiable ; and yet he very well knew that, 
 strictly speaking, there was no such thing as 
 "annihilation" possible to any atom in the 
 universe. Moreover, he did not choose to 
 analyze the mystical reasons as to zvky he 
 had been permitted by Fate or Chance to 
 obtain such mastery over one human soul, — 
 he preferred to attribute it all to his own dis- 
 coveries in science, — his own patient and un- 
 tiring skill, — his own studious comprehension 
 of the forces of Nature, — and he was nearly, 
 if not quite oblivious of the fact, that there is 
 a Something behind natural forces, which 
 knows and sees, controls and commands, and 
 against which, if he places himself in opposi- 
 tion, Man is but the puniest, most wretched 
 
:48 THE SOUL OF LILITH 
 
 Straw that was ever tossed or split by a 
 whirlwind. As a rule, men of science work 
 not for God so much as against Him, — 
 wherefore their most brilliant researches stop 
 short of the goal. Great intellects are 
 seldom devout, — for brilliant culture begets 
 pride — and pride is incompatible with faith 
 or worship. Perfect science, combined with 
 perfect selflessness, would give us what we 
 need, — a purified and reasoning Religion. 
 But El-Rami's chief characteristic was pride, 
 — and he saw no mischief in it. Strong in 
 his knowledge, — defiant of evil in the con- 
 sciousness he possessed of his own extra- 
 ordinary physical and mental endowments, 
 he saw no reason why he should bow down 
 in humiliated abasement before forces, either 
 natural or spiritual, which he deemed himself 
 able to control. And his brow cleared, as he 
 once more bent over his tranced "subject" 
 and with all the methodical precaution of a 
 physician, felt her pulse, took note of her 
 temperature and judged that for the present 
 she needed no more of that strange Elixir 
 which kept her veins aglow with such inex- 
 plicably beauteous vitality. Then — his ex- 
 
THE SOUL OF LI LIT H 249 
 
 amination done — he left the room ; and as 
 he drew the velvet portiere behind him, the 
 little white moth that had flown in for a 
 night's shelter, fluttered down from the 
 golden lamp like a falling leaf, and dropped 
 on the couch of Lilith, shrivelled and dead. 
 
CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 The next day was very wet and stormy. 
 From morning to night the rain fell in 
 torrents, and a cold wind blew. El-Rami 
 stayed indoors, reading, writing, and answer- 
 ing a few of his more urgent correspondents, 
 a great number of whom were total strangers 
 to him, and who nevertheless wrote to him 
 out of the sheer curiosity excited in them by 
 the perusal of a certain book to which his 
 name was appended as author. This book 
 was a very original literary production, — the 
 critics were angry with it, because it was so 
 unlike anything else that ever was written. 
 According to the theories set forth in its 
 pages, Man the poor and finite, was proved 
 to be a creature of superhuman and almost 
 god-like attributes, — a *' flattering unction" 
 
THE SOUL OF LILITH 251 
 
 indeed, which when laid to the souls of 
 commonplace egoists, had the effect of 
 making them consider El-Rami Zaranos a 
 very wonderful person, and themselves more 
 wonderful still. Only the truly great mind is 
 humble enough to appreciate greatness, and 
 of great minds there is a great scarcity. 
 Most of El-Rami's correspondents were of 
 that lower order of intelligence which blandly 
 accepts every fresh truth discovered as 
 specially intended for themselves, and not at 
 all for the world, as though indeed they were 
 some particular and removed class of superior 
 beings who alone were capable of under- 
 standing true wisdom. "Your work has 
 appealed to me" — wrote one, "as it will not 
 appeal to all, because I am able to enter into 
 the divine spirit of things as the vulgar herd 
 cannot do!" This, as if the "vulgar herd" 
 were not also part of the '* divine spirit of 
 things " ! 
 
 "I have delighted in your book" — wrote 
 another, " because I am a poet, and the 
 world, with its low aims and lower desires I 
 abhor and despise !" 
 
 The absurdity of a man presuming to call 
 
252 THE SOUL OF LILITH 
 
 himself a poet, and in the same breath de- 
 claring he '* despises " the world, — the world 
 which supports his life and provides him with 
 all his needs, — never seems to occur to the 
 minds of these poor boasters of a petty 
 vanity. El- Rami looked weary enough as 
 he glanced quickly through a heap of such 
 ill-judged and egotistical epistles, and threw 
 them aside to be forever left unanswered. 
 To him there was something truly horrible 
 and discouraging in the contemplation of the 
 hopeless, helpless, absolute stupidity of the 
 majority of mankind. The teachings of 
 Mother Nature being always straight and 
 plain, it is remarkable what devious turnings 
 and dark winding ways we prefer to stumble 
 into rather than take the fair and open 
 course. For example Nature says to us — 
 " My children, Truth is simple, — and I am 
 bound by all my forces to assist its mani- 
 festation. A Lie is difficult — I can have 
 none of it — it needs other lies to keep it 
 going, — its ways are full of complexity and 
 puzzle, — why then, O foolish ones, will you 
 choose the Lie and avoid the Truth ? For, 
 work as you may, the Truth niust out, and 
 
THE SOUL OF LI LIT H 253 
 
 not all the uproar of opposing multitudes can 
 still its thunderous tongue." Thus Nature ; 
 — but we heed her not, — we go on lying 
 stedfastly, in a strange delusion that thereby 
 we may deceive Eternal Justice. But 
 Eternal Justice never is deceived, — never is 
 obscured even, save for a moment, as a 
 passing cloud obscures the sun. 
 
