"Call them brothers," said Marcus. "You are here among the Invisibles—your equals, if you persevere for an hour. You will now bid them adieu, to meet them at the expiration of that time, in the presence of the supreme chiefs—of those whose voice is never heard, whose face is never seen, and whom you will call fathers. They are the sovereign pontiffs, the spiritual chiefs and temporal lords of our sanctuary. We will appear before them and you with bare faces, if you have decided to rejoin us at the gate of the sanctuary, having passed that dark and terrible path opening beneath your feet, down which you must walk alone, without any guide but your courage and perseverance."
"I will do so," said the trembling neophyte, "if you desire it. But is this test, which you declare so trying, inevitable? Oh, my brothers, you certainly do not wish to sport with the reason of a woman, already too severely tried, from mere affectation and vanity. To-day you have subjected me to a long fast; and though emotion for several hours relieves us from hunger, I feel myself physically weakened. I know not whether or not I shall succumb to the labors to which you subject me. I care not, I protest to you, if my body suffers and becomes feeble; but would you not fancy mere physical weakness to be cowardice? Tell me you will pardon me for being endowed with a woman's nerve, if, when I regain my consciousness, I show that I have the heart of a man?"
"Poor child," said Marcus, "I would rather hear you own your weakness than seek to dazzle us by intemperate boldness. We will, if you choose, give you a single guide to aid and assist you in your pilgrimage. Brother," said he to Leverani, who had stood at the door during this conversation, with his eyes fixed on Consuelo, "take your sister's hand, and lead her to the general rendezvous."
"And will not you, brother," said Consuelo, "also go with me?"
"That is impossible. You can have but one guide; and the one I have pointed out is the only one I am permitted to give you?"
"I shall have courage enough," said Consuelo wrapping herself in her cloak. "I will go alone."
"Do you refuse the aid of a brother and a friend?"
"I refuse neither his sympathy nor his friendship; but I will go alone."
"Go then, my noble girl, and do not be afraid. She who descended alone the Fountain of Tears—who braved so much danger to discover the secret cavern of Schreckenstein, will be able to pass easily through the recesses of our pyramid. Go, then, as the heroes of antiquity went to seek for initiation amid sacred mysteries. Brothers, give her the cup—that precious relic a descendant of Ziska gave us, in which we consecrate the august sacrament of fraternal communion."
Leverani took from the altar a rudely carved cup of wood, and having filled it, gave it to Consuelo with a piece of bread.