At the moment of midday Gentola̤ was made to call softly but distinctly, "Dano! Dano!" All heard the voice, and a look of startled inquiry was on each face. Raising his head for a moment Dano intently listened, then breathlessly he questioned, "Who calls me? Who calls me?" But for a little there was no reply, and only the faint, fitful breathing of the dying girl broke the profound stillness. Then the seven Bands of Spirits formed in Circles, and their combined forces were brought to hear upon Omanos Fûnha̤, Dano, Ozynas Dûlsa̤, and upon Valloa̤, whose vital energy for the moment was augmented. Instantaneously Dano's Spirit Senses were so quickened that he perceived not only Gentola̤, but in a less perfect manner our entire Band, upon whom he gazed curiously, evidently doubting our reality. His interest being centered in Gentola̤, quickly he turned toward her, his face irradiated with surprise and joy. Inclining his head near Valloa̤'s in low, trembling tones he exclaimed, "She has come, as she promised; she has come, Valloa̤. Valloa̤, my dearest one, see you not a strange Being by the side of your father?" The yet conscious girl smiled and murmured, "Yes—yes." Looking about him the greatly disturbed Omanos Fûnha̤ exclaimed, "I see no one, I see no one. Oh, my children, our mutual sorrow confuses our senses, and we imagine unrealities. Dano, Dano, I pray you compose yourself lest we disquiet our dearest one." As Omanos Fûnha̤ uttered these words an expression of intense surprise and bewilderment stole over his face, and over the face of Ozynas Dûlsa̤, for at that moment their Spirit Senses were so unfolded that in awed and terrified silence they saw and heard.
Then, at my dictation, in a voice low but audible to all, Gentola̤ delivered our message. "Dano, Dano," she said, "as I promised so have I in your hour of deepest sorrow come to you. You perceive that Valloa̤, the Real Spiritual Valloa̤, is well nigh freed from the frail, beautiful form you all love so well. In a few moments she will be released; then her golden haired mother and her Aunt Sylvian, whom you also perceive hovering above the couch, will bear your love to her home in the glorious Spirit World, where you and all her dear ones ere long will rejoin her. In this hour of your greatest sorrow I bear you a Message that henceforth will fill your life and the lives of Ento's children with immeasurable peace and joy. Omanos Fûnha̤, and you, Ozynas Dûlsa̤, Priest of a hopeless religion, listen that you, too, may receive knowledge of the grandest Truth that can be revealed to man. Through purity of life, and a noble ambition to serve rather than to rule, and recently through keenest anguish of soul, you, Omanos Fûnha̤, have so unfolded your Spiritual Self that you are prepared to accept this Truth, and you, Ozynas Dûlsa̤, through lofty aspiration and exceptional ability to perceive that which hitherto you have not understood, will proclaim the Revelation that the physical body is but the casket in which the priceless jewel, the Immortal Self, which is the deathless expression of the Infinite Spirit whom you name Andûmana̤, is enshrined. Hitherto, because of the positiveness and materialism of your religious beliefs, so dense has been the aural atmosphere about you, that light from Ento's and other Spirit Worlds has not penetrated your Spiritual consciousness. During past centuries the Immortals of many Spirit Worlds have striven to communicate with the children of Ento, that thus they might bring hope to despairing ones who have lived, loved and sorrowed, even as you who love this, your dearest one, now sorrow. Striving, watching, waiting, loving, pitiful spirits, who once were mortals like yourselves, at last have found their opportunity and have hastened to bring light into darkness, joy for sorrow and hope for despair. They, with glad hearts, have come to proclaim to you that life and Spirit are one and indestructible. That, though unseen by mortal eyes, the animating Principle, the Real Self, is Immortal, and in Realms indescribable by human language, those who have passed from Ento and other Worlds, live, love and enjoy, or sorrow, in accordance with the purity or impurity of their mortal existence. They also have come to proclaim to you that there is but One God, Who is the Infinite Spirit, Who permeates all things. The Infinitely Intelligent Spirit, who knows all things. The Infinite Energy, who is the Source of all things. The Dual, Unseeable, Unknowable One, whose manifestations alone declare the Infinity of their origin. They have come to proclaim to you that Ento is but one of myriads of Worlds, comprising an illimitable Universe, whose every atom is vitalized and permeated by this Infinite Spirit, who no more lives in the shining Orb which sheds its radiant beams over the lands and seas of Ento and over other greater Worlds far away in space than in the petals of the rodel, or in the atoms floating in the atmosphere. When the great flaming Star you ignorantly have thought the abode of Andûmana̤, the Supreme One, has for a time disappeared from your view, and the darkness of night has fallen over this portion of your Ento World, reverently you have gazed toward the shining points in space, aye, so far away in space, that you can form no conception of the immensity of their distances from Ento, and you have believed them the Lamps of the Realm of Astranola̤. Learn, oh children of our common Father, Mother God, that they are Worlds, some of them of such vast proportions that, compared with them, Ento and the Earth World, where I dwell, are dwarfed into insignificance. Some of these worlds are peopled by very advanced and exalted humans, others by mortals in various stages of evolvement, and all are the children of the Infinite One. I cannot now speak more fully of these matters, but, concerning them, later on you shall receive further instruction.
