Note

The lives are published in two volumes. Since the original drafting some additions to the Band of Servers have been met and recognised, so some additional charts have been added.

The pictures were done by one of our helpers, who was a fortunate combination of an artist, quick to visualise a description, and to some extent a clairvoyant and intuitive. They give a fair idea of the appearance of the subject of the biographies, as he was known to us.

This is, I believe, the first serious attempt to link together many lives of many persons in consecutive order, and they throw much light on the workings of Karma and the Law of Reincarnation. They remind one of a saying in the Hebrew Scriptures; "I will bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the ends of the earth." The present life period incline of the "gathering of the clan" and it has been strange to see how, apparently fortuitously , boys and girls have come together from different Nations, led by circumstances, and have fallen naturally into harmonious group.

Doubtless other such books as this will appear in the future, as the extension of sight becomes more common. This is a pioneer work, a new adventure, and our ship is likely to sail over stormy seas.

Annie Besant

December, 1924

Foreword

The servers

All who have read Man: Whence How and Whither are acquainted with the idea of the Group of Servers --a band of people who have offered themselves to do a certain amount of hard work of the world, especially the work of the pioneer. When a new country is to be brought under cultivation; there must be men who will be the first to enter it, who will be willing, for a long time, to dispense with all the little conveniences which make existence bearable, to live roughly and to work hard, cutting down trees, clear away undergrowth, digging up and leveling the ground, boring wells and constructing roads, and generally turning the wilderness into a fruitful field and making the jungle habitable; and without such preparatory labor civilized life, and all that it brings in its train in the way of opportunity and achievement, would never be possible at all.

The same statement is true of other and higher kind of development. When a new Root Race is to begin the Manu incharge of the business must take a certain number of people and deal with them much as the pioneer deals with the new country. He must break up many of their customs, their prejudices, their ways of thought, and implant in them others that are quite different, at the same time he is introducing changes into the shape and build of their physical bodies. Clearly such work difficult and complicated as it must be in any case can be done more easily if the human material is docile, if it is to some extent accustomed to the process, and willing to cooperate to the best of its ability, just as soil that has just been turned over is easier to dig than that which has never been touched. Such members The Manu finds in us who are members of His Band of Servers. Notice the qualities, which He must need in us.

First, the docility of which we have just spoken. We must be willing to follow Him through all dangers and difficulties, eager to take any hint that he throws to us, always ready to put aside personal desires and feelings for the sake of the work that has to be done.

Secondly, such comprehension of at least the broad outline of the work as would enable us to cooperate intelligently--as in the present age we call an interest in Theosophy.

Thirdly, patience, for without that we shall assuredly fall out by the way in the long march of evolution, and discouraged at the scantiness of the visible result from all our endeavors.

Fourthly, industry, the inflow of energy from behind that keeps us moving in spite of all hindrances – the flywheel that carries us over dead-point of exhaustion and despondency.

Fifthly, adaptability, and comradeship, so that we may learn to work together as a whole, to trust one another and make allowances for one another.

Have we then-we who have the honor to belong to this Band – all these qualities fully developed ? Certainly not, but we are in the process of developing them, and every possible opportunity is given to us to hasten their unfolding. After the experience of many incarnations extending over thousands of years, we ought to exhibit these qualifications to an extent markedly greater than that observable among our fellowmen. If we do not so manifest them, if we are not yet what He would have us be, that is evidently our fault and we should instantly set about amending it. The history of our past lives shows us also that with some who are of our party His endeavor has already succeeded to the fullest possible extent. Further, if for the rest of us progress has not been so rapid, the knowledge of what those who are now adepts have done should be to us at once the greatest possible incentive and the most emphatic encouragement. Let us see, then, what can be learned from this past history.

Since the Book Man was written some further investigations have been made, in the course of preparing for the press the new book, containing an account of forty-eight of the lives of Alcyone. These investigations modify to a certain extent some of our previous conclusions, and alter the relative importance, which we were at first disposed to attach to the various factors governing the successive incarnations of this Group of Servers. When the 'Lives of Alcyone ' were first published in The Theosophist , only a few of the dramatis personae were given after each Life – just those characters which happened to come into close touch with the hero of the story or exercised some definite influences over his life. A few of these people appeared nearly every time, but most of them were irregular; and this seemed to the investigators quite in accordance with what might be expected, for obviously men of widely differing temperaments would make for themselves karma of various kinds, which would carry some in this direction and some in that, and would give some a long life in the heaven world between incarnations while others would find themselves descending into the physical life after a much smaller interval.

From other lines of study we have realized the existence of three great factors as determining the place and time of each man's birth. First, the force of evolution, which places each man where he can most readily acquire the qualities in which he happens to be deficient; second, the law of karma, which limits the action of that first force by allowing the man so much as he has deserved; third the law of attraction which brings the man again and again into connection with the other egos with whom he has formed links of some kind. We find these laws acting usually in the order above assigned them; and that order conveys their relative importance in the case of the great mass of humanity. It is true as we supposed that the length of a man's life in the heaven world is determined by the amount of spiritual force which he has generated while on earth; it is true that the karma of his previous lives decides to a great extent the kind of existence which he will have now, and the happiness or misery which he shall experience in that existence.

But further enquiry has shown us that, in the case of the Band of Servers, These rules, which ordinarily operate, are subordinated to the purpose of the Group. It is of the essence of our membership of that Band that we should be ready to put aside all feelings and interests of the individual for the sake of the whole; and we find that this rule holds good even with regard to the births that we take. For us the third of these factors comes first; and what is primarily considered is not our individual karma, but the need of the group as a whole. In those earlier enquiries we found occasions when few of his friends appeared along with Alcyone, and at the time we took it for granted that the others were probably out of incarnation at that period. By spreading our nets a little wider, by examining generations before and after that in which our hero happened to be born, by searching among neighbors and friends as well as among blood relations, we have in nearly every case been able to find all or almost all of those whom we have specially identified; so while it is true that Alcyone's individual karma, or the necessities of his private evolution, have brought him sometimes into the very midst of the group, and at other times thrown him for the moment aside from it, we must not, therefore assume that there is any change in the evolution of the group as a unity.

It is now clear that the members of this Band, whether emotional or intellectual, spiritual or material in disposition, have come down through the ages together, and that the fact of their association has always been the really dominant influence in their lives, and the most important influence in their lives, and the most important element in determining the time and place of their rebirth. They have been placed where they were wanted for the work without any consideration, for the moment, of their individual needs or their private progress. We must not suppose that their individual evolution has been neglected, or that their precise personal karma has been neglected, or that their precise personal karma has in anyway failed to produce its due effect; but because of their membership in this remarkable clan those needs have been achieved by methods differing slightly from those which are more usually employed. The greater or lesser amount of spiritual force generated in a given life for example finds its result not in the comparative length of the heaven life, but in its comparative intensity.

There are considerable intervals during which the Group is not required for work of an occult nature; but even then it still keeps together; its members do not go off separately, each pursuing his own evolution, but they are part so far as we can see, wherever the greatest good of the greatest number can best be consulted. When they are not wanted for outside work, their own evolution is taken into account; but even then it is not that of the individual, but that of the mass. In fact, to a certain extent, the clan may be considered as a little sub-world by itself. Most of the karma of its member's is necessarily generated with their fellows, and therefore tends to work itself out within the Group, and to make the ties stronger between the comrades. It is therefore, evident that in calculating averages for the world in general, it is wiser not to include the members of our Group, as they are under an influence, which differentiates them in various ways from those who are not as yet being specially utilized.

In the introduction to the 'Lives' published in The theosophist it was mentioned that we had noted the existence of two classes of egos, who among other things, differed in their usual interval between lives, one taking an average of about twelve hundred years and the other an average of seven hundred. We still find these classes to be clearly marked; but when the members of them come into the Band of Servers their intervals are immediately thereby affected. The distinction still persists in certain pronounced cases; a detailed study of the charts which will be published in the new book of Lives will show that there are occasions on which one may suppose that the inherent tendency proves itself too strong for the new influence, and the clan temporarily breaks itself into two groups, each of which takes the interval to which it had previously been accustomed. But when that happens, we find that the whole clan is again united by the simple plan of synchronizing the third incarnation of one set with the second of the other, so that they are only apart for what is comparatively a very short time. Between these occasional outbreaks of old habit they are only apart for what is comparatively a very short time. Between these occasional outbreaks of old habit they arrive at a sort of compromise and keep together, but with intervals which are somewhat irregular – sometimes a thousand years or more, and sometimes only eight hundred. Single members occasionally break away from the Group for an incarnation or two – presumably because they have generated karma, which necessitates special treatment.

A phenomenon of interest, which has its influence upon these occasional departures from the regular routine, is the existence of what may be called sub-groups. Some of the principal characters have a small following, which tends to go with them wherever they go. This is fully apparent only when we have the whole series of charts before us so that our readers will not be able to make a complete study of it until they have the new book of Lives before them; but even from the very partial lists which were published in the The Theosophist, it is possible to observe indications of this fact. The close attachment of Herakles to Mars is an instance in point; Mars himself is usually associated with Jupiter and the Manu; while Herakles in turn has a certain more or less regular following, in which Capella, Beatrix, Gemini, Arcor and Capricorn are prominent. A still closer attachment subsists between Alcyone and Mizar, and wherever they are it will usually be found that Sirius , Electra and Fides are not far off. Erato, Melete, Concordia and Ausonia form a group of four, who happen to be closely related in this present incarnation; but this is no exception to their general rule, for in past lives they are constantly in intimate connection. A remarkable couple are Calypso and Amalthea ; for these two are constantly to be found in the relation of husband and wife, and if either of them is so ill advised as to marry somebody else they usually adjust the matter by eloping together. Another group which seems to be closely linked consists of Draco , Andromeda, Argus, Atalanta, Lili, Phoenix and Dactyl; the connection here is so frequent that when , in the course of our investigations, we came across one member of the party we

always felt certain of speedily encountering the others, and we were rarely disappointed. Yet another group includes Hector, Albireo , Leo, Leto, Berenice and Pegasus; another comprises Aldebaran, Achilles and Orion. All these form smaller systems within the clan as a whole, much as in the solar system each of the greater planets has a system of satellites of its own. Only in the case of the Group there is this difference, that the subgroups are not inherently coherent; they are together more often than not , but they do break up and intermingle sometimes , and it is evident that such changes of partnership are intentionally arranged.

Another very curious group is composed of entities whose link with the clan is less defined , for their connection with it seems often rather hostile than friendly. A decided instance of this is Scorpio, who comes down through the ages in violent opposition to Herakles, an attitude still maintained in the present life, in which the hatred and unscrupulousness are as prominent as ever ,though the power to harm has obviously decreased with the passage of time. Other members of the same type, but somewhat less violent, are Cancer, Lacerta, Ursa, Hesperia; and they in turn have a set of friends such as Trapezium, Markab, Avelledo, who are sometimes associated with them and sometimes with more difinitely loyal members of the Group. Pollux who is occasionally of this party, has a special link of his own with Melpomene, though it often works along undesirable lines. Some who began forty or fifty thousand years ago as members of this less satisfactory subgroup seem to be gradually coming out of it and allying themselves more and more closely to the main body ; Gamma and Thetis are cases in point. Others there are who are closely and honourably associated with the clan, but almost always in a subordinate capacity; an example of this is Boreas. Egos retained very decidedly certain special characteristics; for example, all the characters are in most of the lives to some extent related to one another, and therefore presumably on the same social level; but whenever we come to an incarnation in which some of them are priests and warriors, and others are traders, one can always guess beforehand which names will be found in each of these classes. There are some who appear in the group only occasionally, and as it were by chance -- evidently themselves not regular members of it, but probably karmically associated with some who are members; examples of this kind are Lota, Kappa and Liovtai.

The Group of Servers is a large one; the two hundred and fifty characters to whom names have been assigned are supposed to be less than one tenth of the whole, it is thought likely that the whole clan is divided into companies for the purpose of special training, and that these companies are taken in hand one after another by the Manu and his subordinates. Our two hundred and fifty may well be such a company, and when one of its members disappears from it for a time, he has probably been gaining experience in one of the other companies. There are various pieces of evidence that point to this. For example: our characters are called together by the Manu about 70,000 BC, when he is making preparations for his new Root Race; many of them were killed in the massacre which took place then, and received a promise from him that those who died for the sake of the Race should be re-incarnated in it immediately under somewhat more suitable conditions. When, ten thousand years later, the race was definitely established, every member of our group appeared in it. When the time came for the formation of the second sub-race our band was utilised both in the first occupation of the valley and again two thousand years later when the actual migration into Arabia took place. Just the same thing happened with regard to the third sub-race, our group passing through three incarnations in the course of its establishment. But when the time came for the founding of the fourth and fifth sub-races , not a single member of our clan of two hundred and fifty is to be found among those who were helping the Manu in his work. It seems evident, then, that at that period the turn of another company had come -- and another set of egos must have been going through this training.

When the Bodhisattva condescended to appear in India as Shri Krishna and in Palestine as Jesus, no single member of our group was in attendance on him, nor were we chosen, as now, to prepare the way for his advent. In each of these cases He had attendants, so the presumption is that they belonged to one of the other companies.

From the glimpses we have had of the beginnings of the Sixth Root Race we know that our clan of Servers is to have the honour of being employed in that connection, and there is also reason to suppose that we should have a part to play in the development of the sixth sub race of this present Root Race. But the purpose for which we are now called together is neither of these, though it is still of the usual preparatory nature. We are now called upon to prepare the way of the Lord -- to help to make ready the world for the descent of the Bodhisattva. Because that is so, the method of this incarnation differs from all those that have preceded it. When we were founding a physical race, we were born in the same country and thrown into close physical relationship, but that is not at all what is needed now. The coming teacher needs heralds to prepare his way in all countries, and so that ancient and compact Band of Servers finds itself scattered loosely over the whole civilised world.

Having thus scattered us, they bring this together again, but this time intellectually, on the mental plane instead of the physical. They draw us altogether through a common interest in Theosophy, and they are trying upon us this interesting experiment, to see whether after all the experience we have had, we can preserve the clan spirit and work equally well together for a common object when we are born in different races and different families. The subjects of the experiment at first known nothing about it. They find themselves in relation to people of other races and of many types, all with their various peculiarities, and the first idea that occurs to them is how tiresome these peculiarities are, and how difficult it is to get on with these people. But presently they get through the surface differences to the common humanity behind. The ego breaks through the veil of his vehicles, and the old sense of comradeship reasserts itself. We must needs be in every land because He needs his agents in every land; we must needs be a coherent all those agents must work together as one great body animated by one mighty spirit.

And those older lives we usually find our people gathered together into three or four large families, springing often from a single couple, or from two or three couples. The descendants of these couples for three or four generations generally consist almost wholly of members of our group. Then suddenly the stream dries up, and the next generation consists of strangers. But many among these strangers have been observed as recurring frequently, and it is possible that they might prove on further examination to be members of that second group whose existence we had been inferring. It may well be that that second group, whose members are as yet unidentified, may have been employed to follow our group in the case of the first, second and third sub races, and that they were tried in the leading role in the case of the fourth and fifth. It is likely that on so important an occasion as the descent of the Bodhisattva both of these groups, and quite possibly a dozen more, may be brought into incarnation.

Our investigations were undertaken for the special purpose in connection with the past lives of Alcyone, and the egos to whom names have been given are those who appear most closely in association with him -- those who were going through the same training at the same time. Those who appear to be training in another squad naturally do not appear at all, although it is obvious that their work must have been just as important in connection with other sub races. Even in our own squad many other entities are recognizable as recurring frequently, and might no doubt be identified among existing fellows of the Theosophical Society, if the same amount of individual trouble were given to them that was given in the beginning to the others.

Sometimes theosophists have asked us whether they were not among this Band of Servers in the past, as they feel themselves so strongly drawn to some of the Great Ones, or to the President, that they feel sure they must have met them before. I think it is quite certain that almost every member of the society (at any rate, every member who is working strongly and disinterestedly for it) must have been in one or other of these groups at one time or another. Some of them may form that later generation which we so often half recognize. Round the families which we have catalogued there is a sort of a penumbra, an outer fringe which probably contains thousands who are now students of the sacred wisdom. Indeed, some who were not specifically mentioned may be as closely related to the Great Ones as those on our list; for we often recognise but two or three children out of a family of eight or ten; no doubt the unidentified children are Fellows of the Society also !

Sometimes a character almost forces himself upon our notice. For example, I noticed on several occasions a grand but unknown figure appearing in close connection with some of our most honoured names -- an ego, evidently, of great importance. Having met with this character two or three times, we at last decided to follow him down to the present day, and discovered him to be the Master of the Master K.H. -- a senior adept, to whom in our charts we have given the name of Dhruva .Quite recently I came across another character, apparently by the merest accident. One of our members brought to my notice a young friend of his, because he had heard that we happened to have a certain interest in common; and the moment that this younger stranger was introduced to me I saw that he was not a stranger, but, on the contrary, a prominent character in many of those lives of old -one whom I had supposed to be at present out of incarnation. He came into my life this time as the proofs of the new book on the Lives of Alcyone were already in hand; he was just in time to be included in chart number I , but just too late to take his place in the specimen ledger -page, as that was already ‘ struck off’ . What happened then may occur again ; at any moment we may come across a person who held an important position among us in those days of old. Even if we do, however, he'll be too late for inclusion in this edition of the book; the door is shut for this particular cycle of manifestation! Indeed, in any case, no more names are now being given, as the number is already somewhat unwieldy for our charts and ledgers. Also, no useful purpose is to be served by adding to the list; we have already enough instances from which to draw deductions with regard to the Servers; if further investigations are made, they would be more profitably undertaken among some entirely different class of entities.

The charts are prepared on the principle of a genealogical tree , and each gives the relationship of the characters at a given date.

From them it is easy, though laborious, to prepare a kind of ledger in which each character has his own page, and his relationships in successive lives are entered in due order, thus enabling us to see at a glance what position he has held, and how often he has been in touch with this person or that. A specimen page of such a ledger may be given in the new book, as a guide for anyone who wishes to construct such a volume.

A friend recently remarked that the length of physical life of the characters mentioned is always much above the average given in the present day by insurance statistics. That is true; but actuarial tables have so far concerned themselves only with an average based upon the present lives of a number of different egos, not with the successive lives of one ego. For anything we know, egos may have idiosyncrasies in this matter; some may be in the habit of taking the longest physical lives that their karma permits, while the others may prefer more frequent changes. Or it may be all decided for us from outside.

Students will notice that all through the ages almost all our characters have been practically monogamous. This must not be taken to indicate that the civilisations in which they were living had never admitted the practice of polygamy. The taking of one wife only may perhaps have been an instruction of the Manu; or it may have been largely a matter of practical convenience, as it is in India today. I understand that Hindu custom places little restriction on the number of wives any man may simultaneously have, yet

among my many friends in India I know none, outside of certain royal families, who has more than one wife.

Families in our charts are often fairly large -- though not unusually so, when compared with some of those of the present day, for in this twentieth-century incarnation one of our most illustrious members belonged to a family of thirty-five --a larger number than any which we have yet found in our charts ! The intelligent care of the children was always a prominent part of instructions of manu and for that reason you find little infant mortality among the characters. It was by his instruction also that the families inter married so sedulously, in order that the newly established race might be kept pure from inter mixture -- the result being that we comparatively rarely find one of our characters marrying one of the unrecognised.

We are usually scattered over three or four generations, and is it curious to note the groupings which occur. The two or three couples with which the families begin are often those who are now among the Great Ones, and we can understand that by supposing it necessary to have strongly developed characters to set the type. These Great Ones are themselves usually brothers or sisters in a family, the other members of which are unknown to us. Their parents are sometimes obviously highly developed people, and one may assume that they have probably since then attained Adeptship, and are beyond our ken. The immediate descendants of those two or three couples are usually certain people who are even in the present day closely following Them . These people in turn inter marry, and then we get the bulk of the group. But there is generally a sharply defined bottom line to the chart, below which there are rarely any stragglers. Even in the lowest line our characters almost invariably find husbands or wives who are recognised, but their families, though numerous as ever, contained no characters whom we know. This arrangement is sufficiently common to make it reasonably certain that it is not accidental, but intended.

It is interesting to notice that some characters occur almost always in this bottom line, and so, so far as our charts and ledgers are concerned, appear to have no offspring, because their children are not among those who have been identified; others on the contrary usually occur near the top of the chart, and consequently show plenty of children, though their grandparents, and sometimes even their parents, are unknown, others have the habit of falling always in the middle of the chart, so that we are able to fill into a ledger both their ancestors and their descendants. It is too early as yet to speculate on the meaning of this arrangement, though no doubt it will emerge as the result of further study. It may be assumed that those who have members of the group as his children are learning how to train vehicles for the use of these helpful egos; but speculation is hardly likely to be profitable until we have the whole mass of facts before us in tabular form, and have time to consider them from all points of view. Admirable work has already been done along this line by Monsieur Gaston Revel but unfortunately he had at his command only the very small body of statistics published in The Theosophist, and consequently many of his conclusions will need revision -- as indeed is the case with most of our earlier attempts to generalise. For example, we embarked upon an interesting inquiry as to whether on the average the period between lives was longer after the male or the female incarnation; but now that we see that among us the interval for men and women alike is determined by the requirements of the group as a whole, it is obviously useless to persue that line of investigation any further.

It is evident that the experiment which is being tried in this present incarnation with the Band of Servers is quite a new one. Not only have they always in the past been in physical relationship, but it is clear that the details of the relationship were not left to chance, but were carefully arranged as part of a definite plan, in which the close association of the semi – patriarchal family life of those times was utilised to attain the required results, just as in the present day of semi detached families quite in other means are used, and advantage is take of the mental association of societies and clubs of various kinds.

That the method employed have been effective is shown by the case of Alcyone . In this present twentieth-century life only one member of the group which we have so often found surrounding him was born in cosanguinity with him, yet every member of that Group , on meeting him in this life, for what was then supposed to be the first time, instantly recognised the spiritual relationship which means so much more than any earthly tie. And what is true of Alcyone and his immediate and closest friends, is also true of the other groups or subdivisions of the clan of Servers, and to a somewhat less extent of the clan as a whole. Forty or fifty lives ago we find Alcyone engaged in riveting certain special links; later we find him meeting these same people frequently, it is true, but still somewhat less closely associated with them, because he is then engaged in forming certain other links -- making efforts the results of which are perhaps still in the future.

As the real object of these incarnations is the formation of these links, so that the members of the clan may learn to understand and trust one another, and thus gradually become a pliable, reliable, intelligent unit that can be employed by the Great Ones as an instrument, it is obvious that we cannot measure the importance of any life by the superficial incidents which are all that we can describe in our series of stories. Picturesque occurrences may sometimes offer opportunity for heroical effort, and so may suddenly crystallise into visibility the results of long slow interior growth; but on the other hand a life barren of adventure may yet be fruitful in the quiet development of necessary qualities -- a life happy, industrious, unsensational, pleasantly, placidly progressive. Putting aside the recurrent relationships due to the association in small subgroups, it can be found that each unit has during this series of lives being brought into intimate connection with a large number of the other units. If, for example, we opened the ledger at hazard , and look down the columns of husbands or wives, we should find on the whole very few repetitions. Sometimes one ego will marry another over and over again, but more frequently the forty eight lives will show forty eight different experiments in marital life. It seems clear that the authorities who direct these matters are mixing us intentionally, in order that by entering into most intimate affinity with a number of different people we may know them thoroughly and learn to work with them.

To be a member of this Band of Servers is indeed a noble ambition, but it is not one of those that bring honor in the eyes of men. In the founding of races and sub-races it was often necessary for some of our characters to hold high office as kings and chief priests, though the communities with whom they were thus associated were usually but small. In later days, however, and especially within historical times, we have been content with humbler positions, though we should find that we have always been among the cultured people of our time. Few of us have borne names known in history, and those few have in most cases since reached Adeptship, as may be seen by referring to the tables published in Man.

Most of us are by no means upon that intellectual level, but what is asked of us is not the position of genius, but of those qualities which I mentioned in the beginning of this article. Since that is obviously what is required of us, our business is to work at that development, and that with all speed, so that when the Lord comes he may find in our group an instrument ready to his hand, an instrument as nearly perfect as we can make it.

The more we see of this Band of Servers, the more thankful I personally am to have the honor of belonging to it, for it has clearly a definite work to do for Him; and to have the opportunity of doing that is indeed a rare felicity. Feeling this as I do, I cannot but regret most poignantly that some who formed part of this Band in long-past centuries should have fallen away from it in this life. I know that they cannot fall away permanently, that their wanderings are only those of the naughty child who snatches his hand from that of his father and takes a little run on his own account -- ending often in a tumble in the mud; I know that in their next incarnation they will be back amongst us studying the same philosophy, working for the same great end. They will surely take future opportunities; but what a pity to miss this one. Remember the story of the Lord Buddha, and the tremendous impetus which his blessed presence gave to all who came within its influence. The coming of the Lord of Love would have the same effect upon those who stand around him; why should any man shut himself out from participation in such benefits? May we hope that this marvelous magnetic force will draw them all back to his feet, that his glorious light will open the eyes of the blind, that misunderstandings, jealousies and envyings will melt away before the fire of His Love? So mote it be ! but if some are missing who should be among us, all the more zeal and energy must we show, so that the total of work done maybe no less --so that, if it may be, our comrades’ absence may pass unmarked until they had time to recover from their temporary disability and returned to the ranks. Above all must we remember the golden rule that "hatred never ceaseth by hatred; hatred ceaseth only by love"; for only by

all observing that can we be worthy to know and to serve the Lord of Love when he comes.

C.W.Leadbeater

The Lives of Alcyone

Introduction

Among men there are many different classes and the arrangements made for the reincarnation of these classes vary greatly --vary because the one supreme object is to promote the progress of their evolution, and being so different, they need different treatment. It has been written by Sir Edwin Arnold:

Who toiled a slave may come anew a Prince For gentler worthiness and merit won Who ruled a King may wander earth in rags For things done and undone.

While it is unquestionably true that the instances of such sudden change of station as is suggested by the poet, they are comparatively rare and must not be taken as representing the ordinary course of a line of lives. In the vast majority of cases a person born in the cultured classes is likely to find himself in a similar position in his next birth. The reason for this is twofold. First he is the kind of ego who can profit by such environment or he would not be put there; secondly the kind of karma which he generates in that position is far too complicated to be worked out in the slums or among primitive savages. Therefore egos of the higher class usually take birth among cultured people; though now and again we come across a notable exception.

Among such higher class egos there are several broad types. An ego of that type with which our researches have made us most familiar usually runs through the various races with some approach to regular order, taking generally one birth in each, and allowing an interval about a thousand years between these births. Each sub-race appears to be specially intended and adapted to develop certain qualities and to teach certain lessons and the ego passes through them all in turn, so that his character may be gradually rounded out, and final perfection attained. An ego who already possesses the quality which the conditions of a certain sub-races are intended to evoke may overleap that sub-race altogether and incarnate in the next, while an ego peculiarly defective in the quality may need two or three successive incarnations in that sub-race before he is ready to pass on to another.

There is however another type of higher class egos who do not habitually take their sub-races in order, but have rather a tendency to return again and again to one sub-race. They devote themselves principally to evolution through that sub-race, and make only occasional excursions into others in search of special qualities. It is found that this type has usually a shorter average interval between lives --an average of about seven hundred years instead of a thousand. That does not mean at all that its members generate a smaller amount of spiritual force, but they work it out with far greater intensity. The more rapid incarnations and the return to the same sub-race might suggest that they are is some way intermediate between the first and the second class types, since these are to some extent characteristics of the latter class; yet they are manifestly not intermediate but in every way equal in general development to the highest of the first class egos whose lives we have previously inspected. They are not quite the same as those others; the type of the brain is a little different. They are perhaps on the whole living less on the physical plane, while they are more developed at higher levels; but we have not been able so far to arrive at anything that we can fix as a really fundamental distinction.

It is evident that the egos arriving here from the moon chain come in groups – in ship-loads, as it were, just as passengers arrive by steamer from America -- with considerable intervals between them; and the members of each such shipload have characteristics in common, with regard to which they probably differ from all the ship loads. It was thought at first that these might prove to be people of different ways or planetary types, but that is not so, as we have people of nearly all the types in each of the shiploads.

All this is inchoate at present and in its preliminary stages, but we can see already that it opens up some interesting vistas, and that when the investigations have been carried a great deal further they will probably add considerably to our knowledge of the various methods of evolution.

It is likely that there may be other undiscovered types. It is already known that the Jews are an exception to the ordinary rule -that they constitute a race apart from others, the members of which rarely incarnate outside it; it would not be surprising if the Chinese and Japanese were presently found to constitute another and larger example of the same kind of exception. But this speculation can be proved or disproved only by the amassing of a large number of additional facts.

Distinctly lower class egos incarnate many times in each case, because they are much slower in learning its lessons. As this spiritual development is not so great, they generate far less force, and consequently the intervals between their births are much shorter; so that, although there are certain important exceptions, the general principle is that those lower in evolution take a shorter interval. The actual savage, whether he lives in Central Africa or in a London slum, spends a few years on the astral plane, and then comes back to earth almost immediately. It follows that the disproportion between the developed and cultured people and the vast Mass of the unevolved is not quite so hopeless as it appears at first sight, for the latter have their full numerical strength constantly in evidence, since they spend but little time on higher planes, while the former are away from the physical plane from ninety to ninety five percent of their time. An attempt at the rough classification of the egos will be found in vol. ii of The Inner Life.

In deciding the actual case of rebirth three principal factors come into play. First and greatest of all comes the influence of the Law of Evolution. The Deity wills man’ s advancement and that Will exerts upon him a steady and ceaseless pressure. The action of that Law tends always to place a man in such surroundings as are best suited to develop whatever qualities are lacking in him, entirely respective either of his likes and dislikes or of his deserts. The man in his short sightedness often thinks of such action as unpleasant an even hostile to his progress; for he naturally desires surroundings which will give him the opportunity of doing what he can already do well, whereas the Law tends rather to put him where he will be compelled to do those things which as yet he cannot do -- to develop the qualities which at present he does not possess.

The second factor which comes into play in deciding where a man should be born is his own Karma -- the result of his past actions. If uncontrolled the Law of Evolution would give him the best possible opportunities for development; but his past lives may not have been such as to deserve those opportunities. For that reason it may not be possible to give him the most suitable place, so he has to put up with the second best. The exactitude with which any possible combination of karma expresses itself in the surroundings provided is most marvelous; it is often evident that no other place in the whole world would be so suitable as that in which the man finds himself. If one may put it so without irreverence, the location of the quite undeveloped man presents no problem to the karmic deities; if he is to be born in a savage race, it cannot matter much whether it is in Central Africa, in South America, or among the aborigines of Australia; if he must see the light in a slum, it can scarcely be important whether it shall be Montmartre, the Bowery, or the Seven Dials. The rough impacts, which alone can make any impression upon him as yet, can be found alike in all these places. But the developed man must present much greater difficulties, for he has previously set in motion multitudes of final forces of all sorts, and therefore an environment in which their effects can play upon him is necessary. Anyone of a hundred places would probably do equally well for the young soul; he has so many lessons to learn that it does not much matter which he takes first, or where he receives his preliminary teaching. But older soul needs special treatment and the one niche specially provided from for him is usually the only one in all the world which is really suitable for him. It is in the nature of the case that he very rarely thinks so, because not his likings but his true interests have been consulted when the arrangement was made; but the statement is nevertheless a true one.

The third factor which influences the rebirth of a man is another variant of his karma – the links which he has made with other egos in previous lives. All the minor good and evil that we do goes into a general debit and credit account, and is worked off impersonally; but if we so affect the life of another as considerably to help or to hinder his evolution, we form a personal tie with him, which necessitates another meeting later-- sometimes many other meetings. Unselfish love is one of the strongest forces in the world, and it draws egos together again and again, thereby largely modifying for the time the action of the forces of evolution and of karma. Not that any man can ever escape the consequences of anything that he has done; the debt must invariably be paid, but the time and the conditions are often much altered by the introduction of this wonderful power of strong affection. Many instances of this will be noticed in the lines of lives, which have been published for our study.

It seems evident that in the flowing of the long stream of our lives we get together into groups – or it may be that we originally come forth in such groups

-usually having as their centre some one dominant ego. In the history of the lives of Alcyone we see such a group, (or perhaps traces of two groups), drawn round the mighty individualities of the two Great Ones who have since attained the level of Adeptship. As we press back further and further into the mists of the remote past we find this little circle of egos ever more closely associated. That does not in the least imply that the bonds between them had been loosened of late; on the contrary they seem stronger than ever. The suggestion is rather that the members have recently been strong enough to separate for time without losing their connections -- that each could go wherever it was necessary in order to develop missing qualities or to learn special lessons, without any danger that in doing this he would forget his comrades, or find his love for them grown weaker. So during the last few thousand years they have met somewhat less often than of yore, while each has been learning to stand alone; but in this present incarnation the whole group has once more been drawn together -- not this time by mere family relationship, but by the far stronger tie of a common interest in a common work, following as ever the August leaders to whom they owe everything that they have and that they are --the Masters of Wisdom in whose hands lies the destiny of the Race that is to be. In this life they are loyal members of the Theosophical Society, and through it they are devoting to the service of humanity all the powers that they have gained through the storms and calms, the joy and sorrows of the many lives which lie behind them. For some of them at least the promise has been given that they shall part no more -- that all their future shall be devoted to the work they love so well under the great Captains with whom their lives are so intimately united.

To this group we have given the name of Servers, and we find that throughout their history it has been their privilege to be employed in the pioneer work connected with the beginning of new sub-races.

All those whose lives have been specially investigated so far are members of this group, and we find that with them the fact of that membership has always been the most important element in determining the time and place of their rebirth. Emotional or intellectual, spiritual or material in disposition, they have had to move down the ages together, and so the result of the generation of a larger amount of spiritual force in any given life has been not (as is usual) a longer period of heaven-life, but a period of greater intensity of enjoyment.

Twenty years ago our attention was attracted to the lives of Erato--the first series that we examined – a series of seventeen incarnations with rather unusually long intervals between them; not violently eventful, but moving with exemplary regularity through the successive sub-races. A number of smaller sets followed; the next long series, examined fourteen years later, comprised the twenty-four lives of Orion. These were found to be tempestuous and unequal -a great contrast to those of Erato. Two years later still, the investigation of the lives of Alcyone was commenced, and a series of thirty was published in The Theosophist. In the course of a different series of researches made in connection with the founding of the sub- races, we discovered the group of Servers already in existence at earlier periods of history; we came across them as far back as 70,000 BC, and again at 60,000, at 42,000, at 40,000, at 38,000 and 32,000. As our previous inquiries had taken us as far back as 22,600, it seemed worthwhile to carry them ten thousand years further; so that we have now some record of 42 consecutive incarnations of Alcyone, besides a few glimpses from more remote ages.

The hero of this set of lives which we lay before our readers, to whom we have given the name of the star Alcyone, belongs to a type or a ship-load who take between births an average interval of about eight hundred years. He does not take the sub-races in regular order, but devotes himself chiefly to the first sub-race of the fifth root-race--at first in its home by the Gobi Sea, then taking part in several of its migrations to the plains of India, and afterwards incarnating whenever possible in that strange ancient land of beauty and of mystery. A considerable proportion of the lives which we have so far examined have been spent on the historic soil of India; yet as they have brought him to the gateway of the Path of Holiness, it is manifest that this devotion to one sacred Motherland has in no way delayed his development. Let his lives be studied that his foot steps may be followed; let the reader see from them what qualities are necessary for the attainment of that Path, so that he also in his turn may ‘ enter upon the stream’ as Alcyone has done and may be numbered among those who are safe for ever -- whose destiny is to devote themselves to the service of humanity.

In these lives certain qualities may be seen developing, certain relations may be watched strengthening themselves, and these should be studied as pointing to the goal set before himself by the Monad. For similar qualities and similar relations have to be developed and formed by each--by some earlier, because they started earlier, by others later because they started later. They may help some to realise that it is now as it was in the beginning, and that the door is open as of old, the Path is trodden as of yore. Those who loved, supported, struggled side by side with Alcyone in the past are with him still, some to help, some to be helped.

A few words should perhaps be said as to the methods of investigation adopted in examining these past lives. The ordinary plan is to use the faculties of the causal body and simply read the records. In that way the whole life under examination may be passed in review as quickly or as slowly as may be found convenient. It is usually best to run rapidly over the life and select from it such incidents as have the most far-reaching consequences, and then go back and describe those in some detail. Since in many of these stories of the past investigators themselves have borne part, a second method of inquiry has often been open to them – to throw themselves back into those forms of long ago, and actually live over again those stirring lives -- to feel once more what they felt thousands of years ago, to look upon the world from the strangely different viewpoints of an Indian ascetic, an Atlantean noble, or an Aryan invader. In this way the stories are to the writers intensely vivid and dramatic, so that they long for the descriptive powers of the great writers of fiction, that situations so striking might be adequately portrayed.

When past lives are discussed, men often ask how it is possible at so great distance of time to fix exact dates. It has been done by strenuous labour and by much wearisome counting, starting usually from some point previously determined; and, whenever possible, the results obtained have been verified by some sort of cross reference or by astronomical observations. Errors of counting may of course have crept in, but the margin for such errors is small, and no trouble has been spared to obtain accuracy.

These accounts of the past are not printed merely as good stories -though they are often that--but as lessons in the working of karma life after life, full of instruction for the student and helpful for the realisation of the continuity of human life. It must however be remembered in reading them that the deeper causes too often lie out of sight, and that in recording a life story there is inevitably too much of action, too little of thought and feeling. Yet thought and feeling are far more potent as generating causes then our actions, for actions are the embodiment of past thoughts and feelings more than generators of the future. The motive of the action is more far reaching than the action, yet it is often deeply hidden, while the action saute aux yeux.

Despite this, much of the workings of karma may be learned by a study of a series of lives; we see the inter relations of individuals, the results of benefits and injuries, the links that draw the egos together, the repulsions that drive them apart, life after life. We notice the epochs in which great groups of related egos are formed, there scattering for centuries, millennia, their reunions and fresh scatterings. And out of the whole grows a sense of security, of an ever-ruling guidance, of Wisdom that plans, of Power that executes, of the certain working-out of a great purpose,of agents chosen, tested, accepted or dropped, opportunities offered, utilised, rejected, of a sure onward evolution amid complexity of ebbs and flows. A single life is seen into proportion, preceded and succeeded by many others. A feeling of strength and dignity grows within the reader as he thinks: "I too have a long past stretching behind me, I too a vast future stretching in front." The troubles of the present lose their seriousness when seen in the light of immortality; successes and failures become passing incidents in a long panorama; birth and death—how often have they been experienced ! He realises the profound truth voiced by Shri Krishna that since the Dweller in the body ever cast away outworn bodies and ever reclothed himself in new, “ therefore, O son of Kunti, thou shouldest not grieve.”

Such help we trust to put in the way of our readers by the publication of this series of lives. May they find it a strong staff in the days of trouble, and a torch throwing light upon the tangled pathway of life !

--Euphra

would indicate that Alcyone married a wife Mizar, and had four children—two sons, Herakles and Fides, and two daughters, Sirius and Capella. Herakles in due course took Apollo as wife and had a son Leo( who married Norma) and a daughter Albireo, who espoused Hector. Alcyone’s second son Fides married Spica, and had a daughter Aquila ( who bestowed her hand upon Cassio) and a son Mira, who married a young lady named Rigel. Alcyone’s two daughters also married, Sirius being espoused by Electra, and Capella by Euphra; but their families, if any will be found in another part of the chart as the children are always put under the father, when he belongs to any of the families entered in the chart. To find the children of Elecrta and Sirius, therefore, it is necessary to search for their father Electra, who will be found elsewhere in same column, along with his family. When a character marries ( as nearly all of them do) his name appears twice in the chart—once in his own family, and once in that family into which he marries; but the offspring of the marriage are entered as belonging to the father’s family only, to avoid unnecessary repetition.

For the purpose of printing, it has been found desirable to shorten many of the longer names which were at first given, but they will in most cases still be recognisable to those who knew them in their older form. Two or three have been changed entirely in order to avoid co nfusion between similar contractions.

Except in Nos 1 to 6 the date given for each chart is that of the birth of Alcyone when he appears among the dramatis personae; when he does not it is the date of birth of some other character, who will be mentioned at the head of the chart. Approximate dates for others can easily be deduced from this. In any attempt to calculate averages, it will be well to omit Charts 1 to 6 as there are considerable unexplored gaps between these and the dates given are round numbers merely; from Chart 7 onwards the series of lives is unbroken for most of the characters though by no means for all. In most cases no search has been made for any life later than that in Alexandria in the fourth century after Christ, though probably many may have had an intermediate incarnation since then. From the charts which are published herewith it is easy (though laborious) to construct a ledger in which each character has a separate page, giving a list of his births with notes of his near relationships in each. Such ledgers have been written by a few of our friends for their own use and a specimen page (pp 14,15) is appended to show how the work may be done. A column for remarks is usually added, but there is no room to reproduce that.

Ledger of The Lives of Alcyone

No	Date	Place	Sex	Father	Mother	Brother	Sisters	Spouse
1	70000	Gobi	M	Mars	Mercury	Sirius,Achilles,Orion	Mizar	Leo
2	70000	Gobi	M	Manu	Selene	Apollo	Aurora	Osiris
3	60000	Manoa	M	Manu	Surya	Cor,Sel,Veg,Hes,Cap	Hera,Ven,Bri,Urn,Ath,Vu l	Mercury
4	42000	Manoa	M	Herakle s	Sirius	Ura,Sel,Siwa,Mizar,Achil,Ald	Neptune,Orion,Capri	Percy
5	40000	Arabia	M	Jupiter	Athena	Manu,Mars,Aurora	Fides,Vega	Electra
6	38000	Africa	F	Mars	Venus	Herakls,Vulcan,Vajra,Pallas	Jupiter,Tele	Sirius
7	32064	Manoa	M	Sirius	Mizar	Venus,Saturn,Apollo	Albiero,Orion,Ulyses	Achilles
8	31139	Manoa	M	Jupiter	Dhruva	Sirius,Mizar,Selene,Hera	Neptune,Venus	Electra
9	30375	Persia	M	Vul	Ven	Sirius,Aurora	Ivy,Tele	Fides
10	29700	Persia	M	Mars	Uranus	Jup,Mer,Orion	Elec,Rama,Fides	Sirius
11	28804	Persia	M	Mercury	Fides	Ura,Dhruva,Bri,Euph	Sirius,Sel,Mizar,Cass,Ivy	Apollo
12	28129	Manoa	M	Mars	Hera	Viraj, Bri	Ivy	Mizar
13	27527	Ireland	M	Electra	Brihat	Ath,Viola	Jup,Nep,Osir,Aquil	Mercury
14	26801	Manoa	M	Selene	Saturn	Mizar,Rama	Leo,Vega,Albi	Sirius
15	26116	China	F	Myna	Gem	Osiris	Mercury	Mars
16	25528	N.Z.	F	Mizar	Sirius	Eup,Os,Bec,Aqui,Let	Vul,Bri,Koli	Surya
17	24700	Mexico	F	Sirius	Elecra	Os,Ra,Nep,Veg,Tel	Dh,Ath	Selene
18	23081	U.S.A.	F	Rama	Electra	Viraj,Sirs,Hera,Sel,Fides,Apollo	Saturn	Dh, Mizar
19	22662	U.S.A.	F	Mizar	Helios	Hera,Sel,Auro,Draco	Leo,Leto,Pyx,Andro,Oak	Sirius
20	21750	Burma	F	Brihat	Neptune	Uranus,Vulcan	Mizar	Saturn
21	21467	S.India	M	Leo	Orion	Albireo	Bee,Thesius	Herakles
22	20574	Salem	M	Uranus	Mercury	Dem,Elsa,Colos	Nep,Prote,apollo	Percy
23	19554	China	M	Mira	Selene	Sirs,Ajax,Xan	Vega,Mizar,Gnos,Ron	Albiero
24	18885	Manoa	M	Mars	Mercury	Ura,Hera	Bri,Demeter	Theseus
25	18209	Africa	M	Leo	Achil	Sirs,Rosa	Aletheia,Polar	Helios
26	17464	Manoa	M	Psyche	Arthur	Albi,Leto,Ajax,Kos	Bee,Pyx,Cyg	Rigel
27	16876	Atlan	M	Mercury	Brihat	Achil, Sel	Orion,Caly	Sirs, Mizar
28	15995	Manoa	F	Mercury	Saturn	Sel,Leo,Vaj,Cast	Herakles,Mizar	Albireo
29	15402	Oudh	F	Cetna	Cancer			Scorpio
30	14551	Oudh	F	Leo	Orph	Ura,Pax,Let,Aqua	Sagitta,Beren	Neptune
31	13651	Atlan	F	Mer	Pin	Lobelia		Sirius
32	12877	Panjab	M	Algol	Theseus			Mizar
33	12093	Peru	M	Ura	Hesper	Sirius,Cento	Aqua,Sagitta	Mizar
34	11182	N.India	M	Olaf	Tolosa	Koli,Echo,Uder	Ronald	Cyg
35	10429	Puri	M	Bri	Ura	Kim,Koli	Nep,Siwa,Mizar	Ajax
36	9672	Atlan	M	Nep	Hera	Albi,psyche,Leo	Mer,Hec,Gnos	Vega
37	8775	Mysore	M	Proteus	Mercury	Mizar	Parthe	Uranus
38	7852	Panjab	M	Aurora	Vajra			Rigel
39	3986	Egypt	F	Sirius	Ursa	Egria		Ant
40	5964	Ujjain	F	Phocea	Camel
41	5635	Girnar	F	Corona	Leo	Sirius		Mizar
42	4970	N.India	F	Siwa	Orph			Uranus
43	4035	Egypt	F	Ajax	Bella	Ura,Sagitta	Algol,Aqua,Vesta	Scorpio
44	3059	C.India	M	Taurua	Virgo	Pollux,Gimel	Aqua,Beth,Parthe	Arthur
45	2180	Nagpur	M	Albi	Leo			Algol
46	1525	Persia	M	Hec	Bee
47	630	Benares	M	Rao	Nu			Irene
48	AD-624	Kanauj	M	Aut	Irene

Ledger of The Lives of Alcyone

No.	Sons	Daughters	Grandparents
1	Ura, Nep	Surya, Brihat	Jup, Sat, Cor, Deneb
2	Siwa, Mu, Juno, Orp, Ron, Ath	Caly, Mer, Herm, Kamu, Sp, Gn,	Sat, Surya, Elec, Colos
3	Sirs, Mizar, Elec, Fides, Dh, Hec,Albir, Leo	Ivy, Beatus, Math, Mu	Viraj, Saturn
4	Vul, Bella, Rigel, Rama	Algol, Arthur	Cor, Theo, Dem, Fomal
5	Viraj, Sat, Surya, Mer, Sirs, Sel, Ra	Ven, Hes, Leto	……
6	Mizar, Viraj, Rama, Vega, Osiris	Elec, Fides, Sat, Ath, Apol	Proteus,Olaf
7	Ura, Cor, Nep, Callio, Spica, Tele	Bri, Sel, Veg, Herm, Eup, Pin	Manu, Mer, Mars, Siwa
8	Apollo, Fides, Vul, Aquila	Bri, Euph, Quies,	…………
9	Mizar, Apol, Mer, Albi, Hect, Leo	Dem, Percy, Pearl, Mira, Cyg	Surya, Viraj, Math, Siwa
10	Euph, Vaj, Phil, Aquila, Math, Kos	Tele, Ivy, Spica, Leto, Cyg, Bee	Orph, Nest, Lute, Crux
11	Viraj, Cor, Orp, Norma	Vesta, Draco, Lobelia, Jason	Pallas,Prote, Lyra, Taur
12	Mer, Dh, Sat, Ven, Ath	Fides, Osiris, Vul	Siwa, Prote, Dian, Judex
13	Cor, Kamu, Gnostic, Fides,	Sirs, Leo, Veg, Aurora	Surya, Dh, Mars, Vesta
14	Apollo, Rigel, Egeria, Helios, Fomal,Hes,Herm	Jupiter, Mer, Koli, Hec, Arthur,Kim, Achil	Lute, Cor, Phoenix,Pax
15	Vajra, Rama, Pallas	Sat, Koli, Ven, Sylla, Tele
16	Mars, Mer, Rama, Apollo, Fides	Elec, Dh	Rect, Mira, Taur, Alces
17	Hera, Math, Viraj, Ald, Arg, Mira,Aurora	Jupiter, Aurora, Colos	Mars, Vul,Calyx, Sat
18	Aurora Euph, Helios, Quies, Sappho, Gnostic, Beth, Algol	Colos Ven, Ath, Cor, Kamu, Cassio,	Mars, Siwa, Bri, Lyra
19	Achil, Hector, Alethia, Demeter, Ve ga, Bella, Irene, Ald	Albi, Percy, Ajax, Rigel, Nep, Crux,Cygnus,Reguu	Lute, Nest, Jason, Cyr
20	Surya	……..	………..
21	Vajra, Aletheia, Ura, Hec	Fides, Pin, Mizar, Crux, Cento	………..
22	Herakles, Mizar, Polar, Cug, Cano, Psy	Art, Betel, Fomal, Arco, Regu, Capri	Sirs,Ath
23	Leo	Mer, Clare, Kamu, Walter	Vesta,Ald,Ven, Rig
24	Andro,Betel,Fomal, Percy	Draco, Nep, Arthur	…………
25	Hera, Ald	Mer, Ulys, Bee, Aqua	Gem, Pyx
26	Cassio, Crux,Wences	Taurus, Theseus, Irene, Dh	Ida, Echo, Kim, Udor
27	Bella, Vesta, Nep,Alex, Hes, Ivy, Libra	Veg, Aurora Callio, Nor, Prote, Virg, Rosa	Hera, Sat, Ath, nest
28	Nep, Psyche, Percy, Ajax	Rigel, Algol, Demeter	Surya
29	……………….	……………….	……………….
30	Ajax, Fomal, Psyche	Arthur, Taurus	Sele, Mira, Jason, Prot
31	Ur, Auro, Sele, Vaj, Nep	Hera, Mizar, Demeter, Mira	……………….
32	Fomal, Altair, Wences, Tele, Soma	Ivy, Philae, Gluck	……………….
33	Leo, Cape, Percy, Irene, Regu	Auson	Jup, Vul, Sat, Ven
34	Osiris, Polar, Regu, Helios	Mizar, Proteus, Gimel, Daleth	……………….
35	Helios, Achil, Vesta, Dora, Pin, Pearl, Melete	Hec, Albi, Fomal, Auriga,Phoenix	Viraj, Mer, Kamu, Gnos
36	Ulys, Vaj, Achil, Per, Rig, Bel	Ura, Sele, Ald, Mira, Sirs	Sat, Viraj, Cape, Bee
37	Betel, Siwa, Irene, Sagitta	Aqua, Algol, Cano, Arthur	Pin, Crux
38	Per, Phil, Mizar, Herm, Elec	Rama, Rector, Scotus	Mars, Jup, Albi, Hec
39	Leo, Ulysses,Helios, Leto, Hes	Libra, Dem, Lom, Mira, Cano	Bri, Mer
40	……………….	………………	……………….
41	Vega, Mira, Theseus, Ant	Sel, Ura, Regu	Mars,Viraj
42	Helios, Hect	Rigel	……………….
43	Taurus	Virgo	Ophis, Phu, Crux, Cape
44	Psyche, Orphis, Fides	Polar, Cyg, Canopus	……………….
45	Libra, Sagitta	Demeter,Melete,Mizar	Bri, Hera, Beren, Leto
46	……………….	………………	……………….
47	Ant	………………	……………….
48	……………….	………………	……………….

