Chapter X
One morning the party which relieved our Chief’s party reported that there were horsemen approaching our camp from the north. When we reached the surface we found they were headed in our direction and it looked as though they were another bandit band, since their were evidently following the trail we had made on our way there. As we stood looking, Jast came up and said, “they are a party of bandits who are determined to loot the camp but I do not think we need fear.” We waited for them to approach and they came on to within five hundred yards of our camp, then halted.
After a short interval two of the men rode up and, after exchanging greetings, asked what we were doing there. They were told we were attempting to find a ruined city. To this they replied they did not believe a word of what we said. They suspected we were looking for gold and they had come to take our equipment and supplies from us. We asked if they were government soldiers, to which they replied they did not recognize any government, as the strongest party was the one that won in that country. As they saw no evidence of firearms, I believe they came to the conclusion that there must be a larger force than was evidenced by what they could see. They returned to their band to talk over the situation.
After a time the two came back and told us that if we submitted peacefully they would not harm any of us but if we did not they would advance and shoot everyone who showed resistance. We were given ten minutes to decide and after that time they would advance without further preliminaries.
To this Jast replied that we would neither resist nor surrender. This seemed to anger them and, wheeling their horses, they started back toward the band, waving their arms. Then the whole band came toward us at full gallop. I confess that I was badly frightened but almost instantly we seemed to be surrounded by a number of shadowy forms on horseback, galloping around us. Then these forms became more lifelike and increased in numbers. Evidently our visitors had seen what we were witnessing, for their horses were either reined in quickly or stopped of their own accord as they began to rear and plunge and get beyond control of their riders. In a moment there was wild confusion among the band, which numbered about seventy-five horsemen. The horses began plunging right and left, beyond all control of the riders and this ended in a wild retreat, with our phantom horsemen, as we called them, in close pursuit.
After the excitement was over, our chief and two of the party, including myself, walked out to where the main band had halted and could find no tracks except those made by the robbers themselves. We were very much mystified at this since the relief had looked as real to us as did the bandits and the rescuers had seemed to have come from all sides. We fully expected to find the tracks of their horses in the sand, as well as the tracks of the horses the bandits were riding.
When we returned, Jast said, “the phantom horsemen, as you call them, were only pictures, made so real that you, as well as the bandits, could see them. In a word they were the pictures of other occurrences that we were able to produce in so lifelike a manner that they could not be distinguished from the real occurrence. We are able to produce them for our own protection as well as for that of others and no one has been harmed. Where a definite purpose is served, there is no harm in the outcome. A doubt had arisen in the minds of the bandits. It was not logical that an expedition like this would venture so far away without some protection and we were able to take advantage of this to frighten them. They are very superstitious and always on the lookout for trickery. That type is the most susceptible to fear and they saw just what they expected to find. If we had not used this method, we should in all probability have been obliged to destroy a number of the band before they would have left us in peace. As it is we shall hear no more of them.” We were not molested again.
The beautiful lady continued: “If you could only see that the tragedy of Jesus’ life ended with the crucifixion, that the joy of the Christ life began with the resurrection, and that the goal of every life should be the resurrection rather than the crucifixion. In this way all may follow him into the more abundant life of the Christ in them. Can you think of a more joyous and abundant life than to be one with this Mighty Power, this power of the Christ within? It is here you may know that you were created to have dominion over every form, thought, word, or condition. In living this life, which is the fulfillment of every need, you will find that you are living an exact, scientific life.
“Jesus increased the few loaves and fishes the little lad had, until he was able to supply ample for the multitude. You will observe that he bade them sit down in an orderly expectant attitude, ready to receive the increased supply by fulfilling the law. If you are to find joy and satisfaction in the life of Jesus, you must fulfill the law of his life by acting in harmony with his ideals. You cannot stand and worry as to how you are to be fed. If Jesus had allowed this, the multitude never would have been satisfied. Instead, He quietly blessed and gave thanks for that which he had and the supply was increased in sufficient measure to meet every need.
“Living did not become a difficult problem until man disobeyed and refused to listen to the Inner Voice. When he returns and again learns to listen to that Inner Voice he will cease to labor for the means of a living, but he will work for the joy of creating. He will enter into the joy of creating and he will create under the law of the Lord or Word of God. Through His Word he will find that he can move upon the all-loving and all-enfolding substance of God and bring into visibility every ideal he holds in thought. It was in this way, step by step, that Jesus mounted to the heights and proved the supremacy of the Christ in Him over the limited concept of mortal thought. When this is realized, work becomes a joyous quality of one’s being. Jesus proved that the truly spiritual life is the only joyous life. He became clothed with dignity and glory because of his victory; yet that victory left him as free as a little child. Although the world is not wholly awake to its desire, it is this desire of joy and great blessing that it is seeking. Man may seek satisfaction in the pursuit of personal things, unmindful of the law that says he shall lose that which he seeks for selfish gain. But through the losing he soon finds that the fall of the personal but marks the ascent of the spiritual. He realizes that MAN’S EXTREMITY IS GOD’S OPPORTUNITY.
“You must know that you are entitled to every good and perfect gift of God, and you must prepare to receive those gifts through the knowledge of God as your Divine nature. IF YOU SEPARATE YOURSLEF FROM GOD IN THOUGHT, YOU WILL ALSO SEPARATE YOURSELF FROM HIM IN MANIFESTAION. In order to enter fully into the joy of life, you must seek life and joy, for the fullness and joy that that life gives to all humanity.
“The laws for the establishment of heaven here on earth, which Jesus taught and which you have seen applied in a very small measure, are exact and scientific. Man, being the son and true likeness of God, contains within himself the true spirit of God, his Father. He can discern and use the laws of his creative parent and bring them into full operation in his world of affairs, if he only will.” Then she said they would be pleased to answer any questions he might like to ask.
Ray said he did not have any questions to ask, for he had been too deeply stirred to want to ask questions. He just wanted to think. He said he had some things he wanted to say and he hoped they would not take offense, for offense was not intended in any way. He continued. “We came here, as we supposed, to find the remains of a people long since dead and gone. Instead, we find a people living a far more wonderful and active life than can be comprehended. If this thing that we have seen could be heralded abroad, you would have the whole world bowing at your feet.” The three ladies said they did not wish the world to bow at their feet but they longed to see all mankind bowing at God’s feet. They went on to say that mankind already had too many idols. The ideal was the thing really needed.
Here the visitors, with the exception of the one who had called at the door of the tent, arose, saying they must be on their way. With hearty handshakes and Godspeed and invitations to visit them at any time, they disappeared as suddenly as they had come, leaving Ray and his party staring at the place where they had stood. After a moment he turned to the man who had remained and asked his name. He was told that it was Bagget Irand.
Then Ray said to him, “Do you mean to say that you are able to come and go at will, without any visible means of conveyance, as we have just seen, defying every known law of gravity and physics?”
Bagget Irand answered, “We do not defy any law, neither do we harm a single law of man or God. We cooperate with and work according to all laws, both of Nature and God. The means of locomotion which we use, although invisible to you, are perfectly visible to us. The trouble is you do not see them; consequently you do not believe. We see, believe, and know and we are able to utilize them. When you open your understanding to know and see and use them, you will soon find that the law which we use is definite and far more capable of being put to greater uses for mankind than the limited laws which you see and use. Some day you will find that you have only touched the surface of man’s possibilities. We are always pleased to assist you in any way we can.”
