Things Material And Spiritual

: Doctor Jones' Picnic

The wind continued all night as last noted, and Silver Cloud, without a

tremor or swaying motion of any kind, was scurrying across the barren

wastes of the Arctics at marvelous speed. At noon upon the second day

from the Pole, Professor Gray took an observation, and announced that

they then were at latitude 68 deg., 20 min., longitude 120 deg. 16 min.,

West Greenwich.



"We are about crossing the Arctic cir le. We are just above the barren

grounds north of Great Bear Lake," said the Professor. "Shortly after

breakfast to-morrow morning we will cross the northern boundary of the

United States at our present speed."



"What great body of water is that I see ahead?" asked Denison a little

later.



"That is Great Bear Lake," replied Professor Gray. "See how the

vegetation begins to show up."



The weather was superb, and the lake lay calm and smooth beneath them as

a mirror. While they were tearing through the skies at express train

speed, their elevation being a little over 3,000 feet, they could

plainly see through their glasses that small birch trees and evergreens

upon the banks were nearly motionless.



"Now you see an illustration of my theory," cried the delighted Doctor.

"Here are we in a gale; below, scarcely a breath of air is stirring. It

did not work in Russia, and we were obliged to anchor. But I shall

regard that as a providential affair and shall stick to my theory. I

would not for anything have failed to plant the good seed which we left

there. Great good will come of it, and it may be the commencement of a

general recognition throughout all Europe of God's great law of cure. If

so, I shall count that as of infinitely greater importance than the

location of the North Pole."



The wind veered to the northwest toward evening, and a consultation of

the map showed that they were heading precisely as they wished to. On

the following morning, they crossed what the Professor informed them was

the Lake of the Woods.



"Before noon we shall be well into Northern Minnesota. We are peculiarly

favored upon this trip. It is very doubtful whether we would encounter

so many favorable gales in any number of future trips."



"We are not home yet, Professor, and we may have an opportunity to test

the Doctor's theory as to air currents," said Will.



Soon after breakfast a further change in the wind occurred, and they

found themselves going due east. They watched through their glasses the

foliage below, but could see no difference in the direction of the lower

atmospheric stratum.



"We will go as we look for a time," said the Doctor.



"What do I see yonder!" cried Denison. "A train of passenger cars, sure

as you live! That must be the Canadian Pacific."



"It is," replied Professor Gray. "And away to the south, you see Lake

Superior. We are passing along its northern coast."



"Don't those little settlements look beautiful!" said Mrs. Jones. "See

the little white church yonder with its tiny spire! It just seems to me

as if I should like to stop and attend service in that pretty little

church."



"See the people rushing out to look at us!" observed Dr. Jones. "Suppose

we lower to within a few hundred feet of them, and give them a good

sight at the ship."



Accordingly Silver Cloud settled rapidly as it neared the little town.

They crossed the village at a height of about 500 feet. They could see

that the people were terribly frightened. Some were lying upon the

ground as if dead; others were upon their knees with their hands

stretched toward the globe that glistened like a star in the sunlight.

Many were rushing screaming into their houses. A few could be seen

fleeing from town, afoot or horseback, at the top of their speed.



"Don't be alarmed, good people," shouted Dr. Jones. "We are only

aeronauts who have been to the North Pole. Good-bye!"



"I won't do that again," said he. "Some of those people may die from the

effects of this fright. But here we are again for home."



Silver Cloud had again mounted skyward and encountered a splendid breeze

from the north. A few moments later the blue, crystal waters of Lake

Superior were undulating beneath them.



"Just see the shipping!" ejaculated Denison. "I sailed to the upper end

of this great lake to Duluth, twenty-five years ago. Then but few

steamers came up so far, and not many sailing vessels except those in

the iron and copper trade. Now see them in every direction! I am

astonished at the amount of traffic on these lakes."



Only those who have been away from their native land, and especially if

their travels have extended over the barren wastes of the extreme north,

can fully appreciate the immortal Scott:



"Breathes there a man with soul so dead

Who never to himself hath said;

'This is my own, my native land!'"



They traveled so rapidly over Upper Michigan that by evening they were

across the strait of Mackinaw. Then the wind lulled to a ten-mile breeze

and veered a point or two easterly. The great pine forests below were a

cheerful contrast to the illimitable fields of ice and snow and

uncultivable lands which they had so lately traversed. The farms and

villages grew thicker every hour and their twinkling lights were

pleasant sights to the voyagers as the night came on.