 '' How easy after all to avoid mischief of 
 any kind," mused El- Rami now, as he put 
 by his papers and drew two or three old 
 reference volumes towards him — *' How easy 
 to live happily, free from care, free from 
 sickness, free from every external or internal 
 wretchedness, if we could but practise the 
 one rule — Self-abnegation. It is all there, — 
 and the ethereal Lilith may be right in her 
 assurance as to the non-existence of Evil 
 unless we ourselves create it. At least one 
 half the trouble in the world might be 
 avoided if we chose. Debt, for example, — 
 that carking trouble always arises from living 
 beyond one's means, — therefore why live 
 beyond one's means ? What for } Show } 
 Vulgar ostentation ? Luxury ? Idleness } 
 All these are things against which Heaven 
 
254 THE SOUL OF ULITH 
 
 raises its eternal ban. Then take physical 
 pain and sickness, — here Self is to blame 
 again, — self-indulgence in the pleasures of 
 the table, — sensual craving, — the marriage 
 of weakly or ill-conditioned persons, — all 
 simple causes from which spring incalculable 
 evils. Avoid the causes and we escape the 
 evils. The arrangements of Nature are all, 
 so clear and explicit, and yet we are forever 
 going out of our way to find or invent 
 difficulties. The farmer grumbles and writes 
 letters to the newspapers if his turnip-fields 
 are invaded by what he deems a ' destructive 
 pest ' in the way of moth or caterpillar, and 
 utterly ignores the fact that these insects 
 always appear for some wise reason or other, 
 which he, absorbed in his own immediate 
 petty interests, fails to appreciate. His 
 turnips are eaten, — that is all he thinks or 
 cares about, — but if he knew that those 
 same turnips contain a particular microbe 
 poisonous to human life, a germ of typhoid, 
 cholera or the like, drawn up from the soil 
 and ready to fructify in the blood of cattle 
 or of men, and that these insects of which 
 he complains are the scavengers sentj by 
 
THE SOUL OF LILITH 255 
 
 Nature to utterly destroy the Plague in 
 embryo, he might pause in his grumbling to 
 wonder at so much precaution taken by the 
 elements for the preservation of his unworthy 
 and ignorant being. Perplexing and at times 
 maddening is this our curse of Ignorance, — 
 but that the ' sins of the fathers are visited 
 on the children ' is a true saying is evident — 
 for the faults of generations are still bred in 
 our blood and bone." 
 
 He turned over the first volume before 
 him listlessly, — his mind was not set upon 
 study, and his attention wandered. He was 
 thinking of Feraz, with whom he had scarcely 
 exchanged a word all day. He had lacked 
 nothing in the way of service, for swift and 
 courteous obedience to his brother's wishes 
 had characterized Feraz in every simple 
 action, but there was a constraint between 
 the two that had not previously existed. 
 Feraz bore himself with a stately yet sad 
 hauteur, — he had the air of a proud prince 
 in chains who, being captive, performed his 
 prison-work with exactitude and resignation 
 as a matter of discipline and duty. It was 
 curious that El- Rami, who had steeled him- 
 
256 THE SOUL OF LILITH 
 
 self as he imagined against every tender 
 sentiment, should now feel the want of the 
 impetuous confidence and grace of manner 
 with which his young brother had formerly 
 treated him. 
 
 ' ' Everything changes — " he mused gloomily, 
 " Everything mus^ change, of course ; and 
 nothing is so fluctuating as the humour of a 
 boy who is not yet a man, but is on the 
 verge of manhood. And with Feraz my 
 power has reached its limit, — I know exactly 
 what I can do, and what I can no^ do with 
 him, — it is a case of ' Thus far and no 
 further.' Well, — he must choose his own 
 way of life, — only let him not presume to 
 set himself in my way, or interfere in my 
 work ! Ye gods ! — there is nothing I would 
 
 not do " 
 
 He paused, ashamed ; the blood flushed 
 his face darkly and his hand clenched itself 
 involuntarily. Conscious of the thought that 
 had arisen within him, he felt a moment's 
 shuddering horror of himself. He knew that 
 in the very depths of his nature there was 
 enough untamed savagery to make him 
 capable of crushing his young brother's life 
 
THE SOUL OF LILITH 257 
 
 out of him, should he dare to obstruct his 
 path or oppose him in his labours. Realizing 
 this, a cold dew broke out on his forehead 
 and he trembled. 
 
 " O Soul of Lilith that cannot understand 
 Evil !" he exclaimed — " Whence came this 
 evil thought in me ? Does the evil in myself 
 engender it ? — and does the same bitter gall 
 that stirred the blood of Cain lurk in the 
 depths of my being, till Opportunity strikes 
 the wicked hour ? Retro me, Sathanas ! After 
 all, there was something in the old beliefs — 
 the pious horror of a devil, — for a devil there 
 is that walks the world, and his name is 
 Man !" 
 
 He rose and paced the room impatiently, 
 — what a long day it seemed, and with what 
 dreary persistence the rain washed against 
 the windows ! He looked out into the street, 
 — there was not a passenger to be seen, — a 
 wet dingy grayness pervaded the atmosphere 
 and made everything ugly and cheerless. 
 He went back to his books, and presently 
 began to turn over the pages of the quaint 
 Arabic volume into which Feraz had un- 
 wisely dipped, gathering therefrom a crumb 
 
 VOL. I. 17 
 
258 THE SOUL OF LILITH 
 
 of knowledge, which, Hke all scrappy in- 
 formation, had only led him to discontent. 
 
