The Plague, Pestilence & Apocalypse MEGAPACK™

by Robert Reed

  annihilate the power to do evil?”

  Leäfar answered very slowly and solemnly, and yet there was a

  smile upon his countenance as he spoke .

  “There is one thing impossible to the Eternal Love, and that is to

  annihilate Himself: and it would be to annihilate Himself if He were

  to permit the existence of Eternal hatred .”

  “Then,” said I, “if I understand you rightly, these beings are

  doomed to annihilation?”

  He smiled again and said, “Surely the freedom which opposes

  and continues to oppose God must perish: it is self-doomed; that is

  as certain as that the Love of God is infinite. The creature who so

  misuses his freedom must lose it at last, and then he is as if he had

  never possessed it . And so his moral being is, as you say, annihi-

  lated . All his other powers remain, but his will is dead . He becomes,

  like the brute, or like the earliest of the ethereal creation; nothing

  but an instrument in the hand of God . Such is the eternal doom of

  those who choose evil and abide by their choice . No pain remains,

  no hatred remains, no sin remains, because no opposition to God

  remains . But no real soul remains . The moral being is dead and done

  with, only an intellectual being remains .

  “And what becomes of them?”

  “They become the beasts of burden of the universe: they become

  instruments for carrying or the various mechanisms of the visible

  creation . They become subject to us just as your horse is to you .

  Many such are under my own direction and control .”

  Here Jack started and almost interrupted him, then hesitated and

  said, “I beg your pardon .”

  “Say on,” replied Leäfar, quite softly and kindly .

  “What I was going to say,” said Jack, “was this: It seems to me

  that the final doom of which you tell us must have come to some of

  them before this .”

  “Some of them are meeting it every day,” said he . “The mightiest

  of them can hold out for periods of secular vastness without losing

  THE GERM GROWERS, by Robert Potter | 544

  their power of will in any appreciable degree; others, again, lose it

  all after a period comparable with the life of a man .”

  “And do they all know that they must lose it?”

  “As well as you know that you must die .”

  “Ah!” said Jack, “I thought so, and now, sir, tell me one thing

  more: if this doom comes upon them while they are in human form,

  what happens then?”

  “They pass back at once into their own world and are dealt with

  as I have told you there .”

  “Yes, I see it now . Two of the men here appeared to be missing

  the other morning, and when Davelli missed them I saw his face

  change with terror and malignity . I said to my friend here, ‘Depend

  upon it the loss of these men has got something to do with his dam-

  nation .’ Did I not say so, Bob?”

  I nodded assent .

  “It is true,” said Leäfar .

  “Then surely,” said I, “they must be dying out rapidly .”

  “Dying out, certainly, but not as rapidly as you might suppose .”

  “Have they,” said I, “the power to reproduce their kind?”

  “No,” said he; “the dwellers in the ether ‘neither marry nor are

  given in marriage .’ But they recruit their failing ranks from amongst

  men and from races analogous to man in other worlds like yours;

  they win them over to their side here and then claim them when they

  pass over there . Sometimes they steal them away from this world .

  Their purpose is to steal you away, one of you or both .”

  “Steal us! Surely that would not be permitted?”

  “It is not possible unless you yourselves give yourselves away .”

  “How should we give ourselves away?”

  “If you submit your will to theirs they get power over you, power

  which is hard to shake off, and which is very easily increased .”

  Here he paused, and the smile which usually attended his pauses

  did not appear . A sad expression, severe yet very gentle, tool its

  place . There was a silence of several seconds . Then I stood up and

  spoke, standing .

  THE GERM GROWERS, by Robert Potter | 545

  “Hear me, sir . I remember and repent my faults . I knew that,

  this man was a bad man . Nay, I had begun to suspect that he was

  something other and worse than a bad man . But I saw that he knew

  things which I longed to know, and so I suffered myself to forget

  his badness and I did for the moment submit myself to his will . He

  exercised his power upon me and he deceived me in its exercise .

  He transferred me to the surface of the moon, or showed it me in a

  trance, I know not which . I am conscious ever since of being some-

  how in bondage to him; although I am now determined to resist him

  to the death . Is there any hope?”

  “Yes, there is hope, surely, although you may have, as you say,

  to resist him to the death . But if you die resisting him, he will have

  no power over you after death . I am come to rescue both you and

  your friend . He runs no such risk as you do, although you are both

  in great danger of your lives .”

  “And But for my compliance, I suppose neither of us would have

  run any risk at all .”

  “Not so . You were both of you in great danger of your lives, and

  your friend is still so . But any further compliance on your part will

  make you the slave of this man, living or dead .”

