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 Foreword

We live in epochal times.

The origins lie far back in time. Our genus, Homo, dates back more than
two million years, our species roughly 200,000. Through evolutionary
time, we have outlasted many of our Homo cousins—neanderthalensis,
heidelbergensis, floresiensis, and more (Harari, 2014). That long process
shaped us in complex ways, including endowing us with a deep connection
to nature (Wilson, 1984). But we may not fully understand and appreciate
that connection; we are arguably wired more for fight or flight than for
foresight and wisdom (Buss, 2015; Kahneman, 2011).
Cultural history provides further context. Our civilization arose roughly
13,000 years ago, when the Younger Dryas cooling at the end of the
Pleistocene gave way to post-glacial warming, marking the beginning of
the Holocene. Our ancestors shifted from hunting and gathering to what
we recognize as modern life—agriculture and manufacturing, art and
culture, towns and cities. Human well-being improved in many ways,
although there were also costs, such as less diverse diets and less contact
with nature (McMichael et al., 2017).
Recent industrial history provides still further context. The current
human predicament dates from just a few hundred years ago, when we
learned how to unleash vast amounts of energy that had been locked in
fossil fuels over geologic time. This ushered in the Great Acceleration
(Steffen et al., 2015)—a time of unprecedented growth in population,
urbanization, manufacturing, and of ecological degradation. So great was
the impact that we have destabilized the very systems that maintain our
planet. Rising atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases, especially
carbon dioxide, are altering the climate. Biodiversity is diminishing as
species go extinct at alarming rates. The pH of the ocean is falling. In
many parts of the world, nitrogen and phosphorus cycles have been
profoundly altered, soil degraded, forests extirpated, river flows
interrupted, fresh water supplies depleted. Human impacts on earth
systems define the epoch in which we live: the Anthropocene (Steffen et
al., 2007).

8
 In many ways, the Anthropocene has been good to us. Our numbers
have grown, as has our life expectancy. We have conquered ancient health
problems such as polio, and we have limited the damage done by many
diseases, from leprosy to tuberculosis to syphilis. But the story is not all
rosy. Deep disparities persist; the wealthy enjoy far better health than the
poor. And the Great Acceleration brought with it an epidemiologic
transition, in which chronic and degenerative diseases supplanted
infectious diseases around the world (Barrett et al., 2015; Omran, 1971;
Zuckerman et al., 2014). Cardiovascular diseases, chronic respiratory
diseases, and cancers—the so-called ‘non-communicable diseases’—
became the predominant killers. The factors that contribute to these
conditions—obesity, high blood pressure, unhealthy diets, sedentary
lifestyles, stress—became routine realities for far too many people.
Other conditions have also become common, causing suffering if not
death, and the explanation is not always clear. Allergies, asthma, and
autoimmune diseases such as lupus are on the rise, and may reflect, at least
in part, an alteration of the human relationship with the microbial world
(Versini et al., 2015; Velasquez-Manoff, 2012). Back pain, neck pain, and
headaches are disturbingly common (Vos et al., 2016). So are autism,
attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (Vos et al., 2016), anxiety,
depression, and substance abuse (Whiteford et al., 2015). In a world of
increasing plenty, even in the wealthiest and most peaceful countries, large
proportions of people report being unhappy and unsatisfied with their lives
(Helliwell et al., 2016).
Part of the solution can be found in this book.
We humans have a longstanding affiliation with the natural world, one
embedded in evolutionary time (Wilson, 1984). Like all deep, authentic
relationships, it is not always happy: sabre-toothed tigers chased us, snakes
bit us, bees stung us, storms lashed us. But the natural world has also been
a source of sustenance, succour, and inspiration. And now, it is
increasingly clear that a feature of modern life—indeed, a corollary of our
frenzied charge into the Anthropocene—is the breaching of this
relationship.
The litany of problems is familiar. Urbanization has reduced
opportunities for nature contact—not urbanization per se, but bad
urbanization, featuring sterile, lifeless settings, and vast distances between
where people live and where they can access greenspace. People in
‘developed’ nations spend the vast majority of their time indoors—in the
United States, more than 90% (Klepeis et al., 2001). Technology has taken
centre stage in many people’s lives, supplanting nature contact; children

9
younger than age eight have an average of almost two hours of screen time
each day (Rideout, 2013), a figure that nearly quadruples, to more than 7.5
hours, during their teenage years (Rideout et al., 2010). Adults go even
further, averaging a stunning 10 hours and 39 minutes of ‘total media
consumption’ each day (Nielsen, 2016). Park visitation, hunting, fishing,
camping, and children’s outdoor play have all declined substantially over
recent decades (Pergams and Zaradic, 2008; Clements, 2004; Frost, 2010).
‘Nature deficit disorder’, while not a formal diagnostic term, denotes a
widespread ailment (Louv, 2005).
Nature contact offers an astonishingly wide range of benefits for human
health and well-being, from improving birth outcomes and reducing
obesity, relieving depression to prolonging life. The relevant body of
science is growing rapidly, and many published reviews have summarized
it (Bowler et al., 2010; Lee and Maheswaran, 2011; Russell et al., 2013;
Martens and Bauer, 2013; Hartig et al., 2014; James et al., 2015; Seymour,
2016). It is essential to document these benefits, and there is no more
comprehensive collection of that documentation than in this book.
It is also essential to understand how nature benefits health and well-
being—through what biomedical, social, and cultural pathways it operates.
As with pharmaceuticals, this biomedical understanding will enable us to
provide the most effective ‘doses’ of nature, in the most effective ways, to
those who will benefit the most. Innovative science, from brain imaging to
immune function tests, is propelling the needed research. This book
admirably summarizes what we now know about the mechanisms that
underlie nature benefits.
But scientific understanding is not enough. We need to implement what
we know. We need to apply evidence to designing, creating, and
maintaining opportunities for nature contact in ways that demonstrably
make people healthier, happier, and more self-actualized. This is a task for
the design professions—architects, urban planners, and landscape
architects. It is a task for educators, school board members, and child care
professionals. It is a task for parks and recreation professionals. It is a task
for health professionals. It is a task for parents, and for elected officials.
This book offers a rich selection of strategies and tactics for translating
research into action.
We need a moral dimension to this work. In far too many ways, modern
societies are stratified and unequal. Small minorities in most societies
control vastly disproportionate shares of resources, and large numbers of
people live in deprivation. Nature contact is not just an amenity; it is a
birthright. Moreover, given evidence that nature contact disproportionately

10
benefits those who are less well-off (Mitchell and Popham, 2008; Mitchell
et al., 2015), it may be an effective way to help rectify health disparities.
And cradling all of this—the science, the implementation, the social
justice—we need culture change. A deeply felt appreciation of the natural
world and of the human place in it, a sense of reverence and humility, an
openness to awe and wonder, the ability to think in systems, a commitment
to creating and preserving legacy—these must be promoted as cultural
norms. They can be found in the wisdom of indigenous peoples
worldwide, in philosophy, art, poetry, and popular culture, from ancient
Greece to the New England transcendentalists (McLuhan, 1994). In these
troubled times, when planetary health hangs in the balance, when, as Bill
McKibben memorably wrote (McKibben, 1989), the ‘end of nature’ seems
possible, may this fine book provide the evidence, the wisdom, and the
inspiration to help renew the human relationship with the natural world,
enabling health and well-being now and for generations to come.
Howard Frumkin, M.D., Dr. P.H.
Professor of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences
University of Washington
Seattle, USA