 "All these old experiments of the Egyptian 
 priests were simple enough — " he murmured 
 as he read, — " They had one substratum of 
 science, — the art of bringing the countless 
 atoms that fill the air into temporary shape. 
 The trick is so easy and natural, that I fancy 
 there must have been a certain condition of 
 the atmosphere in earlier ages which of itself 
 shaped the atoms, — hence the ideas of nymphs, 
 dryads, fauns and watersprites ; these tempo- 
 rary shapes which dazzled for some fleeting 
 moments the astonished human eye and so 
 gave rise to all the legends. To shape the 
 atoms as a sculptor shapes clay, is but a 
 phase of chemistry, — a pretty experiment — 
 yet what a miracle it would always seem to 
 the uninstructed multitude !" 
 
 He unlocked a drawer in his desk, and 
 took from it a box full of red powder, and 
 two small flasks, one containing minute 
 globules of a glittering green colour like tiny 
 emeralds, — the other full of a pale amber 
 liquid. He smiled as he looked at these 
 ingredients, — and then he gave a glance out 
 
THE SOUL OF LILITH 259 
 
 through the window at the dark and rainy 
 afternoon. 
 
 **To pass the time, why not?" he queried 
 half aloud. '' One needs a litde diversion 
 sometimes even in science." 
 
 Whereupon he placed some of the red 
 powder in a small bronze vessel and set fire 
 to it. A thick smoke arose at once and filled 
 the room with cloud that emitted a pungent 
 perfume, and in which his own figure was 
 scarcely discernible. He cast five or six of 
 the little green globules into this smoke ; they 
 dissolved in their course and melted within 
 it,^ — and finally he threw aloft a few drops of 
 the amber liquid. The effect was extra- 
 ordinary, and would have seemed incredible 
 to any onlooker, for through the clou(;i a 
 roseate Shape made itself slowly visible, — a 
 Shape that was surrounded with streaks of 
 light and rainbow flame as with a garland. 
 Vague at first, but soon growing more dis- 
 tinct, it gathered itself into seeming sub- 
 stance, and floated nearly to the ground, — 
 then rising again, balanced itself lightly like 
 a blown feather sideways upon the dense 
 mist that filled the air. In form this *'cor- 
 
26o THE SOUL OF LI LIT H 
 
 ruscation of atoms " as El-Rami called it, 
 resembled a maiden in the bloom of youth, — 
 her flowing hair, her sparkling eyes, her 
 smiling lips, were all plainly discernible ; — 
 but, that she was a mere phantasm and 
 creature of the cloud was soon made plain, 
 for scarcely had she declared herself in all 
 her rounded laughing loveliness, than she 
 melted away and passed into nothingness 
 like a dream. The cloud of smoke grew 
 thinner and thinner, till it vanished also so 
 completely that there was no more left of it 
 than a pale blue ring such as might have 
 been puffed from a stray cigar. El - Rami, 
 leaning lazily back in his chair, had watched 
 the whole development and finish of his " ex- 
 periment " with indolent interest and amuse- 
 ment. 
 
 "How admirably the lines of beauty are 
 always kept in these effects," — he said to 
 himself when it was over, — "and what a 
 fortune I could make with that one example 
 of the concentration of atoms if I chose to 
 pass as a Miracle-maker. Moses was an 
 adept at this kind of thing ; so also was a 
 certain Egyptian priest named Borsa of 
 
THE SOUL OF LILITH 261 
 
 Memphis, who just for that same graceful 
 piece of chemistry was judged by the people 
 as divine, — made king,- — and loaded with 
 wealth and honour ; — excellent and most 
 cunning Borsa! But we — we do not judge 
 anyone * divine ' in these days of ours, not 
 even God, — for He is supposed to be simply 
 the lump of leaven working through the loaf 
 of matter, — though it will always remain a 
 question as to why there is any leaven or any 
 loaf at all existing." 
 
 He fell into a train of meditation, which 
 caused him presently to take up his pen and 
 write busily many pages of close manuscript. 
 Feraz came in at the usual hour with supper, 
 — and then only he ceased working, and 
 shared the meal with his young brother, 
 talking cheerfully, though saying little but 
 commonplaces, and skilfully steering off any 
 allusion to subjects which might tend to in- 
 crease Feraz's evident melancholy. Once he 
 asked him rather abruptly why he had not 
 played any music that day. 
 
 "I do not know " — answered the young 
 man coldly — " I seem to have forgotten 
 music — with other things." 
 
262 THE SOUL OF LILITH 
 
 He Spoke meaningly ; — El-Rami laughed, 
 relieved and light at heart. Those '' other 
 things " meant the name of Lilith, which his 
 will had succeeded in erasing from his 
 brother's memory. His eyes sparkled, and 
 his voice gathered new richness and warmth 
 of feeling as he said kindly — 
 
 " I think not, Feraz, — I think you cannot 
 have forgotten music. Surely it is no extra- 
 neous thing, but part of you, — a lovely portion 
 of your life which you would be loth to miss. 
 Here is your little neglected friend," — and, 
 rising, he took out of its case an exquisitely 
 shaped mandolin inlaid with pearl — "The 
 dear old lute, — for lute it is, though moder- 
 nized, — the same shaped instrument on which 
 the rose and fuchsia-crowned youths of old 
 Pompeii played the accompaniment to their 
 love-songs ; the same, the very same on 
 which the long-haired, dusky-skinned maids 
 of Thebes and Memphis thrummed their 
 strange uncouth ditties to their black-browed 
 warrior kings. I like it better than the violin 
 — its form is far more pleasing — we can see 
 Apollo with a lute, but it is difficult to fancy 
 the Sun-god fitting his graceful arm to the 
 
THE SOUL OF LI LIT H 263 
 
 contorted positions of a fiddle. Play some- 
 thing, Feraz " — and he smiled winningly as 
 he gave the mandolin into his brother's 
 hands — ''Here," — and he detached the 
 plectrum from its place under the strings — 
 "With this little piece of oval tortoiseshell, 
 you can set the nerves of music quivering, — 
 those silver wires will answer to your touch 
 like the fibres of the human heart struck by 
 the tremolo of passion." 
 
