Thought is the only power which can produce tangible riches from the Formless Substance. The stuff from which all things are made is a substance which thinks, and a thought of form in this substance produces the form.
Original Substance moves according to its thoughts; every form and process you see in nature is the visible expression of a thought in Original Substance. As the Formless Stuff thinks of a form, it takes that form; as it thinks of a motion, it makes that motion. That is the way all things were created. We live in a thought world, which is part of a thought universe.
The thought of a moving universe extended throughout Formless Substance, and the Thinking Stuff moving according to that thought, took the form of systems of planets, and maintains that form. Thinking Substance takes the form of its thought, and moves according to the thought. Holding the idea of a circling system of suns and worlds, it takes the form of these bodies, and moves them as it thinks. Thinking the form of a slow-growing oak tree, it moves accordingly, and produces the tree, though centuries may be required to do the work. In creating, the Formless seems to move according to the lines of motion it has established; the thought of an oak tree does not cause the instant formation of a full-grown tree, but it does start in motion the forces which will produce the tree, along established lines of growth.
Every thought of form, held in thinking Substance, causes the creation of the form, but always, or at least generally, along lines of growth and action already established.
The thought of a house of a certain construction, if it were impressed upon Formless Substance, might not cause the instant formation of the house; but it would cause the turning of creative energies already working in trade and commerce into such channels as to result in the speedy building of the house. And if there were no existing channels through which the creative energy could work, then the house would be formed directly from primal substance, without waiting for the slow processes of the organic and inorganic world.
No thought of form can be impressed upon Original Substance without causing the creation of the form.
Man is a thinking center, and can originate thought. All the forms that man fashions with his hands must first exist in his thought; he cannot shape a thing until he has thought that thing.
And so far man has confined his efforts wholly to the work of his hands; he has applied manual labor to the world of forms, seeking to change or modify those already existing. He has never thought of trying to cause the creation of new forms by impressing his thoughts upon Formless Substance.
When man has a thought-form, he takes material from the forms of nature, and makes an image of the form which is in his mind. He has, so far, made little or no effort to co-operate with Formless Intelligence; to work “with the Father.” He has not dreamed that he can “do what he seeth the Father doing.” Man re-shapes and modifies existing forms by manual labor; he has given no attention to the question whether he may not produce things from Formless Substance by communicating his thoughts to it. We propose to prove that he may do so; to prove that any man or woman may do so, and to show how. As our first step,[35] we must lay down three fundamental propositions.
First, we assert that there is one original formless stuff, or substance, from which all things are made. All the seemingly many elements are but different presentations of one element; all the many forms found in organic and inorganic nature are but different shapes, made from the same stuff. And this stuff is thinking stuff; a thought held in it produces the form of the thought. Thought, in thinking substance, produces shapes. Man is a thinking center, capable of original thought; if man can communicate his thought to original thinking substance, he can cause the creation, or formation, of the thing he thinks about. To summarize this:—
There is a thinking stuff from which all things are made, and which, in its original state, permeates, penetrates, and fills the interspaces of the universe.
A thought, in this substance, produces the thing that is imaged by the thought.
Man can form things in his thought, and, by impressing his thought upon formless substance, can cause the thing he thinks about to be created.
It may be asked if I can prove these statements; and without going into details, I answer that I can do so, both by logic and experience.
Reasoning back from the phenomena of form and thought, I come to one original thinking substance; and reasoning forward from this thinking substance, I come to man’s power to cause the formation of the thing he thinks about.
And by experiment, I find the reasoning true; and this is my strongest proof.
If one man who reads this book gets rich by doing what it tells him to do, that is evidence in support of my claim; but if every man who does what it tells him to do gets rich, that is positive[ proof until some one goes through the process and fails. The theory is true until the process fails; and this process will not fail, for every man who does exactly what this book tells him to do will get rich.
I have said that men get rich by doing things in a Certain Way; and in order to do so, men must become able to think in a certain way.
A man’s way of doing things is the direct result of the way he thinks about things.