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Barrett, B., Charles, J. W., & Temte, J. L. (2015). Climate change, human health,
and epidemiological transition. Prev Med, 70, 69–75.
Bowler, D. E., Buyung-Ali, L. M., Knight, T. M., & Pullin, A. S. (2010). A
systematic review of evidence for the added benefits to health of exposure to
natural environments. BMC Public Health, 10, 456.
Buss, D. M. (2015). Evolutionary Psychology: The New Science of the Mind,
Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
Clements, R. (2004). An investigation of the status of outdoor play. Contemporary
Issues in Early Childhood, 5, 68–80.
Frost, J. L. (2010). A History of Children's Play and Play Environments: Toward a
Contemporary Child-Saving Movement. New York, NY: Routledge.
Harari, Y. N. (2014). Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind. London, UK:
Vintage Books.
Hartig, T., Mitchell, R., De Vries, S., & Frumkin, H. (2014). Nature and health.
Annu Rev Public Health, 35, 207–28.
Helliwell, J., Layard, R., & Sachs, J. (2016). World Happiness Report 2016,
Volume I. Available at: http://worldhappiness.report/wp-
content/uploads/sites/2/2016/03/HR-V1_web.pdf [Online].
James, P., Banay, R. F., Hart, J. E., & Laden, F. (2015). A review of the health
benefits of greenness. Curr Epidemiol Rep, 2, 131–42.

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Kahneman, D. (2011). Thinking, Fast and Slow. New York, NY: Farrar, Straus and
Giroux.
Klepeis, N. E., Nelson, W. C., Ott, W. R., et al. (2001). The National Human
Activity Pattern Survey (NHAPS): a resource for assessing exposure to
environmental pollutants. J Expo Anal Environ Epidemiol, 11, 231–52.
Lee, A. C. K. & Maheswaran, R. (2011). The health benefits of urban green
spaces: a review of the evidence. J Public Health, 33, 212–22.
Louv, R. (2005). Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-
Deficit Disorder. Chapel Hill, NC: Algonquin Books.
Martens, D. & Bauer, N. (2013). Natural environments: A resource for public
health and well-being? A literature review. In: Noehammer, E. (ed.)
Psychology of Well-Being: Theory, Perspectives and Practice. Hauppauge
NY: Nova Science Publishers.
McKibben, B. (1989). The End of Nature. New York, NY: Random House.
McLuhan, T. C. (1994). The Way of the Earth: Encounters with Nature in Ancient
and Contemporary Thought. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster.
McMichael, A. J., Woodward, A., & Muir, C. (2017). Climate Change and the
Health of Nations: Famines, Fevers, and the Fate of Populations, Oxford and
New York, Oxford University Press.
Mitchell, R. & Popham, F. (2008). Effect of exposure to natural environment on
health inequalities: an observational population study. Lancet, 372, 1655–60.
Mitchell, R. J., Richardson, E. A., Shortt, N. K., & Pearce, J. R. (2015).
Neighborhood environments and socioeconomic inequalities in mental well-
being. Am J Prev Med, 49, 80–4.
Nielsen (2016). The Nielsen Total Audience Report: Q1, 2016. Nielsen. Available
at: http://www.nielsen.com/us/en/insights/reports/2016/the-total-audience-
report-q1-2016.html [Online].
Omran, A. R. (1971). The epidemiologic transition. A theory of the epidemiology
of population change. Milbank Mem Fund Q, 49, 509–38.
Pergams, O. R. & Zaradic, P. A. (2008). Evidence for a fundamental and pervasive
shift away from nature-based recreation. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 105,
2295–300.
Rideout, V. J. (2013). Zero to Eight: Children's Media Use in America 2013.
Common Sense Media. Available at:
https://www.commonsensemedia.org/research/zero-to-eight-childrens-media-
use-in-america-2013 [Online].
Rideout, V. J., Foehr, U. G., & Roberts, D. F. (2010). Generation M2: Media in the
Lives of 8- to 18-Year-Olds. Kaiser Family Foundation. Available at:
http://www.kff.org/other/poll-finding/report-generation-m2-media-in-the-
lives/ [Online].
Russell, R., Guerry, A. D., Balvanera, P., et al. (2013). Humans and nature: How
knowing and experiencing nature affect well-being. Annu Rev Environ
Resour, 38, 473–502.
Seymour, V. (2016). The human–nature relationship and its impact on health: a

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Steffen, W., Broadgate, W., Deutsch, L., Gaffney, O., & Ludwig, C. (2015). The
trajectory of the Anthropocene: The Great Acceleration. The Anthropocene
Review, 2, 81–98.
Steffen, W., Crutzen, P. J., & McNeill, J. R. (2007). The Anthropocene: Are
humans now overwhelming the great forces of nature? AMBIO: A Journal of
the Human Environment, 36, 614–21.
Velasquez-Manoff, M. (2012). An Epidemic of Absence: A New Way of
Understanding Allergies and Autoimmune Diseases. New York, NY: Scribner
Versini, M., Jeandel, P. Y., Bashi, T., Bizzaro, G., Blank, M., & Shoenfeld, Y.
(2015). Unraveling the Hygiene Hypothesis of helminthes and autoimmunity:
origins, pathophysiology, and clinical applications. BMC Med, 13, 81.
Vos, T., Allen, C., Arora, M., et al. (2016). Global, regional, and national
incidence, prevalence, and years lived with disability for 310 diseases and
injuries, 1990-2015: A systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease
Study 2015. Lancet, 388, 1545–602.
Whiteford, H. A., Ferrari, A. J., Degenhardt, L., Feigin, V., & Vos, T. (2015). The
global burden of mental, neurological and substance use disorders: an analysis
from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2010. PLoS One, 10, e0116820.
Wilson, E. O. (1984). Biophilia. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
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evolution of disease: anthropological perspectives on epidemiologic
transitions. Glob Health Action, 7, 23303.

13
 Contents

Abbreviations
Contributors

SECTION 1
Why is nature a health factor?
1.1 Setting the scene and how to read the book
Matilda van den Bosch and William Bird
1.2 A life course approach to public health: why early life matters
Felicia M. Low, Peter D. Gluckman, and Mark A. Hanson
1.3 Systems thinking for global health and strategic sustainable
development
Karl-Henrik Robèrt, Michael T. Hernke, Luke Fortney, and Rian J.
Podein
1.4 The physiology of stress and stress recovery
Peter Währborg, Panagiota Pervanidou, and George P. Chrousos
1.5 Unifying mechanisms: nature deficiency, chronic stress, and
inflammation
William Bird, Elissa Epel, Jeannette R. Ickovics, and Matilda van
den Bosch

SECTION 2
How nature can affect health—theories and mechanisms
2.1 Environmental psychology
Agnes E. van den Berg and Henk Staats
2.2 Therapeutic landscapes, restorative environments, place
attachment, and well-being
Mardie Townsend, Claire Henderson-Wilson, Haywantee

