Overhead, the sky was of a uniform cold grey color—­the whole place being lit by a stupendous globe of pale fire, that swam a little above the far horizon, and shed a foamlike light above the quiet waters.

Beyond the gentle murmur of the sea, an intense stillness prevailed.  For a long while, I stayed there, looking out across its strangeness.  Then, as I stared, it seemed that a bubble of white foam floated up out of the depths, and then, even now I know not how it was, I was looking upon, nay, looking into the face of Her—­aye! into her face—­into her soul; and she looked back at me, with such a commingling of joy and sadness, that I ran toward her, blindly; crying strangely to her, in a very agony of remembrance, of terror, and of hope, to come to me.  Yet, spite of my crying, she stayed out there upon the sea, and only shook her head, sorrowfully; but, in her eyes was the old earth-light of tenderness, that I had come to know, before all things, ere we were parted.

“At her perverseness, I grew desperate, and essayed to wade out to her; yet, though I would, I could not.  Something, some invisible barrier, held me back, and I was fain to stay where I was, and cry out to her in the fullness of my soul, ‘O, my Darling, my Darling—­’ but could say no more, for very intensity.  And, at that, she came over, swiftly, and touched me, and it was as though heaven had opened.  Yet, when I reached out my hands to her, she put me from her with tenderly stern hands, and I was abashed—­”

THE FRAGMENTS[2]

(The legible portions of the mutilated leaves.)

... through tears ... noise of eternity in my ears, we parted ...  She whom I love.  O, my God ...!

I was a great time dazed, and then I was alone in the blackness of the night.  I knew that I journeyed back, once more, to the known universe.  Presently, I emerged from that enormous darkness.  I had come among the stars ... vast time ... the sun, far and remote.

I entered into the gulf that separates our system from the outer suns.  As I sped across the dividing dark, I watched, steadily, the ever-growing brightness and size of our sun.  Once, I glanced back to the stars, and saw them shift, as it were, in my wake, against the mighty background of night, so vast was the speed of my passing spirit.

I drew nigher to our system, and now I could see the shine of Jupiter.  Later, I distinguished the cold, blue gleam of the earthlight....  I had a moment of bewilderment.  All about the sun there seemed to be bright, objects, moving in rapid orbits.  Inward, nigh to the savage glory of the sun, there circled two darting points of light, and, further off, there flew a blue, shining speck, that I knew to be the earth.  It circled the sun in a space that seemed to be no more than an earth-minute.

... nearer with great speed.  I saw the radiances of Jupiter and Saturn, spinning, with incredible swiftness, in huge orbits.  And ever I drew more nigh, and looked out upon this strange sight—­the visible circling of the planets about the mother sun.  It was as though time had been annihilated for me; so that a year was no more to my unfleshed spirit, than is a moment to an earth-bound soul.