God hates a
coward....
'Oct. 5.--I can stand it no longer; I have invited
Harker to pass a few weeks with me--he has a
level head. I can judge from his manner if he thinks
me mad.
'Oct. 7.--I have the solution of the mystery;
it came to me last night--suddenly, as by revela-
tion. How simple--how terribly simple!
'There are sounds that we cannot hear. At either
end of the scale are notes that stir no chord of that
imperfect instrument, the human ear. They are too
high or too grave. I have observed a flock of black-
birds occupying an entire tree-top--the tops of sev-
eral trees--and all in full song. Suddenly--in a
moment--at absolutely the same instant--all
spring into the air and fly away. How? They could
not all see one another--whole tree-tops intervened.
At no point could a leader have been visible to all.
There must have been a signal of warning or com-
mand, high and shrill above the din, but by me
unheard. I have observed, too, the same simul-
taneous flight when all were silent, among not only
blackbirds, but other birds--quail, for example,
widely separated by bushes--even on opposite
sides of a hill.
'It is known to seamen that a school of whales
basking or sporting on the surface of the ocean,
miles apart, with the convexity of the earth between,
will sometimes dive at the same instant--all gone
out of sight in a moment. The signal has been
sounded--too grave for the ear of the sailor at
the masthead and his comrades on the deck--who
nevertheless feel its vibrations in the ship as the
stones of a cathedral are stirred by the bass of the
organ.
Pages:
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219