14
 Ramkissoon, and Rona Weerasuriya
2.3 Microbes, the immune system, and the health benefits of
exposure to the natural environment
Graham Rook
2.4 Environmental enrichment: neurophysiological responses and
consequences for health
Heidi Janssen, Julie Bernhardt, Frederick R. Walker, Neil J. Spratt,
Michael Pollack, Anthony J. Hannan, and Michael Nilsson
2.5 Biological mechanisms and neurophysiological responses to
sensory impact from nature
Caroline Hägerhäll, Richard Taylor, Gunnar Cerwén, Greg Watts,
Matilda van den Bosch, Daniel Press, and Steven Minta
2.6 The role of nature and environment in behavioural medicine
Leonie Venhoeven, Danny Taufik, Linda Steg, Marino Bonaiuto,
Mirilia Bonnes, Silvia Ariccio, Stefano De Dominicis, Massimiliano
Scopelliti, Matilda van den Bosch, Paul Piff, Jia Wei Zhang, and
Dacher Keltner

SECTION 3
Public health impact of nature contact—pathways to
health promotion and disease prevention
3.1 Promoting physical activity—reducing obesity and non-
communicable diseases
Billie Giles-Corti, Fiona Bull, Hayley Christian, Mohammad Javad
Koohsari, Takemi Sugiyama, and Paula Hooper
3.2 Preventing stress and promoting mental health
Matilda van den Bosch, Catharine Ward Thompson, and Patrik
Grahn
3.3 Promoting social cohesion—increasing well-being
Birgit Elands, Karin Peters, and Sjerp de Vries

SECTION 4
Public health impact of nature contact—intervention and
rehabilitation
4.1 Using nature as a treatment option

15
 Anna María Pálsdóttir, Joe Sempik, William Bird, and Matilda van
den Bosch
4.2 The human–animal bond and animal-assisted intervention
Aubrey H. Fine and Shawna J. Weaver
4.3 Similarities, disparities, and synergies with other complex
interventions—stress as a common pathway
Cecilia Stenfors, Eva Bojner Horwitz, Töres Theorell, and Walter
Osika

SECTION 5
Public health impact of varied landscapes and
environments
5.1 The great outdoors: forests, wilderness, and public health
Qing Li and Simon Bell
5.2 Blue landscapes and public health
Mathew P. White, Rebecca Lovell, Benedict W. Wheeler, Sabine
Pahl, Sebastian Völker, and Michael H. Depledge
5.3 Technological nature and human well-being
Peter H. Kahn, Jr.

SECTION 6
Varied populations and interactions with nature
6.1 Children and nature
Nancy M. Wells, Francesqca E. Jimenez, and Fredrika Mårtensson
6.2 Nature-based treatments as an adjunctive therapy for anxiety
among elders
Mark B. Detweiler, Jack Carman, and Jonna G. Meinersmann-
Detweiler
6.3 Vulnerable populations, health inequalities, and nature
Richard Mitchell, Julia Africa, and Alan Logan
6.4 Responses to nature from populations of varied cultural
background
Caroline Hägerhäll

16
 SECTION 7
Threats, environmental change, and unintended
consequences of nature—protecting health and reducing
environmental hazards
7.1 Allergenic pollen emissions from vegetation—threats and
prevention
Åslög Dahl, Matilda van den Bosch, and Thomas Ogren
7.2 Vector-borne diseases and poisonous plants
David Wong
7.3 The health impact of natural disasters
Eric K. Noji, Anas A. Khan, and Osama A. Samarkandi
7.4 Risk and the perception of risk in interactions with nature
David J. Ball and Laurence N. Ball-King
7.5 Population health deficits due to biodiversity loss, climate
change, and other environmental degradation
Anthony J. McMichael†

SECTION 8
The nature of the city
8.1 The shift from natural living environments to urban: population-
based and neurobiological implications for public health
Florian Lederbogen, Leila Haddad, Andreas Meyer-Lindenberg,
Danielle C. Ompad, and Matilda van den Bosch
8.2 Urban landscapes and public health
Timothy Beatley and Cecil Konijnendijk van den Bosch
8.3 Nature in buildings and health design
Stephen R. Kellert††
8.4 Green infrastructure—approach and public health benefits
Raffaele Lafortezza and Cecil Konijnendijk van den Bosch
8.5 Ecosystem services and health benefits—an urban perspective
Elisabet Lindgren, My S. Almqvist, and Thomas Elmqvist
8.6 The healthy settings approach: Healthy Cities and environmental
health indicators
Evelyne de Leeuw and Premila Webster

17
 SECTION 9
Natural public health across the world
9.1 Africa and environmental health trends
Emmanuel K. Boon and Albert Ahenkan
9.2 Latin America and the environmental health movement
Ana Faggi, Sylvie Nail, Carolina C. Sgobaro Zanette, and Germán
Tovar Corzo
9.3 Healthy Islands
Evelyne de Leeuw, Erik Martin, and Temo Waqanivalu

SECTION 10
Bringing nature into public health plans and actions
10.1 The role of the health professional
Robert Zarr and William Bird
10.2 The role of environmental law
Cinnamon P. Carlarne and Jeffrey M. Bielicki
10.3 Environmental assessment and health impact assessment
Salim Vohra, Marla Orenstein, Francesca Viliani, Ben Cave, Ben
Harris-Roxas, and Filipe Silva
10.4 Quantifying and valuing the role of trees and forests on
environmental quality and human health
David J. Nowak
10.5 The role of civil society and organizations
Matilda van den Bosch, Cathey E. Falvo, Génon K. Jensen, Joshua
Karliner, and Rachel Stancliffe

Index

† It is with regret we report the death of Anthony J. McMichael during the

preparation of this textbook.
†† It is with regret we report the death of Stephen R. Kellert during the preparation
of this textbook.

18
 Abbreviations

AAA animal-assisted activities

AAE animal-assisted education
AAI animal-assisted interventions
AAT animal-assisted therapy
ACT artemisinin-based combination therapy
ADHD attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder
AQBAT Air Quality Benefits Assessment Tool
AR allergic rhinitis
ART Attention Restoration Theory
ASD acute stress disorder
BDNF brain-derived neurotrophic factor
BFV Barmah Forest Virus
BMI body mass index
CBNRM community-based natural resources management
CFM collaborative forest management
CNS central nervous system
CRED Center for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters
CRH corticotropine-releasing hormone
CRP C-reactive protein
DAF directed attention fatigue
DALY disability-adjusted life year
DHF dengue haemorrhagic fever
DOHaD Developmental Origins of Health and Disease
EA environmental assessment
EE environmental enrichment
EF ecological footprinting
EIA environmental impact assessment
ELC European Landscape Convention
ELF early life stress

19
EPA Environmental Protection Agency
ES ecosystem services
ESS Emotional State Scale
ESSP Earth Systems Science Partnership
FAO Food and Agriculture Organization
FoF fear of falling
FSS functional somatic syndrome
FSSD Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development
GAD generalized anxiety disorder
GBD global burden of disease
GDM gestational diabetes mellitus
GI green infrastructure
HCWH Health Care Without Harm
HD Huntington’s disease
HEAL Health and Environment Alliance
HEAT health economic assessment tool
HFA Health For All
HGT horizontal gene transfer
HIA health impact assessment
HL Hodgkin’s lymphoma
HRV heart rate variability
HSE Health and Safety Executive
IAHAIO International Association of Human–Animal Interaction
Organizations
IARC International Agency for Research on Cancer
ICIMOD International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development
IPA International Play Association
ISAAT International Society for Animal Assisted Therapy
ITDP Institute for Transportation and Development Policy
LEED Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design
MUS medically unexplained symptoms
MVPA moderate-to-vigorous physical activity
NAI nature-assisted interventions
NBI nature-based interventions
NCD non-communicable disease
NFC near field communication
NGF nerve growth factor

