He is, I take it, a theosophist, or worshipper of the God of knowledge, the highest grade of which is the adept.

This man and his companions have not attained this high position or they could not have crossed the sea without contamination.

It is probable that they are all advanced chelas who hope in time to attain to the supreme honour of adeptship." "But, father," interrupted my sister, "this does not explain why men of such sanctity and attainments should choose to take up their quarters on the shores of a desolate Scotch bay." "Ah, there you get beyond me," my father answered.

"I may suggest, however, that it is nobody's business but their own, so long as they keep the peace and are amenable to the law of the land." "Have you ever heard," I asked, "that these higher priests of whom you speak have powers which are unknown to us ?" "Why, Eastern literature is full of it.

The Bible is an Eastern book, and is it not full of the record of such powers from cover to cover?
It is unquestionable that they have in the past known many of Nature's secrets which are lost to us.