A Clerk of Oxford, and His Adventures in the Barons' War

by Evelyn Everett-Green

But first he tightly bandaged the eyes of the girls. That they had heard was always done; so that no man knew in what spot stood the strange curtained place where these mysteries were carried on. Linda held Joanna's arm tight, and both girls shook and trembled as they were led along what seemed an interminable road, till at last they were made to halt, and they heard a curious knock upon some panel that sounded like that of a door.

The next moment they were pushed within an archway, and they heard the door clang to behind them. For a moment their hearts almost failed them; but the burning curiosity to know what would come next aided them to rally courage, and in a few seconds they felt themselves pushed into seats, and the bandage removed from their eyes.

At first all was so dark about them that they saw little more than they had done when blindfold; but in a few minutes there was a slight rustling sound, and then a little tongue of flame seemed to shoot up, and they saw by its light that the magician sat before them, a small table only between himself and his visitors, and that he was feeding the flame in a small brazier before him, which emitted not only a little light, but also a scent almost like that of incense, and a light smoke that dimmed the air.

Above the head of the magician was a mirror, placed at a curious angle, so that it reflected nothing in the room. Indeed there seemed nothing that it could well reflect. The walls appeared to be only black curtains, whose sombre hue absorbed almost all the little light there was, whilst the chill vault-like atmosphere lay like an oppression upon the lungs of the visitors. They felt almost as though stifling, and could not have spoken had their lives depended upon it.

But speech did not appear to be demanded of them. The magician after a long silence, during which time he was feeding the brazier with various drugs which he had arranged upon the table beside him, addressed himself suddenly as if to some unseen presence.

"Go!" he said, in a tone of inflexible authority, "look into the heart of yonder maid, and see whose face is engraved there. If that face be yet in the land of the living, show it upon the mirror. That is thy task this night. Go—begone!"

Dead silence followed this strange command. But in a moment a sound of music arose as if from the ground at their feet—a strange, weird, low cadence that rose and fell and filled the room; then the cloud of incense grew thicker, and for a moment the face of the mirror was dimmed and blurred.

Then the air cleared. The mirror shone out again, and reflected in its shining surface was a face—the face of a man—wan, white, death-like, with closed eyes and ashen lips. But it was the face of Hugh for all that.

"He lives," said the voice of the magician; "but he will not live long, unless the woman who loves him best on earth will sacrifice herself for him."

Linda uttered a strangled scream, and fell senseless to the floor.