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Chapter 12. There Are Heights and There Are Depths · The Land of Mist

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  Chapter twelve of the Land of Mist. This is a LibriVox recording. All
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  LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer,
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  please visit LibriVox dot org. Read by Amanda Leung, The Land of Miss
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  by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. There are heights and there are depths. The
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  Institute Metaphysique was an imposing stone building in the Avenue Vogram, with a door
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  like a baronial castle. Here it was that the three friends presented themselves.
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  Late in the evening. A footman showed them into a reception room, where
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  they were presently welcomed by doctor Mapui in person, the famous authority on psychic
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  science, was a short broad man with a large head, a clean shaven
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  face, and an expression in which worldly wisdom and kindly altruism were blended.
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  His conversation was in French with Meilie and Roxton, who both spoke the language
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  well, but he had to fall back upon broken English with Malone, who
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  could only utter still more broken friends reply. He expressed his pleasure at their
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  visit, as only a graceful Frenchman can said a few words as to the
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  wonderful qualities of Panbeck the Galatian medium, and finally led the way downstairs to
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  the room in which the experiments were to be conducted. His air of vivid
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  intelligence and penetrating sagacity had already shown the strangers how preposterous were those theories which
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  tried to explain away his wonderful results by the supposition that he was a man
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  who was the easy victim of impostors. Descending a winding stair, they found
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  themselves in a large chamber which looked at first glance like a chemical laboratory,
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  for shelves full of bottles, retorts, test tubes, scales and other apparatus
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  lined the walls. It was more elegantly furnished, however, than a mere
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  workshop, and a large, massive oak table occupied the center of the room,
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  with a fringe of comfortable chairs. At one end of the room was
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  a large portrait of Professor Crooks, which was flanked by a second of Lombrogio,
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  while between them was a remarkable picture of one of Eusapia Palladino's seances.
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  Round the table there were gathered group of men who were talking in low tones,
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  too much absorbed in their own conversation to take much notice of the newcomers.
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  Three of these are distinguished visitors, like yourselves, said doctor Mapui.
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  Two others are my laboratory assistants, doctor Savage and doctor Buisson. The others
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  are Parisians. Of note, the press is represented to day by Monsieur Forte,
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  sub editor of the Matin. The tall dark man who looks like a
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  retired general you probably know. No, that is Professor Charles Riche Our Honor
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  Doya, who has shown great courage in this matter, though he has not
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  quite reached the same conclusion as you, Monsieur Maylie, but that also may
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  come. You must remember that we have to show policy, and that the
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  less we mix with this religion, the less trouble we shall have with the
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  Church, which is still very powerful in this country. The distinguished looking man
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  with the high forehead is the Comte de Gramont, the gentleman at the head
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  of a Jupiter, and the white beard is Flammarion, the astronomer. Now,
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  gentlemen, he added in a louder voice, if you will take your
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  places, we shall get to work. They sat at random round the long
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  table, the three Britons keeping together. At one end, a large photographic
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  camera was reared aloft two zinc buckets also occupied a prominent position upon a side
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  table. The door was locked and the key given to Professor Riche. Doctor
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  Ma Pui sat at one end of the table with a small middle aged man,
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  mustached, bald headed and intelligent upon his right. Some of you have
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  not met Monsieur Panbeck, said the doctor. Permit me to present him to
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  you. Monsieur Panbec, gentleman has placed his remarkable powers at our disposal for
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  scientific investigation, and we all owe him a debt of gratitude. He is
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  now in his forty seventh year, a man of normal health, of an
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  neuroarthritic disposition. Some hyper excitability of his nervous system is indicated, and his
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  reflexes are exaggerated, but his blood pressure is normal. Pulse is now at
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  seventy two, but rises to one hundred under trant's conditions. There are zones
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  of marked hyper assasia on his limbs. His visual field and pupillary reaction is
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  normal. I do not know there is anything to add, I might say,
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  remarked Professor Riasch, that the hyper sensibility is moral as well as physical.