 He paused, — his eyes were full of an 
 ardent light, and Feraz looked at him 
 wonderingly. What a voice he had ! — 
 how eloquently he spoke ! — how noble and 
 thoughtful were his features ! — and what an 
 air of almost pathetic dignity was given to 
 his face by that curiously snow-white hair of 
 his, which so incongruously suggested age in 
 youth ! Poor Feraz ! — his heart swelled 
 within him ; love and secret admiration for 
 his brother contended with a sense of out- 
 raged pride in himself, — and yet — he felt his 
 sullen amour-p7'Opre, his instinct of rebellion, 
 and his distrustful reserve all oozing away 
 under the spell of El - Rami's persuasive 
 tongue and fascinating manner, — and to 
 
264 THE SOUL OF LI LIT H 
 
 escape from his own feelings, he bent over 
 the mandolin and tried its chords with a 
 trembling hand and downcast eyes. 
 
 "You speak of passion," he said in a low 
 voice — "but you have never known it." 
 
 "Oh, have I not!" and El-Rami laughed 
 lightly as he resumed his seat — " Nay, if I 
 had not I should be more than man. The 
 lightning has flashed across my path, Feraz, 
 I assure you, only it has not killed me ; 
 and I have been ready to shed my blood 
 drop by drop, for so slight and imperfect a 
 production of Nature as — a woman ! A 
 thing of white flesh and soft curves, and long 
 hair and large eyes, and a laugh like the 
 tinkle of a fountain in our Eastern courts, — a 
 thing with less mind than a kitten, and less 
 fidelity than a hound. Of course there are 
 clever women and faithful women, — but then 
 we men seldom choose these ; we are fools, 
 and we pay for our folly. And I also have 
 been a fool in my time, — why should you 
 imagine I have not .^ It is flattering tome, 
 but why }'' 
 
 Feraz looked at him again, and in spite of 
 himself smiled, though reluctantly. 
 
THE SOUL OF LILITH 265 
 
 " You always seem to treat all earthly 
 emotions with scorn — " he replied evasively, 
 " And once you told me there was no such 
 thing in the world as love." 
 
 " Nor is there — " said El- Rami quickly — 
 " Not ideal love — not everlasting love. Love 
 in its highest, purest sense, belongs to other 
 planets — in this its golden wings are clipped, 
 and it becomes nothing more than a common 
 and vulgar physical attraction." 
 
 F^raz thrummed his mandolin softly. 
 
 *' I saw two lovers the other day — " he 
 said — '' They seemed divinely happy." 
 
 " Where did you see them r 
 
 " Not here. In the land I know best — my 
 Star." 
 
 El-Rami looked at him curiously, but for- 
 bore to speak. 
 
 " They were beautiful — ' went on Feraz. 
 '• They were resting together on a bank of 
 flowers, in a little nook of that lovely forest 
 where there are thousands of song - birds 
 sweeter than nightingales. Music filled the 
 air, — a rosy glory filled the sky, — their arms 
 were twined around each other, — their lips 
 met, and then — oh, then their joy smote me 
 
266 THE SOUL OF LI LIT H 
 
 with fear, because, — because / was alone — 
 and they were — together !" 
 
 His voice trembled. El-Rami's smile had 
 in it something of compassion. 
 
 " Love in your Star is a dream, Feraz — " 
 he said gently — " But love here — here in 
 this phase of things we call Reality, — means, 
 — do you know what it means ?" 
 
 Feraz shook his head. 
 
 "It means Money. It means lands, and 
 houses and a big balance at the bank. 
 Lovers do not subsist here on flowers and 
 music, — they have rather more vulgar and 
 substantial appetites. Love here is the dis- 
 illusion of Love — there, in the region you 
 speak of, it may perchance be perfect " 
 
 A sudden rush of rain battering at the 
 windows, accompanied by a gust of wind, 
 interrupted him. 
 
 " What a storm !" exclaimed Feraz, looking 
 up — *' And you are expecting " 
 
 A measured rat-tat-tat at the door came at 
 that moment, and El-Rami sprang to his feet. 
 Feraz rose also, and set aside his mandolin. 
 Another gust of wind whistled by, bringing 
 with it a sweeping torrent of hail. 
 
THE SOUL OF LILITH 267 
 
 " Quick !" said El- Rami, in a somewhat 
 agitated voice — " It is — you know who it is. 
 Give him reverent greeting, Feraz — and show 
 him at once in here." 
 
 Feraz withdrew, — and when he had dis- 
 appeared. El- Rami looked about him vaguely 
 with the bewildered air of a man who would 
 fain escape from some difficult position, could 
 he but discover an egress, — a slight shudder 
 ran through his frame, and he heaved a deej) 
 sigh. 
 
 " Why has he come to me !" he muttered, 
 " Why — after all these years of absolute 
 silence and indifference to my work, does he 
 seek me now ?" 
 
CHAPTER XIX, 
 
 Standing in an attitude more of resignation 
 than expectancy, he waited, Hstening. He 
 heard the street-door open and shut again, — 
 then came a brief pause, followed by the 
 sound of a firm step in the outer hall, — and 
 Feraz reappeared, ushering in with grave 
 respect a man of stately height and majestic 
 demeanour, cloaked in a heavy travelling 
 ulster, the hood of which was pulled cowl- 
 like over his head and almost concealed his 
 features. 
 