"Dano, dear youth, let the words of our Message sink deeply into your heart, for you are the chosen herald, who first shall proclaim the new Faith to the children of Ento. Be courageous, be faithful, and in accordance with the measure of your courage and your faithfulness shall be your consciousness that ever by your side will walk your spirit bride, your other Self, Valloa̤. Dano, Dano, are you strong enough, are you courageous enough to give to your sorrowful people the Message of the new faith?"
For a little Dano hesitated, and Valloa̤, over whose fair face the whiteness of death was stealing, reached toward him a tremulous hand and faintly murmured: "Dano—my beloved—you will—you—will—give—this truth—to—our—despairing—people, and—and—your Valloa̤ will—walk—with you—until—your glorious—work—shall—be—ended."
In her dimming, azure hued eyes was an expression of immeasurable entreaty, and, overwhelmed with emotion, gently, tenderly, Dano pressed her cold hand to his lips, and in low, fervent tones said: "I believe in One Supreme Being, who is beyond my finite comprehension. I believe that beyond this sorrowful life there is another state of existence, where all will find their beloved dead, with whom they will live and love forever, and I promise you, oh, my dearest, that for as long as I may live in my mortal body, I will proclaim to our peoples the amazing, the glorious Truth that has been revealed to us. That it is a truth I well know, for even as I gaze upon your beloved mortal form, rising above your head I see your Real Self, radiant and lovely beyond all beauty of mortal woman. I see, too, your mother, your wondrously beautiful golden haired mother, and Sylvian, the lovely and gracious woman whom in my childhood I revered as I revered the Goddesses of Astranola̤. They support you in their arms, my dearest, and they are about to bear you away from my sight. Valloa̤—Valloa̤—oh, my beloved, open your beautiful eyes—oh, speak to one once more. Do you hear me, Valloa̤? Do you hear me? Answer me if but with a word, or a smile, so that I may know that you have heard my vow." As though in answer to his piteous appeal Valloa̤'s eyelids quivered and slowly her blue eyes unclosed and gazed into Dano's, and a faint smile played about her parted lips. Then, with a supreme effort, her gaze turned upon her father, who bent his head near her to catch her whispered words, the last he would hear from the mortal lips of his idolized child. "Father, father," she sighed, rather than said, "it is true—promise—me—your—child—to—give—this—truth—to our—people. Fath—er, prom—ise——" The blue eyes closed, a smile wreathed itself about the sweet mouth, and—all was still.
