Heliobas answered nothing—he was entirely occupied in examining the small, closely engraved characters in which the ancient record was written; the crimson afterglow of the now descended sun flared through the window and sent a straight, rosy ray on his bent head and white robes, lighting to a more lustrous brilliancy the golden cross and jeweled star on his breast, and flashing round the silver clasps of the time-honored relic before him. Presently he looked up…
"Here we have it!" and he placed his finger on one especial passage—it reads as follows:
"'And the Angel bade me enter a waste field, and the field was barren and dry save of herbs, and the name of the field was ARDATH.
"'And I wandered therein through the hours of the long night, and the silver eyes of the field did open before me and I saw signs and wonders:
"'And I heard a voice crying aloud, Esdras, Esdras.
"'And I arose and stood on my feet and listened and refrained not till
I heard the voice again.
"'Which said unto me, Behold the field thou thoughtest barren, how great a glory hath the moon unveiled!
"'And I beheld and was sore amazed: for I was no longer myself but another.
"'And the sword of death was in that other's soul, and yet that other was but myself in pain;
"'And I knew not those things that were once familiar,—and my heart failed within me for very fear.