 " Greeting to El- Rami Zaranos — " said a 
 rich mellow voice — "And so this is the 
 weather provided by an English month of 
 May ! Well, it might be worse, — certes, 
 also, it might be better. I should have dis- 
 burdened myself of these ' lendings ' in the 
 
THE SOUL OF LILITH 269 
 
 hall, but that I knew not whether you were 
 quite alone — " and, as he spoke, he threw off 
 his cloak, which dripped with rain, and handed 
 it to Feraz, disclosing himself in the dress of 
 a Carthusian monk, all save the disfiguring 
 tonsure. " I was not certain," he continued 
 cheerfully — " whether you might be ready or 
 willing to receive me." 
 
 " I am always ready for such a visitor — " 
 said El- Rami, advancing hesitatingly, and 
 with a curious diffidence in his manner — 
 " And more than willing. Your presence 
 honours this poor house and brings with it a 
 certain benediction." 
 
 " Gracefully said, El- Rami !" exclaimed the 
 monk with a keen flash of his deep-set blue 
 eyes — "Where did you learn to make pretty 
 speeches ? I remember you of old time as 
 brusque of tongue and obstinate of humour, 
 — and even now humility sits ill upon you, — 
 'tis not your favourite practised household 
 virtue." 
 
 El-Rami flushed, but made no reply. He 
 seemed all at once to have become even to 
 himself the merest foolish nobody before this 
 his remarkable-looking visitor with the brow 
 
270 THE SOUL OF LILITH 
 
 and eyes of an inspired evangelist, and the 
 splendid lines of thought, aspiration and en- 
 deavour marking the already noble coun- 
 tenance with an expression seldom seen on 
 features of mortal mould. Feraz now came 
 forward to proffer wine and sundry other 
 refreshments, all of which were courteously 
 refused. 
 
 '' This lad has grown, El-Rami — " said 
 the stranger, surveying Feraz with much 
 interest and kindliness, — ''since he stayed 
 with us in Cyprus and studied our views of 
 poesy and song. A promising youth he 
 seems, — and still your slave .^" 
 
 El-Rami gave a gesture of deprecation. 
 
 ''You mistake — " he replied curtly — ''He 
 is my brother and my friend, — as such he 
 cannot be my slave. He is as free as air." 
 
 " Or as an eagle that ever flies back to its 
 eyrie in the rocks out of sheer habit — " 
 observed the monk with a smile — " In this 
 case you are the eyrie, and the eagle is never 
 absent long ! Well — what now, pretty lad ?" 
 this, as Feraz, moved by a sudden instinct 
 which he could not explain to himself, 
 dropped reverently on one knee. 
 
THE SOUL OF LI LIT H 17 1 
 
 ''Your blessing — " he murmured timidly. 
 " I have heard it said that your touch 
 brings peace, — and I — I am not at peace." 
 
 The monk looked at him benignly. 
 
 " We live in a world of storm, my boy — " 
 he said gently — "where there is no peace 
 but the peace of the inner spirit. That, with 
 your youth and joyous nature, you should 
 surely possess, — and if you have it not, may 
 God grant it you ! 'Tis the best blessing I 
 can devise." 
 
 And he signed the Cross on the young 
 man's forehead with a gentle lingering touch, 
 — a touch under which Feraz trembled and 
 sighed for pleasure, conscious of the delicious 
 restfulness and ease that seemed suddenly to 
 pervade his being. 
 
 " What a child he is still, this brother of 
 yours !" then said the monk, turning abruptly 
 towards El-Rami — " He craves a blessing, — 
 while you have progressed beyond all such 
 need !" 
 
 El-Rami raised his dark eyes, — eyes full 
 of a burning pain and pride, — but made no 
 answer. The monk looked at him steadily 
 — and heaved a quick sigh. 
 
272 THE SOUL OF LI LIT H 
 
 " Vigilate et orate ut non intretis in tenta- 
 tionem /" he murmured, — " Truly, to forgive 
 is easy — but to forget is difficult. I have 
 much to say to you, El- Rami, — for this is 
 the last time I shall meet you ' before I go 
 hence and be no more seen.' " 
 
 Feraz uttered an involuntary exclama- 
 tion. 
 
 " You do not mean," he said almost 
 breathlessly — " that you are going to die T 
 
 '' Assuredly not !" replied the monk with 
 a smile — " I am going to live. Some people 
 call it dying — but we know better, — we know 
 we cannot die." 
 
 " We are not sure — " began El-Rami. 
 
 '' Speak for yourself, my friend !" said the 
 monk cheerily — '' / am sure, — and so are 
 those who labour with me. I am not made 
 of perishable composition any more than the 
 dust is perishable. Every grain of dust con- 
 tains a germ of life — I am co-equal with the 
 dust, and I contain my germ also, of life 
 that is capable of infinite reproduction." 
 
 El-Rami looked at him dubiously yet 
 wonderingly. He seemed the very embodi- 
 ment of physical strength and vitality, yet 
 
THE SOUL OF LILITH 273 
 
 he only compared himself to a grain of dust. 
 And the very dust held the seeds of life ! — 
 true ! — then, after all, was there anything in 
 the universe, however small and slight, that 
 could die utterly ? And was Lilith right 
 when she said there was no death ? Wearily 
 and impatiently El-Rami pondered the ques- 
 tion, — and he almost started with nervous 
 irritation when the slight noise of the door 
 shutting, told him that Feraz had retired, 
 leaving him and his mysterious visitant alone 
 together. 
 
