"Look!" he said presently, touching me on the arm.
I raised myself from the floor, and turned my eyes towards the spot where the altar had been. The smoke was clearing off; and, as it cleared, I saw, by the dim light of the single lamp, two figures among the pieces of charred wood. One was kneeling, and I recognised in it the form of the seer. The other was standing, and it was the figure of a woman.
"O Goddess-Queen!" muttered the seer in a low tone, "I thank thee for once again coming to me in my old age. It shall be as thou commandest. It were better to destroy it for ever, than to permit it to be the cause of further bloodshed. Maybe, its spirit shall be wafted to the palace wherein thou now dwellest; and, Great Goddess, if it be thy pleasure, permit the spirit of Raspul, thy slave, to pass, at the same time, into thy service in the other world."
The smoke had by this time completely cleared away, and the sheik and I, eager to see the better, quietly rose from the ground, and stood behind one of the pillars. I was now able to see the figure of the goddess distinctly. I looked intently, and it seemed to me that what I saw was a corpse, tightly swathed in grave-clothes. It stood motionless, and as the face was turned away from us, we were unable to distinguish its features. Once or twice I thought that I detected a slight quiver in the body; but I was in a state of intense nervous excitement, and was capable of imagining almost anything. Thus, behind the shelter of the pillar, we stood looking at the strange pair, and anxiously awaiting developments. There was now no sound; Raspul still knelt before the goddess, who neither spoke nor moved; and the moments that passed seemed to us to be endless. At length, the seer rose slowly from his knees, and stood erect, his head bent forward, and his arms hanging by his side. Then, turning in our direction, as if suddenly remembering our presence, he spoke in a solemn, impressive voice which resounded through the whole temple.
"Faris-ibn-Feyzul and that other man," he said, "listen to the command of the Great Goddess Sophana. When you leave this her temple, if you ever leave it alive, you must banish from your minds aught that you have witnessed herein. You will not move from the spot whereon you are now standing until the goddess grants you permission to do so. Should you disobey, then will the curse of the gods be upon you, and by their fires shall you perish. These are the words of the Beloved of the Gods, that Immortal Sophana, who during her sojourn in this world was Queen of the Assyrians. I, Raspul, her slave, have said it."
Having delivered himself of this warning, to which neither of us replied, the seer turned again towards the goddess, and raising his robe took from his waist a roll of silk. Sweeping clean a small space on the floor, he laid the roll upon it, and then began to unwind fold after fold of silk wrappings, and it was soon apparent that a belt was hidden within. Have I lived another life, in another world? I kept saying to myself, as I watched what was taking place. I had, perhaps, dreamed of it; but certainly I had somewhere before seen it all clearly enough. I knew exactly what was going to happen, and that which I expected did actually happen. The last fold of silk was unwound, and there lay in Raspul's hands the GOLDEN GIRDLE. I was not astonished, but the sight of it made me shiver with excitement, until my teeth chattered, and so close was I standing to the sheik that I could feel that he was in much the same state as myself. Even he, the immovable Bedouin, was showing emotion.
"The Serpent Belt," he gasped out in an undertone.
"Yes," I whispered in reply, "it is good to have lived even to have seen it. But what will he do with it?"
"Hush," said the sheik, "let us wait and see."
We were not left long in suspense as to forthcoming events, for no sooner did the seer expose the belt to view than, kissing it reverently, he clasped it round the waist of his goddess. Then, kneeling once more before her, he prayed aloud.