41

FORTY-EIGHT LIVES OF ALCYONE

No 1	Birth 70000	Death	Sex M	Place Gobi Sea	Length of Life 40	Interval between Lives 32	Root Race V	Sub-Race 1
2	70000		M	Gobi Sea	85	…	V	1
3	60000		M	Manoa	92	…	V	1
4	42000		M	Manoa	84	…	V	2
5 6	40000 38000		M F	Arabia Mashonaland	81 76	… …	V V	2 2
7	32064	31982	M	Manoa	82	843	V	1
8	31139	31067	M	Manoa	72	792	V	3
9	30375	30202	M	Persia	73	502	V	3
10	29700	29616	M	Persia	84	812	V	3
11	28804	28730	M	Persia	74	601	V	3
12	28129	28067	M	Manoa	62	540	V	1
13	27527	27437	M	Ireland	90	636	IV	5
14	26801	27736	M	Manoa	65	610	V	1
15	26116	26067	F	Mongolia	61	537	IV	7
16	25528	25440	F	New Zealand	88	740	IV	5
17	24700	24610	F	Mexico	90	929	IV	3
18	23081	23592	F	North America	89	930	IV	3
19	22662	22578	F	Mississippi	84	819	IV	2
20	21750	21742	F	Chittagong, India	17	275	IV	6
21	21467	21382	M	Masulipatam,India	85	808	IV	2
22	20574	20465	M	Salem, India	109	911	IV	3
23	19554	19485	M	China	69	600	IV	4
24	18885	18806	M	Manoa	79	597	V	1
25	18209	18138	M	North Africa	71	674	IV	5
26	17464	17404	M	Manoa	60	528	V	1
27	16876	16792	M	Poseidonis	84	797	IV	6
28	15995	15937	F	Manoa	58	535	V	1
29	15402	15323	F	Oudh, India	79	772	V	1
30	14551	14460	F	Oudh, India	91	809	V	1
31	13651	13569	F	Poseidonis	82	692	IV	2
32	12877	12795	M	Punjab, India	82	702	V	1
33	12093	12003	M	Peru	90	821	IV	3
34	11182	11111	M	Rajputana, India	71	682	V	1
35	10429	10356	M	Puri, India	73	684	V	1
36	9672	9586	M	Poseidonis	86	811	IV	5
37	8775	8692	M	Mysore, India	83	840	V	1
38	7852	7774	M	Peshawar, India	78	788	V	1
39	3986	6909	F	Egypt	77	945	V	1
40	5964	5947	F	Ujjain, India	17	312	V	1
41	5635	5588	F	Kathiawar, India	47	618	V	1
42	4970	4901	F	North India	69	866	V	1
43	4035	3960	F	Egypt	75	901	V	1
44	3059	2978	M	Narsingarh, India	81	798	V	1
45	2180	2124	M	Nagpur, India	56	596	V	1
46	1525	1441	M	Persia	87	811	V	3
47	630	559	M	Benares, India	71	1183	V	1
48	AD-624	694	M	Kanauj, India	70	1202	V	1

Life I

The work of the Band of Servers has perhaps rarely been more arduous than it was in the early days of the Fifth Root Race. Those who have read Man : Whence, How and Whither, will remember how the great Lord Vaivasvata Manu led forth His selected band from Atlantis before the great catastrophe of 75,025 BC, and moved them first to Arabia and then after long trial there, to the shores of the Gobi Sea in Central Asia. Slowly, very slowly and gradually, he made his dispositions as befitted one who works for the far-distant future, who moves nations like pawns upon the board, who has centuries before Him for His combinations. The White Island of Shamballa was even then the centre from which He operated, though the great city whose streets radiated from it like the spokes a wheel was not to be built for thousands of years yet.

At the period when our history opens --in round numbers seventy thousand years before Christ --the community numbered perhaps seven or eight thousand people, living in several villages along the southern shore of the inland sea. The Manu as King lived upon the island and was rarely seen on the mainland, which was governed on His behalf by his son Jupiter. The scheme of government was largely patriarchal, and the five sons of Jupiter all bore their part in it under Him. His eldest son, Mars, ruled one of the villages, and had built for himself there upon a little hill a large and pleasant house surrounded by great trees and wide lawns upon which he gathered together his villagers when he desired to address them or to promulgate his laws.

Into the specious patriarchal life was born our hero Alcyone— in close relation even seventy thousand years ago with those who have since become the Great Masters who inspire the Theosophical Movement—their child in the flesh then, as he is their child in spirit now. Through all these lives since then he has never wavered in his steadfast allegiance to them, and how he treads the Path which they have trodden, he draws near to the goal which they have already attained. Little knew he of all that, when he played so happily seventy thousand years ago in that beautiful garden overlooking the sea, with his brother Sirius and his sister Mizar—companions tried and true, whose love for him has lasted through the ages, ever waxing, never waning—comrades who stand beside him still, who will be with him unto the end.

He was a handsome boy away there in the long ago—with aquiline nose and flashing eyes—rather like the most aristocratic type among the Arabs or the Pathans. He lived much in the open air, for that was the wise custom of the time—the insane practice of herding together crowds of growing boys in ill-ventilated schoolrooms not having been yet invented. Mars engaged as tutor and companion for his children the character to whom we have given the name of Rosa—male in that birth, though the cognomen sounds feminine—the studious and learned son of Ronald, the friend of his father Jupiter. But whenever the weather permitted it (and it must be very bad day before the children would agree that it did not) the instruction was given during rambles through the park which surrounded their home, or in the woods which covered the neighboring hills.

In this way the boys grew up healthy as well as happy, and when Alcyone reached marriageable age he was a daring rider, a fine swimmer and a tireless pedestrian, as well as a skilled reciter of the strange old poetic legends and invocations which were the popular literature of the time. Boys and girls were brought up together, and learnt the same physical exercises, though the girls were expected to know something of household matters as well—of cooking, weaving and healing art. Choice in marriage was free, but subject to a right of veto by the Manu—which however was practically never exercised. The brothers Sirius and Alcyone fell in love with two sisters, Vega and Leo—both of them friends who have been faithful through the ages, and still stand beside them in unfailing love and loyalty. In the life under consideration those two sisters were their cousins on their mothers side, and grand daughters of the great chief Corona.

So large was the rambling palace which Mars had built, that his sons did not leave it when they married, but just brought into use fresh section of it or added a room or two as required. A very happy family they were, Sirius and Alcyone being specially inseparable. They acted as lieutenants for their father in much of the work that had to be done, superintended the cultivation of his vast estate, and the improvements which he was perpetually planning. In this busy life years slipped by almost unnoticed, and a sturdy family was growing up round each of the brothers. Mizar, meanwhile had left the ancestral home to marry her beloved cousin Herakles and they also had five children; but intercourse was constant between the families, for their villages were but a few miles apart.

The Manu had now grown very old, and He knew that the time was drawing near when for the good of the race in His charge He should take another body, so that it might begin again on a higher level. To this end He sent for His chiefs—Jupiter, Corona, Mars and Vajra, and gave them certain instructions, forewarning them of what was to come—that the race would be all but exterminated by savage nomads from the north, and that they must make arrangements to save a few chosen children, through whom it could be continued, by the same egos over again, but in bodies a little more suitable. So the chiefs returned to the mainland, commissioned to make a selection among the children, and send a limited number over to the White Island for safety, to dwell in the Temples there, in the very aura of the great Kumaras and Their glorious Court of Devas—the Angels of the Elements, the true rulers of the destiny of the world.

Alcyone and Leo had by this time four children, all of them great souls who have since become Adepts. Their daughters were Surya and Brihat (He who is now the bodhisattva, and the Master whose vehicle He took in Palestine) while their eldest son was Uranus, and their baby Neptune. All four of these were chosen by the patriarchs, but of the children of Sirius and Vega only baby Pearl was taken. Little Hector, the younger daughter of Achilles, was the only other one selected from the great household of Mars; but Herakles and Mizar had the honour of contributing two—their youngest boy, Fides, and their youngest girl, Pindar. The three little boys of Athena and Lyra were all taken and the three daughters of Castor and Helios, Elsa and Crux gave a son Polaris and a daughter Cygnus; and Electra the only son of Bee and Viola, was added to the band. All these were quite young; but three older children, belonging in reality to an earlier generation were also included – Vulcan and Venus, the twin children of Apollo and Osiris, and Pallas, the younger brother of Vega and Leo. Pallas was a big boy, and when he obtained an inkling of the object of the segregation, he begged earnestly to be left behind and allowed to fight; but he was sternly repressed and told that he must go over to the island to take care of Venus, whom he had long worshipped from a distance. He had no option but to obey, and he received his reward in the shape of the Manu’ s permission to marry his ladylove at an early date. Capella—the youngest sister of Herakles, and little more than a child herself—was put incharge of the party, and promptly arranged to divide the responsibility by herself marrying Vulcan, the oldest of the boys.

As soon as the children were safely settled upon the island, the destruction which the Manu had foreseen fell upon the villages upon the mainland. The Turanian hordes swept down in overwhelming numbers upon the Aryans and after a brave and most determined resistance massacred the entire colony. By order of the Manu all articles of value had been buried so that the savages could not find them, so that the victory which cost them so dear proved absolutely barren; their traditional fears prevented them from making any attack upon the White Island; and as a bare moiety of their army, spiritless, bootyless, mutinous, crossed on its way home the desert to the north of the Gobi Sea, a terrible sandstorm arose which suffocated whole regiments of them, so that only a shattered and panic- stricken fragment of the mighty host ever reached again the plains of Tartary, and for some thousands of years the salutary lesson was remembered, and the Aryan colony was left in peace.

It is interesting to note how absolutely the Manu looks upon everything that happens only from the point of view of the plan as a whole. The Massacre of His new race is to Him by no means a matter of regret; it is a necessary part of the scheme; and He so explains this to His followers that they account it as honour to cooperate in the work. We observe, not only on this but on many other occasions, that physical death is not regarded by the Great Ones at all as it usually is in the outer world. Our modern tendency is to consider it as the greatest of all evils, to inflict it as the ultimate punishment; those Leaders, who know so much more than we, account it merely as an incident in the work which is being done, or sometimes as a reward for a piece of work well performed. Well indeed would it be for us if we could acquire this attitude of the Masters of the Wisdom, if we could ‘ watch with larger eyes’ and see the truth which lies behind the illusory outer appearance. Then we should repose in utter trust upon the wisdom of the Power divine, knowing that

It slayeth and it saveth, nowise moved Except unto the working out of the doom; Its threads are Love and Life; and Death and Pain The shuttles of its loom. It maketh and unmaketh mending all; What it hath wrought is better than had been; Slow grows the splendid pattern that it plans Its wistful hands between.

Chart I

The Gobi Sea Circa 70,000 B.C.

1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th

Mira -Fomal Rigel -Beatus Sirius -Vega

Ajax -Theseus Bella -Aulus Pearl -Aquila

Theseus -Ajax Rex -Psyche Achilles -Albireo

Hector -Percy Leto -Sappho Mars -Mercury

Uranus -Cassio Surya -Saturn Alcyone -Leo

Brihat -Hestin Neptune -Euphra

Dhruva -Mars

Sappho -Leto Orion -Aldeb

Beatus -Rigel Canopus -Norma

Mizar -Herakles

Clio -Cetus Vajra -Selene

Aldeb -Orion

Norma -Canopus

Cassio -Uranus Ulysses -Theo

Castor -Helios

Spica -Fides Colos -Electra

Fomal -Mira Arthur -Arcor

Sirius -Mizar Bee -Viola

Jupiter -Viraj

Rama -Apollo Manu -Surya

Jupiter -Saturn

Electra -Colos Selene -Manu Corona -Proteus

Psyche -Rex Capri Viraj -Rama Herakles -Mizar

Arcor -Arthur Fides -Spica

Proteus -Corona Pindar -Ivy Crux -Elsa

Capella -Vulcan

Albireo -Achilles Alcyone -Osiris Manu -Selene

Aurora -Herakles Apollo -Rama

Saturn -Surya Herakles -Aurora Mars -Dhruva Mizar -Sirius Apollo -Osiris

Athena -Lyra Hestia -Brihat Viraj -Jupiter

Percy -Hector

Chart I

The Gobi Sea Circa 70,000 B.C.

1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th

Helios -Castor Aquila -Pearl Vulcan -Capella Callio -Cygnus

Venus -Pallas

Surya -Manu

Aurora -Orpheus Mercury -Mars Gimel -Kim Walter -Vesta Kos -Aqua

Ara -Ophis Pepin -Lutea

Dora -Aletheia Wences -Kudos Erato -Zeno Cetus -Clio

Corona -Deneb

Argus -Ida Sextans -Olaf Vega -Sirius Leo -Alcyone Alex -Hermin

Lyra -Athena Euphra -Neptune Pallas -Venus

Ivy -Pindar Demeter -Egeria

Lobelia -Polaris Electra -Dhruva

Saturn -Jupiter

Osiris -Apollo

Juno -Altair Dolphin -Myna Yajna -Proteus

Libra -Fons Olaf -Sextans Rhea -Forma

Gnostic -Atlas Mathema -Pisces Nicos -Trefoil Xanthos -Echo

Quies -Concord Vesta -Walter Forma -Rhea

Sagitta -Thor

Aqua -Kos Sif -Alces

Ausonia -Parthe Koli -Kamu

Beren -Melete

Flos -Lili Pax -Betel Fons -Libra

Kim -Gimel Obra -Leopard

Ixion -Fabius Jerome -Nestor Leopard -Obra Clare -Chrys

Betel -Pax Jason -Beth Spes -Siwa

Lili -Flos Selene -Vajra

Ida -Argus

Trefoil -Nicos Ophis -Ara Nita -Phoenix

4949

Chart I

The Gobi Sea Circa 70,000 B.C.

1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th

Parthe -Auson Udor -Andro

Thor -Sagitta Phoenix -Nita Lignus -Diana Egeria -Demeter Algol -Telema

Melete -Beren

Fort -Kratos

Aulus -Bella Elsa -Crux

Polaris -Lobelia Proteus -Yajna

Cygnus -Callio Myna -Dolphin

Siwa -Spes

Viola --Bee Aletheia -Dora Deneb -Corona

Oak -Cento

Theo -Ulysses Orpheus -Aurora

Hermin -Alex Rama -Viraj

Kudos -Wences Beth -Jason

Pisces -Mathema Nestor -Jerome

Atlas -Gnostic

Echo -Xanthos Concord -Quies Altair -Juno

Zeno -Erato

Diana -Lignus Ronald -Hebe

Lutea -Pepin Andro -Udor Rosa -Dido

Alces -Sif Philae -Draco Kamu -Koli Dido -Rosa Cento -Oak

Fabius -Ixion Kratos -Fort

Telema -Algol

Scorpio Adrona

Pollux

Life II

The Aryans who had been slain in the Turanian foray had met their death cheerfully and even joyously, for the Manu had promised them that those who died for the infant race should speedily be reborn in it in better vehicles; and He soon began to make arrangements for the fulfilling of this promise. As soon as they were established on the island Vulcan and Capella were married, simultaneously with Pallas and Venus; and so in a year’ s time there were additions to the flock under their superintendence. Some twenty-two little people grew up together very happily and when they attained marriageable age they paired off naturally.

When the appointed time came, the Manu laid aside his worn out body, and was born afresh from Saturn and Surya, twelve years after the massacre. Mars and Viraj quickly followed Him as brother and sister, while Jupiter, Selene and Corona appeared as the children of Electra. As these in turn grew up, further intermarriages afforded opportunities for the rebirth of Alcyone, Mizar, Herakles, Sirius, Rama, and Apollo, and soon the descendents of Saturn and Surya grew into a considerable clan, in which those who had lost their lives in the massacre gradually reappeared in bodies more refined than those which they had resigned. Thirty-two years after the flight to the island, our hero was born as the eldest son of the Manu, and not long ago after that the young community was again transferred to the mainland. The Manu decided to restore and occupy the very house which Mars had built for himself in his previous incarnation, so that Alcyone was for the second time brought up in the same place and under the same conditions – almost with the same companions. His uncle Mars shared for some years his father’ s house, and so his cousins, Herakles and Mizar, were always with him; Apollo previously his uncle, was now his younger brother; while Sirius and Rama, who had before been a brother and an aunt, were now cousins living next door, and therefore always of the party.

Even at this early stage the Manu had in mind the plan of the splendid city that was to bear His name in future ages. Its actual construction was not commenced until after another great massacre some thousands of years later; but He had already in His mind the scheme of the radiating streets ten miles in length, from every point in which the White Island should be visible. He made no attempt as yet at the erection of the mighty buildings which were to line these thoroughfares; but he did decide upon their direction, and at the remote end of each He set up a huge trilithon, somewhat like those at Stonehenge, and beyond these in each case a small temple, scarcely more than a shrine. The streets eventually were to spread out from the shore like the sticks of a fan; but at this time no streets existed – only seven radiating paths, running over the downs and through the forests, and at the end of each such an erection as has been described. But the members of our clan were instructed to visit one of these shrines each day in turn.

At dawn they bathed and took their first meal; soon after that was over they all met together at the house of the Manu and started out in procession along one of the paths. As they marched they chanted poems composed for them by the Manu -chiefly invocations calling down upon themselves and their future home the blessings of all the spirits of earth and air, of water and of fire. Thus marching and singing they made their pilgrimage to the shrine of the day. When they reached it certain prayers were recited, and the clan rested for a while, before reforming their festal procession for the return march. By the time that they reached home it was already noon or later, so their midday meal was immediately prepared. After they had partaken of that, it was usual to rest for a time, and then to spend the remainder of the afternoon in such agricultural labor as was necessary to provide for the small wants of the community, or in whatever other work the chiefs decided to be desirable.

Thus it will be seen that fully half of each day was devoted to what we must regard as a religious exercise, though from another point of view it might be considered recreation, as all the people enjoyed it greatly, and anyone who was kept at home by illness, accident or some urgent duty felt himself much ill-used, Little children clamored to be allowed to go, long before they were strong enough for the twenty mile walk, and regarded it as a kind of “ coming of age” when they at last received the permission to join the procession. Alcyone, when very young, gained great popularity among his fellows by persuading his father to let him organize a band of children who might be allowed to march a certain distance with the procession, and then play about until they could join it again on its return – he undertaking, as captain of the band, to be responsible for the safety and good conduct of the party of juveniles. It was surprising, however, at how early an age the young people could do the whole distance without fatigue. As they took the paths in regular order, it will be evident that they achieved the seven pilgrimages in just a week, and visited each shrine once in the same period of time, the idea being the magnetization of those paths which were to be the streets of the remote future. This daily twenty-mile walk indubitably did much to keep the community in good condition, and they apparently found no difficulty in getting all necessary work done in the remainder of the day.

The Manu evidently attached great importance to the impression made by the invocations, the regular rhythmic chanting and the atmosphere of joyousness. The invocation undoubtedly had the effect of attracting certain orders of angels and nature spirits; and not only of attracting at the moment, but of making for them a sort of permanent line of attraction, or perhaps it may be better expressed as a line of least resistance, along which all angels and nature spirits at any time passing in the neighborhood would find it natural and easy to travel – such travel of course itself steadily increasing the magnetization. The regular rhythm and the chanting had their own part to play in this work, in establishing what might be called a habit of vibration in the ether and in the astral and mental matter – the effect being to make order and regularity easier, and disorder and irregularity more difficult and therefore less likely, whether in thought, emotion or action, along this established route .The spirit of joyousness upon which so much emphasis was laid naturally tended to reproduce itself, and consequently to establish that state of mind as a general background for the future inhabitants.

As Alcyone grew up, he was able more and more to share his father’ s work and finally to take a great deal of it off His shoulders. At the age of nineteen he married his cousin Osiris, and presently had the great joy of welcoming as one of his children Mercury, who had been his mother in the last life, and had indeed been associated with the whole of his existence as a human being, for He was present at his individualisation from the animal kingdom. Other friends began to gather round him, some as his own children and some in the families of Sirius and Mizar, of Herakles and Aurora, of Apollo and Rama; indeed, before he left the physical plane practically the entire group of servers was again in incarnation.

Even then the community was but a small one, and lived like a large family rather than a tribe --a simple open air life in which all alike worked at whatever had to be done, adapting to their use whatever nature provided, and ingeniously making for themselves such tools as they needed; though a number of such things had been buried before the massacre by the order of the Manu, so that they were fairly well equipped in this respect. Their position was practically that of pioneers in a new country, but they had the advantage of the houses and roads constructed before the massacre; also a great deal of the surrounding country had previously been cleared and tilled, and though everything had run wild in the intervening years, it was by no means so difficult to deal with as actual primeval forest would have been. They had the traditions of a highly civilized nation, and the Manu set high ideals for them, showing them how to produce the best effect with the limited means at their disposal. They were to a large extent isolated from the rest of the world (which indeed was the Manu’ s object and a necessary part of his scheme) but this had its advantages as well as its disadvantages, for it left them plenty of land, plenty of room to grow, and made them self-reliance incapable.

When the Manu attained the age of seventy, He chose to retire from the cares of office, and handed over the reins of government to Alcyone as His eldest son. Our hero was then just fifty, and he filled the position of leader of the little community with honor and dignity until his death at the advanced age of eighty five, when he was succeeded by his eldest son Siwa, himself already well advanced in years. This incarnation may be regarded as important to those who took part in it, for in it we notice a definite interference on the part of the Manu with the ordinary intervals between the lives of His followers -- for we see that he found it worth his while to bring them back almost immediately for the benefit of the race which he was engaged in founding.

The sub joined chart (ie chart II) is in reality a continuation of chart I so the numbering of the generations has been made continuous and the two charts to that extent overlap.

Chart II

The Gobi Sea Circa 70,000 B..C.

5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th

Ixion -Gimel Ara -Diana Magnus -Deneb

Orion -Helios Bruce -Fort Sappho -Bee Dolphin -Gem

Argus -Parthe Altair -Orca Fomal -Arthur

Thor -Ida Crux -Leopard Fons -Spes

Beatus -Psyche

Viola -Echo Melpo -Kratos Taurus -Rex Fort -Bruce Kamu -Vajra

Camel -Aquila Betel -Zama Udor -Rigel

Jerome -Clare Orca -Altair Gaspar -Tolosa Bootes -Flora Aries -Fabius Lyra -Atlas Echo -Viola

Ida -Thor Koli -Mercury

Lignus -Libra Myna -Zeno Sirius -Mizar

Kratos -Melpo Mona -Sirona Yajna -Rector

Irene -Stella Soma -Nu Tolosa -Gaspar Wences -Obra

Demeter -Muni Beren -Dido Nestor -Flos

Ulysses -Telema

Trefoil -Hebe Priam -Dome Auriga -Elsa Vega -Gnostic Jupiter -Viraj

Euphra -Brihat Norma -Xanthos Uranus -Lobelia Cassio -Neptune Auson -Math Polaris -Percy Kos -Leo

Walter -Erato

Tiphys -Eudox Pisces Ajax

Gluck -Holly Melete -Kudos Forma -Clio

Electra -Colos

Philae -Alex Sextans -Daleth Algol -Scotus

Erato -Walter Amal -Nita Rama -Apollo

Rex -Taurus

Selene -Manu

Corona -Proteus

Osiris -Alcyone

Pepin -Andro

Chart II

The Gobi Sea Circa 70,000 B..C.

5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th

Lili -Lomia Siwa -Theo

Conch -Aulus Fabius -Aries Calyx -Draco Andro -Pepin Elsa -Auriga Muni -Demeter Dome -Priam Ophis -Aldeb Mercury -Koli

Kim -Mira Neptune -Cassio Canopus -Sagitta Hestia -Capella Arthur -Fomal Juno -Egeria

Rector -Yajna

Alma -Aglaia Hebe -Trefoil

Flora -Bootes Stella -Irene Cyrene -Castor Hermin -Ronald Lutea -Dactyl Beth -Phoenix Alcyone -Osiris Orpheus -Dora

Bella -Jason Aqua -Alba Lee -Kos

Venus -Hector Bee -Sappho

Pindar -Pearl Cupella -Hestia Xanthos -Norma Percy -Polaris Ajax -Pisces

Judex -Cygnus

Gnostic -Vega

Rigel -Udor Brihat -Euphra Quies -Nicos

Callio -Spica Cygnus -Judex

Vesta -Alethia Libra -Lignus Sirona -Mona

Mira -Kim

Parhte -Argus Clare -Jerome Manu -Selene

Psyche -Beatus Aurora -Herakles Oak -Cento

Diana -Ara Rosa -Daphne

Arcor -Sylla Chrys -Olaf Iris -Zoe

Spes -Fons

Deneb -Magnus Theseus -Leto Olaf -Chrys Ronald -Hermin

Nicos -Quies Pax -Alces Daleth -Sextans Theo -Siwa

Chart II

The Gobi Sea Circa 70,000 B..C.

5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th

Egeria -Juno

Atlas -Lyra Leto -Theseus Leopard -Crux Apollo -Rama

Zama -Betel Nu -Soma Sagitta -Canopus Vulcan -Fides Athena -Albireo

Sif -Achilles

Hector -Venus

Alces -Pax Eros -Rhea Sylla -Arcor Scotus -Algol Zeno -Myna Alex -Philae

Nita -Amal Aulus -Conch Zoe -Iris

Saturn -Surya

Obra -Wences Dido -Beren Gem -Dolphin Achilles -Sif Phoenix -Beth Flos -Nestor Telema -Ulysses Clio -Forma Draco -Calyx

Jason -Bella Math -Auson Doctyl -Lutea Dora -Orpheus Aquila -Camel Gimel -Ixion Aglaia -Alma Vajra -Kamu

Aldeb -Ophis Aletheia -Vesta Herakles -Aurora

Rhea -Eros Castor -Cyrene Albireo -Athena Lomia -Lill Holly -Gluck Helios -Orion

Virgo -Ivy

Mara -Dhruva

Spica -Callio Cento -Oak

Fides -Vulcan Kudos -Melete

Ivy -Virgo Eudox -Tiphys

Alba -Aqua Daphne -Rosa Mizar -Sirius Viraj -Jupiter

Life III

We're making no attempt, at this stage, to give a consecutive history of our hero; we simply note his appearance when we happen to encounter in the course of investigations undertaken for quite other objects. We overleap some ten thousand years from the life last mentioned, and come down to what may perhaps be regarded as the final step in the foundation of the Root Race. More than once before, what looks like a tentative or abortive commencement had been made, and after a few centuries of growth the race was swept off the face of the earth by an inrush of savages, just as an artist might erase an outline in order to try again with the intention of drawing it more perfectly. Each time a few of the most promising children were saved from the massacre to be the seed of the next attempt; each time the Manu gathered together his Band of Servers, that they, who were used to his methods, might incarnate as his descendants, and so carry the Race along the lines which he desired. Having no personal karma to hinder him, he made for himself each time a body closely approximating to the pattern given for that Race by the Solar Deity, the only difficulty in His way being the limitations imposed upon that body by a parentage which, though the best available, was necessarily short of perfection. He had to take a wife from the existing race, and therefore His children naturally fell somewhat below his level in the special developments peculiar to the new type; but he usually incarnated several times in the line of His own descendants, and each time brought the race near to that type.

The last of the massacres took place about 60,000 BC, and a few carefully chosen children were carried over to the islands, as before. Among these were Jupiter, daughter of the Manu; and when she grew up she married not one of her own race, but Mars, a Toltec prince from Poseidonis, whom the Manu had caused to incarnate over there especially with a view to this marriage, because he thought it desirable to blend in this way some of the noblest Toltec blood with His own. The oldest son of Mars and Jupiter was Viraj, and he in due course married Saturn, who was a cousin of his, and the most beautiful among the grand daughters of the Manu. When the latter had blessed this union, he put aside his body and took birth as their son, having thus one fourth of Toltec blood to three-fourths of Aryan, each the very best of its kind.

About the same time was born Surya, a great grand daughter of His previous body; and when they were both of suitable age the Manu married her, and from this noble pair the new Race sprang in this its final genesis. We notice an unusual feature in connection with His family and those of His sons and daughters – which can hardly be accidental. He himself had twelve children, and each of these in turn had a family of precisely the same size. We observe the same phenomenon repeating itself in the third generation, several of His grandsons also having twelve children. Almost every identified member of our Band of Servers took part in this effort, and there are many whom as yet we do not know, though probably in the future they will come into the Theosophical Work. Evidently the Manu, Having arranged for Himself a favorable birth in a specially suitable body, and determined to use it as the definite beginning of His Race, called together all the forces at His disposal, and threw them all into direct descendents as rapidly as was consistent with obtaining the best possible conditions for them. In this way the new type was quickly and firmly established, so that the Aryan impress is unmistakable, and even a slight admixture of that blood shows itself for hundreds of years.

As soon as he had an efficient band of capable workmen, the construction of the mighty capital of His future empire was undertaken, Instead of letting His city grow by degrees as the population increased, He established it from the beginning as He meant it to be, building its houses long before there were occupants for them, but using such imperishable materials that they would remain unaffected by the lapse of time. Never before nor since has such a city been seen in the world’ s history; it took a thousand years to build it, and it lasted almost unchanged for fifty thousand, until the great catastrophe of the sinking of Poseidonis threw it into ruin. A full account of its splendor may be found in Man: whence, How and Whither, chapters xv and xvi.

But we are concerned not with the completed city, but with the building of it, when a hundred men took up the work that might well have taken a hundred thousand. These pioneers had first to erect for themselves humble temporary dwellings; they had to till the ground in order that they might have food to eat; but nevertheless they began to excavate extensive quarries, whence they cut huge blocks beautifully colored stone, making ready for the erection of those edifices which were later to be the wonder of the world. There was this unique characteristic about these men – these earlier selves of ours-that they were willing and glad to give their labor and their energy to working thus for a future generation – a generation which would consist partly of themselves indeed, as probably they knew; but of themselves in other bodies, with no memory then of all this antecedent toil, just as now they had no clear prevision of the glories that were to come. Yet they wrought joyously as a religious duty, because their great Ruler told them that this was meritorious work, part of the world’ s evolution, of a stupendous plan whose scope as yet they could not grasp. Slowly and very slowly the great design unfolded itself; the paths which our Servers had magnetized with such persistent effort in their daily processions ten thousand years before were now marked out as wide straight streets, like the radii of a spider’ s web; gradually the position of the cross streets was indicated, and the plan of the whole city began to show itself by the lines cleared in the great forests which had covered its site.

As decades rolled on, vast buildings began to rise, both on the sacred White Island and on the mainland. The Island was ever the center of the thought and worship of this growing nation; from every point of the seven radiating streets its glowing temples could be seen and its great central dome at once dominated and symbolized the whole life of the city. But we are dealing with the day of small things, when all this glory was as yet but a dream of the remote future; so we must turn from the life of the city to the private life of our hero.

Eldest son of the Manu and the Bodhisattva of the Root Race, with a stalwart band of noble and loving brothers and sisters growing up around him, perhaps even he has rarely had more favorable surroundings. Being the eldest – the first born of the new Race, the first exemplar of the fresh stream of life, which was pouring, into the world – he had the advantage of the most careful personal training at the hands of his father and mother. They lived almost entirely in the open air, and great attention was paid to physical exercise and development. From a very early age the Manu kept His son closely with Him night and day, evidently laying stress upon the constant influence of personal magnetism.

A little more than a year after his birth came a baby sister, Herakles and as the children grew up there was strongest affection between them – as indeed there has always been, all through the ages. They learnt together, played together, worked together, for under the wise tutelage of the Manu no difference was made in the education of the sexes. In those early days of strenuous labor there was little of what to us constitutes education, for though the children learnt to read and write, books were few and were regarded as sacred treasures. To those ancestors of ours the most accomplished man was literally the man who could turn his hand to anything, who was full of resource and ingenuity, quick of decision and action, capable in every sense of the word and in all departments of life. So as they reached adolescence the stalwart sons and daughters of the Manu were not only a magnificently handsome band of representatives of the new Race, but also a competent, sagacious and self-reliant leaders for the community which was springing up on the shores of the Gobi sea.

It will be understood that this community consisted of the descendents of the children saved at the time of the last massacre-by this time a fairly numerous body – but that only the children of he Manu in this last birth (when He married Surya) were considered as belonging to the divine race – the Children of the Sun, as they were called, each of the twelve being identified with one of the signs of the zodiac. Naturally these twelve had to marry carefully-selected outsiders – that is to say, the best of the descendents of the Manu in His previous birth; but when their children in turn reached marriageable age He expressed His wish that as far as possible they should choose their partners within the Solar family. It will be seen from the accompanying chart that this instruction was carried out by all the characters whom we have identified.

It is abundantly clear, however, that our identifications include less than half of the band of Servers, for though we are able to recognize all the twelve children and those whom they marry, we know only half of his grandchildren, for we complete but four out of the twelve families, and can name but four or five children in each of the others. When we come to the next generation our recognition is almost confined to the descendents of Alcyone, and even there we have scarcely half of the total number, only three families being complete. Descending still another generation, we pick up a few belated stragglers among the grandchildren of Alcyone’ s eldest son Sirius, but find practically none whom we know elsewhere. This is what might be expected, for by this time the new race is so firmly established that the especial need for pioneer work no longer exists, and egos not so definitely devoted to selfless service may carry on the new nation in the ordinary way. The number of children in a family is by this time irregular, and it is evident in many ways that the necessity for definite regulation is no longer so pressing. The band of Servers had done its work, and rests in the heaven-life until the time comes for its next incarnation.

When Alcyone gained man’ s estate, he married his cousin Mercury, also a grand child of Viraj and Saturn, a girl of high

attainments and radiant beauty, whom he loved with deep and reverent devotion. Within a year twin boys were born to him—Sirius and Mizar who grew up to be utterly devoted to him, to Mercury, and to one another as they have been through the centuries. A year later came a third boy, Electra, and assuredly there can never have been three finer or happier children. Other brothers and sisters followed in quick succession to be loved and cared for, but these three, so nearly of the same age, made a little sub-group of their own. They were curiously alike in face; no one but their parents ever knew one of the twins from the other, and Electra was distinguishable only when they were together by the fact that he was a trifle shorter. From the time that they were able to walk and to talk intelligently they were inseparable; night and day they were always to be found together, and almost always with their father, except when his work carried him to places where they could not conveniently go. They were somewhat profanely nicknamed ‘ the trinity’ , because they were popularly regarded as three identical manifestations of the same force. All kinds of quaint mistakes arose from their indistinguishability, and ‘ the trinity’ rather enjoyed these and took pleasure in arranging for them. Those outside the family regarded the absolute likeness as somewhat uncanny, and as they were the first three sons of Alcyone, a tradition arose that all his sons would be indistinguishable—a tradition which was only partially broken by the arrival of his next son Fides two years later, for he also bore a strong resemblance to his elder brothers. Wherever the three went, they were treated with great reverence , as the hope of the race and its future rulers; for though Sirius was the elder by a few minutes, and therefore technically the heir; no body ever knew

which was he, and so all were regarded alike.

They might have run some risk of being spoiled by general adulation, but for the gentle wisdom of their mother Mercury, who taught them always that their high position carried with it imperative duties and responsibilities, and that just because a smile or a kind word from them meant so much to every one whom they met, that smile or kind word should never be withheld, no matter how busy they were or how pressing their work might be. Alcyone was at this time constantly engaged with his father the Manu in superintending the erection of the huge crescent of palaces which were to form the sea front of the future city, and the three boys took the keenest interest in this work, and begged to have the management of certain parts of it given over to them. The Manu smilingly agreed, and the boys were in a high state of excitement – full at the same time of the gratification at the trust reposed in them, and the anxiety to justify that trust by sleepless vigilance. The workers were also highly delighted because it was the common belief that ‘ the trinity’ carried with them wherever they went good fortune and immunity from accident; it is certainly true that in the course of all that stupendous work, which involved the lifting and carrying of enormous weights, there were no casualties of any importance.

Thus Alcyone lived a life of constant work, whose principal events were the beginning and the completion of this edifice or of that. It was his earnest desire to be allowed to undertake the erection of the marvelous maze of temples which was to cover the sacred Island; but this honor never fell to his lot, for it had been the decree of the Kumaras that a certain portion of the city should be finished before this work was begun. On rare occasions the Manu was received in audience by the Lord Himself, and once at such a time instructions were given that Alcyone and his three elder sons should also attend, so that they had the wonderful privilege and blessing of standing in the immediate presence of the Ruler of the Planet—an experience never to be forgotten.

The Manu lived among his people for a full century, and when He thought it best to leave them for awhile, He called together His children and grandchildren and told them that He entrusted to their zeal the work which He had begun; that now for a time he should watch it from a higher plane, but could still be consulted when necessary by who ever was for the time the head of the ruling House; and that when He saw it to be necessary He would descend into incarnation once more, but always in the same royal line, which must ever be kept free from any admixture of alien blood, except by his own express direction.

So He left His body, and by His own desire it was carried out far away into the centre of the Gobi desert and consigned to its depths. His order had been that there should be no mourning over His departure, so Alcyone, His son (himself now already a man of eighty years) reigned in His stead, and the work went on as steadily as before. On several occasions He showed Himself to Alcyone in sleep, and gave him directions about the building of the city, but in the main He expressed Himself as thoroughly satisfied with what was done.

For ten years Alcyone ruled wisely his now greatly increased community; but at the end of that time his dearly loved wife Mercury passed away, and He decided to resign all active work into the hands of his sons. So he in his turn called together the family (for by this time his great grand children were growing up around him) and told them henceforth to look upon his eldest son Sirius as their King, beckoning him to come forward and be solemnly enthroned upon the royal seat. But Sirius bent his knees before him and begged leave to make him one final request before he resigned his power; and when leave was given, he explained how, for nigh upon seventy years, he and his brothers Mizar and Electra had been in closest harmony, working and consulting together daily, so that indeed they seemed of one heart and one mind; and the boon which he asked was that this dear comradeship might remain unbroken until death— that all the three alike might bear the title of King, that they might sit together upon three equal thrones , and that if they should ever differ in opinion , the decision of the two who agreed should prevail; that when one died the other two should continue to rule, and when the second died the suvivor should be the sole king. Alcyone sat for a while in thought, and communed with the spirits of his father and his wise wife Mercury; and at last he gave consent to this unique arrangement, but only on condition that on the death of the third of this triumvirate, the crown should pass to Koli ,the eldest son of Sirius, in order that there might be no interference with the direct line of descent upon which the Manu had laid so much stress. So three thrones were duly arranged, and Alcyone gave his blessing to ‘ the trinity’ —still almost as much alike as in the old days of their childhood, still as dear to one another as ever, though each was now the father of a fine family.

The strange triple control worked admirably well, but it gave rise to an amazing story which was carried by some travelers even to far Poseidonis—a story that amidst the deserts of Central Asia there existed a great city of incredible wealth and beauty – a city so vast that half its buildings were uninhabited – which was governed by a king of such marvelous magical power that he was able to multiply himself, and could be seen in three exactly similar forms sitting upon three thrones simultaneously when he administered justice!

After his abdication Alcyone lived but two years, and peacefully resigned his body, at the ripe age of ninety two, desiring that it might be consigned to the deep as his father’ s had been—a ceremony which was duly performed in the presence of the three Rulers and of such others of his children as survived.

The community grew this time with but little interference from without. Its members were almost as completely isolated from the outer world as they had been ten thousand years earlier.

Their only neighbors were certain tribes, half Atlantean and half Lemurian, who inhibited the valleys among the mountains some twenty miles inland --a peaceable people, not wholly uncivilized, perhaps somewhat in the position of the Maories when first discovered by Europeans. But these people kept to themselves, distrusting the open ground near the sea, from which their ancestors had been driven centuries before by Tarter raids. A few of the more daring spirits journeyed down to the Aryan settlement, and engaged themselves as servants and laborers and "the trinity" with a party of their friends, on several occasions made expeditions into the hills to see the villages of the mountaineers; but there was nothing that could be called intercourse between races, their language and custom being entirely different.

71

Chart III

Manoa 60,000 B.C.

1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th

8 th

Daleth -Alma Koli -Cassio

Daphne -Cyr Nu -Orea Mira -Kim Fomal -Arthur Orea -Nu Rigel -Udar

Gaspar -Borcas Egeria -Percy

Demeter -Ronald

Theseus -Lili

Iris -Eudox Alba -Myna

Myna -Alba Rama -Euphra

Sirona -Dactyl Phocea -Aglaia

Sirius -Apollo

Soma -Hygeia Viola -Sylla

Stella -Hebe Bootes -Zama

Eudox -Iris Spos -Cento

Zama -Bootes

Poma -Laxo

Pisces -Ixion Kama -Sextans Ida -Concord

Irene -Sigma Kos -Olaf

Boreas -Gaspar

Rao -Xulon

Alma -Daleth

Callio -Altair Acquila -Beth Cygnus -Echo

Quies -Algol Hermin -Ara Mizar -Osiris

Phila -Chrys

Gluck -Priam

Dido -Dolphin Trefoil -Aqua Andro -Rector

Draco -Kudos

Judex -Fort

Bee -Lignus Euphra -Rama Pindar -Rhea Cassio -Koli Gnostic -Magnus Algol -Quies Elektra -Neptune

Echo -Cygnus Beth -Aquila Aurora -Wences Colos -Sif Alcyone -Mercury

Fons -Phoenix Argus -Auriga

Ivy -Atlas

Chart III

Manoa 60,000 B.C.

1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th

8 th

Rector -Andro Gimel -Jerome

Melpro Fides -Telema

Yajna -Kratos

Roxana Cento -Spes

Diana -Leopard Beatus -Aulus Math -Calyx Alex -Zeno Sextans -Kam Markab Dhruva -Canopus

Regu Clio -Tripos

Abel

Circe Fort -Judex Muni -Norma Kratos -Yajna

Zephyr Dactyl

Percy -Egeria

Sigma

Iota

Hector Leto

Udor -Rigel Jerome -Gimel Wences -Aurora

Camel

Hebe

Hygeia

Kim -Mira

Concord

Albireo -Alces

Dolphin -Dido Zeno -Alex Rhea -Pindar Flora

Arthur -Fomal

Mona

Xulon

Ixion

Leo -Dara Lignus -Bee

Cyr Ronald -Demeter Laxa Agalaia

Leopard -Diana Telema -Fides

Ara -Hermin Thor -Bella

Flos -Pepin Aqua -Trefoil Cetus Capri -Virgo

Lacey Alastor -Adrona

Cancer

Ursa

Hesper Gem -Oak

Pepin -Flos Herakles -Vajra

Vale Apis -Pollux

Thetis

Gamma Lili -Theseus Arcor -Tiphya Dora -Leo

Chart III

Manoa 60,000 B.C.

1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th

8 th

Lutea -Orpheus

Achilles -Aldeb Polaris -Crux Jason -Ophis Scotus -Walter

Nestor -Erato

Manu Jupiter -Mars

Viraj -Saturn

Manu -Surya

Phoenix -Fons Atlas -Ivy

Chrys -Philae Bruse Dome Corona -Ulysses

Bella -Thor Betel -Libra Obra -Pax

Auriga -Argus Calyx -Math

Olaf -Kos Taurus -Holly

Priam -Gluck Venus -Elsa

Tiphya -Arcor

Pyax -Tolosa

Vesta -Lobelia

Kappa -Roxana Neptune -Elektra Spica -Parthe Osiris -Mizar Aldeb -Achilles Leto -Hector Selene -Fallas

Eros -Lomia Orion -Sappho Libra -Betel Alcea -Albireo Pax -Obra Beren -Fabius

Lobelia -Vesta

Magnus -Gnostic

Norma -Muni

Sif -Colos

Brihat -Deneb

Sylla -Viola

Walter -Scotus Ajax -Rosa Sagitta -Nita

Aletheia -Auson Apollo -Sirius Xanthos -Melete Rosa -Ajax Psyche -Juno

Vega -Helios

Pearl -Amal

Clare -Rex Canopus -Dhruva Forma -Zoe Parthe -Spica

Holly -Taurus Lomia -Eros

Altar -Callio Aulus -Beatus

Dome -Bruce Kudos -Draco

Uranus -Proteus Oak -Gem Amal -Pearl Rex -Clare

Chart III

Manoa 60,000 B.C.

1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th

8 th

Sappho -Orion Hecta -Lyra

Nicos -Aroes Nitas -Sagitta Orpheus -Lutea

Erato -Nestor Melete Xanthos Athena -Castor

Tolosa -Pyx Auson -Alethia Aries -Nicos

Juno -Psyche Capella -Siwa

Ophis -Jason Orux -Polaria

Fabius -Beren Zoe -Forma Vulcan -Theo

Adrona -Alastor Virgo -Capri

Pollux -Apis Tripos -Glio

Life IV

The next glimpse that we get of the fortunes of our hero is after a lapse of nearly eighteen thousand years. The great city of Manoa, the building of which we saw commenced in our last chapter, is now of hoary antiquity, the centre of a vast and splendid civilisation, perhaps already past its prime. Our Band of Servers comes only incidentally into settled and great civilisations, the work of its members is rather to act as pioneers, to break ground for the growth of some new type, to do the forest-clearing and the road-laying that make advancement possible for others later.

Just at this period the Manu had need of them, because he felt that the time had come to start the second subdivision of the great Aryan race -- that subdivision the [remnants] of which we now call Arabian. It was the previous founding over again on a smaller scale, though without the necessity of the intervening massacres, because the change required this time was not the radical, fundamental difference between one root race and another, but only the emphasizing of special characteristics which marks off the new sub race from its predecessors. But the general principle was the same, and the Manu began by segregating a few of his faithful followers from the rest, and sending them to reclaim one of the rugged valleys which ran up into the mountains behind the city. During the millennium of its greatest renown the city had grown enormously in size, but the Manu had taken care that it should spread chiefly along the shores of the Gobi Sea, and inland only up to the foothills twenty miles away, so that the valleys were still virgin soil or primitive forest. Now one of these was to be used for the purpose to which from the beginning it had been destined, so the Manu proceeded to choose his instruments.

He was not himself in incarnation at the time, but he acted through His representative Jupiter, who was the chief priest of the period. On learning his wishes, Jupiter at once offered his own children for the work, if they were themselves willing. He had a son Corona and two daughters, Fomal and Beth. Corona promptly accepted the opportunity offered to him, broke up his splendid establishment in the city, and moved off, with his wife Theo, his married sons Herakles and Pindar, and their respective families, to the selected valley, there to adopt a distinctly primitive and patriarchal life --a great contrast to that which he had until then been living. His sister Fomal had married Demeter, and these two were instantly fired with the same enthusiasm, and contrived to infect their six children with it. The other sister Beth, was equally eager, but not quite so fortunate in influencing her husband Calyx.