To do things in the way you want to do them, you will have to acquire the ability to think the way you want to think; this is the first step toward getting rich.
To think what you want to think is to think TRUTH, regardless of appearances.
Every man has the natural and inherent power to think what he wants to think, but it requires far more effort to do so than it does to think[38] the thoughts which are suggested by appearances. To think according to appearances is easy; to think truth regardless of appearances is laborious, and requires the expenditure of more power than any other work man is called upon to perform.
There is no labor from which most people shrink as they do from that of sustained and consecutive thought; it is the hardest work in the world. This is especially true when truth is contrary to appearances. Every appearance in the visible world tends to produce a corresponding form in the mind which observes it; and this can only be prevented by holding the thought of the TRUTH.
To look upon the appearance of disease will produce the form of disease in your own mind, and ultimately in your body, unless you hold the thought of the truth, which is that there is no disease; it is only an appearance, and the reality is health.
To look upon the appearances of poverty will produce corresponding forms in your own mind, unless you hold to the truth that there is no poverty; there is only abundance.
To think health when surrounded by the appearances of disease, or to think riches when in the midst of appearances of poverty, requires power; but he who acquires this power becomes a MASTER MIND. He can conquer fate; he can have what he wants.
This power can only be acquired by getting hold of the basic fact which is behind all appearances; and that fact is that there is one Thinking Substance, from which and by which all things are made.
Then we must grasp the truth that every thought held in this substance becomes a form, and that man can so impress his thoughts upon It as to cause them to take form and become visible things.
When we realize this, we lose all doubt and fear, for we know that we can create what we want to create; we can get what we want to have, and can become what we want to be. As a first step toward getting rich, you must believe the three fundamental statements given previously in this chapter; and in order to emphasize them, I repeat them here:—
There is a thinking stuff from which all things are made, and which, in its original state, permeates, penetrates, and fills the interspaces of the universe.
A thought, in this substance, produces the thing that is imaged by the thought.
Man can form things in his thought, and, by impressing his thought upon formless substance, can cause the thing he thinks about to be created.
You must lay aside all other concepts of the universe than this monistic one; and you must dwell upon this until it is fixed in your mind, and has become your[41] habitual thought. Read these creed statements over and over again; fix every word upon your memory, and meditate upon them until you firmly believe what they say. If a doubt comes to you, cast it aside as a sin. Do not listen to arguments against this idea; do not go to churches or lectures where a contrary concept of things is taught or preached. Do not read magazines or books which teach a different idea; if you get mixed up in your faith, all your efforts will be in vain.
Do not ask why these things are true, nor speculate as to how they can be true; simply take them on trust.
The science of getting rich begins with the absolute acceptance of this faith.
Dr William Cullen was born on 18 May 1867 at Shettleston in Scotland. He was educated locally and at Hutchinson's Grammar School and then at the Andersonian College, Glasgow, where he studied chemistry under Professor Ditmar and remained as his assistant for five years. Finally, he completed a course in metallurgy at the Royal School of Mines in Freiberg, Germany.
In 1890 he joined the staff of Nobels Explosive Co Ltd, rising to the position of Superintendent. He went to Kynoch's at the beginning of 1898 but returned to Nobel's in 1901 and was immediately appointed General Works Manager of the Modder fontein Factory of the British South African Explosives Co Ltd, then one of the largest in the world. As a young manager, 34 years old, he successfully steered the affairs of the company through the remaining period of the Boer War.
William Cullen became President of the Chemical Metallurgical Society of South Africa in 1905 and, at the same time, he was also Honorary Secretary of the South African Association for the Advancement of Science and was jointly responsible with Sir David Gill for the visit to South Africa of the British Association that year. Simultaneously he was Second-in-Command of the Johannesburg Mounted Rifles. In 1908, along with many others, he was very active in the so-called "Union" movement which culminated in the linking up together under one government of the four provinces of South Africa.
