ur seem like a lifetime of regret. Since it is dreadful to
think that such unsoothed anguish should continue forever, I have often
pondered whether it might not be that, by a form of involution and
reversal of the past law, the spirit that came to life evolved from the
mineral, plant, and animal worlds, may mercifully retrace its steps one
by one, till finally the soul shall penetrate the solid rock and hide
itself by becoming part of the planet. Many people in my day believed
that after death their souls would enter stately trees, and spread
abroad great branches, dropping dead leaves over the places on which
they had stood while on earth. This might be the last step in the
awful tragedy of the fall and involution of a human soul. In this way,
those who had wasted the priceless opportunities given them by God
might be mercifully obliterated, for it seems as if they would not be
needed in the economy of the universe. The Bible, however, mentions no
such end, and says unmistakably that hell will last forever; so that in
this supposition, as in many others, the wish is probably father of the
thought."

"But," persisted Bearwarden, "how about death-bed repentances?"

"Those," replied the spirit, "are few and far between. The pains of
death at the last hour leave but little room for aught but vain regret.
A man dies suddenly, or may be unconscious some time before the end.
But they do occur. The question is, How much credit is it to be good
when you can do no more harm? The time to resist evil and do that
which is right is while the temptation is on and in its strength.
While life lasts there is hope, but the books are sealed by death. The
tree must fall to one side or the other--there is no middle ground--and
as the tree falleth, so it lieth.

"This, however, is a gloomy subject, and one that in your heart of
hearts you understand. I would rather tell you more of the beauties
and splendours of space--of the orange, red, and blue stars, and of the
tremendous cyclonic movements going on within them, which are even more
violent than the storms that rage in the sun. The clouds, as the
spectroscope has already shown, consist of iron, gold, and platinum in
the form of vapour, while the openings revealed by sun-spots, or rather
star-spots, are so tremendous that a comparatively small one would
contain many dozen such globes as the earth. I could tell you also of
the mysteries of the great dark companions of some of