Calyx has rather a curious history; he has come down through the ages with a partner Amal, to whom he is especially closely linked, so that they find one another and marry, life after life, with quite extraordinary consistency. In the particular birth which we are considering they happened to be born as brother and sister, and consequently the custom of the country did not permit them to resume their usual relations. Calyx married Beth, the younger daughter of Jupiter, and Amal was urged by her mother to wed Laxa, a rich merchant, whom she did not really love. Both families dragged on more or less unhappily, Laxa vigorously objecting to the frequent visits of his brother-in-law, and to certain compromising situations which came under his notice.

When Beth, keenly desirous to sacrifice herself and her family in response to the call of the Manu, pertinaciously worried her already semi-detached husband to (metaphorically) take up his cross and go forth into wildness which had no attractions for him, it acted upon him like the final shock which determines the precipitation of matter from a saturated solution, or suddenly turns to ice the surface of a pool of water which, while absolutely still, has sunk to a temperature just below the freezing point without actually freezing. He deserted his wife (leaving behind him a letter to explain that he could never be happy with her, and therefore thought it kindest to set her free to follow her own devices) and fled with his sister Amal to a distant city. Laxa was furious -- not to the loss of his wife, but at the scandal, which he feared might affect his business; he proclaimed that he had never trusted her, had long known her to be unfaithful, and would never under any consideration receive her back into his household. Beth and her children took refuge with her sister Fomal, who received them with open arms, and thus it happened that Jupiter's children were all able to take the opportunity which he had so earnestly desired for him. As to the runaway lovers, they reappeared some years later, hoping that the escape would be overlooked; but society in Manoa declined to receive them, so they actually presented themselves among the new community in the valley. Finding themselves no more welcome their, they drifted back to the distant city whither they had fled at first, and so pass out of our story.

The new community, then, began its existence under the direction of Corona, and consisted of his descendants and those of his two sisters. The eldest son of Corona was Herakles, already married to Sirius, and having a large family, all of whom we recognise as old friends. Among the sons are our hero Alcyone and his ever loved companion Mizar; Selene also, and Uranus and Achilles; while among the sisters we note Neptune and Orion. Thus we see that, though in quite different relations, Alcyone, Mizar and Sirius are once more together; and though at first sight the third member of the ‘ trinity’ of eighteen thousand years ago seems absent, he is presently discovered in the shape of a cousin.

Alcyone's boyhood had been spent amid the manifold pleasures of the city, yet he keenly enjoyed the greater freedom of the pioneer life. The emigrants were by no means without comforts, for there was plenty of money available, so that laborers were hired to do the actual digging and building, and the work of our group was mainly that of planning and superintending. The young people took this up with great vigour and perseverance; temporary training places were first constructed, and then ground was cleared and brought under cultivation; wells were bored and water courses were dug out, while permanent houses were gradually erected in suitable spots, and lovely gardens were made around them.

Almost all of our characters appeared in the valley community, as the families rapidly increased. A few of the earlier generation stayed in the city, Xanthos; Kos, Pepin and Obra being too old to move, though in each case some of their children went. Xenthos and Kos had three sons and there was unhappily a good deal of discussion among them with regard to this question of emigration. The parents were favorable to it, and their son Demurer took it up with enthusiasm, as has already been said; but their eldest born, Castor (who was a great devotee of fashion and convention, and always quite sure he was right on every subject under the sun) saw no use in such a proceeding, so he and his wife Rhea set their faces against it. They had three children, but all of them took an opposite line in the matter, because they had married into families, which were emigrating, and they preferred to follow their respective spouses. Castor and Rhea therefore felt themselves injured and deserted, as did the third brother Laxa, from whom Amal had fled; but Vale the son of Laxa still remained to them, and by his immovability became sole heir to the wealth of the two families.

The change to country life was a distinct advantage to Alcyone, who grew tall and broad and strong in consequence of the constant exercise in the open air. Presently he married his cousin Parseus, and in due course had six children, among whom we find Rama and Vulcan, while Venus and Osiris was respectively his sonin-law and daughter-in-law. Several of those who are now Masters of the Wisdom took birth in that generation, for, in addition to those already mentioned, among the nephews and nieces of our hero are Surya, Mars and Mercury. As son of Mars and Mercury the Manu himself reappeared and took to wife Koli, who was again Alcyone’ s grandchild, as in the previous life, but this time a girl instead of a boy. Saturn and Viraj were born as cousins of the Manu, and in the same generation Dhruva came in once more, so the new sub-race began under high auspices.

The valley was picturesque – very wild and rugged, and covered with primeval forest. Necessarily, a great deal of this had to be cleared away, but Corona desired to leave as much of it as was compatible with his plan. The valley was some ten miles in length,

sloping steadily upward into the mountains. At the higher end of it was a precipice, down which fell a magnificent cascade, forming a deep pool at its foot, and then supplying a rapid river, which rushed down the centre of the Valley. Corona’ s general idea was to terrace this valley (which was about two miles wide) both longitudinally and laterally, and for this purpose he mapped it out in twenty sections. Upon six of these he began work as soon as the necessary houses had been erected, and he gave them respectively into the charge of his brother in law Demeter, his two sons Herakles and Pindar, and his nephews Vega, Mira and Aurora. The seven sons of Herakles all acted under their father, taking charge (as they grew old enough) of various departments; and Alcyone, young though he was soon signalised himself as an able and trustworthy lieutenant. He was especially anxious to save all the finest trees, and gave much time and thought to various ingenious plans to that end. He always said that it actually hurt him to give the order for the destruction of a tree – that it felt to him like killing a friend. The matter was so much in his mind that he went round to all the other superintendents and persuaded them also to adopt the schemes which he had tried in his father’ s section; and as none of them could refuse the eager, bright eyed boy, the part of the valley which was cleared took on even from the first the look of a gentleman’ s park. He soon became an authority upon the laying out of roads and estates, and the heads of all the sections utilised his talents in this direction. For the moment only a few residences were dotted about in the most desirable situations; but Corona’ s instructions were to plan the streets for a city of the future, to extend along both banks of the river at the mouth of the valley; and it was owing largely to the

care and foresight of the young Alcyone, and to his personal efforts on behalf of what he felt to be his mission, that this was laid out as a garden city, with streets wide enough to contain a double avenue of trees and two streams of water.

His untiring exertions brought him prominently to the notice of his imperious grandfather Corona, who promptly married him to his cousin Parseus, as has already been mentioned. Parseus was a handsome and stately girl of rare beauty and became a devoted wife and a mother. Both Alcyone and Mizar had, from their earliest days, specially loved another cousin and playmate, Electra; but the autocratic grandfather regarded his descendents as pawns in the game, and assigned them to one another in marriage in accordance with some obscure theory of his own of the admixture of different qualities, which took little account of mere personal predilections. His decisions were accepted by the people concerned as those of fate and thus when Electra was given to Pearl and Deneb to Mizar there was no outward protest, though some of the performers carried sore hearts through the consequent festivities. All the young people were absolutely loyal to their obligations, and as their children grew up around them their lives were happy enough; indeed, they were far too busy to indulge in unprofitable repinings.

Yet in the end by a strange turn of fortune’ s wheel, the dreams of childhood were realised. Mizar’ s brilliant but capricious wife Deneb died three years after their marriage in giving birth to a little daughter, Cygnus; and less than two years after that Electra’ s husband, Pearl whom she had grown to love dearly, fell from a bridge which he was constructing across the river, and was swept away by the swift current and drowned. It was but natural that Mizar the closest friend of her childhood should visit her and try to console her for her sad loss; and since the widower was but twenty five years old, and the widow twenty three, it was perhaps still more natural that the love which had never died in their hearts should now at length assert its sway and that the lady should consent to make her early lover happy, stipulating only that they should delay until after the birth of the posthumous child of Pearl. Mizar was haunted by the fear that this might cost Electra her life as had happened with her first wife; but this prognostication was happily unfulfilled, for the little stranger arrived safely on the scenes, and proved to be our old friend Palas, who in due course grew up and married Vajra. As soon as Electra was strong again the faithful lovers were united, Corona offering no objection; and none who saw the whole hearted love and trust which shone in the wonderful starry eyes of that most noble bride could doubt that their happiness was assured.

Electra laughingly remarked that few couples had the good fortune to begin their married life already provided with eight children! Fortunately she loved children dearly, and her motherly instincts were strongly developed, for as the years rolled they more than doubled that original family. They were a joyous and closely united household, remarkably free from misfortune and disharmony. Once a serious cloud appeared on their horizon, but prompt and vigorous action dissipated it without lasting consequences. It has been mentioned that Vajra married Pallas , and in the course of the interchange of visits connected with the business of courting, the families of Mizar and Polaris saw a great deal of one another. A showy, but rather shallow younger brother of Vajra’ s, named Pollux, contrived to captivate the heart of Melpomene, and their relations became unduly intimate. The discovery of this was a great shock to Mizar and Electra, for Melpomene was as yet only a child in their eyes, and they had had not the slightest suspicion that she could be in any danger. The parents of Pollux were also much pained about what had happened; a hurried council of the relations on both sides was held, and it was decided that, young as the delinquents were, it was best that they should marry at once, and all present bound themselves never to reveal what they knew. The marriage turned out fairly well, for the young people really loved each other; Pollux though idle and selfish, was not exacting and Melpomene was something of a poetess and an artist, so that she had plenty to occupy her time.

Meanwhile Alcyone and his stately wife Perseus had lived very happily and usefully, more and more absorbed, as the years passed, in the biblical task of turning a wilderness into a fruitful field, and then joining the fruitful fields together into noble estates, worthy homes for the magnates of the great city that was to be. Their four stalwart boys did them yeoman service in all this, and their two daughters were both fortunate enough to marry men of the same type, who entered heart and soul into the great plan which was being so rapidly carried out; for one of these husbands was Aquila, the son of Ekectra by her first marriage, and the other was no less a personage than Venus, younger brother of Mars himself, who was to be the father of the Manu. Contemporaneously with the Manu practically all the rest of the characters came into incarnation; and after that the rough pioneer work was over, the new community was fairly on its feet, and so the band of Servers was no longer needed.

Corona in due course was gathered to his fathers, and Herakles resumed the reins of government in his stead, moving well and wisely, and in all ways carrying out the scheme as originally laid down. Both Herakles and Sirius lived to old age, and their sons Aldebran and Achilles passed away before them, so it was into Alcyone's hands that Herakles confided the control of affairs when his turn came, both of them well knowing that it was to be handed over to Alcyone's grand nephew, the Manu, as soon as he chose to take charge of it. Alcyone was already sixty-two years of age when he became chieftain of the clan, and was well known and beloved by every member of it; and every day of his gentle rule added to the affection with which his people regarded him. Five years later the Manu came forward to lead His new sub race, and Alcyone was given the privilege of formally receiving him, placing the crown upon his head, and being the first to bow in homage before him. Seventeen years more Alcyone lived, honored and loved by all; the wife Perseus had predeceased him, and Mizar and Electra, perhaps nearest of all to him, passed away a few months before him; so he felt, as he expressed it, that all the companions of his youth were gone, and that his attraction was to the other world rather than to this. So he passed peacefully to that other world, with the blessing of the Manu himself as his viaticum, ready to return to earthly life whenever his leader had the need of his services.

Students should note that though this band of Servers is retained by the Manu for work of a certain type, its members are by no means always engaged in that work, for the good reason that it needs doing only at intervals.

We must not suppose that their individual evolution has been neglected, or that their precise personal karma has in any way failed to produce its due effect; but because of their membership in this remarkable clan these needs have been achieved by methods differing slightly from those which seem to be more usually employed. The greater or lesser amount of the spiritual force generated in a given life, for example, finds its result not in the comparative length of the heaven life, but in its comparative intensity. There are considerable intervals during which the group is not required for work of an occult nature but even then it still keeps together; its members do not go off separately, each pursuing his own evolution, but they are put, so far as we can see, wherever the greatest good of the greatest number can best be consulted. When they are not wanted for outside work their own evolution is taken into account; but even then it is not that of the individual, but that of the mass. In fact, to a certain extent, the clan may be considered as a little sub world by itself. Most of the karma of its members is necessarily generated with their fellows, and therefore tends to work itself out within the group, and to make the ties stronger between the comrades, so that they may get to known one another thoroughly, and learn to work together.

Chart IV

The Gobi Sea

1st 2nd 3rd 4th

Fomal -Demeter

Uranus -Andro

Circa 42000 B.C.

5th 6th 7th

Typhis -Libra

Soma -Rao Echo -Melete

Stella -Zama Capella -Norma

Bootes -Orca Alces -Ronald Juno -Atlas

Thetis -Alma Ronald -Alces

Sirona -Xulon Ulysses -Colos

Zephyr -Eudox Trefoil -Nicos

Ida -Olaf Vesta -Leto

Clare -Dome Psyche -Elsa Cassio -Aulus

Gasper -Daleth Bella -Callio Betel -Lignus Altair -Nita

Orpheus -Saturn Rigel -Euphra

Nicos -Trefoil Parthe -Gnostic Algol -Venus Arthur -Aquila Dido -Auson Vulcan -Viola Lignus -Betel

Koli -Manu

Rao -Soma Xulon -Sirona Ratna -Osiris

Spec -Gimel

Boreas -Irene Zama -Stella Erato -Math

Eudox -Zephyr

Auson -Dido Wences -Lyra

Fabius -Fons

Ophis -Muni Cygnus -Hermin

Yajna -Tolosa

Forma -Cyr Kratos -Myna Alba -Agalia Iris -Fort Melpo -Pollux

Daphne -Cetus Cento -Camel Gluck -Pyx

Mars -Mercury Manu -Koli

Chart IV

The Gobi Sea Circa 42000 B.C.

1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th

Venus -Algol Walter -Beren Chrys -Priam Apollo -Surya

Selene -Albireo Mercury -Mars Osiris -Rama

Hestia -Spica Gnostic -Parthe Colos -Ulysses

Bruce -Hebe Siwa -Lobelia

Elsa -Psyche

Pisces -Lutea Cetus -Daphne

Sylla -Clio Camel -Cento

Capri -Polaris

Scotus -Oak Thor -Diana

Philae -Concord Proteus -Nestor Gem -Apis

Spica -Hestia Dhruva -Viraj Fides -Alex

Math -Erato Zeno -Taurus Pindar -Bee

Arcor -Canopus Jason -Virgo Vajra Pallas

Auriga -Kudos Rosa -Sextans Adrona -Pomo Polaris -Capri Pollux -Melpo

Abel Tripos Diana -Thor

Beth -Calyx

Bee -Pindar Lobelia -Siwa

Aletheia -Argus

Castor -Rhea

Sappho -Dora

Pae -Aldeb Libra -Tiphys Jerome -Leopard Kim -Sif Rector -Zoe Demeter -Fomal Ara -Flos

Lomia -Judex Helios -Vega

Laxa -Amal

Vale

Andro -Uranus Sagitta -Ivy Nestor -Proteus Brihat -Jupiter Theo -Corona

Daleth -Gasper Theseus -Rex Pepin -Obra

Eros -Orion

Clio -Sylla Calyx -Beth

Lili -Draco

Muni -Ophis

Ixion -Holly Rhea -Castor

Heatus -Mira

Oak -Scotus Amal -Laxa

Tolosa -Yajna Kos -Xanthos Argus -Aletheia Phoenix -Magnus Holly -Ixion Flos -Ara

Judex -Lomia

Chart IV

The Gobi Sea Circa 42000 B.C.

1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th

Fons -Fabius Taurus -Zeno *

Sirius -Herakles Leo -Achilles Euphra -Rigel Norma -Capella Pearl -Electra

Aquilla -Arthur

Gimel -Specs Leto -Vesta

Beren -Walter Pallas -Vajra

Quies -Kamu Lyra -Wences Vega -Helios Canopus -Arcor

Nita -Altair Atlas -Juno

Firgo -Jason Aqua -Telema Aulus -Cassio

Dame -Claire Dactyl -Dolphin Viola -Vulcan

Ajax -Egeria

Rex -Theseus Kudos -Auriga Leopard -Jerome Alec -Fides Melete -Echo Hermin -Cygnus Dolphin -Dactyl Egeria -Ajax

Athena -Neptune Surya -Apollo

Saturn -Orpheus Mira -Beatus

Viraj -Dhruva Percy -Alcyone Callio -Bella Sextans -Rosa Telema -Aqua

Aries -Udor Concord -Philae Luten -Pisces Ivy -Sagitta

Deneb -Mizar

Sif -Kim

Cyr -Forma Albireo -Selene

Fort -Iris Kamu -Quies

Zoe -Rector Olaf -Ida Aurora -Hector

Udor -Aries Magnus -Phoenix Priam -Chrys Myna -Kratos

Hebe -Bruce

Electra -Pearl -Mizar (Second Marriage)

Dorado -Sappho

Crux

Phocea

Life V

Overleaping a life or two, probably spent in the same sub-race, and in the furtherance of Manus schemes connected with it, we find Alcyone born-again in the royal family of Manoa. He was the fourth son of Jupiter, who was then ruler of the Empire, and his elder brothers were the Manu, Mars and Aurora. His boyhood was spent once more amid the glories of the great city of Manoa, though he paid many visits to that valley among the mountains which in his previous birth he had done so much to beautify. He had a younger sister, Fides, who adored him, and he in turn was naturally deeply devoted to the Manu and to Mars. He was also a great favourite with his uncle Vajra, whose son Mizar was his bosom friend. The close companionship between these two families had its natural result, for when he came of age Alcyone married Mizar’ s sister Electra, while on the same day Mizar himself espoused Fides. The married life of both couples was delightfully happy and harmonious, though presently as we should soon see, the exigencies of the Manu’ s plans brought about a temporary separation of husbands and wives, which was a great trial to all concerned.

It was now some two thousand years since the reclamation of the valley, and Corona’ s splendid scheme had been carried out to the full. The whole valley from end to end rose in a succession of terraces, with the great cascade at its end and a series of minor cascades at intervals of two or three miles. The sites also rose in giant steps from the river to the level of the encompassing hills, and at every point of vantage palatial residences stood surrounded by beautiful gardens and towering trees; for Alcyone's plan had been perpetuated and the whole valley had the appearance of one vast park, the trees being far more prominent then the houses. Even the magnificent city which occupied the mouth of the valley, when looked upon from the hills above, presented the appearance rather of a Grove of trees with buildings scattered about it in it here and there, than of the great town that it really was.

The community inhabiting this lovely valley had waxed great and prosperous, and was now in effect a nation in itself, capable of sending fourth a considerable and well-equipped army. It remained part of the great Empire of Manoa, but had always a subsidiary ruler of its own, who was usually the eldest son of the King, just as in England the eldest son of the sovereign takes the title of Prince of Wales --except that in Manoa it was no more title , but a real Regency.

At the time when our story opens the Manu, as the eldest son of Jupiter, was once more ruling over the valley, and His law placed stringent restrictions upon the inter-marriages of its inhabitants with those of the great cities on the sea shore. Those who have read Man: Whence, How and Whither will remember that when He originally came forth from Atlantis with the small body of followers whom he had selected as the nucleus of his fifth Root Race he had first established himself in the highlands of Arabia. After remaining there for some considerable time he made a new selection from among his people and removed them to the shores of the Gobi Sea, leaving his Arabs to increase and multiply in their highland home. Now that his object was to spread the special characteristics of his second sub-race without interfering with the population of the Empire of Manoa he naturally bethought himself of these Arabs as those who in the outer world were on the whole nearest to the type which he wished to produce. His plan therefore was to march a carefully selected army of his new sub-race into Arabia, to establish himself there with as little strife as possible, and gradually to absorb into his race the descendants of his ancient followers.

He therefore set to work to make arrangements on an elaborate scale for the sending forth and provisioning of a considerable army, selecting his men with great care. Only those who were young and strong were allowed to join his ranks. The majority were unmarried men, and among those who were married he usually selected men who as yet had only a few children. The total number of fighting men so set apart was about hundred and fifty thousand; and the wives, children and non-combatant camp followers made perhaps hundred thousand more. Naturally most of the band of servers were included in this army, as it was indeed to engage in precisely the sort of Pioneer work to which they were by this time well the custom.

His first step was to apportion the direction of the work among his own immediate relations. The whole management of the migrating army was put in the hands of his next brother, Mars, until such time as he himself should join it. The third brother, Aurora, was to take his place as heir to the throne of Manoa and as regent of the valley; and it was the intention of the Manu to give over the charge of the Valley to him as soon as the army was ready to start, but to remain himself for a time to counsel and direct him, while his army was making its slow progress through the friendly country of Persia and Mesopotamia, and then himself, by travelling rapidly, to overtake it and assumed the leadership before it actually arrived in Arabia. He desired also to send an embassy in advance to inform the Arab tribes of his coming, and for this delicate mission he selected a still younger brother, the fourth son of Jupiter, our hero Alcyone. Alcyone's cousin and brother-in-law, Mizar, was to accompany him, and two elder brothers of Mizar, Corona and Theodorous, were to be lieutenants of Mars, and in charge of the wings of the army.

The mission confided to Alcyone and Mizar was regarded by them as a great honour and mark of confidence; but it had its dolorous aspect , for it separated them from wives whom they dearly loved. Alcyone had already three little sons (one a newly born babe) and Mizar too; and though it was understood that the wives and children of these two ambassadors should follow them with the army, and be during the journey under the special care of Herakles herself, the wife of the general, it was impossible not to feel the wrench of parting, and a certain amount of anxiety about the welfare of those dear ones. The ladies, however, were so proud of the trust reposed in their husbands that they passed bravely through the ceremony of leave taking, and even joined in signing a sort of valedictory paean as they stood at the top of a flight of steps and watched the little cavalcade ride away.

The party was not a large one, for though our friends took a guard of honour, as befitted their rank, they were especially anxious not to make any parade of military force, for they wished to convince the Arabs of the peacefulness of their mission. The menial work of the valley, it should be said, was done chiefly by men of Mongolian race, belonging to a tribe which lived in an almost inaccessible part of the mountains up above the great cascade. The Manu had long ago made it part of his work to send the missionaries to this tribe, and give to it such civilisation as its members were able to assimilate; the result being that most of them abandoned their old precarious hunting life and came to act as servants, gardeners, labourers and, common soldiers for the community of the valley -always, however, returning home to their mountains when they retired from active life.

Of men of this hill tribe, then, was composed of the guard of honour which escorted the young travelers --big, strong men, and especially intelligent, but entirely to be relied upon for courage and fidelity. Their captain was Iota, a character who appears but rarely in our story, and is usually attached rather to Orion than to Alcyone. Another man of the same hill tribe who accompanied them was Boreas, who had had the good fortune to find an engagement in the palace household when a young lad, and, having one day been appointed to watch over the play-of Alcyone (then a tiny child) felt so strong and compelling an attraction towards him that there after he never left him, but took unceasing attendance upon him as his share of the household work -- an arrangement to which nobody objected, as it relieved the other servants of responsibility. As Alcyone grew up, Boreas became his personal attendant and body-servant, and now on this expedition to far away Arabia he was still capably filling the same position both to him and Mizar, to whom his devotion was only less than to his own master.

The party wended their way first to Manoa, to pay their homage Jupiter, and then turned their faces West word, and rolled steadily for many years towards the setting sun. For a long time their route lay through their own land, where they were well known and received with high honour; but at last they crossed the frontier into Persia, to whose king they bore a message from the Manu, asking leave to March his hosts through that country, and suggesting a route which He might take, so as to cause the least possible disturbance to the daily business. They were empowered also to make arrangements for the victualling of the army at various points of its march; and all this business they most successfully carried out, sending back full news to the Manu by couriers whom they had brought with them for the purpose. The King of Persia received them graciously, and expressed his readiness to do anything in his power to forward the scheme of the Manu. He wanted them to stay some months in his capital, and promised them all kinds of entertainments; but Alcyone, while thanking him for his kindness, told him that his business required haste, and that he felt it his duty to push on as rapidly as he could. So the King sent and additional and much larger guard of honor to accompany them to his south-eastern frontier, and to convoy them through a tract of desert which was said to be infested by robbers.

When the Persian soldiers left them, they were already near the somewhat ill-defined frontiers of Arabia, and not long after that they encountered a band of wild looking horsemen belonging to one of the Northern most of the Arab tribes. They parleyed with these people, and offered them reward if they would lead them to the presence of their Chieftain Ursa , which they forth with did; and our ambassadors then tendered to him various presents on behalf of the Manu, and tried to explain to him the desires and intentions of that great Leader. Ursa was irresponsive; he did not see what he would gain by the suggested incursions of foreigners; he remarked that he and his people were very well satisfied with affairs as they were, and he hinted that the scheme seemed to him rather like an attempt at annexation under another name. He was eventually so far won over as to promise that he would not oppose the passage of the Manu through a certain part of his territory; but further then that he could not be induced to commit himself until he saw how matters shaped themselves.

That two cousins passed on in due course to various other chiefs, and on the whole they were everywhere hospitably received and treated as passing visitors of distinction; but none of those to whom they spoke were ready unreservedly to accept the idea of the introduction of the foreign element and the welding together of the tribes into an Empire or a Confederation. None of the ruling chiefs, that is; but some of the nobles came to them privately, and freely admitted that there was room for great improvement, and that they personally would Welcome any scheme which would bring the country into a more settled condition, and make them into a great nation, such as Persia and Egypt.

Alcyone sent periodical reports to the Manu, by caravans travelling through the desert to Persia, and then by couriers from the Persian capital to Manoa: so the Manu fully realised that his reception by the half civilised remnants of his original segregation might not be all that could be desired. But he nevertheless pushed on his preparations as rapidly as possible, and in about eighteen months His army started on its long journey. Mars, Corona and Theodorous conducted it successfully through their own country into Persia, and the Manu overtook it , as arranged, just as it was entering upon the great desert. He had carefully initiated Aurora into His work, solemnly taking leave of his father and mother, and now He was prepared to devote the rest of His life to the Aryanisation of Arabia.

Electra and Fides travelled with the army, under the care of Herakles; and, slow as was the progress, they rejoiced greatly that every day was bringing them nearer to the husbands whom they so dearly loved. A wonderful group of children they were bringing with them -- five boys, all physically perfect and beautiful, but very much more than that, for all of them now stand high in the upper hierarchy, and one is the Bodhisattva himself, Teacher of angels and men. Playing with them always, and sharing all the care lavished on them, were the three little ones of Mars and Herakless -- not all boys this time, for their were two little girls in the General’ s family; and a very happy cluster of intfant stars they were, for they greatly enjoyed the constant change of scene, and the open-air life kept them bright and healthy.

Meanwhile Alcyone and Mizar, having spent months at the Court of each of a number of party Chiefs, doing their best to make friends with these distrustful magnates, had returned to the first tribe which they had encountered on the arrival, and were impatiently expecting a coming of the Manu. When at last He appeared; his army was not recognised; some stupid local official mistook His people for Persians, jumped to the conclusion that Persia was for some unknown reason invading Arabia, and promptly sent out a troop of cavalry to attack them. He drove them back without difficulty, and took some of their officers prisoners; and then he sent these men to explain to their chief who he was, and to demand an interview. Ursa was angry at the reverse of his men, and much alarmed at what he heard of the size and splendid appearance of the army, and at first he refused to go, fearing a trap; but Alcyone did his best to reassure him, and eventually persuaded him to come with him to meet his brother. In his suspicions frame of mind, it took long to convince him that no harm was meant to him; and he was obviously embarrassed at the presence of so formidable a force within his borders. Alcyone who had been long enough in the country to know that these petty Chiefs were constantly at feud with one another, pointed out to him that if he offered hospitality to these military strangers he would be entirely secure from attack; and this consideration evidently weighed with him, so at last he decided to make the best of things, and rode across the hills with the Manu to show Him a large desolate valley which he offered to put at his disposal.

The Manu at once accepted this, and marched His people into it, and in a very few days they had contrived to make a great change in its appearance. They knew all about reclaiming valleys, and Corona and Alcyone were thoroughly in their element here; they had at their disposal all kinds of resources of which the Arabs never dreamt, and they metamorphosed that desert into a fruitful garden within a year. As soon as they had secured, the crops which were an absolute necessity for their community, they began to lay out the valley in imitation of the dearly loved home which they had left behind. Trees of course grew slowly, and the climate was quite different; but even already it was easy to see that this barren spot would soon become a paradise.

Seeing the wonderful progress that had been made, Ursa cast a covetous eye upon his transformed valley; in fact, it became a kind of Nabota’ s vineyard to him. His eldest son Pollux , an idle and dissolute fellow, was always urging him to seize, it and massacre the strangers ; but he realised that , even with the advantage of a treacherous attack, this would be a task beyond his powers. He had a long standing quarrel with Lacey, the chief of a neighboring tribe; and his second son, Tripos, advised him to persuade the Manu to attack this hereditary enemy, pointing out that, whoever was victor, the result would be favorable to them. If the Manu defeated Lacey, the feud would terminate in their favor; if Lacey defeated the Manu , it would be easy to overpower the disheartened remnants of his force. But, much to the disgust of the schemers, the Manu declined the crafty suggestion; He said that if Ursa was attacked, He would fight for him, but He saw no reason to interfere with another tribe, which was peaceably persuing its natural avocations.

Tripos then offered another suggestion—that his father should secretly send and embassy to his old enemy Lacey, and induce him by promise of rich spoil to join with him in extermination the hated foreigner. Lacey agreed to this, reflecting that when the victory was won he would probably have an opportunity of turning upon Ursa and annihilating his troops or that perhaps he would be able during the conflict to play him false and go over to the Manu’ s side. These schemes came to grief, however, for the Manu got wind of their conspiracy and was fully prepared for them; when they attacked them, He shattered their combined army, and, as they were both killed in the battle ,proclaimed himself ruler over both their countries. Pollux had also been killed, but Tripos was taken prisoner, as was Capri, the son of Lacey ; so the Manu sent for these two young men, and sternly told them that the days of internecine feud and anarchy were over, but if they chose to accept, under him, the position of administrators of their respective countries, He would give them a fair trial in that capacity. Humbled and terrified, they were astonished at the victor’ s clemency, and they accepted his incredible generosity in fear and trembling. They learned something of His methods, and for a considerable time did fairly well ; but they could never fully overcome their innate tendency towards underhand processes, and when they were at last discovered in a peculiarly mean plot to assassinate the Manu and recapture the country for themselves, He decided that it was useless to experiment further with them, so He banished them from His dominions, and they took refuge with Alastor, a fanatical religious leader in the south of Arabia. Meanwhile the Manu consolidated His kingdom, and gradually taught its people that honesty is the best policy, and that a strictly just government is in the long run the most advantageous for all.

The formation of a strong and orderly State like this naturally attracted much attention in Arabia. On the general principle of heaving half a brick at a stranger, various neighbouring Chieftains tried to raid the Manu’ s territory ; but the promptitude and efficiency with which the raiders were crushed gradually drove the lesson into even those thick skulls that it is sometimes desirable to mind one's own business. Indeed, these misdirected attempts usually ended in the annexation of the attacking tribe; and that tribe, when its turbulency had been repressed and it had aquired a few elementary principles of law and order, invariably discovered that the annexation had been eminently beneficial, and forthwith began to prosper amazingly. Other tribes watched this growth from outside with an envious eye , and some of their Rulers were wise enough voluntarily to submit themselves to the Manu, in which case He always accepted the suzerainty and incorporated the tribe into His empire, but retained the previous Chief as viceroy with full powers, appointing a skilled member of His own staff as a kind of resident political agent, to explain what ought to be done and how to do it. in this way by degrees the whole of the inner plateau of Arabia fell into His hands, and the northern half of the coast lands also; but the fanatical preaching of Alastor held the southern Arabs together in resistance of the new and nobler influence, so they remained for some centuries more in their old half civilised condition of lawless unrest.

The work of Aryanisation was managed gradually and with great care. Those of our characters who were in the Manu’ s army were practically all of them young married men, and even when in after years their children grew up, these in turn almost invariably married in their own race. Only the grand-children of the original immigrants were encouraged to intermarry with the Arabs—a generation of Arab wives as soon as the country was settled; but only seven of our characters are found among these young bachelors—Bootes, Vale, Able, Apis, Pomo, Laxa, and Zephyr. The Arabian women whom they married will be found noted in the accompanying chart.

The delight of Alcyone and Mizar in the reunion with their wives and children after the two years of separation may be imagined. As the years rolled on four more sons and three daaughters were added to Alcyone’ s quiver, the first of them being his present Master, Mercury. Mizar’ s family also reached the same figure, and in the due course all these grew up and wedded, and were surrounded by olive-branches of their own. The Manu gave to all His brothers and cousins provinces to rule under Him, and the same fate befell Ajax, who had married His daughter Vega. This kept them all very busy, and forced them to live apart, which they, who had so long been so closely bound together, much regretted; but they nevertheless contrived to meet fairly frequently, and their children paid long visits to one another.

Alcyone bore his part in several of the little wars, and more than once distinguished himself in battle; but as time went on wars became rarer, and the work of reconstruction and administration more and more claimed his whole time and attention. Thus years rolled by, busily yet in a sense uneventfully, bringing with them indeed a constant succession of incidents which were varied and interesting enough to those who took part in them, yet offering nothing salient which stood out above all others.

The one circumstance which stood out above all others in his memory was a visit of Mahaguru, who stayed for a time in Arabia on His way eastward after His appearance in Egypt as Thoth or Hermes. He had spent some years in that great Empire (then Atlantean, and at the height of its glory) preaching to its priests and people about the mysteries of the Hidden Light and the Hidden Work, and explaining how these great and glorious truths were symbolised in their ancient religion. A summary of His teaching there is given in Man: Whence, How and Whither, pages 284-287, and it was this which He repeated as He passed from province to province of Manu’ s Arabian Kingdom. Of all who heard who heard his wondrous teachings there were none who drank it in more sincerely than Alcyone and his family. Most of all did iit impress his third son, Surya, then just come of age; it so filled his soul that he came to his father and mother, demanding rather than praying permission to give up his whole life to it, to follow Mahaguru wherever He might go, and serve Him forever. They recognised the divine call, and willingly consented ; but when they went together to Mahaguru, He smilingly told them that He needed no such personal service, but that Surya was indeed wise to desire to devote his life to spreading the truth, since he had won the right to do so by service done in ages long past, the memory of which now was temporarily hidden from him by the veli of flesh; and so He took him to the Manu, and asked that he, young though he was, might be appointed Chief Priest in all that land of the new religion which He had founded. The Manu atonce agreed, and thus it came that in the priesthood now founded Alcyone’ s family took an important place.

Alcyone himself, with the Manu’ s consent, gave up the management of his province into the hands of his eldest son Viraj, a most capable and energetic young man; and he, the father, entered the piesthood with enthusiasm, rejoicing to serve in it under his talented son Surya, through whom the Mahaguru could speak even when physically at a distance. Three other younger sons of Alcyone—Mercury, Sirius and Selene—all felt the same inrush of the sacred fire, and solemnly vowed the whole of their lives to its service. Young though these were—for Selene was only sixteen— Mahaguru accepted their heartfelt pledges, for He knew their past and future; and He who reads the hearts of men knows well whom He can trust. So He ordained them all as priests with much stately ceremony before the face of all the people; and the multitude shouted with joy. And before He left the country, Mahaguru came one day to the house of Alcyone and called together the father and the four sons who had devoted their lives to the priesthood, and gave them His parting blessing, speaking words which none of them ever forgot. Turning first to Surya, and then to the rest, He said:

“ Hail ! my Brother through the ages; hail! My brothers yet to be; you shall spread God’ s Love and Wisdom o’ er the world from sea to sea. Many and great shall be your difficulties and trials, yet greater still shall be your reward; for many thousands of years you must toil in preparation for the task that few can undertake, but when it is achieved you shall shine as the stars in heaven, for yours is the blessing of those who turn many to righteousness. There is a spiritual dynasty whose throne is never vacant, whose splendour never fails; its members form a golden chain whose links can never be torn asunder, for they draw back the world to God from whom it came. To that you among men, my Brothers of the Glorious Mystery, for through you the Light shall shine. More and more shall the Hidden Light become manifest; more and more shall the Hidden Work be done openly and be understood by man; and yours shall be the hands that raise the veil, yours the voices that shall proclaim the glad tidings to the world. Bearers of freedom and light and joy shall you be, and your names shall be holy in the ears of generations yet unborn. Farewell ; in this body you will see me no more, but forget not that in spirit we are always together.”

So He left them, and passed away to far Shamballa, not again to be seen of men until, ten thousand years later, His five priests met Him once more, to learn from Him the same great truths in a new form, and to give them to another sub-race. But Alcyone and his sons never forgot Him, and often they were conscious of His presence among them as they voiced His teachings to the multitude. So Alcyone’ s life, which had begun in war and diplomacy, ended for religious work; he was forty-six years old when Mahaguru left them, and after that he preached for five and thirty years. His wife Electra died in the same year as her husband, preserving even in her old age her air of distinction and marvellous beauty; and within a few months Mizar and Fides also passed away. So of this group it might be said, as of Saul and Joanathan, that they “ were lovely and pleasant in their lives, and in their death they were not divided.”

The following soldiers of the Aryan army married members of the Band who had incarnated in Arabia for that purpose:

Bootes -Adrona Vale -Thetis Abel -Markab Apis -Gamma Pomo -Cancer Zephyr-Hesper Luxa -Sigma

The undermentioned members had also been incarnated in Arabia, in order that they might forward the work of the Manu, but they did not take that opportunity offered to them:

Ursa	Pollux
	Tripos
Lacey	Capri
Alastor

Members of a Mangolian hill tribe:

Iota Boreas

Maha guru Dolphin -Rector Aries -Canopus Vulcan -Bee

Pisces -Auson Forma -Sappho Siwa -Rama

Math -Castor Gem -Ophis Gimel -Pearl Manu -Apollo

Crux -Arcor Osiris -Capella Daphne -Sif Hermin -Fabius Phoenix -Jerome

Euphra -Mercury Pallas -Rigel

Hector -Selene Amal -Calyx Diana -Auriga Pindar -Beatus

Daleth -Priam Fons -Bella Melpo -Virgo

Kamu -Brihat

Cyr -Nu Fomal -Echo

Alma -Stella Mars -Herakles

Aglain -Cetus Sirona -Hygoia Camel -Cento Parthe -Spec

Xulon -Sylla Holly -Pax Flora -Betel

Kratos -Theo

Eudox -Tiphys

Mani -Ulysses Aurora -Helios

Nicos -Orpheus Algol -Norma Viraj -Cassio

Thor -Libra Dora -Rosa Proteus -Obra Oak -Percy

Colos -Beth Sif -Daphne Saturn -Albireo

Lignus -Sagitta Wences -Zoe Ara -Kudos Beren -Jason

Lyra -Concord Orpheus -Nicos Surya -Leo

Aquilla -Zano Jupiter -Athena

Ivy -Kini Pearl -Geolet Draco -Magnus Ixion -Argus Echo -Fomal

Mercury -Euphra

Sagitta -Lignus Ida -Egeria Xanthos -Iris Lili -Atlas

Chart V

Manoa and Arabia Circa 40000 B.C.

1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th

Walter -Spica Alcyone -Electra

Percy -Oak

Flos -Elsa Ronald -Theseus

Nu -Cyr Arthur -Alex

Stella -Alma Sirius -Koli Aletheia -Lobelia

Gluck -Aulus Kim -Ivy

Hebe -Andre Achilles -Eros

Cleo -Judex Ophis -Gem

Norma -Algol Argus -Ixion Erato -Nita

Selene -Hector

Auson -Pisces Melete -Dido Concord -Lyra Psyche -Dome Venus -Udor Andre -Hebe Theseus -Ronald

Aulus -Gluck Irene -Soma

Cetus -Aglaia Rama -Siwa

Pax -Holly Spica -Walter Rao -Rex

Hectia -Orion

Tolosa -Gasper Leta -Gnostic

Fides -Mizar Albireo -Saturn

Alex -Arthur Betel -Flora Rigel -Pallas

Zena -Aquilla Orca -Trefoil Quies -Neptune Arcor -Crux Vega -Ajax Mira -Vesta Clare -Leopard Auriga -Diana Cygnus -Telema

Rex -Rao Libra -Thor Bruce -Aldeb Dome -Psyche

Demeter -Viola

Priam -Daleth Zama -Phocea Spec -Parthe

Koli -Sirius

Judex -Clio Egeria -Ida

Elsa -Flos Lobelia -Aletheia

Hygeia -Sirona Obra -Proteus

Corona -Alces Udor -Venus Jerome -Phoenix Lomia -Aqua Polaris -Altair

Kos -Dhruva Kudos -Ara Viola -Demeter Scotus -Dactyl Apollo -Manu Collio -Uranus Sappho -Forma Aldeb -Bruce Orion -Hestia

Eros -Achilles Fabius -Hermin

109

Chart V

Manoa and Arabia Circa 40000 B.C.

1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th

Jason Beren

Yajna -Olympia Vesta -Mira Rosa -Dora Beth -Colos

Gnostic -Leto

Taurus -Pyx Magnus -Draco Beatus -Pindar

Virgo -Melpo Theo -Kratos

Rector -Dolphin

Canopus -Aries Calyx -Amal Brihat -Kamu

Juno -Rhea Iris -Xanthos Papin -Myna Zoe -Wences Atlas -Lili Dhruva -Kos

Dactyl -Scotus Vajra -Deneb

Mona -Alba Fort Chrys

Leo -Surya Chrys -Fort Dido -Melete

Uranus -Callio Leopard -Clare Mizar -Fides

Gasper -Tolosa Tiphys Eudox Trefoil -Orca

Cassio -Viraj

Castor -Math Rhea -Juno Neptune -Quies

Sextans -Nestor Nita Erato Capella -Osiris Lutea -Philae Bella -Fons Ulysses -Mani

Nestor -Sextans Aqua -Lomia Myna -Pepin Phocea -Zama Pyx -Taurus

Bee -Vulcan Altair -Polaris Cento -Camel

Telema -Cygnus

Alba -Mona Philae -Lutea Soma -Irene

Electra -Alcyone

Life VI

Two thousand years later Alcyone was still in the same sub race, but this time in a female body and in quite different sorroundings. The Arabian Empire had spread in many directions; indeed, except for a strip of Atlantean territory on the West Coast, Arabia and Egypt practically divided between them the continent of Africa. Mars had pushed his conquests as far south as the Waal River and had built himself an empire there, into which the Arabian population overcrowded at home, flowed down in ever increasing numbers. The work of erecting a new state is quite congenial to our band of Servers and as they always cluster around Mars and Mercury, who are both to be found in incarnation at this time and place, we need not wonder that but few of our characters are missing.

Our hero Alcyone was the eldest daughter of Mars and his eldest son Herakles who was even already ruling a province under Him. Mercury was the emperor’ s sister and was married to Dhruva, who was at that time officiating as Chief priest and minister of education- a position of great power and importance, for the tradition of the occasional overshadowing of Surya by Mahaguru (which was mentioned in our last chapter) still subsisted, and, though the priest took no direct share in the government of the country their authority in certain matters was supreme. For example it was their duty to select the heir to the throne, and their choice by no means always fell upon the eldest son of the last occupants will be seen later.

King Mars and his people speedily built cities and temples for themselves and introduced into their new country all the arts of their civilization much as had been done in Arabia two thousand years before; but it was not found possible to Aryanise the population of the country. The inhabitants whom the newcomers had found in occupation were Negro tribes derived from several different stocks. Thousands of years before the population had been purely lemurian but it had considerably intermingled with the Rmohal sub race and as the country had at one time been conquered by the Tlavatli, there was a small infusion of that blood also among the chieftains. Mars permitted a certain amount of experimental intermarriage – indeed, he never at any time actually forbade it but His proud Arabs did not readily mingle with a race in many ways so inferior, and so radically different in color. Some of the lower class whites (for the Aryan Arabs were almost white) boldly took Negro wives, and among those who made this experiments we notice Phocea and Sirona but their mulatto children were practically a race apart. Some of these, if exceptionally pleasing in appearance, became absorbed in the ruling race, and introduced into it some rather curious new characteristics; some of them on the other hand married among the Negro population and eventually sank back into it; but the majority kept to themselves, married among themselves and dwelt to a great extent as a separate community—a community which, as centuries passed on, slowly grew into a nation which acquired a territory of its own , and had a long and checkered history with which we are not concerned. It will be seen however, that the Aryanisaiton of the race previously in occupation was not in this case countenanced and recommended as it had been in Arabia; though one mixed marriage, made for political purposes, had an influence upon the lives of some of our principal characters as will presently appear.

The religion of the Negro tribe was unusual, for it consisted in the worship of a mysterious female deity, who was alleged to inhabit a certain towering rock which was visible for many miles, the foot of this rock was surrounded by almost impenetrable forest, in which (naturally enough) all sorts of dreadful daemons were supposed to dwell but no definite information was forthcoming, for no Negro dared to enter the dark and gloomy glades. It was a tradition that on several occasions daring hunters had entered into the outskirts of the woodland in pursuit of game but they had never returned; and it was commonly believed that only the chief priest of the deity could ever reach the rock in safety by means of a hidden path, a knowledge of which was one of the great secrets of his. Even he must go only at stated times to make a special offering; and, it was well understood that if he failed to keep his ghastly appointment or went without the offering, his own life would be forfeit. On the day of the full moon he must appear before his dire deity and he must be accompanied by a young and handsome man, but just come of age, who was destined for the doubtful honour of marriage with the goddess. What occurred none knew but the high priest, and his lips were sealed by awful oath; but every month he returned alone in a condition of panic terror, and nothing more was ever heard of any of the bridegrooms.

Rumor had it that many years before three rash youths of bold and skeptical spirit, friends of the chosen spouse of the occasion, had venturously followed the priest and the victim secretly at a distance. Two of these, it was said, had returned: one, a gibbering lunatic, who lived in that state for many years; the other a broken man, with his nerve utterly gone, so that he never held up his head again, and died a few days afterwards. The story which this same survivor told was a sufficiently horrible one. The three foolhardy youths had followed the priests through the wood, hearing and seeing much that terrified them, but still persistently pursuing until the priest and their friend had gained the foot of the rock. Then, so the trembling narrator declared, those two ascended a few feet to a kind of natural platform, behind which the face of the precipice curved back in the shape of the horse shoe – the watcher, of course staying below in the shade of the tree, because the light of the full moon fell upon the platform, so that every object upon it was clearly visible.

Then the highpriest began a strange wild chant or evocation; and suddenly, as he sang, a great gap opened in the rock, and a horde of demons rushed out – creatures like dwarfed men or huge monkeys, but somehow indescribably distorted and horrible, giving an impression of hellish hate, despair and craving for revenge. These appalling creatures surrounded the priest and the victim, and seemed to be springing upon them and tearing at them ; but the priest thrust them roughly aside with a gesture of authority, and raised his chant again. Suddenly, in the vast doorway, which had been so mysteriously rent in the face of the cliff, appeared a huge naked female form, at sight of which the priest and his companion fell upon their faces while the demon danced around them with a strange fiendish glee. The awestricken witness described the figure of the goddess as far beyond human stature, yet beautiful with a horrible dark beauty that was not of earth; and he passionately affirmed that of all the horror the worst feature was that while he was more utterly overwhelmed with terror than he had ever been before, he was also at the same time irresistibly attracted, so that, if his limbs had not absolutely refused to obey his will, he must have crept to the feet of that grisly form, even though he knew full well that discovery meant for him something far worse than death.

Presently the priest and the bridegroom rose to their feet, and an awful alluring smile broke forth upon the face of the giant figure, and she held out her arm to the doomed man as he moved slowly towards her walking as though in a trance. As he came within her reach, she stooped forward and lifted him in her arms—lifted that big, strong man lightly, as one might lift a kitten, and turned, carrying him, and disappeared into the darkness. The demons rushed tumultuously in after her and suddenly the rock was a blank wall in the bright moonlight, and the priest was staggering down the path from the platform like a drunken man. He was too full of his own mad fear to see the watcher, though he passed closed to them, than, they followed him in his wild flight back through that haunted forest as well as they could. But once they lost sight of him in the darkness, and so lost the path also, and fell into an apparently bottomless mud hole, from, which only two of them escaped, and that with the greatest difficulty and the most exhausting effort. When this happened they were already near the verge of the wood, so somehow the survivors made their way out of it, and somehow they got home again, but the only one who could speak said it would have been better for them if they also had died in the bog. And when the high priest heard the story, he smiled a dreadful smile, and said that those who pried into the mysteries of the goddess could not expect to escape her vengeance.

This was the tradition handed down in the tribe, and it may easily be imagined how such a tale would affect the mind of a crowd of superstitious savages. This grim religion was surrounded with such secrecy that it was not for a long time that the new ruling race heard anything definite about it. As the Negroes always bowed towards the rock whenever they caught sight of it, it was at first supposed that they worshipped it, and later that they regarded it as the throne or symbol of some deity. But the existence of the alleged goddess and the sacrifices periodically offered to her remained entirely unsuspected. The way in which it became known, and all that followed upon the discovery, will appear as we unfold our story.

