Oh! now we knew, they were open also to another
soul. We could see nothing save the Altar and
the Effigy, we could only hear the slow chant of the
priests and priestesses and the snake-like hiss of
the rushing fires. Yet we knew that our hearts
were as an open book to One who watched beneath the
Mother’s shadowing wings.
THE COURT OF DEATH
Now the curtains were open. Before us appeared
a chamber hollowed from the thickness of the altar,
and in its centre a throne, and on the throne a figure
clad in waves of billowy white flowing from the head
over the arms of the throne down to its marble steps.
We could see no more in the comparative darkness of
that place, save that beneath the folds of the drapery
the Oracle held in its hand a loop-shaped, jewelled
sceptre.
Moved by some impulse, we did as Oros had done, prostrating
ourselves, and there remained upon our knees.
At length we heard a tinkling as of little bells,
and, looking up, saw that the sistrum-shaped sceptre
was stretched towards us by the draped arm which held
it. Then a thin, clear voice spoke, and I thought
that it trembled a little. It spoke in Greek,
but in a much purer Greek than all these people used.
“I greet you, Wanderers, who have journeyed
so far to visit this most ancient shrine, and although
doubtless of some other faith, are not ashamed to
do reverence to that unworthy one who is for this time
its Oracle and the guardian of its mysteries.
Rise now and have no fear of me; for have I not sent
my Messenger and servants to conduct you to this Sanctuary?”
Slowly we rose, and stood silent, not knowing what
to say.
“I greet you, Wanderers,” the voice repeated.
“Tell me thou”—and the sceptre
pointed towards Leo—“how art thou
named?”
“I am named Leo Vincey,” he answered.
“Leo Vincey! I like the name, which to
me well befits a man so goodly. And thou, the
companion of—Leo Vincey?”
“I am named Horace Holly.”
“So. Then tell me, Leo Vincey and Horace
Holly, what came ye so far to seek?”
We looked at each other, and I said—“The
tale is long and strange. O—but by
what title must we address thee?”
“By the name which I bear here, Hes.”
“O Hes,” I said, wondering what name she
bore elsewhere.
“Yet I desire to hear that tale,” she
went on, and to me her voice sounded eager. “Nay,
not all to-night, for I know that you both are weary;
a little of it only. In sooth, Strangers, there
is a sameness in this home of contemplations, and
no heart can feed only on the past, if such a thing
there be. Therefore I welcome a new history from
the world without. Tell it me, thou, Leo, as
briefly as thou wilt, so that thou tell the truth,
for in the Presence of which I am a Minister, may
nothing else be uttered.”
“Priestess,” he said, in his curt fashion,
“I obey. Many years ago when I was young,
my friend and foster-father and I, led by records of
the past, travelled to a wild land, and there found
a certain divine woman who had conquered time.”
