Born Again
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by Alfred Lawson
DEDICATION
One day, not many years ago, while walking along a street in Detroit,
Michigan, I was stopped by a ragged and forlorn beggar, with the request
for a few cents to buy something to eat.
I gave him a dime and walking on a few paces stopped to observe his
following movements. Contrary to my supposition that perhaps he would
enter a saloon and buy whiskey he went as fast as his weary legs would
carry him in a straight course toward a restaurant on the opposite side
of the street.
As he was about to enter the place his attention was attracted by a more
pitiable wretch than himself standing outside who had but one leg, was
partly blind, and whose nose was almost eaten off by disease.
He paused for a moment and looked sympathetically at the crippled beggar
and then started again toward the door of the restaurant, but before
entering he stopped once more to take another look, and after a few
moments' hesitation he deliberately turned about, handed the other
fellow the dime and walked away without feeding himself.
Of all the heroic deeds I have ever witnessed, I recollect none quite so
grand and noble as this act, for notwithstanding this poor beggar may
have been heir to every other weakness a human being could possibly
contract, still he contained that spark of unselfish love for his fellow
beings, without which no man is more than a mere brute, and for that
reason I respectfully dedicate this work to his memory.
ALFRED WILLIAM LAWSON.
CHAPTER I
Judging from my own experience it is my opinion that many strange and
wonderful events have happened during the past in which man took part,
that have never been recorded.
Many reasons could be given for this, but the main causes perhaps, are
that the participants have lacked the intelligence, education or
literary ability to properly describe them.
In these respects I must admit my own inferiority. But I feel that
should I not promulgate an account of my own remarkable life for the
benefit of mankind then I would betray the trust nature has confided in
me.
So I warn the exquisite literary critic and the over-polished individual
who prefer fancy phrases to logical ideas, that this work may somewhat
jar their delicate senses of perception.
And having offered these few remarks I shall introduce myself to the
reader. My name is John Convert. The earth is my home and country. All
men are my kin, be they white, black, red, yellow or brown. I was born
somewhere on the Atlantic Ocean between Liverpool and New York while my
parents were emigrating from England to America. My mother died giving
me birth.
Whether or not it was because I first saw the light of day while in a
state of transit that caused me afterwards to acquire a thirst for
travel and adventure I cannot say, but true it is that during my whole
life I have been constantly moving from place to place. Then again my
father was a Methodist preacher and the good Lord ostensibly sent calls
to him from every nook and corner of the United States, for as long as I
can remember he too was continually changing abiding places. In fact, it
seems to me now when I look back that he seldom preached twice from the
same pulpit. Whether this was due to bad preaching or because he had the
courage to tell the good church folk many plain truths concerning
themselves, I know not, but I do know that in many ways my father was a
very good man, and also a very learned man--perhaps a little too learned
to be wise, for, like most great scholars he may have forced so much
book stuff into his brain that he left no room for progressive thoughts
of his own. He was, however, quite unlike many clergymen of the present
time who apparently think and certainly act as if their main work was to
flatter and amuse the women.
My father was straightforward, honest, kind and truthful. He was
dogmatic in his religious beliefs, combative by nature and never happier
than when fighting the Devil in his own corner, as he expressed it.
Furthermore, he was haughty, stubborn and egotistical, and these traits
of character I inherited from him. But while I honestly inherited
combativeness, stubbornness and egotism from my father, these
characteristics became very objectionable to him when displayed by
myself. So from my earliest childhood days there was a continual tug of
war between us to see who would be master of the house.
There was one inheritance I received from my father, however, that I
have always felt profoundly grateful to him for, namely, a sound
physical constitution. One of his earnest teachings, which, by the way,
was generally ridiculed, was that parents should not bring children into
the world unless they themselves had led temperate lives and were in
perfect health. In this respect he lived as he preached and practiced
temperateness in all things.
As I grew up I was taught to take care of myself physically, as well as
mentally and morally. At the age of eleven I was as large and strong as
most boys of sixteen, and at sixteen there were few men who could outdo
me in feats of strength and endurance. My education was limited to what
I learned at the different public schools which I attended, and without
exception I was always rated as the very worst boy of the whole
institution. I do not believe that ever a day passed that I was not sent
to the principal for refractory conduct, and in many instances I was
suspended or expelled entirely. Fighting was my chief offence as I was
always ready and anxious for a fistic encounter with any boy who was
willing to battle. In short, I was a very unruly child with an
independent spirit, who recognized the authority of nobody to give
arbitrary commands. In consequence of these facts my father and I had
frequent altercations and as my innate love for travel and adventure
asserted itself I ran away from home when but eleven years old, an age
when most children are mere babies, and started out in the world to
paddle my own canoe.