In order that this may be comprehensible, we must first describe the other side of this repulsive religion—the benefits which her people were supposed to receive from their promiscuously polyandrous goddess in return for the heavy toll of sacrifices exacted by her. A peculiarly gruesome item in the disagreeable impression which she produced upon the one person outside her priesthood who claimed to have seen her was that baleful power of irresistible attraction—apparently magnetic in its character. It was asserted that she was able to confer this power upon her votaries— that her priest possessed by virtue of their office, and they could bestow it upon others at will – for a consideration, of course! It could be used on a small scale in matters of daily life, or on a large scale in national affairs; by it a young brave could compel the affection of the lady of his choice, a merchant could influence the mind of a customer so that he obtained his own price for his goods, or a man engaged in combat with another could render his enemy harmless. The power may be described as communicable mesmeric control, and by its means there is no doubt that the priests contrived to enrich themselves considerably.

Mars and Dhruva had resolved not to interfere in any way with the religion of the Negroes – to give them the opportunity of hearing a plain statement of truth, but not to excite opposition by seeming in any way to force it upon their attention. Their general plan was one of conciliation in all directions, and though they insisted upon just and sufficient government, and held all the real power in their own hands, they still left the Negro chiefs and the priests as much of the pomp and the outward show as they desired. The chieftain of the period is not one of our characters, but his two sons appear in our list as Markab and Scorpio; and it was while the second of these was still a boy that the attention of the conquerors was first attracted to this curious religious hypnotism. The old chief intended that his eldest son Markab succeed to such a show of state as was left to him, and with a view to securing his position instructed him to seek for a wife among the ruling race. He even suggested to Mars that it would be a suitable arrangement if Markab could wed Alcyone, who was then a beautiful girl of fourteen; but Mars declined this ingenuous offer, and Markab consoled himself with the affection of Abel, a pretty girl of much lower class among the Arabs. From this marriage of political expediency was born Pollux, who caused much trouble later on.

With the laudable view of concentrating in his own family whatever in the way of power lay within his reach, the old chief had bargained with the high priest, who happened to be childless, that his own second son Scorpio should succeed to that important office; and consequently the boy was already undergoing the necessary training. Young Scorpio also, as well as his elder brother, had designs upon the beautiful Alcyone; and though he knew enough that he could never legitimately obtain her hand in marriage, he thought that he might get her into his power by the peculiar forces which he was learning to use. With this end in view he contrived to put himself in her way, and practice his unclean arts of fascination upon her—not without some effect, for she found herself constantly thinking of him, with an odd mixture of detestation and an incomprehensible sort of attraction. She spoke of him to her cousin and playmate Sirius, who had constituted himself her knight and attendant, while the gentler Alcyone thought there must be something good in him to cause that half sense of attraction.

Even her charity was strained, however, by his action a few days later. Meeting her one-day in a lonely part of a great garden near the palace, he turned the full battery of his half acquired hypnotic power upon her, and tried to compel her to submit to her embraces. Hitherto unknown feelings began to stir within her; though she had a strong sense of anger and outrage, she yet could not move from the spot, and there was somehow half of her that did not want to move. Fortunately the faithful Sirius ( who had been detained by some work which he had to do for his father) was on her track, and came rushing up just as Scorpio, with lust flaming in his eyes, was about to clasp her unresisting form in his arms. Sirius hurled him to the ground, and turned sharply to Alcyone, asking how she could let such a creature come near her. She haltingly explained how utterly she had loathed him, and yet had felt powerless to move as long as his eyes were upon hers; how some strange hateful spell had set half of her warring against the other half, and how his burning eyes had somehow soiled her and made her very soul feel unclean. Sirius, hearing and raging, set off again in chase of the culprit, who had limped away cursing; and the latter, seeing him gaining upon him, and realising that his anger was dangerous, leapt over the river that flowed through the garden, and thus escaped for the time by swimming to the other side; while Sirius, having explained emphatically to the discomfited youth in the water exactly what unpleasant things, he would do to him if he ever caught him thus trespassing again, returned to comfort Alcyone.

They talked the matter over exhaustively, and as they knew nothing whatever about hypnotism they came to the conclusion that it must be some horrible aboriginal magic; and Sirius promptly bore off the troubled Alcyone to his mother Mercury, who was wise in such matters. She heard their story , sympathised with their indignation, and reassured them by saying that she had heard of this kind of magic before, and that the power of the eye , as she called it, could be used for good as well as for evil, though the Priests of the light employed it but sparingly, not thinking it well to take a man’ s will from him even for a noble purpose. And she taught Alcyone a sacred word by the repetition of which such a spell could be averted if ever Scorpio should try it again; but Sirius calmly remarked that he did not think Scorpio would try it again; but that if he did, he, Sirius, would personally attend to him in such a way that he would work no more spells in that incarnation. Mercury smiled enigmatically and sent the children off together, greatly comforted. Sirius was right so far, for Scorpio had learned his lesson, and made no further direct attempts upon Alcyone. A few years later he married Hesper, a girl of his own race, and presently became high priest, as his astute father had intended.

This was the first event which drew the attention of the ruling race to the uncanny powers connected with the Negro religion, but the subject was not seriously persued. Strangely enough it was a similar occurrence in the very same family twenty years later that caused further inquiry, which resulted in a full exposure of the whole iniquitous business, and the downfall of the obscene cult which had cursed the country for so long.

As might naturally be expected, Sirius and Alcyone married in due course, and it will be seen equally natural to students of reincarnation that Mizar should be their eldest son, and Electra their eldest daughter, and that all these should be linked together by bonds of affection of far more than common strength. Other children followed, all of them characters well known and loved in previous and later lives, all of them, dear now as then, though some have reached the further shore and hold high office among Those who rule the world. It has been mentioned that Markab, the Negro chief, had married Abel; he had four mulatto children—two boys, Pollux and Tripos, brothers again, as they had been two thousands years ago in Arabia, and of much the same respective dispositions; and two girls, Alastor and Cetus, less coarse at any rate than their male relations.

Now Electra, even while still a child, was famed throughout the land for her wondrous beauty; and Pollux, being so much what he had been in Arabia, was all aflame with desire to possess her for his own. Being the eldest son of the chief, he was in the habit of seizing what ever he wanted, so he thought that in this case also he had only to ask to have, and was much surprised and annoyed when he found his suit politely but quite definitely rejected. Soon he was more than surprised and annoyed, for he was like a spoilt child, and could not bear to be contradicted or denied, so he sulked and fretted until he grew actually ill with unfulfilled desire. Now Markab really loved his eldest son, and saw nothing but a proper sense of his position in his most flagrant faults of character; also he had never forgiven Mars and Alcyone for rejecting his own offer of marriage to the latter, any more than Scorpio had forgotten his bitter experience at the hands of Sirius as a boy. Therefore these worthies laid their hands together, and resolved that Pollux should not be left to suffer from love-sickness, but that Electra should be abducted for him—thus not only relieving his pain, but paying off old scores at the same time, and gratifying a long smoldering hatred.

They chose for their nefarious plot a time when Sirius and Alcyone were away from home for a day or two, attending to some of his priestly business on another city. By a forged note, purporting to come from a girl friend, they easily lured the unsuspecting Electra from the shelter of her home; then Scorpio met her just as he had once met her, and with the added power conferred by years of practice, at once determined her will and induced her to accompany him unresistingly to the household of Markab. She had never heard of his attempt to seize her mother, but he was a man whom she instinctively disliked and rather feared; yet she afterwards declared that she had no option but to go with him—that (just as her mother had said) half of her wanted to go, while the other half vehemently protested. Go she did, at any rate, and as they walked along Scorpio used all his arts to strengthen his hold upon her will, taking into his hand a certain talisman which he wore and by its means invoking his dreadful goddess to send her power through him, and receiving in reply a strong outpouring of the smell of musk, which was always a sign of her attention and approval.

Electra followed him docilely to Markab’ s house, and there, to make more certain of her absolute submission, he administered to her a potion well known to many tribes, a compound of some of their vile secret poisons which has the effect of weakening the will, and of weakening and eventually destroying the memory. Having done this, he locked her safely in one of the rooms while he wet to tell Pollux, who was ill in bed and feverish with his disappointed desires. His uncle’ s news effected a temporary cure; he hastily rose and began to dress himself elaborately, with the view of making a favourable impression on his victim. But when, having completed his toilet, he hurried down to the reception room where he expected to find his love awaiting him, the door was unfastened and the bird had flown! This was indeed a staggering surprise to all three villains, for they well knew that the drug alone, to say nothing of the hypnotism, made it quite impossible that their victim could have walked away voluntarily; she must have been carried away, but by whom? They began to feel terribly frightened, for to them this savoured of the supernatural; and even if there was some natural explanation, matters were but little improved, for that must involve the discovery villainy, and terrible vengeance from the outraged Arabs.

Leaving them for the moment to their terrified consultations, let us explain exactly what had happened. One of the servants of the chief, Markab was our old acquaintance Boreas; he had seen Alcyone on several occasions, and felt a strong admiration for her, because of which he had made enquiries into the religion of the light, and had secretly accepted it. He knew a great deal of the depravity of his master and of the execrable Scorpio; and when he saw the latter bring the young Electra into this infamous house, he at once suspected some unimaginable turpitude. Catching a glimpse of her face, he saw that she was under what he would have called magical influence, and he instantly resolved, for Alcyone’ s sake, to save her daughter from whatever hellish plot had been woven around her. As soon as Scorpio went away to Pollux’ s room, Boreas unfastened the door he had just barred, and walked straight in upon Electra, who lifted a wan and uncomprehending face to greet his entrance.

“ Lady” he said earnestly and respectfully, “ I am your friend, and I have come to save you from wicked men; I beg you to come back to your home with me at once.”

But she could not understand him clearly; she only replied: “ How can I come? He told me to wait here for him.”

There was no time for argument; begging her to pardon him, he lifted her in his arms and carried her out quickly into the garden, and by a side path and through some outhouses to a gate.

“ Lady, ” he said, “ you are in great danger; trust me, come with me, and I will save you. I cannot carry you outside without attracting too much attention; you must walk with me, and I will help you along.”

She obeyed as if automatically, for the drug had disturbed the effect of hypnotic action; but it had also weakened her physically, and she walked with uncertain steps. He hurried her along as well as he could, half supporting and guiding her, until he felt himself out of immediate pursuit; and then he allowed her to walk more slowly. His object was to get her home unnoticed, if it might be ; for he realised that her capture by Scorpio and her presence alone in a house of evil reputation should if possible not be generally known until he had explained it to Alcyone, and knew her wishes in the matter. He therefore took an unfrequented way, and was fortunate enough to escape almost entirely unquestioned. Entering the house of Sirius, he demanded at once to see Alcyone, and was sadly disappointed to hear that she and Sirius were away from home; he hesitated for a moment, and then asked to see Mizar. The latter was horrified at the sight of the pale, frightened face of his sister, and still more so to find that she could not speak to him coherently, and seemed not to understand what he said to her. He demanded an explanation from Boreas, who Told all that he knew, and incidentally asked to be taken into the Sirius household as a servant, as he could never now go back to that of Markab. Assuring him of his protection, Mizar made him repeat carefully once more of his account of what had occurred, and by a few gentle and tactful questions to poor Electra elicited enough from her to enable him to grasp the situation. He then sent for his sister Fides and Saturn, placed Electra in their care and told them to get her to bed and if possible to sleep; and then started out in a towering rage for the house of Markab.

Arrived there, he walked straight in without ceremony or hesitation, and found the three trembling rogues still in fearful consultation. He was as yet scarcely more than a boy, but he was a son of the dominant race, and he expressed his opinion of that chief and the high priest in rigorous and unflattering terms. He paid not the slightest heed to the boasted mesmeric power of the priest, who indeed was far too disturbed in mind to be able to use it. He concluded the denunciation with these words:

“ You know quite well that I have only to go before my grandfather the King and tell my story, and within the hour you will be in prison, never to leave it alive; and you know that that is the fate that you deserve. But if that were done , your crime and my sister’ s misfortune would be known to all the kingdom, and I do not choose that it shall be so known. My mother is away from home; if when she returns she finds my sister still in this condition, she will be troubled about it, and I do not intend to have her troubled. Therefore instead of delivering you to justice, I will agree not to denounce you on this one condition ; that you come at once and remove your diabolical spell from my sister’ s mind, and restore her to normal health. If you don’ t do this, be sure that you shall both die.”

Markab at once breathed more freely, and made haste to agree; but Scorpio looked more disturbed than ever and, and said:

“ Young white lord, I would truly do this for you if I could; but what you ask is impossible. If I had cast only my spell upon your sister I could remove it ; but I have worked upon her the greatest magic at my command. I have cast upon her the spell of the goddess, and the goddess herself has ratified it; only she herself can remove it, if she should choose. But she will never choose to do so.”

“ I know nothing of your goddess ,” replied Mizar sternly, “ and I do not fear her, because I worship the Light; but if only she can remove the spell, lead me at once to her shrine, and I will speak to her face to face in the power of the Light, and will compel her do undo her foul magic.”

“ Master , master,” cried Scorpio in horrified accents “ you know not what you say ; it is death to look upon the face of the goddess, and no man may withstand her power.”

“ Perchance that may be so,” replied Mizar; “ Yet I shall not shrink from death for the sake of my mother and my sister. But at least I will face this goddess, and the spell shall be removed.”

“ Young sir, you are brave ; though I hate your family, I admire your courage,” said Scorpio; “ but I warn you that it is useless.”

“ Take me to your goddess, or you shall both die,” was all the reply that Mizar would give.

“ Lead him to her, brother,” said Markab, it is better that he should die than we.

“ Come then if you must have it so,” said Scorpio; “ but your blood be upon your head. I do not even know that the goddess will show herself on any day but her own day of the full moon; and it may be that she will slay us even for disturbing her rest. Yet come, since come you must. For myself , I do not even know that the goddess will show herself on any day but her own day of the full moon; and it may be that she will slay us even for disturbing her rest. Yet come, since come you must. For myself, I care not; it can be death either way, and I do not think that she will kill her priest.”

So Mizar and Scorpio started together for the haunted forest, the priest revolving in his mind the various plans for killing his companions so that he might avoid the risk of angering the goddess. But Mizar was on his guard and contrived always that Scorpio should lead the way and thus the latter had not the opportunity to which he had hoped of pushing him into one of the bottomless mire holes in the swamps. Unknown to the two adventurers, Boreas, who knew Scorpio well enough to be incessantly suspicious of him was following him at a distance, armed with a heavy and murderous looking dagger and fully determined to use it in Mizar’ s defense if he saw the slightest suggestion of foul play. In course of time he reached the rock platform, and Scorpio once more urged Mizar to abandon his project and return without attempting to see the deity, upon whom it was death for any but his duly appointed priest to look. But Mizar impatiently bade him get on with his conjuration; and so in despair he raised the strange immemorial imploring cry which had never before been used except the night of the full moon.

It seemed to do its ghastly work as well by sunlight as by moonlight, for the traditional results quickly followed; the rock door rose, the horrid horde of malignant creatures rushed out, and directly afterwards the giant figure showed itself. Scorpio fell upon his face, but Mizar stood gazing in intense surprise, not unmixed with fear, he tried to speak to this appalling being, but his tongue refused its office; he was conscious of a strange whirling sensation in his brain and an irresistible inclination to move forward; he struggled to remember his purpose in coming, and what he had resolved to do; but the power of thought had gone from him, and he felt as though he were in the grasp of some great force of Nature—a tornado, an avalanche, a maelstrom. The sword which he had drawn fell from his hand, and the hideous rabble seized it with a yell of triumph, and surging round him, bore him on with them like a rolling tide, while a strange, slow, dreadful smile broke out upon the face of the deity. She drew back as the swarming brood apporached, and the door of rock fell once more as soon as the mob had disappeared within it. Then Scorpio rose from the ground, and threw up his arms above his head.

“ Praise be to the great and ever-victorious goddess,” he cried; “ may all her foes be vanquished thus!”

And he turned and left the platform with exultant mien; but he had scarcely passed the first tree in the forest when Boreas sprang from behind it and buried his great dagger in his heart. So Scorpio fell in the hour of his unholy triumph, and Boreas fled back through the forest as though the hounds of hell had been behind him

When a few hours later, he reached the house of Sirius and Alcyone, he found that they had just returned from their journey. He introduced himself, and told his weird and harrowing tale. Incredible as it seemed, they could not but believe when they saw the pitiable state to which poor Electra had been reduced, and indeed they obtained some sort of partial confirmation from her, for she was now able to speak somewhat more coherently; for Boreas, who knew much of negro charms and drugs, had instructed her sisters to administer to her an infusion of a certain plant which was an antidote to the poison which had been forced upon her by Scorpio.

Her father and mother saw the advisability of keeping this unsavoury story from the public ear, but at the same time Sirius realised that they were here in presence of a formidable power of whose resources they were ignorant. So, although he determined to set off himself without loss of time for the lair of the foul goddess in order to attempt the rescue of his eldest son, he first called his second son Viraj, told him the whole story, and sent him off to repeat it in secret to his father in law the king, asking only that it might not be made public unless he also fell into the power of this vile gorgon, and it was necessary to invoke military force to destroy her. But he trusted that it might not come to that, for he fully realised that they were treading on delicate ground, and that an open attack upon their sacred shrine might tear the whole Negro race into rebellion, and he knew that Mars wished to conciliate them.

At this point Alcyone came forward, and honestly begged her husband to let her accompany him on his perilous quest declaring vehemently that Mizar was her son as much as his, and that she had a right to help in his rescue, and assuring him also that she felt a strong insistent intuition that this was her work, that some emergency would arise in which a women’ s wit , sharpened by a mother’ s love, would be worth more than the strength and valor of a mere man. At first Sirius, much surprised at her request, would not hear of such a thing; but she was so persistent and so sure of her ground that at last he, who had in the past had good reason to respect her intuition, yielded half against his will. So she clad herself in the dress of a hunter, the clothes belonging to her son Viraj, and she armed herself with a bow and arrows, in the use of which she was expert as indeed were many ladies of that race. Then they called Boreas to act as guide, and all three set out on horse back pushing on at utmost speed. Soon they reached the border of the forest, and , time their horses to a convenient tree, plunged into its gloomy depths.

As they pressed on they discussed their plan of campaign -though so much had to be left uncertain that they could hardly be said to have one. They had no means of forcing the rocky door, but Boreas thought that he could imitate successfully the weird cry of the high priest, and hoped that the usual response might follow. Yet even if it did, they had no conception as to the dangers which that opening door might disclose, nor the strength of the diabolical garrison which might lie behind it. They knew not even that awful vampire goddess could be wounded by human weapons, whether she was accessible to human appeal, whether she could understand the yearning of a mother's heart, or respond to the conception of love or pity. During their walk they extracted from Boreas all that he knew as to this horrible cult, and all that he had heard of its meagre but gruesome traditions; but they found in this little to encourage them. Boreas could not tell them, with any certainty, of the supposed origin of this is strange deity; one theory allied her with a mysterious race of beings, half men, half animals, who were said to live in vast halls in the bowels of the earth; another regarded her as a princess among a giant race which had occupied the country long ago and had died out or been expelled, she only surviving because she had discovered in secret of eternal life. It was rumored also that she had a twin sister with whom she had shared the secret; that this sister had at first lived with her, but that they had quelled over some victim whom both desired, and that the other had gone away to the east by sea, to pray upon the inhabitants of some far distant land. That she possessed real powers, which had frequently been manifested through her priests, was incontestable, but no one knew the exact nature of the powers, nor how far they extended. Boreas, however, firmly believed that the same great knife which had killed her high-priest would suffice to rid the world of her, and he asked nothing better than to have an opportunity to put his theory to proof.

When they reached the platform they found the corpse of Scorpio lying where Boreas had left it, but it was in process of being tore to pieces by some huge and peculiarly loathsome crabs, which had presumably come up out of the swamp. Driving these ghoulish creatures away, they examined the body, and found hanging round its neck a curious talisman—a disk of gold bearing upon it the image of a woman, evidently intended to represent the deity. From a confession later made by Cancer, who as the eldest daughter of the magician knew some of the secrets of the prison house, it was established that this highly magnetized disc was a centre of radiation for the power of the goddess, and that when, in mesmerizing any person or thing, the chief priest held that object, in his hand, the person or thing was brought into direct touch with that lurid divinity and could not afterwards be set free without her special intervention. This had been in the case of Electra, and therefore Scorpio was unable to remove the spell.

The small but intrepid party mounted the platform, and Boreas lifted up his voice in the weird chant that he had heard the dead man sing, hoping that through the rock any trilling difference of intonation might not be noticed. It would seem that the lady was uncritical, or perhaps she did not care what visitors she received, confident in her power to deal with any who might appear. At any rate, the rock door rose as before, and the swarm of misshapen goblins poured forth. A minute or two later they saw the gruesome entity to meet whom they had undertaken this extraordinary expedition; there stood in the doorway, filling it from ground to lintel, a huge gross female form, fully eight feet in height, and more than broad in proportion, darkblue—distinctly dark-blue in color, and faintly luminous in the gathering dusk. This awesome apparition was absolutely unclothed, except for a necklace of enormous gleaming stones; it emanated a strong and most sickening, yet half-intoxicating musky odour; and in the expression of its face there was ruthlessness and strange inhuman fathomless iniquity, and yet somehow a kind of fearful fascination.

Sirius who stood in front as champion of the party, experienced just the same sensations as those which had overpowered Mizar earlier in the day; he also tried to speak but could not; he also felt a resistless influence stealing over him from those inexorable unwinking eyes; he also would unquestionably have been subjugated by this preternatural witchery which was being concentrated upon him, if he had been left alone to face it. But a voice rang out from behind him like a clarion:

“ Husband, Husband, she is overpowering you! Stand firm, and uphold the light!”

And as she spoke, Alcyone drew her bow to the very head of the arrow, and sped her shaft unerringly to the heart of that unearthly monster; and as it struck, that dread figure crashed to the earth with a blood curdling non-human cry, and lay writhing there with a ghastly contorted visage. In a few minutes it was still in death, and all present were conscious of a curious change in the atmosphere—of a sense of intense relief, of the removal of a weight. And as they stood looking at one another and wondering, a loud cry was heard from within the cave, and Mizar came bounding out, shouting: “ I am free; I am free!” He leapt over the prostrate body, and rushed up to his father and mother, asking wonderingly how they came there, and what had happened. But perhaps the strangest change was in the horde of creatures who had always been the first to rush out when the door was opened. They seemed as though thunderstruck; all their impish malignity was gone; they began to speak of one another in hesitating accents; some of them fell down as though from weakness. Alcyone said to Sirius:

“ See, husband, see! These are not demons, but men, and they have been suffering under some horrible enchantment. Say, brothers, who and what you are, and if we can help you, we will.”

Then one of these strange beings stepped forward and spoke haltingly, as one to whom speech is unfamiliar:

“ Princess,” he said, “ not long ago you knew me as a soldier of the palace guard; you have spoken to me many times, yet I cannot wonder that you do not know me now. Three months ago I was young and strong and brave; now my hair is white and I am old and broken, and cannot live; nor indeed do I wish to live, for my soul is utterly polluted and imbrued with deadly sin. For I was chosen, by the high priest of that dread demon there whom you have slain, to be her husband; I was brought her under her awful spell, and all that was unclean and animal within me she stirred into a mad riot such as you could never understand, nor any sane healthy human being; for there are things so hellish that the flesh creeps at the thought of them, and even the telling of them is as a blast of death. For a whole month I ministered to her monstrous lusts, and it seemed to me one long mad whirl of pleasure in which I lost all count of time; but in that time she drew all life from me, and left me what you see. At the next full moon a new victim came, and she cast me aside like a worn out garment. All these whom you see are like me; each has had his day, and has been drained of his vitality by that awful vampire who lies there; thus has she kept herself alive for untold ages, feeding upon the life of men, for her victims have numbered many thousands, and in the cave is a vast heap of their bones. Yet she does not let us die at once, but keeps us thus unnaturally alive and without sleep, full of a devilish malice and jealousy, yearning to drag others in to suffer as we have suffered, yet all the time envying and hating them. A hell indeed our dregs of life have been to us, and very day has seemed a thousand years of agony and despair. But now that you have killed her all is changed; the awful nightmare has gone, and I think that we shall die in peace; as you see, some of us are dying even now.”

Pity and horror filled the hearts of Alcyone, Sirius and Mizar when they heard these fearful revelations; and Sirius felt his heart burn within him, and he spoke to those doomed wretches such words as were given to him to speak. He told them of the light that dwelt in every one of them, that dwelt there ineradicable still, in spite of all these obscene horrors; that light which was a ray of the Eternal Light, from Whom all had come , into whom all must return. So that for them also there was hope and help, because, though indeed the Divine Spark had burnt low, it should surely one day be fanned again into flame; for them also the darkness should lighten, until they stood for ever in the perfect day. And the poor creatures heard and believed and were comforted; and natural sleep, a stranger to their eyes for many weary months and years, fell softly upon them, and in that sleep many passed peacefully away. And indeed naught else could be desired for them, for continued life could but have been continued misery; they were wan and shrunken and nerveless, bent so that those who had been tall men were now like deformed and stunted children, warped and gangrenous, rotting in death while still alive.

But Sirius and his son went and looked at the body of the dead monster, overcoming their horror in order that they might see what manner of being this was. Human undoubtedly, yet of a race happily long extinct; a ghastly anachronism, perpetuated only by some gruesome secret of wholesale murder verily “ a thing to shudder at, not to see.” Sirius conquered his repugnance sufficiently to unclasp the necklace of huge stones; but the very touch of that blue flesh was in itself revolting, for it was suberous, polyp-like, nauseating, unhuman. Mizar overleaped the corpse, and called to them to come to come and look at the cave, so shudderingly they passed into murky depths. Prodigious indeed it was, vast hall extending beyond vast hall far into the heart of the great needle of rock; and whether these halls were natural or artificial none could tell. In one of them was a huge pyramid of human bones—the remains of thousands of victims, even as the dying soldier had said. But the whole place reeked like a charnel-house, that seemed more than mere physical.

So the exploring party soon came out again into purer air, and as they emerged they were amazed by the sound of a trumpet and by eager voices calling. They shouted in reply, and guided by their cries, king picked men, the very flower of his own special guard. Glad indeed was he t o see his daughter safe and sound, and much he marveled at the astounding story which was told in reply to his enquiries. Incredible it might well have seemed, but for the irrefragable evidence before him—the corpse of the Lemurian giantess, and those of the men whom she had vampirised. Appalled at the discovery of the horrors which had been going on close to his very capital without his knowledge, he issued stern sharp orders in truly royal fashion. A huge letter should be made of branches, and the dead body of the monster should be carried through every street of the city, so that all the Negroes might understand that their direful deity was harmless now, and that her sanguinary cult was a thing of the past. The doctrine of the Light was to be preached to them in their own tongue, more fully, more clearly, more widely, than ever, so that none might ever again fall under-the sway of such a strange and loathsome superstition. A camp was to be made then and there, and such help as could be given to the fast dying victims was to be at their disposal. The entrance to the caves was to be at their disposal. The entrance to the caves was to be sealed up and covered deep under vast piles of rock, so that no man should ever enter there again; the swamp was to be filled up and drained, and a broad road made through the forest. And furthermore he ordered that the tall black peak that towered above them should be painted white as though crowned with snow, and ever thereafter kept so, as a sign that the reign of darkness was over, and that the Light had triumphed over its enemies. All these decrees were duly carried out, and the peak which had been a symbol of horror and dread became a constant reminder of the inevitable victory of the Light that lightens every man who cometh into the world.

Our exhausted party returned to its home, and the first inquiry was after the health of Electra. They found her pale and weak indeed, but otherwise entirely herself again, and her sisters related how, all in a moment, her senses had returned and she was free from the strange oppression which had weighed her down so terribly; and none doubted that this relief came to her at the moment of the death of the Lemurian whose spell had been woven around her. The shock of this unparalleled experience had been great to all those who had shared it, and it was some weeks before they entirely recovered from it. Electra’ s part in what had happened was never made public, but was confided only to Corona, her future husband.

A few days later, Sirius, Alcyone, Mizar and Electra all came together to the wise mother Mercury, and talked long and earnestly with her about these strange occurrences. Mizar asked her:

“ grandfather, how was it that I, trusting in the Light which we worship, could not resist the spell of that dreadful woman, and that even my father was powerless before her, while my mother unaffected, and she was able to kill her?”

And Mercury replied: “ Grandson, the monster’ s power of will was greater far than yours, aye, greater even than your father’ s; not greater than the power of the Light, but greater than its manifestation in you, for a certain reason that I will tell you. The horrible mystery of this creature’ s strength had its root in that other mystery of sex, and therefore it could be used best, by each person, upon one of the opposite sex. Remember how, long ago, Scorpio even when a boy dominated the girl Alcyone by its means, but was at once overthrown by the boy Sirius, upon whom it had no effect. Again, Scorpio easily influenced Electra, but could do nothing against you, even when you went to his house and openly threatened him. Yet when the operator was a woman—when you came face to face with the prodigy herself- you were overcome, and so was your father, while against Alcyone, because she was a women, her efforts were fruitless. Because your mother was dressed as a man, the monster was probably deceived; the magnetism which she poured out was aimed at men, and so your mother was unaffected. Truly you would have been unharmed also, if through you the Light had shown with perfect purity; because you have not yet attained perfection, because you are still human, there was within you that upon which her terrible forces could play. In the strength of utter purity, even the weakest will may naught that can be stained, naught upon which the can seize; but while there is even a germ of evil there is still danger. Yet though that fiend could neutralize your will, ad could draw you within her unholy cave and hold you there as prisoner, she could not dominate your very soul and bend you to her evil ends as she did those who yielded voluntarily to her. She could perhaps have taken your life; she could not make you her slave. So always there are limits to the power of evil; and only that can come to each man that he has himself deserved.

After years had passed, Sirius became High Priest in the place of Dhruva, his father, and with the ever sweet and sagacious help of his wife Alcyone he held that position long and creditably; and when he also died he was succeeded in it by Mizar, his son. Alcyone survived her husband by a year or two only, and died greatly honored at the age of seventy six. On the death of King Mars, Herakles as eldest son was set upon the throne; but when he in turn passed away, the choice fell upon his second son Corona, so that the lovely Electra graced the position of the first lady in the land. At Corona’ s death the succession passed to his second son Theodorous; but Koli, who was the daughter of Corona and Electra, married Mizar’ s son Leto, and to them was accorded the honour of giving birth to the Manu Himself, who thus came down to south Africa to confirm the dynasty and emphasize the characteristics of His second sub-race, so naturally the Priesthood placed Him upon the throne at the death of Theodorous.

The faithful Boreas married Nu, a white waiting maid of the household of Alcyone , and attached himself most especially to the service of Mizar—a devotion brought over from unrememberd past. His sons, by an odd turn of the wheel of fate, married the daughters of his old master, the Negro chief Markab, and became persons of importance in the newly established mulatto community. The two sons of Markab, however, married the Negro daughters of Scorpio, and Pollux thus came into possession of the not inconsiderable wealth amassed by the late high priest, as well as that of his father Markab. This marriage drew him back into the ranks of the Negroes, but on the other hand established him in a leading position among them. Years later he engaged in a plot against Herakles, and when it was discovered his people forced him to lead an open rebellion, but he was promptly suppressed and put to death by corona.

141

Chart VI

Mashonaland 38000 B.C.

1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th

Elsa -Pindar

Callio -Kudos

Cygnus -Xanthos Draco -Lili Dome -Walter

Mizar -Neptune Leto -Koli

Manu Philae -Diana Hermin -Beth

Math -Deneb Siwa -Jason Electra -Corona Algol -Rosa Viraj -Gnostic

Beth -Hermin Crux -Kos Fides -Albireo Deneb -Math Trefoil -Norma Rama -Euphra

Colos -Erato Ixion -Beren Nicos -Sylla Sirius -Alcyone

Saturn -Aquila

Luben -Oak

Xanthos -Cygnus Rosa -Algol

Pomo -Rao Spec -Beatus

Sigma -Iota Vega -Hector

Holly -Theos

Adrona -Ursa

Ajax -Sagitta Virgo -Taurus Forma -Daleth

Athena -Hestia Andro -Ophis Osiris -Cassio

Dactyl -Rex Lili -Draco Phoenix -Rector Apollo -Leo Dhruva -Mercury Kamu -Lyra Neptune -Mizar

Orion -Sappho Yajna -Krotos Aurora -Ida Selene -Jupiter

Aldeb -Eros Auson -Melete

Achilles -Theseus

Wences -Obra Bee -Mira Gnostic -Viraj Uranus -Echo

Ida -Aurora Cassio -Osiris Helios -Demeter Pepin -Dido

Flos -Percy Brihat -Ronald

Hestia -Athena

Diana -Philae Eros -Aldeb

Oak -Lutea Gasper -Betel

Nita -Fabius

Orpheus -Hebe Percy -Flos

Corona -Electra

Kos -Crux

Chart VI

Mashonaland 38000 B.C.

1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th

Herakles -Ulysses

Theo -Holly Koli -Leto Fons -Polaris

Gem -Aqua Arcor -Orca Alcyone -Sirius Norma -Trefoil Leo -Apollo

Pisces -Spica Sagitta -Ajax Jason -Siwa

Vulcan -Udor

Obra -Wences Jerome -Stella Fort -Altair Mars -Venus

Lobelia -Aletheia

Mona -Tiphys Jupiter -Selene

Zephyr -Laxa Tolosa -Rhea Parthe -Libra Aries -Aulus Vajra -Bella

Castor -Atlas

Laxa -Zephyr Amal -Dolphin Aqua -Gem

Cyr -Gluck Sappho -Orion Telema Rigel Flora -Judex Zeno -Alex

Aulus -Aries Pax -Ara Euphra -Rama

Rector -Phoenix Pallas -Egeria

Irene -Soma Dora -Argus

Muni -Sextans Xules -Zama Aletheia -Lobelia Mercury -Dhruva

Ronald -Brihat

Beatus -Spec Spica -Pisces Albireo -Fides

Beren -Ixion Rhea -Telosa Kudos -Callio Rigel -Telema

Betel -Casper Orca -Arcor Daphne -Magnus Capella -Alces

Thor -Pearl

Cento -Clio Fabius -Nita Egeria -Pallas Melete -Auson Proteus -Olaf

Zoe -Lomia Quies -Fomal

Walter -Dome Aquila -Saturn

Daleth -Forma Taurus -Virgo Ivy -Kim

Alex -Zeno

Ulysses -Herakles Stella -Jerome Hebe -Orpheus

Scotus -Bruce Arthur -Vesta

Lignus -Myna Kim -Ivy

Ara -Pax Juno -Viola Calyx -Sif

Canopia -Clare

143

Nestor -Iris Clio -Cento Sylla -Nicos

38000 B.C.

Sextans -Muni

5th 6th 7th

Altair -Fort

Gluck -Cyr Alba -Leopard Soma -Irene

Judex -Flora

Tiphys -Mona Auriga -Concord Priam -Chrys Iris -Nestor Zama -Xulon

Rao -Pome Pearl -Thor

Chart VI

Viola -Juno

Hector -Vega

Gimel -Psyche

4 th

Theseus -Achilles Argus -Dora

Lomia -Zoe

Atlas -Castor Dido -Pepin

Libra -Parthe Vesta -Arthur

Psyche -Gimel

Clare -Canopia

Pyx -Capri Camel -Alma Hegin -Eudox

Alma -Camel Eudox -Hygeia Bootes -Aglaia

Thetis -Alastor Gamma -Epailon Apis -Cetus

Pollux -Cancer

Alastor -Thetis Tripos -Lacey Cetus -Apis

Cancer -Pollux Lacey -Tripos

Life VII

In the lives which have just been described we have seen glimpses of the work, which the Manu did with and through his second sub-race. In following the fortunes of our hero we now find ourselves brought similarly into contact with the beginnings of the third. The plan of preparation was the same, though in a different valley—a valley of rolling downs, which lent itself rather to pasture than to agriculture on a large scale. The Manu was himself ruling the city of Manoa at the time; He had married Mercury and had two sons, Osiris and Sirius. The latter married Mizar, the daughter of Mars and Siwa, and they had seven children, of whom Alcyone was the eldest, born this time in a male body. He was a sensitive child, given to dreaming and fond of solitude, sufficiently psychic to feel the presence of nature spirits and dead people, and sometimes to see them. Snatches of past lives came before him from time to time in dreams; he did not then know whence they came or what they were, but we (who have been following him through them) recognize at once the bands of people who marched singing up a long straight path from the sea to the mountains, ages before the building of the city; the envoys who set out for the court of the King of Persia, and afterwards across the desert to Arabia; and the weird events of the life last described, when in female form he had delivered a son (who was now his mother) from the horrors of the Lemurian magic. Six thousand years had elapsed since then, and he must have had seven or eight intervening lives, yet in his dreams it was clear as a happening of yesterday; and he experienced once more the curious mixture of irreconcilable feelings – of repulsion and attraction, of fear of the unknown and yet the certainty of triumph.

The Manu’ s theories of education were still the same, and Sirius followed them devoutedly, so Alcyone and Apollo were less harassed and misunderstood than the modern boy usually is, and consequently they retained through life a certain amount of their sensitiveness.

He talked often and eagerly of his dreams to his father and mother, but they had not his memory, though they often had a feeling that they were on the brink of remembering while they listened to her vivid descriptions, and once when Mizar was slightly feverish, she had a very clear vision of one of the scenes – an endorsement of his accuracy which greatly pleased Alcyone. He also discovered that when he related one of his dreams in the presence of his younger brother Apollo, the; latter was able to catch the thought picture from his mind and to make a drawing of what he described, sometimes including details which he himself had omitted to mention. The younger brother had an intense admiration for the elder, and during their youth they were always together, living a life of great happiness and full mutual comprehension.

In due course they both married. And this introduced into their lives new interests which made their previous inseparability impossible, but caused no diminution in their affection, their marriage call for no special comment, but that of their sister Orion caused a good deal of excitement in the family. This sister came between them in age—a handsome and striking-looking girl, beloved by both, and also by various other young men. One of the most passionate of these suitors was Gamma, the son of a neighbor in humble position, named Thetis, who was regarded as under a cloud in consequence of a wicked action committed many years before. Mizar had a sister Helios, who from an early age had been destined to become a priestess of the temple, and was receiving the somewhat rigid training which was imposed upon those who were aspirants for that office; and Thetis having seen this girl, became the victim of an overmastering passion for her. Helios repulsed his advances with disdain: he swore to be revenged upon her and make a determined effort to seize her and subject her to his will. Fortunately his scheme was discovered and the calamity averted; but the matter could not be kept altogether private, and Thetis became a social outcast in consequence. Later he married a woman of lower caste, and had a son Gamma, who to some extent inherited his lack of control in these matters. Orion and Gamma had sometimes played together as little children without any objection on the part of Sirius, who was disposed to think that Thetis had by this time atoned for his sin; but he would certainly not for a moment have contemplated the idea of an alliance so unsuitable for his daughter, so Gamma pursued his suit in secret, and even Orion herself, though feeling kindly towards him, did not regard it as serious.

About this time a dashing young foreigner arrived with a caravan from Mesopotamia, bringing a letter of introduction to Sirius, who at once received him as his guest, and put all his resources at his disposal. It was speedily evident that this, handsome stranger was captivated by the graces of his host’ s daughter, and presently her watchful mother Mizar sounded Orion on the subject, and she blushingly confessed that her happiness was bound up with the life of this new-comer. Mizar communicated her discovery to Sirius, for he had felt strongly attracted to his visitor—as indeed might have been expected, for this was Herakles, who had been especially sent by the Manu himself to take incarnation abroad in order that an infusion of the noblest Akkadian blood might be introduced into his projected sub-race. But in their physical bodies neither Herakles nor Sirius knew anything of all this, so the latter sought his guest sadly, and spoke frankly though delicately about the subject. Herakles at once admitted his strong affection for Orion, and explained the rank and wealth of his family; in order to show that as far as such qualifications went he was an eligible suitor. Sirius replied;

“ Both of wealth and rank I have amply sufficient to leave my daughter entirely free to select her future husband where she will, and I desire above all things that she should be happy, as I clearly see she would be with you. Indeed I may confess to you openly that never have I felt towards any stranger as I do towards you—never have I thought it possible that I could so feel towards one not of our Aryan blood; you are to me as a brother, and nothing could please me better than this alliance if it were possible. But it is unthinkable, because our race is a race set apart, a sacred race upon which many restrictions are laid; therefore it would be impious and unpatriotic of me to yield in this matter to the dictates of my heart, however deeply you and I and my daughter may suffer from my inflexibility. Do not think me unsympathetic in this; I know that to you I must seem proud and heartless, yet try to believe me when I tell you that I am doing at heavy cost to myself what I know to be a religious duty.”

But Herakles could not be convinced of the necessity of this rejection of his suit, nor was Orion to be comforted by any suggestions of the heroism of the sacrifice required of her; so the lovers remained disconsolate. Now Alcyone also felt as a brother towards Herakles, and moreover he had recently married Achilles, who was the bosom friend of Orion; so naturally this newly wedded couple felt deep sympathy with these unfortunate lovers, and desired very earnestly to find for them some honorable way of attaining the happiness which seemed at the same time so near them and yet so unreachable. At last Alcyone, greatly daring, went (without telling anyone of his intention) and solicited a private audience of his grandfather, and laid the whole case before Him, telling Him that he knew quite well the impossibility of the union, but that his beloved sister’ s life and happiness were at stake, and he felt that there ought to be some solution of the difficulty. And the Manu replied:

“ Grandson you have done well to come to me in this matter. Be of good cheer, for I can solve your difficulty, and bring happiness to all concerned, go and tell this to your sister and to her noble lover, and bear to your father my command that he shall wait upon me without delay.”

So delighted were they to hear this unexpected, this incredible news, and so eager to understand what it could mean, that they all came at once to the palace, though only Sirius went in before the King. And the Manu then unfolded to His son part of His wondrous plan—how He intended now to start a new sub-race, and to put the preparations for it into the hands of His second son, the eldest being required to act as His successor at Manoa; how for the purposes of that sub-race he needed the slight admixture of foreign blood, and how therefore he had Him self planned and arranged for all that had happened, so that the seeming stranger was in reality no stranger, but a brother from ages long past to be admitted with rejoicing into what was truly his home—the home of his soul, if not this time the birthplace of his body.

Then Sirius, overcome with joy, understood and obeyed, and withdrew his opposition; and the lovers were called before the Manu, who repeated to them the explanation which He had given to Sirius, and, turning to Herakles said:

“ My son, you have followed me throughout the ages, although you know it not; will you follow me now once more, giving up for my sake the country in which this time you were born, and taking up instead the work that I shall give you?”

And Herakles bowed his head and gave his promise, feeling that in doing this he was returning to his true fatherland and accepting a religious duty as well as entering upon a life of happiness. Then the Manu blessed them and gave them permission to marry; but in order that His law might not be broken, He sent for His eldest son Osiris, and asked him whether he was willing to adopt Herakles into his family. Osiris gladly consenting, the ceremony of adoption was at once performed and duly registered so that all formalities preliminary to the marriage might be complied with; and there was great rejoicing among those who had before been so sad, and all their friends were glad too, for Herakles had made himself universally popular.

That same evening, as Herakles and Alcyone walked together in the great garden of Sirius, talking reverently of what had happened that day and of the plans which the Manu had disclosed, a man suddenly leaped forth from behind a tree, and struck savagely at Herakles with a knife. Herakles was not looking in that direction at the moment, and might have fallen an easy prey to the assassin, but to reach him he had to cross in front of Alcyone, who, seeing the gleam of the knife in the starlight, dashed himself against the man and hurled him to the ground, so that Herakles received only a slight scratch. Before the ruffian could rise both gentlemen had seized him, and Alcyone had twisted the knife out of his hand. When they dragged to the light they found him to be Gamma, who had been maddened by the idea that his adored one should thus be borne off by another—and not even an Aryan ! He was handed over to the officers of justice, and the Manu sentenced him to lie banished from the empire of Manoa, telling him that he came from a bad stock, and was unworthy of the privilege of being an Aryan. So he was sent forth into what the Aryan poets called “ the outer darkness,” where the religion of the light was not professed; and his place knew him no more.

Sirius with his children moved into the chosen valley, and the history of ten thousand years before repeated itself. The same work of reclaiming the ground and bringing it under cultivation, of mapping it out into estates and gradually building palatial country houses; even the very plan of terracing which Corona had adopted in the other valley was closely followed, for naturally all those who were doing the work had made a special study of the plan, and were familiar with its results and with all the improvements which later centuries had introduced. The character of this new valley rendered desirable certain modifications of the scheme, but Alcyone’ s cleverness at this work had not deserted him, and results soon began to show. Herakles had joyously accompanied his brother-inlaw, and threw himself into the pioneer work with his characteristic assiduity.

As the years rolled on stalwart sons and daughters gathered round them, many of our old friends appearing with new faces. Among the twelve children of Alcyone we find Corona, ready once more, as ever, to become a mighty leader of men, whether in the arts of war or of peace; and also a daughter Selene, destined to meet with a very curious adventure, which we must describe, since it brought about what is perhaps the most noteworthy incident of Alcyone’ s later life. Selene, like her aunt Orion, had two suitors, but in this case both were equally eligible, for both belonged to the highest families, and as regards courage and ability there was little to choose between them. Selene’ s decision was in favour of Viraj, and an engagement was announced; but as she was still quite young, it was thought best to postpone the marriage for a time. The other suitor, Deneb, felt himself ill used; he declared that if Selene knew him better, she would not refuse him. He wanted nothing but fair play, he said, and equal opportunity, and somehow or other he meant to have them. Little attention was paid to his remarks, as they were put down simply as the expression of acute disappointment; but later they were remembered. The design which he formulated was old-fashioned enough; he wished to follow the custom of some of the Mongolian tribes, and carry off his future wife by force—not with least idea of injuring her in any way, or even of compelling her to accept him, but with the conviction that all he needed was an opportunity of showing himself to her as he really was, and she must certainly succumb to his fascinations. A crazy scheme, truly; but disappointed love and overweening self-conceit are bad counsellors.

He managed the plan of abduction rather cleverly, choosing a time when Selene was about to pay a long visit to some relations in the city. On various pretexts he got rid of the escorting servants, substituting some of his own, who were quite ready to assist him; and then he contrived to have false messages sent to the friends at each end of her journey—to her own family that she had arrived in safety, to the others that her visit was postponed for a time. Thus he gained a whole week’ s start before his treachery was discovered, and at the end of that time it was impossible to find any trace of his movements. Viraj was naturally furious, and Alcyone and Mizar exceedingly anxious; they all knew that Selene would not willingly have fled with Deneb, and they all could not understand what had occurred. Several days were wasted in exhaustive enquiries, but no reliable information could be obtained. Then it occurred to Mizar that her sister Helios, the priestess might be able to help them, as she was in the habit of going into trances occasionally and prophesizing cryptically; so she paid her a visit and invoked her aid to discover the direction in which Selene had been taken. Helios was at once greatly interested and promised to do her best for them; she threw herself into a receptive condition, and emerged with the reassuring information that the girl was safe and well, and in no danger of any sort; but that she was being carried far, far away to the south, and that her pursuers would have to cross the great sea before they would overtake her.

On this somewhat meagre indication Alcyone and Viraj set out southward with a small escort of faithful attendants; they enquired constantly whether any such party as they sought had been seen, but for a long time found no trace of it. The fact was that Deneb had taken special precautions as long as he was in the land directly governed by the Manu, but had somewhat relaxed his vigilance when he entered the tributary States, so when they had crossed the frontier the pursuers at last heard news of those whom they were following, and so learnt that they were on the right road. That road however was no easy one, and many weeks had passed before they reached the ocean. There again some time was wasted in futile enquiries but finally they ascertained that whom they sought had embarked upon a vessel which traded to the great islands of the south—those which we now call the Dutch Indies. They took the next ship going in the same direction, and at each port of call they made careful enquiries, and at last, at a port in the island, which we now call Sumatra, they heard that their predecessors had disembarked and gone up into the hills in the interior. Now the condition of that island differed little in those days from what it is at present; that is, the coasts were settled and civilised and occupied by a keen race of traders; but the hills in the interior were to a large extent in the hands of various savages tribes, who, though they had learnt by experience to let the coast people alone, were frequently at war among themselves; so that the country was distinctly unsafe for travellers.

However there was nothing to be done but to follow, so Alcyone took with him an interpreter who understood the language of the tribes, and plunged bravely into the mountains. There was no semblance of a road and the party had much difficulty in making its way over the rugged country. Inquiring after a white fugitive, they were directed to a tribe in a peculiarly inaccessible region; but as they drew nearer to it and the rumors became more definite, they saw that they were on a wrong track, for the story was of a white man who came there alone many years before, and had joined himself to that valley and pursued their quest elsewhere, offering a large reward for information. Travelling round the same mountain at a lower level, they at last heard news which seemed unmistakably to refer to those whom they sought, for they were told that a small body of white people guarding a lady had recently appeared among them, and had been attacked by a neighboring tribe, but had contrived to make friends with its chief. The people were now living unharmed among the members of that tribe regarded as semi-divine beings, or great heroes, with a wonderful power of fighting. But it was said that the lady sat always apart, and hardly ever spoke, but seemed enveloped in sadness, though treated by all with the most distinguished consideration.

