r-NRLF Efl 71fl :4VJf>^ Luz Star-Eye s Dream- Journey to the Isles of the Southern Sea A Story for Children by YLVA Illustrations by the Author THE ARYAN THEOSOPHICAL PRESS POINT LOMA, CALIFORNIA m LUZ STAR-EYE S DREAM-JOURNEY TO THE ISLES OF THE SOUTHERN SEA Luz Star-Gye s Dream -Journey to the Isles of the Southern Sea H Story for Children by Illustrations by the Hutbor Cbe Hryan Chcosophical press point koma, California Copyright 1912, by Katherine Tingley THE ARYAN THEOSOPHICAL PRESS Point Loma, California LUZ STAR-EYE S DREAM -JOURNEY TO THE ISLES OF THE SOUTHERN SEA Luz Star-Eye s Dream- Journey to the Isles of the Southern Sea HE Raja Yoga Academy rose like a beautiful fairy castle, or a jew eled crown, on the heights of Lomaland by the peaceful west ern sea. It was the home and school of the Raja Yoga Children, who were now playing on the sea-shore. They were the children who were learning to live " for the Benefit of the People of the Earth and all Creatures." No wonder that the nymphs of sea and land shyly ventured back from their hiding places; that the little fairies of trees and flowers felt a new joy in living; and that the tiny elves and brownies peeped out from * v, "" 2 LUZ STAR-EYE S DREAM-JOURNEY everywhere, wondering if those human child ren had anything for them to do. The lady Rosalinda, one of the children s dearest teachers, sat on the sand looking out over the endless ocean, and at the child ren playing on the shore. The words of the great world-teacher and foundress of this school rang clear in her mind : " Here in this school the child will have been taught the divinity of its own soul. The child will be imbued with the strength of its higher nature." And: " Let the lives of the little ones be molded so that they will be better citizens than you or I. Let us cultivate a higher spirit of patriotism, a higher spirit uality, and a greater spirit of brotherly love." As she sat thinking these solemn thoughts, a pair of little arms were thrown about her neck and a sweet voice said : " I love you so much! I am going to be like you when I grow up." "Ah! You surprised me, Luz," said the LUZ STAR-EYE S DREAM-JOURNEY 3 lady Rosalinda with a kiss on the little girl s cheek. " I am going to be a Raja Yoga Teacher," declared Luz earnestly. " That is a happy choice/ said Rosalinda, " but you will find many difficulties and ob stacles in the way of becoming one, my child ; and you will need a great deal of courage and perseverance." " Oh, but I shall study so hard in school, you shall see," said Luz. " Good, you will need all the knowledge you can obtain. Still, if you had all the knowledge of all the schools of learning in the world, and knew every book in the world by heart, that alone would not make you a Raja Yoga teacher." " I know," said Luz, " I must be good and obedient also." " Yes. Still, not even that added would make you a real Raja Yoga teacher. You see, little comrade," said the lady Rosalinda 4 LUZ STAR-BYE S DREAM-JOURNEY with a kind smile in her deep eyes, " you would not only teach the children in your care out of books, but also how to be happy and noble characters, and call forth in them the strength of their divine souls ; you must be yourself what you are teaching your pu pils, and you must be wise in the things which are deeper than book-learning." Luz listened to every word with big earn est eyes. " I am going to try," she said. " Your thoughts must be pure and clean," continued Rosalinda, " and you must be able to control your own mind, not letting all kinds of useless and unworthy thoughts flit in and out as they please you must live as befits a Soul inhabiting a body." " Tell me what that means, please," said Luz. " I have already said many things which you will better understand later, my dear little aspirant; but if you will remember your question, I shall tell you what you wish LUZ STAR-EYE S DREAM-JOURNEY 5 to know tomorrow. Go and play with the rest, LUZ! You can practise for a Raja Yoga teacher, by being kind and helpful to your comrades." LUZ would have begged to stay longer; but now one after another of the boys and girls came with shells and mosses and curi ous pebbles to show, wanting to know their names, and how they grew, and wfiat they grew for. " I wish they would keep away," thought LUZ. " I wanted her to speak to me longer." She walked away and sat down by herself in the shade of a rock, to brood over her disappointment; but she was hardly in a comfortable position before Nancy and Car- lota came and sat down beside her. "Who is the Cave-Man? LUZ," asked Carlota, who had come to the school two days ago. "Ask Nancy to tell you," said Luz, with a sullen wish not to be bothered. 6 LUZ STAR-EYE S DREAM-JOURNEY " The Cave-Man is a good elf or brownie, or something of that sort/ said Nancy kindly, " and he lives in the Point Loma caves here by the ocean. He has a harp on which he plays beautiful music, and a ship named Lucifer anchored in a little harbor." "What kind of a ship is that?" asked Carlota. " It is a fairy-ship in which we send our good thoughts out to all the countries in the world." "Will thoughts make any difference?" wondered Carlota. " Of course they will," answered Nancy. " They make us what we are, Rosalinda says, and she knows. Come, let us look for pink shells," and off they ran to the water s edge. Luz felt troubled in her mind, and tried to throw off her sullen mood. Soon it melted away, and they all walked home up over the hills. A little later she sat reading a story-book LUZ STAR-EYE S DREAM-JOURNEY 7 under her dear little Eucalyptus tree, which she had loved and cared for ever since it was planted. She had named it Vestra. This year the tree had been busy preparing its first flowers, and Luz wondered very much what kind they were going to be. Many times she had stood with her fingers ready to pinch one of the thousand little buds open, to see what it looked like inside; but some thing whispered to her not to do it, and she did not. Now, as she sat there reading, she heard the humming of bees in the tree. It told her that some flowers were open. Soon she stood with the very first one in her hand. " Oh, welcome, welcome dear blossom ! " she said. " I am going with some of the grown-ups for a journey tomorrow, and shall take you with me as a keepsake from my tree. How light and beautiful you are! I wish that I were you and you were I ! " Very well ! " said a little voice beside her. " I am glad you spoke ; I have long wished to know how it is to be a human." LUZ STAR-EYE S DREAM-JOURNEY Luz looked about in surprise; and there! a little Fairy stood before her very eyes, dressed from head to foot in silvery green, with a wreath of eucalyptus on her hair. " Now you hold in your hand the first blossom of this magic tree/ she said, " and the first wish you utter will be granted. I am the Fairy living in this tree; and, as I said before, I would like to try life as a LUZ STAR-BYE S DREAM-JOURNEY 9 Human. It must be very great and interest- ing." " Is this really possible ? " asked Luz, as soon as she had recovered from her astonish ment. " Nothing is simpler," said the fairy. " We have only to change bodies." " But shall I then be you or I? " said Luz, with a puzzled look. " What a strange idea ! " said the fairy to herself. "Who could I be but myself, even if I put on some one else s body ! What variety of Human are you ? " she asked. "A girl," answered Luz with a smile at her ignorance; which she regretted, when she thought of her own ignorance about the fairy. " What is your name, if you have any? " asked the fairy. " My name is Luz. Do you have a name?" 10 LUZ STAR-BYE S DREAM-JOURNEY " Yes, of course, my name is Vestra. Now, we had better make all the agreements before we change. Have you ever used my kind of a body? " "Never!" said Luz. "Is it difficult?" " Nothing is easier. Is it hard to manage the mankind ones ? " " Oh no, it is soon learned. Besides, if you want to go far you can ride. I will give you all the instructions necessary." They agreed to travel together so as to help each other in case of need; and, after some smaller points had been settled, they thought themselves ready to change. Luz instructed the interested little fairy about the things she had packed to take on her journey, and at last Luz asked: " Now, how shall I travel ; and what do I need for the journey? " " You need nothing," said the fairy. " Whatever you need you will find where you go." LUZ STAR-EYE S DREAM-JOURNEY 11 "But how do I move from place to place?" " Nothing is easier ; you just wish yourself where you want to go and then float there, as fast or as slow as you desire." " What a delightful existence that must be ! " thought Luz, eager to make the change ; and the fairy seemed just as eager to try the human life. When they again stood under the magic tree, in which the fairy had care fully hidden the wishing-flower, they could change back, but not before. And they sealed their compact with the eucalyptus seal. II It was done. Vestra awoke from a deep sleep and looked about her in wonder. She felt so strange and heavy, and so very big! Then she remembered all yes, she was in Human-land. She looked everywhere for 12 LUZ STAR-EYE S DREAM-JOURNEY Luz, but did not see her. Some people came to take her on the journey; they all called her Luz. It was very hard to move at first. She had to move step by step, and could not get off the ground. " Everything moves on the ground, except birds," she said to herself. " I never thought that Human-land was like this/ Luz opened her eyes and looked about her as if she had just awakened from a dream. She was sitting beside the Eucalyptus, her dear tree. But how was this, that all of a sudden it had grown so big ? She could not reach around its trunk, even with both her arms. Was it not but a little while ago that she easily embraced the trunk with one arm? Was she still dreaming? Yes, that must be it. Then she discovered that her dress was not the same. Ah ! It was the silvery green of the Fairy, Vestra ! She re membered all now: the wishing-flower, the agreement. LUZ STAR-EYE S DREAM-JOURNEY 13 Was it possible that she was now a Fairy ? She looked at herself, at her tiny hands and feet ; and measured her height by the well- known little daisy-bush which she had plant ed last year beside the tree. It spread above her like a tree now. " Yes," she said, " I am truly a fairy ! But I feel like myself just the same; I am still Luz. It is very strange. I wonder how the fairy feels to be I ? I must go and search for her at once. " What a puzzle ! " she continued, mus ing. " I am myself, that I feel sure of; but I can see that I am the fairy. She is I, and perhaps also herself I cannot understand I must ask Rosalinda." Luz tripped off on her dainty little feet toward the building. She felt so wonder fully light ; then she remembered what Ves- tra had said about the manner of moving from place to place, and thought she would try. A group of little girls were going out LUZ STAR-EYE S DREAM-JOURNEY 15 to pick wild flowers on the hills. She wished to go to them, and wonder and joy ! floated off in their direction. " How sur prised they will be to see a fairy/ she thought, " and still more when they find that it is their comrade Luz. What fun it will be!" Nearer and nearer she floated. " I wonder what kind those bright flowers are ? " she thought, and immediately floated towards them. As soon as she was near enough to see that they were California Poppies, she again remembered the girls, and started in their direction. Alas, before she knew it she was going somewhere else; now after a meadow-lark whose nest she wished to see; now after a rabbit jumping over the hills she wished to compare her speed with his; now a scarlet flower glow ing in the distance attracted her attention, and she floated towards it ; now to the girls again; at last she was actually spinning around in the air, back and forth, and did not know what to do. She saw the breakers 16 LUZ STAR-EYE S DREAM-JOURNEY roll white and peaceful towards the dear old shore, and the sunbeams glitter on the water ; and presently found herself sitting on the sand with her hands before her face, trying to think. " Who are you, little fairy ? " asked a kind voice beside her. " I am not a fairy, I am Luz, a little girl," she answered ; and, looking up, met the wise, good eyes of the Point Loma Cave-Man. " Oh, I am so glad to see you ! " she cried, and told him all that had happened, and asked his advice. She told him also of the LUZ STAR-EYE S DREAM-JOURNEY 17 puzzle in her mind: who was she really? " Please tell me/ she pleaded, " am I the Fairy, Vestra, or am I still myself, Luz ? " " My poor little girl," said the Cave-Man, " you are tired from these new experiences. Rest while I play to you the Sea-Nymph s Spring Song. After that we shall talk." Luz loved music, and listened enraptured ; she thought it the most beautiful she had ever heard. The Cave-Man presently laid his harp down on the sand, and looked at her. "Can you play?" he asked. " Yes," said Luz, " I play every day in the school." " Can you play one of your songs to me now?" " Of course, if I had an instrument oh, I forgot " and she looked down at her tiny fingers, and then at the Cave-Man, with a puzzled expression. " Do you not know what you are, little 18 LUZ STAR-EYE S DREAM-JOURNEY girl ? " said the Cave-Man. " You are a Soul. You, the Soul, know everything the music, the lessons; and it is you, the Soul, that thinks. You have a body to use as a kind of house, or clothing, or instrument with which to work/ " Oh, I know now/ said Luz. " Rosa linda and others in the School have said so. But I forgot, I did not understand." " If some day you should change cloth ing with one of your schoolmates, would you, because of that, become her ? " The little girl-fairy laughed, the first time since the change; she