We entered the parlor and Iole immediately sent the brother who served as usher to notify Count Nicholsky of our arrival. He soon returned with orders for us to report at the council chamber at once. Being familiar with the place, Iole led the way along the same rich hall described before, to a room upon the second floor. A woman dressed in black, not unlike Iole when I first met her, challenged us at the door before which she stopped. Passwords were exchanged and we entered. Around a table in the center of a room finished throughout in azure-blue, sat seven persons whom I soon learned were seven of the most remarkable persons of any age. At the right sat the king whom we knew as Era!, and opposite him the mysterious Madame Petrovna, but with features wonderfully different from those she possessed when I first saw her. Her face was now remarkably white and beautiful, all the harsh lines and wrinkles had disappeared, but her blue Without a word Iole drew forth the package and handed it across the table. Unwrapping the silk cloth around it, a platinum "Saroy" Not a sign of surprise or emotion was discernible on the faces of those around the table as this "He has. Napoleon takes command to-day and both await our further orders," answered Nicholsky. "Then tell him to proceed with not less than two hundred thousand men to Waterloo at once. It is again the Latin against the Slav, but this time our cause is right and Rome will win. Russia will destroy the imperial Germans because of this unholy alliance, but not one foot of ground will she gain in Europe. Napoleon II., far greater than Napoleon I., will make all Europe outside of Russia one great republic, and Paris shall be its capital." "Do you speak as Master?" asked the Madame, "is England certain?" "We will receive a messenger to-day who will bring the news that Albert has abdicated because of wide-spread and dangerous insurrection, and that our man, Oliver G. Harkley, the Radical leader, has been declared protector. The fates decree the triumph of the people, and I speak as one who knows." The count suddenly stopped, motioned silence, and assumed a fixed and trance-like posture. All remained quiet while he, with rigid features and staring eyes, sat motionless. For fully ten minutes As he finished speaking Count Nicholsky bowed and left the room. "Now," continued St. Germain, "we need four responsive pairs at once; I have other fields to attend to; can you furnish them from among your western members, or must I go East for them?" Thus speaking he looked at us penetratingly, and turning to Eral asked: "Cannot this pair make one?" "We think they can," replied the king. "Sister, have you severed all the ties which bind
"I have," she answered briefly. Now like a flash the knowledge came to me. Iole and the Princess Louise whom I had seen saved so miraculously in London were one and the same. This explained the striking familiarity of her face when I first met her; the momentary glance I obtained of her, as she sat behind the flying steeds, had impressed her features upon my memory. All these years I had been the brother and companion of a royal princess, but she, in true simplicity, had not made a single show of station or exhibited any signs of pride. While these feelings of admiration were active within me, the count, addressing Iole, continued: "Then, sister, you must enter the camp of Napoleon Marleon and communicate to him all information transmitted by your brother, who must immediately enlist with Von Kral. Not a movement of the enemy must be concealed from him; and we, as the secret powers that make such men great, will see that he lacks no information. Through the communicating power of responsive minds your brother can keep you informed of every movement of the Germans, and this without the delays which travelling spies and couriers cannot help but meet." Then turning to King Eral he said: As he finished speaking he arose and left the room, and Eral addressed us: "Brother and sister, your year has been well spent; your colors show that your minds are one and your souls responsive. You understand the science of mental communication, for you have practiced it for a year: but some additional instructions will be useful to you in the field of labor into which you now enter. Whenever written messages are to be sent, soak the paper upon which they are written in a certain liquor of nitrogen and put them in a platinum case which will be given you; then place therewith a small percussion-cap operated by connection with a cord extending from the box. When captured, as a last resort, destroy the message by pulling the string. But written messages must never be carried or sent when mental messages will answer the purpose, for the latter leave no clue, neither do they excite suspicion. If either of you should wish to communicate with us other than through each other. With a wave of the hand he dismissed us, and the council adjourned. Three of the members bad not uttered a word, and the mysterious Madame Petrovna had made only one remark; but it was evident from their attention that not a word or act had escaped them. When we left the council-chamber "I am," I answered, fully confident. "Then remember that not even imprisonment, death or torture is to lead us to betray our cause or forget our duty." She spoke as though she had a premonition of evil, and I answered with reassurance: "Nothing that the minds of men can conjure will lead me to betray or neglect my cause or duty." Then by a kind of tacit consent we finished our meal in silence. Having but a short time until my start for Berlin, I took an hour to go to the city. The streets and thoroughfares were thronged with excited multitudes. Flaming bulletins announced the declarations of war, and in large letters I read that Napoleon Marleon, a captain of artillery, had suddenly and almost without precedent been appointed to the command of the army by Gen. Careau, minister of war. A Napoleonic fever had seized the populace, and the city was full of volunteers of every nationality. "Napoleon! Napoleon! Vive le Napoleon! Vive le Napoleon!" rang through the streets. As my carriage was passing through the Place de la Concorde, the crowd became so dense The papers were full of startling headings. Thus thinking I returned to the residence of Count Nicholsky. As I entered the front hall the Count de St. Germain met me; no one else was in the hall, and coming up to me he said: "Alphonso Colono, for the next five years all Europe will be bathed in blood and all life will apparently be uncertain; you will have to be in the midst of the conflict, but let me tell you, as one who knows, that neither you nor your sister Iole will suffer injury. Have confidence in what I say; no matter how near death you both may come, you will both be protected and escape. You both have great duties when this war is over, great heights lie just beyond, and you both shall reach them." As he thus spoke his wonderful eyes looked into mine and seemed to read my very soul; without thinking of answering I stood in silence as he turned away and was gone. Proceeding to Iole's room we laid out our program, and that evening at five o'clock, with "IOLE." The means by which she had obtained this information in advance was not an entire mystery, for I knew that she had clairvoyant sight. Strange to