Cullen was born in 1710. His father owned a small estate near Hamilton, a small town in the Clyde Valley about 10 miles south east of Glasgow and the seat of a powerful Duke. His father, an attorney, was the factor who managed the Duke’s large estate. William was the second son in a family of seven children. He received a good literary education at Hamilton Grammar School. From there he went to Glasgow and attended some classes at the university and was bound apprentice to Mr John Paisley of the Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons. Fortunately for Cullen, Paisley was a liberal man with a large medical library which he encouraged his apprentices to use. When his apprenticeship was over Cullen, aged 19, went to London to enlarge his medical experience.
In 1747, Cullen was awarded Britain's first independent lectureship in Chemistry and was elected President of the Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow. In 1748 while in Glasgow, Cullen invented the basis for modern refrigeration, although is not credited with a usable application.
Once back in England he also committed himself to a greater participation in the affairs of scientific and technical societies, and was also a member of the Advisory Council of the Imperial Institute, a member of the Executive of the Empire Universities Bureau, and a selected member of all the Surrey County Council Education Committees. He was President of the Institution of Mining & Metallurgy in 1929-1930, a member of the Council of the Society of Chemical Industry, and a Vice President, from 1934-1937, and a member of the National Committee for Chemistry of the Royal Society.
Reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Cullen#:~:text=In%201747%2C%20Cullen%20was%20awarded,credited%20with%20a%20usable%20application.
https://www.jameslindlibrary.org/articles/william-cullen-1710-1790/
https://www.icheme.org/about-us/history/presidents/william-cullen/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Cullen
President Trump has signed an executive order granting TikTok a 75-day extension to comply with a law that requires a sale or ban of the platform.
He says during that time, the US will not enforce the law passed by Congress last year and signed by former President Joe Biden.
The order was among a slew of directives Trump signed on Monday evening.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, he said: "I tell you what. Every rich person has called me about TikTok."
When asked by a reporter why he's had a change of heart since trying to ban TikTok in 2020, Trump responded: "Because I got to use it."
He floated the possibility of a joint venture, saying he was seeking a 50-50 partnership between "the United States" and its Chinese owner ByteDance. But he did not give any further details on how that might work.
Trump also said potential new trade tariffs on China could be contingent on a deal over the platform's ownership. If Beijing rejected a deal "it would be somewhat of a hostile act", he said.
On Saturday evening, the Chinese-owned app stopped working for American users, after a law banning it on national security grounds came into effect.
It resumed services to its 170 million users in the US after Trump said he would issue an executive order to give the app a reprieve when he took office.
But on Monday it was still not available to download from the Apple and Google app stores.
The Biden administration had argued that TikTok could be used by China as a tool for spying and political manipulation.
Opponents of a ban have cited freedom of speech as a reason for keeping the platform open.
TikTok's parent company, ByteDance, previously ignored a law requiring it to sell its US operations to avoid a ban.
The law was upheld by Supreme Court on Friday and went into effect on Sunday, but the Biden White House said it would leave implementing the law to the incoming administration given the timing.
Trump had backed a ban of the platform during his first term in office.
The newly signed executive order places him at odds with many members of Congress from his own party.
On Sunday in a post on X, Republican Senator Tom Cotton said any company that "hosts, distributes, services or otherwise facilitates communist-controlled TikTok" could face hundreds of billions of dollars in fines.
Cotton said liability could stem not just from the Department of Justice, "but also under securities law, shareholder lawsuits, and state AGs [attorneys general]. Think about it".
TikTok chief executive Shou Zi Chew attended Trump's inauguration on Monday along with other big technology bosses, including Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos.
Earlier on Monday, YouTube star Mr Beast posted a TikTok video of him apparently from a private jet on his way to make an official offer to buy the short video platform.
The post gave no other details about the offer, only that it would be "crazy".
Other companies, billionaires and celebrities have expressed interest in buying TikTok, including X owner Musk and an investor from the TV show Shark Tank, Kevin O'Leary.
Donald Trump has been sworn in as the 47th president of the United States, beginning his second term in the White House after a decisive comeback in November's election.
In his 29-minute inauguration speech, Trump promised to restore the American dream while also warning of what he described as chaos and destruction left by the previous administration.Golden age of America'
Trump opened with optimism.