20
NGO non-governmental organization
NK natural killer
NRPA National Recreation and Park Association
OFFE Olfactory Function Field Exam
OPEC Outdoor Play Environment Categories
PAHO Pan American Health Organization
PANIC Physical Activity and Nutrition in Children
PAR predictive adaptive responses
PFA Perceptual Fluency Account
PHC Primary Health Care
PSR Physicians for Social Responsibility
PTSD post-traumatic stress disorder
QALY quality-adjusted life year
QoL quality of life
RMSF Rocky Mountain spotted fever
ROS reactive oxidative species
RRT Reward Restoration Theory
RRV Ross River Virus
RSPB Royal Society for Protection of Birds
SAVE sociocultural appraisals, values, and emotions
SCCYP Scotland’s Commissioner for Children and Young People
SCI spinal cord injury
SCL skin conductance level
SES socioeconomic status
SET Supportive Environment Theory
SETAC Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry
SIDS Small Island Developing States
SIRCC Scottish Institute for Residential Child Care
SMR standardized mortality ratios
SNS sympathetic nervous system
SPUGS small public urban green spaces
SRT Stress Reduction Theory
TBE tick-borne encephalitis
TBI traumatic brain injury
TEEB The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity
TWS tsunami warning system
UHI urban heat island

21
UNEP United Nations Environment Programme
USDA United States Department of Agriculture
WHO World Health Organization

22
 Contributors

Julia Africa, The Center for Health and the Global Environment, Harvard
School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
Albert Ahenkan, University of Ghana Business School, Department of
Public Administration and Health Services Management, Accra, Ghana
My S. Almqvist, Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University,
Stockholm, Sweden
Silvia Ariccio, Department of Psychology of Development Processes and
Socialization, Faculty of Medicine and Psychology, Sapienza University
of Rome, Rome, Italy
David J. Ball, Middlesex University, School of Science and Technology
Centre for Decision Analysis and Risk Management, London, UK
Laurence N. Ball-King, King’s College London, London, UK
Tim Beatley, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA
Simon Bell, Department of Landscape Architecture, Estonian University
of Life Sciences, Estonia; and OPENspace Research Centre, Edinburgh
School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture, University of
Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
Julie Bernhardt, Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health,
Melbourne, Australia
Jeffrey M. Bielicki, Department of Civil, Environmental, and Geodetic
Engineering, The Ohio State University and John Glenn College of
Public Affairs, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA
William Bird, Honorary Senior Lecturer, European Centre for
Environment and Human Health, Truro, UK; Family Doctor and CEO
Intelligent Health, Reading, UK
Marino Bonaiuto, Department of Psychology of Developmental and
Socialization Processes, Faculty of Medicine and Psychology, CIRPA -

23
 Interuniversity Research Centre for Environmental Psychology,
Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
Mirilia Bonnes, CIRPA - Interuniversity Research Centre for
Environmental Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
Emmanuel Boon, Department of Public Health (BISI), Vrije Universiteit
Brussel (VUB), Brussels, Belgium
Fiona Bull, School of Earth and Environment and School of Sport
Science, Exercise and Health, Center for Built Environment and Health,
The University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia
Cinnamon P. Carlarne, The Ohio State University, Michael E. Moritz
College of Law, Columbus, OH, USA
Jack Carman, FASLA, Medford, NJ, USA
Ben Cave, Ben Cave Associates Ltd, Leeds, UK; School of Environmental
Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK; and Centre for
Primary Health Care and Equity, University of New South Wales,
Sydney, Australia
Carolina C. Sgobaro Zanette, Independent Landscape Architect,
Curitiba, PR, Brazil
Gunnar Cerwén, Department of Landscape Architecture, Planning and
Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala,
Sweden
Hayley Christian, School of Population and Global Health, The
University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia
George Panagiotis Chrousos, First Department of Pediatrics, National
and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
Germán Tovar Corzo, Secretaría Distrital de Ambiente, Alcaldía Mayor
de Bogotá, Bogotá, Colombia
Åslög Dahl, Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences,
University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden
Michael H. Depledge, European Centre for Environment and Human
Health, University of Exeter Medical School, Exeter, Devon, UK
Mark Detweiler, Department of Psychiatry, Edward Via College of
Osteopathic Medicine, Blacksburg, VA, USA

24
Stefano De Dominicis, Department of Psychology of Developmental and
Socialization Processes, CIRPA - Interuniversity Research Centre for
Environmental Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome; Department
of Business and Management, LUISS Guido Carli University, Rome,
Italy
Birgit Elands, Forest and Nature Conservation Policy, Wageningen
University and Research, Wageningen, the Netherlands
Thomas Elmqvist, Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University,
Stockholm, Sweden
Elissa Epel, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA
Ana Faggi, Argentine National Council of Research, and School of
Ecological Engineering, Flores University, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Cathey E. Falvo, International Public Health, New York Medical College,
New York, NY, USA; and North America, International Society of
Doctors for the Environment, North America, CA, USA
Aubrey H. Fine, Department of Education, California State Polytechnic
University, Pomona, CA, USA
Luke Fortney, Sauk Prairie Healthcare River Valley Clinic, Family
Medicine, Spring Green, WI, USA
Billie Giles-Corti, McCaughey VicHealth Community Wellbeing Unit,
Centre for Health Equity, Melbourne School of Population and Global
Health, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
Peter D. Gluckman, Liggins Institute, University of Auckland, Auckland,
New Zealand
Patrik Grahn, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Alnarp,
Sweden
Leila Haddad, Central Institute of Mental Health, University of
Heidelberg, Medical Faculty of Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany
Caroline Hägerhäll, Department of Work Science, Business Economics
and Environmental Psychology, Swedish University of Agricultural
Sciences SLU, Alnarp, Sweden
Anthony Hannan, Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health,
University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
Mark A. Hanson, Institute of Developmental Sciences, University of