relate, while not possessing this faculty, I had clairaudient hearing, and could hear, as it were, the unspoken thoughts of those upon whom I concentrated my mind. At the next station a young German entered the coach and seated himself beside me. "I thought you had a companion," was the strange remark with which he familiarly addressed me. Suspicious at once I gripped my thumb, the challenge sign of the seventh degree; but as he did not answer I concluded he was a spy and replied: "No, I have no companion; what made you think I had?" As I answered, I concentrated my mind upon him to read his thoughts, but found it of no avail. Somewhat puzzled at this failure, and wondering if he had obtained a clue to my membership, I remained silent until he should reply. After some moments’ waiting he "I have none," she replied. "Then you cannot cross the Rhine," he answered. "I must go on to Berlin," she responded. "What is your business there?" he asked, eying her veiled face closely. "That I will report to the proper authorities," she answered, to my surprise. "Ah! you will? Men, search her," he said, turning to his assistants. "Ah!" said the officer in charge, "you are a spy." "I am no spy, but I have business in Berlin." "What is your business?" She made a sign, and a startled look came over the face of the officer as he leaned toward her, and she whispered something in his ear. Her communication seemed to turn him wild with glee, and at the same time transform him; tearing her veil from her face he seized her with rough hands, and with a mocking laugh cried: "A spy of the Black Art Brotherhood! search her! Ha! ha! one of your insane members turned traitor this morning and gave your Order away. If the idiot had not been suddenly struck by a fit and gone raving mad, we would now know all your nefarious plots." Biting his tongue he suddenly checked himself, as if he had said too much, while at his orders his men seized her roughly. By an almost superhuman effort of my will I restrained myself, as they roughly searched her. "Look under the seat," commanded the leader, when they found nothing. Her satchel, with its contents, lay upon the floor, and the upholstered seat was taken up in their search, while Iole stood by calmly watching every movement. "The devil!" shouted the leader; "handcuff her and take her in charge." As he spoke another squad of men approached from the other end of the car. "A dangerous spy," said the new leader, "what kind of a devilish mechanism was that she had to destroy her dispatches?" "The devil alone knows," replied the first leader; "these French always were in league with sorcerers and those who deal in black art work. Where is your passport?" he suddenly asked, taming to me. "Here it is," I answered, handing him my pass. "You talk German, but you don't look it. What is your nationality?" he asked, eying me suspiciously. "By birth an American, by sympathies German," I answered boldly. "Well, you know a winner," he answered gruffly, as he moved on. Iole, with manacled hands, having been led into another coach, I was left Yesterday a woman who gave her name as Louise Gray, and who is an English spy in the employ of the French, was captured on the train en route for Berlin, with important secret messages to French emissaries here; but when caught she destroyed her messages by some explosive apparatus in the package in which they were carried. She is a bold and daring woman, and the officers brought her, under heavy guard, immediately to the imperial prison, where she was confined in one of the inner and most secure cells with strict order given to place a double guard around her. These precautions were well taken, but proved futile; for last night, in some mysterious manner, she escaped, and no traces can be found of her whereabouts. The only explanation that the prison general can vouchsafe is very weak, and he has been removed and confined until it can be investigated. He says that about ten o'clock last night, while he, himself, was at the outer entrance, two strangers approached him. One, in a voice which had a strange and irresistible power, ordered him to Poor Kroez as a raving maniac can do no more harm; fearful is the penalty to him who violates his oath when he has invoked the demons of destruction. *
He handed me a package of papers and continued: "When he sees these he will give you his full confidence, and signed as they are, you will be his most intimate companion. I also give you a clairvoyant analysis of the constitution of Von Kral, and the number of his organism, so that you can, if necessary, read or even influence all his thoughts. Further, since the treachery of Kroez, all the passwords of our order have been changed; I will give these to you as communicated to me by Albarez and Saroy. In the future When the doctor had finished I shook his hand, and having carefully placed away my papers, proceeded to division headquarters. With the letters in my possession I found a ready admittance to the immediate company of the general, and was soon en route towards the field of action. That night we camped in a village not far from Berlin, and I determined to try and have a mental communication with Iole. Ten and five o'clock at night were the two fixed hours we had agreed upon for lengthy communications, but every hour throughout the day we were to call each other, so that no special information would be lost. There being no demand for special communications as yet, I retired between my blankets and patiently waited for the hour of ten. At last it came, and assuming a restful position I concentrated all my mental energies upon my sister, at the same time sounding our keynote. My efforts were not without result; she answered. An astral current commenced to throb through my temples and pervade my brain, then came the words: "Very well, my dear sister, all is well; good spirits overshadow thee. Good-night." "We will meet in dreamland within the hour; good-night," she answered. As the current ceased to flow through my temples, I sank back to sleep. 308:* Kroez, after twenty-five years of almost constant study without any high or altruistic motives, had stumbled, as it were, upon one of the great secrets of occultism. The discovery was of course immediately known at the eastern headquarters of the great adepts, but what could they do? Kroez was not pledged, and if left alone without the higher light, so necessary to the right use of his knowledge, would use it for unlawful or evil purposes and become identified with the Black Brotherhood, which really does exist, and thus become a power for evil. Three courses were open: Death, perpetual guardianship, or adoption. But not even the Masters have a right to take life, while perpetual guardianship would require the constant overshadowing of Kroez to prevent revelations or wrong use of his powers. This would keep the overshadowing Master from his other labors; therefore, only the third course lay open, he would have to be adopted into one of the outer branches of the Great Brotherhood. Some of the most celebrated occultists had thus by their own labor discovered some of the great secrets, had been adopted, and had become tireless and useful workers in the great cause. Then, the chances were that when Kroez became associated ST. GERMAIN.—WAR.
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