"HE!" ejaculated the Swede: "can this be he?"
"Whom all await?" added the other leaders, anxiously.
"The Hierophant of Memphis—the Grand Copt?" muttered the three hundred voices.
"Will you deny me now?" demanded the Man from the East, triumphantly.
"No," cried the phantoms, bowing to the ground.
"Speak, Master," said the president and the five chiefs, bowing, "and we obey."
The visitor seemed to reflect during the silence, some instants long.
"Brothers," he finally said, "you may lay aside your swords uselessly fatiguing your arms, and lend me an attentive ear, for you will learn much in the few words I address you. The source of great rivers is generally unknown, like most divine things: I know whither I go, but not my origin. When I first opened my eyes to consciousness, I was in the sacred city of Medina, playing about the gardens of the Mufti Suleyman. I loved this venerable old man like a father, but he was none of mine, and he addressed me with respect though he held me in affection. Three times a day he stood aside to let another old man come to me whose name I ever utter with gratitude mixed with awe. This august receptacle of all human wisdom, instructed in all things by the Seven Superior Spirits, bore the name of Althotas. He was my tutor and master, and venerable friend, for he is twice the age of the oldest here."
Long shivers of anxiety hailed this speech, spoken in solemnity, with majestic gesticulation and in a voice severe while smooth.