Back Aa

Anglo-American Alliance: A Serio-Comic Romance and Forecast of the Future

Close

<h2 class="label">CHAPTER IX</h2> <h2 class="main">A Ray of Hope</h2></div> <div class="divBody"> It was the day of departure of Aurora Cunningham for London, England. Margaret had accompanied her in an automobile to the city of B—— to see her off. Their parting had an unusual sadness as they stood on the deck of the Dynamoship “Columbia”—a four-day ocean greyhound. They seemed to be paralyzed at the barrenness of the future, looking into each other’s eyes as if trying to challenge sincerity to their oath of allegiance. It was extremely touching indeed, when they were compelled by the officers of the ship to take their final leave, and as the Columbia began to recede gradually from its moorings, her prow compassed to the British Isles, Aurora’s lithe figure could be seen at the stern of the boat, throwing kisses and waving her handkerchief toward Margaret, until the distance [104]grew wider and farther and the figure fainter and at last was lost to view. Left alone on the shore, Margaret did her utmost to control her emotions of parting from her beloved friend. With suppressed feelings she mounted her automobile reluctantly, and bade the chauffeur proceed to New York City, from whence, after a short repose, she intended to take the train for her home in Wyoming. She had hardly gone a mile or two out of the city of B—— when her emotions had swelled beyond her capacity of control and she became delirious in her seat in the auto. Some pedestrians by the way, noticing that something unusual had happened to the fair occupant, called the attention of the chauffeur to his charge. He brought the machine to a standstill and the necessity of enlisting the services of a doctor was at once apparent. One of the bystanders suggested that the nearest available doctor was the Hindoo surgeon, Dr. Hyder Ben Raaba, about a furlong farther down the road, and thither the patient was wheeled with all possible haste, and within a few minutes she was in the Doctor’s reception room. [105] After a cursory examination Ben Raaba appeared somewhat puzzled. “She is in a state of coma,” he said, rubbing his forehead with his bony fingers, “but I do not yet see any physical cause to induce that condition. It seems to me,” he added, “that every function of the organs are in a perfectly normal state.” His face brightened at once, however, with a smile of victory. A happy thought had come to his fertile mind. He had thought of the singular methods practised by the diagnostician Avicene of Balk—the father of occult Diagnosis—and the words of the Cashmerian poet came to his memory, who nearly ten centuries previously had said: “The pulse of the loving, beats higher, agitated only at the name of the beloved.” Taking thereupon her pulse into his hand, he began to question the chauffeur, where she had gone, with whom, what was the other young lady’s name, etc. He knew that, although she was in a state of coma, her senses of hearing and of understanding were performing their regular functions. At the mention of the name of Aurora Cunningham there [106]was a remarkable change in Margaret; her pulse began to beat double quick! After repeating the experiment, and satisfying himself that the cause was a matter pertaining the heart, in fact the girl’s infatuation for her departed friend, and that there was nothing in the Materia Medica as an antidote, that the only restorative remedy that could be found was in hypnotic occultism, he leaned over the prostrate figure before him and whispered some words into her ear. The correctness of his diagnosis became plainly evident. The patient, with perfect tranquility, opened her eyes, and with a complacent smile looked into the face of her restorer. After a few more magnetic passes and words of encouragement from the Wizard, she had completely recovered herself, to the amazement of the anxious group of persons who had gathered there, curious to know the fate of the fair occupant of the automobile. Within half an hour she again entered her auto and proceeded on her way to the city. The new and remarkable personality of Hyder Ben Raaba, however, left an ineradicable impression upon her mind, so much as at [107]times to divert her thoughts from dwelling upon Aurora and concentrate upon the strange visage of Hyder Ben Raaba. After a repose of a few days in New York, having made all the preparations for the intended journey, she left the metropolis and arrived in due time at her paternal home in Wyoming. Hardly a month had elapsed after her return when there was another crisis in her life. Her father was taken suddenly ill and died, and she was left an heiress to a large fortune consisting principally of lands, mines and cattle. Being without any relatives to guide her, Margaret was compelled to settle matters for herself, and daily she was confronted by hundreds of annoying details. These consisted of many entangling affairs of her lamented father, who had left her sole legatee, prospective aspirants who sought her hand in marriage, her solemn and binding oath to Aurora, and, strange as it may seem, the grotesquely hideous face of Ben Raaba began to flit before her mind’s eye, perplexing and haunting her incessantly. One evening when she was thus absorbed in deep meditation, the postman brought her a letter. It was mailed from B——. Excitedly [108]she tore open the envelope and from it fell the professional card of Dr. Hyder Ben Raaba. The same weird and ominous words were printed under his name: “The Vivisectionist and Re-incarnator”! On the other side were scribbled a few lines, making inquiry about the state of her health. The card, ah! the strange and significant words, vivisection and re-incarnation began to assume a deep meaning. She placed the card tremblingly upon the table and fell into a profound study. Her quivering frame, the rise and fall of her heaving breast and the change of color of her face alternatively from pallor to a feverish flush, indicated that there was a revolution going on within her immaculate bosom. At last she seemed to come to some determination; tremblingly she grasped a pen and wrote a letter to Ben Raaba, the contents of which never became known to any but herself and the Hindoo doctor. Within a fortnight she received an answer which seemed to satisfy her. Within two months she had managed hastily to dispose of all her personal property and [109]real estate without any reserve, and then she disappeared from her Western home and surroundings and was lost forever to her former friends. [110] </div> </div> <div id="ch10" class="div1 chapter">[Contents] <div class="divHead"> <div style="break-after:column;"></div>

1 of 2

2 of 2