On receipt of this news our party pushed forward rapidly up that valley, but about half way up they were received by a flight of arrows, which killed a servant and two horses, causing a momentarydisorder, while they were hurriedly arranging themselves for a conflict, Deneb suddenly showed himself upon the top of a rock overlooking the position, and called out to them to hold their hands and retire. If they did this, he said, they would be left unmolested, but if they advanced further they would certainly all be killed, as he had posted his savages with the military genius of the Aryan. He told them that Selene was in good health and entirely unharmed, and that if she were left alone he was quite sure that he could presently prevail upon her to accept him as her husband; but that he intended to have fair play and would brook no interference.

Alcyone and Viraj would have none of this, but shouted back defiance to him, and ordered their followers to charge in open order up the valley. This they did in the face of another discharge of arrows, and as soon as they got to close quarters with the savages the latter broke and fled, for they were unable to stand before the better arms and greater valour of the civilised men. But though they would not fight man to man, they dodged behind rocks and trees and kept up a shower of Parthian shafts, and the small party of Aryans had suffered considerably before they finally put them to fight. Deneb had cheered on his savages at first, and some of his Aryan attendants were among them trying to check their flight; but when he came down from his rock and Alcyone sprang to meet him, he lowered the point of his sword and said:

“ Friends, I thought to withstand you because it seems to me that I have not been treated fairly; but I find that I cannot fight along with savages against a nobleman of my own race.”

Thus the indomitable pride of the Aryan blood told when a crisis came, and Alcyone understood and recognised the sentiment, even though he was angry at the unnecessary slaughter both of his own men and of the barbarians. He said:

“ But you have caused the death of many men at the hands of these creatures; is that conduct worthy of an Aryan ? Do you not know that for that alone you should be banished from the company of men ?”

(For it was the custom of the Aryans to speak of themselves as the noble—that indeed being the meaning of the word Aryan; of the highly civilised Atlantean races as ‘ men’ or as foreigners; and of the savage tribes simply as barbarians, not using for them the term ‘ men’ at all.)

“ I know,” replied Deneb, “ that that is against good morals because it is not our custom; but it has happened because you have pursued me thus into far countries and have not left me alone to carry out my plan.”

But Viraj broke in: “ Your plan is a wicked one, for none who is worthy of the name Aryan would thus try to coerce a free- born lady; you know quite well that your father, your mother, your brothers disapprove of it and are much ashamed because of you; you know that you yourself would be full of anger if anyone thus treated your sister Aulus. I demand therefore that you shall at once yield the young lady to me whom she has chosen , and if you will not I shall kill you here and now.”

“ No,” interposed Alcyone, “ I cannot allow that ,” replied Deneb; “ for what he says as to my sister Aulus is true, though I had not thought of it in that way before. I thought only of giving the Lady Selene an opportunity of knowing me thoroughly, feeling sure that my devotion would win her; but if it will not, I am far from desiring her unhappiness. I will abide by her decision.”

So they all climbed up the hill together, calling the scattered savages to them, and telling them that peace had been arranged. But the barbarians grumbled much, saying that many of them had been killed, and yet they had gained nothing. Their settlement was a collection of curiously-shaped wooden huts, surrounded by a defense of thorn-bushes, partly natural and partly artificial, but not quite effective; and our party had to climb over this by a rickety bamboo framework. The chief came somewhat sullenly to meet Deneb, not understanding how he had made friends with the enemy, and (like his people) not seeing what he had gained by the fray. He could not understand why so much fuss should be made about a woman, and regarded the whole affair as incomprehensible, but if the white stranger gave him money with which weapons could be bought, he was willing to sacrifice the lives of his people up to a certain number.

Our friends gave him scant attention, for Deneb was conducting them to the hut in which he had lodged Selene; but when they called her to come forth there was no answer, and she could not be found anywhere. There excited enquiries presently elicited the fact that the savage women set to guard the hut had felt it to watch the fight in the valley below, and meantime the prisoner had evidently escaped. the chief at once offered to behead the neglectful sentinels, and thought the Aryans less comprehensible than ever when they rejected his proposal with obvious disgust and horror. But the problem was, where could Selene have gone? The only way out of the valley was downward, and she had not passed them as they climbed up; there was nowhere where she could hide,, and the rocks above and at the sides were plainly inaccessible.

The chief attributed the disappearance to diabolical intervention, but Alcyone, though not entirely incredulous as to mysterious possibilities of that sort, was inclined to accept the suggestion, and sought persistently for a more commonplace explanation. The end of the valley was but small in area, and lay open before them, and there seemed no possibility of escape from it, as it was surrounded by a wall of sheer rock many feet in height, at the end of the valley, as is so often the case in similar formations, a cascade fell from still greater height. At the end of the valley, as is so often the case in similar formations, a cascade fell from still greater heights, making at its foot a pool in which the bolder spirits of the tribe sometimes bathed, though with circumspection, because of a tradition that some sinister creature dwelt there, who at some remote era of the past had seized two young men and carried them away—at least so it was supposed, for the young men had gone to bathe there and had never been seen again, nor could their bodies be found. Our friends were told that Selene, who had been allowed full liberty within the settlement, except when actual fighting was going on, had seemed attached to this pool and had swum in it daily, exciting the admiration of the barbarians by her courage and proficiency. No trace of her was now to be seen, however ; but Viraj had gloomy suspicions that somehow her disappearance might be connected with this pool. He argued with some show of reason that there was absolutely nowhere else in the valley where a body could be concealed; he had been into every hut in the village and they were all entirely without furniture . Alcyone had his suspicions of the savage chief, but could not accuse him, as it was impossible to formulate any reasonable theory of what he could have done with the missing young lady.

They returned to the hut which had been assigned to Deneb and his party to discuss the mystery; but Viraj prowled restlessly back to the cascade and its pool, muttering to himself that she might some how have fallen in, in some wild attempt to climb the rocks (though that looked manifestly impracticable); that the mythical monster might after all be real, and might have carried her off; that her body might be entangled in some weeds; and above all that there simply was not anywhere else where she could be. He had with him a confidential servant Boreas, a young man who was Alcyone’ s special personal attendant; and the man offered to dive into the pool and make a thorough examination of the bottom if he could reach it. Viraj agreed, and Boreas threw off his clothes and jumped in. He presently reappeared, reporting that the sides of the pool were shelving, but that he had not been able actually to reach the bottom.

Twice more he tried, but without success, and Viraj told him that he was only risking his life uselessly by trying to penetrate to depths beyond human reach. But he carved leave to try once more, because as he came up the last time he had observed a curious rock formation that he did not understand, and he thought there might be a shelf there under which a body might lodge. So after resting a few minutes he jumped in again; but this time he did not reappear as usual. After waiting fully five minutes, Viraj became convinced that some accident had happened, and he was just tearing off his own garments to spring in with a vague hope of discovering what had become of the faithful fellow, when Boreas came to the surface looking none the worse for his protracted immersion.

Viraj pronounced excitedly upon him, demanding an explanation; and a curious explanation it was. Boreas told him how he had investigated the shelf which he had noticed, and found that it overhung, and that there was an opening behind it. He had feared much that this might be the lair of the mythical beast, but nevertheless made up his mind to swim into it, lest the body, which he feared to find, might be concealed there. To his great surprise, a few strokes trough the darkness brought him into a place where there was a faint but unmistakable light, so he struck up instantly to the surface, and found himself in another pool, evidently in some sort of cave. The faint light filtered down from a great height, and both the cave and the pool appeared to be of considerable extent. Boreas was greatly surprised and awed, and still more decidedly of opinion that he had chanced upon the dwelling place of some destructive monster; but after a few minutes, spent in nervous contemplation, he recollected that Viraj must be wondering about him, and so he dived back again through the passage into full daylight and told his story.

Naturally Viraj at once went to see this wonder for himself, and returned much impressed and convinced that Selene must undoubtedly have discovered this strange way of escape when bathing, and waited to utilize it until opportunity offered. He hurried back to the hut where Alcyone and Deneb were still occupied in profitless speculation, and unfolded before them his discovery (or rather that of Boreas) and his ideas, and announced his intentions of following up this possible clue and thoroughly investigating the cave, in which he thought it probable that Selene might be hidden. He had called her and obtained no answer; but the extent of the fissure was unknown, and along this line there was at least hope and something definite to do. Alcyone and Deneb agreed with him, and decided forthwith to divide their party, leaving a considerable guard under a trusty subordinate to look after their horses and other property, while the leaders, with a few followers who were good swimmers, were to follow the track so strangely discovered, and either find Selene or prove to themselves that she had not taken the very unusual road.

Deneb, horrified at the unexplained disappearance of Selene, was now thoroughly on the side of our friends, and begged to be allowed to accompany them in the adventure, so Alcyone accepted him with full faith that he would prove himself a loyal comrade. They could take but little clothing, but they they armed themselves fully, in case the mythical monster should prove to have an unpleasantly real existence. They had not taken the savage chief into their confidence as to their intentions, telling him only that they meant to leave their horsed encamped outside his village while they made some further researches; but some of his people undoubtedly saw the extraordinary spectacle of a number of warriors leaping one after another into a pool and vanishing utterly from mortal sight—which may well have been the basis for many a marvelous legend for centuries to come.

Viraj led the way, as one who knew it ; Alcyone followed him, then Deneb, and then their men, Boreas bringing up the rear. Alcyone waited until all his men had emerged into the curious half-light of the cave and then ordered them to swim straight out from the wall through which they had entered. In this way they soon came to the other side of the cavern, and landed on a sloping rock, at one side of which a small stream of water was running into the pool. Alcyone decided to follow this stream of water as far as possible, as in doing that he would be safe from falling into some bottomless crevasse—a danger which he apprehended because of the insufficient light which filtered through some crevice high above them. Presently they lost even that, for the stream flowed along a kind of tunnel, but by wading in it they made their way safely; and after what seemed a long time they emerged into another cavern of different character—scarcely more than a grotto, but with much more light than the other. This time the opening through which it came was visible, and Alcyone resolved to abandon the friendly little stream, and try to climb to it. Finding the ascent possible, though hazardous, he called his men to follow him, and they emerged into daylight once more, at the bottom of a kind of cup or small basin among the rocks.

Climbing to the rim of this in the only place where it seemed feasible to attempt it, they found themselves on a little platform on the side of a steep rock. To go upwards was clearly out of the question; downwards was smooth as glass, and sloped at an alarming angle, but only for about twenty feet, beyond which lay an ordinary rocky hillside, perilously steep but quite negotiable. As there was nothing else to be done, our party let themselves slide down one by one, and all arrived among the boulders without mishap. They did not know in the least where they were, but they had followed the only track that it seemed to them practicable for Selene to have taken; and at any rate, as Viraj remarked, they certainly could not return the same way! They had come out at the head of a different ravine; and as they watched from among the rocks they saw men moving some distance below them, and presently they were able to make out the village, which seemed, however, to be without the usual defense of a thorn-hedge. They afterwards discovered that this settlement, into which they had found their way by an unsuspected back-door, was considered absolutely inaccessible, and was consequently never attacked by the surrounding tribes. The only way into its valley was by a narrow and giddy path running along a shelf half-way down a stupendous precipice—a path along which men could advance only in single file, which could be blocked in a moment by a few boulders, and defended by one man against an army only if it possessed savage’ s weapons. Its people therefore dispensed with the inconvenience of the thorn-hedge and for all-sufficient defense kept two sentinels watching always night and day at the nearer end of their path.

Our friends from their nest of rocks, watched the life of the village below them while they discussed how they should advance into it. Advance it was clear they must, as they could not sit there and starve among the rocks, and they could not get back up that slippery slope. They argued that Selene must have found the way that they had found, because there was practically no other. She might have hidden somewhere in the cave, but there seemed no reason why she should, and besides they had shouted at intervals as they came through. So the probabilities were that she was in the village in front of them. But how would she have been received by the savages? For it is to be noted that many of these tribes had a decidedly unsavoury reputation, and a wandering damsel in distress might well excite in them emotions other than chivalry. She had already been missing for some hours, so clearly it behoved our friends to act without delay. It appeared probable that by making their way carefully among the rocks they could approach a good deal nearer the village without being observed, so they began to move cautiously forward.

No one in the tribe had the faintest conception that they might be attacked from above—from the sky, as they would have phrased it; so no sort of watch was kept on that side, and all the huts faced down the ravine. So our party, moving circumspectly, attained unnoticed a position hardly more than a hundred yards from the rearmost house. There they called a halt, and watched for an indication that anything unusual was happening; when suddenly their ideas were all upset by seeing a white man step out into the sunlight in little open space in the town. The man wore the insignia of a chief, and was obviously not a prisoner; so Alcyone raised a great shout in his own language, and the whole party broke cover and rushed downwards as quickly as the nature of the ground permitted. In doing this they lost sight of the white man, but they took it forgranted that he would accept them as friends; yet there were wild cries of surprise and alarm, and a hurried beating of a drum, so they realised that they were perhaps acting too precipitately, and at the foot of the rocks they called a halt for a moment. It was time, for though they could not see a single person, there came from behind the huts a flight of arrows – fortunately harmless, but showing what sort of welcome they might expect. Alcyone walked forward alone, holding out his hand as a sign of peace, and calling out in his own tongue that he was a friend; but at that a figure with a white cloth drawn over its face, having holes for the eyes, stepped forth from behind a hut, and shouted in the same language.

“ No friend, but an enemy ever! But for you I should have gained my revenge; but for you I might have won my bride!

Shouting some word of command which brought forth another shower of arrows, and then a charge of a horde of savage warriors, he rushed upon Alcyone and attacked him furiously. Alcyone realised at once that this was a dangerous antagonist, and he had to employ all his skill to defend himself against this savage onslaught. A barbarian from the side struck at him with a spear; as he sprang back to avoid that, the savage, overreaching himself, stumbled for a moment between the antagonists. With a quick push and twist Alcyone threw him against the veiled man, and with one mighty stroke slew them both. A sharp hand-to-hand fight was by this time going on all round him, and he saw Deneb, at the head of a small band of his own followers, cutting his way heroically through the crowd of savages and driving them before him round the angle of the nearest hut. The fall of the veiled man evidently dispirited the black men, and they began to give way in all directions before the determined rush of the hand full of Aryans. As soon as the flight became general, and the largest group of huts was in the hands of the conquerors, Alcyone called back his pacific intentions by signs. The interpreter had been afraid to join the swimming party, so he had no ready means of communication with them; for the most part they remained in hiding, but at least they ceased to offer any resistance to his advance. further shouting was heard in front, and at first they thought it betokened a renewal of the fight but in a moment appeared Deneb, leading Selene by the hand (this was the first time during the whole of her adventure that she had permitted him to touch it) and he brought her to her father and said:

“ There, Sir, I restore to you that of which I had robbed you, with many regrets and apologies; for I see now what I did was ill done, and that I was thinking of myself and of my desire only. And not of the wishes of her whom, nevertheless, I truly and loyally loved.”

He would have said more, but at this point he felt a faint, for he was sorely wounded, and it was over his body that Selene was clasped in her father’ s arms. But a moment later he turned her over to her lover Viraj, and raised the unconscious form of Deneb. They bound up his wound as well as they could, and sprinkled water upon his face, and presently he recovered somewhat. They found that Selene during her enforced stay in that country had picked up a few words of the language of the barbarians, and knew, among other things, their peace-cry; so she was able to call some of them from their hiding-places, and explain that no harm would be done to them.

They knew of a plant whose leaves when chewed made an excellent application for wounds, and they soon had a sort of cataplasm of them prepared for Deneb and the other wounded men, and they cleaned out one of the largest huts sufficiently to enable them to use it as a shelter from the rays of the sun, and convert it into a temporary hospital. There was a point about which Alcyone had some curiosity, so he sought for the corpse of the first man who had opposed him, and dragged the veil off his head, to discover that this white chief of a savage tribe was none other than Gamma, whom long ago he had prevented from killing his brother-in-law Herakles.

Then Selene told them the story of her abduction, and of the intensity of her indignation and despair. She admitted that, except for the one all-important fact of thus carrying her off against her will, Deneb had behaved most chivalrously, and had done everything in his power for her comfort. Nevertheless, she would have none of him at any price, and she was always watching for an opportunity to escape. Deneb had expected pursuit, but thought that by burying himself for a time amidst the barbarians of this far-away island he would successfully conceal himself from it; and as soon as Selene had made up her mind to marry him he intended to return home and be forgiven for his escapade. Therefore he had made friends with the chieftain of the first tribe, and arranged to stay with him for a while and help him in his petty wars against neighboring tribes in return for his hospitality.

Selene when bathing and diving in the pool, had discovered the passage inside the cave only on the very day of the attack, and had intended to make use of it that same night, as soon as she had got together the jewels that she was wearing when abducted. By leaving at night she hoped to secure a good start, and, she trusted that no one would guess the manner of her flight. When the attack came, and everyone’ s attention was attracted by it, she saw opportunity and profited by it. She had no certainty that there was another way out of the cave, though she hoped there might be; but if she could find one, she had formed the plan of living in the cave, and diving out through the passage at night to obtain food, until such time as a chance might offer for escaping from the valley altogether.

That the cave should open into another territory on the other side of the mountain had occurred to her, but she was not slow to take advantage of it. She also had slid down that smooth rock, and when she found a white chief who understood her language, she thought all her troubles were at an end. But Gamma, though he received her with great respect, evidently thought that providence had sent her as mate for him, and was already dreaming of founding a white dynasty that should conquer all these barbarous tribes and unite them into one empire. He was at first perturbed to hear of a back-door into his impregnable valley, but on consideration begged her to keep the secret from his followers, as he saw that he might be able to use it to impress his people with an idea of his supernatural powers. Selene saw that she had escaped from one too persistent a suitor only to fall into the hands of another even less desirable, and her situation would still have been very difficult if it had not been for the opportune arrival of her father.

But now the question was how to bring together the two halves of their expedition, and how to manage with their wounded men. It was manifest that these latter could not be carried back by the route which they already knew, even though the construction of a rough bamboo ladder enabled them to overcome the difficulty of the smooth rock, and as inspection of the only way into the valley had satisfied Alcyone that so large a burden as a helpless man could not possibly be conveyed safely along so dangerous a path. There was, therefore no alternative but to stay where they were until their wounded recovered, and to try to bring the other section of their party from some other way. Such enquiries as Selene was able to make with the tribe on the other side of the mountain elicited only the vague reply that it lived in a different country at a distance of many days journey. Viraj volunteered to return through the tunnel with a single armament and bring the horses and the rest of the party round to the lower part of the valley where they now were ; and after much anxious consideration Alcyone decided that there was nothing better to be done than to accept the suggestion. So the ladder was rigged up, and the two men went back to the valley they had left and rejoined their comrades there.

By heavy bribes they induced two men of that tribe to go with them as guides to show the shortest way round the base of the mountain, but the country was so rugged, and such wide detours had to be made to avoid hostile tribes, that it was fully two weeks before Alcyone’ s sentinels at the other end of the rock-ledge announced the approach of Viraj. They regarded it as too great a risk to try to bring their horses along that impracticable path, so a camp had to be made at other end of it; but that naturally lay open to attack, and they deemed it wise to take some trouble to fortify it. No one interfered with them, however, for curious stories of their strange powers were already beginning to circulate among the savages, who were at the stage of development at which witchcraft always seems the simplest explanation of any unusual fact.

As tribal affairs had been disorganized by the death of their chief, Alcyone temporarily took his place, and endeavored to do simple justice as well as he could in circumstances which he often but practically comprehended. Gamma, it appeared, had taken a wife from among the savages, and had several children, the eldest being a boy of sixteen. Gamma had taught his children to speak the Aryan tongue, so Alcyone offered to take them to Manoa, but they all agreed in preferring to cast in their lot with the tribe whose customs and life they knew; so Alcyone demanded from the people whether they were prepared to recognize Gamma’ s eldest son as their chief when he himself left, and they all agreed to this, being full of reverence for the white men, whom they regarded as peculiarly favored by the gods. They had thought of Gamma as invulnerable and even now held that he could not have been killed except by superior white man, who, as they believed, came down mysteriously from heaven to execute upon him some divine decree.

So Alcyone took Gamma’ s son to live with him during his stay, and tried to give him some rudimentary education in the ways of the Aryan, especially indicating principles of justice and gentleness, and emphasizing the responsibility of the chief for the welfare and happiness of his people. The boy absorbed all this eagerly, and promised faithfully to observe this teaching all his life long, and to hand it on to his children in turn. with regard to this question of the succession, the boy spoke eagerly to Alcyone, begging him to send him from Manoa a white girl to be his wife, for he felt that the inspiration of these new ideas would fail him if his household became as that of the savages over whom he was to rule. Alcyone had gently explained that the conditions of life in faraway Manoa were so utterly different that no woman would consent permanently to leave them for the sake of sovereignty over a sumatran tribe; but as he found that the custom of the tribe permitted and even encouraged the marriage of brothers and sisters, and as gamma’ s eldest daughter only a year younger than the boy, had the same deep-rooted repulsion against accepting a barbarian husband, it seemed to him that it would be the lesser of two difficulties to allow these two to follow the habit of the tribe, and so perpetuate a mulatto line of chiefs who might, he hoped, be trusted at least to carry on the traditions he was endeavoring to implant.

This ,then, was the arrangement finally made; and when, after some months, Deneb seemed sufficiently strong to make the perilous journey along the rocky shelf with safety, Alcyone himself celebrated the nuptials of these two strangely situated young people, and solemnly installed them as king and queen of the tribe, making a speech on the occasion (through the new king as interpreter) in which he gave the people much good advice, and promised them great prosperity if they followed it. He had previously exhorted them to refrain from useless attacks on their neighbors, and to make the most of their great natural advantages by cultivating their valley to the utmost, so that it would be entirely self supporting.

So, with many farewells from the new chief and chieftains, the Aryans at last set out on their homeward journey, which they accomplished without special incident. Alcyone had been away from home so long that there was great interest in his return, and he was forced to give a public account of his travels which practically amounted to a course of lectures. Sirius and Mizar were delighted to welcome back their son, and the wedding of Viraj and Selene was immediately (organized) with much pomp and rejoicing, the chief actors being popular public characters on account of their romantic experiences. During his recovery from his wounds Deneb had learned to reconcile himself to his fate, when after a year or two he married Castor, and settled down into a meek husband and father.

This may be described as the principal adventure of Alcyone’ s life, which for the rest followed an even course of happiness and usefulness. It seems curious that in this incarnation, as in the last which we examined, one incident should stand out so prominently from the rest of the life, and that in each case these incidents should be connected with the rescuing of a damsel, in distress. Electra, who had been the centre and cause of that strange adventure six thousand years before, was born this time as Alcyone’ s nephew, the son of Herakles, in order to obtain that infusion of Akkadian blood which the Manu required; but he married Alcyone’ s daughter Euphra, and was with him as much as though he had belonged to his family directly by birth.

Electra and Euphra had a son Echo, who was a strikingly handsome and most promising boy, but nervous and highly strung. Unfortunately his eager yearning for information led him to over-study, so that his health broke down, and he became the victim of some obscure nervous disease. They gave him complete rest and set him to live entirely out-of-doors, and it was part of his illness laid upon before him the whole realm of the nature spirits, who were greatly attracted by this wonderful beauty, so that he entered eagerly and unrestrainedly into their life, and absolutely lost interest in that of humanity. He became etherealised and spiritualized in the strangest way, yet from the physical point of view he was obviously losing strength daily, and drawing near to some unnatural euthanasia.

Euphra was in despair about him , and at last look him to her father Alcyone, who had a reputation for effecting mesmeric cures. Alcyone was deeply interested in the strange case of his grandson, for whom he had a strong affection; he took the boy to live with him for a while, and spent much time in the investigation of this unusual disorder. He did not in the least discourage his love for the woods and the company of the mature spirits, but made a point of accompanying and sympathizing with him for asking him to describe and explain everything to him fully. At the same time he watched carefully for the slightest symptoms of the dawning the purely human interest, and one day he, thought he detected it when his little granddaughter Ida paid him a visit. So he promptly borrowed her from her mother Herminius for a long visit and let the two children be always together.

Little by little by his wise direction, the influence of human ---ld replaced that of the fairies, and Echo gradually regained the physical strength which has so nearly lleft him forever. Alcyone laid great stress upon achieving this with the full and hearty consent of all parties concerned, especially the fairies; for it this had not been done, if they had resigned their playfellow unwillingly, they would always have been trying to draw him back and there would have been a perpetual danger of relapse, and an unceasing feeling of resentment and hostility which would surely have led to disastrous results. But it was only after many months that Alcyone pronounced the boy fully cured and restored him to his parents, advising them to marry him to Ida ( since that was now the one dominant wish of his heart, and both she and her parents were agreeable to the match) as soon as ever they were old enough, this advice was accepted, and the young couple were ideally happy, all trace of Echo’ s nervousness having now completely disappeared, and his physical health being fully re-established, though something of the ethereality of aspect always remained to him.

When the Manu left His body , Osiris ascended the throne of Manoa, but Sirius, his brother, ruled the little community in the newly reclaimed valley, and after the death of Sirius, Alcyone succeeded to the charge. When he also passed away, at his special wish authority was vested in his nephew Viraj, the companion of his great adventure of many years ago. After him in turn followed Dhruva his son, who married Ajax; and the Manu Himself honored them by reappearing as their eldest son, and by His incarnation the new sub-race was definitely started on its way.

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Chart VII

Central Asia 32000 B.C.

1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th

Egeria -Callio Mizar -Sirius

Arthur -Telema Lyra -Ulysses

Rex -Cygnus Hestia -Osiris

Theo -Colos Altair -Arcor Achilles -Alcyone

Olaf -Holly

Clio -Cento Cassio -Norma

Beth -Kamu

Alma -Zama Gnostic -Forma

Crux -Pax Myna -Hebe

Bee -Pearl Vesta -Aldeb

Aulus -Dora Philae -Iris

Xalon -Alba Cygnus -Rex

Rao -Irene Magnus -Parthe Alces -Daphne Mars -Siwa

Deneb -Castor

Melete -Auson Aurora -Saturn

Erato -Orpheus Algol -Beren

Atlas -Math

Argus -Daleth Aletheia -Canopus

Cento -Clio Udor -Lomia

Zephyr -Eudox Lobelia -Fort

Walter -Koli

Jerome -Eros Libra -Vajra

Obra -Nestor Sappho -Spes Betel -Clare Ivy -Rigel

Orca -Judex Lutea -Lili Castor -Deneb Demeter -Venus Roxana -Capri Aqua -Dolphin Thor -Bella

Auriga -Ophis

Zama -Alma Helios -Pallas

Pax Crux

Eudox -Zephyr Kos -Saggitta Amal -Calyx Hector -Albireo

Nicos -Ronald Arica -Muni

Mona -Aglaia Alba -Xulon

Beren -Algol

Leo -Jupiter

Koli -Walter

Flora -Melpo Cyr -Camel Phoenix -Rector Leto -Elsa

Dactyl -Dido Jason -Wences Oak -Proteus Tolosa -Sylla

Vajra -Libra

Lomia -Udor Capella -Rama

Sextans -Gluck Nestor -Obra Gem -Apis Kudos -Bruce Fides -Brihat

Auson -Melete Dolphin -Aqua

Draco -Spica Math -Atlas Rosa -Rhea

Electra -Euphra

Chart VII

Central Asia 32000 B.C.

1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th

Echo -Ida

Irene -Rao Pisces -Lignus Aglaia -Mona Polaris -Beatus Osiris -Hestia (Herakles) -Orion

Scotus -Virgo Dora -Aulus

Trefoil -Pepin

Fort -Lobelia Ophis -Auriga Canopus -Aletheia

Judex -Orca Juno -Kim

Tiphys -Concord Iris -Philae Arcor -Altair

Soma -Taurus Gaspar -Stella Sirona -Fabius Capri -Roxana Hygeia Athena -Apollo

Brihat -Fides Ixion -Yajna Clare -Betel

Sylla -Tolosa Uranus -Mira

Flos -Leopard Rhea -Rosa Psycho -Xanthos

Selene -Viraj Zeno -Nita Manu -Mercury

Corona -Alex

Leopard -Flos Dome -Chrys Alcyone -Achilles Vega -Vulcan Fons -Andro Neptune -Fomal

Fabius -Sirona Lignus -Pisces Hermia -Percy Parthe -Magnus Callio -Egeria

Diana -Quies Gluck -Sextans Euphra -Electra Andro -Fons Spica -Draco

Daleth -Argus Lili -Lutea Pindar -Aquilla Kim -Juno

Calyx -Amal Telema -Arthur

Hebe -Myna

Camel -Cyr Stella -Gaspar Orion -Herakles

Jupiter -Leo

Dhruva -Ajax

Manu Viraj -Selene

Wences -Jason Apollo -Athena

Rama -Capella

Ajax -Dhruva Vulcan -Vega

Quies -Diana Forma -Gnostic Sirius -Mizar

Xanthos -Psyche Albireo -Hector

Alex -Corona Sif -Kratos Yajna -Ixion

Eros -Jerome

177

Chart VII

Central Asia 32000 B.C.

1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th

Muni -Aries Aquilla -Pindar

Kamu -Beth

Melpo -Flora Saturn -Aurora

Gimel -Zoe Concord -Tiphys Viola -Theseus Nita -Zeno Colos -Theo

Ronald -Nicos Taurus -Soma

Norma -Cassio Ulysses -Lyra Ara -Priam Percy -Hermin

Ida -Echo

Sagitta -Kos

Kratos -Sif

Mira -Uranus Rector -Phoenix Spes -Sappho

Bruce -Kudos Virgo -Scotus Fomal -Neptune

Venus -Demeter

Dido -Dactyl Theseus -Viola

Zoe -Gimel Daphno -Alces Priam -Ara Elsa -Leto

Orpheus -Erato Chrys -Dome Beatus -Polaris

Pepin -Trefoil Holly -Olaf Proteus -Oak Bella -Thor

Gamma

Boreas

Life VIII

Alcyone’ s next birth, which took place more than eight hundred years later, may be regarded as in many respects a continuation of the last. The Band of Servers came again into the same valley, to carry to on the development of the same rub-race, now thoroughly well settled and become a recognised subsidiary nation. This was not one of the occasions on which the Manu Himself thought it necessary to be in incarnation, but His pupil Jupiter was ruling the valley on His behalf, and Alcyone appears as his eldest son. He was, as usual in these early times, surrounded by some of those egos who seem to be most closely related to him, for we find as his brothers Mizar, Herakles, Selene and Sirius, as his sisters Neptune and Venus; he marries Electra, his sons are Apollo, Fides, Vulcan and Aquila, and his daughters Brihat, Euphora and Quies.

It seems evident that these groupings are not in any way matters of chance, but are carefully arranged as part of a definite plan, in which the close physical association of the semi-patriarchal family life of those times was utilised to attain the required results, just as in the present day of semi-detached families quite other means are used, and advantage is taken of the mental association of societies or clubs of various kinds. That the methods employed have been effective is shown by the case of Alcyone. Of the group just mentioned only one was in this present twentieth-century life into physical relationship with him, yet every member of it, on

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meeting him for what was then supposed to be the first time, instantly recognized the spiritual relationship which means so much more than any earthly tie. Many others than these belong to his group, but we give these as an example of what is meant. And what is true of Alcyone and his immediate and closest circles is also true of other groups or subdivisions of the clan of Servers, and to somewhat less extent of the clan as a whole. Forty or fifty lives ago we find Alcyone engaged in riveting these special links of which we have just spoken; later we shall find him meeting these people frequently, it is true, but still somewhat less closely associated with them, because he is then engaged in forming certain other links— making efforts the results of which are perhaps still in the future.

As the real object of the incarnations is the formation of these links, so that the members of the clan may learn to understand and trust one another, and thus gradually become a pliable, reliable, intelligent unit that can be employed by the great ones as an instrument, it is obvious that we cannot measure the importance of any life by the superficial incidents which are all that we can describe in our series of stories. Picturesque occurrences may sometimes offer opportunity for heroical effort, and so may suddenly crystallize into visibility the result of long, slow interior growth; but a life barren of adventure may yet be fruitful in quiet development of necessary qualities. Of such a nature was this eight life of our series—a life happy, industrious, unsensational—pleasantly, placidly progressive.

In his boyhood he met with a slight accident that might easily have had fatal consequences, but he fortunately escaped from it unhurt, though it was not without its effect on the direction of his studies and interests in later life. As a boy he was fond of being alone; and he often climbed the rocks at the back of his father’ s house, and wandered off upon solitary expeditions among the hills. On one of these when he was about twelve years old he came upon a pretty little dell which he did not remember to have seen before, and ran down to explore it. At one place an unusual appearance in the rock attracted his attention, and he jumped down into a small hollow to examine it more closely. To his great surprise the ground gave way beneath him, and he had the sensation of a considerable fall and a shock, and found himself in dark.

He could not imagine what had happened, and he was very much startled and a good deal frightened. He was lying upon something soft—something which felt like vegetation, which had evidently broken his fall and he understood that he must somehow have dropped into a sort of cave; but he could not at all comprehend why he could see nothing of the hole through which he must have fallen, and why he found himself in utter darkness. The shock had dazed him for a few moments, but as soon as he recovered he stood up and stretched his hands all round, but felt nothing. A few cautious steps brought him to a smooth wall, along which he felt for some distance, but it seemed to continue in a straight line indefinitely. He was completely puzzled as to his situation, and decidedly uncomfortable about it; but he reasoned that as he had somehow fallen down into this place, his best plan would be to try to climb out of it by the same way, if he could only find it. So he felt his way back along the wall until he thought he reached about the place where he originally came into touch with it, and after two or three trials he stumbled over the vegetation among which he had fallen.

Standing there, he looked upwards, but could not see anything; he stretched his hand up, but touched nothing. Then he leapt upwards as high as he could, but found only blank space. He certainly had somehow fallen in at that point, and he could not understand why there was no trace of the hole through which he must have come.

No theory which he could formulate would explain the facts, and he began to suspect some supernatural interference, and to wonder whether he had been entrapped by some weird denizens of the underworld, who could see in the dark. An unpleasant suggestion, which he hurriedly rejected; and he decided that as it seemed to be impossible to get up he might well move along the wall as before, so as at least to discover the dimensions of his prison. He was not sure of his direction, and for some time he could not find the wall, and when at last he did touch it he came upon it obliquely instead of at right angles as before. He wondered whether it was the same wall, or whether he had reached the other side of his dungeon; but as he moved along it he found that it had the same characteristic of apparently indefinite extension. He had been in caves before—many of them; but none in the least like this. The extraordinary smoothness of both the wall and the floor impressed him, as well as the amazing size of the place. He walked -------with his hand upon the wall – cautiously indeed , for he knew that in caves one often came suddenly upon holes, and even pits of great deapth but here the floor seemed as smooth as a pavement, and the idea crosses itself into his mind that this must be an artificial excavation. But he had never heard of any such thing. Besides, he knew that a cave of any size is usually of corresponding height, which this could not be because of the small distance that he had fallen; and he knew that he had been walking beside that wall long enough to have crossed half of the great city itself; and how could any cave be of such dimensions as that ?

The affair was a hopeless riddle; but at least he could do nothing but keep moving, though he was beginning to be oppressed by fears that there was something uncanny in the business, and that this nightmare of walking in the darkness would never end. Indeed, at one time he seriously entertained the idea that he might have been killed by the fall without knowing it, and was now wandering in some strange underworld of the dead ! Still, there were difficulties in the way of that theory, and meantime he was growing physically tired, which seemed to show that he was still in the body. On and on he went, and his pace grew insensibly faster, for he learnt to trust the unvarying smoothness of the floor, and stepped out almost as briskly as if he were in the light, though always keeping one hand on the wall beside him, and the other stretched out in front, in case this amazing excavation should come to an end at last. But all the while two things daunted him – the intensity of the darkness and the silence. In a dark room on earth there is generally some ray of half light, some diminution of the blackness; but here it was so absolute, so uncompromising that it seemed to fold about him like a pall. Then the silence again; it was not the relative silence of the upper world, but an absolute silence that seemed unearthly in its finality. And then the utter incomprehensibility of the whole business; perhaps it was better not to think; but just mechanically to push on.

A hard trial for a boy of twelve; but fortunately even then he was already determined and persevering. So he pushed on steadily and tried to feel his mind a blank, even when he felt as though time must have ended and eternity begun. And then suddenly in front of him appeared a point of light like a star – so suddenly that he uttered an exclamation.He could not tell how far from him it was – that tiny spot of intense light, but he forgot his fatigue and hurried forward towards it, only then realising, by the magnitude of his relief, how near to hopelessness had been before. For a long time it seemed no nearer, for all his hurried walk; but at long last he saw that it was larger – that instead of being a point it was a hole. After yet another spell of walking the darkness began to grow less intense, and presently through the gloom he discovered another wall running parallel to his, and a little later a roof, perhaps six feet above his head; so that he realized that he must have walking for miles along an unquestionably artificial tunnel, and he began to hope that the point of light in front might prove to be the mouth of it.

So, quite simply, it did; and presently he found himself out in the blessed sunlight once more, and for a few minutes quite blinded by it. The tunnel debauched into a cuplike hollow on a lonely hillside which Alcyone had never seen before, and he had no idea where he was, though that troubled him little now he had escaped from the horror of the dark. Before leaving that strange subterranean passage, he turned to examine it more carefully, and his eye confirmed what his hands had long ago told him – the wonderful smoothness of the walls and the floor. But his sense of touch had not been able to inform him that the walls of this tunnel were profusely decorated with drawings, by no means badly executed in a rough but foreseeable style. These drawings, extended inwards as far as the light from the entrance permitted him to see; he promised himself to return and investigate more fully later, but at the height of the sun in the sky, he calculated that he could not have been more than three hours in the darkness, though it had seemed whole days; and he resolved to climb to the top of the hill in the hope of determining his whereabouts, the matter needed some consideration, for though he recognized the outline of certain peaks, he was regarding them from quite a new point of view; and it was some time before he realized that he had come through the heart of a mountain, and that to get back he would have to make his way either over it or round it.

Now that he had time to think of it he found that he was hungry, but unfortunately the mountain side provided nothing edible, so he had to push on as well as he could. After some climb he came to a stream and drank, which greatly refreshed him, for in the tunnel there had been a fine, almost impalpable, dust which made him very thirsty. When he gained the shoulder of the hill, he wanted to see his way back to his valley, but he had to walk fully two miles, so that it was late evening before he reached home, and his father had begun to feel anxious about him.

His tale of adventure keenly interested his father, and next day they went together to the scene of the accident taking with the several men, with a rope and some torches. Alcyone had little difficulty in finding again the valley in which, as he put it, the earth seemed to open and swallow him, but the curious appearance in the rock which had originally attracted his attention was no longer visible. What he had noticed was a crack about four feet long and a few inches wide, with sharply defined edges, and when he had leapt down to examine it more closely he had a vague impression that he must have somehow fallen through it, impossible though that seemed. But no such crack was now visible, and his father thought that he had not found the right spot, while Alcyone felt quite sure that he had, but could not explain the change.

Presently he saw an oddly rectangular depression in the rock, and going to look at it more closely, found that the apparently solid rock yielded when he set his foot upon it. For a moment he saw his crack of yesterday, and then as he drew back it again disappeared. He was much startled, but a shout brought his father to the spot, and they proceeded to make a cautious investigation. They soon found that there was a square of rock—a sort of flagstone—which yielded when pressure was brought to bear upon it, and opened downwards like a trap door, swinging back into its place as the pressure was withdrawn. Further examination showed that it was worked by a simple but ingenious counterweight, and that it closed against a deep overlapping rim which prevented the faintest gleam of light from penetrating. It was evident that in some way a fragment of rock had been caught in the opening of this trap door, and had prevented it from closing completely. Through the crack thus left open—who shall say for how many years? light and rain penetrated , and as a result a thin cushion of giant moss had grown directly under the trapdoor, and had broken Alcyone’ s fall. As he sped upon the slab it had yielded under his weight; the fragment of rock had fallen, and so the door swung back perfectly into its place to completely shut out the light.

But what could have been the purpose of so strange an arrangement, and who could have made it? And what prehistoric race could have built a tunnel six miles long through hard rock, and why? To answer these natural questions further explorations were necessary; so by the aid of the rope which they had brought, Jupiter and Alcyone, with some of their men, descended into the passage and lighted their torches. At this point also the walls were found to be covered with drawings, so they at first supposed that they were thus ornamented through the whole length of the passage; but it was afterwards ascertained that the pictures were in groups, with long blank intervals, rendering it probable that they fulfilled a function roughly resembling that of the Stations of the Cross in a catholic church. As the tunnel extended in both directions, they might see what was at the other end of this extraordinary excavation.

With their torches they could move forward rapidly, and they soon came to a point where the passage divided , or rather where another and much wider passage left it at right angles. Attracted by the appearance of this wider passage they turned along it, and found that it led them to a large hall, which from its arrangement had obviously been uses as a temple. At the end of it was a roughly-hewn statue of colossal size and forbidding appearance, and in front of it a platform which could hardly be anything but an alter, though not of the usual shape. The walls of this temple were covered with drawings, some of them intended to represent dances and orgies, probably of questionable character. Climbing upon the alter, Alcyone narrowly escaped falling thorough another trap-door constructed exactly in the same way as that which had introduced him to this subterranean system.

Holding back this trap door and putting their torches through it, they were unable to see a plain square room, into which Alcyone of course begged to be allowed to descend. They lowered him into it, and Jupiter came after him, to find him examining a kind of stone trough or sarcophagus which occupied one side of the chambers empty now, but possibly once the tomb of some high priest of this forgotten religion which celebrated its mysteries thus in the bowels of the earth. At the end of the chamber were depressions in the wall by which it was possible to climb it, and on mounting these Alcyone found himself inside the great stone statue, and able to look out upon the temple through certain cunningly contrived holes. Probably this was an arrangement to enable the priest to speak oracles through the mouth of the goddess; but it seemed curious that the only discoverable entrance should be through a trap-door on the altar itself. Alcyone suggested that perhaps offerings placed upon it were made to drop through and disappear in token of their acceptance by the goddess; or that if they built a fire on their alter, the priest may have acquired a reputation by mysteriously disappearing amidst the smoke.

As their supply of torches was rapidly diminishing, they judged it prudent to leave the temple, and when they regained the narrower passage they continued their walk along it, to see whither it led. After a time they came out, as Alcyone had done the day before, into a small cup-shaped depression, but in this case rocks and earth had slipped down and almost closed the entrance, so that they had some difficulty in pushing their way out. When they were able to look round them, they saw that they were quite near home—on a sort of ledge in the face of a cliff overlooking their own valley. The place was now inaccessible from below, but from the appearance of the spot it seemed likely that a land-slip had occurred at some remote period, and that , before that, there might well have been an easy path to the mouth of the tunnel. But what race had done this work of excavation, and why they had thought it necessary to take such a stupendous amount of trouble—these facts remained unexplained.

Alcyone was much interested in the place, feeling that he had a sort of proprietary right over it, because he had discovered it. He used to visit it frequently with his boy friends, one of whom, Albireo , made copies of all the drawings. They measured the passages, and made a plan of the whole excavation, and put together their drawings, plans and writings into a kind of book, which was forwarded to the King at Manoa, and kept in the great museum there. The drawings were evidently illustrative of the ceremonies to be performed at certain stages of the journey to the temple, and some of them were of a very remarkable character.

This curious accident had a considerable influence over Alcyone, turning his interest strongly in the direction of the study of prehistoric peoples and their religions and ceremonies. In connection with this he made friends with the curator of the museum at Manoa, and induced him to write to a similar official in the city of the Golden Gate at Poseidonis, sending a description of the excavation and the statue, and copies of some of the drawings, and asking whether others of the same kind were known. In due course came a reply from the chief guardian of the Atlantean museum to the effect that there were two places in Poseidonis where excavations of the same nature existed ( plans and drawings of which were enclosed) and that they were relics of a curious secret cult of the Earth Goddess, supposed to have been practiced by one of the later Lemurian sub-races, and borrowed from them by the Rmoahal. The cult was credited with obscene rites and even with human sacrifice, but the Atlantean curator considered these charges unproved, and begged for a full set of copies of all the drawings in the newly-discovered excavations, hoping that they might throw some light upon his theories. Alcyone himself, young as he was, started a correspondence with the Atlantean scientist, and suggested the various theories which had occurred to him to account for what he had observed. Alcyone acquired a great deal of information from these learned letters from Atlantis, and he also studied carefully whatever could be learnt along archaeological lines in the museum of Manoa, so that while still quite young he was a recognised authority on these subjects. The instruction gained from the Poseidonian curator threw much light on the religion and habits of the ancient race which had made the excavations, but they never conclusively established the use of the trap door through which Alcyone first fell. A similar arrangement had been discovered in one of the Atlantean passages, but its opening was in the floor of a small temple built on the surface of the earth, whereas if any building had ever surrounded Alcyone’ s trap door, no traces remained of it. It may have been intended to trap the unwary, to get rid secretly of undesirable or unruly worshippers, or simply to enable some priest who knew the trick of it to acquire a reputation by mysterious disappearances. Nothing remained either in picture or tradition, which definitely explained the mystery.

Alcyone’ s close friends gathered round him in serried phalanx in this incarnation, as in so many others. Among his brothers were Mizar, Herakles, Sirius and Selene, and when he came of age he married Electra, the daughter of Corona and Viraj. His life was happy and useful, for he was surrounded by those whom he loved, and was keenly interested in the work which he had to do—the government and improvement of the valley. He was in sole control of the valley after the passing of his father Jupiter, but before that he was incharge of a district which occupied most of his energies, and gave him very little time for his archaeological studies.

Among other functions Alcyone had to act as judge, and obtained a certain reputation for the acumen which he showed in difficult cases. One curious affair which came under our notice involved sons of our characters, and therefore may be of interest. There was in the chief city of the valley a man named Homara, who had acquired great wealth by trading and money lending, and had the reputation of being grasping and unscrupulous; in fact, though many made use of him in emergencies, few had a good word to say for him, and he was strongly suspected of blackmailing, though nothing had ever actually was proved against him. One night this man was murdered; his body was found in the road, the head being crushed in, as though by a succession of tremendous blows with a heavy cudgel. The road where the body lay was one of those running along the side of the valley and just underneath a terrace, so that all along one side of it was a high blank wall which was in reality the front of the terrace above, with houses and gardens coming to the edge of it; while on the other side of it was a row of houses, each standing in its own garden. Though the gates of these gardens opened from the road, it was only their backs which were visible from it, as all their principal rooms faced downhill across the valley for the sake of the view. Consequently though the street was in a populous residential quarter, and really had houses gardens continually on both sides, it was nevertheless comparatively lonely and very little overlooked. Thus the murder had not been witnessed, though it seemed certain that it had been committed early in the evening.

Homara’ s wife informed the police that her husband had left home at dark, saying that he had an appointment to meet Clio. Now Clio was heavily in debt to Homara, and the latter was pressing him for immediate payment which would have meant ruin to Clio; so here seemed a possible motive for the murder, and Clio was promptly arrested. He admitted having an appointment with the murdered man in the same street where his body was found, but stated that Homara had not kept it, and that after waiting for some hours at the rendezvous he had returned home. Various people came forward to bear testimony that while passing along the road they had seen Clio lurking about, and that he endeavored to avoid them; and two witnesses declared that they had also seen Clio’ s brother Theodorous loitering suspiciously in that same area. An order was therefore issued for his arrest, and it was elicited that he had a grudge against Homara on his own account, as the latter was in love with Taurus, whom Theodorous desired to marry; but as Homara had some kind of hold over her elder brother Stella, he was able to put obstacles in Theodorous’ way.

Each of these two brothers , Clio and Theodorous, believed secretly that the other had committed the murder, and each credited the other with semi-unselfish motives; for Clio thought that Theodorous had done this thing to save the family from ruin, while Theodorous supposed that Clio had been principally influenced by a desire to secure the happiness of his younger brother. Thus each was animated with the idea of sacrificing himself to save the other, and consequently each confessed himself guilty, to the great perplexity of the judge. The natural suggestion was that the brothers had conspired together to remove the obstruction from their path, but both of them vehemently denied this, and all the testimony of those who had seen them agreed that they had not been together. Alcyone leaned to the theory that booth were guilty of the wish and intention to murder, but did not see his way to a decision as to which of them struck the fatal blow, especially as there was no evidence to show that either of them had been carrying a weapon capable of inflicting such injuries.

At this stage of the proceedings Udor appeared before the judge, and asked to be allowed to depose. Permission being given, he said that he had wished to remain silent, but that his conscience would no longer allow him to do so; he could not let innocent men suffer for his action, so he felt bound to confess that it was he that had killed Homara; though he declared that the blow had been struck in self defense. His story was that he was hurrying along that inauspicious road late on the night in question, when a man wildly waving some kind of weapon rushed threateningly upon him. Startled at this unexpected and menacing apparition, he had struck out sharply with a thick stick which he was carrying; his assailant fell heavily, striking his head against the wall, and lay at his feet, apparently unconscious. Udor, unnerved by the suddenness of all this, did not stay for his recovery, but hastened home, hoping thereby to avoid being involved in any trouble. He declared that at the time he had no idea of the identity of the man whom he had struck; but when afterwards he heard that the body of Homara had been found, he supposed that this must be his opponent, and was horrified beyond words to find himself guilty of homicide, however unintentionally and even excusably. Still he had said nothing, hoping that the death of Homara would remain a mystery, but when he found that, from some incomprehensible accession of generosity or through some strange mistake, other men were taking upon themselves the blame of his action, he felt it his duty to come forward. He had not known Homara, and could offer no suggestion as to his reason for attacking him; at the time he had thought that the man must be mad. He was uncertain as to the part of the road where the incident took place but such impression as he had did not point to the spot where the body had been found, nor could he understand how such a blow as he had given could produce the results described.