"The golden age of America begins right now," he declared. "From this day forward, our country will flourish and be respected."
It was a far cry from his speech eight years ago, when the Republican painted a dark picture of a wounded American industry and economy taken advantage of by foreign exploitation.
But as Monday's address progressed, Trump's tone turned.
The president offered a grim assessment of today's America, describing a "radical and corrupt establishment" that "cannot manage even a simple crisis at home", an apparent nod to the wildfires that have been ravaging Los Angeles.
"We will not allow ourselves to be taken advantage of any longer," Trump said.
A laundry list of policies
Presidents tend to use their inaugural addresses as a chance to call for unity, making broad and lofty pledges and steering away from detailed policy.
Not Donald Trump.
The Republican got right down to specifics, running through a laundry list of policy promises and actions he would take in the first 100 days.
Trump said he would declare a national emergency at the southern border (something he did in 2019) and deploy national troops for immigration enforcement, action he promised on the campaign trail.
And he said he would sign an executive order meant to "immediately stop censorship and bring back free speech in America"'Saved by God'
Trump took us back to perhaps the most stunning moment of a chaotic and tumultuous presidential campaign: his attempted assassination.
"Those who wish to stop our cause have tried to take my freedom and indeed take my life," he said.
"Just a few months ago, in a beautiful Pennsylvania field, an assassin's bullet ripped through my ear, but I felt then and believe even more so now, that my life was saved for a reason," he said.Mars and the Panama Canal
Trump also looked abroad - promising dramatic action overseas - and to the sky.
The Republican said he wanted the Panama Canal under US control, falsely claiming it is currently operated by China. Panama has sovereignty over the waterway.
"We're taking it back," Trump said.
And he prompted a laugh from former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who appeared to crack up when the president said he would change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the "Gulf of America".
Trump also looked upwards, vowing to "pursue our manifest destiny into the stars, to plant the stars and stripes on the planet Mars".
This remark was met with a bright smile from tech billionaire and Trump adviser Elon Musk, who has long said he wants humans to colonise the faraway planet.
'There are only two genders'
For Trump supporters watching the address in the Capitol One arena in Washington DC, one of the biggest applause lines came when the president said: "It will henceforth be the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders: male and female."
Trump vowed to thwart efforts to "socially engineer race and gender into every aspect of public and private life".
He promised to create a country that is "colour-blind and merit-based".
Scientists who recently discovered that metal lumps on the dark seabed make oxygen, have announced plans to study the deepest parts of Earth's oceans in order to understand the strange phenomenon.
Their mission could "change the way we look at the possibility of life on other planets too," the researchers say.
The initial discovery confounded marine scientists. It was previously accepted that oxygen could only be produced in sunlight by plants - in a process called photosynthesis.
If oxygen - a vital component of life - is made in the dark by metal lumps, the researchers believe that process could be happening on other planets, creating oxygen-rich environments where life could thrive.Lead researcher Prof Andrew Sweetman explained: "We are already in conversation with experts at Nasa who believe dark oxygen could reshape our understanding of how life might be sustained on other planets without direct sunlight.
"We want to go out there and figure out what exactly is going on."The initial discovery triggered a global scientific row - there was criticism of the findings from some scientists and from deep sea mining companies that plan to harvest the precious metals in the seabed nodules.
If oxygen is produced at these extreme depths, in total darkness, that calls into question what life could survive and thrive on the seafloor, and what impact mining activities could have on that marine life.
That means that seabed mining companies and environmental organisations - some of which claimed that the findings provided evidence that seafloor mining plans should be halted - will be watching this new investigation closely.
The plan is to work at sites where the seabed is more than 10km (6.2 miles) deep, using remotely-operated submersible equipment.
"We have instruments that can go to the deepest parts of the ocean," explained Prof Sweetman. "We're pretty confident we'll find it happening elsewhere, so we'll start probing what's causing it."
Some of those experiments, in collaboration with scientists at Nasa, will aim to understand whether the same process could allow microscopic life to thrive beneath oceans that are on other planets and moons.
