me through the most ancient of all signs. We have searched
the secrets of Nature together, and studied the healing virtues
of water and fire and the plants. We have read also the
books of prophecy in which the future is dimly foretold in
words that are hard to understand. But the highest of all
learning is the knowledge of the stars. To trace their course
is to untangle the threads of the mystery of life from the
beginning to the end. If we could follow them perfectly, nothing
would be hidden from us. But is not our knowledge of them still
incomplete? Are there not many stars still beyond our
horizon--lights that are known only to the dwellers in the far
south-land, among the spice-trees of Punt and the gold mines of
Ophir?"

There was a murmur of assent among the listeners.

"The stars," said Tigranes, "are the thoughts of the
Eternal. They are numberless. But the thoughts of man can be
counted, like the years of his life. The wisdom of the Magi
is the greatest of all wisdoms on earth, because it knows its
own ignorance. And that is the secret of power. We keep men
always looking and waiting for a new sunrise. But we
ourselves understand that the darkness is equal to the light,
and that the conflict between them will never be ended."

"That does not satisfy me," answered Artaban, "for, if the
waiting must be endless, if there could be no fulfilment of
it, then it would not be wisdom to look and wait. We should
become like those new teachers of the Greeks, who say that
there is no truth, and that the only wise men are those who