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  Pan Beck is impressionable and full of emotion, with the temperament of the
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  poet, and all those little weaknesses, if we may call them so,
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  which the poet pays as a ransom for his gifts. A great medium is
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  a great artist, and is to be judged by the same standards. He
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  seems to me, gentlemen, to be preparing you for the worst, said
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  the medium with a charming smile, while the company laughed in sympathy. We
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  are sitting in the hopes that some remarkable materializations which we have recently had may
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  be renewed in such a form that we may get upon permanent record of Doctor
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  Mapuee was talking in his dry and emotional voice. These materializations have taken very
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  unexpected forms of late, and I would beg the company to repress any feelings
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  of fear, however strange these forms may be. As a calm and judicial
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  atmosphere is most necessary. We shall now turn out the white light and begin
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  with the lowest degree of red light until the conditions will admit of further illumination.
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  The lamps were controlled from doctor Mapui's seat at the table. For a
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  moment, they were plunged into utter darkness. Then a red glow came on
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  in the corner enough to show the dim outlines of the men round the table.
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  There was no music and no religious atmosphere of any sort. The company
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  conversed in whispers. This is different to your English procedure, said Malone.
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  Very Meylie answered, it seems to me that we are wide open to anything
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  which may come. It's all wrong. They don't realize the danger. What
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  can there be? Well, from my point of view, it is like
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  sitting at the edge of a pond which may have harmless frogs in it,
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  or may have man eating crocodiles. You can't tell what may come. Professor
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  Rich, who speaks excellent English, overheard the words I know your views,
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  mister Maylie said, he don't think that I treat them lightly. Some things
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  which I have seen make me appreciate your comparison of the frog and the crocodile.
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  In this very room, I have been conscious of the presence of creatures
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  which, could, if moved to anger, make our experiments seem rather hazardous.
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  I believe with you that evil people here might bring an evil reflection into
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  our circle. I am glad, sir, that you are moving in our
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  direction, said Maylie, For like every one else, he regarded riche as
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  one of the world's great men. Moving perhaps, and yet I cannot claim
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  to be altogether with you. Yet the latent powers of the human incarnate spirit
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  may be so wonderful that they may extend to regions which seem at present to
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  be quite beyond their scope. As an old materialist, I fight every inch
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  of the ground, though I admit that I have lost several lines of trenches.
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  My illustrious friend Challenger still holds his front intact as I understand. Yes,
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  sir, said Malone. And yet I have some hopes. Hush,
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  cried Ma Pui in an eager voice. There was dead silence. Then there
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  came a sound of uneasy movement with a strange flapping vibration. The bird said
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  an awe struck whisper. There was silence, and then once again came the
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  sound of movement and an impatient flap. Have you all ready, renee asked
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  the doctor. All is ready? Then shoot? The flash of the luminant
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  mixture filled the room, while the shudder of the camera fell. In that
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  sudden glare of light, the visitors had a momentary glimpse of a marvelous sight.
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  The medium lay with his head upon his hands in apparent insensibility. Upon
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  his rounded shoulders, there was perched a huge bird of prey, a large
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  falcon or an eagle. For one instant the strange picture was stamped upon their
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  retinas, even as it was upon the photographic plate. Then the darkness closed
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  down again, save for the two red lamps, like the eyes of some
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  baleful demon lurking in the corner. My word, gasped Malone. Did you
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  see it? A crocodile out of the pond, said Maylie, But harmless,
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  added Professor rich The bird has been with us several times. He moves
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  his wings if you have heard, but otherwise is inert. We may have
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  another and more dangerous visitor. The flash of the light had, of course
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  dispelled all ectoplasm, it was necessary to begin again. The company may have
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  sat for a quarter of an hour when Riche touched Maylie's arm. Do you
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  smell anything, monsieur Maylie? Maylie sniffed the air. Yes, surely it
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  reminds me of our London zoo. There's another more ordinary analogy. Have you
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  been in a warm room with a wet dog? Exactly? Said Meylie.