thought of when she and her friend Maria did this very thing, to play a joke on some of the others. " You and Fairy Vestra changed bodies soul-houses but you are just the same, Luz; is that not so?" said the Cave-Man. The little fairy head nodded. " The eyes are the windows of the Soul. I understand it now. Here am I looking out through two LUZ STAR-EYE S DREAM-JOURNEY 19 very small windows ; those in my other house were larger ; but I, the one looking out, am the same ; how very strange no, natural. I wonder how it was that I did not under stand it before. And Fairy Vestra is now looking out through my windows. Oh, I forgot ! " she cried suddenly, " we agreed to travel together in case we needed each other s help. Oh, how can I get to her ? " The tears rose in the little fairy-eyes, and she looked up at the Cave-Man imploringly. He stroked her hair, and said: "That must be easy for you now with your light fairy-body." " Oh, no," she sighed, and told the Cave- Man all that had happened to her when she wished to go to her girl-comrades. " You have too many wishes at the same time, my child," he said, " that is why you get nowhere. Fairy Silence ! " he called. " Come and teach this child to think of fewer things and better ones." I 20 LUZ STAR-EYE S DREAM-JOURNEY Instantly a little fairy appeared, the most beautiful that one could imagine. She was dressed in soft shimmering white. Nothing that Luz had ever seen could be compared to her. Luz thought of a pure, fragrant, white rose; and her eyes reminded her of the first star in the sky, while it is still twi light, and the noises of the day are hushing. The Fairy signed for Luz to come, and she followed her inside the cave. Two little earth-men with round brown faces stood on either side of a door in the rock-wall. Fairy Silence gave them a sign, and they opened the door to a room which Luz had never dreamt existed. When they were in, Fairy Silence held her by the hand and looked into her eyes for a moment. Then she left her alone. Luz stood there and looked around. She did not feel afraid, trusting in the Cave-Man and Fairy Silence. There was nothing in the room except a LUZ STAR-EYE S DREAM-JOURNEY 21 great chair, which stood in the middle of one side against the wall. She could not imagine what the chair and the walls in the room could be made from; but they were just like the silvery waves of the ocean when the moon shines on them. Opposite the door through which she had entered, she saw an other door ; and once she thought she saw a gleam of sunlight through the keyhole. After a while all her attention was drawn to the great chair. " For whom was it put there ? " she wondered. She could not think of sitting in it herself, although there was no other. All at once she thought that some one, whom she could not see, even with her fairy eyes, was now sitting in that chair, looking at all her thoughts. She felt so ashamed. How small and foolish they seemed to her, and how selfish; they whirled round in her mind without any purpose what ever. A room full of trash was her mind, she thought; nothing else. She wanted to get away, she did not think 22 LUZ STAR-EYE S DREAM-JOURNEY of how or why; she wanted something to do ; some one to talk to, or talk to her ; some thing to happen ; anything to take away her own thoughts. But nothing happened, and she was alone. The great chair stood there as before, and her worthless thoughts looked as bare as if they had been her clothes and playthings scattered on this pure shining floor. She put her hands before her face trying to hide the thoughts; but it seemed to her that they shone through everything, and that the one in the chair whom she could not see, saw every one of them. She thought of her disorderly bureau drawer, and how irritated and ashamed she felt at the time when Rosalinda came into her room and laid all the disorder bare. She had felt almost as now. Yes, but she had felt very happy afterwards, when all was cleaned out; and she had resolved to keep order ever after. " I have kept my promise pretty well/ LUZ STAR-BYE S DREAM JOURNEY 23 she thought, and felt glad that the one in the chair could see that too but then she felt ashamed of thinking so. Again she pictured in her mind the drawer full of trash. She did not want to think of that, but could think of nothing else. Ah ! A new thought came to her: The one whom she could not see, and who read her thoughts, was a teacher who was now laying bare the disorder in her inner room the room of her mind. She had imagined she understood, when her teachers spoke of pure thoughts; but now for the first time she realized their im portance. Was there a way to clean this inner room? "Certainly, I do not want to have it this way. Only I never knew/ she said. She began to feel happy and grateful, and as she did so it seemed to her as if a voice from the great chair was speaking to her. She forgot to feel ashamed and afraid. She sat still and listened with growing happiness. Many things which she never had understood 24 LUZ STAR-EYE S DREAM-JOURNEY were made plain to her, and the meaning of life became so sacred and clear. To no one could she ever tell what the voice told her. " I could not say it beauti fully enough, not even a poet could," she said to herself. " No one would understand any way, unless one had heard it oneself/ 7 Luz was again sitting on the sand beside the kind old Cave-Man. He did not speak; and although Luz had a great question in her mind, she did not wish to disturb him. He kept searching in the sand among the pebbles for something. Once and again he took up a little pebble, looked at it very in tently, then threw it away as if disappointed. Luz thought he must have lost something, and wished she could help him search for it. At last he picked up a pebble not much larger than a grain of sand, and after he had examined it his eyes lighted up. Carefully he laid it in a little purse which he hung about LUZ STAR-EYE S DREAM-JOURNEY 25 the neck of the girl-fairy, saying : " Take this, it will be of good service to you ; and it will remind you of the true purpose in things, if you take it in your hand when you are un decided about what to do. Farewell, child ! " How suddenly he went away! It was a long while before Luz realized that he had actually gone. She felt so grateful to him and to Fairy Silence, that she most fervently wished to see them again, to thank them for what they had done for her. But she waited in vain. The waves rolled against the shore, with regularity like the ticking of a clock; rolled from over the great ocean to which she saw no shore. She felt so alone in the big world and she so small. She took the little pebble which the Cave- Man had given her, and held it lovingly against her heart. She felt that that was her only friend and comfort. Soon her thoughts began to clear. She remembered Vestra, who had her shape and name, and their 26 LUZ STAR-EYE S DREAM-JOURNEY agreement to travel together. " I must go to her at once," she thought. " She may need my help/ III A long train was winding its way between great hills. In one of the cars sat a little girl looking out through the windows. She started and glanced up surprised when any one spoke her name, Luz; and she did not always answer at once, just as if she needed time to think first if it were she they meant. She watched with great interest the scenes which seemed to come to meet her and swift ly run past. It was California, where her magic tree grew and where Luz s Raja Yoga School was. All was so grand and beautiful, she wondered how it was made. These great hills seemed to have been formed in a mold to fit the smooth blue vault LUZ STAR-EYE S DREAM-JOURNEY 27 above. Not a tree, not a bush, not even too tall a flower brushed against the sky. Spring had covered the hills with light green vel vety grass and silken flowers, and no one but a master-artist could have arranged the coloring of the flower-embroidery on the slopes. The purple tones were made with wild heliotrope and toadflax; the golden sheen was produced by poppies and daisies ; and the white, by forget-me-nots. There were also other kinds of hills ; lower, so that bushes and trees might grow on them with out scratching the sky. In the deep valleys flowed little streams and brooks, where the big fat cattle took their drinks. Now came big groves of orange-trees gliding past. Their branches were heavily weighted with golden balls of fruit. Then olive-groves came to meet them, with their leaves of dark- green and silver; cottages with walls and verandas covered with beautiful climbing roses ; and small towns with gardens around every house, and avenues of stately palms. 28 LUZ STAR-EYE S DREAM-JOURNEY \ Then came orchards with apple, fig, almond, peach, plum, and apricot trees, and beauti ful vineyards. The train puffed onward very fast, and soon the majestic hills of California, the green fields, the orchards and the flowers, were far behind. The little girl beheld wide plains where nothing grew but thistles and thorns, while the sand whirled over the desert. " Oh, why does not Luz come to me ? " she sighed. " Has she forgotten our agree ment? I am so very home-sick for Fairy land. I would fly away at once, had I not this heavy body to hinder me." As she had done before, every time she was alone, she stood up and tried to rise in the air ; but a call : " Luz, dear, remember your manners ! " brought her back quickly to her seat. " I cannot see why it should be wrong manners to rise in the air, if one could," she thought. " Human-land is so very LUZ STAR-BYE S DREAM-JOURNEY 29 strange; everything is quite opposite with us I wish that LUZ were here to explain things. The humans themselves can move but slowly, but their houses almost fly. We are shut up in one now, which is running very fast and breathing hard as it runs. The humans let the house take them where it wants to go; I never thought they were so helpless/ " Have you ever been able to float through the air ? " she asked of the lady sitting beside her reading a book. It was Amina, one of Rosalinda s friends, who, with some more ladies and gentlemen, was making a journey to the Isles of the Southern Sea. She looked up smilingly at Luz, and said: " No, is our little Luz pondering the fly ing proposition ? " " I think it very strange that no one can float in the air where one wants to. Why are all People so heavy ? " 30 LUZ STAR-EYE S DREAM-JOURNEY " Well, that is really a long story," said Amina solemnly, " but I might tell you some : You see, it is our own fault. Life after life we have forgotten that we are Souls who live in bodies, as if it were in houses; and have come to think that the body is the real person." " How very absurd! How stupid! " cried the little fairy in the girl-body, with great conviction. " You are right, it is stupid," said Amina, and thought that she had never seen Luz so interested in this subject before. " But man kind has become so used to thinking so, that the right way seems strange now." " How is it that you think the real way, then ? " asked the fairy-girl. "A great teacher, sent from the Wise Ones who are guarding all the truths of the past, came and told about it ; and many saw that it must be so, and did as the teacher advised them, trying to make their life and their LUZ STAR-EYE S DREAM-JOURNEY 31 thoughts clean and righteous ; and then they saw the truth themselves." " I would like to know the name of that teacher. Perhaps she was a fairy," said Vestra-Luz. " No, she was a real human ; one who knows more than the fairies," said Amina, " and her name I am sure you have heard many times in our Raja Yoga School. So I shall let you think it out for yourself." " I shall ask Luz, when she comes," thought the fairy, and again turned to what was most in her mind the flying. " You can understand that yourself, if you think a moment," said Amina. " It is the Soul as light and free as thought which alone has the power to lift itself from earth; and so, when the Soul is denied and forgotten and the body rules alone, then the body has nothing to make it light." " But who is in the body to deny and for get the Soul?" asked the fairy. 32 LUZ STAR-EYE S DREAM-JOURNEY " The body has some thought and reason belonging to itself," said Amina. " Let me illustrate. The Soul, the Master, is a noble warrior sent from the Gods to make warfare on all that is wrong and cruel in the world. He is endowed with wisdom concerning all things ; he is a poet, an artist, a musician, a great scientist, a magician, with gentleness and love for everything. He had a house to live in, called the body, and with servants in it to take care of it. They could do that well, but otherwise they were very coarse and ignorant in the things which the master knew. " Then the evil powers against which their master, the Soul, was fighting, would be whispering things to the ignorant servants. This house is yours/ they would say, you are taking care of it. You could be great masters, and have all that you wanted, and no one to say you nay/ Thus would they whisper, and at last it came to pass that their master, the Soul, was driven from his home ; LUZ STAR-EYE S DREAM-JOURNEY 33 and the coarse servants ruled it. They held great arguments and thought themselves very wise. The most important thing is to think of our house/ they said. " The body grew heavy with all kinds of food and drinks, and was decorated in costly robes with jewels and feathers. But some said piously : We should remember we have a poor soul somewhere, which we must save from going wrong. Let us pray. Amina stopped and sat silent. " Tell more," said Vestra. " What hap pened next? " " It is almost like this now," said Amina, " and I think that you understand better how it is that we cannot float lightly and freely in the air, as otherwise is our right." " But shall not the Soul-Master be free again, and have his body-house again ? " asked the fairy anxiously. Yes, and that is just what we are work ing for in our Raja Yoga Schools." 