“Francisco de Urdiñola will now take the stand.”
A tall, well built, dark-complexioned man, of commanding presence and delightful manners, took the stand.
“Your name?” asked the court.
“I am, your honor, Francisco de Urdiñola.”
“What is your occupation, and where is your place of residence?” the court questioned.
“I have the honor of being president of the school ‘For Hidden Thought,’ and my place of residence is Saltillo, the city in which this school is situated,” quietly replied the distinguished man.
“Do you know the accused?” asked the court.
“The ‘Plunger from Kansas,’ to whom you refer, I have no acquaintance with now.”
“Did you in a life gone by; if so, tell the full circumstances.”
The stately man bowed and said: “The court will grant me a few moments to explain my position in a life previous to knowing the ‘Plunger from Kansas.’ In the year of fifteen hundred and fifty, I commanded an expedition against a tribe of Indians called the Chichimecas, who inhabited all of Northern Mexico. I came north as far as the beautiful valley of what afterwards was known as Saltillo, at which place I founded a city in the year of fifteen hundred and fifty-nine. There I left twenty Spanish families, and as many of the conquered Indian tribe. Going further north I founded many other cities. Two years later I passed out of life, but my entity guided the life of my son, whom I aided in subduing the Indians in every way possible; also in bringing sixty Spanish families to the beautiful valley of Saltillo, and formally laying the foundation of the city in fifteen hundred and seventy-five. My son remained there for a quarter of a century, tyrannizing over the conquered Indians, then passed away. A craving for experience, no doubt, led me to be born into my next existence in the United States of America, although of Spanish parentage. They belonged to the conquered of Mexico, and fled to the United States in preference to returning to Spain. Now comes the important part of my story. I inherited from my father large tracts of land in the State of Kansas. I engaged in the cattle business, and was a heavy lender to dealers. The daring young man known as the ‘Plunger from Kansas,’ was one of my heaviest borrowers. I trusted him, for I thought he had too much self pride to prove false to me, being his main stay. He was, like Julius Cæsar, too ambitious, and he fell—and by his fall ruined many families, amongst whom was my own. I was no longer a young man, and seeing nearly all swept from me without a moment’s warning, I felt that I could not face poverty, and without further ado I gave up the ghost. Still in quest of knowledge, my spirit, now free, roamed the world over in the hope of finding the open sesame. Up to this time I had no knowledge of a previous life, but I was conscious of having had experiences for which I could not account. In the year of two thousand I again became identified with physical life. And as my experiences in spirit, although I was not cognizant of them, fitted me to live on a high spiritual plane in the physical, I became, at the age of fifteen, a student of the occult, with the result you know. When I saw the first accounts of the discoveries of your great Governor, and that by means of ‘Memory Fluid,’ he was trying to find the ‘Plunger from Kansas,’ and bring him to justice by means of remorse of conscience, I knew that in some way I was connected with him. For days I felt as if my senses were leaving me, conscious that something must be done, and done quickly. My silent appeal to the Great Cause was answered, and I received a spiritual impression from his honor, Professor Julio Murillo, which said: ‘Take “Memory Fluid.” It will arrive by the next express.’ From that moment I was calm and contented. Fifteen minutes after taking that wonderful fluid, I lived in memory all my past existences, part of which I have just related to you. Yonder sits the ‘Plunger from Kansas,’ and it is due to myself, Miss Helen Hinckley, the orphan daughter of my bosom friend in that time long since passed, and many others who, no doubt, will speak for themselves, that he refunds the amount of his obligations to us and its accumulations for one hundred and fifty years. I have nothing further to say, your honor.”