Evening journal., 1922-12-05
CHAPTER III.

1ighl except the flicker of the lol
smolderlng in the fireplace: III
zthin line of It appeared family alor
sthe sill of the door"
He paused.
'sThe fireplace. Excellency, Is
the end OF the great room. direct
opposite this door into the hall b,
fore which / always sat when th
Master was within. The fireplace
OF black marble with an immens
black-marble hearth. And the gii
which l had brought the Maste
stands on one side OF the FIRE, on thi
marble hearth, as though 1t were
single andiron."
The man turned back into tn
heart OF his story.
Il knew by the vague sense o
pressure that the devocations of th'
thing we're again on the way. And
began to suffer in the spirit for thu
Masters safety. Interference, botf
by act and by the viii. were denied
me. Blu. there is an anxiety Of
snlrit. Excliency. that the uncer-
tainty of an issue makes intoler-
abie."
The man paused.
The pressure continued-and the
silence II was nearly midnight.
could not distinguish any act or mo-
ton Of the Master. and in fear I
crept over TO the door and looked In
through the crevice along the
Threshold.
THE Master sat by his table; he
was straining forward his hands
gripping the arms OF his chair. His
eyes and every tense instinct of the
man were concentrated on the fire.
place. The red light of the embers
was in the room. / could see him
clearly. and the table beyond him
with the calculation; but the fire-
place seemed strangely out of per-
sreotive-it extended above me.
MY gift to the Master not more
: than four hand-breaths In length,
including the base, stood now like
an immense bronze on an extended
marble slab beside a gigantic fire.
Mace This effect OF extension put
the ton OF the fireplace and the en-
lareed andiron. above its pedestal,
ont of my line of vision. Everything
else In the chamber. holding its nor
NAL dimensions. was visible to me.
II have said, ExceIlency, that my
angle of vision along the crevice OF
the doorsill was sharply cut midway
IF this now enlarged fireplace. From /
the direction and lift OF the Masters
face. he was watching something
shove this lixe and directly over the
pedestal of the andiron. watched
also. nattening my face against the
sill for the thing to appear.
and It did appear.
"a naked foot became slowly
visIble, as though someone were
descending with extreme care from
ahe elevation OF the andiron to the
great marble hearth, under this
strange enlargement, now some dis
tance below"
The big Oriental paused, and
sDoked down at me.
Il knew then. Excellency that
he Master was lostl The creative
energies of the Spirit suffer no divi-
sion of worship; those of the body
must be wholly denied. / had warn /
ed the Master. And in travail. Ex-
ceIency. 1 turned over with my face
20 the floor.
But there is always hope. hope ,
over the certainties of experience, I
over the certainties of knowledge.
Perhaps the Master even now sus-
tained in the spirit would put away
the devocation. No. Excellency, !
I was not misled I knew the Mas }
.sse7=was beyond hopel But the will to q
hope moved me, and turned back G
10 the crevice at the doorsilL"
He paused.
There was now a delicate odor, a
evorywhere. family, like the blossom $
Of the little bitter apple here in
your country. The red embers in
the fireplace gave out steady light; c
ana In the glow OF it. on the marble Z
hearth. stood the one who had de- '
scended from the elevation of the v
andiron." '
Again the man hesitated, as for D
en- accurate method Of expression.
I'm the flesh, ExceHency, there Z
Was color that would not appear in
III image The hair was yellow. [
ard the eyes were blue; and against 7
tn black marble OF the fireplace the :
30 iv was conspicuously white.
But in every other aspect OF her
Excl ency. the woman was on the
Hearth In the flesh as she Is in the
clutch OF the savage male figure in
the image.
There IS no dress or ornament,
es, you will recall. Excellency. Not
eyer an ear-jewel or an anklet, as
though the graver of the image felt
that the inherent beauty Of his fig
ore could take nothing from these
osten ations.
a Tho wofnan's heavy, yellow hair
was wound around her head. as in
the image. She shivered a little,
"a ntiy. like a naked child in an un-
lccustomed draught OF air. although
shc stood on the warm. marble
hearth and within the red glow of
lnc Hre-
THE voice from the male figure
u the image. which / had brought
he Master. and which stood as the
Lndirons now so immensely on
Tged. was beginning again to
y eak. Tho thin metallic sound
'semed to splinter against the dense