I began to earn my own living by selling newspapers on the streets of
Chicago, and from that time on became a wanderer upon the face of the
earth; working at various occupations and engaging in many schemes and
pursuits in an endeavor to pay my way through life, and during the next
eleven years I not only visited every part of the United States, but
nearly every country in the world, during which time I experienced
enough adventures to fill many books if put into print, but as they have
no bearing upon this narrative I must pass them by without mention. And
so at the age of twenty-two, being then a worthless vagabond, I was
aboard a three-masted schooner working my way from Australia to England
as a common sailor. That was during the year of 1881.
CHAPTER II
Phrenologists after studying the bumps on my head have invariably told
me that I lacked diplomacy. This, as I understand it, simply means an
incapability of acting the hypocrite. And it does seem under the present
system of human existence, that he who fails to practice hypocrisy finds
innumerable obstacles to overcome, which otherwise might be avoided. So,
lacking in this virtue, as diplomacy is sometimes styled, led me into
trouble with nearly everybody with whom I had any dealings. Indeed, had
it not been for this very defect in my nature, I should not have been
forced to pass through the most remarkable life, I think, ever
experienced by living man. And so the ship had barely passed out of the
harbor before I had undiplomatically aroused the enmity of all the other
seamen, and within two weeks I was thoroughly detested by every man
aboard from the captain to the cook. The crew was composed of an
unusually tough set of characters who avowed from the beginning that
they did not like Yankees and would make life insufferable for me before
reaching the next port. Fist fights became frequent and each one of the
sailors took a "punch at my head" at different times, only to learn that
I enjoyed that kind of sport and retaliated in a way that laid the
offender up for repairs afterward. The fact that in these encounters I
always gained an easy victory over my opponents caused a more intense
feeling of bitterness to exist than ever, and to make matters worse the
captain's wife, who was the only woman on the ship, took sides with me
against all the others. This apparently angered the captain, for on one
occasion, after he had given orders to have me put in irons for breaking
one of my shipmate's ribs, and she interceded in my behalf, he became
furious and threatened to have me thrown overboard. This threat,
however, only had the effect of making me more stubborn and defiant. As
a cowboy I had fought Indians and real bad men in the western states of
America, hunted elephants in Africa, tigers in India, and roughed it as
a gold seeker in Australia until I had become hardened against danger
and absolutely fearless, so that a menace against my life did not worry
me in the least. In fact, I really enjoyed the situation and dared the
captain to do his worst.
We had been out of Sydney about four weeks, and although I did not know
the exact latitude and longitude, I imagined we must have been a
considerable distance to the south and east of Cape Colony. It seems to
me now that I heard somebody say we were a little further south of the
regular course taken by vessels sailing around the Cape. It was one of
those pleasant nights in December, which one must experience in southern
waters to appreciate, that I took my turn on watch in the forward part
of the boat. It was past midnight and one of the darkest nights I have
ever known. The sea was rather calm but a good breeze astern caused the
ship to make good headway. I was all alone and paced back and forth from
side to side peering out into space and darkness ahead. Occasionally, I
would remain for several minutes leaning against one of the railings.
Except for the splashing of the sea against the side of the ship, all
was quiet. As I stood in one of my meditative moods, looking straight
ahead, I was suddenly attracted by something which caused me to turn
quickly and look in the opposite direction, and then I observed the
forms of four men coming quickly toward me, but before I realized their
object or had time to speak, they grabbed me by the arms and legs. I
struggled furiously for several moments and freeing my hands, dealt one
of them a vicious punch which felled him to the deck, and it seemed for
awhile that I would shake them all off, when suddenly I received a
terrible blow on the side of my head which partially stunned me, and
during the instant of inactivity on my part I was raised bodily high in
the air and plunged overboard into the waters below.
CHAPTER III
It was in a semi-conscious state that I struck the water head foremost,
and it was by instinct, I suppose, that I immediately started to swim
away from the side of the vessel.