34 LUZ STAR-EYE S DREAM-JOURNEY The train was rolling in and stopping at a big depot, and the little fairy looked with interest and fear on the biggest crowd of people she had ever seen. She looked and looked to see some one in whom the real Soul was taking care of the body, and she kept close to Amina. IV Under a big tree beside a crystal lake in Guatemala, the beautiful, sat a little fairy. Very sad and forlorn she looked. " How will this end? " she sighed. " Ves- tra I cannot find. Fast as the wind have I sped along, searching everywhere; she can not possibly have traveled faster than I. How shall I find her? What shall I do? " I am so tired I never thought fairies felt tired. Perhaps, though, it is not the LUZ STAR-EYE S DREAM-JOURNEY 35 fairy-body that is weary, but I, Luz. Where shall I rest? What land is this? " She looked round and forgot her weari ness in the marvel of the beautiful land be fore her. Great trees lifted their majestic heads above. Some were decked with lovely flowers, others with luscious fruits. The quiet water of an inland lake reflected like a mirror the trees and shores and stately blue mountains at the opposite side. At a dis tance, by the shore of the lake, there was a beautiful Greek temple, such as she had seen only at Point Lorna, or in pictures from glor ious old Greece. She rubbed her eyes and looked again. " These things look real, but it must be fairy land it cannot be any other place ; and I do not see any people nor even fairies do I spy." The little girl-fairy went searching, but neither human nor elf did she encounter; and again the lonely and helpless feeling came, stronger than before. 36 LUZ STAR-EYE S DREAM-JOURNEY " It seems such a long time since I saw Vestra. Can it be possible that ? Oh, dare I think the thought ? it is too dread ful but I must. How long did I stay in the Cave-Man s cave? To me it seemed an hour at most, but what do I know about fairy time? It might have been days months years! I have read about enchantments like that in my story-books." For a long time she sat mourning and thinking, unable to find a clue or a sign of where she was, unable to think of what to do. She thought of Vestra who had her human body, and what would happen if she never found it again; she could not go home and be with her comrades in the school any more. Never could she tell them of all the marvel ous things she had experienced. " I suppose I could find a little baby-body that was nobody yet, but then I would be that baby and know nothing. What a fool I am ! " she cried aloud. " I have a fairy-body now, and still I feel and know LUZ STAR-EYE S DREAM-JOURNEY 37 just the same but perhaps if I found a baby-body that I liked, some one else might already have taken it! Oh, is there no one in all the world to take care of poor lost little fairies like me? " Her thoughts went to Fairy Silence and the Cave-Man; and then for the first time she remembered the Cave-Man s gift. Tak ing the little pebble in her hand, she sat very still. Her thoughts began to clear, as when fog melts before the sun. She realized that a good purpose is not enough, unless we are also wise in carrying it out. She had formed no plan, but had merely rushed off in the direction she thought they had gone. The first thing to do now was to find out where she was. She heard voices in the distance, yet it seemed they came from the tree-tops. Then they sounded nearer and more distinct, chat ting and laughing, much like a big crowd of school children. LUZ STAR-EYE S DREAM-JOURNEY 39 Yes, the voices came from the tree-tops ! She looked up, and great was her surprise to see many birds with green, blue, red, or yellow feathers sitting up there talking ex citedly, and pointing to her with their claws. She felt afraid, and wondered what they would do ; so she tried to hide in the hollow of a tree. She had not been sitting there long when she saw a canoe rowed by a man approach the shore. " Can it be possible that I am not in Fairy land after all ? " she thought. She saw that a little boy and girl were also in the canoe, and that they were landing at a foot-path quite near. " I must ask them the name of this land," thought Luz, summoning all her courage to meet them. Going nearer, she saw they looked kind, and her fear vanished. Nearer and nearer she drew, but they appeared not to notice her. Now she was by the side of the little girl, but they went on talking about 40 LUZ STAR-EYE S DREAM-JOURNEY the gay-colored parrots in the trees, and tell ing how they were going to catch some of the young ones to put in cages. Luz began to understand that this must be a land with real people, where parrots live wild. " Please tell me the name of this place/ she said to the girl. No answer. Luz pulled her dress and took her hand, but the girl seemed not to feel it. " It must be that I can see them, and they not me. Perhaps it is because I have the pebble from the good Cave-Man that I can see so much better than they," she thought. " I shall lay the pebble on the ground a little way off, and see if I can see them just the same." Luz stared around with wondering eyes. What had happened? "Such a strange dream ! " she said. " I dreamt that I was LUZ STAR-EYE S DREAM-JOURNEY 41 a girl transformed into a fairy, and that I saw some humans near by, and that I was looking for some one. Oh, the dream was so real ! " "A stranger ! A stranger ! " cried some voices, " come, come ! " A crowd of Fairies and Elves in all kinds of funny shapes sur rounded Luz in a moment. " What is your name ? " asked one. " I do not know," said Luz, seeming to search in her mind. " Where did you come from ? " asked an other one. " I do not remember ; I have been dream ing," answered Luz, with a puzzled look. " She might be a strange spy. Whoever heard of any one not knowing her own name ? " said an elf with a very long nose and three eyes on each side. " Let us take her to the queen," said some ; and they started off, a double line of elves, 42 LUZ STAR-EYE S DREAM-JOURNEY with lost pins for weapons, walking on either side. Queen Coquita, who was the fairy of the cacao-tree, sat on her throne, and Luz was led before her. Coquita called the oldest and wisest fairies and elves to council and re quested them to say to which tribe this new fairy belonged. But no one could tell. All agreed she must belong to the tree-fairies, judging from her dress. " Shall we put her in the Earth-men s pris on, or lock her in a cacao-tree? " asked the long-nosed elf, with a deep bow. LUZ STAR-EYE S DREAM-JOURNEY 43 " Nothing of that, you cruel sprite," said the queen. " She shall stay at my court and busily employ herself in making cacao-beans. As for you you shall not come before my eyes until you have found the tree to which she belongs, and the place where these trees grow. Put your many eyes to some other use than ferreting out fairy-gossip. Away at once ! " Luz was busy with the rest in gathering stuff to grow the cacao-beans, and as she was yet ignorant in those things, her duty was to prepare the material for the outside shell. The fairies called her Star-Eye be cause her eyes were different from any they had ever seen. She often sat in deep thought, trying to remember something she felt ought to be done another mission be sides growing cacao-beans. But what was it? On one occasion when Star-Eye, with some little Coquita fairies, had strolled far ther than usual in search of fiber for bark, 44 LUZ STAR-HY&S DREAM-JOURNEY they came upon two pompous parrot-elves walking back and forth doing nothing. They talked all the time, so that their hook-bill- noses got very hot and they had often to cool them in a neighboring pool of water. " Why don t you do something useful and stop that senseless talk, you everlasting chatterboxes?" scolded one of the Coquita fairies. Then the parrot-elves, greatly delighted at a chance to answer some one back, talked faster and faster and used eight hundred words to say : " Mind your business ! " They chattered on and said, in one thousand one hundred and fifty words, that it was high style, and that they were talking after the manner of the great humans. " I am tired of your old talk about hu mans, you can never make me believe such silly tales," one of the fairies hastened to say, while the parrot-elf was catching his breath. But this delighted him still more, as a subject for another thousand words. LUZ STAR-EYE S DREAM-JOURNEY 45 " Why do you not go away from those foolish chatterers when you dislike them ? " asked LUZ Star-Eye. " Don t you know ? We cannot get away. They fascinate us so we cannot help our selves till they stop, and that will never be. Queen Coquita has warned all the fairies not to notice or say one word to any of them if we should meet them. But you see they pro voke one so, and then it is done." Now the fairies protested and scolded at the parrot-elves, but to no avail, they talked the more; talked their beak-noses red-hot again and again. But Luz Star-Eye said to the fairies, " Come with me now and let us go home," and they went with her obedi ently and left the parrot-elves behind, talk ing to themselves. This great power in Luz Star-Eye awed and astonished the fairies and Queen Co quita, and Luz was held in honor, and con sulted in all kinds of difficulties. 46 LUZ STAR-BYE S DREAM-JOURNEY Ever since her meeting with the parrot- elves she had been thinking of the " Hu mans," and wondering what they were like. "I wish to hear more about them," she said to one of her companions. " Perhaps it is true that there are such beings." " The elves and fairies at Coquita s court will laugh at you if you say this," was the reply. " But if you ask old Pixie, he will tell you as many human-tales as you want. There he is now ! " LUZ STAR-EYE S DREAM-JOURNEY 47 VI Luz Star-Eye was not surprised when she saw the old elf, although he was a very queer figure. He had only one leg, no arms, and no joints in his body. A big greenish-gray beard flowed down to his one foot. He knew no end of " human-tales," and was always willing to tell them. And in Luz Star-Eye he had his most attentive listener. In his youth he had been body-guard for a tribe of fairies who worked for the humans ; and so he had heard much about them. " It is very beautiful in human-land," he said. "A big glowing blue sun makes their days bright, and feeds the humans with god- wisdom. At night the sky is full of stars so wonderful that we have never seen the like. There are green, blue, and rose-colored ones ; some are golden, some violet, and all the colors imaginable. They shine in the sky like jewels. The stars are really shining 48 LUZ STAR-EYE S DREAM-JOURNEY palaces where the human s god-parents live. They send lovely gifts to them through magic rays." " Oh happy humans ! " cried Luz, " and what gifts do they receive?" "Some obtain the gift of poetry; some, knowledge to make useful things out of the elements; others, the gift of understanding the hidden nature of herbs and flowers. Some learn to make all they touch beautiful ; others have the gift of making music, or song, or of picturing all they see in its own form or color. And there are ever so many other gifts of which I do not know the names." " I wish I were a human ! " cried Luz Star-Eye. "Tell me more! Tell me more!" " The humans are very wise and have great power. They can with their thoughts bring a whole tribe of us fairies into being, to do whatever and go wherever they bid us." LUZ STAR-EYE S DREAM-JOURNEY 49 " They must make very beautiful fairies," said Luz. " Yes, the most beautiful of all," said the elf. " The humans change their bodies oftener than we do; and they always begin with a very small one which grows larger just as a tree or a flower does, and in the same way it grows old and withers and wrinkles up so that the human has to leave it and get a new one. In this way they do not get tired of living and are fresh and young often. :t The humans are very loving and kind to each other, and they are a protecting power for their own animal world. Even we in fairy-land receive benefits from them, although many of us cannot see the humans." " I wish I could see them ! " cried Luz, "oh, I wish I could!" " But there are bad humans, too," con tinued the elf, " just as there are bad, ugly fairies who do harm. The bad humans are SO LUZ STAR-EYE S DREAM-JOURNEY blind, but they have glass eyes in their heads through which they see everything back wards. They spend their time in trying to do each other harm and complaining when harm is done to them again. They are very dangerous, but not as powerful as the good ones. They are much afraid of light. The worst thing is that they destroy all the beau tiful things the good ones do, if they come upon them." " But if they could see right, they would not do it, I am sure/ said Luz. " Is there no way to fix their eyes ? " " I don t know," said the elf, " but I have heard that they have seeds for real eyes inside their heads." "Do they grow?" asked Luz. " They have grown in some, who have let them, I have heard." " But do they not all wish their sight very much?" LUZ STAR-BYE S DREAM-JOURNEY 51 " No, they do not know that they are blind/ said the old elf. " Oh ! But why don t the good humans tell them?" cried Luz. " I don t know/ said the elf, " but I have heard that they do, although the bad humans destroy their bodies and do all kinds of evil things to them." " What a pity ! Is that possible ? Oh, but could not I go and tell them ? Perhaps they would listen to me because I am a fairy. How can I get there? Oh, tell me, good elf ! " Luz Star-Eye did not know why she felt that her only mission was with these humans, about whom she had heard so little. She wanted to go to them, and she meant to speak about it to Queen Coquita. But the