25
 Another Random Document on
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"Oh, I am all right now," replied Hardwick, "no better and no worse
than I ever was. You were surprised when your father told you?"
"I was greatly grieved, Julian. And it seems so strange that a big
man such as you are should be so delicate. You should see a doctor."
"I have seen several, but they can do me no good," said the artist
sadly. "In every way I am healthy, so there is nothing to cure. All I
lack is what they cannot give me, and that is a new supply of life-
force."
"If it is vitality you want, Hardwick," said Montrose, speaking across
the table, "you should consult Dr. Eberstein, who is coming down
shortly to Perchton. He is wonderful in many ways and I am certain
he would do you good."
"He cannot breathe more breath of life into a man than what that
man already has," said Mr. Sparrow, in a tone of sad rebuke. "God
alone is able to do that."
"Therefore," murmured Mrs. Sparrow, in an equally sad tone, "you
should pray for strength, Mr. Hardwick. We are told to do so."
"I thought that was spiritual strength?"
"And what more do you want?" replied the lady, forgetting the exact
point under discussion. "Let us watch and pray lest we fall into
temptation."
"My dear!" murmured the vicar in an undertone, for he felt that this
conversation was too professional for the occasion.
"Quite so," said Mrs. Sparrow, taking the hint, and did not open her
mouth for some time save to eat and drink. All the same she
watched for an opportunity to lead the conversation towards such
religious topics as she and her husband were interested in. This was
to be done with a view of surprising the Squire with the extent of
her husband's knowledge. Now she had managed to enter the big
house, she did not intend to go out again in a hurry. Enistor was a
valuable parishioner, and if he could be brought to defer to Mr.
Sparrow much could be done with him and with his money.
The table looked charming with its snow-white napery, on which
glittered crystal and silver, while the dinner-service was a thing of
beauty. The scarlet and golden autumn leaves which decorated the
board, the mellow light of the many wax candles, the well-cooked
food and the delicious wines, all impressed the vicar's wife greatly.
She even felt a little angry that such a heathen as the Squire surely
was should possess these luxuries, while Mr. Sparrow—capable of
being a bishop in her opinion—was content with unlovely
surroundings and plain viands, prepared in anything but an inviting
way by their one servant. No, not content—that was the wrong word
to use. He put up with ascetic living, while the wicked—meaning Mr.
Enistor—lived on the fat of the land. It was enough to shake the
faith of a Christian lady in the fairness of things. And truth to tell,
Mrs. Sparrow, in spite of her anxious faith, frequently doubted if the
world was governed justly. She and her husband did all that the
Bible told them to do in the way of living uprightly and unselfishly,
therefore they should certainly long before this have sat under their
own fig-tree, possessing beeves and lands according to the promise.
As it was, they were as poor as rats, or rather as church mice, which
seemed to be the more ecclesiastical comparison. Clearly there was
something wrong somewhere in the way in which mundane matters
were ordered.
Meantime, the Squire had started Mr. Sparrow on archæology, as the
best way of keeping him off theology, and the parson was talking
eagerly about a certain red granite heart, inscribed with weird signs,
which he had dug up on the hill where the Roman camp was to be
seen. "Near the cottage of that Spanish gentleman," he explained
precisely.
"I know," said Enistor; and indeed he knew the hill very well in a
way of which Mr. Sparrow would scarcely have approved.
"There is a Druidical altar there," went on the clergyman eagerly,
"and I have no doubt many dreadful sacrifices took place there in
the old days. This heart—which I shall be delighted to show you if
you call at the vicarage, Mr. Enistor—no doubt had to do with the
terrible rites."
"Earlier than that," put in Montrose unexpectedly, "the heart was the
symbol of the Atlantean race, as the cross is the symbol of the
Aryan. The hieroglyphics on it mean doubtless the sacred word 'Tau.'
Aum is the sacred word of our present people."
"Tau! Aum! Atlantean!" echoed Sparrow, much perplexed. "What do
you mean?"
"It would take too long to explain, sir. Dr. Eberstein, who told me
about these things, is the best person to consult."
"I wish to consult no one," said the parson, drawing himself up. "I
believe the heart to be a symbol of the Druids."
"A symbol of Atlantis rather," insisted Montrose; "this very land on
which we are was part of the great continent of Atlantis."
"A mere fable, sir. You are thinking of the myth which Plato
mentions."
"It is no myth, but an actual truth, Mr. Sparrow. Atlantis did exist and
was overwhelmed by that flood you will find mentioned in the Bible."
"Absurd! The name of Atlantis is not mentioned in Holy Scripture.
There is no proof that what Plato says is true."
"This much proof, that as far back as archæologists can go the
civilisation of Egypt was in full swing. Where did that civilisation
come from?"
"It grew up in the Valley of the Nile."
"Certainly, but the beginnings were brought to the Valley of the Nile
by a highly civilised race. Remember it was the Egyptian priests who
told Plato about Atlantis. They knew, because Egypt was a colony of
that mighty continent. There was another colony in Central America,
and you will find the vast ruins of its cities described in a book by
Désiré Charnay. The civilisation of Mexico and Peru destroyed by the
Spaniards was the last remains of the splendour of the Atlanteans."
"Where did you hear all this, Mr. Montrose?" asked the Squire
quickly.
"From Dr. Eberstein. You can ask him for yourself when he comes
down."
"I should like to meet him," said Mr. Sparrow primly, "but I do not
think that I shall agree with a single word he says."
"Then why ask him?" asked Montrose, very naturally.
"To confute him, sir. What we know of the early world is all
contained in Genesis. There is no mention of Atlantis there, although
there is of Egypt."
"What about the chronology of the Bible? It has been proved, Mr.
Sparrow—and you as an archæologist must admit this—that the
civilisation of Egypt extends further back than the date given in
Genesis as the beginning of the world. What do you say to that?"
"I could say a great deal," retorted the parson, whose archæological
knowledge was always struggling with his religious beliefs; "but this
is not the time or the place to say more. When Dr. Eberstein, who is
your authority for these startling statements, arrives I shall be happy
to thresh the matter out with him. It will be an intellectual pleasure.
I get few opportunities of that sort down here."
"That is very probable," said Hardwick, nodding; "your parishioners
are a good sort, but not very learned."
"They have no need to be learned, Mr. Hardwick. Let them fulfil their
daily task, and be satisfied with the position in which they have been
placed."
"If they take your advice," said the Squire dryly, "there will be no
chance of their rising in the world."
"Why should they try to rise?" demanded Mrs. Sparrow, coming to
her husband's aid.
"Well, my dear lady, it is said that the common or garden millionaire
usually starts his pile with the proverbial halfpenny. If he accepted
your husband's ruling, he would never attempt to rise."
"It is divinely ordained that some people must be high and some
low."
"Rather hard on the low people. I think every one should be
dissatisfied, myself: that is the only thing that makes for progress."
"Did you promulgate this extraordinary doctrine in the village, Mr.
Enistor?"
"No!" replied the Squire, glancing at the parson, who spoke. "Why?"
"Because some of my parishioners are very dissatisfied indeed. Mrs.
Trevel was hard up last winter, and prayed for money. She did not
get it, and told me that she did not intend to pray any more, as it
seemed useless."
"And what explanation did you give her?" asked Alice anxiously.
"I was horrified at her impiety, Miss Enistor, as any right-minded
person would be."
"Of course," murmured Montrose ironically, "how dare she ask for
money when she was hard up."
Mr. Sparrow took no notice of him. "I told her that God thought she
required discipline and that she must not complain."
"Why should she require discipline rather than a millionaire?" asked
Julian.
"She may have more original sin in her," said Mr. Sparrow,
floundering in a bog and getting quite out of his depth.
"Well," said Montrose grimly, "if according to your teaching, Mr.
Sparrow, we all start as brand-new souls, given a set of
circumstances over which we have no control at the outset, and with
the same goal of heaven or hell at the end, it seems to me that
every one ought to start at scratch."
"Not at all," said the parson, doggedly illogical, "some are rich and
some are poor; some are clever and some are stupid; some are ill
and some are well. It is all divinely ordained."
"But so unfair," urged Julian, seeing the absurdity of the speech.
"What, sir, shall the clay say to the potter what it wants to be?"
"I really don't see why the clay shouldn't," put in Mr. Enistor, who
liked to see the parson driven into a corner, "especially when the
clay has nerves."
"All is divinely ordained," repeated Mr. Sparrow piously, "we must not
murmur. I regard Mrs. Trevel as a most impious person for daring to
rebel when her prayers are not answered."
"I told her that," said his wife, "and she only laughed."
"Bitterly, I expect," murmured Montrose; "poor soul, I shall give her
some money in the morning."
"No, don't," said Mr. Sparrow. "It will only confirm her in disbelief."
"On the contrary it will restore her faith," remarked the Squire coolly,
"as it will show that her prayers are answered after all."
Mr. Sparrow had nothing to say after this, although he greatly
longed to preach a sermon to those present. But not being in the
pulpit he feared lest his statements should be contradicted by these
ribald people. Therefore he wisely held his tongue on religious
subjects for the rest of the evening. On the way home, however, he
made one scathing remark to his wife.
"They are all atheists, Jane. Just the kind I expected to find under
the roof of a man who does not come to church."
 CHAPTER XIV
PREPARATION