After dinner, all being tired from a long day of sightseeing, they

gathered in the little smoking-room for their usual evening chat. For

some reason, this time the conversation took a turn not unusual among

creatures who have to do with two worlds, the spiritual and material.



"I would like to ask you, Dr. Jones," said the Professor, "if you ever

encountered, or had any experience with what you were positive was

supernatural?"



"I have," answered the Doctor.



"Well, Doctor, I confess that I never saw or heard anything in my life

that could not be explained upon natural principles. It is not that I am

especially skeptical, but my life has been spent in the study of things

material, and the laws that govern them. So it may be that I have not

been in a state of mind to apprehend spiritual phenomena, as I might

otherwise have done. However that may be, I am very desirous of hearing

a relation of your experiences on that line."



"There is nothing, Professor Gray," replied Dr. Jones, "that I am more

positive of than that we are constantly surrounded by, and in actual

contact with, spiritual forces. And further, that if we were but in a

receptive condition, or were in the attitude toward God that we should

be, we might, like Elisha's servant, see the hosts of the Lord camping

upon the hills round about us. But my individual belief would be of no

value if not based upon experience.



"The first thing I ever saw that I recognized as purely spiritual in its

character was at the deathbed of a four year old boy. I was myself at

this time but twelve years old, but I received an impression that I can

never forget. I was standing at the foot of his little bed, his father

and mother and three or four brothers and sisters were ranged along the

sides and by his head. He was gasping in the last struggle with the grim

monster, when he suddenly threw his hands toward the ceiling and cried

out in a clear, strong voice, 'O papa! see there!' His little face that

had been so distorted with suffering lightened up with the glory of the

better world. His arms gradually sank to his side, and he was dead. But

that heavenly smile remained upon his face long after death. One may

explain away this glory-burst through the eyes of a dying child, calling

it hallucination of a fevered or diseased brain if they will, but to me

it was a revelation of spirit land.



"A few years ago I was permitted again to get a glimpse of the pearly

gates, and this time it was the hand of a sweet little girl who lifted

aside the veil for her sorrowing friends and myself. She was in the last

extremity with diphtheritic croup. Her face was bloated and blue-black

with suffocation. Her eyes were nearly bursting from their sockets,

glassy and staring; and her face, always so sweet and beautiful, was now

distorted so that her mother could not endure the sight, and cried in

her agony, 'My God! is this my little Bertha? I cannot believe it!'

Bertha, in her expiring effort for breath, had raised upon her knees in

bed, when suddenly, as in the other case, she raised her hands, her face

illumined with the 'light that is not seen upon sea or land,' and she

said in a strong, clear whisper--for her vocal cords were so involved in

the diphtheritic membranes that her voice was gone completely--'O mamma!

I see Jesus!' The ecstasy lasted a moment or so, and then I laid her

back upon the pillow--dead! Here again is an opportunity for the

agnostic to cavil and reject such evidence. But of one thing you may be

sure: If he derives as much pleasure from his unbelief as I do in

believing, then he is a very happy man.



"And now I will relate what to me was still more startling and wonderful

on the line of spiritual evidence or experience. I practiced medicine a

few years in the Sierra Mountains, California. I was called one

afternoon to see a patient in a mining camp some twelve or fifteen miles

away. I rode a faithful, sure-footed little mare, and chose a short cut

over a dangerous mountain trail. I had a deep canyon to cross, and was

coming down into it on my return, when night set in. It became so dark

that I could not see the trail, but fully trusted my little mare. I

dropped the reins upon her neck and let her choose her own way and gait.

We were on the most dangerous part of the trail, where it was not more

than twelve or fifteen inches wide, and upon my left hand was a black

chasm, some fifty or seventy-five feet deep. I was singing a hymn as

unconcernedly as I ever did in my life, when suddenly something said to

me, 'Get off that horse!' I did not stop to reason or ask questions, but

promptly threw myself off on the right side and stood a moment by the

animal, not knowing what the meaning could be. It was not an audible

voice that had spoken to me, yet it was none the less distinct and

unmistakable. I stood two or three minutes thus, waiting for further

developments. Then I stepped down in front of Mollie--as I called the

mare--into the trail, and started to lead her. I did not dare to get

into the saddle again, though I could not imagine what was coming next.

I had not proceeded ten feet, when I came to an exceedingly steep pitch

in the trail. I had gone down this pitch but a few feet when something

held me and I could go no farther. I nearly fell over the obstruction

which I felt holding my legs. I reached down and found a heavy wire

drawn very tightly across the trail, just above my knees. You will never

know the feelings I experienced at that moment. I saw in an instant that

my Heavenly Father had interposed and saved me from a violent death."