little elf looked at her as if he wanted to take the things from her mind again, and said : " Little Star-Eye, this is only a story; perhaps there are no such beings existing as Humans/ I have never 52 LUZ STAR-BYE S DREAM-JOURNEY seen any; and who knows if the ones who told me told the truth ? There are not many here who believe in those things/ " Oh, but I just know that it is all true," cried Luz, and off she flew to go before the queen. To her wonder she was met by a great commotion, and the fairies surrounded her, wailing : " Oh, Star-Eye, you will leave us now. Who will then help us as you have done? Who will save us from the chatter ers ? Who will tell us what we do not know ourselves ? " The elf, Six-Eye, had come back, telling that the tree to which she without doubt be longed was the much-esteemed artist-chem ist, Eucalyptus, and that Australia was its home-land. " We are sorry to have you leave us, little Star-Eye," said the queen. " But the law of right says, now that your tribe is found, you shall go among your own that you may find your right place." LUZ STAR-EYE S DREAM- JOURNEY S3 The parting from the good Coquita and the fairies would have been hard and sad for Luz, had she not now felt a new purpose in her life. She would go to help the blind humans. That they existed, she had no doubt; but she felt it to no purpose to tell the fairies of her intentions. The ceremonies in Luz s honor and all the preparations were completed, and Luz Star- Eye left the fairy court. She was escorted by f airies-in-waiting and elf-guards in green armor. They rode on well trained bluebirds, flying in tune to the music which the Co quita military band made. Some played on grasses, others on leaf-flutes, and one elf beat a drum made from the grass-rattle-pod. After a while they came to the ocean, and there they stopped. As they were land fair ies they had to wait for something to take them over the water, but in the meantime they amused themselves, dancing and play ing. They had not been there long when a big white bird swooped down on them, and LUZ STAR-BYE S DREAM-JOURNEY 55 the frightened fairies scattered on all sides in wild fright. The bird s sharp eye caught sight of Star-Eye where she lay hidden under a dry leaf, and it instantly picked her up with one claw and flew with her out over the ocean. Now he flew high in the air; now he rested on the foaming waves, but not a word did he speak. A big ship was plowing its way through the waves, and the bird steered its course towards it. On the deck he put the fright ened little fairy down, and said to her : " Do not leave this place till I return, and no ill shall befall you." He gave a calling sound, and instantly a little water-sprite appeared. " Bring me a chain with which to tie this precious fairy," said the big bird; and the water-sprite was off in a moment and soon returned with a chain of pearls. He chained Star-Eye to the big anchor. " Who are you that treat me thus cruel ly? " asked she. 56 LUZ STAR-EYE S DREAM-JOURNEY " I am Foam-Wing, the Cave-Man s mes senger/ said the bird. "And who is the Cave-Man who dares to send you to do such things? He must be a cruel giant," wailed little Star-Eye, shaking her chain. But Foam-Wing was already far away and did not hear her. Many people came and went, but Star- Eye did not see them. Among them was a little girl who came again and again to the place where Star-Eye sat chained ; once she came so near that she touched Star-Eye s pearl chain with her hand ; but neither saw the other. LUZ STAR-EYE S DREAM-JOURNEY 57 " I might never see Luz again, and I should have to remain in a human body for ever and ever/ murmured the girl to her self. Soon Star-Eye saw Foam-Wing return. In terror she ran to hide, but her chain held her, and the bird caught her with one claw, while with the other he put something around her neck. It was the purse with the Cave-Man s pebble which he had found at last, after much searching and inquiry. The whole bird population in Guatemala had been on the hunt. All had searched with earnest zeal except the crows. They only lamely pretended. A little blackbird then suggested that all their nests be inspected. The result was that the purse was found in the nest of an old crow. Foam-Wing touched the pearl chain with his bill and it instantly became little drops of water which ran out on the deck floor, and he flew out over the ocean. 58 LUZ STAR-EYE S DREAM-JOURNEY VII Star-Eye looked up as if she had just awakened from a sleep. " Such strange dreams I have had/ she murmured, " about fairies and elves and about Foam-Wing. I thought that I did not know him, and he chained me with a pearl chain ; and my name was Star-Eye, and I was going to help blind humans how strange ! I must remember this dream and tell Rosalinda." She rubbed her little fairy-eyes with her little fairy-fingers and looked around with growing surprise and bewilderment. She could not understand how it was that she was on a ship just as if the dream had been true. At first she thought that all these strange things seemed so to her because she had taken off the purse with the Cave-Man s pebble, but then she found that she still had it on. She could not understand. Now her eyes fell on Vestra sitting near LUZ STAR-EYE S DREAM-JOURNEY 59 by, longingly looking out over the ocean, and with one leap she was at her side crying out in exceeding joy : " Oh Vestra ! I have found you ! " Luz threw her arms about her neck, but Vestra sat there as before, without giving any sign of recognition ; she neither turned her head nor even her eyes, but sat as before. Then the little girl-fairy s heart and cour age gave way; she threw herself down at Vestra s side and cried as if her heart would break. She must have lain there for a long time, for it was dark night when at last she lifted her head and found that she was alone. The wind blew and big waves dashed against the ship. The moon looked pale and ghost-like where it suddenly broke forth from a cloud and the next moment again disappeared. " I wish the dream had been true and that the Cave-Man had sent Foam-Wing to me; then he might come again. But how can he 60 LUZ STAR-EYE S DREAM-JOURNEY know? There is no one to care for me, no one." She solemnly took out the Cave-Man s pebble and held it in her hand, as she had done the first time when she sat by the ocean and felt so small and alone. But how differ ent it was then ! She was near home and the Cave-Man would have come to her assistance had she really needed it. But now she was far away on a strange ship, she did not know where. She had found Vestra, that was true ; but to see her and not be able to make herself seen or heard was worse than before, for then she had at least the hope of a happy meeting. Holding the little pebble in her hand and trying to clear her thoughts, had, after a little while, made her quieter, and she felt less lonely. She began to think of plans to make herself heard by Vestra. The waves dashed against the ship as before, but she did not mind it now, she rather enjoyed their wild play. Presently she thought she saw LUZ STAR-EYE S DREAM-JOURNEY 61 something white gleam near the horizon. Now it disappeared in the foam of the waves. There she saw it again ; now she heard the sound of wings close by now Foam- Wing alighted beside her! "Oh, Foam-Wing!" she cried, "dear, nice Foam-Wing! I am so glad you have come. I have dreamt about you. Do help me, Foam-Wing; I think you can. I have found Vestra ah, perhaps you do not know that I had lost her." Foam-Wing said nothing, but gently stroked her with his " Yes, I found her," said Luz, " and I was so happy; and then I found that she could not see me, and she looks so sad and longing. She could not hear me. Oh, dear Foam- Wing, what shall I do? " Foam-Wing looked at her for a moment. Then he said : " Be of good cheer, Luz Star- 62 LUZ STAR-BYE S DREAM-JOURNEY Eye, I bring you greetings from the Cave- Man." " From the Cave-Man! Oh, tell me! tell me ! " and Luz threw her arms around Foam-Wing s neck in joy. " When you left the shore at Point Loma I was not there but away on an important errand for the Cave-Man, carrying a pack age wrapped in kelp. It contained three little grains of self-control from the Raja Yoga children at Point Loma, precious as diamonds and as clear and firm. This I was to take to a little boy in New Zealand, who in the future was to be a brave warrior for Right and Truth, but who was then in great danger from a bad-temper-goblin that was gaining more and more power over him." "And did it help him?" asked Luz with great interest. " Yes, when he wore the packet with self- control the goblin did not dare to approach him. You should have seen his face all LUZ STAR-EYE S DREAM-JOURNEY 63 black with anger and his claw fingers ready to scratch anything, so disappointed was he not to get at the boy." " But will he not go and destroy others instead? " asked Luz with concern. " Not for some time at least, as he is too interested in finding means to get hold of his first prey again." "But then?" "Well, that depends on the boy; if he faithfully wears the self-control and the gob lin finds that all its cunning means of tempt ing or scaring him are of no use, it falls down at the boy s feet. The boy can then put his foot on its neck as a sign of master ship. After that the goblin does not recog nize any other master, and will use its fierce ways to fight for the boy against wrong and evil." " How interesting! " cried Luz. " I hope he will win." " Yes, and I have the Cave-Man s instruc- 64 LUZ STAR-EYE S DREAM-JOURNEY tion to visit him once every month to see how he is getting on. But now to the other matter. As soon as I came back from this trip the Cave-Man sent me to find you, to see if you needed any help." "Oh, the kind, dear Cave-Man," cried Luz. " I began to think no one cared for me." " It was not so hard to find where you had gone, for the birds told me all along. But there was some disturbance in the air and many birds were bewildered and knew nothing. At last, after much searching, I heard about a strange fairy who had done many helpful things where she lived; they called her Star-Eye." " Was that I ? " asked Luz, her eyes big with astonishment. " Yes, and I found you at last by the ocean. I knew that Vestra would not be able to see you, so I flew straightway to the Cave-Man the shortest way possible, and now I am back " LUZ STAR-EYE S DREAM-JOURNEY 65 " Tell me," interrupted Luz, " was it real, the dream I had about the fairies and you? " " Yes/ said Foam- Wing; and then he told her how he had found her pebble and all about it. " Now," he said, " this is what the Cave-Man sends you." And he brought forth from under his wing a tiny packet. " In it is a little pebble somewhat like your own, although not of the same powers. This you will hang about the neck of Vestra, and as long as she wears it she will be able to see and speak with you." Thank you! Thank you!" cried the happy little fairy. " How good the Cave- Man is! How can I ever thank him? Tell me something that I can do ! " " You are a human, and it is only now, while you have a fairy body, that you can see and hear us. I do not know what you can do. The Cave-Man and all his tribe are in duty bound to serve those humans who work for the Good and the Right. He has 66 LUZ STAR-EYE S DREAM-JOURNEY inscribed your name on his shining rock. Do not fail him." Luz was going to ask something more about this, but Foam-Wing spread his wings, and she saw them shimmering far away through the darkness. VIII She sat long in thought. The desire to see Vestra was not so strong now. She thought over all that had befallen her, and what it all meant. She remembered Rosa linda, and what she had told her that day on the Cave-Man s shore. She had not un derstood much then, but now she felt that she saw the meaning of Raja Yoga as plain as daylight. Oh, how much she had learned ! She remembered the visit with the Cave- Man and Fairy Silence ; never, never would she forget that. She still remembered the LUZ STAR-BYE S DREAM-JOURNEY 67 old elf s telling of the " humans," although her other experiences in the fairy-world were fast fading away like a dream. She remem bered her desire to go and speak to the " blind humans," and now she understood why it was that she had such an interest in them. The clouds came and went, and the stars shone down with gentle light on the little fairy aboard the big ship. Luz looked up to the sky and thought she saw all the beauti ful colors of which the elf had spoken. Near the horizon they seemed to gather in a long line, twinkling and flickering. " That is an island of the Southern Sea," thought Luz, " I know it ! How beautiful to meet a land like this rising from the ocean ! Far away we see its lights as stars, and the fairies would say that the lights came from happy humans, protectors of the animals and fairies; that each one of those stars was a palace where a good human lived; and that its rays carried good thoughts out over the 68 LUZ STAR-EYE S DREAM-JOURNEY ocean. Now I shall go and see if it is true." Vestra slept and dreamed happy dreams of her eucalyptus tree, and did not know that Luz stood beside her. " Can this be I ? " thought Luz ; and she looked long at the sleeping girl. She noticed every feature ; her hair, her nose and mouth, arms and hands, and wondered how it would feel to live again in that body. " I do not think I am pretty, and I feel as if I did not care to have me back," she said. Suddenly she gave a cry of delight. She had discovered a little golden locket hanging from a chain around Vestra s neck. It was her dear locket with the picture in it LUZ STAR-BYE S DREAM-JOURNEY 69 which she had received as a present on her tenth birthday, and meant to keep always. She put the Cave-Man s pebble into it, but Vestra did not wake. When the first ray of dawn shone in through