 Some minutes passed in silence. Ihe 
 monk sat quietly in El-Rami's own chair, 
 and El-Rami himself stood close by, waiting, 
 as it seemed, for something ; with an air of 
 mingled defiance and appeal. Outside, the 
 rain and wind continued their gusty alterca- 
 tion ; — inside, the lamp burned brightly, 
 shedding warmth and lustre on the student- 
 like simplicity of the room. It was the 
 monk himself who at last broke the spell of 
 the absolute stillness. 
 
 *' You wonder," he said slowly — '' at the 
 reason of my coming here, — to you, who are 
 a recreant from the mystic tie of our brother- 
 
 VOL. I. 18 
 
274 THE SOUL OF LI LIT H 
 
 hood, — to you, who have employed the most 
 sacred and venerable secrets of our Order, 
 to wrest from Life and Nature the material 
 for your own self-interested labours. You 
 think I come for information — you think I 
 wish to hear from your own lips the results 
 of your scientific scheme of supernatural 
 ambition, — alas, El-Rami Zaranos ! — how 
 little you know me ! Prayer has taught me 
 more science than Science will ever grasp, — 
 there is nothing in all the catalogue of your 
 labours that I do not understand, and you 
 can give me no new message from lands 
 beyond the sun. I have come to you out of 
 simple pity, — to warn you and if possible to 
 save." 
 
 El- Rami's dark eyes opened wide in as- 
 tonishment. 
 
 "To warn me .'^" he echoed — *' To save? 
 From what ? — Such a mission to me is in- 
 comprehensible." 
 
 " Incomprehensible to your stubborn spirit, 
 — yes, no doubt it is — " said the monk, with 
 a touch of stern reproach in his accents, — 
 '' For you will not see that the Veil of the 
 Eternal, though it may lift itself for you a little 
 
THE SOUL OF LI LIT H 275 
 
 from other men's lives, hangs dark across your 
 own, and is impervious to your gaze. You 
 will not grasp the fact that though it may be 
 given to you to read other men's passions, 
 you cannot read your own. You have begun 
 at the wrong end of the mystery, El-Rami, — 
 you should have mastered yourself first before 
 seeking to master others. And now there is 
 danger ahead of you — be wise in time, — 
 accept the truth before it is too late." 
 
 El-Rami listened, impatient and incredu- 
 lous. 
 
 " Accept what truth ?" he asked somewhat 
 bitterly — " Am I not searching for truth 
 everywhere ? and seeking to prove it ? Give 
 me any sort of truth to hold, and I will grasp it 
 as a drowning sailor grasps the rope of rescue!" 
 
 The monk's eyes rested on him in mingled 
 compassion and sorrow. 
 
 ** After all these years — " he said — " are 
 you still asking Pilate's question ?" 
 
 ** Yes — I am still asking Pilate's question !" 
 retorted El-Rami with sudden passion — " See 
 you — I know who you are, — great and wise, 
 a master of the arts and sciences, and with 
 all your stores of learning, still a servant of 
 
276 THE SOUL OF LI LIT H 
 
 Christ, which to me, is the wildest, maddest 
 incongruity. I grant you that Christ was 
 the holiest man that ever lived on earth, — 
 and if I swear a thing in His name, I swear 
 an oath that shall not be broken. But in 
 His Divinity, I cannot, I may not, I dare 
 not believe ! — except in so far that there is 
 divinity in all of us. One man, born of 
 woman, destined to regenerate the world ! — 
 the idea is stupendous, — but impossible to 
 reason !" 
 
 He paced the room impatiently. 
 '' If I could believe it — I say ' if,' " — he 
 continued, " I should still think it a clumsy 
 scheme. For every human creature living 
 should be a reformer and regenerator of his 
 race." 
 
 '* Like yourself?" queried the monk calmly. 
 " What hdive you done, for example ?" 
 El-Rami stopped in his walk to and fro. 
 "What have I done?" he repeated — 
 "Why — nothing! You deem me proud and 
 ambitious, — but I am humble enough to 
 know how little I know. And as to proofs, 
 — well, it is the same story — I have proved 
 — nothing." 
 
THE SOUL OF LI LIT H 277 
 
 " So ! Then are your labours wasted ?" 
 " Nothing is wasted, — according to your 
 theories even. Your theories — many of 
 them — are beautiful and soul-satisfying, and 
 this one of there being no waste in the 
 economy of the universe is, I believe, true. 
 But I cannot accept all you teach. I broke 
 my connection with you because I could not 
 bend my spirit to the level of the patience 
 you enjoined. It was not rebellion, — no! 
 for I loved and honoured you — and I still 
 revere you more than any man alive, but I 
 cannot bow my neck to the yoke you con- 
 sider so necessary. To begin all work by 
 first admitting one's weakness ! — no ! — Power 
 is gained by never-resting ambition, not by a 
 merely laborious humility." 
 
 " Opinions differ on that point " — said the 
 monk quietly — " I never sought to check 
 your ambition — I simply said — Take God 
 with you. Do not leave Him out. He IS. 
 Therefore His existence must be included in 
 everything, even in the scientific examination 
 of a drop of dew. Without Him you grope 
 in the dark — you lack the key to the mystery. 
 As an example of this, you are yourself 
 
278 THE SOUL OF LILITH 
 
 battering against a shut door, and fighting 
 with a Force too strong for you." 
 
 " I must have proofs of God !" said El- 
 Rami very deUberately — " Nature proves her 
 existence ; let God prove His !" 
 
 " And does He not prove it ?" inquired the 
 monk with mingled passion and solemnity — ■ 
 " Have you to go further than the commonest 
 flower to find Him ?" 
 
