me word how thou farest."

But Abgarus, the oldest and the one who loved Artaban the best, lingered
after the others had gone, and said, gravely: "My son, it may be that
the light of truth is in this sign that has appeared in the skies, and
then it will surely lead to the Prince and the mighty brightness. Or
it may be that it is only a shadow of the light, as Tigranes has said,
and then he who follows it will have only a long pilgrimage and an empty
search. But it is better to follow even the shadow of the best than to
remain content with the worst. And those who would see wonderful things
must often be ready to travel alone. I am too old for this journey, but
my heart shall be a companion of the pilgrimage day and night, and I
shall know the end of thy quest. Go in peace."

So one by one they went out of the azure chamber with its silver stars,
and Artaban was left in solitude.

He gathered up the jewels and replaced them in his girdle. For a long
time he stood and watched the flame that flickered and sank upon the
altar. Then he crossed the hall, lifted the heavy curtain, and passed
out between the dull red pillars of porphyry to the terrace on the roof.

The shiver that thrills through the earth ere she rouses from her
night sleep had already begun, and the cool wind that heralds the
daybreak was drawing downward from the lofty snow-traced ravines of
Mount Orontes. Birds, half awakened, crept and chirped among the
rustling leaves, and the smell of ripened grapes came in brief wafts
from the arbours.

Far over the eastern plain a white mist stretched like a lake. But where