the little window she awoke. " Good morning, Vestra ! " said Luz. " I am here now/ 7 Vestra sat up instantly she could hear ! "Luz, Luz, have you come at last?" she cried. " Oh, do not leave me again ! " They told each other all that had hap pened, and Luz told why she had not come to Vestra at once. Vestra had many won derful things to tell Luz of her experiences in " Human-land." They were so funny that Luz laughed till her tears came. How Ves tra had first learned that clothes were to be taken off and changed at times; how she had fallen and hurt herself because she had not thought it necessary to step on anything but air when she left the car; how she had 70 LUZ STAR-BYE S DREAM-JOURNEY tried in vain to go through a glass door without opening it. She had learned so many things by now that she thought there was not much more to know. " I am very tired of being a human," she said. " Could we not in some way change back?" " Not before we stand under the magic tree, as you must remember," said Luz. " Oh, beg some great king to make you a fairy also, and then we shall live together in the same tree and have such jolly times. You do not want to put on this clumsy body again, in which you cannot fly or float or do anything, and which is so much trouble to dress and feed." " I think," said Luz, " that I would like to be a fairy always, if it were not that I have something that I must do " Luz stopped as she saw that Vestra was looking down on the water with apparent interest. " What is that shining ground on which our ship goes ? " she asked. LUZ STAR-EYE S DREAM-JOURNEY 71 " It is water ; do you not know what water is ? " " Yes, but I thought that it was clear as air, and not so much in one bowl. But what is that floating on the water far ahead?" asked Vestra. " Oh, that is an island of the Southern Sea, we shall soon be there! I saw it first while it was still night. I saw its many stars," said Luz, and clapped her fairy hands. " Does it float from place to place like our ship ? " asked Vestra. " No, it is always in one place," said Luz. " I think that it must have roots away down at the bottom of the ocean, that hold it. Look, now we can see green hills and beauti ful trees. We shall soon be there ! " There was a joyous commotion on the ship. Every one was to land, and Vestra had parted from Luz. She was going with Amina and the rest. 72 LUZ STAR-EYE S DREAM-JOURNEY " I shall come back to you tonight and tell you about the country," Luz had said in parting; and Vestra was happy now, anticipating their next meeting. IX Luz was sitting under a caimito-tree on an island of the Southern Sea. She was thinking, as she often loved to do. She was thinking of Vestra. How easy and delight ful it was to have a fairy-body and to have no cares! A drop of honey from a flower, or the juice of a little fruit, was all she needed for a meal; and everywhere were little cosy places in trees or flowers where she could curl up for a nap, or she might stay in the nest of a friendly bird. And now to see this beautiful land in this delight- LUZ STAR-EYE S DREAM-JOURNEY 73 ful way! What joy was to be hers! But she thought of Vestra. What had she to make her happy? Luz thought she would make up for Vestra s loss of freedom by telling her about all she saw, and teaching her all she could about the life of a human, so that she could have some source of happi ness. As it was now, Luz understood that Vestra was too ignorant of even the simplest things to be able to see beauty and happiness in her surroundings. Luz was disturbed in her solemn thoughts by a queer little sound from a neighboring tree. She looked up and met the eyes of a bird sitting on a twig. He had his back towards Luz ; but all the same, his head was turned so that he looked at her. He gave a low whistle and flew off to another tree. Luz followed; she wanted to see more of him. But there she saw something else; a tiny bird-baby lying on the ground. The mother bird, a little canary, was flying about helpless and worrying. 74 LUZ STAR-EYE S DREAM-JOURNEY Luz took the little baby bird in her arms and looked about for the nest. The little mother fluttered her wings in great excite ment, not knowing what the fairy meant to do with her darling. However, Luz soon discovered the nest on a branch and bore the birdling there. But the bird that could turn his face back without moving his body sat on an other tree, and Luz followed. She never got as good a look at him as she wanted to, for there was always some thing for her to do. He seemed to lead her just where she was needed. She had been ever so busy for a long while. A little blackbird had broken his wing and Luz act ed as surgeon. She remembered how her beloved Doctor Wood, whom she thought of as the brother of the Cave-Man, had bound LUZ STAR-BYE S DREAM-JOURNEY 75 tip her sore finger once. If she only had a little of his salve the bird would soon be well. But she did the best she could, and bound up the wing with strong grass fibers. The little blackbird lay still and looked at her with such grateful eyes that Luz s heart felt warm. She had considerable work to find a safe place for the blackbird to stay until he could fly, and to find his family and make them understand how matters were. The bird with the loose head, however, seemed to bring matters right with his whistling, which all the birds understood. Once she was quite frightened when she suddenly met a black hairy tarantula, almost as big as herself. The tarantula was running about in a circle as if her wits were lost. Luz soon discovered that a big lump of clay had fallen right over the entrance to her hole, and she could not get in. Luz would have tried to remove it, but she was afraid of the mon- 76 LUZ STAR-EYE S DREAM-JOURNEY strous thing, and would have gone away if the tarantula had not run all about her. Then she heard a voice from a tree saying: " No harm ! No harm ! " and there sat a mocking-bird looking at her. Luz succeeded, after much struggling, in heaving away the lump of clay by means of a stick used as a lever. In this way a great part of the day passed. Luz had helped and saved all kinds of little creatures inhabiting the regions where she went, quite far now from where she started. LUZ STAR-BYE S DREAM-JOURNEY 77 She looked before her in great astonish ment and saw a big tree all aflame. " I do hope that there are no birds with nests in it," she said, " it would be a pity ! " She came nearer. Ah ! The tree was not on fire it was full of flowers ! It was a flamboyant- tree. Luz could not look at it long, for it dazzled her eyes. She was near a road now, where she saw some men with their mules driving to town with loads of fruit and vege tables. The drivers smacked their lips to hurry the mules, and cried : " Get up ! " ("Arre! Arre!") In a tree sat a bird that also cried, "Arre ! Arre ! " and made a sound like smacking the lips. One of the drivers turned to see who that other driver was, and Luz could not help laughing at his sheepish look when he saw it was only a bird. " The Arriero fooled you," laughed the others. Luz had now come to a most wonderful grove of royal palms; they were so tall that Luz could not see their tops; but she LUZ STAR-BYE S DREAM-JOURNEY 79 saw their smooth shining trunks, and they seemed to her like the pillars of a great tem ple. " How beautiful, if it were true that the good humans the old elf told me about were living in this wonderland, and that this was one of their temples, where they went to pay homage to their gods and receive good gifts from the sun and stars. Perhaps it is true; I shall find out." " What a curious big stone that is by the water ! " she thought. But on coming near er it proved to be a turtle lying on his back and unable to turn over again. It was no use trying to put him right, she knew that. But how could she help? Here all plans seemed fruitless. Then she saw the bird with the loose head sitting on a branch. He was facing towards her, but the eyes were looking intently the other way at something. She glanced in the same direction and saw nothing, but heard a rustling sound in the bushes. Soon she discovered where it came from. It was a man with a gun. "A blind 80 LUZ STAR-EYE S DREAM-JOURNEY Human," said Luz to herself. " I wonder what is in danger/ A low whistle from the loose-headed bird made her look in his direction. There she saw a beautiful deer, standing all unconsci ous of danger, drinking water. Instantly she understood. The man was aiming with his gun at the deer. Like a flash, Luz was beside him, waving her hands frantically be fore his eyes. He could not see or hear her, but he felt as if a shadow came before his eyes. The shot went off, but in the wrong direction the deer had escaped. The man went away with his gun, and Luz stood alone trembling. " To think that one could not even take a drink without be ing in danger of one s life," thought Luz. " If we Humans had to live in that way, how dreadful ! " Now she went again to the turtle and was glad the man had not seen him. He was still lying on his back and had struggled so LUZ STAR-EYE S DREAM-JOURNEY 81 long to turn over that his strength was almost spent. Luz sped away to find help; where, she did not know. At a little dis tance she saw something dark between the trees ; it came towards her. She stood face to face with the deer she had saved. The deer looked at her with such a grate ful look in its big beautiful eyes, that Luz s heart was happy. She understood that the deer could see her. " My good, kind deer," she begged, " there is a poor turtle lying on his back, powerless to turn over. Some one may come and do him harm. Please, good deer, come with me and help him." The deer answered something which Luz could not understand; but she did under stand the look in its eyes, and started off to where the turtle lay. The deer followed. " Try to push him into the water with your head/ said Luz. The deer tried, but the turtle was very big 82 LUZ STAR-EYE S DRBAM-JOURNBY and heavy. He tried with his feet, but in vain. Then saying something to Luz he ran away quick as a flash. " I am sure he will come back and bring help," thought Luz, " otherwise he would not leave us like this." Sure enough, there was the deer already in sight, and with him another deer and a little fawn. Luz stroked them all on their heads, and the little fawn seemed wild with delight and jumped high in the air. With combined efforts the two deer pushed and pushed at the turtle a great splash ! both deer and turtle had tumbled into the water. Before Luz had time to consider the situation, she saw the turtle right side up swimming to his hole, and the deer climb ing up the bank, shaking the water from their hair. Luz thought she had never seen such a dear little pet as the baby fawn. It played around her. It stroked her with its silky cheek and showed its love for her in every LUZ STAR-EYE S DREAM-JOURNEY 83 way it could. The father deer, whose life Luz had saved, now came and knelt down before her, and with all signs possible in vited her to sit on his back. " Do you want me to go with you? " said Luz, and the deer made signs of happiness. She sat on his back and the deer instantly rose up, and off they went with the swiftness of the wind. Over rocks and up hills ; over deep clefts he jumped; through brush and tanglewood. Had Luz not had a fairy-body she would very soon have been swept off his back and lost in the wood. 84 LUZ STAR-EYE S DREAM-JOURNEY At last he stopped among some steep rocks where big trees grew up through the thick bushes. He bent the foliage aside with his head and they entered a wide grotto. A half light shone in through the green leaves. The deer knelt down, as a sign that they had reached their destination. Luz stepped be side him and patted his head. The deer then struck three loud taps on the rock-wall with his hoof. Luz saw a flash of light from a lantern and a little brown man stood before her in the cave. He beckoned her LUZ STAR-EYE S DREAM-JOURNEY 85 to follow. She hesitated, but when she saw the imploring look in the deer s eye, she thought some one might be in need of her help; so she went with him. The little brown man went first with the lantern. Sometimes they went up steep places, sometimes far down. In some places the walls of the passage were shining with gold ; at others the light was reflected from a thousand crystals. They had been going down for a long time, when he stopped be fore a solid wall. He put his lantern on the ground and with both hands played a tattoo on the rock-wall. A door opened and Luz entered a small cave. The little man with the lantern dis appeared. It was almost dark in the cave and there was a wonderful fragrance as from the most lovely flowers. But it was so strong that Luz felt dizzy and sank to the floor fast asleep. 