On the morning of the third day after the dinner, Montrose received
a letter from Dr. Eberstein saying that he was arriving in Perchton
that same evening. At once the young man decided to see his friend
at the watering-place and stay there for the night. He was anxious
to tell the doctor how Enistor's character had been misunderstood,
and what an agreeable man he was to live with. Also he asked the
Squire if he could bring back Eberstein for a few hours' visit, to
which Enistor heartily agreed. The schemer was looking forward to
meeting the man—if he was simply a man and not something
greater—whom Narvaez called "The Adversary." Confident of
receiving support from Don Pablo, the Squire was anxious to come
to grips with the opposing power that wished to thwart his plans.
The suspense of the delay in any decided action being taken chafed
Enistor considerably, and he wished to arrive at the desired
conclusion as swiftly as possible. Narvaez advised waiting and
Enistor rejected the advice. He had not the inexhaustible patience of
his master.
Alice suggested that as Hardwick was going on that day to Perchton
to consult a doctor about his health, Douglas should accompany him.
The artist as usual had borrowed his rich friend's motor-car, and
when a message was sent to him, replied that he would be delighted
to have Montrose with him. To avoid the necessity of the car
climbing the hill to Tremore, Douglas went down to Polwellin with a
medium-sized bag, containing what necessaries he required for his
night's absence. Alice walked with him, and they left the bag at
Hardwick's lodgings, where the car was to arrive some time during
the afternoon. It was already long after midday, and having to get
rid of an hour of waiting, the girl proposed that they should call on
Dame Trevel.
"You said you would help her, Douglas," she reminded him.
"Of course. I should have seen her on the morning after the dinner,
when I told Mr. Sparrow that I would give her money. It was wrong
of me not to keep my promise. The vicar will think that I am like
every one else, and say much but do little."
"I don't think the vicar will think anything about the matter," said
Alice candidly. "Mrs. Trevel is a heretic in his eyes!"
"Simply because she won't believe blindly against her better reason.
There is a great want of logic about priestly authority. With the
teachers of exoteric knowledge it is 'Obey or be damned!' which is
something like the reported motto of the French Revolution: 'Be my
brother, or I'll kill you.'"
"But Mr. Sparrow is a good man, Douglas."
"I admitted long ago that he was a good man, my dear. But a good
man with a limited understanding can do more harm than a bad
man. There are other ways of teaching a child than by boxing his
ears until he is stupid with pain."
"I don't think Dame Trevel would like to be called a child," said Alice,
with an amused laugh.
"My dear, the majority of human beings are children. The longer I
live, the more I see that. I am a child myself in many ways,
although, as Eberstein is widening my limitations, I am beginning to
grow up. Children," Montrose spoke half to himself and half to his
companion, "what else? Instead of cake and toys, we want gold and
lands, and power and pleasure. Whether we deserve them or not we
clamour for them, just like a child. We become cross when things
don't go as we wish them, and slap the bad naughty table that has
hurt baby in the shape of anything which impedes our getting what
we desire. Good Lord, how can any man be angry with another man,
when he knows that his enemy is but a child? But to know that one
must be more than a child oneself."
"Do you call me a child?" asked Alice, pouting.
At the very door of Dame Trevel's cottage Montrose bent to kiss her.
"A very charming child, who shall never be put into the corner by
me."
"You talk as though you were the only wise man in existence."
"Yes!" assented Montrose, laughing. "I speak as though I were the
judge of the earth instead of being a denizen. La Rochefoucauld says
that. Go in, Alice, and let us get our interview over. We haven't
overmuch time."
Mrs. Trevel received her visitors in a clean little room, poorly
furnished but fairly comfortable. She was a gaunt old creature,
London born and London bred, so she did not speak in the Cornish
way. But indeed, thanks to the authority of school-boards, the local
dialects are fast disappearing, and the girl idly remembered at the
moment how ordinary was the wording of Rose Penwin and her
fisherman-lover. The sight of Dame Trevel seated in her big chair
suggested the names, as the absence of the West Country
shibboleth in her speech suggested the thought of the younger
generation whose dialect had been, so to speak, wiped out. The old
woman was glad, as usual, to see her nursling and highly approved
of the handsome young man who was to marry her, as all Polwellin
knew by this time.
"I hope it will be all sunshine with you two," said Mrs. Trevel, when
her visitors were seated. "And that you'll live to see your children's
children playing about your knees, my dears."
"With Alice beside me it is bound to be sunshine," replied Douglas
heartily. "She is an angel."
"Ah, my young sir, men always call women so before marriage; but
what do they call them afterwards?"
"That depends mainly on the woman, I fancy," said Montrose dryly.
"A wife can make her husband whatever she chooses."
"A silk purse out of a sow's ear," retorted Miss Enistor saucily. "But
Douglas and I understand one another, nurse, and there will be no
cause for quarrels."
"I wish I could say the same about my lad and the girl he has set his
heart on marrying," sighed Dame Trevel, laying down her knitting
and removing her spectacles. "It's more her fault than his, though.
Rose is a flighty piece."
"She won't listen to reason," said Alice, shaking her head wisely.
"Does any woman ever listen to reason?" inquired Montrose with a
shrug.
"From a man she won't; but from a woman she will. Don't be
cynical. But I have talked to Rose without success," ended Alice,
turning to her nurse.
"So have I, my dearie, and then she told me to mind my own
business; as if it wasn't my business to see that my lad got a decent
wife."
"There's no real harm in Rose," cried Alice hastily.
"I'm not saying there is. But why she should take jewels from that
foreign gentleman and make Job wild, I don't understand."
"Women are fond of jewels," suggested Douglas.
"And why not if they get them in the right way?" snapped Mrs.
Trevel ungraciously. "But Rose is to marry my lad, and he don't want
her visiting that old gentleman and taking presents."
"Old is the word, nurse," said Alice swiftly. "Job can't be jealous."
"But he is, and his jealousy is dangerous, just as his father's was
before him, dearie. And the foreign gentleman puzzles me," added
the old woman, taking up her knitting again. "They did say he was
to marry you, my love—by your father's wish, I swear, and never by
your own will. December and May. Ha! A pretty match that would
be."
"I marry Douglas and no one else, nurse, whatever my father may
say or do."
"He's a dour gentleman is the Squire," said Mrs. Trevel, shaking her
head, "and not pleasant to cross. He never treated your mother well,
and she faded like a delicate flower blown upon by cold winds. To
me, dearie, he behaves cruel in the way of rent, for all my bringing
you up."
"He doesn't mean to," said Alice, distressed, and driven to defending
her father, although she knew only too well his high-handed
methods with tenants who could not or would not pay.
"Out of the fullness of the heart the mouth speaketh," quoted Mrs.
Trevel in a sour way. "If he doesn't mean it, why does he do it?"
"Do what?"
"Says he'll turn me out bag and baggage if I don't pay the rent,"
cried the old woman excitedly. "How can I when the fishing's been
bad and Job can't earn enough to keep things going? I make a trifle
by my knitting, but that won't boil the pot. And winter's approaching
too. Oh, what's to be done?"
Montrose glanced at Alice and handed a piece of paper to the
speaker. "Pay the rent with that, and use what is over to buy food
and coal."
Mrs. Trevel grasped the banknote, with a vivid spot of colour on
each faded cheek, and could scarcely speak in her excitement.
"What is it: oh, what is it?"
"The answer to your prayer," said Alice, rising and looking solemn.
"My prayer! Why, it's a fifty-pound note. Oh, sir, I can't take such a
large sum of money from you."
"It is not from me," said Montrose hastily. "I am merely the
instrument. God sends the money because you asked Him to help
you."
The tears fell down the worn old face. "And I told the passon as it
wasn't no use praying," she moaned regretfully.
"Well, you see it is. He takes His own time and means, but in the
end every petition receives the answer He deems best. Thank Him,
Mrs. Trevel."
"I thank Him, and I thank you too, sir. Bless you, how the sight of
this money do set my mind at rest. If it wasn't for Job and the
contrary ways of that silly girl I'd be as happy as an angel."
"Pray for Job and Rose," advised Alice gently.
"Well, it do seem worth it, dearie. If He sends me this, He may turn
Rose into a reasonable girl, which she isn't at present." Mrs. Trevel
was about to put away her treasure-trove when she hesitated.
"Should I take it, Miss Alice?"
"Yes. Of course you must take it. Mr. Montrose is rich and can well
afford to give it to you."
"And the riches I have," said Douglas quietly, "are but given to me
as a steward of Christ to dispense according to His will."
He did not say this priggishly, although to an ordinary man of the
world such a way of regarding wealth would seem priggish. Nine
people out of ten would have considered the speech as one made
for effect, but Alice was the tenth and knew the absolutely
impersonal way in which her lover looked at the money. With joyful
tears Dame Trevel showered blessings on the young couple when
they left her house, and was a happy woman for the rest of the day.
Even the prospect of Rose's behaviour rousing Job's jealousy to the
extent of leading to serious trouble ceased to cause her anxiety for
the moment. Angels had come and left their gifts behind them. The
old woman resolved to go to the vicarage and confess with penitent
tears that she had been wrong to doubt the efficacy of prayer.
"Do you really regard yourself as Christ's steward?" asked Alice,
when the two were on their way to Julian's lodgings, more from
curiosity than because she doubted.
"Yes. I thought you knew me well enough to believe so, darling. Of
course when you are my wife I shall use the money to make us both
comfortable, and we shall have even the luxuries of life. But we
must share our good fortune with less fortunate people."
"Why not sell all we have and give it to the poor?"
"I suppose there comes a stage when one does that," mused
Montrose, more to himself than to the girl. "But I have not yet
reached that point. I know what poverty is in its most sordid aspect,
and I don't wish to undergo the experience again. The most I can do
is to share——" he paused, then went on in a doubtful manner: "I
expect the Blessed One knew that the young man who had great
possessions, to whom He said that, was a miser. He was perfect in
all ways, but he loved money."
"The Bible doesn't say so," insisted Alice quickly.
"I am reading between the lines, dear. And if Christ gives any one
wealth to administer as a steward, what would be the use of the
steward nullifying his office by getting rid at one sweep of what he