 El- Rami shrugged his shoulders with an 
 air of light disdain. 
 
 ''Nature is Nature," — he said — "God — 
 an there be a God — is God. If God works 
 through Nature He arranges things very 
 curiously on a system of mutual destruction. 
 You talk of flowers, — they contain both 
 poisonous and healing properties, — and the 
 poor human race has to study and toil for 
 years before finding out which is which. Is 
 that just of Nature — or God ? Children never 
 know at all, — and the poor little wretches 
 die often through eating poison-berries of 
 whose deadly nature they were not aware. 
 That is what I complain of — we are not 
 aware of evil, and we are not made aware. 
 
THE SOUL OF LI LIT H 279 
 
 We have to find it out for ourselves. And I 
 maintain that it is wanton cruelty on the part 
 of the Divine Element to punish us for 
 ignorance which we cannot help. And so 
 the plan of mutual destructiveness goes on, 
 with the most admirable persistency ; the 
 eater is in turn eaten, and as far as I can 
 make out, this seems to be the one Ever- 
 lasting Law. Surely it is an odd and 
 inconsequential arrangement ? As for the 
 business of creation, that is easy, if once we 
 grant the existence of certain component 
 parts of space. Look at this, for example " — 
 and he took from a corner a thin steel rod 
 about the size of an ordinary walking cane — 
 •' If I use this magnet, and these few crystals " 
 — and he opened a box on the table, contain- 
 ing some sparkling powder like diamond dust, 
 a pinch of which he threw up into the air — 
 "and play with them thus, you see what 
 happens !" 
 
 And with a dexterous steady motion, he 
 waved the steel rod rapidly round and round 
 in the apparently empty space where he 
 had tossed aloft the pinch of powder, and 
 
28o THE SOUL OF LI LIT H 
 
 gradually there grew into shape out of the 
 seeming nothingness, a round large brilliant 
 globe of prismatic tints, like an enormously 
 magnified soap-bubble, which followed the 
 movement of the steel magnet rapidly and 
 accurately. The monk lifted himself a little 
 in his chair and watched the operation with 
 interest and curiosity — till presently El- Rami 
 dropped the steel rod from sheer fatigue of 
 arm. But the globe went on revolving 
 steadily by itself for a time, and El-Rami 
 pointed to it with a smile — 
 
 "If I had the skill to send that bubble- 
 sphere out into space, solidify it, and keep it 
 perpetually rolling," he said lightly, "it would 
 in time exhale its own atmosphere and pro- 
 duce life, and I should be a very passable 
 imitation of the Creator." 
 
 At that moment, the globe broke and 
 vanished like a melting snowflake, leaving 
 no trace of its existence but a little white 
 dust which fell in a round circle on the 
 carpet. After this display, El-Rami waited 
 for his guest to speak, but the monk said 
 nothing. 
 
THE SOUL OF LILITII 281 
 
 "You see," continued El-Rami — ''it re- 
 quires a great deal to satisfy me with proofs. 
 I must have tangible Fact, not vague 
 Imagining." 
 
 The monk raised his eyes, — what search- 
 ing calm eyes they were ! — and fixed them 
 full on the speaker. 
 
 ''Your Sphere was a Fact," — he said 
 quietly — " Visible to the eye, it glittered and 
 whirled — but it was not tangible, and it had 
 no life in it. It is a fair example of other 
 Facts, — so-called. And you could not have 
 created so much as that perishable bubble, 
 had not God placed the materials in your 
 hands. It is odd you seem to forget that. 
 No one can work without the materials 
 for working, — the question remains, from 
 Whence came those materials ?" 
 
 El-Rami smiled with a touch of scorn. 
 
 " Rightly are you called Supreme Master !" 
 he said — "for your faith is marvellous — your 
 ideas of life both here and hereafter, beautiful. 
 I wish I could accept them. But I cannot. 
 Your way does not seem to me clear or 
 reasonable, — and I have thought it out in 
 
282 THE SOUL OF LILITH 
 
 every direction. Take the doctrine of original 
 sin for example — what is original sin, and 
 why should it exist ?" 
 
 *' It does not exist — " said the monk 
 quickly — " except in so far that we have 
 created it. It is we, therefore, who must 
 destroy it." 
 
 El-Rami paused, thinking. This was the 
 same lesson Lilith had taught. 
 
 '' If we created it — " he said at last, " and 
 there is a God who is omnipotent, why were 
 we allowed to create it ?" 
 
 The monk turned round in his chair with 
 ever so slight a gesture of impatience. 
 
 " How often have I told you, El-Rami 
 Zaranos," he said, — "of the gift and re- 
 sponsibility bestowed on every human unit — 
 Free-Will. You, who seek for proofs of the 
 Divine, should realize that this is the only 
 proof we have in ourselves, of our close 
 relation to * the image of God.' God's Laws 
 exist, — and it is our first business in life to 
 know and understand these — afterwards, our 
 fate is in our own hands, — if we transgress 
 law, or if we fulfil law, we know, or ought to 
 
THE SOUL OF LI LIT H 
 
 know, the results. If we choose to make 
 evil, it exists till we destroy it — good we 
 cannot }7iake, because it is the very breath of 
 the Universe, but we can choose to breathe 
 in it and with it. I have so often gone over 
 this ground with you, that it seems mere 
 waste of words to go over it again, — and if 
 you cannot, will not see that you are creating 
 your own destiny and shaping it to your own 
 will, apart from anything that human or 
 divine experience can teach you, then you 
 are blind indeed. But time wears on apace, 
 — and I must speak of other things ; — one 
 message I have for you that will doubtless 
 cause you pain." He waited a moment — 
 then went on slowly and sadly — " Yes, — the 
 pain will be bitter and the suffering long, — 
 but the fiat has gone forth, and ere long, 
 you will be called upon to render up the 
 Soul of Lilith." 
 
