Page:The Great Secret.djvu/217

Rh "None," replied both Philip and Adela.

"I have thought upon a tour which might interest you both for a time, after you have seen all that we can show you here. There is Ancient Egypt and Assyria, with Greece, Rome, and other historical scenes that you might like to see in their former reality, also some of the great men and women whom you have read about. You can visit them in their different homes, and talk with them when you please. Most of these latter-day geniuses spend much of their time as they used to spend it, yet I must warn you not to build up too high ideals about them before you see them, or you will be disappointed, for they all eat and drank, lived, slept and moved about much the same as ordinary mortals do to-day, and have done since the world began. To be a great philosopher, writer or painter, does not make much difference in the man's outward appearance or behaviour. He may pose a little more if he is a fool, yet, as a rule, his gifts keep him from being a fool, but he has all the weaknesses, apart from his genius, that other people have, and it takes a great number of centuries to wipe out the affectations and habits of a spirit."

We will try not to build upon the great men of the past, and take them as they are for the sake of what they have left us. Your programme is delightful."

The dining hall where they were assembled was of too vast an extent for any other than an Oriental climate. In the frigid zones the ideal of a comfortable dining saloon is limited space, limited company, and drawn blinds. In the tropics space is required, marble walls and floors, fountains playing, perfume, and a vast concourse to dine along with.

In this hall they had space and company sufficient to