"Electricity, mademoiselle, is, as you are aware, the wonder of our
age. No end can be foreseen to the marvels it is capable of
accomplishing. But one of the most important branches of this great
science is ignorantly derided just now by the larger portion of
society--I mean the use of human electricity; that force which is in
each one of us--in you and in me--and, to a very large extent, in
Heliobas. He has cultivated the electricity in his own system to such
an extent that his mere touch, his lightest glance, have healing in
them, or the reverse, as he chooses to exert his power--I may say it is
never the reverse, for he is full of kindness, sympathy, and pity for
all humanity. His influence is so great that he can, without speaking,
by his mere presence suggest his own thoughts to other people who are
perfect strangers, and cause them to design and carry out certain
actions in accordance with his plans. You are incredulous?
Mademoiselle, this power is in every one of us; only we do not
cultivate it, because our education is yet so imperfect. To prove the
truth of what I say, _I_, though I have only advanced a little way in
the cultivation of my own electric force, even _I_ have influenced YOU.
You cannot deny it. By my thought, impelled to you, you saw clearly my
picture that was actually veiled. By MY force, you replied correctly to
a question I asked you concerning that same picture. By MY desire, you
gave me, without being aware of it, a message from one I love when you
said, 'Dieu vous garde!' You remember? And the elixir I gave you, which
is one of the simplest remedies discovered by Heliobas, had the effect
of making you learn what he intended you to learn--his name."
"He!" I exclaimed. "Why, he does not know me--he can have no intentions
towards me!"
"Mademoiselle," replied Cellini gravely, "if you will think again of
the last of your three dreams, you will not doubt that he HAS
intentions towards you. As I told you, he is a PHYSICAL ELECTRICIAN. By
that is meant a great deal. He knows by instinct whether he is or will
be needed sooner or later. Let me finish what I have to say. You are
ill, mademoiselle--ill from over-work. You are an improvisatrice--that
is, you have the emotional genius of music, a spiritual thing
unfettered by rules, and utterly misunderstood by the world. You
cultivate this faculty, regardless of cost; you suffer, and you will
suffer more. In proportion as your powers in music grow, so will your
health decline. Go to Heliobas; he will do for you what he did for me.
Surely you will not hesitate? Between years of weak invalidism and
perfect health, in less than a fortnight, there can be no question of
choice."
I rose from my seat slowly.
"Where is this Heliobas?" I asked. "In Paris?"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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