“Listen to me, stranger,” said the Emperor sharply, giving expression to what had been in his mind before.  “My empire is an empire of the living; my people are a people of the living and not of the dead.  You are superfluous here.  I do not know who you are, I do not know what you have seen There, but if you lie, I hate your lies, and if you tell the truth, I hate your truth.  In my heart I feel the pulse of life; in my hands I feel power, and my proud thoughts, like eagles, fly through space.  Behind my back, under the protection of my authority, under the shadow of the laws I have created, men live and labour and rejoice.  Do you hear this divine harmony of life?  Do you hear the war cry that men hurl into the face of the future, challenging it to strife?”

Augustus extended his arms reverently and solemnly cried out:  “Blessed art thou, Great Divine Life!”

But Lazarus was silent, and the Emperor continued more severely:  “You are not wanted here.  Pitiful remnant, half devoured of death, you fill men with distress and aversion to life.  Like a caterpillar on the fields, you are gnawing away at the full seed of joy, exuding the slime of despair and sorrow.  Your truth is like a rusted sword in the hands of a night assassin, and I shall condemn you to death as an assassin.  But first I want to look into your eyes.  Mayhap only cowards fear them, and brave men are spurred on to struggle and victory.  Then will you merit not death but a reward.  Look at me, Lazarus.”

At first it seemed to divine Augustus as if a friend were looking at him, so soft, so alluring, so gently fascinating was the gaze of Lazarus.  It promised not horror but quiet rest, and the Infinite dwelt there as a fond mistress, a compassionate sister, a mother.  And ever stronger grew its gentle embrace, until he felt, as it were, the breath of a mouth hungry for kisses...  Then it seemed as if iron bones protruded in a ravenous grip, and closed upon him in an iron band; and cold nails touched his heart, and slowly, slowly sank into it.

“It pains me,” said divine Augustus, growing pale; “but look, Lazarus, look!”

Ponderous gates, shutting off eternity, appeared to be slowly swinging open, and through the growing aperture poured in, coldly and calmly, the awful horror of the Infinite.  Boundless Emptiness and Boundless Gloom entered like two shadows, extinguishing the sun, removing the ground from under the feet, and the cover from over the head.  And the pain in his icy heart ceased.

“Look at me, look at me, Lazarus!” commanded Augustus, staggering...

Time ceased and the beginning of things came perilously near to the end.  The throne of Augustus, so recently erected, fell to pieces, and emptiness took the place of the throne and of Augustus.  Rome fell silently into ruins.  A new city rose in its place, and it too was erased by emptiness.  Like phantom giants, cities, kingdoms, and countries swiftly fell and disappeared into emptiness—­swallowed up in the black maw of the Infinite...