But knowing this, he went on in his profane determination to have the Vessels brought into the feast; and he and his princes, and his wives and concubines, drank wine in them, and praised their gods of gold, and of silver, and of brass, and iron, of wood and of stone.
But there fell a sudden hush on the great assembly, for without the slightest warning, there appeared the fingers of a man's hand which were writing on the plaster of the Wall, just above the candlestick of the King's Palace; and the King saw the part of the hand that wrote.
THE WRITING ON THE WALL.
Then his face grew white with fear, and his knees trembled and smote one against another, for he could not control his terror.
So he called aloud to fetch the soothsayers, and promised, that if any one could tell him the meaning, he should be clothed in purple, and have a chain of gold, and be made the third ruler in the Kingdom.
Then all the wise men hurried in, but they could not read the writing, nor give the interpretation.
Belshazzar commanded his servants to clothe Daniel in scarlet.
Belshazzar was very frightened. Then the Queen hastened into the Banqueting Hall, and told him not to be frightened, as there was one man in his Kingdom who could tell dark sayings, and in whom there was the spirit which, she supposed, could only come from the gods.