"If there's oxygen," said Prof Sweetman, "there could be microbial life taking advantage of that."
To mine or not to mine
The initial, biologically baffling findings were published last year in the journal Nature Geoscience. They came from several expeditions to an area of the deep sea between Hawaii and Mexico, where Prof Sweetman and his colleagues sent sensors to the seabed - at about 5km (3.1 miles) depth.
That area is part of a vast swathe of seafloor that is covered with the naturally occurring metal nodules, which form when dissolved metals in seawater collect on fragments of shell - or other debris. It's a process that takes millions of years.
Sensors that the team deployed repeatedly showed oxygen levels going up.
"I just ignored it, Prof Sweetman told BBC News at the time, "because I'd been taught that you only get oxygen through photosynthesis".
Eventually, he and his colleagues stopped ignoring their readings and set out instead to understand what was going on. Experiments in their lab - with nodules that the team collected submerged in beakers of seawater - led the scientists to conclude that the metallic lumps were making oxygen out of seawater. The nodules, they found, generated electric currents that could split (or electrolyse) molecules of seawater into hydrogen and oxygen.
Then came the backlash, in the form of rebuttals - posted online - from scientists and from seabed mining companies.
One of the critics, Michael Clarke from the Metals Company, a Canadian deep sea mining company, told BBC News that the criticism was focused on a "lack of scientific rigour in the experimental design and data collection". Basically, he and other critics claimed there was no oxygen production - just bubbles that the equipment produced during sample collection.
"We've ruled out that possibility," Prof Sweetman responded. "But these [new] experiments will provide the proof."
This might seem a niche, technical argument, but several multi-billion pound mining companies are already exploring the possibility of harvesting tonnes of these metals from the seafloor.
The natural deposits they are targeting contain metals vital for making batteries, and demand for those metals is increasing rapidly as many economies move from fossil fuels to, for example, electric vehicles.
The race to extract those resources has caused concern among environmental groups and researchers. More than 900 marine scientists from 44 countries have signed a petition highlighting the environmental risks and calling for a pause on mining activity.
Talking about his team's latest research mission at a press conference on Friday, Prof Sweetman said: "Before we do anything, we need to - as best as possible - understand the [deep sea] ecosystem.
"I think the right decision is to hold off before we decide if this is the right thing to do as a a global society."
Reference : https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cq6gg5mnn8eo
TikTok has said it will be forced to "go dark" in the US on Sunday unless the government intervenes before a ban takes effect.
In a statement late on Friday, it said the White House and the Department of Justice had "failed to provide the necessary clarity and assurance to the service providers that are integral to maintaining TikTok's availability".
It said that unless the government immediately stepped in to assure the video app it would not be punished for violating the looming ban, it would be "forced to go dark on January 19".
The statement follows a Supreme Court ruling earlier on Friday which upheld a law banning the app in the US unless its China-based parent company, ByteDance, sells the platform by Sunday.Passed in April last year, the law says ByteDance must sell the US version of the platform to a neutral party to avert an outright ban.
TikTok challenged the law, arguing it violates free speech protections for its 170 million users in the country.
But the Supreme Court's ruling means the US version of the app will be removed from app stores and web hosting services unless a buyer is found in the coming days.
It had been thought the ban would not impact TikTok users who already have the app downloaded on their phones.
But given updates would become unavailable once the ban comes into force, the app would eventually degrade and become unusable over time.
TikTok's fresh statement on Friday, however, suggests it may immediately become unavailable to all existing users as well as those seeking to download it.
Influencers and content creators have been posting videos on the app bidding farewell to their followers ahead of the impending ban.President Joe Biden's term is due to end on Monday, with Donald Trump due to be sworn in as the next president on that day. The White House earlier said it would therefore fall on the incoming president to enforce the law.
Trump has indicated he is against the ban, after initially supporting the move. "My decision on TikTok will be made in the not too distant future, but I must have time to review the situation," he said on Friday.
He also revealed he had spoken to China's President Xi Jinping and discussed TikTok, among other issues.