"What was that wire, and how came it there?" asked Fred.



"It was a telegraph wire. The pole on the opposite side of the canyon had

been washed from its footing, and was hanging by its full weight from

the wire, thus drawing it very taut across the trail."



"Could not this warning which you received be accounted for from a

psychological standpoint?" asked Professor Gray.



"I will answer your question by asking another: If we reject the

spiritual side of man's nature, then we have nothing left of him but the

material. Now I ask you as a physicist, what is there in the laws

governing matter that could in any degree account for the phenomenon

that I have just related?"



"Nothing," answered the Professor.



"That is right, Professor. And I prefer to recognize the hand of God in

this, and to believe that He exercises a special care over his children;

that not a hair falls from the head of one of his believing children

without the Father's notice. It is so much better to simply trust and

believe. Nothing is so detestable as the spirit of skepticism abroad in

the land to-day. The ministry itself is more or less permeated and

honeycombed with the abominations called 'Higher Criticism,'

'Evolution,' etc. They would have us believe that the Bible is filled

with interpolations, and that wicked men and devils, careless

translators or copyists have been allowed to destroy to a very great

extent the validity of that book. Now I simply take this stand: God has

created you and me, and has endowed us each with an immortal principle

which we call soul. He has placed us in this probationary state and has

set before us two ways: The straight and narrow way that leads to

Eternal Life, and the broad way that leads to Eternal Death. In order

that we may know His will and so be able to fulfill the conditions of

salvation, He has given us the Holy Bible. He is responsible for the

validity of that book, and we may defy all the smart Alecks and devils

in the universe to invalidate a single essential word of it. The gist of

the whole matter reduces to a simple syllogism.



"The major proposition is: Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou

shalt be saved.



"The minor proposition: I believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.



"The conclusion: Therefore I am saved.



"This is my faith, and He is able to keep that which I have committed

unto Him, Bible and all, till that day. I have given you several

experiences that are not to be lightly explained away, nor scoffed aside

by skepticism. I could relate you another still more wonderful

experience, one on a par with Saul's conversion as he went to Damascus

to kill the saints. I refer to my own conversion. But I think that you

have had enough for once."



"Let me ask one question further, Doctor," said the Professor. "As we

have disposed of the psychological hypothesis in explanation of the

source of the impression that you received upon the trail, and which

without doubt saved your life, we must accept the spiritual. I wish to

ask, then, if it might not have been the spirit of a departed friend who

thus warned you?"



"No, sir!" replied the Doctor with great emphasis. "Departed spirits

have no such functions. On the other hand, we are told that 'He giveth

His angels charge concerning thee to keep thee in all thy ways. They

shall bear thee up in their hands lest at any time thou dash thy foot

against a stone.' And again: The angel of the Lord encampeth round about

them that fear Him, and delivereth them. Also: Are they not ministering

spirits sent forth to minister to them who shall be heirs of salvation?

It means infinitely much to be the child of a King. Angels to bear us up

in their hands and to minister unto us if we will but comply with the

terms. So there is no need of spooks, wraiths, and ghosts of departed

men in our lives. God gives us all the light necessary. He lighteth

every man that cometh into the world."



"Well, Doctor, there is still another difficulty that I think you have

not met or settled. I have acquaintances that I know are sincere in

their belief that they receive communications from departed friends.

They are people who do not accept the Christian faith, and you have

established the fact, from a biblical standpoint, that He giveth his

angels charge over those who are Christians, or heirs of salvation. If,

then, the spiritualist receives communications from the spirit world,

and they come neither through angels nor departed friends, from whom do

they come?"



"The Devil!"



"What!"



"The Devil, or one of his legions of imps."



"Excuse me, Doctor, but how is one to know whether his communications be

from a good or evil spirit? How, for instance, do you know whether your

communication which warned you of the wire across the trail was from an

angel or devil?"



"That question is not worthy of you, Professor Gray. In all the history

of this poor, sin-cursed world, the Devil never did one kind act to a

human being. He never wiped away a tear of sorrow, or mitigated a

heartache or pain, nor ever will. Jesus settled that matter when the

Jews accused Him of casting out devils through the prince of devils,

Beelzebub. If Satan be divided against Satan, his kingdom cannot stand.

When Satan warns one servant of God of danger, and saves him from death

his kingdom will fall. But say, let's to bed. We must be out by daylight

in the morning."