has to administer? It's a hard saying in any case, Alice. I must ask
Eberstein what he thinks about the matter. Besides, my dear——" he
hesitated and closed his lips.
"Well?" asked the girl, curiously.
"Nothing," answered Douglas, as Alice had answered on a previous
occasion, but there was a puzzled and rather pained look in his eyes
as he spoke the word.
The car was already standing at the door of Julian's lodgings and
Julian himself was already in the vehicle. While Montrose bundled in
beside him, Alice stared at the artist and laughed at his healthy
looks, for he seemed to have entirely recovered from his experience
on the moors.
"What a fraud you are, Julian, talking about your heart being weak,"
she said in a jesting manner. "You look big and strong and healthy.
Your eyes are bright, your colour is ruddy and you are the picture of
a Samson."
Julian nodded gaily. "I feel like a Samson to-day," he said, tucking
the rug about his companion's legs and his own. "Sometimes, as at
present, I could jump over the moon. At other times you could
knock me down with a feather."
"How strange," said the girl thoughtfully.
"Man's a queer animal," cried Douglas lightly, and waved his hand as
the big car got under way. "I'll be back to-morrow, dear. Think of
me!" and he smiled at Miss Enistor's bright face, little guessing what
it would look like when he next set eyes on its beauty.
Shortly they were clear of the village and spinning along the winding
levels towards the watering-place. Julian, as Alice had noted, was
full of life, and chatted a great deal about this thing and that. Also
he asked Montrose questions about the teaching of Eberstein, since
his curiosity had been aroused long since by some of the apparently
odd things which the young man said so simply and serenely. It was
not the first time that they had conversed on the subject of
reincarnation and its kindred associations. Julian was not prepared
to accept what he termed the theory of successive lives as gospel,
and wanted physical proof for super-physical knowledge. This, as
Montrose assured him, was absurd.
"When you are able to leave your body consciously and enter into
the Unseen World, you will be given positive proof regarding the
truth of Reincarnation and the Law of Cause and Effect, which is
termed Karma by Eastern teachers. But until that time comes you
must accept both laws on logical grounds, since they alone explain
without a flaw the riddles of life."
"Can you leave your body consciously?" asked the artist with
scepticism.
"No! I shall some day, as Eberstein is training me. But you can't
hurry the hour and you can't delay the hour. You have just to wait."
"It requires immense patience."
"Immense," assented Douglas, "but if you want a big thing you have
to do big things to get it. Only by living the life of Christ can you
attain to the Christ-like powers. Love, purity, unselfishness, serenity,
kindness of thought and word and action: these things arouse the
latent faculties which, inherent in every man, enable him to come
into contact with other worlds. These are the laws of the Kingdom of
Heaven by which one acquires the powers."
Julian thought for a few moments. "I had a talk with Narvaez the
other day," he said after a pause, "and he offered to cast my
horoscope. He seems, so far as I can judge in my limited way, to
have powers beyond the reach of the ordinary man. Does he
practise love and unselfishness and all the rest of the necessary
requirements?"
"No!" said Montrose decidedly. "I don't think Narvaez is a good man,
although I have no positive reason to say that he is a bad one. But
an evil man—I am not speaking of Don Pablo, understand—can gain
some of the power of the Kingdom by sheer force of will. Christ
says: 'He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but
climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber!' So
those who get in otherwise than through Christ the Door of the
sheep—the door of love, that is—are the evil people who acquire
super-physical powers by strength of will, and make use of them
selfishly. It is black magic to do that. But those who follow the
Master and enter through Him, as the Door, by living the prescribed
life to which I have referred, get the powers. But these use them for
the benefit of others and not to aggrandise themselves. That is
white magic."
"It seems strange to use the word 'magic' in connection with Christ."
"The word has become polarised," said Montrose indifferently, "you
can call anything that happens by working an unknown law of
Nature 'a miracle,' or 'a wonder,' or 'a magical performance.' The one
who performs such exceptional things, of course, can exercise the
unknown law I speak of."
"Christ, being superhuman, could," argued Hardwick seriously,
"because He had wisdom without measure. But the ordinary man
——"
"If the ordinary man loves Christ and keeps His commandments and
walks in His footsteps, he can gain knowledge of the power to work
what are termed miracles. The Master said so Himself, when His
disciples marvelled at His doings, and told them that if they followed
Him they would do greater things. As you know, some of the
apostles did work miracles in His name. They learned by living the
life how to use the laws rightly, by means of the power of Love
which came through the Blessed One."
"You appear to know a lot about these things, Montrose?"
"Indeed, I know very little. Eberstein can give much, but I cannot
take all he is willing to give, because my understanding is yet
limited. But everything will come in time. I must wait patiently."
This interesting conversation was necessarily ended when the car
reached Perchton, and the young men parted for the time being.
Douglas sought out the hotel where Eberstein was staying, while
Hardwick went in search of his doctor. The artist arranged to meet
Eberstein later, as Montrose was anxious he should do so, if only to
gain an answer to certain questions. The young man being a
neophyte could not explain much that Julian desired to know. But he
was positive that Eberstein could and would answer all questions, as
he never withheld any knowledge from a sincere inquirer.
In a quiet hotel, high up on the cliffs, the doctor occupied a light and
airy sitting-room, delightfully peaceful and cheerful and bright.
Through the expansive windows could be seen the calm waters of
the bay, with little wavelets breaking on the crescent of yellow sand,
and the tall white column of the lighthouse shooting up from the
reddish-hued rocks of the promontory. Montrose, after early
greetings had taken place, noted none of these things, but flung
himself into the nearest chair, feeling unaccountably weary.
Eberstein, who had welcomed his young friend in his usual sincere
and kindly manner, looked at him keenly, as he observed the boy's
wilted appearance.
"You seem to be tired," he remarked gently.
"Well, I am," admitted Montrose, with a perplexed expression. "I
don't know why I should be, as I slept all right last night and came
here in a comfortable motor-car."
"Whom did you come with?"
"A fellow called Hardwick, who is an artist. A really capital chap, who
is a first-rate friend. He got the car from some one he knows and
gave me a lift."
"Is he ill?" asked Eberstein, after a pause.
"Strange you should ask that. He isn't ill, and he isn't well; that is,
he suffers from a weak heart—not enough vitality. He is seeing a
doctor."
"I understand."
"You understand what?" Montrose stared.
"Why you look tired. In quite an unconscious way, this Hardwick has
been drawing the vitality out of you."
"Can that be done?"
"Oh, yes! The weaker body frequently replenishes its life forces from
any stronger body that is at hand. You have heard it said how old
age eats up youth. That is a great truth."
"David and Abishag," murmured Montrose wearily. Then he opened
his eyes with an astonished look. "I am growing stronger."
Eberstein smiled in an understanding manner. "I am giving you
strength, and strength you will need very shortly, I assure you."
"You said in London that trouble was coming. But so far everything
is all right. Enistor is an extremely pleasant man, who quite approves
of my marriage with Alice. We get on capitally together."
"Was your first impression of him pleasant?"
"No! I disliked him no end when we first met. But as there was no
reason for me to do so I grew to like him."
"Ah!" said the doctor with a world of meaning, "second thoughts are
not always best. Have you met the man who wanted to marry
Alice?"
"Narvaez? Yes! He's a beast. I shall never get over my dislike for
him."
"You must not dislike him or any one," corrected Eberstein softly.
"Pity Narvaez and pity Enistor, but be on your guard against both."
"What can they do?" asked Montrose, with the disdainful confidence
of youth.
"Enistor can do nothing alone. Directed by Narvaez he can do much.
And he will," concluded the doctor with emphasis.
"Does the trouble you predicted come from that quarter?"
"Yes!"
"Well, it is two against two. Alice and I can fight her father and
Narvaez."
"Don't be over-confident, or you will invite disaster," said the doctor
dryly. "There is much doing of which you know nothing. That is why
I am here to aid you, my friend. I cannot do everything, as a great
deal has to be done by you and Alice with what intuition and
strength you possess. With Alice the ordeal has already
commenced."
Montrose started to his feet. "Is she in danger?" he asked excitedly.
"If so, I must go back to Tremore at once."
"There is no need. What she has to do must be done alone, and you
would do her more harm than good by going to her assistance.
Hitherto I have protected her with my strength, which has increased
her own. Now for a certain time that strength has been withdrawn.
Narvaez will know the moment I cease to guard her."
"What will he do?" demanded the young man, clenching his fists.
"Nothing that physical strength can deal with, so don't get ready to
fight, my friend. Narvaez will not hurt the girl, but he will endeavour
to learn from her something he has long wished to know. It is
necessary that he should know and that his pupil should know also.
Therefore, for a time he is permitted to work his will. There! There!
He will only make use of her clairvoyant powers, so she will suffer
little."
"I don't want her to suffer at all."
"Unless she does in some degree, she will not progress."
"Narvaez is such a beast."
"No. He is only a man blinded by pride in his intellectual knowledge.
You must pity him for his blindness and do your best to help him.
Hate only ceases when Love is used to vanquish it. Calm yourself,
Montrose. What must be must be if the Will of God is to be done."
"I wish you hadn't told me," cried the young man, greatly agitated.
"That is a weak thing to say. I told you purposely, so that you may
develop faith and patience. Can you not trust me?"
"Yes! Yes! Yes!"
"Then show it by waiting quietly here until I tell you to return to
Tremore, my friend. This is the time of preparation to meet and
baffle the trouble I warned you against. Stand in the strength of
Christ and not in your own strength. He never fails those who trust
in Him. To-morrow morning you must come with me to early
celebration. By partaking of the Body and Blood of The Blessed
One"—Eberstein made the sign of the cross—"you will gain the
necessary strength to stand up bravely against the Powers of
Darkness."
"Narvaez?"
Eberstein bowed his stately head. "God pity him and save him," he
murmured, with infinite compassion.
 CHAPTER XV
THE TRANCE