In December Trump said he had a "warm spot" for the app as it helped him with young voters in the 2024 election.
Trump's comments marked a U-turn on his stance in his first term as president when he aimed to enact a similar ban through an executive order.
ByteDance has vowed not to sell TikTok and said it planned to shut US operations of the app on Sunday unless there is a reprieve.
Democratic and Republican lawmakers voted to ban the video-sharing app last year, over concerns about its links to the Chinese government. TikTok has repeatedly stated it does not share information with Beijing.The potential ban comes at a time of heightened concern in the US about Chinese espionage.
Cybersecurity firms have suggested that the app is capable of collecting users' data beyond what they look at on TikTok.
US Attorney General Merrick Garland said authoritarian regimes should not have "unfettered access" to Americans' data and that the decision prevented China from "weaponising TikTok to undermine America's national security".
China enacted a law in 2017 that compels Chinese nationals living abroad to co-operate with its intelligence apparatus.
But Beijing has denied it pressures companies to collect information on its behalf and criticised the ban. TikTok has repeatedly stressed it has not been asked for its data.
The app argued the law endangers free speech and would hit its users, advertisers, content creators and employees. TikTok has 7,000 US employee
The day before that on which he set out, he went to take leave of Mr. Walton.—We would conceal nothing;—there was another person of the family to whom also the visit was intended, on whose account, perhaps, there were some tenderer feelings in the bosom of Harley than his gratitude for the friendly notice of that gentleman (though he was seldom deficient in that virtue) could inspire. Mr. Walton had a daughter; and such a daughter! we will attempt some description of her by and by.
Harley’s notions of the καλον, or beautiful, were not always to be defined, nor indeed such as the world would always assent to, though we could define them. A blush, a phrase of affability to an inferior, a tear at a moving tale, were to him, like p. 26the Cestus of Cytherea, unequalled in conferring beauty. For all these Miss Walton was remarkable; but as these, like the above-mentioned Cestus, are perhaps still more powerful when the wearer is possessed of some degree of beauty, commonly so called, it happened, that, from this cause, they had more than usual power in the person of that young lady.
She was now arrived at that period of life which takes, or is supposed to take, from the flippancy of girlhood those sprightlinesses with which some good-natured old maids oblige the world at three-score. She had been ushered into life (as that word is used in the dialect of St. James’s) at seventeen, her father being then in parliament, and living in London: at seventeen, therefore, she had been a universal toast; her health, now she was four-and-twenty, was only drank by those who knew her face at least. Her complexion was mellowed into a paleness, which certainly took from her beauty; but agreed, at least Harley used to say so, with the pensive softness of her mind. Her eyes were of that gentle hazel colour which is rather mild than piercing; and, except when they were lighted up by good-humour, which was frequently the case, p. 27were supposed by the fine gentlemen to want fire. Her air and manner were elegant in the highest degree, and were as sure of commanding respect as their mistress was far from demanding it. Her voice was inexpressibly soft; it was, according to that incomparable simile of Otway’s,
—“like the shepherd’s pipe upon the mountains,
When all his little flock’s at feed before him.”
The effect it had upon Harley, himself used to paint ridiculously enough; and ascribed it to powers, which few believed, and nobody cared for.
Her conversation was always cheerful, but rarely witty; and without the smallest affectation of learning, had as much sentiment in it as would have puzzled a Turk, upon his principles of female materialism, to account for. Her beneficence was unbounded; indeed the natural tenderness of her heart might have been argued, by the frigidity of a casuist, as detracting from her virtue in this respect, for her humanity was a feeling, not a principle: but minds like Harley’s are not very apt to make this distinction, and generally give our virtue credit for all that benevolence which is instinctive in our nature.
As her father had some years retired to the p. 28country, Harley had frequent opportunities of seeing her. He looked on her for some time merely with that respect and admiration which her appearance seemed to demand, and the opinion of others conferred upon her from this cause, perhaps, and from that extreme sensibility of which we have taken frequent notice, Harley was remarkably silent in her presence. He heard her sentiments with peculiar attention, sometimes with looks very expressive of approbation; but seldom declared his opinion on the subject, much less made compliments to the lady on the justness of her remarks.