Alcyone’ s curiosity and interest were keenly excited by this extraordinary crime, of which three separate persons confessed themselves guilty; he remanded the case, and himself went down to view the spot where the body had been found, wishing to form his own conclusions as to some points which had arisen. The first thing which he noticed was the existence of a ditch at the bottom of the lofty wall before mentioned; and he at once remarked that this disposed of Udor’ s story, for if a man had fallen so as to strike his head against the wall, his body could not have remained in a heap upon the pavement as described, but must have collapsed into the ditch. Inspecting that ditch, a large fragment of hewn stone attracted his attention, and he demanded that it should be lifted out and brought to him. On a closer examination the under side of it was seen to be stained by a dark fluid, evidently blood, and hair resembling that of the dead man was found adhering to it. Stopping back into the road and looking upward, he saw that there was a corresponding gap in the coping of the wall twenty feet above, and he immdiately demanded to know who lived in the house whose garden was directly above the spot where they stood. Being told that it was a man of the name of Nabha, he ordered that he should be brought before him, and enquired what he knew as to the fallen stone. Nabha hesitated for a while and at last seemed to make up his mind to speak out.

“ I will tell you the whole truth, my lord,” he said; “ it is I who killed Homara, and I do not regret it, for I believe I did well to rid the world of such a ruffian. Yet have I had no peace of mind since the deed was done, and perchance if I confess it openly I may find rest. This dead man, my lord, was an evil doer, without shame or remorse; because I had borrowed money from him and was in his power he had forced me to give up to him my daughter Suadhu, and under promise of a full quittance he carried her off to minister to his vile pleasures. Yet after this he made still further demands upon me, telling me that he still held documents which enabled him to seize my home and land. Hearing this, I became mad against him, and thought to go and slay him with my hands.”

“ That night as I walked in my garden cursing him and planning how I could be revenged upon him, I looked over into the street far below and there I saw the very man. I caught sight of his face as he passed close to a lamp, and I knew that the powers of evil had answered my prayer and had delivered him into my hand. I went and stood by the loose stone in the coping of my wall; and balanced it so that a touch would throw it down. Hurriedly I dropped over a small piece of stick, to determine the exact spot where the stone would drop, and when he was just about to step upon it I pressed the stone so that it fell. My calculation was correct; I saw him crushed to the earth, and I rejoiced, yet in a moment horror fell upon me like a cloak, and I became as one mad. I rushed out of the house. I made my way down into the street below, yet I could not look upon my handwork. Distraught I ran along the road, not knowing whither I went; I saw a man approaching me, and I thought he intended to stop me. I had a stick in my hand, though I did not know I had caught it up; I flourished it threateningly, and the stranger struck me down with a heavy blow. I suppose I lay unconscious for a time; when I recovered I was alone, and my head ached shrewdly, yet it seemed that my madness had left me, so I crept home and went to bed. The deed was a righteous deed and I would do it again; yet have I had no peace of mind since its commission.”

Alcyone felt that in this fourth confession the truth had at last been told, but he sent to the house of the deceased Homara for the girl Suadhu, and heard her testimony, which fully confirmed what her father had said with regard to her. Then he called all the prisoners before him. Cleo and Theodorous he discharged, delivering to them a homily on the virtue of abstract truth, and explaining to them that falsehoods, even when unselfish, and dictated by affection, always hindered the cause of justice. Udor was also set free, the judge praising him for having come forward voluntarily to make in the cause of justice a statement so much against his own interest, in order to save others from the blame attached to a crime which they had already confessed, and saying that the credit due to him for his bravery was in no wise diminished by the fact that his statement had in fact been inaccurate, as the person against whose imagined attack he had defended himself was Nabha and not Homara. To Nabha he said:

“ You have rid the world of a villain who unquestionably deserved to die, yet I must tell you that you were wrong in doing so, for in taking even such a man’ s life you have broken the beneficent law of our father the Manu, which ordains that all life is sacred, and that private revenge is inadmissible. You should have come to me and told me all, trusting to the justice and discrimination of your ruler, I will not give the ordinary sentence of banishment for life from the Empire of Manoa, because I think that in your case there were extenuating circumstances; but you must live for two years as a hermit upon the hills, so that you may have time by meditation to purge yourself from blood guiltiness and to quiet your perturbed spirit by the healing influences of nature."

So Alcyone lived his life quietly doing his duty to his people, absorbed always in plans for their welfare; and when he passed away, full of years and honor, he was succeeded in the government of the valley by his eldest son Aopllo, who endeavored to walk in his steps and to carry on his traditions.

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Chart VIII

Central Asia 31000 B.C.

1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th

Eudox -Irene Koli -Orpheus

Walter -Amal Aglain -Pyx Apollo -Demeter

Spes -Udor Sirona -Rhea Theseus -Echo

Cento -Obra Pyx -Aglain

Alcyone -Electra

Kudos Rigel Fides -Spica

Dido -Rex Hermin -Nita Euphra -Leo Vulcan -Rama Orpheus -Koli

Ara -Juno Quies -Ivy Aquila -Elsa

Flos -Concord Sextans -Clare

Xulon -Arcor Rigel -Kudos

Libra -Phocea Irene -Eudox Vega -Cygnus

Xanthos -Fons Parthe -Altair Rama -Vulcan Kratos -Aries Chrys -Lili Callio -Kamu

Auriga -Myna

Amal -Walter Cyr -Jerome Sirius -Mercury

Yajna -Sif

Rhea -Sirona Phocea -Libra Demeter -Apollo

Arcor -Xulon Alba -Alma Cassio -Gnostic

Forma -Leopard Nita -Hermin Egeria -Thor Beatus -Kos

Betel -Iris Rex -Dido Neptune -Albiero

Colos -Gimel

Juno -Ara Leopard -Forma Jupiter -Dhruva

Pindar -Telema Rector -Scotus Math -Helios

Lomia -Sagitta

Mizar -Uranus Cygnus -Vega

Ivy -Quies

Diana -Pisces Magnus -Auson Judex -Alex Camel -Stella Philae -Trefoil

Gluck -Pepin Tiphys -Orca

Venus -Hector

Chart VIII

Central Asia 31000 B.C.

1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th

Melete -Leto Sylla -Calyx Aurora -Zeno

Daleth -Lignus

Helios -Math Selene -Osiris

Eros -Ixion Bee -Achilles Dolphin -Dome Muni -Gem Spica -Fides Oak -Olaf Vesta -Mira

Clare -Sextans

Telema -Pindar

Lyra -Pax Sagitta -Lomia Sappho -Orion Clio -Laxa Thor -Egeria

Theo -Taurus Herakles -Saturn

Gasper -Flora Pices -Diana Capella -Brihat

Pepin -Gluck

Trefoil -Philae Fabius -Mona Polaris -Fomal

Calyx -Sylla Hebe -Ida Ulysses -Viola Orion -Sappho

Priam -Soma

Achilles -Bee

Beth -Aulus

Altair -Parthe Vajra -Aldeb Kos -Beatus Ida -Hebe Jason -Bella

Aries -Kratos Corona -Viraj

Echo -Theseus Gnostic -Cassio Electra -Alcyone

Saturn -Herakles Alex -Judex

Dome -Dolphin Zeno -Aurora

Soma -Priam Ajax -Siwa

Melpo -Tolosa Castor -Norma

Daphne -Virgo Psyche -Kim

Gem -Muni

Pearl -Percy Nicos -Aletheia

Ophis -Bruce

Norma -Castor

Beren -Aqua

Virgo -Daphne

Albireo -Neptune Wences -Ronald

Algol -Argus

Pax -Lyra

Alces -Canopus

Mercury -Sirius

199

Chart VIII

Central Asia 31000 B.C.

1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th

Fons -Xanthos Leo -Euphra

Scotus -Rector Crux -Hestia

Lignus -Daleth Hector -Venus

Kamu -Callio Ixion -Eros Leto -Melete

Olaf -Oak Concord -Flos Gimel -Colos

Holly -Fort Aldeb -Vajra Mira -Vesta Stella -Camel Arthur -Zoe Taurus -Theo Sif -Yajna Fomal -Polaris Fort -Holly Percy -Pearl

Kim -Psyche

Iris -Betel Mona -Fabius Aulus -Beth Orca -Wences Ronald -Wences

Bruce -Ophis Proteus -Rosa Bella -Jason Osiris -Selene Aletheia -Nicos

Alma -Alba Udor -Spes

Obra -Cento Lobelia -Andro

Jerome -Cyr Lili -Chrys Surya -Athena

Viola -Ulysses

Dora -Erato

Canopus -Alces

Myna -Auriga

Elsa -Aquilla Uranus -Mizar Viraj -Corona Hestia -Crux Dhruva -Jupiter Zoe -Arthur

Rosa -Proteus Tolosa -Melpo Draco -Dactyl

Erato -Dora

Auson -Magnus Pallas -Lutea

Laxa -Clio Atlas -Phoenix

Aqua -Beren

Flora -Gasper

Siwa -Ajax

Argus -Algol Deneb -Nestor

Phoenix -Atlas

Andro -Lobelia Dactyl -Draco

Athena -Surya

Life IX

Yet a third time we find Alcyone in the valley of the Third Root Race, born just in time to take part in the great migration, for which the previous lives had been a preparation. The Manu Himself ruled at this period, and under Him His sons Orpheus and Surya, with His grandson Mars, Corona, Vulcan, Theodorous and Vajra. These grandsons were to be the captains of his Hosts, their sons in turn forming a special staff of aides de camp; and it is among this staff that we find our hero who had been born eighteen years before as the son of Vulcan and Venus. With him was his brother Sirius, two years older, and the twin younger brothers Yajna and Aurora, only just sixteen, but full of valour and keen to distinguish themselves in the field. Chief among these young people were Herakles, the son of Mars, and other comrades were Pallas, Herminius, Rosa, Fons, Aletheia.

In this case there was definitely a kingdom to be conquered, so the migration was divided into two parts. First went a splendid army, three hundred thousand strong, and it was only some four years later, when the new Persian empire was thoroughly established, that the women and children were brought from their native valley to their future home. The conquest being achieved, the young soldiers took unto themselves wives and settled down into the life of organisation and building to which they had in previous incarnations been so well accustomed. A lcyone chose as his partner Fides, with whom Herakles had also fallen in love. The latter went

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off disgusted to the wars; that is to say, he led a punitive expedition to supress Tripos – a rebellious aboriginal chief; and when he returned victorious he married Psyche, an orphan cousin who had long worshipped him from a distance. The elder brother Sirius married Achilles, and the twins, Yajna and Aurora, now hardy soldiers with many brave actions to their credit, took unto themselves Alba and Dorado respectively. Among the children who came to them as the years rolled on were many of our well known characters: to Alcyone came Mercury himself, and Mizar, Apollo, Albireo, Hector, Leo—all friends true and tried; to Sirius came Saturn and Brihat, Vega, Rama, and others with whom our researches have made us familiar.

After the country was settled, the leaders of the army took up the positions of governors of the various provinces and cities. For fifteen years the Manu retained it nominally as a portion of His empire, and several times made a sort of royal progress through its provinces to see for Himself that all went as He wished. At the end of this time, being a man of great age, he retired from active life and was succeeded by His grandson Mars. Corona was then made King of Persia, with Theodorous under him as King of Mesopotamia and Babylonia, and thus the independent Persian Empire was fairly launched upon its long career.

As the country was on the whole somewhat barren, and many of its rivers lost themselves in the sand, the Manu had devised an elaborate scheme of irrigation, and began its construction as soon as a civil government superseded military rule. The project was on so great a scale that it needed the efforts of several generations to realise it completely; but ever as it approached its consummation the country became more fertile and prosperous. So important was this work considered that one of the many poetic titles which the affection of the people conferred upon their King was “ The Giver of Water” Neither Corona nor Theodorous had a son, so at their deaths they were succeeded by their nephews, Sirius and Alcyone, whose strong mutual affection enabled them to carry on in the most harmonious manner the complicated relations of the two parts of the Kingdom.

Almost directly after Sirius took up the reins of government the Empire was attacked by a fierce and warlike race from Armenia Major, the mountainous country to the northwest just below the Caspian Sea and the Black Sea. The troops stationed in the northern part of Mesopotamia were intended only to keep order and repel small raids, and were quite inadequate to meet a great invasion; so Sirius and Alcyone hurriedly gathered together all the available troops, and called out all that remained of the veterans who had conquered the land a quarter of a century before. In this way they raised a great and powerful army which they put under the command of their brother Yajna, and sent him to roll back the incoming tide. Even so the Aryan army was far out numbered by its opponents; but it had an immense advantage in the tradition of discipline which had been impressed upon its members by the Manu.

Yajna was not only a brave soldier but an exceedingly capable general for those times, well versed in such strategy and tactics as were then understood; but he had a difficult task before him. The mountaineers had already made their way for some distance into the Empire; the Aryan populace had hurriedly retreated before them, and two of the newly founded towns had been destroyed, and much land laid waste. The enemy was hardly a disciplined force; each man fought for his own hand, but they were strong hardy and recklessly brave and full of boastful confidence in themselves and contempt for everyone else. Their great specialty was their irresistible charge-a wild rush of yelling, leaping fiends which had never failed to strike terror into their foes, and drive them in confusion and headlong flight before them. The scheme which Yajna devised to meet this formidable onslaught was much like that of the celebrated British square when prepared to receive cavalry, except that he disposed his people in many circles, and he drilled his army to be ready at a moments notice to adopt this curious formation. The heart of each circle was a body of archers, each of them attended by an assistant who carried a huge bundle of arrows, so that he could continue shooting for hours. The outer ring consisted of three rows of spearmen, the inner rows carrying long spears which they were instructed to ground at appropriate angles, and the front row bearing short heavy spears (of which the upper third was of metal, like the Roman pilam ) and also a curious apparatus looking rather like a photographer’ s tripod, which shut up into a walking stick for convenience of carriage, but opened out into an unpleasant system of metal spikes.

When they received from their scouts the signal that the enemy was bearing down upon them, the army instantly received orders to adopt this circle formation . It promptly fell apart into the prearranged units; the outer rows, unfolding their tripods, stuck them in the ground in front of them and interlocked them, so as to make an impenetrable breast high chevaux de frise, which was continued higher up by the spears of the inner lines; while as soon as the enemy came within range he was saluted with showers of arrows from the archers in the middle, who, however, were specially instructed to waste no arrows but to take careful aim. The mountaineers made no use of archery in war, regarding it as effeminate, and hastening always to get to close quarters with their foes; so in the first engagement they tried their usual tactics, disregarding the Aryan arrows (which nevertheless decimated their force before they could reach the circles) and expecting to carry all before them in their mad rush, but awaited the shock of their swift onset with perfect calmness and received it upon a disconcerting array of sharp points. In a few moments every circle was surrounded by a ring of dead mountaineers, and though their comrades sprang upon those bodies and fought with reckless bravery, they were under the difficulty that they could not get at their enemies, while the steady stream of arrows relentlessly swept them down. They came on again and again, but made practically no impression, and after a couple of hours of this work half their force lay dead on the field, and the other half had learnt by experience the futility of charging those impenetrable circles from which death poured out so ste adily.

Their leaders urged them to renew the attack, but the men sullenly refused; and while they were arguing the matter, Yajna suddenly broke up his circles and charged down on them, having arranged his men in small wedged shaped groups, still with the short spears in front and the longer ones behind—the archers for the moment slinging their bows upon their backs and becoming pikemen. The mountaineers were used to charging, but not to being charged, and they collapsed before the unaccustomed attack; Yajna’ s carefully contrived human wedges cut through the mob as the prow of a ship cuts through the water, and after a brave but ineffectual struggle the remains of the supposedly invincible army broke and fled in dismay. The Aryans persued them closely, and as they were comparatively fresh, having stood still while the others had worn themselves out with bootless charges, the slaughter was great, and it was but a small proportion of the mountain army that was able to regain its fastness.

Yajna sent back a courier to Alcyone with news of his victory, which he begged him also to transmit to Sirius at the Persian capital. At the same time he announced his intention, unless recalled by orders to the contrary, of following up his victory by an immediate invasion of the mountain country, and asking for reinforcements to guard his lines of communications when he moved forward. This plan he carried out, though the rugged nature of the ground put the gravest difficulties in his way. His reputation for invincibility preceded him, and won him half the battles before his opponents even saw him; and so he took possession of valley after valley, endeavoring whenever possible to avoid extermination the inhabitants, but to induce them to surrender instead. When they would do this, he accepted their oath of allegiance on behalf of Alcyone, confirmed them in the possession of their lands, and bound them over to furnish a certain amount of food for his army instead of the usual tax paid to the central government.

He carried on this process of gradual annexation for two years, closing the campaign by the bloodless capture of the innermost stronghold of the mountain chiefs, a remote and secluded valley which was considered absolutely inaccessible except by one very difficult path. Yajna, however, contrived to discover another route, and without the knowledge of the enemy massed his men on the hills round the valley, so that its chiefs could not but see that the entire place was at his mercy; and then he sent his son Muni with an embassy to put it to them whether it would not be wiser to surrender incontinently and avoid useless slaughter. Muni’ s diplomatic representations were successful, and the last independent fragment of Armenia was peacefully absorbed into the kingdom of Mesopotamia. with the concurrence of Sirius, Alcyone appointed Yajna as the first viceroy of the interesting land which he had conquered, though before entering upon that office he led his victorious army back, first to the capital of Mesopotamia and then to that of Persia, receiving hearty ovation at both laces. Within the year, Alcyone himself made a royal progress through his new mountain province, and was popular as soon as its benefits were fully understood.

Yajna’ s wife Alba was inordinately proud of the fact that she was the eldest daughter of Koli, who in turn was the eldest grandson of the Manu and she founded upon this a claim to succession to the throne of Persia on behalf of her son Muni. To pacify her, her husband finally promised to lay this claim before Sirius and Alcyone, though he took pains expressly to dissociate himself from it, and to explain that he personally favored the theory of the descent of a title through male heirs only. Sirius and Alcyone disallowed the claim, but as some sort of compensation they conferred upon Yagna the title of King instead of Viceroy of Armenia, and arranged that it should descend to his son Muni, and to his heirs forever, bearing with it the same nominal subordination to the crown of Mesopotamia that the latter yielded to Persia. It was at the same time arranged that in case of war the King of Armenia should act as commander in chief of the combined armies of the three countries, because of the genius which he had shown in military matters. The reputation which he had already won for the Persian armies, however saved them from the necessity of any further manifestation of strength during Alcyone’ s lifetime; the three brothers were in due course succeeded by their eldest sons, Vega, Mizar and Muni, and the peaceful development of the Empire made steady progress under their care.

Chart IX

Central Asia and Persia 30200 B.C.

1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th

Osiris -Corona Alba -Yajna

Koli -Thor

Echo -Fons

Eudox -Irene

Holly -Orca Orpheus Parthe

Sylla -Ixion

Phocea -Pyx Ara -Aqua

Walter -Erato Neptune -Mars

Stella -Muni

Proteus -Libra Siwa -Math

Fios -Auriga Lyra -Pallas

Scotus -Ophis Vesta -Pearl

Nita -Daleth Virgo -Dome

Mars -Neptune

Ida -Gnostic Capella -Bella

Pepin -Beth Auson -Forma

Quies -Rector Herakles -Psyche Canopus -Beatus

Gimel -Andro Sextans -Philae

Daphne -Orion Kudos Ronald Tiphys -Dactyl

Dolphin -Cyr

Auriga -Flos Priam -Pegasus

Fabius -Cento Lutea -Deneb

Trefoil -Zeno Lomia -Magnus Lignus -Juno

Corona -Osiris

Dora -Aurora

Uranus -Vajra

Xanthos -Lili Vega -Helios

Clare -Iris Nicos -Pisces Brihat -Mizar Bee -Euphra Selene -Viraj Gnostic -Ida

Saturn -Apollo Aulus -Arthur Alex -Cassio

Zeno -Trefoil Sirius -Achilles Rama -Mercury Jason -Kos Theseus -Mira

Iris -Clare Egeria -Hector

Viola -Percy Arthur -Aulus

Roxana -Sif

Fomal -Ajax Manu -Athena

209

Chart IX

Central Asia and Persia 30200 B.C.

1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th

Surya -Viraj Ivy -Hermin Aquila -Athena Mizar -Brihat

Callio -Lobelia Demeter -Rigel

Jupiter -Hestia Athena -Aquila Apollo -Saturn

Euphra -Bee Electra Colos Percy -Viola Lobelia -Callio Mercury -Rama

Hestia -Jupiter

Vulcan -Venus Alcyone -Fides

Pearl -Vesta

Albireo -Pindar

Colos -Electra

Sif -Roxana

Mira -Theseus

Hector -Egeria

Kos -Jason

Cygnus -Rex

Leo -Leto

Norma -Elsa

Telema -Alethein Muni -Stella Amal -Calyx

Kratos -Alma Yajna -Alba

Irene -Eucox Melpo -Rao Flora -Aglaia Camel -Xulon

Lili -Xanthos Ajax -Fomal

Beth -Pepin

Helios -Vega Elsa -Norma Rigel -Demeter

Betel -Diana

Aurora -Dora Rex -Cygnus

Daleth -Nita

Deneb -Lutea Olaf -Mona Ronald -Kudos Crux -Algol

Zoe -Tolosa Theo -Aldeb

Achilles -Sirius

Cento -Fabius Argus -Jerome

Pyx -Phocea Spec -Draco Laxa -Rhea Castor -Aries Vale -Gluck

Alces -Nestor

Spica -Ulysses

Philae -Sextans Judex -Sagitta Erato -Walter

Beren -Bruce Aglain -Flora

June -Lignus Wences -Atlas

Fons -Echo Alma -Kratos Melete -Obra Sappho -Arcor

Chart IX

Central Asia and Persia 30200 B.C.

1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th

Bella -Capella Hermin -Ivy

Leto -Leo Myna -Polaris Vajra -Uranus

Fides -Alcyone Cassio -Alex Pallas -Lyra

Viraj -Selene Pindar -Albireo Algol -Crux Venus -Vulcan

Sagitta -Judex Math -Siwa

Gemini -Rosa

Andra -Gimel Polaris -Myna Leopard -Atlas Dactyl -Tiphys

Pisces -Nicos Aletheia -Telema

Orion -Daphne

Diana -Betel Ulysses -Spica

Orca -Holly Beatus -Canopus

Dome -Virgo Arcor -Sappho

Altair -Leopard Orca -Holly Gaspar -Eros Viraj -Surya Aqua -Ara Parthe Orpheus

Oak -Zama Rao -Melpo Dhruva -Kamu

Dido -Concord Udor -Taurus

Forma -Auson Obra -Melete

Pax -Priam Magnus -Lomia Jerome -Argus Zephyr -Fort Draco -Spes

Concord -Dido Aldeb -Theo Phoenix -Sirona

Rector -Quies Bruce -Beren Aries -Castor

Xulon -Camel

Kim -Chrys Nector -Alces Taurus -Udor Zama -Oak

Fort -Zephyr

Mona -Olaf

Eros -Gaspar Chrys -Kim

Gluck -Vale Hebe -Soma Atlas -Wences

Rosa -Gem

Ixion -Sylla

Thor -Koli

Libra -Proteus

Psyche -Herakles

Markab -Clio

Calyx -Amal

Tolosa -Zoe

Tripos

Life X

An unusually short interval separates this next life of our hero from the last. The Band of Servers was engaged this time in assisting at the founding not of a race but of a religion, for the great Mahaguru appeared once more to put the eternal truth before His people, tough under a new symbol. We must presume that He saw this to be a suitable time for the promulgation of His teaching in the newly-formed Persian Empire, and shortened the heaven-life of His workers accordingly, so we find the same body of helpers awaiting Him. In Arabia, ten thousand years before, He had arranged the appointment of Surya as Chief Priest; here Surya was already occupying that exalted position even before His arrival. He was not born into the race in the ordinary way, but took a body which had been carefully prepared for Him—the body of Mercury, the second son of King Mars, who was at the time monarch of Persia, while his brother Corona held Mesopotamia under him.

Mars had a family of seven children, four sons and three daughters—all of them characters with whom we are already acquainted. His eldest son and heir was Jupiter; Mercury came next, and then our hero Alcyone, while Orion was the youngest of the brothers. The sisters were Electra, Rama and Fides, while other old friends were to be found close by in the family of the Chief Priest Surya, who had Mizar, Yajna and Selene among his sons, and Sirius among his daughters. All these young people played, learnt, and grew up together, and were to all intents and purposes

211211

members of one household, so the affection which already existed between them as the result of association in previous ages had every opportunity to manifest and develop.

As our young people approached adolescence their affection took on a new form, and presently Jupiter married Leo, and Mizar took to wife Electra, his fellow-member in that ‘ trinity’ of old. Mercury did not marry, as all his thoughts were turned in the direction of preparation for the coming of the Mahaguru. Unfortunately both Alcyone and Orion fell in love with the same young lady, Sirius, which led to sad complications, as we shall have to explain later.

In the five hundred years which had elapsed since the conquest of Persia there had been great progress, and the capital had grown into a fine, specious, well-arranged city, containing some magnificent specimens of architecture. Many other cities and towns had sprung into being, the population had rapidly increased, and but little waste land was now left all through the central provinces, for the scheme of irrigation ordered by the Manu had been thoroughly carried out, so that the country, once barren, had become one of the most fertile in the world, and prosperity and contentment reigned in it.

The splendid ceremony which celebrated the occupation by the Mahaguru of the body of Mercury has been the most beautifully described by Mrs. Besant in Man: Whence, How and Whither, and to that chronicle I refer all who wish to read a poetical account of a truly wonderful occult phenomenon—of the gorgeous procession amidst cheering thousands, of the sermon of the Mahaguru, of the Rod of Power, of the Fire which fell from heaven, and the Blazing Star which brings the blessing of the ruler of the World.

The ministry of the Mahaguru is beyond all comparison the most important part of the tenth life of Alcyone, so this description, which perforce omits what has already been written in Man, is necessarily woefully incomplete, and should be supplemented by the reading of pages 298-302 of that work.

It was soon after the coming of the Mahaguru that Orion made a mistake which had far reaching consequences. Ever since early childhood both he and his elder brother Alcyone had loved their cousin Sirius. The young lady was very fond of them both and, being tender hearted, did not like to announce a decision which must cause deep disappointment to one. The matter was settled for them by their parents, for Mars and Surya discussed the subject, and called Alcyone before them to ask whether it would be agreeable for him to take his cousin Sirius to wife. Alcyone said that this was exactly what he wished, and her father then sent for Sirius and said to her:

“ Our Lord the King does us the honor to propose a second alliance between our families, suggesting that you, my daughter, become the wife of his son Alcyone. Your mother and I could wish nothing better for you; yet, since to marry those who are unsuitable is a heinous sin, we have sent for you to ask whether you are entirely willing to accept the Prince, and can love him wholeheartedly as a husband should be loved.”

Sirius modestly answered that she could and would, so the couple were then and there betrothed, and an early date was fixed for the marriage ceremony. Surya gave them a solemn blessing, and they were full of joy; but as they turned away from the presence, Sirius whispered to her betrothed:

“ This is the happiest day of our lives; but it will be sad news for Orion.”

Alcyone started and led her back up the long hall; and when his father turned to him with surprise, he said:

“ I ought to tell you Sire, that my brother Orion also loves this lady, and that this betrothal will be a great blow to him.”

“ Oh !” ejaculated the King; “ and which of them do you prefer, young lady? You seem quite happy with things as they are!”

Sirius blushingly intimated that she was more than satisfied, and that she could not think of disturbing the King’ s arrangements. So Mars said:

“ Let it be, the maid cannot marry you both, and it is fitting that the elder brother should be wedded first. I will see Orion and tell him that he must look elsewhere for a wife; he is young yet, and there is plenty of time before him.”

But when the news of the betrothal reached Orion, he became furiously angry, and swore that the marriage should never take place—that before it should happen he would himself kill both Sirius and his brother. He sent at once for Gamma, who was a young man of low birth who had attached himself to Orion as a sort of confidential servant and flatterer; and Gamma skillfully played upon his pride and increased his anger, thinking that he saw his way to making something for himself out of a serious quarrel between the princes. It was by that time dusk, so he set himself to spy upon the betrothed couple, and when he saw Alcyone go out alone he hurriedly called Orion to come and meet him. But when Orion saw Alcyone coming along, evidently full of joy and chanting to himself a well known song of victory which was used by the Persian armies, his anger against his brother rose into maniacal fury, and he sprang out upon Alcyone and stabbed him with his dagger.

“ That is well done,” cried Gamma; “ now let us quickly find the girl and carry her away before an alarm is raised.”

So under cover of the night they hastened to the part of the great building where Surya lived, and to the special apartments of Sirius, which were well known to both of them. They thought themselves fortunate to find her with only one attendant, whom Gamma at once struck down. Sirius called for help, but was quickly overpowered, bound and carried away by the two men, who contrived to get her out of the gardens unseen, and then away into a great park which at that time of the evening was almost empty. But by this time the waiting-woman had recovered her senses and given the alarm, and a guard was quickly called together and set out in pursuit. A servant had seen two men running in the direction of the park and carrying some large object, and was just describing this extraordinary event to his fellows and wondering whether they were not thieves who ought to be followed, when the clamour arose; so the guards knew which way to go, and for whom to look, as the waiting woman had recognised both men.

By this time the moon had risen, and by turning out a whole regiment of men and spreading them rapidly over the park, they were soon on the track of the fugitives. Orion was too much obsessed by anger to calculate carefully, but Gamma had had some idea of striking out into the open country and hiding. The chase however began too quickly to allow him to carry out his plan; he was cut off from the direction in which he had meant to go, and the searching parties spread out so effectively that in a little time only one way was open for flight. This led the abductors up a slight incline and soon the pursuers caught sight of them and began to converge upon them. Abruptly they came out upon the brink of a cliff overhanging a lake, and saw that they were trapped, for the soldiers were close behind, and there was no hope in turning to right or left. Gamma threw himself down upon the grass with a curse but Orion seized Sirius in his arms and leapt boldly out over the cliff into the water far below.

A great shout arose from the pursuers, when they saw, their prey had escaped them; they rushed to the edge and looked over as well as they could, but in the dim light they could not distinguish anything clearly. They could not themselves get down to the shore without going a long way round but their shouts and the mighty splash had attracted the attention of another party of searchers below, who were recently made to understand what had happened. There was no practicable beach just underneath but several men plunged into the water from the nearest point they could reach, and swam hurriedly to the floating bodies.

Both Orion and Sirius could swim, and as it had fortunately happened that they struck the water in an utmost erect position, they were not seriously injured, though they were to a great extent stunned by the shock. They came to the surface separately, and Sirius, being bound with scarves, could do nothing but float; but as the water was tranquil this was sufficient. She declared afterwards that she never actually lost consciousness, whereas it would seem that Orion did, though his body somehow floated. Thus the swimmers found them, and began slowly to make their way back to the shore with them. No boats were available at the end of the lake, but there were many helpers, and they contrived to throw into the water a great log, which was most useful in supporting the swimmers. So eventually they got the unfortunate couple ashore alive though only just alive; they covered them with borrowed garments and carried them home to the palace, where a night’ s sleep brought them back almost to normal condition. Gamma had offered no resistance when captured by the soldiers, and he had no excuse to give for his part in the affair, but told the whole story quite callously.

Meantime Alcyone also had been found soon after he was struck down; they carried him to his chambers with many angry mutterings and threats of vengeance upon the enemy who had done this—for Alcyone was very popular. Doctors were hurriedly called; they dressed his wound, and administered to him some drug which brought him temporarily back to consciousness; and presently they had him asleep again, with every hope of recovery if matters went well, though he was desperately weak from having lost so much blood. He did not know who was responsible for the murderous assault upon him; he knew nothing, of course, of the abduction of Sirius, and though he noticed her paleness when she visited his bedside next day, he was readily led to suppose it due to sorrow and anxiety about his condition. The doctors forbade him to exert himself by talking, so it was many days before he learnt the facts.

Meantime King Mars was royally angry about the whole affair, and had Orion and Gamma brought before him the next day for judgement. They had little to say for themselves. Orion admitted that his action had been wrong in stabbing Alcyone, and expressed pleasure at the news that he had not killed him; but he declared that he had been beside himself with anger, and had not realised what he did, and he still thought that if he had been able to escape with Sirius all would some how have come right. Mars spoke sternly of the disgrace reflected upon the royal line when the King’ s son thus broke the laws which his office bound him to uphold, and of the hard necessity laid upon him of pronouncing upon his own son the same sentence of banishment as would have fallen for the same crime upon the humblest of his subjects. So he sent forth Orion and Gamma to make living outside the Empire of Persia, telling them to atone by probity and industry elsewhere for the serious error with which their lives had begun in their native country.

Orion was not allowed to take leave of Alcyone, for the latter still knew nothing about the whole affair, and it was obvious that the excitement of hearing it now would have been disastrous to him. But his brother Mercury—or rather the Mahaguru dwelling in the body of his brother Mercury—sent for him before he left, and spoke to him gravely but kindly:

“ Son, you have acted unwisely. You have indeed done much harm, yet it is not the harm which is so serious; it is the fact that you, who are one of us, should be able to do it. Selfishness is always evil, but doubly evil now, for it mars the harmony of our band just when it is needed for a special work during the short time that I can stay with you. Only once in thousands of years comes such an opportunity as has been offered to you in this life—to be among the foremost of those who help in the founding and spreading of a world – religion. But you have allowed jealousy to throw you out of the group of workers, and you must tread a long and weary road before you earn the right to enter it again. Go then and learn your lesson, so that when my Successor comes you may be ready to take your part in the work.”

Thus Orion disappears for a time from our pages—to appear and win his old place only some thousands of years later. Alcyone slowly recovered and presently married Sirius; and among their large family we find many of our leading workers—all needed, for this was a life of strenuous labour. Jupiter, the eldest son of King Mars, was of course to be his successor, and so Alcyone was free to devote himself entirely to work under Mahaguru and Surya, and he proved the most devoted of servants to them. The Religion of the Fire was intended not so much to supercede as to supplement the worship of the Sun and the Star-Angles, which was the faith of the time. Something of the special teaching of the Mahaguru may be found in Man, pages 300 and 301, and this, with all sorts of variations and comments on it, is what Alcyone and his compeers preached all over that great Empire. After a time, when the new system was firmly established, the Mahaguru left them—left them as dramatically as He came. But that also has been fully narrated in the same book, far better than I could ever hope to describe it; so I need only allude to it here. It may be noted that in this life our characters are almost all concentrated into two generations—that of the Mahaguru, and that immediately following His. In that respect the incarnation which we are studying resembles that in which we now find ourselves in this twentieth century—in that, then as now, we were all simultaneously in physical bodies because the work which had to be done consisted of the giving of a mighty impulse—the establishment of channels for a force which might afterwards continue to flow through them for centuries.

Alcyone’ s life this time was a long one, and he retained full vigour to the very end of it, travelling usually for half of each year, and spending the other half at the capital, taking part in the services of the various temples there. For the first few years of married life, and again later when all the children were grown up, his wife Sirius usually accompanied him on all his apostolic journeyings; but there was an intervening period, when there were many young children, during which she regretfully found it necessary to stay at home in order to look after them more satisfactorily. But on these occasions Alcyone always took some of his elder children with him, for he had a strong belief in the educative value of travel, and he wished to train them from the first in the special work which they had to do. Because of this they were all at an early age thoroughly conversant with all the fire ceremonies, and able to perform them reverently and effectively, and also to deliver excellent address in their father’ s style; and he gave them constant practice along both lines. In thus utilising his children he was following the advice of his father-in-law Surya, who had impressed the same idea on all his own family; so that one of the characteristics of the early days of this new Faith of the Fire was that all over the country it was being enthusiastically preached by boys in all the radiance of youth and purity. The children born in priestly families during the stay of the Mahaguru were all brought to Him for His blessing; and it was observed that through those who had had this honour there flowed a special power which evoked the most wonderful enthusiasm in their auditors.

A busy and useful life, in harness up to its last days, extending into the reigns of three Emperors—his father Mars, his brother Jupiter, and his nephew and son-in-law Capella, whose wife Ivy was celebrated as the beauty of the family. He passed away peacefully in his own house in the eighty-fifth year of his age, and on his deathbed the Mahaguru appeared to him in the well-known form of his brother Mercury—not aged like himself, but young and glowing as he had last seen it on the memorable day of the Ascension— congratulated him on a life spent without stint in His service, and called him to a time of well-earned rest with Him. He passed through the astral world almost immediately, and during the eight hundred years of his life in the heaven-world the Mahaguru was the principal figure in his surroundings, and in the bliss of His presence he grew as the flower grows, eagerly opening its heart to the sun.

Chart X

Persia 29700 B.C.

1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th

Mahaguru

Capella -Ivy Pearl -Alex Jupiter -Leo

Polaris -Walter Sappho -Obra Colos -Daleth Electra -Mizar

Mercury

Euphra -Helios Telema -Achilles Mars -Uranus

Rama -Athena

Vajra -Myna Ivy -Capella Philae -Gluck Alcyone -Sirius

Spica Gimel Aquilla -Bella Leto -Kamu

Fides -Vulcan

Math -Algol Cygnus -Quies Kos -Kudos Orion

Bee -Ajax

Deneb -Palas

Pindar -Dora Dome -Ida Norma -Echo

Flora -Nu Mizar -Electra

Thar -Ophis Ulysses -Beatus

Alma -Camel Dido -Castor Quies -Cygnus

Sif -Alces Mira -Albireo

Calyx -Olaf Oak -Melpo Rhea -Tolosa

Yajna -Rosa

Cento -Sylla Ixion -Arcor Gem -Holly Amal -Fort

Alba -Fabius Muni -Kratos Arthur -Kim

Jerome -Libra Osiris -Surya

Nu -Flora Flos -Zoe Saturn -Percy

Walter -Polaris Sagitta -Juno

Dolphin -Rector

Elsa -Pax Sirius -Alcyone

Achilles -Telema Aldeb -Siwa Orpheus -Nestor

Selene -Neptune Melete -Argus

Erato -Beren Clare -Vesta Alces -Sif

Koli -Brihat

223

Chart X

Persia 29700 B.C.

1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th

Algol -Math Viraj -Cassio

Andro -Lomia Pax -Elsa Aulus -Nita

Demeter -Viola Wences -Pepin Phoenix -Bruce

Dhruva -Gnostic

Atlas -Aurora Dactyl -Priam Bella -Aquilla Draco -Fons

Neptune -Selene Lili -Magnus Pisces -Aqua Brihat -Koli

Arcor -Ixion Pepin -Wences Fort -Amal Lyra -Proteus

Dora -Pindar

Apollo -Vega Aqua -Pisces Jason -Auriga

Venus -Udor

Virgo -Hebe Lobelia -Nicos Priam -Dactyl

Theseus -Ronald Helios -Euphra Aurora -Atlas Psyche -Hermin

Herakles -Hector

Beth -Leopard Canopus -Aletheia Castor -Dido Siwa -Aldeb Leo -Jupiter Altair -Lignus Ida -Dome Hestia -Egeria

Zoe -Flos Obra -Sappho Auriga -Jason Corona -Aries

Hector -Herakles

Cassio -Viraj

Libra -Jerome Kamu -Leto

Kratos -Muni Camel -Alma Albireo -Mira

Vesta -Clare Nicos -Lobelia Callio -Rigel

Beren -Erato Melpo -Oak

Ara -Spes

Fabius -Alba Fons -Draco Judea -Orca Viola -Demeter Theo -Zeno Rex -Diana Sylla -Cento Tolosa -Rhea Udor -Venus

Aletheia -Canopus Kim -Arthur Hebe -Virgo

Chart X

Persia 29700 B.C.

1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th

Scotus -Daphne

Trefoil -Fomal

Olaf -Calyx Ophis -Thor Holly -Gem

Rector -Dolphin Bruce -Phoenix Gnostic -Dhruva Alex -Pearl Forma -Iris Taurus -Xanthos Ronald -Theseus Juno -Sagitta Myna -Vajra Zeno -Theo Diana -Rex Chrys -Soma

Rosa -Yajna Beatus -Ulysses Hermin -Psyche

Uranus -Mars Vulcan -Fides

Kudos -Kos Auson -Sextans Concord -Parthe Soma -Chrysos Lutes -Crux

Egeria -Hestia Gimel -Spica Argus -Melete

Athena -Rama

Lignus -Altair Sextans -Auson Pallas -Deneb

Echo -Norma Fomal -Trefoil Ajax -Bee Iris -Forma Xanthos -Taurus Vega -Apollo

Lomia -Andro Magnus -Lili Tiphys -Betel Spes -Ara Parseus -Saturn Gluck -Philae Leopard -Beth Orca -Judex Rigel -Callio

Parthe -Concord Nita -Aulus Daleth -Colos Betel -Tiphys Gamma

Life XI

Yet again our band appears in the third sub-race and in the country of Persia, where there was by this time an old and well-established civilisation. Some fourteen centuries after the conquest of the country by the Manu, and about nine centuries after the visit of the Mahaguru, we find the same relative arrangement of the three main divisions of the kingdom still persisting. Neptune was at this time the King of Persia, while under him Sif was the ruler of Mesopotamia, and Elsa of the mountain district of Armenia. Each of these divisions had considerably increased in the intervening period, Persia having extended itself eastward, Mesopotamia southeastward to the head of the gulf, and Armenia westward so as to include part of Asia Minor. But on this western side of the kingdom the frontier was ill-defined, and there was no exact determination of the prerogatives of the various local chiefs, who owed a rather vague allegiance to the central power. There were in several parts of the kingdom almost inaccessible mountain fastnesses, and in these still remained unconquered tribes, who lived their own isolated life. Mercury, whose body in the last life had been used by the Mahaguru, was in this incarnation one of the priests of the religion which had previously been founded through him; and our hero Alcyone appears as his second son.

Mercury was brother to Herakles the Queen, so his children were in constant association with the royal children, and when they grew up the natural results followed in the way of close friendships and matrimonial alliances. Mars, the heir to the throne, married Alcyone’ s sister Vajra, and the King’ s second son Electra espoused Sirius, another of Mercury’ s daughters. But when long before these alliances Alcyone and Electra were bosom friends, and a third who was often of the party was Alcyone’ s cousin Saturn, who afterwards married Mizar.

The three young men, Alcyone, Saturn and Electra, had at one time a remarkable adventure which narrowly escaped a fatal termination. It was the custom among the noble families of Persia at this time for young men to compete their education by a certain amount of travel, much as young Englishmen of the eighteenth century made the grand tour of Europe. The more impecunious contented themselves with visiting a few of the principal cities of their own empire, but the fashionable journey was that to the great Central – Asian capital of Manoa. This trip was duly taken by three friends, and they were profoundly impressed by what they saw; but after they returned from it they felt little disposed to adopt a settled life, and determined to make yet another expedition, first through the Armenian mountains, which in this incarnation they had not seen, and then on round the coast of Asia Minor and back through Palestine and Mesopotamia. This journey, though hardly a usual one, was supposed to be quite safe, for most of the Levantine coast was at that time in the hands of an Atlantean ruler named Rahanuha (our old friend Tripos), who, though he had the reputation of being a stern and remorseless tyrant, was friendly to Persia on account of the close mercantile relations which existed between the two countries.

The Atlantean merchants who for some centuries before that time had been establishing colonies at the eastern end of the Mediterranean were chiefly of the fourth sub-race—keen traders, but at the same time brave and adventurous men. Whenever there was any sort of a harbour one of their towns sprang up, and they soon opened up communications with Persia by means of caravans, thus furnishing its merchants with an outlet towards the countries of the west and an alternative route to Egypt, while at the same time they themselves introduced into Persia the wares of Atlantis. They suffered much in the early days from the depredations of the tribes of the interior, and they soon found it necessary to band themselves together into a confederation to resist the attacks. For some hundreds of years, however, they remained a cluster of practically independent cities, each gradually drawing under its sway more and more of the surrounding country. These cities adopted for themselves various schemes of government, but the commonest arrangement was for each of them to choose each year one of the principal merchants to be its governor.

Presently it happened in several cases that men who showed special aptitude for the office were elected to it for life. Then there arose in one of the cities a young man of military ability, named Al-hi (Known to us , however as Roxana); being the son of its governor he was put at the head of its troops, and organised them so well that, when the tribes made a determined attack upon it, he was able to inflict upon them a crushing defeat. The chieftain of one of the defeated tribes swore to be avenged upon it and spent several years in visiting all the other tribes and inducing them to join him in a colossal raid which should place all the coast towns in their power, and enable them to slaughter all the merchants and seize their gold. By this concerted action three of the seaside cities were simultaneously besieged, and were soon in serious difficulties, for the tribesmen descended upon them like a swarm of locusts. But Roxana was equal to the occasion ; he had been training his enemies and had evolved clever plans whereby he circumvented his enemies and destroyed them in detail. When he had entirely broken up and disposed of the army that had attacked him, he marched to the help of the nearest of the other cities, which he found besieged by another huge yelling mob of tribesmen. Attacking this crowd at the nearest point, he soon forced his way through it into the city, whose magnates acclaimed him as a deliverer. But he offered his assistance only upon certain definite terms; he demanded that this city should recognise his father as its King—otherwise, he said, he would march his men home again and leave them to their fate. They were in desperate straits; they knew that they were themselves powerless against so great an incursion of hillmen, and so they soon decided to yield the conditions which Roxana required. This being settled, he at once took the offensive against the tribesmen, and after a long day of battle routed them utterly.Then after allowing his men a little rest, he moved on to the third city. There the enemy had already beaten down all resistance and stormed the town, and massacre and pillage were just commencing. He dashed in at once upon the victorious tribesmen, swept them out of the streets and houses, and soon changed defeat into victory. As the principal men of the place had already been killed, he had little difficulty in getting his father’ s authority recognised, and calmly announced to his father that he had brought two more cities under his rule.

His father was at first a little perturbed, but Roxana soon won him over to his views, and induced him to call a meeting of all the leading merchants to whom he himself expounded the great advantages which would accrue from the consolidation of the three cities into one state, and the establishment of a permanent dynasty of capable rulers. His magnetic force carried the whole meeting with him, and his father was proclaimed King by acclamation. Wisely, as little change as possible was made in the practical daily routine of government, and as soon as the citizens were used to the merely nominal alterations, Roxana carried off his father on a visit to other cities, and contrived to make the new regime popular there also. When the modified machinery was working smoothly, this energetic young man set to work upon the construction of a good road to link together the three cities, and at the same time established an effective control over the intermediate tracts of country. When the new state was on a secure footing it was only a question of time to absorb the other Atlantean cities higher up the coast, and gradually to bring more and more of the hinterland into cultivation. After some years the father died, and Roxana himself came to the throne of the kingdom that he had built up. He ruled it for close upon half century, and during that time made it a powerful and prosperous state.

Unfortunately his successors had neither his capacity for organisation nor his sleepless devotion to the welfare of his country, and by the time that his great-grandson Tripos ascended the throne there was already bitter disaffection among his indocile subjects. Tripos was a tactless person, a veritable Rehoboam, and he tried to repress instead of to conciliate; and though during the first years of his reign his efforts were successful, he stored up against himself an amount of virulent hatred that could not but presently find savage expression. It came to the surface at last in an outburst of indiscriminate massacre not at all unlike the French Revolution, in which not only Tripos was murdered, but all who could by any stretch of the imagination be connected with him or with the upholding of his rule; and unfortunately this explosion occurred while our three travelers were in the country. Being reasonably well dressed, they were at once seized by the first party of rebels whom they met, and when on being searched they were found to be in possession of a letter of introduction to Tripos, it was at once decided that they were dangerous people—aristocrats worthy of death.

The Levantine revolution, like the corresponding horror in France thirty thousand years later, made a great parade of the forms of justice, though carefully avoiding the reality; so our travelers were arrested and thrown into jail to await a trial which never came only because the self appointed officials who had signed the commitment were themselves murdered before they had time to go through the farce of examining the prisoners. Of course our travelers made indignant protests, but no manner of notice was taken of them; they were kept in close confinement for several months, receiving only the coarsest food, and even that irregularly and in insufficient quantity; and they owed their escape at last not to any form of trial, but to yet another ebullition of barbarity, in which it occurred to some ruffian who happened for the moment to be in power that it would save money and trouble to break open the jail and butcher the prisoners.

These particular prisoners, however, were Aryans, fresh and keen, trained fighters, stronger, braver, and more agile(even after their long confinement) than the comparatively effete Atlanteans, and when once their cell doors were broken open they soon possessed themselves of the weapons and quickly turned the tables on their opponents and fought their way out through the confusion into the open air. Fortunately it was night, so the race difference was less conspicuous than it must have been in the daylight, and by mingling with the madly-yelling crowd and judiciously effacing themselves at the first corner they contrived to escape notice for the moment.