86 LUZ STAR-EYE S DREAM-JOURNEY X She awoke on feeling a fresh breeze, with a dazzling light in her eyes. A beautiful woman bent over her, whose hair was black and fastened together with a pearl chain; her eyes were black as night, but from their depths shone the gentle stars. A faint sug gestion of the same beautiful fragrance lin gered about her. Luz met her eyes, and a smile as from an old friend greeted her. " You have saved the life of one of my animals," the woman said in the sweetest musical voice, " tell me what I can do for you." " Tell me who you are," said Luz, " and how I can help those who are in need." A gleaming star-beam shone from the woman s eyes as she answered : " Ma Cuba is my name. I was driven from my people by a strange tribe, who had no god-fear. LUZ STAR-EYE S DREAM-JOURNEY 87 They carried sharp cruel weapons, for which we never had seen the use. With them they killed my people, who knew not how to fight or how to flee. " In those days, when the noble Siboney was chief and I his happy wife, no one in our land hungered; no one sorrowed. All were brothers, and a happy life was ours. Now I hear the moans of suffering from my country, and the weapons of warfare are common among the people. Their hearts are suffocating in the flesh, and they worship in great houses, but the God of Life they do not know. Oh, my people, my people! I hear their woe, and cannot help ! " " Why can you not go up there and be with the people? " asked Luz. " No, my child, I cannot ! They burned my body, and with this one I can neither be seen by them, nor speak to them." " Oh, it is a pity ! " said Luz. " Is there no way ? " 88 LUZ STAR-BYE S DREAM-JOURNEY " Not yet," said Ma Cuba sadly. " I have tried many times ; once I got born in a little baby-body and was going to grow up to help the people. But the air was so full of strange thoughts, and angry words, and selfish acts, that I could not live there more than one week. The one who had become my mother was a good woman. I was sorry not to stay as her child and make her happy." " Could you not send me to do something for you? " said Luz. " I shall try to do what you say." Ma Cuba looked at Luz for a long time in silence. Then she said : " I see Great Good Powers protecting you and leading your steps; it may be the same shall help my land if the time be ripe. Go child, visit the world of men; then return and tell me what hopeful signs you see." Ma Cuba took a beautiful gem from her girdle and fastened it on Luz s breast. " It will give you power to understand the Ian- LUZ STAR-EYE S DREAM-JOURNEY 89 guage of animals and birds; this you have earned." She tapped on a crystal globe and the same little brown earth-man appeared with the lantern. Luz looked at Ma Cuba, and the wish to stay longer shone in her eyes. " I must go and attend to my flowers," said Ma Cuba. " The time for them is soon at hand." " Where are your flowers ? " asked Luz. " They are above earth," said Ma Cuba, " but I prepare their fragrance here in my laboratory. They open at midnight when all is still, and the perfumes which I send up through them are my earnest prayers for the welfare of my people. They float out over the sleeping and give good dreams to little children, making them long for noble things." Ma Cuba motioned for Luz to follow the little brown man, and soon all was dark ex cept for the lantern. After some time she 90 LUZ STAR-BYE S DREAM-JOURNEY saw they were out in an open field, and it was night. The sky was illumined with myr iads of stars, and they shone so near and brilliant that Luz thought of the old elf s " human tale," and that good gifts, sent through their rays to " Good Humans," must be nigh. The little brown man with the lantern had disappeared, and Luz stood alone. What was she to do ? Where was she to go ? Then she remembered Vestra. She felt in a difficult position. Had she not promised Vestra to come to her that night, and had she not also promised Ma Cuba to do her errand? " If I now go to find Vestra it might take me a long time, and I might forget the mission of Ma Cuba. What shall I do?" But now she readily remembered the Cave- Man s stone and took it in her hand. " I wonder what I ought to do? " she thought. " I must do that which will do the most good, LUZ STAR-EYE S DREAM-JOURNEY 91 Vestra will be disappointed and consider me as breaking my promise but she is only one, and in good care, while poor Ma Cuba s people Yes, I shall let nothing take the interest of her cause from me. I must suffer for breaking my promise with Vestra." So saying, Luz prepared to find a resting place until the light of day should lead her to the haunts of men. XI You are welcome to sleep in my bed, as I am not going to use it before daylight," said a funny voice near by, and Luz saw to her surprise that it came from an Owl. Of course, she remembered the gem which Ma Cuba had given her. It gave her great joy to think she really could understand the birds. She had always heard the owl spoken of as wise, and so she thought she would tell 92 LUZ STAR-EYE S DREAM-JOURNEY him of her troubles and hear what he would say. "Why don t you send a messenger to Vest- ra?" said the Owl. "Oh," said Luz, "can I do that? Who can I send ? " " In the mountains," said the Owl, " there lives a good fairy by the name of Hada Silfide, and she knows all about human life and has the power to change herself into the shape of a bluebird, a lizard, or an ant, and she often goes among the human children to bring them fairy luck if they are kind to LUZ STAR-EYE S DREAM-JOURNEY 93 animals, which she has under her protec tion." Luz was overjoyed at the proposition and thanked the good Owl again and again. The Owl brought some beakfuls of rose-petals with which he made a nice bed for Luz in his nest, and wishing her sweet dreams he started out to find Hada Silfide. Luz fell asleep immediately. After some time she was awakened by hearing peculiar sounds, as from a lot of horses. She peeped out from the owl s nest and thought that in all her experiences since she had been a fairy, this was the strangest of all. There, not far away on a rock seat, sat a man. He was tall and stately, with black hair ; in his hand was a scepter with a bunch of golden feathers at the top. On either side of him in double lines stood elves with beautiful faces. Each one had a little light like a star twinkling from his breast. They were beautifully dressed in blue, rose, white, and violet. Each one held a small flute in his hand. LUZ STAR-BYE S DREAM-JOURNEY 95 Luz saw one after another of the elves step forward and stand before the great one, seeming to speak and answer questions. Then each one went away, but soon returned seated on a horse. They passed before the king. The horses all belonged to humans. Some walked with light steps as if they had danced. Their backs were broad and shin ing. Their heads were lifted high, and life and courage shone from their brown eyes. Others had packs on their backs, or saddles and reins dragging, and looked tired. Their eyes were dull and spiritless. Some were sad-looking and dirty, and seemed only skin and bones. When all had gone the king and the elves were again as before. Then a cloud passed over the moon and Luz saw nothing but the little elf-lights. When the moon came back all had disappeared. Luz waited for the Owl to come back. Perhaps he would know and tell her what all this meant. She thought it unwise to leave his nest for fear he might not find her 96 LUZ STAR-EYE S DREAM-JOURNEY when he came back. At the break of day he returned. Luz told him all that she had seen and the Owl nodded his head knowingly un til she had finished. Then he seated him self in a comfortable position, smoothed his feathers, and told her this: Each moon at a certain time, Siboney, the good king of old, comes and holds an assem bly with his army of good elves. They have different meeting-places all over the islands. The horses are his animals. At these meet ings each elf who guards one of the horses steps up to report to the king. If the horse is kindly treated and cared for by the owner, the elf in return protects him from the " bru- jos," and his household prospers. But, if the horses have been treated cruelly, and not given enough rest and food, Siboney lifts his golden scepter, his brow darkens, and with a voice as coming from a thunder cloud he speaks. No punishment does he lay on the owners of these mistreated ani mals ; but the protection of his elves he with- LUZ STAR-EYE S DREAM-JOURNEY 97 draws. Come " Brujos " as they may to steal or do harm, no good elf would dare to lift his wand to fight them away, and the people drop lower and lower in misery. The horses are brought from fields and enclos ures by the elves, and pass for inspection before the king. The little flutes, carried by the elves, are to make music to charm away the " brujos." When they hear it they scream and hold their fingers in their ears. They cannot endure it, but flee as fast as they can. Each tone makes them feel like being sawed in pieces with a dull wood-saw. The Owl told Luz that he had found the fairy, and she had been willing to take the message to Vestra. Not before half a sun had passed, however, could she be here as she was going to visit two little brothers in a near-by town. They had saved a big frog from being hurt by an ignorant woman. A little good elf in the service of Siboney had been in the shape of the frog, and it was he who then had asked Hada Silfide to visit 98 LUZ STAR-EYE S DREAM-JOURNEY the brothers and give them the fairy luck. Luz consulted the Owl as to how she could best do the wishes of Ma Cuba. After some lengthy discussion they decided that the best thing was for Luz to go all over the island, not staying long at any place. And then what a lot of nice hopeful things she would have to tell Ma Cuba ! It would give her courage to go on sending up her prayers. XII Hada Silfide had come to Luz and now sped to find Vestra. Hada was to meet her in the shape of a bluebird, tell Vestra who she really was, and bring the greetings from Luz. She was going to tell Vestra stories and perhaps make her acquainted with some bright little fairy that would have time to stay with her and be her companion. LUZ STAR-EYE S DREAM-JOURNEY 99 Luz had said farewell to the good Owl and started on her trip around the Islands. She felt shy going to meet men now, since she had been so long away from their life. By this time she had grown so used to the fairy-body that she almost forgot this kind of life was not really her own. The Owl offered to go with her, but fearing he would be seen by people and be hurt, per haps killed, Luz thought it better to go alone. She met her friends the deer and the little fawn, and had the pleasure now of being able to understand their talk. They also would have followed her had it not been for the same reason; Luz did not want to endanger their lives any more, by taking them near the houses of men. So Luz went alone. She felt it a very solemn mission, the one Ma Cuba had given her; because, might it not in some way be that Ma Cuba could return to her people, if a place were found where she could live 100 LUZ STAR-EYE S DREAM-JOURNEY and grow up? Luz hoped there was; the land was so very beautiful. Luz had not far to go before she met some people. There was a nice house with a garden back of it. On the shaded veranda sat three young girls in pretty pink and white dresses. They were laughing and chatting merrily and were very good friends and school-mates, as Luz understood from their conversation. They spoke of other girls and boys in their school, and told each other many things which only they knew about those others. She listened intently, because she thought that in this way she could gather knowledge about the character of the people without having to visit so many places. Presently one of the girls went into the house, while the others kept on with their conversation as before. " We shall not have Josefina with us to morrow when we go to Matilda s party/ said one of the girls. " She and Amalia talked bad things about me in school today. LUZ STAR-EYE S DREAM-JOURNEY 101 I was very angry with them. And I had given Josefina my blue bead-ring too, and was so nice to her." " How mean ! " said the other girl. " In deed we shall not have her with us. What did they say?" "I was not near enough to hear what they said; but I heard my name several times, and they stared after me. No, only you and I and Maria shall go." At this moment Maria came back from the house, but as she heard her name men tioned she stopped and said in a sarcastic tone, " I am not wanted, I see. I shall go back in, so that you may have your pleasure." "What is the matter?" cried both girls. " Oh, you are pretending not to know, but I tell you, you cannot fool me. I heard you talking about me, and I thought you were my friends." " But we only said we were going together to the party tomorrow." 102 LUZ STAR-EYE S DREAM-JOURNEY Maria would not listen. She ended by saying she would never speak to them again, and went away with a haughty air. Luz forgot for the moment that she was a fairy, and followed her. She wanted to tell her that the girls had not spoken ill of her; that she had heard all and could wit ness to the truth. But Luz soon found that she herself could neither be seen, nor heard. Alas ! She began now to realize the use she would make of a human body. But still she followed Maria in the hope that somehow she would help her to understand. Her mother was sitting in a rocking-chair holding the baby in her arms, and a beautiful boy of five was playing at her side. Maria told her mother that the two neighbor-girls had said bad things about her and that she would not speak to them again. She threw herself on the sofa and cried. " My darling, don t cry," said the mother. " I see now why it was that their mother LUZ STAR-EYE S DREAM-JOURNEY 103 got Luisa a silk dress. She thought I could not afford to buy one for my girl ; but you are going to have a much prettier one. Don t cry, darling! Miguelito!" she called to the little boy, "If Mama ever sees you playing with Luisa s brother I shall tell your father and he will be very angry with you." " But Pepe is nice," said Miguelito. " We have great fun." " Not a word more ; you should obey your Mama." Luz saw that there was no way to be un derstood by them, and she felt so sorry. She took the Cave-Man s stone to console herself. All were misunderstanding each other. Why did they think that others said bad things of them ? They might just as well have thought they said something good. It must be be cause they had spoken ill of others them selves, that they grew so suspicious. " The little baby which the mother holds 104 LUZ STAR-EYE S DREAM-JOURNEY in her arms will learn these untrue things from the very beginning and know nothing else." Luz went near and petted its little hands and stroked the silky curls, while she still held the Cave-Man s stone in her hand. How wonderful! As Luz looked into the baby-eyes she saw that some one lived in that body, some one wise and beautiful. She understood how this soul had lived in a body before, and had learned many things before the body died, and was now here again in a new house or little baby-body which this mother took care of. The sorrowful thoughts she had felt be fore were gone, and she was glowing with happiness. " Perhaps this is one of the good heroes come again to help the country," she thought. " How great and wonderful ! Oh, could I but tell the mother, how happy she would be, and how careful ! " Luz touched the mother very lovingly with her little fairy-hands, and looking into her eyes she said with her voice ringing with LUZ STAR-EYE S DREAM-JOURNEY 105 joy : " Your baby is a beautiful Soul, per haps it is one of the noble-hearted men, one who is to do great work for the country ! " The mother-soul looked through the eyes, it understood, but there was a shade of sad ness before it, instead of the joy Luz had expected to see. " Please, dear mother," pleaded Luz, " do not let this little baby-body grow into habits of selfishness and suspicion, because then the hero-soul cannot use it, and must go away as did Ma Cuba." " Speak for me," cried the mother-soul. " Oh, speak for me to my body-self, that it may understand ! I have tried in vain these thirty years to make it hear. I am an artist and love the glorious colors and the sublime beauty of nature. I came to earth to make the splendor I had seen in the heavenly dreams, into pictures, to make the world glow with wonder and happiness. The one who was my mother did not understand my mission. 