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  That is a perfect description. But where is the dog. It is not
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  a dog. Wait a little wait. The animal's smell became more pronounced.
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  It was overpowering. Then suddenly Malone became conscious of something moving round the table.
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  In the dim red light, he was aware of a misshapen figure crouching
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  ill formed with some resemblance to man. He silhouetted it against the dull radiance.
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  It was bulky, broad, with a bullet head, a short neck,
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  heavy clumsy shoulders. It slouched slowly round the circle. Then it stopped,
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  and a cry of surprise, not unmixed with fear, came from one
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  of the sitters. Do not be alarmed, said doctor Mapui's quiet voice.
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  It is the pithecanthropis. He is harmless. Had it been a cat which
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  had strayed into the room, the scientists could not have discussed it more calmly.
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  It has long claws. It laid them on my neck. Voice.
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  Yes, yes, he means it as a caress. You may have my
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  share of his caresses, said the sitter in a quavering voice. Do not
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  repulse him. It might be serious. He is well disposed, but he
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  has his feelings, no doubt, like the rest of us. The creature
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  had resumed its stealthy progress. Now it turned the end of the table and
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  stood behind the three friends. Its breath came in quick puffs at the back
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  of their necks. Suddenly, Lord Roxton gave a loud exclamation of disgust.
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  Quiet, quiet, said Mapui, it's licking my hand, cried Roxton.
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  An instant later, Malone was aware of a shaggy head extended between Lord Roxton
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  and himself. With his left hand, he could feel long, coarse hair.
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  It turned towards him, and it needed all his self control to hold
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  his hand still. When a long, soft tongue caressed then it was gone.
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  In Heaven's name, what is it? He asked. We have been
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  asked not to photograph it. Possibly the light would infuriate it. The command
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  through the medium was definite. We can only say that it is either an
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  ape like man or a man like epe. We have seen it more clearly
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  than to night. The face is simian, but the brow is straight,
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  the arms long, the hands huge, the body covered with hair. Tom
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  Lyndon gave us something better than that, whispered Maylie. He spoke low,
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  but reach caught the words. All nature is the field of our study,
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  mister maylie, it is not for us to choose. Shall we classify the
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  flowers but neglect the fungi? But you admit it is dangerous. The X
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  rays were dangerous. How many martyrs lost their arms joint by joint before those
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  dangers were realized, And yet it was necessary. So it is with us.
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  We do not know yet what it is that we are doing. But
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  if we can indeed show the world that this pithecanthropist, can come to us
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  from the invisible and depart again as it came, then the knowledge is so
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  tremendous that even if he tore us to pieces with those formidable clause, it
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  would none the less be our duty to go forward with our experiments. Science
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  can be heroic, said Meylie, who can deny it? And yet I
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  have heard these very scientific men tell us that we imperil our reason when we
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  try to get in touch with spiritual forces. Gladly would we sacrifice our reason
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  our lives if we could help mankind? Should we not do as much for
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  spiritual advance as they for material The lights had been turned up, and there
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  was a pause for relaxation before the great experiment of the evening was attempted.
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  The men broke into little groups, chatting in hushed tones over their recent experience.
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  Looking round at the comfortable room with its up to date appliances, the
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  strange bird and the stealthy monster seemed like dreams, and yet they had been
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  very real, as was shown presently by the photographer, who had been allowed
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  to leave and now rushed excitedly from the adjacent dark room. Waving the plate
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  which he had just developed and fixed. He held it up against the light,
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  and there, sure enough was the bald head of the medium, sunk
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  between his hands and crouching closely over his shoulders, the outline of that ominous
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  figure. Doctor ma Pui rubbed his little fat hands with glee. Like all
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  pioneers, he had endured much persecution from the Parisian press, and every fresh
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  phenomenon was another weapon for his own defense. Neu marchamp, haim, neu
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  marchamp. He kept on repeating, well, riche lost in thought, answered
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  mechanically, oui man ami vue marche. The little ghoulishun was sitting nibbling a
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  biscuit with a glass of red wine before him. Malone went round to him
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  and found that he had been in America and could talk a little English.