 El- Rami started violently,— flushed a deep 
 red, and then grew deadly pale. 
 
 *' You speak in enigmas — " he said 
 huskily and with an effort— "What do you 
 know — how have you heard " 
 
284 THE SOUL OF LI LIT H 
 
 He broke off, — his voice failed him, and 
 the monk looked at him compassionately. 
 
 " Judge not the power of God, El-Rami 
 Zaranos !" he said solemnly — '' for it seems 
 you cannot even measure the power of man. 
 What ! — did you think your secret experi- 
 ment safely hid from all knowledge save 
 your own } — nay ! you mistake. I have 
 watched your progress step by step — your 
 proud march onward through such mysteries 
 as never mortal mind dared penetrate before, 
 —but even these wonders have their limits 
 — and those limits are, for you, nearly reached. 
 You must set your captive free !" 
 
 " Never!" exclaimed El-Rami passionately. 
 " Never, while I live ! I defy the heavens 
 to rob me of her ! — by every law in nature, 
 she is mine !" 
 
 *' Peace !" said the monk sternly — "Nothing 
 is yours, — except the fate you have made for 
 yourself. That is yours ; and that must and 
 will be fulfilled. That, in its own appointed 
 time, will deprive you of Lilith." 
 
 El - Rami's eyes flashed wrath and 
 jjain. 
 
THE SOUL OF LILITH 
 
 "What have you to do with my fate ?" he 
 demanded — " How should you know what is 
 in store for me ? You are judged to have a 
 marvellous insight into spiritual things, but 
 it is not insight after all so much as imagina- 
 tion and instinct. These may lead you wrong, 
 — you have gained them, as you yourself 
 admit, through nothing but inward concentra- 
 tion and prayer — my discoveries are the result 
 of scientific exploration, — there is no science 
 in prayer !" 
 
 '' Is there not ?" — and the monk, rising 
 from his chair, confronted El- Rami with the 
 reproachful majesty of a king who faces 
 some recreant vassal — " Then with all your 
 wisdom you are ignorant, — ignorant of the 
 commonest laws of simple Sound. Do you 
 not yet know — have you not yet learned that 
 Sound vibrates in a million million tones 
 through every nook and corner of the 
 Universe ? Not a whisper, not a cry from 
 human lips is lost — not even the trill of a 
 bird or the rustle of a leaf All is heard, — 
 all is kept, — all is reproduced at will forever 
 and ever. What is the use of your modern 
 
286 THE SOUL OF LILITH 
 
 toys, the phonograph and the telephone, if 
 they do not teach you the fundamental and 
 external law by which these adjuncts to 
 civilization are governed ? God — the great, 
 patient loving God — hears the huge sound- 
 ing-board of space re-echo again and yet 
 again with rough curses on His Name, — 
 with groans and wailings ; shouts, tears and 
 laughter send shuddering discord through 
 His Everlasting Vastness, but amid it all 
 there is a steady strain of music, — full, sweet 
 and pure — the music of perpetual prayer. 
 No science in prayer ! Such science there 
 is, that by its power the very ether parts 
 asunder as by a lightning-stroke — the highest 
 golden gateways are unbarred, — and the con- 
 necting-link 'twixt God and Man, stretches 
 itself through Space, between and round all 
 worlds, defying any force to break the 
 current of its messages." 
 
 He spoke with fervour and passion, — El- 
 Rami listened silent and unconvinced. 
 
 *' I waste my words, I know — " continued 
 the monk — '' For you, Yourself suffices. 
 What your brain dares devise, — what your 
 
THE SOUL OF LILITH 287 
 
 hand dares attempt, that you will do, un- 
 advisedly, sure of your success without the 
 help of God or man. Nevertheless — you 
 may not keep the Soul of Lilith." 
 
 His voice was very solemn yet sweet ; 
 El' Rami, lifting his head, looked full at him, 
 wonderingly, earnestly, and as one in doubt. 
 Then his mind seemed to grasp more com- 
 pletely his visitor's splendid presence, — the 
 noble face, the soft commanding eyes, — and 
 instinctively he bent his proud head with a 
 sudden reverence. 
 
 '' Truly you are a god-like man — " he said 
 slowly — " God-like in strength, and pure- 
 hearted as a child. I would trust you in 
 many things, if not in all. Therefore, — as 
 by some strange means you have possessed 
 yourself of my secret, — come with me, — and 
 I will show you the chiefest marvel of my 
 science — the life I claim — the spirit I 
 dominate. Your warning I cannot accept, 
 because you warn me of what is impossible. 
 Impossible — I say, impossible! — for the 
 human Lilith, God's Lilith, died — according 
 to God's will ; my Lilith lives, according to 
 
!88 THE SOUL OF LI LIT H 
 
 My will. Come and see, — then perhaps you 
 will understand how it is that I — I, and not 
 God any longer, — claim and possess the 
 Soul I saved !" 
 
 With these words, uttered in a thrilling 
 tone of pride and passion, he opened the 
 study door and with a mute inviting gesture, 
 led the way out. In silence and with a 
 pensive step, the monk slowly followed. 
 
 END OF VOL. I. 
 
 BILLING AND SONS, PRINTERS, GUILDFORD. 
 
 C, C. A* Cc. 
 
^'I'iiiiii^it^^ 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS-URBANA 
 
 3 0112 005640716