From this very reason it was that Miss Walton frequently took more particular notice of him than of other visitors, who, by the laws of precedency, were better entitled to it: it was a mode of politeness she had peculiarly studied, to bring to the line of that equality, which is ever necessary for the ease of our guests, those whose sensibility had placed them below it.
Harley saw this; for though he was a child in the drama of the world, yet was it not altogether owing to a want of knowledge on his part; on the contrary, the most delicate consciousness of propriety often kindled that blush which marred the p. 29performance of it: this raised his esteem something above what the most sanguine descriptions of her goodness had been able to do; for certain it is, that notwithstanding the laboured definitions which very wise men have given us of the inherent beauty of virtue, we are always inclined to think her handsomest when she condescends to smile upon ourselves.
It would be trite to observe the easy gradation from esteem to love: in the bosom of Harley there scarce needed a transition; for there were certain seasons when his ideas were flushed to a degree much above their common complexion. In times not credulous of inspiration, we should account for this from some natural cause; but we do not mean to account for it at all; it were sufficient to describe its effects; but they were sometimes so ludicrous, as might derogate from the dignity of the sensations which produced them to describe. They were treated indeed as such by most of Harley’s sober friends, who often laughed very heartily at the awkward blunders of the real Harley, when the different faculties, which should have prevented them, were entirely occupied by the ideal. In some of these paroxysms of fancy, Miss Walton did not p. 30fail to be introduced; and the picture which had been drawn amidst the surrounding objects of unnoticed levity was now singled out to be viewed through the medium of romantic imagination: it was improved of course, and esteem was a word inexpressive of the feelings which it excited.
Exhausted and wounded as the Invisible Man was, he refused to accept Kemp’s word that his freedom should be respected. He examined the two windows of the bedroom, drew up the blinds and opened the sashes, to confirm Kemp’s statement that a retreat by them would be possible. Outside the night was very quiet and still, and the new moon was setting over the down. Then he examined the keys of the bedroom and the two dressing-room doors, to satisfy himself that these also could be made an assurance of freedom. Finally he expressed himself satisfied. He stood on the hearth rug and Kemp heard the sound of a yawn.
“I’m sorry,” said the Invisible Man, “if I cannot tell you all that I have done to-night. But I am worn out. It’s grotesque, no doubt. It’s horrible! But believe me, Kemp, in spite of your arguments of this morning, it is quite a possible thing. I have made a discovery. I meant to keep it to myself. I can’t. I must have a partner. And you.... We can do such things ... But to-morrow. Now, Kemp, I feel as though I must sleep or perish.”
Kemp stood in the middle of the room staring at the headless garment. “I suppose I must leave you,” he said. “It’s—incredible. Three things happening like this, overturning all my preconceptions—would make me insane. But it’s real! Is there anything more that I can get you?”
“Only bid me good-night,” said Griffin.
“Good-night,” said Kemp, and shook an invisible hand. He walked sideways to the door. Suddenly the dressing-gown walked quickly towards him. “Understand me!” said the dressing-gown. “No attempts to hamper me, or capture me! Or—”
Kemp’s face changed a little. “I thought I gave you my word,” he said.
Kemp closed the door softly behind him, and the key was turned upon him forthwith. Then, as he stood with an expression of passive amazement on his face, the rapid feet came to the door of the dressing-room and that too was locked. Kemp slapped his brow with his hand. “Am I dreaming? Has the world gone mad—or have I?”
He laughed, and put his hand to the locked door. “Barred out of my own bedroom, by a flagrant absurdity!” he said.
He walked to the head of the staircase, turned, and stared at the locked doors. “It’s fact,” he said. He put his fingers to his slightly bruised neck. “Undeniable fact!
“But—”
He shook his head hopelessly, turned, and went downstairs.
He lit the dining-room lamp, got out a cigar, and began pacing the room, ejaculating. Now and then he would argue with himself.
“Invisible!” he said.