Although I was a powerful swimmer it seemed as if I should never reach
the surface again. The sudden and unexpected plunge had caused me to go
into the sea with my mouth open and thereby swallow a large quantity of
salt water. When almost on the verge of strangulation, however, by a
supreme effort I finally managed to reach the air again, more dead than
alive. It was then some time before I regained my breath and fully
understood what had happened. I assure the reader that it was not a very
pleasant sensation to find myself out in the middle of the ocean without
even the support of a life preserver and the ship sailing away in the
distance. During my adventurous career I had faced death a score of
times without the slightest emotion or semblance of fright, but as I
floated about on that broad expanse of water alone I then realized for
the first time in my life what a tiny, helpless microbe I really was.
Oh, you little mortal known as man; you microscopical mixture of
protoplasm and egotism; you atomical speck of ignorance and avarice; you
who believe that the earth, moon, stars and all creation was
manufactured for your special benefit; if you could only be shown your
actual size in the universe as I was on that occasion, I think it would
result in the eradication of some of your innate vanity and selfishness,
thereby proving an incalculable blessing to you.
And now at last I was placed in a position whereby I could feel and
reflect upon my own littleness. I had absolutely no hope of being saved
from a watery grave, feeling that it was only a matter of an hour or two
before I should succumb to the inevitable and sink to the bottom of the
sea. Still I was unwilling to give up the few bones entrusted to my care
until finally overcome by exhaustion and so I kept afloat by lying on my
back and exerting myself as little as possible.
At length, however, my strength gave way entirely and I felt that the
time had arrived when I must come face to face with the God whom I had
been taught to believe in from infancy according to the Christian faith.
Then it seemed that a million thoughts crowded themselves into my brain
at the same time.
How would He receive me? What dire judgment would He pass upon me? Had I
ever done anything to merit His pleasure? I could not recollect one good
deed I had ever accomplished of sufficient importance to call to His
attention, but on the contrary I recalled a thousand bad acts I should
not have committed. I had spent a roving, aimless existence in which I
had done practically nothing to increase the production or knowledge of
the world, I had lived for myself alone--a life of mere pleasure
seeking, without ever a thought of others' rights or happiness. I
remembered that during a hunting expedition in Africa how I had once
shot and killed seventeen spring-bok in one day, and how I had swelled
up with conceit to know that I had destroyed the lives of that many
living things. True, they were not human beings, but were they not
creatures of nature as well as myself? What right had I to take the life
of any living thing at all, let alone for mere pleasure? What excuse
could I now offer if tried for that cowardly offence? Would I ask God's
forgiveness? If so, would it be any better to ask Him to forgive me just
before I died or immediately afterward? What difference would it make?
Then again I wondered if God would have any more respect for me if after
committing the deed I whined and begged for mercy. Would He not consider
that cowardly on my part? Would He not think better of me if I went
forward bravely and said: Here I am, O God, I know I have done wrong,
now punish me as Thou see'st fit. What would I do if I were to occupy
the Creator's position as supreme judge in a case of that kind? Would I
not think far more of the man who would come forward courageously and
take the punishment he deserved than the creeping, cringing and whining
being who begged for mercy? Would God the Creator be more unreasonable
about the matter than I, whom He had created?
I had always thanked God as well as my parents for the extraordinary
physical strength and courage with which I was endowed, and during my
life of trials and hardships that courage had never been shaken by man
or beast, but now I felt that the crucial test was about to be applied.
Would the courage the Almighty gave me weaken when about to face Him who
had bestowed it upon me?
With these and similar thoughts passing through my mind and my strength
exhausted, I took one long breath and sank beneath the water.
CHAPTER IV
Sinking slowly down with a feeling of drowsiness stealing away my
senses, I was suddenly awakened by my body coming to an abrupt stop and
resting upon some hard substance. My first impression was that I had
collided with some huge sea-monster and was about to be devoured. So
placing my hands and feet firmly upon it I sprang upward with all the
force I could command in an effort to get out of its reach, but to my
great surprise my head and half of my body shot out of the water into
the air above and down I came again square upon my feet with a jolt that
caused my teeth to rattle. And there I stood with my head and shoulders
out of the water while my lungs inhaled long draughts of pure fresh air.
I was too astonished to think and too weak to move, so I just stood
there motionless until I had regained my equilibrium. I could never
forget how sweet life seemed to me at that time. For a long time I
remained standing there without giving a thought as to what I was
resting upon, and when I did direct my attention to the question I was
incapable of forming a satisfactory solution to the mystery. According
to the charts there was no land in that part of the ocean. Could it be a
whale, I wondered? The more I thought of it the more perplexed I became.