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  Are you tired? Does it exhaust you in moderation? No? Two sittings
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  a week. Behold my allowance. The doctor will allow no more. Do
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  you remember anything? It comes to me like dreams, A little here,
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  a little there. Has the power always been with you? Yes? Yes,
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  ever since a child, and my father and my uncle, their talk
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  was of visions. For me, I would go and sit in the words,
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  and strange animals would come round me. It did me such a surprise
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  when I found the other children could not see them. Es a cou voue
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  pray, asked doctor mapui haarfe Mont answered the medium, brushing away the crumbs.
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  The doctor lit a spirit lamp under one of the zinc buckets. We
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  are about to co operate in an experiment, gentlemen, which should once and
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  for all convince the world as to the existence of these ectoplasmic forms. Their
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  nature may be disputed, but their objectivity will be beyond doubt from now onwards.
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  Unless my plans miscarry, I would first explain these two buckets to you.
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  This one, which I am warming, contains paraffin, which is now
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  in process of liquefaction. This other contains water, Those who have not been
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  present before must understand that Pandec's phenomena occur usually in the same order, and
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  that at this stage of the evening we may expect the apparition of the old
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  man. To night. We lie in wait for the old man, and
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  we shall, I hope, immortalize him in the history of psychic research.
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  I resumed my seat, and I switch on the red light number three,
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  which allows of greater visibility. The circle was now quite visible. The medium's
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  head had fallen forward, and his deep snoring showed that he was already in
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  trance. Every face was turned towards him, for the wonderful process of materialization
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  was going on before their very eyes. At first it was a swirl of
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  light steam like vapor, which circled round his head. Then there was a
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  waving, as if white diaphanous drapery behind him. It thickened, it coalesced,
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  it hardened in outline, and took definite shape. There was a head,
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  There were shoulders, arms grew out from them. Yes, there could
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  not be a doubt of it. There was a man, an old man,
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  standing behind the chair. He moved his head slowly from side to side.
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  He seemed to be peering indecision towards the company. One could imagine that
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  he was asking himself where am i and what am I here? For is
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  not speak, but he hears and has intelligence, said doctor Mapui, glancing
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  over his shoulder at the apparition. We are here, sir, in the
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  hope that you will aid us in a very important experiment. May we count
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  on your co operation? The figure bowed its head in assent. We thank
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  you. When you have attained your full power, you will no doubt move
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  away from the medium. The figure again bowed, but remained motionless. It
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  seemed to Malone that it was growing denser every moment he caught glimpses of the
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  face. It was certainly an old man, heavy faced, long nosed,
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  with a curiously projecting lower lip. Suddenly, with a brusque movement, it
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  stood clear from panbeck and stepped out into the room. Now, sir,
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  said Mapui, in his precise fashion, you will perceive the zinc bucket upon
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  the left. I would beg you to have the kindness to approach it and
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  to plunge your right hand into it. The figure moved across. He seemed
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  interested in the buckets, for he examined them with some attention. Then he
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  dipped one of his hands into that which the doctor had indicated. Excellent,
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  cried Ma Pui, his voice shrill with excitement. Now, sir, might
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  I ask you to have the kindness to dip the same hand into the cold
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  water of the other bucket. The form did so. Now, sir,
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  you would bring our experiment to complete success if you would lay your hand upon
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  the table, and while it is resting there, you would yourself dematerialize and
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  return into the medium. The figure bowed its comprehension and assent. Then it
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  slowly advanced towards the table, stooped over, it extended its hand and vanished.
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  The heavy breathing of the medium ceased, and he moved uneasily, as
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  if about to wake. Mapui turned on the white light and threw up his
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  hands with a loud cry of wonder and joy, which was echoed by the
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  company. On the shining wooden surface of the table there lay a delicate yellow
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  pink glove of paraffin, broad at the knuckles, thin at the wrists.
