“It is an entirely new thought to me and not wholly without reason,” said another.
“She often told me, when I met her in Chihuahua in the year eighteen hundred and ninety-eight,” said Helen Hinckley, “that she felt a great injustice had been done her by not being born a man. It seemed to be the regret of her life.”
“Poor creature,” said Governor Lehumada; “poor creature! I sympathize with her from the bottom of my heart. Continue, continue, friend Guillermo; I am anxious to hear the last of this strange letter.”
“On leaving you I went straight to the morgue. I had heard that Rev. J. T. Note had passed over, and I felt humanity was blessed. I viewed the remains over and over. Afterwards I found a bench unoccupied; I sat down. Near by was a young woman who had suicided because her lover was false. Her soul was sent forth to grope through the dark night in despair. My heart ached for her; so I said I will go now, send my soul forth and search for her. And as I gazed upon her sweet, pure face, I knew she was intended for my bride, had I been a man; and my soul cried out: ‘Great and everlasting Cause, guide me to her! Let me find her and whisper the sweet story into her ear!’ Presently I heard a sweet, clear voice cry out in glad surprise: ‘I hear you, Miguel. I hear you. Come; I am by the fountain in the great public garden at the outskirts of the city. Come; I now know it was you for whom I sought. It was you upon whom my affections were bestowed, and in my ignorance of law I thought it someone else.’
“When no attendant was in sight, I stretched myself upon a bench, and after willing my soul away, placed the Ebony Fluid to my lips (for I wished my body to be preserved). In one instant I will have swallowed it, and my soul, now winging itself free, will seek its counterpart. We both will be born again and together we will meet you.
“I am Marriet Motuble in this life. In the next life I will be Miguel. You will know me when I speak.”
CHAPTER XVIII.
THE FLIGHT OF CATALINA’S SOUL.
Three weeks have passed since the city of Chihuahua was shaken to its foundation by the suicide (the masses knew no other term by which to call the act which had caused their soul’s flight) of three people whose names had grown to be household words.
And while their ebonized bodies were thought to be grewsome by many, a greater part of the town had become exceedingly scientific in thought, and they looked upon them as the natural result of taking Ebony Fluid.
The revolutionists who had attempted the life of the Governor were yet confined behind the bars. No conclusion had been reached as to what disposition should be made of them. The government of the State of Chihuahua was strictly opposed to capital punishment, as well as very reluctant in imposing a life sentence upon anyone, no matter of what great crime he had been convicted. The small revolutionary faction had grown into a large army of rebellion and was now, according to the best authority, marching onto the National capital.