“ ‘Furthermore, as a prelude to what may yet befall you, permit me to say that, in the face of modern philosophy, and in direct contrariety to popular belief, it is my opinion that spirit cannot produce on spirit the singular movements and effects witnessed in mesmeric and analogous phenomena; but I do not at all doubt the ability of matter to effect it all. Yes, my friend, I believe that matter alone, without extrinsic aid, is competent to the production of the magnetic wonders, and a hundred others still more marvellous. For instance, I do not believe that any merely mesmeric power whatever, much less the dream-force of ordinary sleep, can, or, under any conceivable circumstances, could enable you to correctly read the inscriptions on the tablets in the Louvre, or probe the secrets of Karnak, Baalbec, Nineveh, or Ampyloe; but I can name purely material agencies that are more than adequate to the accomplishment of these, and infinitely greater things. I know a material means that will enable the soul to lay bare before its gaze the deepest mysteries of the highest antiquity, strip the Past of its mouldy shroud, and triumphantly lift the veil that conceals the Future from our view—or rather, your view.’
“The strange old man ceased, and, for a little time, my mind lingered on his concluding words. It was plain and clear, so I thought, that he alluded to certain medicaments which have long been used for the production of a species of ecstatic dream, and so I replied—
“ ‘You are doubtless correct, and can, by physical agents, produce strange psychical phenomena, and curious exhibitions of mental activity and fantasy; but, beyond all question, you over-rate their importance and power, for not one of them is adequate to the office of enabling a clear, strong mind to move within the sphere of the Hidden, but the Real.’
“ ‘To what do you allude particularly, mon ami?’
“ ‘I allude to various chemical and botanical compounds; for instance, those plants which furnish a large per centage of the chemical principles Narcotine, Morphia, and others of the same general characteristics, as Opium, Beng, and Hemp, the preparations of the delightful but dangerous ——, the equally fascinating decoctions of ----, not forgetting Hasheesh, that accursed drug, beneath whose sway millions in the Orient have sunk into untimely but rainbow-tinted graves, and which, in western lands, has made hundreds of howling maniacs, and transformed scores of strong men into the most loathly, drivelling idiots.’
“We lapsed into silence, which at length was broken by Ravalette, who said, as he clasped my hand with fervor—
“ ‘My dear young friend, there is here, in Paris, a high and noble society, whose chief I am. This society has many Rosicrucians among its members. Like the society to which you belong, ours, also, has its head-quarters in the Orient. Ever since I have known you, I have been anxious to have you for a brother of our Order. Shall I direct your initiation? Once with us, there is no branch of knowledge, mystic or otherwise, that you will not be able to attain, and, compared to which, that of even the third temple of Rosicrucia is but as the alphabet to an encyclopædia.’
“Much more he said, but I had no desire to join his fraternity, and firmly but respectfully told him so; whereupon he cut short our conference by rising, as he did so, observing—
“ ‘You may regret it. I can tell you no more. The society exists; if you need it, find it—it may be discovered. But see! my groom and horse have arrived, and have long been waiting. I must, therefore, leave you. Take this paper; open it when you see proper to do so. You will quit Paris to-morrow, next day, or when you choose. You may turn your face southward, instead of to the north as you proposed. Seek me not till in your hour of greatest need. In the meantime, I counsel you to obey, to the letter, your highest intuitions. Adieu!’
“And so we parted. I loved Ravalette, but not his fraternity. This conversation with Ravalette, and, indeed, my entire intercourse with him, was invested with a peculiar halo of what I may justly call the weird. It was evident that all his words and allusions contained a deeper meaning than appeared upon the surface. His conversation had filled my soul with new and strange ideas and emotions; and I felt that he had left me at the inner door of a vast edifice, after skillfully conducting me through the vestibule. What worlds of mystery and meaning lay just beyond, was a theme of profound and uneasy conjecture. I felt and knew that he was no common or ordinary man; and well and strangely was this proved afterwards.