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  Two of the fingers bent down to the palm. Mapui was beside him with
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  delight. He broke off a small bit of wax from the wrist and handed
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  it to an assistant, who hurried from the room. It is final,
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  he cried. What can they say now? Gentlemen, I appeal to you.
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  You have seen what occurred. Can any of you give any rational explanation
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  of that paraffin mold save that it was a result of dematerialization of the hand
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  within it? I can see no other solution Riche answered, But you have
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  to do with a very obstinate and very prejudiced people. If they cannot deny
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  it, they will probably ignore it. The press is here, and the
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  press represents the public, said Mapui. For the pressed in gliche, monsieur
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  Malone, He went on, in his broken way. Is it that you
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  can see any answer? I can see none, Malone answered, and you,
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  monsieur, addressing the representative of the matin. The frenchman shrugged his shoulders.
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  For us who had the privilege of being present, it was indeed convincing,
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  said he. And yet you will certainly be met with objections. They
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  will not realize how fragile this thing is. They will say that the medium
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  brought it on his person and laid it upon the table. Mapui clapped his
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  hands triumphantly. His assistant had just brought him a slip of paper from the
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  next room. Your objection is already answered, he cried, waving the paper
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  in the air. I had foreseen it, and I had put some cholesterine
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  among the paraffin in the zinc pail. You may have observed that I broke
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  off a corner of the mold. It was for purpose of chemical analysis.
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  This has now been done. It is here and cholesterine has been detected.
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  Excellent, said the French journalist. You have closed the last hole. But
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  what next? What we have done once, we can do again, mapuis
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  answered. I will prepare a number of these molds. In some cases I
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  will have fists and hands. Then I will have plaster casts made from them.
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  I will run the plaster inside the mold. It is delicate, but
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  it can be done. I will have dozens of them so created, and
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  I will send them broadcast to every capital in the world that people may see
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  with their own eyes. Will that not at last convince them of the reality
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  of our conclusions? Do not hope for too much, my poor friend,
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  said Riche, with his hand upon the shoulder of the enthusiast you have not
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  yet realized the enormous these interies of the world. But as you have said,
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  voue marchi, vue marche toujour, and our marches, regulated said Maylie,
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  there is a gradual release to accommodate it to the receptivity of mankind.
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  Riche smiled and shook his head. Always transcendental, Monsieur Maelie, always seeing
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  more than meets the eye, and changing science into philosophy. I fear you
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  are incorrigible. Is your position reasonable, professor, Riche said, Maylie,
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  very earnestly, I would beg you to answer the same question. I have
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  a deep respect for your talents and complete sympathy with your caution. But have
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  you not come to the dividing of the ways. You are now in the
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  position that you admit. You must admit that our intelligent apparition, in human
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  form, built up from the substance which you have yourself named ectoplasm, can
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  walk the room and carry out instructions, while the medium lay senseless under our
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  eyes. And yet you hesitate to assert that spirit has an independent existence?
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  Is that reasonable? Riiche smiled and shook his head without answering. He turned
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  to bid farewell to doctor Mapui and offer him his congratulations. A few minutes
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  later, the company had broken up, and our friends were in a taxi
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  speeding towards their hotel. Malone was deeply impressed with what he had seen,
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  and he sat up half the night drawing up a full account of it for
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  the Central News, with the names of those who had endorsed the results,
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  honorable names which no one in the world could associate with folly or deception.
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  Surely, surely this will be a turning point and an epoch, so ran
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  his dream. Two days later he opened the Great London dailies, one after
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  the other. Columns about football, columns about golf, a full page as
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  to the value of shares, a long and earnest correspondence in the Times about
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  the habits of the lapwing. Not one word in any of them as to
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  the wonders which he had seen and reported. Meyli laughed at his dejected face.
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  A mad world, my master's, said he A crazy world. But
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  the end is not yet. End of Chapter twelve.