106 LUZ STAR-EYE S DREAM-JOURNEY " When I tried to express my longing for beauty in my child language, she gave me gay ribbons and delicate lace, and dressed me in pretty frocks ; and all the friends said how sweet I looked. So my little body-self became so used to thinking that it was beauty itself, and so disobedient and selfish, that I could not make it hear a word. When I longed to express to the world the joy and beauty of life, it decked itself in finery and showed itself. When I longed to have it see the beauty in nature, it went before a looking-glass admiring itself. Whenever I wanted to teach the children in my care to obey the soul, that they might not miss their destiny as I have done, then my body-self hugged them to itself and cried : They are mine ! My own, to do with as I will and soon also they could not hear the heaven- voice of the soul. Speak to me ! Oh, speak to me, that my body-self may hear ! " Luz listened to the mother in pity and astonishment. She felt so wonderfully re- LUZ STAR-EYE S DREAM-JOURNEY 107 lated to her. Was the mother not in the same position as she herself, who could make no one hear or see her now? She hoped most fervently that when she was back in her own human body she would remember to listen to the voice of her soul-self. Luz tried in vain to make the body-self of the mother hear. She sat as before, rock ing the baby in her arms, and now feeling very sad; but she thought it was that the neighbors had spoken ill of her children. The little boy sat gloomy in a corner, and Luz went to his side. She understood now that it was her touch, when she had the Cave-Man s stone in her hand, which gave her the power to speak to their souls. " I love Pepe," said the soul of the boy. We were real brothers before, and had the same parents, and we lived so happily in one house. He lost his life in a battle ages ago to save our country. Pepe is a hero. Oh, tell her who is now my mother to let Pepe and me love each other." 108 LUZ STAR-EYB S DRBAM-JOURNEY Maria lay yet sobbing on the couch, but when Luz touched her she became quiet, and it was as if a ray of happiness had lighted her face. Luz also felt the joy steal through her own being, she knew not why. " I know you," said the soul of Maria. " We have loved each other before, I am so happy to meet you." Then Luz also knew. " Luisa did not speak ill of you," said Luz, " I came to tell you." " I know it," said Maria, " but I cannot make my body-self hear me, it has grown so disobedient and heavy. And I meant to train it so as to make all the wonderful poetry which I have heard in the heaven- world. Oh, it is so beautiful that it would make the world shine with happiness and song. You who are my old friend, speak to me, speak to my body-self, make me listen to myself and you shall know the happiness of thousands of people." Luz tried, but was not heard, yet Maria lay quiet and thinking. Soon she arose and LUZ STAR-BYE S DREAM-JOURNBY 109 said, " Mother, I do not think Luisa said anything bad about me; I shall go and tell her so." And she went out, while the little Miguelito with happy face turned to his mother and said, " May I go to Pepe now? " " Yes, go my boy," said the mother, and there was a happy light in her eyes. XIII Full of a new-born joy and hope Luz left them. She must see more, she knew now how to speak to those she met, and she would have so many beautiful things to tell Ma Cuba. A fine carriage was rolling along the road and in it sat a man. He was deep in thought and his brow was furrowed. Luz wondered what troubled him and thought that perhaps she might help, and was at his side in a moment. 110 LUZ STAR-EYE S DREAM-JOURNEY He was a statesman, and the care of im portant things in the government weighed on his mind. The country was in a very critical condition. He knew it and was will ing to give all his time and ability to its service; but what could one do? This he was asking himself over and over as he sat there. LUZ touched him gently with the Cave- Man s stone in her hand, and his soul looked out from his eyes and spoke to her. " I can see all that our country needs," he said. " I see it now. But how shall I make my body-self understand? It has grown too old in the habit of obeying its own brain- mind alone. Speak to it that it may under stand ! For the sake of my beloved country do it, and all shall be well/ 7 "Oh, that I could," cried Luz, "but I have not the power. I know now that to speak to other body-selves we need the body, and I cannot have mine yet." LUZ STAR-EYE S DREAM-JOURNEY 111 " Then," said he, " try to find some one who can make himself heard and obeyed by his own body-self, and beg that one to speak to us. Such are the ones who would rightly govern the people." All these things were so new and great to Luz that she went to sit alone and think it all over, to find out what was best to do. She thought how important it would be to the country of Ma Cuba, if she could find some one who was obeyed by his body-self. She decided to do her best in searching. While she sat thus thinking she was sur prised to see a man sitting under a tree a short distance away. He was of a stately and refined bearing and his features were noble and gentle. He was not alone. All around him were children, youths, and men and women of all ages. A little child had climbed on his knee, another one came tip toeing from behind, stroking his sleeve with his little sun-brown hand. 112 LUZ STAR-EYE S DREAM-JOURNEY Luz saw how the man taught the people to read and write and count. Not far off his horse was browsing the long grass, and there was a sack filled with books and slates and pencils, and things needed for school, which the good man had brought with him. He told the people about the history of their country; he patiently advised them in their difficulties; he lit in their hearts the desire to be righteous, and to make their country free and respected among the na tions. All this Luz understood while she yet held the Cave-Man s stone in her hand. She saw the people go away happier than they had come. They disappeared in the shadows behind, and others came in their place, until Luz thought she had seen thousands pass. He must be one whose body-self obeys his soul. She arose to go to him, but as she neared all disappeared as if melted into shadows. It was a picture from the past. LUZ STAR-EYE S DREAM-JOURNEY 113 " What are you thinking so deeply about ?" asked a little cat, sitting looking at her. Luz told him of the picture she had seen. " Well," said the cat, " there are many good people now too. My mistress is the best one of all. She gave me food and let me live with her when I was hungry and homeless. Come and see her ! " 114 LUZ STAR-EYE S DREAM-JOURNEY Luz followed the cat, and they soon came to a low house with a little tobacco field behind it. A black-and-white goat was tied with a rope and ate of the grass by the wall. Inside sat a little boy on a stool with a crutch by his side. He had broken a leg, and as no one had tied it up and taken care of it he now had great pain, and grew constantly worse. Besides the boy there was a woman, a girl, and an old man who lay in a bed. The woman went out and petted the goat murmuring to herself: " Yes, I must do it! In a week it is Santa Benita s day and I shall go to church and pray her to make the boy well. I must take the goat and sell it to give to the Saint; I have nothing else/ The woman stroked the goat and tears fell on the shaggy coat. It was hard to part with it. It was their only treasure, loved as one of the family; its milk was helping to keep them. The little sick boy was not her own child, but she had taken him when his parents died, for he had no home. She had LUZ STAR-EYE S DREAM-JOURNEY 115 also her old father and her daughter to support, and she was very poor. " She is a kind, unselfish woman," said Luz to the cat. " I wish I could speak to her body-self. There are a lot of things which I have seen growing, that I could tell her to plant in her little field. It would give plenty of food the year round. Is it not a pity that I cannot make her hear me ? " " Same with me," said the cat. Luz went to the old woman and lovingly touched her with the Cave-Man s stone. The Soul of the good woman looked at her silently so long that Luz thought she could not speak, but then a beautiful light came into her eyes and she said: " Had I the power in my body-self to tell what I know, the people whom I meet would have light instead of darkness. I have lived many times before on the earth and learned many things; now I have to learn to be humble. I have seen many God-men live 116 LUZ STAR-EYE S DREAM-JOURNEY among the people. They have always been sent in time of need, to live among the people and lead them right." " There is need of them now, I have seen and heard it, but where are they ? " asked Luz. " Search ! There is sure to be some one, I know it," said the Soul. " How shall I know the right one? " asked Luz. " Know them by their work. They bring justice where there is injustice; kindness where there is hatred and fighting; know ledge, where there is ignorance. They know how to speak through the body-self, which they have taught to do always as the Soul directs; and they teach the people to do the same. " Their lives are as noble as their teach ings. They do nothing for the sake of pay ment, or in order to obtain honor or riches for themselves." LUZ STAR-BYE S DREAM-JOURNEY 117 " I must find some God-men/ cried Luz. " I have promised to try/ " Go and search for them, dear child, and the country shall bless you/ XIV Luz sat among the flowers of a jasmine bush, thinking. She had much to think of. For a long time she had mingled with the people, always searching for some one whose body-self obeyed his Soul. She had seen hundreds of men, women, and children. Some had lived in poor little huts, others in rich houses and palaces. Some were simple ignorant people, others were learned; some were struggling in wrong-doing, some were kind and unselfish; some were hateful, others loving. She had spoken to the Soul of each one and almost 118 LUZ STAR-EYE S DREAM-JOURNEY all had answered her. But to those whose hearts were filled with unforgiving hate, to those who were cruel to defenseless animals, and to those who were cruel to little children, she had not been able to speak. What she had seen and heard filled her with wonder. Happiness and hope for Ma Cuba swelled in her heart when she heard the voices of all these noble Souls. It was a great, beautiful world that had been opened before her eyes, and she understood what mighty things people can do. Yet when she now sat among the jasmine- flowers in a garden, her thoughts were sad as well as happy. It was two worlds that she saw in the same person. When Ma Cuba asked about her people, what should Luz answer? She would tell her that they were wise and good ; they were devoted to high ideals, and to the great Soul-Teachers. They were finding their pleasures in art and poetry; LUZ STAR-EYE S DREAM-JOURNEY 119 in music and the beauty of nature. They were self-sacrificing, kind and loving to each other; no one misunderstood the other; no one spoke evil of another. They had heroic courage to defend right and justice; they were lovers of truth. Such was the charac ter of Ma Cuba s people. How happy she would be! How she would send thanks to heaven through the fragrance of her flowers ! How then could Luz bear to tell her that her people, on the other side of their nature the outside had many of the opposites to these qualities; that they were blind to that beautiful side of their nature ; and that she had, as yet, found no one who could see clearly enough on that side to restore the sight of others, though she had met many who could almost see? She would tell Ma Cuba of the great riches in nature everywhere. Mines of gold, silver, and of copper in the mountains ; beau tiful crystals and precious stones. All kinds of trees with wonderful fruits for food and 120 LUZ STAR-EYE S DREAM-JOURNEY for refreshment, which grew in abundance everywhere, even without being planted. There grew cacao, sugar, coffee, rice, and countless other good things. Her mind lost itself in the profusion