We, who have observed the release of many Spirits, seldom have witnessed a scene so pathetic, so profoundly touching. About the spacious chamber were grouped the Seven Spirit Circles, deeply sympathizing with the bereft ones, who for a time remained in voiceless apathy, their overwhelming grief finding no utterance in word or outcry. Cradled in the arms of her Spirit mother and of her Aunt Sylvian, the Spirit Valloa̤ laid like a smiling, sleeping infant. By the side of the couch knelt Dano, holding in his warm clasp the cold, lifeless hands of his love, and gazing upon her pallid face in speechless agony. Bending over him his mother by her silent sympathy sought to console him, her fast falling tears evincing the depth of her own sorrow. Still by the side of Omanos Fûnha̤ stood Gentola̤, and though intently listening to our Message, not once had he looked at her, but now impelled by our concentrated desire, slowly, timidly he turned his gaze upon her, and for the first time fully realized the presence of a spirit. She alone of the assembled spirits being perceptible to his but partially unfolded Clairvoyant and Clairaudient Senses, awe stricken and trembling he sank to his knees, and in broken accents questioned: "Who art thou? What art thou?" At my dictation she replied:
Gentola—By some spirit friends I have been named Gentola̤, and am not of your people, but am of a World afar in space, which by its peoples is known as Earth. In a manner which I now cannot explain I can leave my living physical body, and by some wise and strong Spirits who understand Spiritual Laws, I have been borne from Earth to your World, that through me they might reveal to you and to your people that the Spirit, the Real Self of humans survives death of the physical body. For the reason that I am less etherealized than wholly freed Spirits, you, Dano, and you, Ozynas Dûlsa̤, perceive me, and were your superior Senses more fully unfolded, you would behold Sēlona̤, the purple eyed, golden haired wife of your youth, and her sister, Sylvian, too, who will assist in bearing to her beautiful home in your Spirit World your angel daughter Valloa̤. Sēlona̤ and Sylvian implore you to remember Valloa̤'s last words, and if in your consciousness the new Faith may find a steadfast abiding place you will gladden the hearts of your beloved and loving ones by openly declaring it. Remember that though you are not conscious of their presence, often they are near you, reading your every thought, and that your joy is their joy, and that in their hearts your griefs find quick response. Ever your gentle, loving wife guards and guides you in your ways. Ever, as you walk to and fro, silently her foot-falls keep pace with yours, and when the hour of your release from your mortal body shall arrive she and Valloa̤ will be with you, and in a World whose skies are ever radiant with a light unknown to mortals, over whose brightest days shadows ever are falling, you will be reunited with those whom you have mourned as having gone into perpetual Silence. In this Spirit World the flowers are fadeless, the balmy air is vibrant with Divinest harmonies and joys such as mortals cannot conceive of await all whose exalted lives have prepared them for lofty states of Being. The Guiding Spirits who have brought me here say that ere long I shall come again to offer to you a fuller knowledge of the Truth we are striving to reveal to you, a Truth which shall dispel your fear of death, which is but a transition to a higher state of existence, and shall bring to you and to your people consolation and peace inexpressible.
De L'Ester—Ere Gentola̤ ceased speaking, through grief and amazement Omanos Fûnha̤ was so overwhelmed that had not Ozynas Dûlsa̤'s strong arms sustained him he would have fallen prone. Swaying like a drunken man, he extended his trembling hands toward Gentola̤, crying: "Thou sayest thou art from another World, a World afar in space. Thou sayest that my child Valloa̤ still lives, and that her mother and Sylvian are here to bear her away to a World invisible to me. Where is this invisible World of living ones, and do my dear ones indeed dwell there? And when the breath of my life shall cease shall I, too, surely continue to exist, and with them abide forever? And truly are there in space other Worlds, where men and women live, love and die as do we of Ento? The thought is too stupendous. I cannot realize it. Speak, I entreat you, ere my senses totter to their destruction."
Quickly our Forces combined to quiet his somewhat frenzied state, and again Gentola̤ was made to address him and those about him.
Gentola—I, who am but the Instrument for Spirits more exalted than myself, can only say that which they dictate to me. When daylight has merged into twilight, and twilight has deepened into darkness, myriads of shining points dot the vast expanse of the night sky, and you have been taught that these shining points are the Lamps illumining the abode of your Gods and Goddesses, whom you have regarded as the Messengers of Andûmana̤ the Supreme One. Among those shining points is one gleaming with a soft, silvery radiance, which your Priests have named Inglos ēvecto Fryda̤, which, I am told, would in my language mean Fryda̤'s lamp or light. Truly this silvery point is the Earth world where I dwell. Like all the Worlds in space it is spherical in form and nearly twice the size of Ento, which it closely resembles, and, like your world, its surface is composed of divisions of land and water, and its products of all kinds are very similar to those of Ento. Our learned ones believe that it is a younger World than this, as much of its land surface is quite rugged, and there are mountains so lofty that their peaks pierce the clouds. Its hills, too, are still elevated, and its valleys deeply depressed, whereas time has nearly levelled the surface of Ento, necessitating your vast System of Irrigation, which on the Earth World only in isolated instances is required. We consider your civilization more advanced than is ours, which indicates your greater maturity, and in the arts and most of the sciences your attainments equal or surpass those of our people, who generally aspire to acquire wisdom and a knowledge of all that may advance their best interests. Like the Entoans we have trials and sorrows for our loved ones also pass to the World of Spirits, and we miss their presence, as you will miss Valloa̤'s, but our knowledge of continuous existence enables us to endure what cannot be avoided, and we well know that when we too shall pass to our Spirit World we will find all our dear ones who have preceded us.