“Is there such a thing as an invisible animal? ... In the sea, yes. Thousands—millions. All the larvae, all the little nauplii and tornarias, all the microscopic things, the jelly-fish. In the sea there are more things invisible than visible! I never thought of that before. And in the ponds too! All those little pond-life things—specks of colourless translucent jelly! But in air? No!
“It can’t be.
“But after all—why not?
“If a man was made of glass he would still be visible.”
His meditation became profound. The bulk of three cigars had passed into the invisible or diffused as a white ash over the carpet before he spoke again. Then it was merely an exclamation. He turned aside, walked out of the room, and went into his little consulting-room and lit the gas there. It was a little room, because Dr. Kemp did not live by practice, and in it were the day’s newspapers. The morning’s paper lay carelessly opened and thrown aside. He caught it up, turned it over, and read the account of a “Strange Story from Iping” that the mariner at Port Stowe had spelt over so painfully to Mr. Marvel. Kemp read it swiftly.
“Wrapped up!” said Kemp. “Disguised! Hiding it! ‘No one seems to have been aware of his misfortune.’ What the devil is his game?”
He dropped the paper, and his eye went seeking. “Ah!” he said, and caught up the St. James’ Gazette, lying folded up as it arrived. “Now we shall get at the truth,” said Dr. Kemp. He rent the paper open; a couple of columns confronted him. “An Entire Village in Sussex goes Mad” was the heading.
“Good Heavens!” said Kemp, reading eagerly an incredulous account of the events in Iping, of the previous afternoon, that have already been described. Over the leaf the report in the morning paper had been reprinted.
He re-read it. “Ran through the streets striking right and left. Jaffers insensible. Mr. Huxter in great pain—still unable to describe what he saw. Painful humiliation—vicar. Woman ill with terror! Windows smashed. This extraordinary story probably a fabrication. Too good not to print—cum grano!”
He dropped the paper and stared blankly in front of him. “Probably a fabrication!”
He caught up the paper again, and re-read the whole business. “But when does the Tramp come in? Why the deuce was he chasing a tramp?”
He sat down abruptly on the surgical bench. “He’s not only invisible,” he said, “but he’s mad! Homicidal!”
When dawn came to mingle its pallor with the lamp-light and cigar smoke of the dining-room, Kemp was still pacing up and down, trying to grasp the incredible.
He was altogether too excited to sleep. His servants, descending sleepily, discovered him, and were inclined to think that over-study had worked this ill on him. He gave them extraordinary but quite explicit instructions to lay breakfast for two in the belvedere study—and then to confine themselves to the basement and ground-floor. Then he continued to pace the dining-room until the morning’s paper came. That had much to say and little to tell, beyond the confirmation of the evening before, and a very badly written account of another remarkable tale from Port Burdock. This gave Kemp the essence of the happenings at the “Jolly Cricketers,” and the name of Marvel. “He has made me keep with him twenty-four hours,” Marvel testified. Certain minor facts were added to the Iping story, notably the cutting of the village telegraph-wire. But there was nothing to throw light on the connexion between the Invisible Man and the Tramp; for Mr. Marvel had supplied no information about the three books, or the money with which he was lined. The incredulous tone had vanished and a shoal of reporters and inquirers were already at work elaborating the matter.
Kemp read every scrap of the report and sent his housemaid out to get every one of the morning papers she could. These also he devoured.
“He is invisible!” he said. “And it reads like rage growing to mania! The things he may do! The things he may do! And he’s upstairs free as the air. What on earth ought I to do?”
“For instance, would it be a breach of faith if—? No.”
He went to a little untidy desk in the corner, and began a note. He tore this up half written, and wrote another. He read it over and considered it. Then he took an envelope and addressed it to “Colonel Adye, Port Burdock.”
The Invisible Man awoke even as Kemp was doing this. He awoke in an evil temper, and Kemp, alert for every sound, heard his pattering feet rush suddenly across the bedroom overhead. Then a chair was flung over and the wash-hand stand tumbler smashed. Kemp hurried upstairs and rapped eagerly.