A man on a suburban road at noonday, with the sun shining

brilliantly, walks along thinking of his private affairs and heedless of
surroundings. But when the toils of day are ended, and he proceeds
along that same road in a darkness scarcely illuminated by a few
lamps, his feelings are less comfortable. Of course much depends
upon the man being sensitive or stolid, but in any case this matters
little in the present instance, as the illustration is merely used to
symbolise the mental state of Alice during the evening of her lover's
absence. One moment she was clothed in the radiance of perfect
security and peace; the next, and a dreadful gloom descended upon
her bringing anguish and distress. Naturally there was no physical
change, but in some inexplicable way she felt that an inward light
was quenched. Alice had never read St. Teresa's "Castles of the
Soul," or the explanations of that terrible saint would have given her
the key to her condition.
As it was she felt as though the sun had fallen from the sky, and
quailed in the dense darkness pricked with feeble lights which now
surrounded her. Little as she knew it, those same lights represented
the sum of what experience she had gained with painful learning
through many successive lives. The knowledge and attainments of
Eberstein, who had reached an infinitely higher level than herself,
beamed in that splendour which had been withdrawn. But what little
light she possessed and what greater light he had gained were only
what each could receive of The True Light "which lighteth every man
that cometh into the world!" Hitherto, Eberstein had given for her
use what glory he had earned; now—since the child must learn to
walk alone if it ever hopes to come to maturity—he had stood aside
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