"'Welcome to our Holy House, O daughter of the King, and man of Ramos! Welcome to the Temple of God. Thy faith is strong within thee, my son. Have no fear, and follow me without dismay, for heaven shall lend thee strength equal to thy weakness.'
"Then, turning round, he led the way into a gorgeous sanctuary under one of the smaller domes. To say that I was astonished at the magnificence around me, conveys but a faint idea of my actual feelings. It was a Temple of gems and costly fabrics, enough to excite the envy of a Solomon, and fill his soul with despair. There were altars and curious structures whose uses were unknown to me, wrought in solid gold and garnished with jewels; there were rows and rows of venerable Priests ranged in close array round each altar, some bearing pots of incense slung by chains of gold, others with rods of gold, others yet again with curious lamps that burnt so brilliantly that the eye could not look upon them without becoming almost blind to all other objects. Then there was a sumptuous throne, encircled round about with a low trellis-work of gold, and behind that a lofty gallery, also filled with Priests. As we entered a dirge-like chant was sung to strains of music, where and how played I know not, which vibrated through our very souls in its harmonious beauty. Coming to a pause before the trellis-work, Echri bade Volinè and myself stand there together, and then, escorted by two aged Priests, he went and sat him down thereon. Then the music and the singing ceased, and a great silence fell upon the assembled throng, all eyes being fixed upon the throne, and we who stood before it. Volinè clung to me, and I could feel that ever and anon she trembled violently. All were apparently waiting now for Echri to act. Soon he did so, by addressing me:
"'Man of Ramos, the hour hath now arrived when, if thy faith or thy courage hath not failed thee, thou mayest, by the ordinance of Eternal Fire, obtain a greater span of years for thy decaying body. If thou hast the nerve within thee to let this living Fire embrace thee, then shalt thou become possessed of that for which thy heart hath craved.'
"Then, addressing Volinè, he continued:
"'And hast thou, Volinè, daughter of Gathma's mighty King, sought and got thy royal Father's free consent to take this man of Ramos for thy husband? If so be thou hast, speak!'
"'In truth, most Holy Echri, the King hath said that this shall be, and I assure thee this man of Ramos, standing by my side, goes through thy sacred ceremony with the King's full knowledge and approval unto that end,' Volinè answered, in a voice choked with the emotion that was fast overcoming her.
"'Enough! Now let us, therefore, enter upon our solemn duty.'
"And as he finished speaking, the multitude of Priests formed themselves into procession; the incense-throwers swung their cups to and fro, the lamp-bearers hoisted their lights on high, and the singers in the gallery commenced their solemn anthems. When they had finished singing, the grand procession began its imposing movement to the distant strains of some wind-instrument of great power and loud tone, on which twelve priestly artistes played, with marvellous precision, a march of soul-stirring beauty, though sad and tenderly plaintive in its cadence. At the end of this long company of marching Priests came Volinè, Echri, and myself; and so we wended our way around the spacious Hall and under an archway, into a larger building which was beneath the mightiest of the three brazen domes.
"This larger Temple was fitted up even more gorgeously than the one we had left; and right in the centre thereof was a High Altar, at the front of which flowed a constant stream of molten fire, smokeless and silent, yet so brilliant that it lighted up the vast dome into its uttermost recesses with a noonday brightness. The heat, as we passed within fifty paces of this wondrous fire-stream, was great, and beads of perspiration formed themselves on my face; but these were more the result of the great and awful excitement that filled my brain, than the glow of heat that radiated from this living furnace. As we passed, Echri said:
"'Behold, my son, Fire that hath never ceased to burn since Gathma sprang from chaos! It is the primordial force that hath sustained and nourished Life from the beginning of all things! yea, the blood that courses through the veins and arteries of worlds. It floweth here by a dark and rocky way beneath the ground, from the mountain of fire ye, perhaps, have noted some distance from Edos.'