While rejoicing in their recovered freedom they could not but recognise that they were still in a very awkward position. Their money had been stolen, their property confiscated, and their servant killed; they possessed nothing but the clothes on their backs and the swords which they had just snatched from the foes whom they had overthrown; they were in the midst of a city in the throes of a revolution, and had some hundreds of miles of possibly hostile country to cross before they were out of the most immediate danger. Their first object was to get clear of the city, so as to avoid any probability of being rearrested; their second was to lay hands on some food. They knew nothing of the town, as they had been seized as soon as they entered it; they could never keep a straight course in any direction, because they were constantly compelled to turn aside and dive down some back alley to avoid bodies of armed men, generally half-drunk and brawling. Thus it happened that after what seemed to them to be hours in dodging about in this way they suddenly found themselves out on the sea-front of city, instead of on their way to the interior, as they had wished to be.

As several people were hurrying along the road into which they had come so abruptly, they thought it wise not to hesitate, but to walk straight across it as though they had some business with the ship which lay against the quay opposite. As they could see no one on board, it seemed best to walk straight on to the half deck as though they had a right there, and their movements apparently excited no suspicion on the part of the passers-by. At first they had a wild hope that they might be able to seize the ship and escape by its means, but they saw men moving about on another vessel close by, and realised that these people’ s attention would be attracted by anything so unusual as an attempt to move a ship at night. Alcyone however caught sight of a small boat attached to the stern, and it at once occurred to him that though the larger craft certainly could not be moved without arousing curiosity, it would not strike anyone as unusual that a small boat should pass along from one vessel to another. He communicated his idea in a whisper to his companions, who highly approved; but Electra said:

“ Before we embark upon a voyage, let us see whether we can find anything to eat aboard here.”

Searching quickly yet carefully, they soon came upon a store of food—curiously shaped loaves of coarse hard bread, and masses of dates and figs, all crushed together into cakes. It was the fare of the common sailor, but our half-starved heroes recked naught of that; Alcyone hastily stripped off his cloak and made a sort of bag of it, which they filled with bread and fruit, while Electra found and promptly appropriated a little of olive oil. Meanwhile Saturn, who was examining the after part of the vessel, came suddenly and excitedly to tell them that a man(probably the watchman) lay asleep there upon a heap of sails. They moved like cats to avoid waking him; and contrived to get safely into a boat, which was only just large enough for the three. They cast it silently and pushed themselves along by the side of the ship, and paddled quietly with their hands for a few yards, so as to make no noise. There were two oars in the boat, but they did not use these until they were well out of sight of the line of vessels, fearing to attract attention.

Moving with the greatest caution, they gradually drew to the mouth of the little harbour, and were presently well out of reach. Then they stopped rowing and attacked with great thankfulness their bundle of coarse provisions, and made the first satisfactory meal that they had had for months. Greatly strengthened by this, they discussed their plans, and decided that the best thing to do would be to row along the coast for a few miles until they came to some lonely part of it, and then abandon the boat and endeavour to make their way eastward to some less disturbed country. When dawn broke they found themselves opposite an apparently desolate shore, and after some searching discovered a spot where they could land-a few yards of sand with a small cave at the back. They dragged their boat ashore and into the cave, lest some inhabitants might see it, took a necessary and most refreshing bath, and then lay down beside the boat for a few hours of sleep.

Fortunately for our wanderers the revolutionary madness which was convulsing the towns had drawn into them a great number of the country people, so that they were able to travel unperceived and unmolested. During the day they saw several houses which appeared to be unoccupied and towards evening they ventured to enter one of these in search of food; but they found nothing but a little fruit. As the place was obviously abandoned they decided to spend the night there, and took the opportunity to wash what was left of their clothing. In a dark inner room they found a chest containing some such garments as farmers wore in those times, and in their distressed condition they thought it justifiable to appropriate some of these, as being less likely to attract unfavorable attention than the rags to which their own foreign clothing had been reduced. They still retained the swords of which they had possessed themselves in the fight at the time of their escape from prison, but had not scabbards for them, and so found them somewhat inconvenient.

Next morning they resumed their journey, still through a desert country, and after an hour’ s travel they were fortunate enough to encounter a flock of goats, from which they obtained some milk. About midday they came in sight of a small village, which they judged it prudent to avoid as they saw from some flags which were displayed in front of the houses that the spirit of unrest had penetrated even there. By evening they were again ravenously hungry, and they decided that they must find another farmhouse; and by climbing a hill and examining the surrounding country they were able to discover one—a lonely homestead in a secluded valley. As smoke was rising from it they knew that it was still occupied so they resolved to go boldly down to it and ask for food and shelter, arguing that it was improbable that men who lived in so quiet a spot should be infected with the madness of the town, and that they were well able to defend themselves against any force which they were likely to meet in this sequestered nook.

They found the house in possession of an old man and his wife, who received them most hospitably, but spoke some sort of provincial dialect which was by no means easy to follow. They gathered, however, that the old couple had several sons who had gone off to the city in the hope of gaining much money through the revolution; but that the old people themselves distrusted all these new-fangled ways and intended to keep the farm going as a home to which their sons could return as a refuge when the temporary madness was over. They asked eagerly for news of their sons, and our friends had regretfully to admit that they had none to give. They could not convey their whole story to these good people, but they tried to make them understand that they were travelers who had no part nor lot in the revolution, but merely sought to be allowed to go on their way in peace; that they had been robbed of their money and their horses, and that their servant had been killed. The old couple nodded politely, though it is doubtful how much they really comprehended; but they pressed food and drink upon their unexpected guests, and presently showed them to comfortable sleeping places.

The next morning their host showed them great anxiety that his visitors should look round his farm, so they complied, and were able to reward his hospitality by demonstrating to him some of the improved Aryan methods of cultivation. Alcyone also made great friends with a little group of grandchildren, who followed him all over the estate. The good old housewife loaded them with provisions for the journey, and they parted from their kindly friends with many expressions of gratitude. They felt themselves now reasonably safe, though they were still nominally within Atlantean territory; but they were a long way from their own frontier, and the country which lay between was sparsely inhabited by half civilised tribes of uncertain temper. They found no more farm houses, but the food which had been given to them lasted them for two days, and they supplemented it by various kinds of wild fruit. For a day or two after that they got very little, but then they had the good fortune to find a big patch of some kind of wild yam, which provided them with excellent nutriment. They did not care to eat locusts, as did John the Baptist thousands of years later—as do many Arabs of the present day; but they did eat the locust-bean whenever they came across it, and when opportunity they willingly partook of the other item of the prophet’ s dietary wild honey. Still they had some ten days of distinctly unsatisfactory food before they next caught sight of a human being.

At the end of that ti---they came suddenly upon a body of horsemen, who surrounded them with evident curiosity, and addressed them in a tongue unknown to them. They replied in Atlantean language which they had been speaking for long, and one of the horsemen was called forward who knew a little of it, but so little that interchange of ideas seemed impossible. And when our friends spoke among themselves in the language current at that time in Persia the face of the leader of the band atonce lighted up, and he replied with a few words in that language to make inquiry whether he could understand it. A member of the band was soon produced who could talk it with fair fluency, so he said, he had twice been into Mesopotamia with caravans. Through him our travellers promptly explained their position to the leader who seemed much interested in their adventure, and very ready to give them any help in his power. He ordered that such food as was available should be set before them, and when they had taken it he provided them horses by rearranging some of the baggage of the party.

With newly found friends Alcyone and his companions journeyed for two days, until they came to the capital of that tribe-if one may give such a title to what was in reality little more than a kind of permanent camp, there being within its thorn defended walls more tents than hovels. Our friends were soon presented to the chief , who spoke their language with ease, and declared himself delighted to have the opportunity of serving some of the noble sons of a race which he greatly admired. He asked them to rest with him as long as they would, and promised to provide them with an escort to the capital of the tribe living eastward of him, from which they would have no difficulty in getting home, as caravans were frequently leaving for Mesopotamia. He also placed at their disposal all his resources, begging them to accept three fine horses, a whole outfit of rich garments, and a present of gold and jewels.They thanked him very heartily for his kindness, and expressed a hope that they would be able to return it when they reached their own land. Their adventures were now at an end, and the rest of the journey was safe though slow. Their absence, though somewhat longer than had been expected, had not caused any special anxiety, as nothing was yet known in Persia of the revolution in the Levantine towns.

Neptune listened to their story with great interest, and at once acceded to their request that an embassy might be sent to the chief who had so opportunely befriended them. Ida was put in charge of this expedition, which bore costly gifts to the chief, a letter of thanks from Neptune himself, and an offer of special felicities for any young men of the tribe who were willing to return to Persia for education and to the tribe who were willing to return to Persia for education and to enter the service of its King. A number of youths accepted this proposal, and in this way a custom was established which lasted for centuries and extended itself gradually to all the tribes of Asia Minor—the fashion that all young men of position, such as the sons of chiefs and nobles, should go to the Persian universities for education. So the adventure of the three friends had a permanent result in the spreading over a wide tract of country of the Aryan form of civilisation.

Alcyone specially asked that an effort might be made to find the old farmer in the secluded valley who had been first to befriend them so Ida added to his party as guides some young men from the country of the hospitable chieftain, and set out westward across the desolate lands. After some searching they came upon the valley, and found the old couple in great sorrow. They had been visited by a band of revolutionaries who had robbed them of everything, their three sons having been killed in the riots in the city, and they were left in destitution with three widowed daughters and eight or ten grandchildren. Ida was so much impressed with the hopelessness of their position that he persuaded them to abandon their desolated home and undertake with him the return journey to Persia. He had some doubt as to how Alcyone and Electra would regard so drastic a measure, but they received the simple old people with open arms, and led them before King Neptune, who at once assigned to them from his royal demesne a farm far larger and more valuable than that which they had left, though in order that they might not be troubled by the abrupt transition into a crowded and bustling civilisation, he chose for them a spot among the hills, remote from the capital city. Alcyone charged himself specially with the education of the grandchildren, and saw that places were eventually found for them either about the temple or the palace, and that they duly married into the Persian race. So all the members of that kindly farmer-family had reason to bless the day when they took in three hungry fugitives and sped them on their way rejoicing.

Meantime, the heir-apparent Mars had wedded Alcyone’ s sister Yajna, and soon after the return of our wanderers, Electra carried out an agreement which had been made in early childhood by marrying an elder sister Sirius; and a year or two later the third traveller, Saturn, married a younger sister Mizar. On their way through Mesopotamia Alcyone had been grately attracted by Apollo, the daughter of Sif, and as she was invited to the capital for the festivities in connection with the marriage of Electra, the young people met again, and very soon there was a third union to be celebrated. All these young people were special proteges of Queen Herakles, whose valuable advice was always at their disposal, and she exercised a great influence over their lives. She survived by a few years her husband Neptune, and lived to see her son Mars firmly settled on his father’ s throne.

By that time also Uranus had taken the place of his father Mercury as High Priest, and his brother Alcyone was working as his assistant. He was presently appointed as his brother’ s representative in the second city of the kingdom—a position which for a time divided him and his children somewhat from the rest of our characters, though frequent visits were interchanged. Though his eldest son Viraj had been born at the capital, most of his children were thus natives of the southern city. Of his four sons, Viraj and Corona chose the political and military life, while Orpheus and Norma were content to assist in administrative and educational work which appertained to the business of the priesthood. Alcyone had always a strong love for children and a deep interest in education, and he devoted a great deal of his time working out a scheme of universal training for all children in the country—a plan not unlike that of the Boy Scout of the present times except that it included girls as well. Many of our characters were engaged in the carrying out of that project, which Mars at once adapted and enforced over the whole of his kingdom as soon as it was laid before him. In his fiftieth year Alcyone was called back to the capital and appointed Minister of Education, a post which he filled with ardour and efficiency until his death at the age of seventy-four.

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Chart XI

Persia 28804 B.C.

1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th

Ulysses -Beatus

Arcor -Gem Vulcan -Ronald Uranus -Rama

Theo -Vesta Pearl -Quies

Rao -Stella Spes -Sagitta

Xulon -Tolosa

Serius -Electra

Viraj -Capella Vesta -Theo Ixion -Oak Corona -Demeter Alcyone -Apollo

Fort -Zama Draco -Ajax Orpheus -Kim

Stella -Rao Lobelia -Kamu Norma -Telma Jason -Viola

Selene -Venus

Yajna -Mars Mercury -Fides

Percy -Athena

Quies -Pearl

Dhruva -Leo

Kos -Ivy

Pyx -Rhea

Dolphin -Aldeb Ajax -Draco

Mizar -Saturn

Wences -Algol Fabius -Holly Brihat -Spica

Fomal -Diana Flora -Melpo

Forma -Callio Capella -Viraj

Cassio -Chrys Pallas - Proteus Lignus -Math Juno -Leto Euphra -Dido

Kamu -Lobelia

Kratos -Cyr Herakles -Neptune

Jerome -Zephyr Canopus -Pindar Vajra -Sif

Osiris -Arthur Ronald -Vulcan

Amal -Calyx Demeter -Corona Saturn -Mizar

Magnus -Beth Bee -Xanthos Polaris -Parthe Math -Lignus Rama -Uranus

Chart XI

Persia 28804 B.C.

1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th

Parthe -Polaris Hestia -Hector

Flos -Scotus

Irene -Alba Helios -Gnostic

Bella -Mira

Holly -Fabius Callio -Forma Udor -Aletheia Sagitta -Spes Pisces -Rector

Kim -Orpheus Arthur -Osiris Nicos -Trefoil Rex -Myna Lomia -Aqua

Gluck -Leopard Ara -Achilles

Apollo -Alcyone Siwa -Pepin Echo -Alex

Psyche -Clare Egeria -Aurora Aquila -Castor Spica -Brihat Sif -Vajra

Scotus -Flos Gimel -Zoe

Iris -Nita Daleth -Phocea Albireo -Vega Sextans -Alces Dora -Beren

Diana -Fomal Aldeb -Dolphin Hector -Hestia

Gnostic -Helios

Zoe -Gimel Virgo -Deneb

Athena -Percy

Cyr -Kratos Leto -Juno Venus -Selene

Pindar -Canopus Ivy -Kos Alces -Sextans Kudos -Hermin Lili -Philae Trefoil -Nicos

Judex -Orca Leopard -Gluck Betel -Concord Elsa -Erato

Zeno -Pax Nestor -Tiphys Dactyl -Bruce

Aulus -Daphne

Auriga -Ophis Mona -Pomo Argus Theseus

Alba -Irene Clio -Rosa Walter -Auson

Muni -Camel Fides -Mercury

Eros -Gasper Rosa -Clio Mars -Yajna

Libra -Sirona Olaf -Alma Sylla -Aglain Cento -Bootes

Naga -Sita Jupiter -Rigel Koli -Cygnus

Melpo -Flora Aurora -Egeria

Zephyr -Jerome

243

Chart XI

Persia 28804 B.C.

1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th

Electra -Sirius Colos -Andro

Viola -Jason

Zama -Fort Beth -Magnus

Pomo -Mona Fons -Obra Neptune -Herakles Leo -Dhruva Lyra -Taurus

Xanthos -Bee Mira -Bella Vega -Albireo

Rigel -Jupiter

Gem -Arcor Telema -Norma

Rhea -Pyx Crux -Melete Sappho -Ida Nita -Iris

Ophis -Auriga Beatus -Ulysses Castor -Aquila

Thor -Hebe Theseus -Argus Philae -Lili

Calyx -Amal Hermin -Kudos

Cygnus -Koli

Oak -Ixion Clare -Psyche Camel -Muni Sirona -Libra Erato -Elsa Dido -Euphra Alma -Olaf Ida -Sappho

Achills -Ara Dome -Atlas Obra -Fons Phoenix -Priam

Alex -Echo Lutea -Aries Auson -Walter

Melete -Crux Concord -Betel Bootes -Cento Aqua -Lomia Gasper -Eros Hebe -Thor

Myna -Rex Atlas -Dome

Beren -Dora Pepin -Siwa Bruce -Dactyl

Altair -Soma

Chrys -Cassio

Algol -Wences Andro -Colos Rector -Pisces Tiphys -Nestor Pax -Zeno

Orca -Judex Aries -Lutea Aglaia -Sylla Daphne Aulus

Roxana Tripos

Life XII

Our hero’ s next birth was once more in the great capital of Manoa, and in its royal family. I suppose that surroundings could scarcely be better than they were in this incarnation, for he was the son of Mars and Herakles, he had Viraj and Brihat as brothers, he married Mizar, and among his family of eight children there was only one who is not now numbers among the adepts. His father Mars had theories of his own as to the duties of the ruler, and Alcyone, as his heir, was brought up with a view to the position which he would one day have to fill. Even when quite young, his father frequently called him to come and listen to what was being said when he was dispensing justice to his people, and would often ask the little boy: “ What judgement would give if you were trying this case?”

When he was fourteen years old, his father gave him regular daily practice in acting as judge, the king himself taking no part in the proceedings, but sitting by quietly and listening. Gradually as he grew up his father instructed him in the other departments of the work which appertained to the royal office. These were varied in character, for the King exercised intimate personal supervision over the work of all his ministers, and was full of plans of all sorts which they were expected to be ready to carry out. The monarch was head of the Church, as well as of the state, so one of his departments was for the extending of religious teaching. It corresponded in some ways to what we should now call missionary enterprise, but was much more liberal, more tolerant and grander in conception. Instead

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of trying by many dubious methods to substitute one superstition for another, its agents were occupied principally in promulgating the doctrine of the Inner Light, and explaining the vast and far reaching changes that a belief in this produced in the daily life of those who accepted it. What was preached was not so much the adoption of a new form of religion, as the superimposing, upon all sorts of quaint traditional creeds, of the great principles of the fatherhood of God and the Brotherhood of Man, and the consequent substitution of peace for strife, of cooperation for competition. It was held that the name by which the Deity is called is immaterial, and that the rites by which He is worshipped may vary according to the temperament of the devotee. Any form of religious belief was held to be compatible with the faith of the Light so long as it acknowledged the goodness of God; only those were considered inadmissible which regarded Him as a dangerous being who required propitiation by sacrifice, or as a wicked entity who delighted in torturing his creatures. Religions of this latter type were called “ faiths of darkness,” and the people who held them were regarded with pity, and even with a certain amount of horror as blasphemers of God’ s Love.

There was what we should call a department of education, but they called it a department for citizen-training, and its work differed radically from anything that is done on the present day. Those appointed to the office of trainers did not try to load the memories of their students with facts, but taught them how to do things—how to build, to cook, to weave, to cultivate the ground, to bind up wounds, to cure diseases, to set broken bones, to ride , to shoot, to swim, to climb—all the practical needs of an open air life. All these things were taught to everyone, boys and girls alike, together with exercises for the development of the physical body. Children fully proficient in these preliminary requirements were allowed to choose the line of life which they wished to follow, and were then further trained in preparation for it. Reading and writing were taught to all, and also a certain set of religious verses; but the literature of the country was exhaustively studied only by those who felt specially drawn to it and wished to make it their vocation. The great work of the educational department was the discovering of merit and of aptitude, and it was considered a reproach to its officers if any one had to do work which was not suited to him.

In a country so dry it is natural that the department of irrigation should rank as of first rate importance. In its hands were the damming and control of rivers, and the cutting and maintenance of a vast system of canals; but its fatherly action was not confined to these greater benefits to the country as a whole, for it was also prepared to send its representatives to examine individual estates, and put in what-ever system of water-supply was considered most suitable. It was recognised as one of the duties of the Government to provide water for all its people and for this purpose elaborate and intricate arrangements were made—the result being that the whole of the land became wonderfully fertile. There was in addition a department of agriculture, whose officials were ready to advise as to the best utilisation of certain soils and aspects, and to supply all sorts of new seeds and cuttings. This department maintained representatives in distant parts of the empire, and also in some foreign countries, who were always on the watch for anything new in the way of plants or trees that might be of use in their own kingdom. In this way many foreign trees and vegetables were introduced, some of which were found so suitable that they were definitely adapted, and became permanent residents of Asia.

Another department was concerned with the promotion of manufactures of various kinds, and was devoted chiefly to experiment—experiment in all conceivable directions that could be supposed to have any bearing on any one of the numerous lines of manufacture which were practiced in that kingdom. This department also had agents abroad, always watching for new discoveries and new or improved methods. There were naturally various subdivisions—weaving, pottery, carving, ironfounding, and many others, for the civilisation of Manoa was at a high level.

Another section of government work was the maintenance of roads and communications, to which great attention was paid. A subdivision of this concerned itself of opening up of trade routes, and arranging for regular caravans to use them.

Each of these great departments of state had its own head and its own specialists, but the King had to understand and supervise the whole; so, as part of his preparation, Alcyone passed some time in each of them, studying and carefully watching. When later he came to the throne, he kept them all at high level of efficiency, paying frequent surprise visits to them, and occasionally workings of the machinery of state, and constantly taking a hand in them himself. He “ plagiarised by anticipation” the methods of the renowned Haroun-al-Raschid, for he often went among his people in disguise, in order to do justice and to discover merit. In this way he found among the undistinguished mass of his subjects some very honest and clever servants, who might otherwise have remained mute and inglorious. Some of his adventures when upon these curious secret expeditions were not unlike those of the great Muhammadan Caliph. He was often accompanied upon them by his brother Viraj, and later I life by his son Mercury.

Many and varied were the duties of an autocratic monarch in those days of long ago, and Alcyone fulfilled them with painstaking exactitude. Indeed, it may be said that he were himself in doing the work of his country, for he died at what for him the comparatively early age of sixty-two—to a large extent a victim of too keen a sense of responsibility and of a system of excessive centralisation. His sister Yajna had married Corona; and when at the death of Alcyone, his son Mercury succeeded to the throne, Corona’ s advice and remarkable organising power were invaluable to the new King, who with that assistance endeavoured so to divide the labour that everything could be carried on efficiently without making the royal position impossibly onerous.

In this strenuous life of hard work there are no prominent scenes calling for special description, yet it was distinctly a life of training, a life in which definite progress was made.

The chart of this life is a small one, for it includes only those whose intervals are always short—those who, if they were not constrained by the fact of membership in the group of Servers, would apparently never be absent more than six or seven centuries. Those whose tendency is towards an interval of about twelve hundred years miss this incarnation altogether, but reappear in that which follows.

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Chart XII

Manoa 28129 B.C.

1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th

Mercury -Telema Fides -Uranus Dhruva -Dido Saturn -Aquila Alcyone -Mizar

Osiris -Kamu

Venus -Thor Vulcan -Beatus Athena -Flos

Ivy -Neptune

Kratos -Vajra Uranus -Fides Mars -Herakles

Sylla -Kudos Viraj -Koli

Kamu -Osiris Polaris -Orpheus Cygnus -Soma Rector -Jerome

Naga -Rex Yajna -Corona Siwa -Proteus

Aquila -Saturn Brihat -Math

Kudos -Sylla Thor -Venus

Lyra -Cetus Corona -Yajna

Vajra -Kratos Philae -Alma Pallas -Olaf Rama -Jupiter Orpheus -Polaris Neptune -Ivy

Telema -Mercury Beatus -Vulcan

Dome -Echo

Herakles -Mars Koli -Viraj

Dido -Dhruva Gluck -Xulon

Diana -Judex Trefoil -Jason Echo -Dome Soma -Cygnus

Jerome -Rector Flos -Athena Alma -Philae

Math -Brihat Jupiter -Rama

Life XIII

The next life of our hero introduces us for the first time in this series to ground which is now part of the United Kingdom, though the surrounding conditions were then so different that localities can be recognised only with difficulty. There were no British Isles then; the North Sea, the Thames was a tributary of Rhine, which flowed into a northern ocean somewhere near the Shetland Isles; one could walk dryshod to Norway, to Spain or to China, and the inhabitants had all the advantages and all the disadvantages that attach to being part of a great continent.

It is to part of what is now the island of Ireland that our story directs our attention. Most of that country was then a kind of plateau of no great appearance than at present day. The population, which was but scanty, clustered round the mountains, or rather gathered in sheltered spots on the southern side of each mountain. A somewhat curious affect was produced by this arrangement; every hill which was high enough to give adequate shelter had its little township, built on the lines of the modern garden-city; each house on its own bit of ground, all religiously facing south and lying open to whatever sunshine there was. But the unsheltered spaces between the hills were either mighty forests or desolate wind-swept downs. The ruling race, to which all our characters belonged, showed by its habits that it had come from a southern clime; its members had an unconquerable love for sunshine and fresh air. It was a branchlet of that fifth Atlantean sub-race from whose ranks had been selected those who were led into Asia by the Manu to become the ancestors of the Aryan race. Its people shared the country with an earlier race—smaller and darker men, with broad Mangolian faces, who lived in villages of huts within the forests, and supported themselves partly by hunting and partly by a very primitive form of agriculture. In earlier days these forest villages had been continually at war with one another, and raids were frequently made in which the flocks of goats which represented almost their only form of wealth were driven off by the victors as spoils of war. But since the white race had invaded the country, they had insisted upon the maintenance of peace, and compelled the men of each village to confine themselves within certain prescribed limits, appointing from among the people a captain or headman who was held responsible for the maintenance of order among his fellows, and for collecting from them a small yearly impost as an acknowledgement of the over-lordship of the new-comers. Under this new regime the villages of that earlier race had become prosperous, their population and their primitive forms of wealth increasing rapidly. They accepted the domination of the white strangers without difficulty, believing them to be a semi divine race, the recipients of many favours from their wholly divine ancestors, and holding them to be invincible in battle. The while men were kindly in their bearing towards their inferiors, but there was little intercourse between the races, and almost no intermarriage, though there was no law to forbid it. The country, though wet, was fertile, and not over-populated, and the tastes of both its races were simple, so that there was general contentment and much rather primitive comfort.

Not many decades before this time the white race had moved into the country from the south, and had assumed the position of superiors over the darker race practically without opposition. Their leaders had been, as ever, a King and a Priest—men regarded as to a large extent set apart from their followers, so that their families intermarried in preference to seeking spouses among the ranks of their followers. Thus two great lines were formed, and from their younger branches a nobility sprang into existence. The offices were hereditary, and at the time that our story opens the holders were Mars and Surya. King Mars had married Vesta, a cousin of Surya; but Surya himself had gone farther afield to find his consort, having been led thereto by a strange and haunting vision. Among this race visions were common, and much importance was attached to them; and this one constantly recurred, and so made itself known as a veritable message from the Gods. Surya was but ten years old when it came to him, or rather when he first clearly remembered it. In his sleep it seemed to him that he was floating high in the air, looking down upon a city of marvellous beauty—a city larger than he had ever seen with his physical eyes, or imagined as possible in his physical brain; a city on the shore of a great lake, in which near the shore there was an island covered with glorious white buildings which seemed to his entranced gaze like the very courts of heaven itself.

Yet not to the wondorous island he was drawn, but to a large, low rambling house, which stood in an extensive park of its own a little way outside the city. And in that park he saw a little girl perhaps eight years old—a little girl of rare beauty, whom he some how knew quite well and loved with an intensity of affection which astonished him. She stood all alone at the edge of a tank with massive stone walls, watching the sporting of some bright hued fish that dwelt therein, and even as he floated low to see her face more clearly she leaned over too far, and fell with a cry of freight into the water. Obviously she could not swim; there was no one near to help her, and the wall rose sheer and smooth several feet above her head; but before she could sink a second time Surya some how found himself in the water beside her, holding her up, and trying to swim with her across the tank to some steps which ran down to the level of the water. It was a tremendous strain upon for she threw her arms round his neck and impeded his motions; indeed she all but drowned him when after a last despairing effort he felt his feet touch the steps. Some how they staggered up them, and threw themselves upon the grass; and the girl, who had not yet unwound her arms from about his neck , looked deeply into his eyes and gave him a long, loving kiss. And then—he woke in his own bed in far away Ireland with that kiss still upon his lips, and his clothes all dripping with water of that Central Asian tank!

So excited was he by the adventure, and so certain that it was a real occurrence and no mere vision, that he rushed at once to the room of his father and mother and waked them to hear his story, showing his dripping garments in proof of it. They were much amazed, and could not comprehend how such a thing might be; yet they did not disbelieve, for in their race there were traditions of rare events not quite unlike this – of priests who had the power of appearing and disappearing mysteriously, of showing themselves at a distance from their sleeping bodies, and sometimes even of striking or of saving men who were physically faraway. And Surya’ s mother was already predisposed to believe wondrous things of this noble and fearless son of hers; so, like another mother in later history, she kept all these tings and pondered them in her heart. But Surya wondered greatly how he knew that girl so well, and loved her so intensely, and even then as a little boy he vowed that to her and to no other should his life be devoted—that she and no other should be his wife when he grew up to manhood.

The memory of his strange adventure remained fresh and clear-cut in his mind; and as he had some skill in drawing, he drew several portraits of the little girl, and also made a drawing of the tank and the house which he had seen. He had no idea in what part of the world these places were situated, nor could his father the Chief Priest help him in discovering this, for though the priests were the principal depositories of the knowledge of the nation, geography was not a strong point among them.

But though he did not know where she lived, he thoroughly believed in the physical existence of the heroine of the story , and resolved that when he became a man he would find her. He was a boy of many day-dreams, and she always played a large part in them. He liked much to be alone, and often spent hours quite contentedly walking or lying in the sunlight, and telling himself interminable stories in which he and she passed through all sorts of stirring adventures. By thus constantly dwelling upon her perfections he naturally fanned the flame of his love, and at last he resolved to make a mighty effort to leave his body and reach her once more by definite materialisation. He had long before questioned his father as to the possibility of doing this; but the High Priest had dissuaded him from attempting it, saying that such power could only be attained by a long and severe training which could be safely undertaken only by an adult of great strength of will, and not by a boy of tender years.

But at last his yearning became too strong to bear; and so one night, after an earnest prayer to the Sun-Deity, he cast himself upon his bed and entered into the great endeavour, determined to succeed or die in the essaying. After long strain it seemed to him that something snapped, and at once he was free from the body and floating in the air. Startled at first, he quickly steadied himself, and as he fixed his will once more strongly upon his objective he began to move with great rapidity. He retained enough self-command to notice the direction of his flight, orienting himself by the stars, as he had been taught to do in the physical world. The journey seemed to him a long one, and before its rushing ended the stars which had been just rising upon his horizon when he started were well beyond the zenith, showing that he must have swept round a quarter of the circumference of the globe. And then—to him all unexpectedly—he came out into rosy dawn, and saw by its sweet light the city and the island that he knew so well.

Quickly he found the long low house, the garden and the tank; beside the latter he alighted, and stood wondering what to do, yet willing strongly that his love might come to him. And so, surely enough, she presently did, for she came running through the garden and dancing lightly over the grass, followed more soberly at a little distance by a stately yet kindly lady who was evidently her mother. His girl friend had grown taller and more beautiful, and when she caught sight of him she stopped for a moment, startled, and then rushed towards him with a cry of glad recognition and threw her arms around his neck. With a wild out-flow of long pent-up feeling he held her to his breast, amply rewarded now for the weary waiting of the last four years; and it seemed to him that earth could hold nothing more of bliss for him, if but that moment might be prolonged for ever. But all too soon it passed, for her mother came up and stood looking at the children with an expression of intense though by no means unfriendly amazement. Releasing him from her embrace, but still holding him by the hand, the little girl excitedly poured out a torrent of information in a language entirely unknown to him, and the smiling mother drew him into her arms and kissed him warmly. He spoke to her in terms of respectful salutation, such as he had been taught to use to the great ladies of his own land, but it was evident that his new friends could no more understand his language than he had comprehended theirs. The mother spoke to him with several different intonations, probably trying various languages, but none of them conveyed anything to him; and seeing this, she took him by the hand and led him towards the house, her daughter clinging closely to his arm on the other side.

While full of the deepest happiness, Surya was acutely conscious of the fact that he was attired only in a single night robe, while his companions wore garments of rich materials which, though quite unlike any he had ever seen, were obviously their ordinary costume. But he was fortunately consoled by the thought that, as they must regard him as a foreigner from some unknown country, they might suppose the customs of that country in the way of dress to be simpler than their own. The house into which they brought him was more sumptuously furnished than those to which he was accustomed, and when presently they took him into a room where food was served, he found both the provision and the mode of eating strange to him. He was an observant boy, and by covertly watching the methods of his entertainers he was able to get through the meal creditably, and he found the victuals palatable, though their flavors were entirely new to him. Just as breakfast was finished, a tall commanding-looking man entered, and was effusively greeted by the little girl, who at once presented her boy friend to him. He first placed his hand on Surya’ s head as though in blessing in his eyes with a piercing look that seemed to read into his soul. The scrutiny was satisfactory, for he drew him to his breast, enfolded him in warm embrace, and then again blessed him. He also spoke to him in several languages, but in none which he could comprehend; and after listening to a long story excitedly told by the girl with occasional confirmatory interjections from the mother, he smiled kindly upon Surya, and left the room.

The little girl then drew him out into the garden, guided him to an exquisitely carved stone seat, sat down beside him and began to try to establish some sort of communication with him. First she pointed to herself and recited several times a word which he took to be her name, and she seemed much pleased when he repeated it after her. Then she pointed to him, and evidently asked his name; he spoke it, and after several trials she was able to say it accurately. Then she began to point to various objects, evidently giving him the names of them in her tongue, and he picked them up quickly, although the intonation of the language was quite different from his own. Many other words she made him learn, at whose meaning he could only guess but in the course of two or three hours he had accumulated quite a number of detached words and several little phrases about the significance of which he was by no means certain. Presently the mother came out to them; and when she heard what they were doing, she joined in the attempt to explain. Suddenly, while all the three were deeply interested in his efforts to pronounce some unusually difficult word, an extraordinary feeling overwhelmed him; he sank into a few moments of curious whirling rushing unconsciousness, and awakened out of it to a sense of weakness and lassitude such as he had never before known. He found himself on his own bed at home in Ireland, with his own mother bending over him, evidently much perturbed at his condition.

It was some minutes before he was able to speak, and then he asked faintly where the little girl was. At first no one understood him, but presently his mother realised that he must be referring to what they had called his dream. He was anxious to tell his story, yet felt too weak to talk; seeing that, his mother soothed him, and in a little while got him to sleep again; but if during that sleep he returned to his friends in the garden, he had no recollection of such return when he awoke. Clearly his violent and persistent efforts had overstrained some part of the brain mechanism, for it was several months before he completely recovered, and his father and mother insisted that he should promise never to risk his life and his reason in the attempt to force his way where it was manifestly not natural that he should go. He promised, though reluctantly, but declared his unalterable conviction that his young love really existed, and his intention to search the world for her. He carefully wrote down the words and sentences that he had learnt, and asked all the learned people he encountered whether they recognised them; but none ever did.

Three years later, however, there came into that land a traveller of unknown race, who did not understand the language of the country; and because none could converse with him, they brought him to the Chief Priest as the most erudite of their people, hoping that he might be able to communicate with him. The Chief Priest was helpless; but Surya, who happened to be present, thought that he recognised the intonation, and tried upon the stranger some of his well-remembered words and phrases. The traveller’ s face brightened immediately, and he began to speak rapidly in the very tongue of Surya’ s friends. Of course, Surya could not follow him, but he obtained leave from his father to receive the stranger as a guest, and devoted many hours each day to working hard with him until each knew a good deal of the other’ s language, and they were able to exchange ideas.

He gathered that far to the south, on the shores of another sea, were many who spoke their tongue; and because the men of race had not infrequently travelled to the Mediterranean, and some had even settled there, he hoped by going there to find someone who knew perfectly both that language and his own. So he asked his father’ s permission to make that journey; but his father suggested that he should wait a year, until he had fully entered the priesthood. He assented to this, but did not forget his resolve; and so in due course he found his way to a certain great southern city, where he had no difficulty in obtaining a teacher who could do what he wanted.

Now for the first time he acquired some definite information about the country of his experience; he met with men who knew the city and the island which he described so minutely, and were able to give him some idea of its direction and its distance—both of which agreed very closely with the results of such calculation as he had been able to make from his childish observations of the stars. But he told no one the details of those strange early visions or visits, keeping the memory of them to himself as a sacred thing. Only before he returned home he learnt the Manoan language so that he could speak it like his own, in preparation for the visit which he intended to make to Central Asia.

His father and mother were reconciled to his undertaking this long journey, though the latter begged him not to go quite yet, but to postpone it for a few years. The date of his departure was eventually determined by yet another vision, though it was of a different kind from the others. This time he found himself not in the garden but in the house, and in an inner room of it which he had not previously visited. He had had no special intention of going to Manoa that night (though the thought was always in his mind); nor had he any recollection of the journey; simply he found himself watching and listening to a conversation between his beloved (now a tall and beautiful woman) and her mother, and his newly-acquired familiarity with the language enabled him to understand every word. He gathered that they were discussing an offer of marriage which had been made by some suitor of high rank, who was evidently considered specially eligible. The mother was half-heartedly pressing his suit, or at least enlarging upon its advantages; but the daughter would have none of it, and declared that she had no wish to marry. After the affair had been presented from various points of view, and the young lady still remained uninterested, her mother remarked:

“ My dear daughter, I know exactly what you are feeling; you have never lost the memory of your spectre-suitor, and you cannot bear the idea of unfaithfulness to him. I sympathise deeply, yet I also feel that we have absolutely no certainty that he really existed, that he still lives, that he on his part is faithful to you. Even if he lives, even if he still loves you, he may have been forced into a marriage in his own country; we know nothing of its customs; we do not even know where it is. Is it well to sacrifice your life to what may after all have been only some strange kind of unusually vivid dream? You know that your father and I wish to see you settled, and you will never have a better offer than this.”

The daughter admitted that her heart was entirely devoted to her spectre-boy, and said quite frankly that though she did not know whether she should ever see him again, she would rather submit to perpetual spinsterhood than marry any one else, for she felt that the boy she had twice so strangely seen was her own mate. Her mother acknowledged that the dictates of her own instinct agreed entirely with her daughter’ s decision, though on the physical plane such a course should not be defended as sensible.

“ If only he would come to us again,” she said, “ we could perhaps discover something more about him, so that we might have a comprehensible reason to give for at least asking for a delay.”

Surya heard all this, and burned with eagerness to manifest himself; but he remembered his promise to his mother, and so was torn between two duties. Suddenly it occurred to him to wonder why he was obviously invisible to his friends, though he could himself hear and see quite clearly. Without understanding the detail of the matter, he saw that the circumstances of his presence were somehow different, and he instinctively felt that even if he had been free to make the same effort as before, it could not have been successful. So he turned his attention in another direction. He had lately been studying what we should now call mesmerism, and so it came naturally to him to turn to account his newly acquired knowledge. He exerted all his strength to impress upon the mind of the girl the fact of his presence, and in a few moments he saw that he was succeeding. She started, turned towards him, and peered earnestly into the shadows in the corner where he stood. He redoubled his efforts, throwing his whole soul into his fiery glance and directly afterwards she uttered a loud cry:

“ Mother, he is here! Do you not see him?”

She rushed towards him, but her outstretched arms passed trough him, and she cried:

“ He is but a spectre indeed; I cannot touch him; alas, he must be dead!”

With all the strength he impressed upon her the reply: “ Not dead, but living! Within a year I shall come to claim you.”

And she heard and understood, and eagerly repeated his words to her mother. Then he turned the current of his will upon the mother, and for a moment she saw him too; then the strain told upon him, and he vanished from their sight. But he was still able to watch long enough to see them fall into each other’ s arms, weeping tears of joy, and to hear them speak of his noble appearance, and say that he had more than fulfilled the promise of his boyhood. Then he returned to his body, woke up in great excitement and high resolve, and as soon as it was light went to his father and mother and told them what he had seen and heard. They agreed with him that his destiny was manifest, and that the will of the Sun-God had clearly declared itself in this matter. Indeed, his father publicly related the circumstances at one of the great religious gatherings as a gracious indication of the interest of the Deity in his worshippers, and he sent his son upon his long journey with an equipment worthy of his rank.

It seems evident that on his first visit to Manoa as a little boy, he was at first in his astral body in the usual way, and probably materialised himself by drawing himself what was needed from the surrounding ether; it may be that his intense desire to help was sufficient to enable him to perform that feat, or it may be that he was specially assisted by some passer-by, or some Great One who was watching his struggle. The fact that when he awoke his physical garments were wet, seems to suggest that he borrowed matter from his own etheric double; yet we have no instance of such rapid action at such a distance. On the second occasion it is clear that he tore away much of the matter of his own etheric double, and thereby injured himself so that it took him weeks to recover. This however enabled him to maintain the materialisation for a much longer time than is usual, to eat and drink, and to repeat clearly the words which were spoken to him. On his third visit he did not materialise at all, but mesmerised the mother and daughter into into believing that they saw him.

With such methods of physical transit as were available, it took him almost a year to reach the city of Manoa, but when he arrived he soon found his way to the house and garden which he knew so well; and a very curious sensation it was to stand physically where before he had been only astrally. Inquiry in the neighbourhood had obtained for him the name of the lady of the house, so he boldly asked for her. When he was ushered into her presence, she recognised him immediately, and welcomed him with profound joy and many exclamations of wonder. Her daughter was instantly sent for, and when she entered the room she sprang into his arms with a glad cry of triumph and love. He was at once on the footing of a friend of the family, or rather of an honoured member of it; and he lost no time in inquiring about their side of the amazing story of their previous meetings. It agreed exactly with his own recollection in every particular; but naturally they had also to tell of the shock of stupefaction with which they had seen him vanish on his first and second visits. They had never doubted that he was a real living man, though only the daughter had been unshakably certain that she would one day meet him in the flesh.

Presently the father came in, and Surya was introduced to him; indeed, it was then that for the first time he really explained who he was, and from what country he came, for before they had all been too busy discussing his previous appearances to do anything else than take him for granted. His account of himself was accepted as eminently satisfactory, though his prospective mother in law looked very sober when she understood how far away from Manoa her daughter’ s new home would be. Surya was careful to explain that in Ireland there was less of luxury than in Manoa, and that their life was lived chiefly in the open air; but of all this his lady-love recked less than nothing, caring for naught else now that she had at last found the lover who for so many years had been to her half-myth, and yet at the same time the most vivid fact in her consciousness. Naturally she had filled up by her imagination the numerous gaps which inevitably existed in her knowledge of him; and she was surprised to find in how many cases she had guessed exactly right, so that eventually they began to see that some sort of clairvoyance or intuition had guided her when she thought she was giving rein to her maiden fancies.

There had been so manifestly an intervention of divine power in their wondrous story that it never even occurred to the parents to object to the departure of their daughter to a far-away and unknown country; but they did plead for some delay, and eventually it was decided that the marriage should take place immediately, but that the newly-weded pair should reside in the bride’ s old home for a year, especially in the hope that the first child might be born under that roof. Surya gladly agreed to this, and despatched one of his suite to return to Ireland and bear to his mother news of his safe arrival, his marriage and his plans, and ask her to be ready in a year’ s time to welcome her daughter-in-law. The twelve months passed quickly, and before they were over the hopes of elders were fulfilled, for a noble son was born-our old friend Electra.

When the time came for farewells were said, and the young couple, with their new born baby, started on their way into what was to all intents and purposes a new world to the bride; yet so perfect was her love that she faced it without a qualm. The journey was prosperous, and a right royal welcome was accorded to the happy pair—literally royal, for Surya’ s parents had told the romantic story, and the King of the country had been greatly interested in it, and invited the travellers to pay him a visit. This was done, and he received them with every mark of favour, and would have had them stay long at his court; but Surya wished to get his wife home again quickly, to put her under the care of his mother. Soon Electra had a little sister—Mizar, whom he had loved so well long ages ago, whom he was to love no less in the life now before him.

Thus it will be seen that Aryan blood was introduced into the family of Chief Priest; and they further intermingled with the royal blood of their own country, for the King continued his friendship to wards those whom he felt to be favoured of the Deity. He drew th em into closer relations with him; his eldest son in due course married Mizar, while two of his daughters wedded sons of Surya, Electra himself taking to wife Brihat, and Rama espousing Vulcan. Electra and Brihat had three sons and four daughters, and the eldest of their family was our Alcyone, who was thus born directly into the succession to the position of High Priest, and had furthermore the advantage of a close alliance with the family of the reigning monarch. The work of the priesthood was very interesting, for it comprised not only the religious teaching of the people but the education of the children. All children in the kingdom learnt to read and write a curious rounded script, but hardly any of them except the Priests made much use of the sun, which they worshipped as the source of all life and the symbol or manifestation of the Deity. Daily hymns were chanted to him at sunrise and sunset, and at certain seasons of the year special festivals were celebrated in his honour.

Electra was a wise father, and contrived to retain the full confidence of his little boy, so that they were always very happy together. Alcyone was a great favourite also with his grandfather Surya and his grandmother Dhruva, and he loved nothing better than to sit at the feet of the latter while she told him wonderful stories of the city where his father was born, of its wide streets and its magnificent buildings, and above all of the marvellous beauty and serenity of the mighty Temples, built who knows how long ago by the hands of giants and godlike men of the old upon the mysterious White Island.

“ Why have we no such temples here, grandfather?” he asked Surya one day.

And the great Priest answered: “ My boy, each race has its own customs, and its own ways of worshipping God; and so long as they acknowledge Him, it matters but little how. We have no temples because our forefathers have taught us that our God is everywhere, and that we need not set apart one time or one place more than another in which to serve Him, because our love to Him should be always in our hearts, so that every grove or field or house is to us a temple of His service, and every day a holy day upon which to do Him honour. We think that the trees and the sky which He has made are grander than any human work, and so we make them the pillars and the roof of our temple. For the same reason we have few ceremonies, because we think that our whole life should be one long ceremony of devotion to His service. You donot remember how, soon after you were born, you were carried up the hill in the early dawn to the great alter-stone near the summit, and laid upon it to await the morning kiss of our Lord the Sun, and how, as the first glad beam of rosy light fell upon you, I blessed you in His name and offered to Him as a sacrifice the life long devotion of your strength to His service, and of your body as a channel for His love. And if you so choose, later on there will be yet another ceremony which will dedicate you in a new sense to a still fuller service , when you become a Priest like me and like your father.”

Alcyone was satisfied; but he nevertheless resolved that as soon as he grew old enough he would travel to far-away Central Asia, and visit the great city with which his fate seemed so strangely linked. This resolve he duly carried out, for he made that journey, bearing gifts from King Mars of Ireland to the Emperor of Manoa, and he spent two years in the city which long centuries before he had helped so much in building. Perhaps it was this latter fact, or perhaps it was only the many stories which he had heard about it, which caused him to feel that nothing there was strange to him, but that he was as much at home as upon his own hill-sides. His great grandmother was still alive, and delighted to see him, and to show him the tank from which his grandfather saved his grandmother, the room in which his father was born, and all such mementoes of earlier days as very old people delight in. She was much pleased with him, and heaped upon him presents of great value, so that he returned home after two year’ s stay in Manoa a far richer man than he had been on his arrival. When he reached home, it was he who had tales to tell to his grandmother Dhruva—tales of the country which forty years before she had left for the sake of love, yet had never forgotten even for a day.

Soon after his return he married his cousin Mercury, with whom he had been in love ever since her birth, or at least since the day when, himself a tiny boy, he had been taken up the hill by his mother to see the consecration of the infant daughter of his uncle Rama. Not long after this came the ceremony of his own consecration and initiation into the full mysteries of the priesthood— an occasion of deep import, the memory of which abode with him throughout the rest of his life. The scene was, as ever, the great prehistoric alter-stone near the summit of the mountain which their repeated ceremonies had made so sacred; and the moment was, as before, the falling of the first sunbeam of a new day upon the brow of the candidate, crowned with roses and lilies, to typify at the same time the love of God which he must preach, and the purity of the life which he must lead. The ceremony was performed by his grandfather Surya, and in the course of it he delivered the following exhortation:

“ This is an important occasion in your life—perhaps the most important in this life, because it admits you to the brotherhood of those whose duty it is to keep alight the fire of devotion in the hearts of the people, and to hold up before them the shining light of a good example. See to it that you never falter in these duties, that you exercise worthily the power which I have this day entrusted to you. Remember always that this life is but one of many lives—one step on a vast staircase, leading up to the portal of the Temple of our Lord the Sun. When at last all the steps are trodden, when you shall enter the glorious portal, a splendid destiny lies before you. Servants of the servants of God shall you be, to help them on their way to Him, to guide their feet into the path of peace and happiness.

“ But for an office so magnificent the preparation is arduous. For many lives in the past you have lived among us, among the Kings and Priests of the earth who are your true spiritual kin, in order that their spirit might permeate you, that you might become one in the heart and mind with them; for a few lives yet you will do this, but before the end there must be times of trial, lives in which you stand alone and away from us, lives spent in lower walks of life and among those who are less evolved; for only so can final debts be paid, only so can uttermost sympathy be developed, only so can be gained the power which enables a Prince of Life and Death to pour out his own life in final self-sacrifice for the saving and the blessing of the world. For ever shines our Lord the Sun; keep your mind ever fixed on Him, and learn to see Him through the darkest earth – born clouds, so that His reflection in you may be ever steadfast, and in you His people may find an ever-open gate through they may reach His feet; so that through you they may be saved from their sin and sorrow and ignorance, through you the little streamlets of their lives may reach at last the shoreless sea of His infinity, the ocean of eternal bliss which is the life of God.”