  I shuddered and said, “What is to be done?”

  “Your penitence and your present purpose are accepted, and you

  will have one more opportunity of asserting your own will against

  this Davelli. Tell me what has passed between you since your first

  compliance .”

  I told him in brief all that I have told you in the last chapter .

  “It is clear,” said Leäfar, “that he is going to make one more

  attempt upon you . He will make it, no doubt, when you meet him

  to-morrow . If you surrender your will to him again I see no hope . If

  you resist, then he will have no power but over your body .”

  “And what will he do then?”

  “I cannot certainly say . He may kill you in his unrestrained fury .

  It is not altogether unlikely that he will . But that is all that he can

  do . You will have escaped him, and I will be able most probably

  to extricate your friend . But I think it more probable that he will

  THE GERM GROWERS, by Robert Potter | 546

  resolve to make one other effort to enslave you, and, in that case,

  before the effort is made, I shall probably be able to extricate you

  both . I have little or no doubt that I shall be able, although the strife

  will be hard .”

  It occurred to me to ask him why he would not rescue us at once,

  without waiting for any further conference between Davelli and me .

  But I knew what the answer would be, and I felt its force . I knew

  that I should be fit for nothing in earth or heaven until I had asserted

  my will against this evil being, so I answered simply, “How shall I

  resist him?”

  “He will probably endeavour to throw you into
a trance again,

  and if you give your will to him for a moment, he will succeed . But

  if you hold your soul firmly, then he will fail. Call inwardly upon

  God and give yourself to God with your whole purpose . Think all

  the time of the holiest event in the history of mankind when the

  power of evil flung its whole force against One that was human, and

  was baffled, and the victory was won through suffering. So you will

  keep your will unsurrendered, and your adversary will be beaten

  back .”

  “And then?”

  “Then, as I have said, he may kill your body in his disappoint-

  ment and humiliation and rage, but you will be safe from him all the

  same .”

  “Let me escape him, and I am willing to die .”

  “That is the true temper; keep to that, and you need have no fear .

  And now listen to my further counsel .”

  But here again Jack interrupted him . “Surely, sir,” he said, “it

  is better, is it not, to act at once? Why expose my friend here to a

  fearful risk? Lead us now, and we will follow you any whither . Let

  the risk, then, be what it may be, it cannot be more than the risk of

  death .”

  “Sir,” said Leäfar, “I deeply honour your spirit and feeling, but

  you do not know the nature of the case . It is true that I might be

  able to rescue both of you from the place without any further con-

  tact between your friend and him whom you call Niccolo Davelli .

  THE GERM GROWERS, by Robert Potter | 547

  I might be able and yet I might not, for although I am stronger than

  these men they have great odds against me here . But that is not the

  question, for suppose that I were quite certain that I could take you

  both alive out of this place, your friend remaining as he now is, I

  should not try to do so, for his own sake I would not . Wherever

  he would be, the power which this evil being has gained over him

  would remain and might be exercised at the most inopportune time

  for him . Davelli would select his own time, and that would be, no

  doubt, when your friend would be no so likely as now to resist him

  successfully . I see that you are willing to risk your life on his ac-

  count, and your willingness will, no doubt, help him greatly . But

  not even all the wealth of sacrifice can save a man against his will.

  You may win his will but you cannot dispense with its exercise as

  long as he is man, or no less than man . Believe me that the very best

  thing that can be done for your friend is to let him take at once the

  opportunity which presents itself of asserting his will against the

  will of this evil one . He never can be more favourably disposed to

  do so than he is now .”

  It seemed as if Jack was going to answer, and I tried to catch

  his eye to dissuade him, for I felt very certain that what Leäfar said

  was true . But I could not catch his eye, and he tried to speak, but

  hesitated before a word came . Leäfar waited courteously . Jack made

  a further attempt . “But, sir,” he began, and then again hesitated . At

  last he said, “No doubt, sir, you know best; let me not interrupt you

  further .”

  Then Leäfar continued, addressing himself to me . “I will sup-

  pose, now, that you have been successful in your endeavour to resist

  your enemy, and that he has resolved to make one other attempt to

  subdue your will . For certain reasons, of which I am well aware, but

  which I have now no time to explain, I know that in that case another

  night will have to pass before the next attempt is made . And during

  that night you must make your endeavour to escape . Come back at

  once when Davelli leaves you and meet your friend at or near the

  entrance to these rooms . Go and take some rest and refreshment,

  for you will need them, and provide yourselves with as much food

  THE GERM GROWERS, by Robert Potter | 548

  as you can carry with ease . Then wander whither you will, only not

  far, and keep well within the bounds of the valley . Make no attempt

  whatsoever at concealment while the daylight lasts . As the darkness

  comes on return hitherward and rest awhile within sight of these

  chambers .

