"Yet this can be and mayhap will be, that presently I lose my path in the ways of everlasting darkness, and become strengthless and forgotten as are those who went before me, while my crown of Power shines on younger brows.Alas! I grow old, since aeons of sleep have not renewed my strength.My time is short and yet Iwould not die as mortals must.Oh! God of my people, whom I have served so well, save me from the death I dread.For I would not die.Give me a sign; give me the ancient, sacred sign!"So he spoke, lifting his proud and splendid head and watching the statue with wide, expectant eyes.
"Thou dost not answer," he cried again."Wouldst thou desert me, Fate? Then beware lest I set up some new god against thee and hurl thee from thine immemorial throne.While I live I still have powers, I who am the last of thy worshippers, since it seems that my daughter turns her back on thee.I will get me to the sepulchre of the kings and take counsel with the dust of that wizard who first taught me wisdom.Even from the depths of death he must come to my call clad in a mockery of life, and comfort me.A little while yet I will wait, and if thou answer not, then Fate, soon I'll tear the sceptre from thy hand, and thou shalt join the company of dead gods." And throwing aside the sword, again Oro laid down his head upon the ground and stretched out his arms in the last abasement of supplication.
"Come," whispered Yva, "while there is yet time.Presently he will seek this place to descend to the sepulchre, and if he learns that we have read his heart and know him for a coward deserted of his outworn god, surely he will blot us out.Come, and be swift and silent."We crept out of the chapel, Yva leading, and along the circle of the great dome till we reached the gates.Here I glanced back and perceived that Oro, looking unutterably small in that vastness, looking like a dead man, still lay outstretched before the stern-faced, unanswering Effigy which, with all his wisdom, he believed to be living and divine.Perhaps once it was, but if so its star had set for ever, like those of Amon, Jupiter and Baal, and he was its last worshipper.
Now we were safe, but still we sped on till we reached the portico of our sleeping place.Then Yva turned and spoke.
"It is horrible," she said, "and my soul sickens.Oh, I thank the Strength which made it that I have no desire to rule the earth, and, being innocent of death, do not fear to die and cross his threshold.""Yes, it is horrible," I answered."Yet all men fear death.""Not when they have found love, Humphrey, for that I think is his true name, and, with it written on his brow, he stands upon the neck of Fate who is still my father's god.""Then he is not yours, Yva?"
"Nay.Once it was so, but now I reject him; he is no longer mine.As Oro threatens, and perchance dare do in his rage, I have broken his chain, though in another fashion.Ask me no more;perhaps one day you will learn the path I trod to freedom."Then before I could speak, she went off:
"Rest now, for within a few hours I must come to lead you and your companions to a terrible place.Yet whatever you may see or hear, be not afraid, Humphrey, for I think that Oro's god has no power over you, strong though he was, and that Oro's plans will fail, while I, who too have knowledge, shall find strength to save the world."Then of a sudden, once again she grew splendid, almost divine;no more a woman but as it were an angel.Some fire of pure purpose seemed to burn up in her and to shine out of her eyes.
Yet she said little.Only this indeed:
"To everyone, I think, there comes the moment of opportunity when choice must be made between what is great and what is small, between self and its desires and the good of other wanderers in the way.This day that moment may draw near to you or me, and if so, surely we shall greet it well.Such is Bastin's lesson, which I have striven to learn."Then she flung her arms about me and kissed me on the brow as a mother might, and was gone.
Strangely enough, perhaps because of my mental exhaustion, for what I had passed through seemed to overwhelm me so that I could no longer so much as think with clearness, even after all that Ihave described I slept like a child and awoke refreshed and well.
I looked at my watch to find that it was now eight o'clock in the morning in this horrible place where there was neither morn, nor noon, nor night, but only an eternal brightness that came Iknew not whence, and never learned.
I found that I was alone, since Bickley and Bastin had gone to fill our bottles with the Life-water.Presently they returned and we ate a little; with that water to drink one did not need much food.It was a somewhat silent meal, for our circumstances were a check on talk; moreover, I thought that the others looked at me rather oddly.Perhaps they guessed something of my midnight visit to the temple, but if so they thought it wisest to say nothing.
Nor did I enlighten them.
Shortly after we had finished Yva appeared.She was wonderfully quiet and gentle in her manner, calm also, and greeted all of us with much sweetness.Of our experiences during the night she said no word to me, even when we were alone.One difference I noticed about her, however; that she was clothed in garments such as Ihad never seen her wear before.They were close fitting, save for a flowing cape, and made of some grey material, not unlike a coarse homespun or even asbestos cloth.Still they became her very well, and when I remarked upon them, all she answered was that part of our road would be rough.Even her feet were shod with high buskins of this grey stuff.
