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happened to Poland; but the same thing has not happened to Britain yet—and will never happen. In the map of the heavens for September the 3rd, 1939, you will find that Britain’s stars are more powerful than Hitler’s. He thought that he was only going to launch a short, devastating attack on Poland on the 2nd, whereas, actually, he precipitated a second World War; and that is where this servant of Darkness has at last been trapped by the powers of Light.’
    â€˜Just supposing—
supposing,
mind—that you were right about this thing, how d’you think Hitler’s people would go to work in passing on information by occult means?’
    â€˜Whoever secures the information about the sailings must either be capable of maintaining continuity of thought while awake and asleep or pass the information on to somebody else who can do that.’
    â€˜What the deuce are you talking about?’
    De Richleau smiled as he took his friend’s glass over to the side-table and refilled it. ‘To explain what I mean I shall have to take you a little further along the path of the Old Wisdom. Since you’re a Christian you already subscribe to the belief that when you die your spirit lives on and that what we call Death is really Life Eternal?’
    â€˜Certainly.’
    â€˜But there is much more to it than that. As I remarked some time ago, the basis of every great religion, without exception, is the belief in Reincarnation and that at intervals which vary considerably each one of us is born into the world again in a fresh body in order that we may gainfurther experience and a greater command over ourselves. Those periods are rather like short terms at school, since in them we are compelled to learn, whether we will or no, and we rarely manage to achieve happiness for any considerable length of time. The periods when we are free of a body, which are much longer, are the holidays in which we gain strength for new trials, enjoy the companionship of all the dear friends that we have made on our long journey through innumerable past lives and live in a far higher and more blissful state than is ever possible on Earth. That is the real Eternal Life; yet each time that we are born again in the flesh we do not entirely lose touch with that other spiritual plane where we live our true lives and know real happiness. Whenever we sleep our spirit leaves its body and is free to refortify itself for the trials of the morrow by visiting the astral sphere to meet and talk with others many of whose bodies are also sleeping on Earth.
    â€˜Some people dream a lot, others very little—or so they say; but what they actually mean is that they are incapable of remembering their dreams when they wake. The fact is that we all dream—or, if you prefer, leave our bodies— from the very moment we fall asleep. A dream, therefore, is really no more than a confused memory of our activities while the body is sleeping. By writing down everything one can remember of one’s dreams, immediately upon waking, it is perfectly possible gradually to train oneself to recall what one’s spirit did when it was absent from the body. It needs considerable strength of will to rouse oneself at once and the process of establishing a really clear memory requires a very great patience; but you may take my word for it that it can be done. If you doubt me, I could easily produce at least half a dozen other people living in England at the present time who have trained themselves to a degree in which they can recall, without the least difficulty, their nightly journeyings. And, of course, the spirit needs no training to remember what it has done in the body during the daytime. That’s what I mean by continuity of thought when waking and sleeping.’
    â€˜I seldom dream,’ announced Sir Pellinore, ‘and if ever I do it’s just an absurd, confused muddle.’
    â€˜That is the case with most people, but