  “Wait there until you see two men about your own size enter the

  room and until you see the light settle down as usual before the door .

  Then go both of you to the car “—(here he addressed himself espe-

  cially to Jack)—“the car, I mean, in which you rode yesterday; start

  at once; lose no time, there is none to lose, for if you are pursued at

  all, you will be pursued before daylight . I will see that the ear is well

  stored with food and provided with a spare battery and with glasses

  and light .”

  Here he added some further instructions, which I lost . Then I

  heard him say further,

  “If you are followed I will follow, and I will help you as far as

  I may . There is everything to hope, and by that time there will be

  but little to fear . Barring unforeseen accidents you will escape with

  your lives . A brave man does all he can to save his life, but he is not

  afraid to lose it .

  “Be sure, at any rate, that one good result will come of your ad-

  venture . These men will desert this place . No whiteman before you

  ever set his foot here, and these beings always conceal their earthly

  dwelling-places from civilised men. The next pioneers will find

  nothing here but, perhaps, a few odd-looking rocks .

  “You may not need my assistance any more, but if your enemies

  follow you look up for a white flag and you will see that you are not

  alone .”

  Here he ceased and stood up, and we also stood up and bent our

  heads . He lifted his hand simply, and said “God keep you .”

  Then he disappeared in the same way in which he had appeared,

  but much more quickly .

  It was still quite dark in our quarters although the day may have

  been beginning to break, and after exchanging a few hopeful words

  THE GERM GROWERS, by Robert Potter | 549

  we tried to sleep . Strange to say I slept soundly, and I did not awake

  until it was full daylight .

  When the appointed hour came I wrung Jack’s hand in silence,

  and went to meet Signor Davelli . I reached the place of meeting only

  a few minutes too soon, and presently I saw him coming .

  I knew that this was the hour of destiny for me, and I remember

  thinking that a man does not always know the hour of destiny when

  it comes, and that it would be better for him if he did . Then, of a

  sudden, it struck me that such reflection indicated a coolness that

  was hardly native to me, and, was it a good sign or a bad? I thought

  it was good, and yet that it was overdone . And I remembered to have

  read, “Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall .”

  Just then Davelli came up, and I silently committed myself to

  God and awaited his onset . It came without any delay, but without

  any demonstration . He wasted no time, and he was evidently very

  confident. I was standing when he arrived, and after the usual ex-

  change of salutations he invited me to sit
down . I did so, and he

  sat down too, not beside me but opposite me . Then, almost imme-

  diately, he rose up again and looked straight into my face; rather, I

  should say, straight into my eyes . Should I look away from him? No;

  straight back into his eyes, and let him do his best . Then, as our eyes

  met, there began for me a series of desperate encounters of which

  there was absolutely no outward sign .

  First, it seemed as if I were enduring the most imperious crav-

  ings of appetite—appetite as relentless and cruel as that which drove

  the Samaritan mother to devour her son; such appetite as has ever

  been ready to trample upon honour and hope and shame and love,

  for the sake of its own immediate gratification. Such keen, hungry

  sense of desire goaded me now, and along with its urgency came the

  consciousness, full, clear, and strong, that it would be gratified at

  once, if I would simply change the look of resistance with which I

  was meeting my enemy’s eye for a look of acquiescence .

  I do not know how long this lasted, it could hardly have been an

  hour, but it seemed like days and years to me . But at last there was a

  change, and of a sudden I became conscious of pain—physical pain

  THE GERM GROWERS, by Robert Potter | 550

  multiplied and intensified indefinitely beyond all my experience or

  imagination—

  “All fiery pangs on battle-fields

  On fever beds where sick men toss.”

  All these seemed to wring me, and rack me, and strive to wrench

  the soul out of me, and ever as the pain grew, there grew also the

  consciousness that if I would but meet my enemy’s eye with one

  moment’s glance of acquiescence all the pain would be exchanged

  for ease; and oh! how delicious the very thought of ease appeared to

  be, more delicious than all the delights of all the senses .

  Meantime, I was conscious of nothing external except the eyes of

  my adversary, the expression of which was an extraordinary mixture

  of persuasiveness and deadly determination, now and then crossed,

  however, by a furious flash of malignity, and again by a flash of

  hideous and awful terror .

  But all the time also I was doing with all my might what Leäfar

  had bade me do, and it seemed to me as if my will were growing one

  with God’s will, and it seemed to me as if I stood under the cross,

  and felt in my own flesh and sinews the very nails and thorns which