The Ghost of Guir House

"You speak as if you knew all this," said Paul. "One might almost

imagine that you had been in the other world yourself."

"Had been!" exclaimed the old man with emphasis. "I am in it now,

and so are you. But there is a difference between us; I know that I

am in it, because I can see it, and touch it, and hear it; while you

are in it without knowing it."

There was an air of authority that impressed the hearer with the

conviction of the speaker. This was not theory; it was the result of

experience. There was a difference as vast as the night from the day.

"I suppose, when I am dead, I shall know these things too," said Paul

meditatively.

"No," answered Ah Ben, "not when you are dead, but when you have been

born--when you have come into life."

"Pardon me," answered Paul, pondering on the man's strange assertion;

"but this knowledge of yours is in demand more than all other

knowledge. Positive information about the other world is what men

have sought through all the ages; why do you not impart it to them?"

"Impart it!" exclaimed Ah Ben. "Can you explain to one who has been

born blind what it is to see? Can you impart to such a man any true

conception of the world in which he has always lived? But couch his

eyes, remove the worthless film that has covered them, and for the

first time he realizes the glorious world surrounding him. Likewise

couch the body, remove the shell that covers the spirit, and it is

born."

"I perceive, then, that it is only through death that most of us can

hope to gain this knowledge."

"Death, if you prefer the word," said Ah Ben. "Yes, it is the death

of the film over the eye that reveals the world to the blind; but I

should hardly say that the man was dead because he had so entered

into another existence."

"Would you mind telling me how it is that you have gained this

knowledge in such obvious exception to the rule!"

"The power of the occult is dormant in all men," answered Ah Ben;

"and as I have already said, may be developed slowly, through the

exercise of the will, or suddenly, as in some great physical shock,

and of a necessity comes to all in the event called death. Were I to

tell you how I acquired this knowledge, Mr. Henley, it would

startle you, far more than any exhibition of the power itself. No, I

can not tell you; at least, not at present; perhaps some day you may

be better prepared to hear it."