of it all. The jasmine-bush grew in the garden of a house, and as Luz sat there she saw a girl coming out. She had a school-bag with books in her hand, and went over to the jas mine-bush and picked the prettiest blossoms she could find. Then she picked roses and begonias and arranged them all in a bunch which she carried in her hand as she went out into the street. " I know that she is going to school," thought Luz. " I shall go with her. Per haps there I shall see something hopeful to tell Ma Cuba." Luz followed the girl and soon they en tered a gate and went into the patio of a big house. They stepped on the veranda and entered a great palatial house which seemed LUZ STAR-EYE S DREAM-JOURNEY 121 more like a fine home than a school. There were lots of pretty flowers and lovely plants, beautiful urns and vases, pictures, all kinds of little hand-made things, objects of art, to make one feel that those living there were artists, lovers of the beautiful, and pupils of Mother Nature. Luz had a strong feeling of being at home in a Raja Yoga School again. Many chil- 122 LUZ STAR-EYE S DREAM-JOURNEY dren were coming and they were going quiet ly to their places and putting away their books. Luz entered a large assembly-room with them. From another room came a teacher, and following her, a girl it was Vestra ! Yes, Luz had met Vestra again, and never had she had such a complete surprise, she thought. Now she sat at Vestra s side in the assembly, during the solemn morning exer cises. Music was played, so soft and beauti ful that it seemed to come from another world. All the children sat still with their eyes shut and their hands folded, and Luz remembered her visit to Fairy Silence. Then there was marching to music, and the child ren sang their hymn. A tiny girl stepped forth and recited these beautiful words from Katherine Tingley: THE; KNOWLEDGE: THAT WE ARE DIVINE GIVES US THE POWER TO OVERCOME ALL OB STACLES AND TO DARE TO DO RIGHT. LUZ STAR-EYE S DREAM-JOURNEY 123 Tears of joy came in Luz s eyes as she listened; she had learned and loved these words at her own Raja Yoga School in Lomaland. Luz knew that this was something for Ma Cuba to hope for. It came to her as a flash when the children were sitting in silence and the soft music was played. She thought it very strange this had not occurred to her during her travels, and she regretted all the opportunities she had lost of giving hope and courage to the Souls with whom she had spoken. She knew that Raja Yoga would teach the people all they needed to know in order to live happy lives; would teach them to see and understand; to use rightly the great resources of their land, and rejoice in all the beauty. It would teach the body-selves to hear and obey the Soul. How happy Ma Cuba would be when Luz told her about this ! Luz followed the children to their different 124 LUZ STAR-EYE S DREAM-JOURNEY class-rooms where the teachers had classes in all kinds of subjects: geography, history, arithmetic, grammar, physics, music on sev eral instruments, art, hand-work, etc. The pupils learned also how to control their tem pers and their desires to do wrong; they learned to love the right when they saw by example how easy and pleasant it was ; they learned to love industry and helpfulness; they learned to shun gossip, and to love the truth. XV When the children ran to the playground Luz and Vestra talked together at the cor ner of the veranda. Vestra had been happy ever since she came to the school. First she had the message from Luz by Hada Silfide, who had also made her acquainted with a beautiful little LUZ STAR-EYE S DREAM-JOURNEY 125 fairy living in the sago palm by the patio. They were good friends now, and had long talks with Paddy. Paddy was a little white dog with black ears, and he always made them laugh with his funny tales, or with the tricks he played on them. He was there to teach the children coming to school to be kind to their own dogs at home ; and he believed they were learning, because they treated him very kindly. " I am almost sorry to leave this place now," said Vestra. 126 LUZ STAR-EYE S DREAM-JOURNEY "What! Are you going away?" asked Luz. " Yes, we are going back to Lomaland very soon, perhaps tomorrow," said Vestra. " Is that possible ! Then I must go and find Ma Cuba at once," exclaimed Luz. " I should have liked to stay longer and speak to Amina I am sure she could hear me in her body-self." " Oh do," begged Vestra. " I love Amina, and if she could see and hear you now, she would be able to see and hear me when I have my body back and live in my eucalyptus- tree again. Oh, do try, Luz! She would then come and visit me, and I could tell her things and ask her everything just as now. She will soon be through with the children s music." Just then Paddy came running. " Luz," he said, " some one wants to see you at the gate. Come quick ! " LUZ STAR-BYE S DREAM-JOURNEY 127 Luz went, and there she saw a meadow- lark sitting on a post. " I am glad you came," said the lark. " I got to know about you from the swallows living in the Raja Yoga School. A great calamity has befallen us. A tree where I with my wife and two other bird families had our nests, has been cut down. The nests are floating on the water of the river where the tree fell the little ones will drown come, let us fly." Luz and the bird flew off faster than Luz had ever gone before, and they were soon at the place by the river where the tree had fallen. Luz saw the situation at once. The meadow-lark s nest had three little unfeath- ered birdlings in it and the anxious mother- bird was hovering over them while the nest floated down the river. " Quick! " cried Luz to the meadow-lark, "pull the nest to shore with your bill." The meadow-lark did as she told him and 128 LUZ STAR-EYE S DREAM-JOURNEY pulled the nest ashore quite easily. He would never have thought of it himself. But now came a harder task; to get the nest with the birdlings safe in a new tree. Luz tried to carry the nest but found that it was too heavy. Then she took the birdlings one by one and laid them under the shelter of a bush with the mother-bird to guard it, while she carried the nest in both arms and went off with the father-bird to hunt a safe place to put it. As soon as the nest was placed Luz hurried back after one of the birdlings, then another, until they were all there, safe and happy. It was worse with the nest belonging to a canary. It had tipped over and the eggs, which were not yet hatched, dropped to the bottom of the river, and Luz could do nothing but express her sympathy. Twice during this saving work had Luz thought she heard a familiar whistling, but was too busy to look around. Now she saw a bird in a tree not far away; it looked like the one with the loose head, and she immedi- LUZ STAR-EYE S DREAM-JOURNEY 129 ately started off to see. Yes, it was he, but as soon as she came near he flew to another tree. " I am so glad I have found you," said a voice. It was the Owl. Luz was very happy to meet him, and proposed that they sit down and talk, for she had much to consult him about, but the Owl said she had better come at once to meet a friend who was waiting for her. Luz consented gladly. The Owl told Luz to stay close to his side and look out for enemies, as he could not see well in daylight. They had flown for some time when they came to a mountain-side with many beautiful trees, and there the Owl stopped and called out : " She is here ! She is here ! " All these surprises were nearly overpower ing. Luz could not think how it all hap- pened, but she was sitting on the back of the Deer again, and he was running over mountain and plain, over hill and dale with 130 LUZ STAR-EYE S DREAM-JOURNEY the swiftness of the wind; till he came as before to the same grotto, where the little fawn greeted them with high jumps. The Deer tapped as before on the rock- wall, and the same little brown man with the lantern appeared, and Luz followed him. XVI Luz was sitting with Ma Cuba in a jeweled chamber and had told her all that she had seen of the life of the people and their hopes. Ma Cuba had said little, but her eyes shone with their beautiful star-beams. Ma Cuba told Luz many things from their life in the past, and about all the wonderful things there were in the islands, which no one knew about; all the strange birds and animals that lived in the mountains and caves ; about a large serpent with shimmer ing peacock colors, that lived on top of a LUZ STAR-EYE S DREAM-JOURNEY 131 hill, guarding treasures belonging to Ma Cu ba until she came back to get them. In this way Luz spent seven days, though it seemed to her that only one afternoon had passed. Then Ma Cuba said: " I see that the stars point to the time of your going. Child, you have many, many yet to help, many things to learn. Do not forget me when you come back to your human life. I shall this time show you to the entrance myself." She went before and Luz followed through many beautiful halls. Some were glittering with diamonds, some with rubies, others with topaz or gold. The last hall was a small grotto studded with crystals. " Farewell, child! " said Ma Cuba, laying her hand on Luz s heart. Then she opened a door and Luz stood in the open sky alone, and it was night. The stars were reflected in the still water of a little lake, and tall reeds grew on the 132 LUZ STAR-EYE S DREAM-JOURNEY low bank. All was as still as if it had been in the hall of Fairy Silence. Luz looked around to see if not even now she could find some one of her friends, but as she saw or heard no one she floated off to where she saw a light glimmering. Was she asleep and dreaming, or did her fairy eyes deceive her ? Before her stood a great, noble gateway and was it not the same through which she so many times had entered the Raja Yoga grounds in Loma- land ? But on this one she read : LUZ STAR-EYE S DREAM-JOURNEY 133 TRIBUTE OF KATHARINE; TINGLEY ON BEHALF OF THE: UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD AND THEOSOPHICAI, SOCIETY Luz sat under a rose-bush and thought. She did not know what would happen next ; where she would go; or how; but she had learned to trust. Her head leaned against a rose and she slept. Then a big white bird which had been sit ting on the gate flew silently down. He took the little purse with the Cave-Man s stone from Luz s neck and hid it under his wing; then he lifted the little fairy in his strong claws and flew away. XVII Under her eucalyptus-tree in Lomaland Vestra sat waiting. She had just arrived with Amina. All the girls of the Raja Yoga Academy had been on the veranda to meet 134 LUZ STAR-EYE S DREAM-JOURNEY them and had sung their most beautiful songs; the music greeted them as soon as they entered the gate and passed up the palm-avenue. Vestra kept close to Amina s side when they entered through curiously carved doors into a tig circular hall under a glass dome. To Vestra it was as if she had entered the hall of Olympus where the great gods meet; her little fairy being was over-awed. It was not yet the place for her, but she felt she had obtained a glimpse of why it was that the fairies aspired to human life. She sat trembling with her hand in Amina s. The boys of the College had greet ed them with music played by their military band. Had not the girl-body held her down, Vestra felt that the powerful music would have borne her up, away up, till she would have been lost in the sky. She was glad when at Amina s side she was outside the hall. Luz s little comrades wondered at Vestra s indifference in greet ing them, but Vestra did not notice ; her one LUZ STAR-EYE S DREAM-JOURNEY 135 thought was to go to her +ree as soon as possible. Luz had been borne by Foam-Wing to the shore where the fairy-ship, Lucifer, lay an chored. He had put her, still sleeping, down on the deck. The ship had then sailed, while Foam-Wing flew close to it. When Luz awoke she found herself on the ship, but she had forgotten her " human " experiences and was not much surprised. She looked with delight on the beautiful sails shimmering and changing in rainbow tints, and on the star light torch in the bow. At the shore of the Cave-Man, Foam-Wing again caught her and immediately bore her up over the hills to a place near the " magic tree/ 7 and there he put her down and hung the Cave-Man s purse with the pebble again around her neck. She woke to memory in the dear garden spot where she had played so many times, and the first thing her eyes met was her 136 LUZ STAR-EYE S DREAM-JOURNEY " magic tree " and under it sat Vestra, waiting. Luz arose to go to her, but hesitated. Vestra had not yet seen her. Luz was still stunned from all the surprises; she did not even find it strange to be here, she only thought of what was coming she was go ing to live again in her own body. " I do not want to," she said. " No ! I do not want to. Such a dull, clumsy life ! " The unwillingness to change back grew stronger as she stood there hesitating and bewildered, and she drew away with the im pulse to hide from Vestra a little longer. She felt unhappy and alone, then remem bered the Cave-Man s stone and took it in her hand. It had its usual effect; her thoughts began to clear. She thought of the old elf s story of the " blind humans " ; she remembered all the times she had wished to have her human body to be able to help others ; she remembered that she then would LUZ STAR-EYE S DREAM-JOURNEY 137 have a chance to make herself one of those whose body-self obeys the Soul. Next moment she stood under the tree, brought forth the magic flower and gave it to Vestra. It was done. Luz awoke on hearing some one call her by name, and the next moment she threw herself joyously into the arms of Rosalinda. " I have so much to tell you/ 7 she cried, " so very much, and I am really, truly, going to be a Raja Yoga Teacher! " Ft, 0573 307334 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY