The herald., 1898-04-17

power. his belief in himself (chiefest
heritage of a scientist), slipping away
from him, he knew he was conquered.
undone by the mysterious power he
thought he had chained to himself.
A minute or two later he felt his ten
sion slackening, his muscles becoming
relaxed, and then a sea of mist surged
before his eyes, and had not Grant up
held him he would have fallen.
However he recovered himself, and
then he crossed the room to a chair.
II can do no more," he said: AL
power has gone out of me-"
After the professors failure nothing
else was done. The test of galvanism,
which had been proposed by Sir Henry
Bristowe, and agreed to, was post
poned. and all three physicians retired
to the library to consult and compare
notes, Spinoza, Grant and Mr.. Valance
going down into the smoking room.
That night Evan Grant fell asleep
thinking OF Ethel Valance, and dreamt
dream. He dreamed that he was
crossing sandy waste hurriedly, and
he was not alone. A woman was by his
side. They were fleeing toward some
rocks which shone in the light Of the
moon (near which waved some palm
trees.) The night air blew In his face,
hot with the heat Of the sun-scorched
sand. and it stirred the thin veil Of
the woman at his side, and the long
robe which she wore. He turned to
look, and the face he saw was that of
Ethel Valance. The same large, dark
eyes, the same arched brows, and rich
hued skin the same figure, the same
features only in the moonlight the skin
looked richer in coloring, and some-
what darker.
He was conscious that the words he
spoke to her were words Of an un-
known tongue, and the words the wo-
man replied to him were in the same
language, and he understood them, al
though he did not know their name.
They pressed on and at length they
reached the rocks. A figure came to-
ward them-another woman, older than
his companion.
Thou hast come" she said. IT have
waited since the sun sank behind the
temple walls yonder"
"Dost thou believe in my spell?" she
continued. thou, Taosiri, and thou,
Lathyrus?"
And they answered, Yea, truly"
1T Is WELL" said the woman. stand
here. Taosiri, so that the light of the
moon fall full on thy face.''
In his dreams he saw the girl stand
as she was hidden, and then the older
woman lifted the veil covering the
girls face.
Look on me-" she said.
He watched and he saw her gaze into
the girls eyes; then she raised her arm
as If about to perform an incarnation,
and then she passed her hands before
the figure thrice. and once again. Grad
hn hp f,,
sleep. and then the girl gradually sank
down until she lay, with face upturned
in the moonlight, prostrate on the sand.
The woman stepped close to him and
said: None can awaken her save
Rephri. She sleeps the sleep of the
kings, and the great dead.
See! Does she still live? Take her
hand, and I will show you the future,
and the past"
And then he dreamed that he stopped
and took the girls hand as he was bid
den, and then the desert and the rocks,
the palms that waved above them. the
woman looking down on him and the
girl whose hand he grasped, faded from
sight. And, in their place, he saw-as
If he stood upon hill--a great battle
on plain below him. In the sunlight
he could see the flash of spears, the
dust stirred by the chariots and horse.
men, the falling men, and here and
there dying soldier with his bare
limbs stiffening in the sand. But no
sound came from the desert nor the
contending host. and he was afraid Of
the silence.
This vision faded; and again he saw
the desert. But this time the host Of
men he saw were working. Great
stones were being drawn across the
sand, and the wheels of the low car
riages on which they lay sank deep
into the burning sand. An endless
string of slaves, all pulling at one long
rope, drew the trolleys, and men with
whips walked beside them, and when
any fell or stumbled by the way the
whips cut the air, and where they
struck they left their mark, and often
the red blood came from the back Of
the stricken slave.
And other men made bricks Of earth
HARDLY, and yet others laid the huge
blocks of masonry, till they mounted
skyward. And others-an army of men
thick as ants-hauled the massive
stones. And all was silent as before.
And then he was aroused by the wo-
man and he was still in the desert,
with the girl at his feet
Thou hast SEEM" questioned the
woman.
Yes" have seen," he replied.
IT will save Taosiri from the harm
of the future. But lest aught happen,
I will show you how she may be put
to sleep and awakened"
And then he saw the woman kneel
down beside the girl and take her hand,
the girls right in her left; she placed
them-her own hand beneath-upor
the girls bare breast above the heart.
With her right hand he saw her make
q movement as if forming two triangles
which intersected. And next he saw
the girl unclose her eyes. And then
the vision faded. and he awoke.
The desert, the companions of his
dreams, had vanished, but the feeling
Of the reality of the scenes he had wit
messed and in which he had played his
part still remained. He could not shake
off the delusion for the space of some
minutes, and SO he lay back looking at
the sunlight, which stole round the
corner of his window, then across the
carpet and then upon the coverlet Of
the bed until it fell athwart his face
and effectually reused him.
The tones Of the girls voice in his
dreams, and those Of the elder woman
called Rephri, rang in his ears dis
tinctly, amid the noises Of the street,