Alcyone and Mercury had nine children – all of them characters whom we have met many times before. His first was Sirius—a daughter this time; but his eldest son was Corona. In due time Surya passed away, and Electra became the Chief Priest; and at about the same period Mars also died, and Viraj succeeded to the throne, thus making Alcyone’ s aunt Mizar queen of the country. Now that our hero was next in succession to the office of High Priest, he frequently acted for his father, and ranked next to him in power and importance. The residence of the Chief Priest was not at the capital, so the civil and religious centre of the country were not the same—much as, in England, Canterbury is really the seat of the ecclesiastical head of the Church, though London is the capital of the country. There was, however, no suggestion of rivalry between the two powers, as each had its own sphere, with which the other did not interfere.

The spot where the capital city stood in those days is not now identifiable, for it has been whelmed beneath the sea in the changes which took place at the same time of the sinking of Poseidonis; but the mountain where Surya officiated still remains, and is now known as Slieve-la-mon, in Tipperary. The Priests of the Sun knew much of magic, and were well acquainted with the various orders of the nature-spirits, as well as the greater Angels; and it was Surya himself who first gave to Slieve-la-mon the sacred character which it bears even to the present day. The arrangements as they exist there now were made by the Priests of the Tuatha-de-danaan just before the Milesian conquest; but it is to Surya that the inception of the great scheme is due, for he first conceived the idea of establishing in the country a number of centres from and through which power might be radiated. Electra and Alcyone understood these plans and each in his turn carried on the magnetisation, and handed on the tradition to his successors.

The life of the times was spacious and leisurely, for there was plenty of room in the land and every one had plenty of time, and so it often happened that such Priests as felt so disposed climbed the hill and sat in meditation near the altar-stone. The common folk came there but rarely, though sometimes one who had some trouble, or some difficult problem to solve, would sit alone in that sacred spot and wait for an inspiration, taking what came into his mind on such an occasion as the response of an oracle, as suggested by the guardian spirits of the place. This custom is eminently characteristic of the whole attitude of these people. Their entire life was permeated with the knowledge that close around them and in intimate relations with them was another world, unseen, yet ever present and always to be taken into account in every word and action. Indeed, that world was hardly regarded as unseen, so frequently did some token of its presence obtruded itself upon the physical senses.

The dead were not treated as absent, but as present in a slightly different way; it was fully recognised that many of them remained very closely in touch with mundane affairs, and were for some time after death deeply interested in the health of their friends, the progress of their crops, the well-being of their horses and cattle. The living did not fear the dead, but regarded them with a certain reverence as possessing new powers and having in some respects a wider outlook. Sometimes people invoked a departed relation, but it was considered a dangerous and selfish act, and was discouraged by the Priests, who taught that when the dead could speak, they would try to do so, and that when they did not, it was rash and presumptuous of the living to thrust petty earthly concerns upon them. Nevertheless, manifestations of some sort from the departed were by no means uncommon; and , as the race was on the whole distinctly psychic, there were many who constantly received strong impressions as to the wishes of the dead, and these were almost invariably carried out.

The existence of Angels and nature-spirits was universally accepted—indeed, to most of the people it was a matter of first-hand knowledge, for such beings were often seen, and all sorts of strange adventures with them were on record. I have mentioned that though every one knew how to read and write, but little use was made of these accomplishments. To a large extent their place was taken by story-telling, which was elaborated to a degree of which under modern conditions we have no conception—elaborated until it became both a custom and a science. They had no such things as balls or garden-parties, but instead of them they had what can only be described as orgies of story-telling. The neighbours met somewhere or other for this purpose every night, usually taking the houses of the district in turn, and the party settled down round the fire and composed themselves to listen or to narrate. There was a vast store of legend and of supposed history—mainly the personal adventures of certain great heroes—and another huge department of accounts of angelic or fairy intervention; all these were recognised and accepted tales, which had to be told according to tradition, from which no departures would be tolerated, and the persons who knew most of these, and had a reputation for reciting them dramatically, were sure of an enthusiastic reception anywhere. Besides these classics, there were constantly new narrations of present-day adventures and happenings—stories which had their vogue, and then either died out and were forgotten or took their place among the received body of such romances.

Alcyone himself had some experiences of that kind, having seen the fairies at their gambols more than once; but the great fairy story of the family was a visit paid to some sort of underworld by his youngest daughter Yajna. When the child was about seven years old she disappeared one day, and though the distracted family searched the whole hill they could find no trace of her. Wild beasts, though rare, had not been entirely eliminated , and the first fear was that she had fallen a victim to some of them. But there was no evidence for this theory, and no such creatures had been seen in the neighborhood for years , so presently suspicion took another turn, and it began to be whispered that perhaps the fairies had taken her, as she was an especially beautiful child, and it was known that in the past such children had been coveted and captured by nature spirits. Her father immediately employed certain arts of conjuration with which he was acquainted, and soon obtained confirmation of this surmise, and a promise that his daughter should be restored to him unharmed if he would seek her in a dell which was indicated by his informant. He promptly repaired to the appointed place, and found the little girl asleep under a tree.

When aroused, she told a strange tale. When wandering on hill, quite near her own home, she had come upon a little hollow in the hillside which she had never seen before, and had found in it the entrance to a cave. She had hesitated whether to go farther, because of the darkness; but while she stood looking a handsome boy came out of the cave, and with a deep bow invited her to enter. She was flattered by the deference with which he seemed to regard her, and asked him who he was, and where he lived. He replied that the cave was the entrance to his home, and that he would gladly show her the beautiful gardens which were but a little way within. She wondered much, but curiosity triumphed, and she put her hand trustingly in that of her guide, and let him lead her into the darkness. He seemed to be able to see quite well, and led her unhesitatingly forward; and after walking for a few minutes they came, quite suddenly and round a corner, upon a hall so vast that it was as though they were again in the open air. Yajna had no recollection of seeing the sky, but had the impression of a pleasant warm light like sunlight. They seemed to be in a garden, full of the loveliest flowers and trees, yet none of the flowers o trees were exactly like any which she had ever seen before. The boy led her forward through the garden, and presently they came upon a number of other children, who seemed to be playing some sort of a game, in which both she and her guide joined; but she was never able to explain quite what the game was, except that it was not like any played on earth. The merry party played and danced for hours without the slightest feeling of fatigue, and varied their proceedings by wandering hand in hand among the gorgeous vegetation, and on one occasion plunging into a crystal lake and splashing about in deliciously warm water. Yajna was deliriously happy, and earnestly wished that her brothers and sisters and friends could share her enjoyment; indeed she asked her boy friend whether she might come again and bring them all with her. He laughed joyously, and said that they would be heartily welcome if they could find the way— a cryptic utterance which Yajna did not understand, but she asked no more, lest she should seem rude . Nevertheless, in the midst of all her play curious little twinges of longing for her mother obtruded themselves into her mind—doubtless the result of the anxious thoughts of Mercury while the search was going on.

Suddenly there came to them thorough the garden a shining form to whom the playing children paid great deference; he spoke earnestly to the boy who had befriended Yajna, and then passed rapidly away. The boy called to Yajna, and told her that her father wanted her, and that he would take her to him. She ran to him at once, and he led her away from the garden, and up a curious stairway, which led them out among the roots of a great tree, and so into the old familiar world of daily life. But somehow that world seemed strangely dull, and the very sunlight itself looked pale after the golden light of the cave. The boy asked her to sit down beside him on the ground, and when she did so, he put his hands upon her shoulders and looked long into her eyes. His gaze was kind though compelling, and under it she found her sinking to sleep. Her last remembrance was that he stooped forward and kissed her as she sank to rest, and after that she knew no more until her father’ s touch awoke her.

She made repeated efforts to find the entrance to the cave, and the head of the stairway which came out among the roots of the tree, but could never come across the least trace of either, though she and her father and her uncle Naga spent many hours in the search. She was much impressed by what had happened to her, and tried again and again to get back into that beautiful underworld, but without success.

One day Naga sat meditatively upon the hill-side alone, and presently fell asleep in the sunshine. When he awoke he found standing near him a radiant young man who looked upon him benignantly; and it was some-how impressed upon him that this was the shining form of which his niece Yajna had spoken. He accosted the man, and asked if this were so, and the visitor smiled assent. Naga continued:

“ My little niece was so strongly attracted to the boy who led her into the garden, and it makes her sad not to see him again; cannot this be arranged? May they not play sometimes as they did on that occasion ?”

The young man answered: “ Tell her that just as she loves that boy, so does he love her, and desires earnestly to see her; yet it is better that they should not meet, for they are of different worlds, and it is not meant that these worlds should intermingle too freely. If she came to us she would be lost to you; and she has work to do in your world. Believe me, things are best as they are. The boy will continue to love her and watch over her unseen. See I will call him.”

In a moment a handsome boy stood beside him. Naga held out his arms to him, and he came forward and gravely allowed him to embrace him; his look was full of longing, but he spoke no word. Naga kissed him on the forehead, saying:

“ Take that as a greeting from her who loves you.”

Then in a moment the figures were gone, and Naga tried to persuade himself that it had been but a dream. Yet he well knew enough that it was something of the kind; and Alcyone and Yajna realised it too as soon as he told them the story. Many times Yajna dreamed of her boy friend, and often unexpected and inexplicable help was given to her in sundry childish difficulties; and she always attributed such help to his watchfulness. She clung tenaciously to his memory, and always said as a child that she meant to find him and marry him; but as she grew up the impression gradually wore off, and she finally married Muni—though she said that she did so only because he reminded her of her fairy boy more than any one else.

Alcyone lived as usual to a ripe old age, loved and reverenced by all the thousands who knew him.

Chart XIII

Ireland 27500 B.C.

1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th

Arthur -Spes Telema -Gnostic Colos -Dora Percy -Saturn

Pindar -Koli

Bee -Math Cyr -Aulus Pearl -Quies Kim -Gem Taurus -Ophis Aldeb -Alex

Apis -Kratos Phocea -Gluck Virgo -Pepin

Altair -Alba Zeno -Udor

Adrona -Pyx Pollux -Vale Tiphys -Xulon Kara -Tripos Uchacha -Noel

Hygeia -Medha Roxana -Naga

Onyx -Ullin

Sirius -Apollo Castor -Dido Corona -Vajra

Capella -Melete Rhea -Forma Leo -Ulysses Callio -Jason Kamu -Algol

Fons -Aqua Argus -Jerome Vega -Ajax Alcyone -Mercury

Crux -Ivy Gnostic -Telema

Dido -Castor Beth -Euphra Aurora -Zoe Gimel -Cygnus Jupiter -Uranus

Forma -Rhea Fides -Hector

Draco -Kos Ivy -Crux Alces -Bella Yajna -Muni Neptune -Fomal Ivan -Odos Ushas -Horus

Radius -Markab

Naiad -Unn

Pavo -Baldur

Maya -Zephyr

Naga -Roxana

Noel -Uchcha Ullin -Onyx Inca Kepos

Zephyr -Maya

Joan -Lotus Upaka -Nanda Dharma -Sita

Tripos -Karu Markab -Radius Electra -Brihat

Leto -Erato Math -Bee Osiris -Helios

Kos -Draco

279

Chart XIII

Ireland 27500 B.C.

1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th

Apollo -Sirius

Flos -June

Hestia -Canopus Cassio -Deneb Euphra -Beth Cugnus -Gimel

Koli -Pindar Aletheia -Concord Athena -Selene

Nicos -Xanthos

Dora -Colos Cento -Camel Oak -Pallas Aqua -Fons Siwa -Walter

Cetus -Pomo Judex -Ara

Una -Naiad

Nanda -Upaka

Aquila -Rigel

Sextans -Trefoil Surya -Dhruva

Mizar -Viraj

Beatus -Beren Zee -Aurora

Dolphin -Bruce Albireo -Sif

Viola -Lobelia

Clio -Fort Pepin -Virgo

Kepos -Inca Kratos -Yajna Alma -Bootes Nu -Rao Muni -Yajna

Vale -Pollux

Chanda -Nimrod Yati -Phra Vizier -Yodha

Venus -Mira

Thor -Scotus Lutea -Proteus Ulysses -Leo

Deneb -Cassio Diana -Lignus Psyche -Hector Mercury -Alcyone Lomia -Iris Magnus -Auson Ajax -Vega Canopus -Hestia Hermin -Daphne Melete -Capella Holly -Pax Daphne -Hermin Rama -Vulcan

Ida -Sagitta

Beren -Beatus Ronald -Egeria

Aglaia -Myna

Daleth -Beatel Scotus -Thor

Amal -Calyx Tolosa -Stella Bootes -Alma

Baldur -Pavo

Algol -Kamu Orca -Dactyl Obra -Parthe

Jerome -Argus Bella -Alces Rigel -Acquilla

Betel -Daleth Gasper -Pisces

280

Chart XIII

Ireland 27500 B.C.

1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th

Fabius -Nita Odos -Ivan Lotus -Joan

Madhu -Hygeia

Selene -Athena

Nimrod -Chanda Pallas -Oak

Calyx -Amal Proteus -Lutea Arica -Auriga Vajra -Corona Vulcan -Rama

Bruce -Dolphin Uranus -Jupiter

Kudos -Norma

Atlas -Hebe

Ixion -Lili

Krato -Leto Orpheus -Rosa Concord -Aletheia Auson -Magnus Mars -Vesta

Viraj -Mizar

Horus -Ushas Udor -Zeno

Brihat -Electra

Parthe -Obra Chrys -Elsa Spica -Demeter Trefoil -Sextans

Sirona -Eros Herakles -Lyra

Arcor -Libra Philae -Echo Sappho -Achills Rosa -Orpheus Jason -Callio Theo -Theseus Wences -Polaris

Camel -Cento Leopard -Dome Rex -Soma Mira -Venus

Juno -Flos Ophis -Taurus

Hebe -Atlas Walter -Siwa Fomal -Neptune Fort -Clio Pisces -Gasper

Mona -Olaf Myna -Aglaia Sif -Albireo

Egeria -Ronald Iris -Lomia Theseus -Theo

Rector -Psyche

Clare -Andro Auriga -Aries Spes -Arthur

Priam -Phoneix Elsa -Chrys Pax -Holly

Ara -Judex Demeter -Spica

Pyx -Adrona

Lili -Ixion Phoenix -Priam

Dactyl -Orca Xanthos -Nicos Nestor -Sylla

Eudox -Flora Alex -Aldeb

Boreas -Irene Xalon -Tiphys

Pomo -Cetus Gem -Kim

Zama -Melpo Gluck -Phocea

Irene -Boreas Soma -Rex

Stella -Tolosa

281

Chart XIII Ireland 27500 B.C. 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th

Melpo -Zama Rao -Nu Lobelia -Viola Sagitta -Ida

Andro -Clare Lyra -Herakles

Nita -Fabius

Flora -Eudox Dome -Leopard Achilles -Sappho

Yodha -Vizier Polaris -Wences Sita -Dharma Hector -Fides

Lignus -Diana Quies -Pearl

Libra -Arcor Helios -Osiris

Eros -Sirona Norma -Kudos Aulus -Cyr Echo -Philae

Alba -Altair Olaf -Mona Phra -Yati

Life XIV

Here we have another of those royal lives lived in Manoa referred to by Surya in his Irish Prophecy—which played so large a part in the development of our hero. He was not this time directly in the line of succession to the throne, for his father was Selene, the brother of the King; but he lived in the immediate neighbourhood of the palace, and Herakles, the eldest son of the monarch, was his greatest friend. Indeed, we have in this life a triumvirate of boys always together, as in the eleventh life; but as this time Alcyone’ s previous companions, Saturn and Electra, belonged to an earlier generation (Saturn being Alcyone’ s mother and Electra his uncle) the comrades of his adventures on this occasion were cousins, Herakles and Naga.

Happening to be of the same age, and being thrown a great deal together, these three very early became inseparables, and their friendship was cemented by a curious incident which occurred when they were about twelve years old. They were away in one of the outer suburbs of the city, having returned from a long ramble towards the mountains, when they came on an unpleasant scene. A number of rough boys and hobbledehoys of the lower classes were making fun of one who was obviously a foreigner—shouting insulting remarks after him, and even pelting him with mud. The victim was an old man, somewhat Mongolian in appearance, dressed in a strange foreign garb, and assisting himself as he walked by a curious carved ivory staff. He was hobbling along hurriedly, and

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trying to ignore the rudeness of his assailants; but when one of the bigger louts pushed another against him and almost threw him down, he turned upon them angrily and struck at them with his ivory staff. At this the young ruffians took to throwing stones instead of mud; and one of these, striking the old man on the head, felled him to the ground, and the crowd rushed in upon him.

Our boys had realised the condition of affairs when some distance away, and they at once started running towards the scene of conflict, and it was just at this crisis that they arrived. Though some of the roughs were much bigger and stronger than they, they atonce sprang upon them and tore them away from the old man. The whole group was cowed by the suddenness of this unexpected assault, but after a few moments seeing only three small boys, they turned upon them savagely and made as if to attack them. Our three stood round the old man, who now sat up and looked about him in a dazed sort of way; and Herakles seized the ivory staff, and held it out towards the menacing crowd, shouting.

“ I am the son of the King, and I order you instantly to retire .”

It is probable that some of the ruffians recognised him, for after a few hurried whispers they drew back sullenly, and the little crowd gradually melted away, so that our three boys were able to turn their attention to the elderly stranger whom they had rescued. He thanked them effusively for their aid, saying that but for them he would have been seriously hurt and quite possibly killed, and he begged them to believe that he would not show himself ungrateful. Herakles asked him to come at once to the palace, saying that he would lay a complaint directly before his father, but the old man thanked him and declared that he would rather go to his own home, and leave the punishment of his assailants to fate.

“ At least, then,” said Herakles, “ let us accompany you to your home, if you will not come with us to the palace; for perhaps these rascals may still be lurking in the neighbourhood, and at any rate you seem to be weak and tired.”

The old man ( who has previously been known to us as Laxa) seemed touched by the kindness offered him, and allowed them to accompany him without further protest, Alcyone asking him to rest his hand on his shoulder and lean upon him as he walked. In this order, then , they passed through several streets, and at last came to a quarter of a city unknown to our three boys, and to a somewhat mean-looking house in it which the old man said was his home. He asked them to honour him by coming in, and glancing at one another, they accepted his offer, for they all felt considerable curiosity with regard to him. Naga, especially, had been examining the curious ivory stick, and had asked him a question about it, to which he gave a rather mysterious reply that it was of far greater importance than it appeared to be. So they were glad of the opportunity of entering his house, and they found that the inside by no means corresponded with the somewhat squalid outer appearance. The rooms were much larger than they had expected from so poor an entrance, and it was evident that this was by no means the abode of a poverty stricken person. There was not much in the way of furniture, but what there was seemed good in quality, though evidently of foreign manufacture; there were rich draperies of brilliant colouring, and many curiosities hanging on the walls and lying about. The old man noticed their evident curiosity, and seemed gratified by it.

“ I suppose,” he said, “ you did not expect such rooms in a house which seem so poor.”

When they assented he continued: “ I am not quite so poor as I find it advised to appear in a country where men of my race are despised and often ill-treated. I can assure you that you will find me not ungrateful for the great kindness which you have shown me, and perhaps my gratitude may not be so entirely worthless as at first sight it might seem to be.”

The boys understood but little of the meaning of his talk, but they saw that he intended to be friendly, and their native courtesy induced them to treat so old a man with deference. They were much interested in many curiosities in the room, and Laxa seemed pleased to show in many of the curiosities in the room, and Laxa seemed pleased to show them to them, and to explain their character and use. Presently he struck upon a beautifully-chased gong, and a servant appeared, to whom he gave orders to bring refreshment. The boys at first demurred, but the old man pressed food upon them so insistently that they were afraid of hurting his feelings by refusing, and consequently partook of some curious little sweet cakes with an odd spicy flavour quite new in their experience.

After talking for some time, he said; “ Now what shall I do for you, to prove my gratitude to you for saving my life?”

Herakles protested against this, saying that they desired no reward for doing what any gentleman would have done, and other boys expressed full agreement with what he said.

“ Very well, then,” said Laxa, “ since you put it in that way I will not insult you by the offer of presents of any kind. Yet I will confer upon you the greatest benefit which it is in my power to give. Poor as I appear, I hold high office in a powerful secret Society in my own land. Young as you are, and old as I am, you have yet stood by me and succoured me as if you were of my own race and family; therefore, as you will take no other reward from me, I will admit you as brothers of my Society; and let me tell you that although you may think that a matter of but little importance here in Manoa, you will find that wherever there is a man of my race he will be your servant because of what you have done to-day, when you show him the sign that I shall give you.”

The boys again glanced at one another, doubting whether these proceedings would meet the approval of their parents and leaders; but they were devoured by curiosity to know more about this strange old man and the secret Society of which he spoke, and they felt that at any rate they might as well see what, if anything, it required of them. So Herakles somewhat hesitatingly signified his consent, and the other two boys were quite ready to follow his lead.

Laxa then explained to him that long ago his country had been conquered by a neighbouring race – conquered finally by an act of treachery so gross that it made all really friendly relation between the races impossible for ever. He said that his people had become unwarlike through centuries of peace, and that they were unable to resist these foreign rulers; but they had banded themselves together in various secret societies, and by means of these they contrived to maintain themselves, and to keep the tyranny of the foreigners to some extent in check. Now that foreign dynasty had come under the rule of Manoa, and matters were much better than they had been previously; but it was the custom of the Empire of Manoa to recognise the ruling classes in the countries which came under its control, and as far as possible to continue them in offices which they had previously held. Consequently the hated conquering race still held their position as a sort of noble caste, and much of the power was even yet in their hands; so there was still much ill feeling, though the old hatred was to some extent dying down.

There were several of these secret societies, he said and they differed much in their aims; that to which he himself had the honour to belong was not one of those which resorted to the extreme measures of arson and assassination; it was rather a brotherhood all the members of which were sworn to help one another in the case of need, and to defend one another against aggression. He explained to them that as they were not citizens of his country it would mean to them only that they were sure of help from any of his countrymen whenever they might meet them; and that if they ever should in later life visit his native land it would at once put them on the footing of friends instead of strangers, and enable them to enter into the inner life of the people in a way which without such a passport would be entirely impossible. All that he asked of them was a pledge to regard and to treat as brothers one who could show them the sign of the brotherhood.

This they readily consented to do, and Laxa then proceeded to teach them a certain sign whereby they might recognise other members whenever they encountered them. He told them also that all members of this Society bore its seal, indelibly impressed upon the inside of their arm just below the armpit, and he asked them whether they were willing to bear this sign. Joyously scenting an unusual adventure, the boys eagerly agreed, and Laxa thereupon struck his gong again and when the servant appeared, gave him some directions in a strange language. As a result of these the man brought a little piece of apparatus which looked not at all unlike an ordinary seal, except that the pattern on the seal was marked out by a number of tiny needle like points. He asked them to bare their arms, and warned them that the imprint of the seal was for a few moments exceedingly painful; but that feeling he said, would soon pass away. He then performed his little operation, pressing the seal upon the arms of the boys in the place indicated and in rubbing upon the wound which was made a curious kind of paste.

The result of this operation was to impress upon the arm the sign of swastika in a beautiful crimson colour; but it naturally made the arm very painful, so the old man tied a small piece of wet cloth over the wound, and then sent them away, telling them that its effect would pass off and they would be all right in a day or two. He had exacted from them a promise to say nothing of their adventure to any one; and this promise they faithfully kept. As Laxa had said, after a day or two the inflammation passed away, and the only permanent result was a beautiful little piece of tattooing. Before leaving the old man the boys had asked whether they might call upon him again, and had been told that he would always be glad to see them ; so after a few weeks they repeated their visit, and were welcomed as before, Laxa telling them many exciting stories about his country.

This little adventure produced a considerable impression upon their minds—an impression which was deepened by the fact that a few weeks later they happened, upon one of their numerous expeditions together, to meet two men of Mongolian extraction— men who seemed to them to be of the same race as the old man whom they had rescued. It immediately occurred to them that here was an opportunity of putting his statements to the test; so Herakles made the mystic sign that had been taught to them. The men, who had looked stolid before, exhibited the liveliest interest, and instantly drew aside their cloaks and raised their arms so as to bring into view the sign of the swastika. As they had been instructed by the old man, our boys immediately responded by showing their signs in a similar way; and as soon as the Mongolians saw these they instantly knelt before them in the road with every appearance of reverence. Laxa had told the boys that the form in which he had impressed the sign upon them indicated their admission to the highest order of the society; and this difference in rank accounted for the great deference shown by the Mongolians, for on examination they saw that the mark borne by those men differed in certain respects from that which had been impressed upon them. This little incident, however, reassured them as to the genuineness of Laxa’ s statements, and they began to realize that the reward which he had given them was not so much a mere form as they had at first supposed. This fact, and the information which they gained from their old friend, gave them strong information which they gained from their old friend, gave them a strong interest in Mongolia and its people, and they determined that when they grew up they would contrive to travel in that part of the world and put their membership in this strange society to a practical test.

It was however a good many years later when the opportunity to do this actually came their way; but the old interest still survived, and they were eagerly desirous to take it. It was the custom of the country that scions of the royal house should hold the governorships of the provinces of the empire; and the opportunity which offered itself was that a governorship in a remote part of what is now the Chinese empire fell vacant when our hero had reached the age of twenty-two. Herakles, being the heir to the throne was precluded from taking any appointments of this nature; but Alcyone immediately applied for the post, and to the surprise of his father and his other relations, who regarded him as too young to undertake such responsibilities so far away from the capital. However he insisted upon his desire to take this office, and as there was no competition for it, it was eventually assigned to him; and Naga’ s eager application to go as his assistant was also admitted. Thus it happened that these two young princes set off together on a journey which was to have an unexpected termination.

They rode for many months before they reached the province over which Alcyone was to rule. When they did reach it their reception was far from satisfactory, for immediately upon crossing its borders their little party fell into an ambush, and was attacked from all sides by armed men whom they then supposed to be robbers. In the first wild rush Alcyone was struck down, and the Aryan soldiers were swept along in confusion for some distance. Then Naga, quickly assuming the command, rallied them and by a few quick evolutions enabled them to get room to re-form and to use their weapons. When this was done, they soon drove before them the armed mob which had attacked them, which seemed in a moment to fall into inextricable confusion and to begin to fight among themselves. These men were in full flight, and many of them were killed; but when the bodyguard got back to the place where Alcyone had fallen his body was nowhere to be seen. The prisoners whom they took were interrogated, but none of them would admit that he knew anything about it. A careful and exhaustive search was made of the whole neighbourhood, but no trace of the missing leader could be found, and they were at last reluctantly compelled to abandon all hope of recovering his body.

Enquiry showed that the attack had been engineered by one of the secret societies, of which the old man had spoken to them— the Society of the Blue Spear, which had the reputation of being the most extreme and the most anarchistic of all such organisations. Naga, full of grief and rage at the loss of his leader, promptly made prisoners of all the men upon whose body the blue spear-head could be found, and drove them before him on his march. Presently he was met by a deputation representing the ruling classes of the province—a deputation which had come out to receive the new Governor, and appeared to be overwhelmed with grief and anxiety at the tragedy which had occurred. Naga told them shortly that unless and until Alcyone reappeared he himself proposed to take command, and while he was Willing to accept their professions of loyalty, it could be satisfactorily proved to him only by the discovery of the body of Alcyone, and the punishment of those who had slain him. The notables of the country assured him of their profound grief and of their thorough co-operation with him in his endeavour to sift the matter to the bottom.

All members who could be proved to belong to the Blue Spear Society were put under arrest, a searching investigation was made, and the existence of a widely extended plot was unearthed. It was discovered that the heads of this illicit organisation had concocted a plan to seize upon the government of the province and massacre the ruling classes; and as a preliminary they had thought it well to remove the new Governor.

But although the existence of the plot was freely admitted, no information could be obtained as to its result; the survivors of the attack declared that they themselves had been mysteriously attacked in turn, not only by the handful of Aryan soldiers, but by others whom they did not know. So many people separately told this strange story that it seemed as though there must be some foundation for it; but Naga could obtain no satisfaction, though he distinctly acquired the impression that the people whom he was cross-examining were speaking the truth as far as they knew it.

In this extremity it occurred to him to make use of the secret sign of the Society of the Crimson Swastika, and although that met with no response among the ruling classes who surrounded him, it quickly brought him recognition from others among the people who, as soon as they knew of his rank within their Society, immediately put their whole organisation at his command. They were able at once to explain the mystery of the failure of the Blue Spear attack. They had themselves received information of it, and it was their members who had intervened and come at the critical moment to the assistance of the Aryan Guard. They were, however, unable to throw any light upon the disappearance of the body of Alcyone.

Profound as was his sorrow for his cousin, Naga felt the business of the state must be carried on. He therefore assumed the office of Governor, and despatched an embassy to Mars with a full report of all that had happened, and an intimation that he held the province on behalf of the King until he should be confirmed or until someone else should be appointed. Then he settled down to the business of administration, but he first of all made it a point to stamp out of existence the Blue Spear Society, and in this he invoked the services of the Crimson Swastika. He was successful up to a certain point; but he had the impression all the while that something was eluding him, for he frequently came across traces of some other hidden force of far greater power which he was yet unable to identify. He stated this impression quite plainly in the secret meetings of his Society, and its local leaders agreed with him, yet they were unable to solve the mystery, although the surface administration appeared to be most successful, and the affairs of the province moved smoothly and prosperously. This secret uncertainty caused Naga constant inward anxiety; he felt keenly the responsibility of his position and often longed to be able to discuss it with his old comrades, Herakles and Alcyone, and to advise with them as he would have done in the days gone by.

Matters went on in this way for some months, during which Naga’ s feeling of irritation increased all the while, for he found himself foiled again and again at various points by some intangible opposition. Finally this incomprehensible but ever recurring difficulty got upon his nerves to such an extent that he called a council of all the heads of the Crimson Swastika of the whole province—a secret meeting to which only those with the highest credentials were admitted. Before them he laid his case and recapitulated his reasons for feeling certain of the existence of some powerful organisation which was entirely unknown to them, although they supposed themselves to have spies in every part of the country, and to be thoroughly well informed as to what was going on. The heads of the organisation maintained that it was quite impossible that such a body could exist without their knowledge; yet they were unable to explain satisfactorily the indications which Naga pointed out to them. He demanded that a more searching investigation should be made, and blamed the leaders for the inefficiency of their arrangements; but they were quite unable to suggest any further steps for the elucidation of the mystery.

Just as they had come to this unsatisfactory conclusion the guard of the door of the chamber came before them in a condition of manifest perturbation, declaring that there stood one at the door who gave the sign of the highest division of their order, although every member of that division in the country was already present in the hall. This seemed to imply the serious suggestion that the highest of their secrets were somehow in the hands of an outsider—something which could have happened only by quite incredible treachery. The janitor asked what he should do; but Naga quickly decided that a brother who held the supreme secrets must at least be admitted, whatever steps it might be necessary to take afterwards. The doors were consequently thrown open, and a cloaked stranger came in. As he advanced up the hall he made a sign which all present instantly recognised, before which they rose in reverence; and when at last he came before Naga he threw back his hood and showed the face of Alcyone. Naga received him with a shout of incredulous surprise, but as soon as he realised that his cousin really stood before him, introduced him as the true Governor to the rest of the assembly, and then installed him in the President’ s chair.

Alcyone of course had a story to tell—a very remarkable story. He had been knocked down and stunned in the attack by the Blue Spears but when the members of the Crimson Swastika, who had in turn been watching the watchers, poured out upon the Blue Spears and overthrew them, he was just recovering sufficiently to make a sign which they instantly recognised. They promptly bore him away from the field into a place of concealment, but while they were doing so he again relapsed into unconsciousness. When he recovered for the second time he found himself being most carefully and respectfully tended, for in the mean time they had discovered his rank in the order from the peculiar form of the seal impressed upon his arm.

It was sometime before he recovered perfectly from the blow which he had received and in the course of that recovery he learnt much from his temporary host about the condition of affairs in the country, and especially about the relations between the various secret societies. He was in the house of a high official of his own Society, and that official was in possession of a great deal of information about the inner workings of the hostile organisation of the Spear. Alcyone was intensely interested by what he heard of this, and he found his host to be in possession of knowledge by means of which it might be possible for them to pass themselves off as members of the inner circle of the Spear. Alcyone immediately resolved to devote himself to the discovery of the truth about this iniquitous organisation, and it occurred to him that he had now an unexampled opportunity of following the matter up in person in a way that as governor of the province he could not possibly have done. Officially he was supposed to be dead, and consequently he was free to make use of his knowledge; whereas as governor his every movement would have been known, and he must have made all the most critical investigations by deputy. Though regretting the sorrow that he knew this would cause to Naga, he felt that it might well be for the best interests of his province that he should take advantage of the opportunity that had thus fallen in his way, and that he and his host should disguise themselves thoroughly and endeavour to follow up the clues so providentially placed in their hands.

They carried out this resolve; the succeeded in obtaining possession of the innermost secrets of the Spear, and they found that its strength lay in the existence of an inner circle which was unknown even to the rank and file of the Society—an inner circle which, while it directed that outer society, also acted upon its own account and struck with unerring secrecy and dispatch. It cost Alcyone a vast amount of time and trouble to trace all the ramifications of this conspiracy, but eventually he came to know by sight all of its leaders, and he gathered together against them an overwhelming mass of evidence. During all the time that these investigations were in progress he remained closely hidden, his identity absolutely unsuspected except by his original host, whom he had bound over by his oath of obedience to maintain rigid secrecy. When at last he had all the information that he required and his schemes had fully matured, he came to the headquarters of his own Society with the intention of getting through it into communication with his cousin without as yet revealing himself to the outside public; and, as has been seen, he happened to arrive dramatically in the midst of a specially important meeting.

That same night orders were sent out for the arrest of all the members of that inner circle of the Spear, and in the course of a few days Alcyone and Naga had every one of them safely in their hands. Only when that result was achieved did Alcyone declare himself to the country and take up the reins of government. The accused were brought before the proper courts and the whole story came out, and then for the first time the force which had all the time been thwarting Naga’ s best endeavours was discovered and exposed. The prisoners were duly brought before the appointed courts and condemned; the tyranny of the evil organisation was broken, and the land had rest from intrigue and conspiracy.

Alcyone and Naga spent many years in carrying on the administration of their province. Through their membership in the Society of the Crimson Swastika they gained the confidence and cooperation of the natives of the country, were able to meet them in intimate relations, and learned to understand their desires and aspirations. Mars, seeing that he had here enthusiastic subordinates, who thoroughly understood their work, wisely left them to do as they would; and the result was great contentment and prosperity in that far-distant province.

Both the cousins had been betrothed before they left home, and deep had been the sorrow in Manoa at the news of the supposed death of Alcyone; correspondingly great also the rejoicing when it came to be known that the report was false. As soon as the great conspiracy was definitely broken up, and it became certain that the province had entered upon an era of unexampled peace and prosperity, the governor and his assistant arranged that their future wives should journey out to them, and the double wedding was celebrated with great pomp and much national rejoicing.

As the years rolled by large families grew up around them, and life went very well with them. Alcyone and Naga endeared themselves to all the people in their great province, travelling constantly about it, and obtaining private and detailed information as to the needs of the people through the organisation to which they belonged. On several occasions they paid visits to their relations at Manoa, Naga remaining in charge of the province when Alcyone was away, and Alcyone doing double work during the absence of Naga; but they were never both away simultaneously, until at the age of sixty Alcyone obtained from Herakles(who had by that time succeeded his father Mars) leave to retire and spend the rest of his days in his own country. Five years after his return Alcyone passed peacefully away, leaving behind him a record of efficient and useful work for his country.

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Chart XIV

Manoa 26800 B.C.

1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th

Muni -Cento Viraj -Koli

Rhea -Tolosa Vizier -Noel

Euphra -Mercury

Eros -Krotos

Herakles -Capella

Pearl -Kamu Sif -Erato Polaris -Argus

Ivy -Aletheia Dhruva -Rama

Oak -Lobelia Castor -Beatus Nestor -Aquila

Nicos -Gimel

Nimrod -Madhu

Walter -Colos Bee -Quies

Andro -Siwa Atlas -Lignus Mars -Vajra

Lili -Fons Dora -Clare

Osiris -Ronald

Ara -Flos Trefoil -Ulysses Pindar -Psyche

Auson -Echo Erato -Sif Ida -Iris Melete -Dome

Telema -Spes

Neptune -Electra Jupiter -Fides Cyr -Gasper Appolo -Cassio

Mona -Fabius Yodha -Abel Mercury -Euphra Cento -Muni Rigel -Brihat

Camel -Libra Koli -Viraj Phocea -Clio Egeria -Pallas

Alba -Holly Bootes -Dharma Alcyone -Sirius Hector -Athena Helios -Vesta Arthur -Diana Stella -Myna Lutea -Corona

Fomal -Alces

Kratos -Eros Radius -Upaka Kim -Judex Madhu -Nimrod Hestin -Beth

Ullin -Hygeia

Achilles -Daleth Hermin -Xanthos Yajna -Gem

Chart XIV

Manoa 26800 B.C.

1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th

Leo -Percy

Brihat -Rigel Xulon -Rao Kamu -Pearl

Noel -Vizier Alma -Irene

Gimel -Nicos Callio -Sappho Aquila -Nestor

Mizar -Vulcan

Apis -Phra Fort -Flora

Rao -Xulon Tripos -Ivan Selene -Saturn

Theseus -Draco

Aurora -Zoe

Math -Algol

Upaka -Radius

Mira -Dido Vega -Rosa Fides -Jupiter

Amal -Pyx

Athena -Hector

Dharma -Bootes

Rama -Dhruva

Colos -Walter Proteus -Dactyl

Phra -Apis Echo -Auson

Irene -Alma Venus -Gnostic Beatus -Castor

Pyx -Amal

Demeter -Obra

Eudox -Jerome Albireo -Viola

Holly -Alba

Sirius -Alcyone Inca -Sita Alces -Fomal Leto -Norma

Algol -Math Flos -Ara Beth -Hestia Cassio -Appollo

Vulcan -Mizar Nanda -Naiad Horus -Joan

Roxana -Pavo Nu -Yati Naga -Aglaia

Sita -Inca

Baldar -Adrona Odos -Pomo Chanda -Kara Capella -Herakles Electra -Neptune

Xanthos -Hermia Ivan -Tripos Ajax -Udor

Flora -Fort

Rosa -Vega

Clare -Dora Pavo -Roxana Cygnus -Kudos Forma -Daphne Magnus -Aries

Nita -Beren

Kepos -Lotus

301

Chart XIV

Manoa 26800 B.C.

1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th

Pisces -Auriga Zoe -Aurora Kos -Philae

Ulysses -Trefoil Zeno -Alex Leopard -Virgo Aulus -Hebe

Markab -Ushas Quies -Bee Juno -Lyra Lignus -Atlas Vajra -Mars

Sagitta -Priam Percy -Leo

Pallas -Egeria Siwa -Andro Olaf -Calyx

Canopus -Uranus Crux -Bruce Draco -Theseus Psyche -Pindar Uranus -Canopus Udor -Ajax Gnostic -Venus Ronald -Osiris

Lyca -Juno Sappho -Callio

Deneb -Concord Lobelia -Oak Wences -Betel

Philae -Kos Virgo -Leopard Alex -Zeno Abel -Yodha Spes -Telema

Auriga -Pisces

Vale -Maya Bruce -Crux Daleth -Achilles Chrys -Aldeb

Rex -Orpheus

Libra -Camel Theo -Thor

Clio -Phocea Ixion -Sirona Myna -Stella Tolosa -Rhea Gem -Yajna

Fabius -Mona

Jerome -Kudos Lotus -Kepos Maya -Vale Ushas -Markab

Viola -Albireo

Vesta -Helios Aletheia -Ivy

Jason -Pepin Beren -Nita Kudos -Cygnus

Concord -Deneb

Taurus -Spica Priam -Sagitta Tiphys -Aqua

Altair -Gluck Bella -Sylla

Betel -Wences Dome -Melete Orca -Lomia

Ophis -Elsa Hector -Dolphin Yati -Nu Parthe -Sextans

Soma -Scotus

Chart XIV

Manoa 26800 B.C.

1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th

Gluck -Altair Karu -Chanda

Obra -Demeter Aldeb -Chrys

Daphne -Forma

Arcor -Zephyr Dido -Mira

Spica -Taurus

Sirona -Ixion Fons -Lilli Norma -Leto Pepin -Jason Aries -Magnus Dolphin -Rector Saturn -Selene

Elsa -Ophis

Argus -Polaris Iris -Ida Phoenix -Pax

Dactyl -Proteus

Judox -Kim Joan -Horus Thor -Theo

Sylla -Bella

Scotus -Soma Aqua -Tiphys Diana -Arthur

Melpo -Zama

Orpheus -Rex Hebe -Aulus Lomia -Orca Naiad -Nanda

Sextans -Parthe

Una -Pollux

Cetus -Onys

Agalain -Naga Boreas -Uchacha

Adrona -Baldur

Life XV

It would be perhaps fantastic to suppose that the curious adventure of the previous life were the direct cause of this, and yet there seems to be a certain amount of ground for such a supposition. The interest evoked in our hero and his cousins for the Turanian race and its allies was certainly due to their encounter with the old man, Laxa; and from that interest came Alcyone’ s ready offer to accept that remote governorship, and from that in turn the principal work of his life. On the other hand Laxa’ s attachment to the Aryan race came certainly from the kind intervention of the three boys, for they were, so far as was seen, the only Aryans with whom he had any pleasant relations. In this fifteenth life we find Laxa still in the same race, though not in the same branch of it. We find that his love for the Aryan race induces him to take considerable trouble to procure an Aryan husband for his daughter, and from that fact in turn proceeds the possibility of incarnation among his immediate descendents, not only of the three boys who had rescued him, but of a large number of other members of the band of Servers.

Laxa had two sons and a daughter. The sons married in the ordinary way among their compatriots; but for the daughter, to whom he was strongly attached, he was most anxious to procure a husband of the later race. For that reason he declined several eligible offers from the countrymen of his own; and when he heard that an Aryan wanderer had attached himself to one of the nomad tribes in his neighbourhood, he made a considerable journey in

303303

order to find that tribe, to speak to the wanderer and to offer him sufficient inducements to return with him to his home. This wanderer was our old friend Calyx, and he had fled from the empire of Manoa because in a moment of passion and under great provocation he had slain a man of wealth and standing who had acted oppressively towards him. He was therefore in the position of an adventurer, and was quite glad to meet with a reasonable offer of work with some sort of home attached to it. So when Laxa came in his way, seemed to take a violent fancy to him, and offered him an opportunity for settling himself, he readily accepted it. When, after a bong journey, Laxa brought him back to his own tribe, he introduced him to his daughter Clio, a passable and pleasant young lady; and after they had known one another for a short time he calmly unfolded to Calyx his plan that the latter should marry his daughter and succeed in due course to the chieftainship of the tribe, for Clio was his eldest child, and at his death the headship would by their custom pass to her and to her husband rather than to his sons, Myna and Capri.

The tribe was one of the largest and wealthiest in all that part of Asia, so the offer was distinctly a good one, and Calyx had no hesitation in accepting it, if Clio could be induced to consent. It was speedily found that she had no objection to make to her father’ s plan, and in this way the matter was settled. The three sons of that marriage were Mars, Mizar and Herakles, while Alcyone was the grand-daughter of Laxa through his son Myna. Mizar the second son of Calyx and Clio, married his cousin Mercury, who was another grand-daughter of Laxa, and their eldest son was Naga; so that in this way the three boys who had helped him in Manoa seven hundred years before were among his immediate descendents. On the other hand the three who had taken so keen an interest in the Turanian race in that previous life now found themselves in position of power and authority in one of its branches. One cannot insist upon any direct connection, but the juxtaposition is decidedly suggestive.

For the three boys and for all those who had previously been born in Manoa the life was curiously different, for this tribe was nomadic in a certain stately way. It owned enormous numbers of goats and mountain sheep, and it wandered about a somewhat barren but not uninteresting country, encamping for a year, or sometimes for two or three years, in a certain spot, sowing its crops and reaping its harvest, and then moving on to some other sphere of activity. Though to this extent nomadic, the people are by no means to be thought of as uncivilised, for they distinctly possessed artistic taste along certain lines. There was nothing in the way of painting or sculpture; but they had considerable proficiency in wood carving, although wood was a rare commodity with them. They were clever workers in metal, and they understood very well the jeweler’ s art. There were beautiful patterns also in their curtains and carpets, and they had a fine sense of harmony in colour.

There is not much to be said as to the childhood of our heroine. She was strongly attached to her mother Gem, and even more closely to her sister Mercury. They grew up almost entirely in the open air, and learnt to ride almost as soon as to walk. There was comparatively little in the way of education as we think of it now, though the children were taught the arts of spinning and weaving, and all such crafts as was of use in their wandering life. As soon as Alcyone grew up she was married to the heir apparent, Mars, somewhat to the envy of her companions, and found herself in charge of one of the finest tents of the tribe. Even though, as has been said, they usually stayed in the same place for twelve months, and not infrequently for two or three years, they never built permanent houses, but always occupied their tents—which, however, were roomy and comfortably arranged.

The tent of Mars was a large square erection, stretched upon nine heavy pillars. Instead of canvas a fabric of woven dark brown goats hair was stretched over this, and the big tent was divided down the middle by a curtain. On one side of the curtain was the living room, and on the other were kept the special horses of the family—not the draught animals, but highly-bred creatures which were used for riding—animals of remarkable spirit and intelligence, who were regarded with the greatest affection, and treated entirely as members of the family. In that half of the big tent which might be described as the living room, a low wooden seat or sofa was erected, making three sides of a square, but leaving the open side towards the door of the tent. This sort of divan was covered with cloth of tasteful colours, upon which were piled many cushions of more brilliant hue. The ground was covered with carpets of beautiful design, and cloths and weapons were hung from the pillars of the tent. The general effect was much more roomy and comfortable than might be expected, and the arrangements were well adapted to suit changes of temperature and climate. The side of the tent could be raised or lowered at will, and ventilation was secured by a space left under what might be called the eaves. All culinary and other household work was done either in the open air, or in other smaller tents standing behind the large one, and the numerous attendants were accommodated in similar erections.

In a home of this sort Mars and Alcyone lives their lives very happily and brought up a family of eight children, while Mizar and Mercury carried on a similar establishment not far away, so that as usual all their children were brought up together. Among these children we find many names well known and greatly honored through many lives, as will be seen by reference to the accompanying chart. It will however be noticed that this is to some extent an intermediate incarnation and that only those characters are preset who would normally take an interval of seven hundred years or less.

Mars ruled his tribe as ever well and wisely, and Alcyone’ s life was a placid and happy one. Though her work consisted largely of superintending the spinning and weaving and the household duties, it was by no means confined to this, for she constantly discussed with her husband the affairs of the tribe, and accompanied him on long rides over the rolling and somewhat barren country. The people were not wholly vegetarian, for they certainly ate goats flesh dried and smoked. In addition to this their staple food was cheese and bread, although they ate a good deal of fruit when they could get it. The religion of these people was not very prominent or well defined. It may be described as animistic in type, for they unquestionably deified some of the powers of nature, but they also offered what practically amounted to worship to their ancestors. This uneventful life ended at what is for Alcyone the comparatively early age of sixty.

Chart XV

Mangolia 26100

1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th

Saturn -Ivy Koli -Athena Spica -Oak Vajra -Brihat

Trefoil -Diana

Venus -Kamu Siwa -Math Diana -Trefoil

Mars -Alcyone Rama -Dhruva

Proteus -Dido Chanda -Udor

Rector -Gluck Jason -Judex Pallas -Beatus Uchacha -Alma

Upaka -Virago

Telema -Vulcan

Jupiter -Echo

Viraj -Sylla Dome -Arcor

Yajna -Uranus Deneb -Yodha

Udar -Chanda Helios -Noel Colos -Phra

Naga -Ulysses

Crux -Lotus Lobelia -Vizier Virgo -Upaka Calyx -Clio

Mizar -Mercury

Obra -Dharma Libra -Kara Dhruva -Rama Olaf -Lyra Athena -Koli

Jude -Jason Philae -Aquilla Yudha -Deneb

Neptune -Flos Boreas -Cygnus Kudos -Polaris

Gluck -Hector Irene -Madhu Karu -Libra

Beatus -Pallas

Brihat -Vajra

Ivy -Saturn

Soma -Jerome

Herakles -Orpheus Polaris -Kudos

Vizier -Lobelia Noel -Helios Fides -Kratos

Uranus -Yajna

Lyra -Olaf Aquila -Philae Oak -Spica

Madhu -Irene Lotus -Crux

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Chart XV Mangolia 26100 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th

Alcyone -Mars Vulcan -Telema Math -Siwa

Alma -Uchacha Kamu -Venus

Cygnus -Boreas Arcor -Dome Myna -Gem

Osiris -Thor

Dharma -Obra

Dido -Proteus Echo -Jupiter

Phra -Colos Kratos -Fides Flos -Neptune Jerome -Soma Mercury -Mizar Orpheus -Herakles Capri -Yati

Nanda -Rex

Ulysses -Naga Thor -Osiris