The night was very dark and I could see nothing about me in any
direction, so I concluded that the only thing to do was to remain
standing just where I was until daybreak. It was a long and tedious wait
and I suffered much from stiffness and cold, but at last dawn appeared
and I anxiously strained my eyes, looking about in every direction. Then
my head nearly burst with a feeling of joyousness, for within two
hundred yards of me I discerned the outline of what appeared to be a
hill of rocks protruding from the deep, and as the light grew brighter I
started to wade slowly towards it. This was an extremely tiresome
undertaking, as the bed upon which I had been resting was very rocky and
uneven and I received many bruises before finally reaching its base. My
limbs too were thoroughly numb and almost refused to work, but with each
step ahead the water became shallower and my progress less arduous. As I
went forward I thought it was by the miraculous hand of God that my life
had been saved, for the time being at least. Then, again, it occurred to
me, that if it was the hand of the Almighty that saved me, it must have
been by His hand also that I was thrown overboard, for if He directed
the one act He must have surely directed the other. So why blame the
sailors for attempting to take my life if it was God's will that it
should be done?
Reaching the base of the rocks in a feeble condition and staggering like
a man under the influence of liquor, I threw myself down and went to
sleep just as the sun peeped over the horizon.
Several hours later I awakened with a start to find the burning sun
directly overhead and my body dripping with perspiration, my throat
parched and an awful feeling of thirst within me. My tongue felt as
though it was several inches thick and it seemed as though I would choke
immediately for the want of something to drink. Aside from the thirst,
however, I felt considerably refreshed and sprang to my feet with my
usual agility.
The first thing that attracted my attention as I looked about in a
curious manner, was that this strange pile of stone which protruded from
the sea, bore evidence of having once been a part of some mammoth
building which had apparently been shaken down and now lay in a chaotic
heap. Some of the stones were of tremendous size and different in shape
and quality from any others I have ever seen. Their designs showed that
wonderful skill must have been employed by the workmen who originally
cut and fit them into position. The whole mass formed a sort of a ragged
hill about one hundred feet in diameter and the highest point about
forty feet above the sea level.
In looking about, I discovered to my great delight that among the
crevices of the rocks there were many little places which acted as
basins to store up water from the recent rains, and I immediately took
advantage of these conditions to quench my thirst and bathe my face and
head. This done I began climbing up toward the top of the pile. It took
considerable time and patience to make the ascent, as the stones were
massed together in a most irregular and precipitous manner. Reaching the
highest point, I eagerly scanned the surrounding horizons with the hope
of seeing some passing ship, but nothing except sky and water met my
gaze.
Seating myself upon the topmost rock, I became buried in the depths of
meditation, and as I sat perched up there alone without even a glimpse
of a sea-fowl for companionship I felt as if I was the only living thing
extant; in fact, I actually imagined myself as being the center and
objective point of the universe. God in His great wisdom had flung me
there for some purpose or other and was watching my movements to the
exclusion of everything else, so I thought. Aye, even the warmth from
the rays of the sun had been arranged for my special benefit. How big a
little faith will make one feel sometimes.
For several hours I remained in one position, musing over my strange
situation and wondering what the final outcome would be. At last, after
the sun had gone down and darkness began to encircle me, I decided to
look about and find a suitable place to lie down and sleep for the
night. So I began to climb from rock to rock until I had reached the
opposite side of the jagged plateau, when suddenly one of the great
stones wobbled, I lost my balance and slid down an incline into a sort
of a pit. Then my feet struck something which momentarily stopped my
unexpected descent, but it proved to be a mere shell, and crashing
through it I landed with a violent jolt about ten feet further below.
Although somewhat stunned and a trifle confused by the suddenness of the
fall, I quickly regained my equanimity and looking upward I saw a small
hole which my body had passed through, the shaggy rocks above, the dark
sky and a few stars, but the strangest thing of all was, that the grotto
into which I had fallen was as light as day.
CHAPTER V
After all I had passed through during the preceding twenty-four hours,
then to be suddenly cast from the outer darkness into a hole as light as
if illuminated by the mid-day sun was a revelation that caused me to
seriously doubt my own senses. But having spent a life of travel and
adventure in which I had faced many unexpected dangers and inexplicable
sights, I soon regained my normal presence of mind and began to look
around with considerable interest. I was now fully convinced that the
great pile of stone which I had so strangely reached had at one time
formed a gigantic structure moulded together by human ingenuity.
