“Be free as in your father’s house,” Elena had said to her.
There was no sign nor sound of any one abroad. The soft rustle of running waters alone moved the silence.
Tacita found the last stair and went out. In that delicate airy illumination the avenue disclosed itself before her, and the white object far away became stationary. But the sparkle above it had disappeared. She went forward timidly, pausing to listen, turning to retreat, and again advancing, at once resolute and afraid.
A few silvery bird-notes floated through the silence; a white network of cloud, like a bed of anemones, veiled the moon’s crescent.
Tacita, gathering courage and excited by the spirit of adventure, hastened till she reached the Square, paused there but a moment, and then hurried on toward that white object which was her goal. It was a little above the level of the town; it took shape as she drew nearer, and became the façade of a white building with a fragmentary glimmering across it and above; it showed a background of dark rock, and a plateau in front surrounded by a white balustrade. In all the town there was nothing white except this building and the balustrade raised and overlooking every other building. In a Christian community only a church would be so enthroned.
Tacita crossed the bridge, and went to kneel on the steps leading from the level to the inclosed terrace. There was a smooth façade with a great door in receding arches in the centre, above a flight of white steps, five rose windows following the arched line of the roof, and something like a gilded lettering across the middle height.
As the anemone-cloud drew away from the moon, the letters grew distinct, and the text shone out full and clear:—
I am the Light of the World.
At sight of that shining legend aloft, something stirred in the girl’s memory. A thick curtain of years parted, showing a distinct fragment of the past. Once, long ago, she had looked up at that white expanse and seen upon its front the line of shining figures. Her hands held the soft fold of a dress, and a hand rested lightly on her head. In her memory the bright figures were associated with the idea of a great golden lamp, softly luminous, swung by a golden chain down from the skies, and of a face all radiant, and a sweet voice that said: Of such is the kingdom of heaven.
“I must have stood on this very spot with my mother while she explained the words to me, and told how he blessed little children.”