I saw a man draw the birds from heaven and dormant reptiles from the soil, but ask me not to tell how.  A few of these Zikites have discovered some wonderful secrets of nature and will not disclose them except to certain ones of their own lineage.  One of these secrets is the art of embalming the dead so perfectly that human features are retained forever unless destroyed by fire or human effort.  The embalming fluid contains some of the elements not found in our world, but this is not the total secret.  The body must lie in an air-tight receptacle into which a secret gas is pumped.  The dead body, lying in this receptacle for two hours, absorbs certain parts of the gas which enters the pores and touches those parts of the dead body not reached by the injected fluid.  By this process no part of the body is subject to putrefaction and the muscles all retain their rigidity, so that one hundred years after burial the features are full, although discolored.

Not many of the common people are thus embalmed.  But the bodies of prominent men and women are thus treated at government expense and unborn generations can look upon the full contour of their faces.

Another secret held by these experts is the art of maintaining youthful vigor in old age.  This is a very expensive method and the government prohibits any one securing this treatment who has not won special honor in one or another particular channel.  One of the highest distinctions bestowed upon any citizen of Zik is to grant him the “Angel’s Honor,” which entitles him to receive the Vigor Treatment during the balance of his natural life.  This one thing, more than any other, is the secret of Zik having so long a list of illustrious characters.  It is the ambition of each boy or girl to make progress and some day win the “Angel’s Honor.”

The religious life of these Zikites is unusually intense.  Their language is much more cumbersome than ours.  They have a small book which contains a list of great truths whose authors claim to have been influenced by the All-Powerful, or the same as our God.  This book has had a remarkable history, and has moulded the life and character of millions.  Every person is left to his own notions in religion, and we see here the same picture that confronts us on our own planet, the very good and the very bad in the same house and neighborhood.  They build but few churches, but here and there a home of a believer is the center of a worshiping company.  On special occasions the worshipers rent or secure large public buildings and have an enthusiastic time.

At many places their Bible speaks of a place where the departed go after death, beyond the Zik life.  These worshipers are linked to their God by the same kind of love-chords that bind Christians to their Master in our world.

You cannot imagine my interest and my joy as I learned that the Zikites are looking forward to a period of time corresponding to our Millennium.  Their religious literature is full of references to this coming golden age, and many poetical compositions point to it with rapturous melody of language.