The enclosure I found myself within might have been a hallway of the
edifice, but it was hard to positively distinguish it as such, for the
building in falling had placed things in an almost unrecognizable
condition. Some of the great stones from above had passed through the
ceiling and floor, while others had become wedged together before
reaching the surface, thus forming a very ragged and peculiar aperture.
In places where there were no obstructions I noticed a beautiful white
marble floor, while here and there a fragment of the walls showed that
the art of decorating had at one time reached a degree of proficiency
quite unapproachable by our modern artists. The space I found myself in
was too irregular in its outlines to form an adequate idea of what it
might have been used for. In some places I had to stoop to pass along,
while in others I was forced to climb over great blocks of stone.
After being in this passage about half an hour making an inspection of
the premises, I discovered a small opening which led into another
apartment. It appeared that a great door had separated the two rooms,
but had apparently become broken with the fall of the building and left
a space barely wide enough for my body to pass through. So in I went. Or
out I went, I was not quite sure which, for after squeezing through the
doorway a scene presented itself to my astonished gaze that I must
confess my inability to properly describe.
The view before me was a mammoth park with its variety of trees, flowers
and shrubbery of every possible description.
Straight ahead in the distance and plainly discernible was a running
brook which flowed along in a devious course and emptied into a lake far
beyond. And there, in all its majesty was the sun just sinking behind
the horizon, its brilliant radiance forming the most beautiful effects
of colorization upon the distant clouds it has ever been my good fortune
to behold.
I stood in motionless reverence for several minutes as my mind expanded
with wonder at the magnificent panorama, while my nostrils inhaled a
most delicious fragrance from the innumerable plants which seemed to put
new life into my enervated body.
What strange phenomena is this, I soliloquized? On the outside of the
earth the sun had gone down and darkness prevailed, while down here, in
under its crust I found it blazing away in all its splendor. In fact it
seemed that an entirely new world had suddenly been thrown in front of
me. Was I really alive or had I passed into some other world, was the
next question to enter my mind. I remembered that I had fallen a
considerable distance into this strange place and was somewhat stunned
in the tumble. Perhaps, thought I, my body is still lying somewhere
among the rocks above while this is only my spirit wandering about in a
fanciful manner. But no, looking downward I plainly saw my massive frame
dressed in sailor's clothes just as I had left the ship and I was
positive of being alive, awake, and in my right senses. And the wonders
multiplied. Looking to the right of the entrance, a short distance away,
I observed a marble platform elevated about two feet from the ground, in
the midst of huge flower-beds and shaded by large trees, upon which sat
a number of men, silent and motionless, with various musical instruments
in their hands as if they had just finished playing and were taking a
short rest. These instruments were of an entirely different pattern from
any I had ever seen. And the men! Oh, if I only had the power to show
them to my fellow beings as I saw them. What an imposing, noble looking
lot they were. They were all about the same size and not one of them
could have been less than eight feet in height. In looking at them
closely, I noticed that they possessed most magnificent physiques. They
were neither fat nor lean and their well-groomed bodies showed plainly
that no horse or piece of machinery ever received better care or
attention. While they appeared to be from thirty to forty years in ages,
not one of them wore a mustache, beard or any other shaggy decoration of
the face. Their foreheads were broad and massive and extended to the
center of their splendidly shaped craniums. Extraordinary intelligence,
kindness and gentleness showed forth from every feature of their
handsome countenances. Judging from their well-proportioned frames, each
one looked powerful enough to battle single handed with an elephant.
Judging from their faces not one of them would have hurt a flea. Each
man appeared to be buried in the depth of thought--serious thought--
notwithstanding every physiognomy plainly showed that the utmost
happiness and contentment existed within each, and good will between all
of them. The skin of their faces, hands and feet was as white as snow,
transparent, and backed by a beautiful pink. At first sight I thought
they were the gods. Uniformly clothed in closely fitting garments from
the ankles to the neck, their superb forms showed complete symmetrical
perfection. The hue of their raiment was indescribable for I had never
seen the like before. In fact the colors actually appeared to change
before my steady gaze. Their feet were bare, very shapely, and the toes
of greater length than ordinarily.