had never before been experienced. He was very much inclined to
attribute it to an abnormal sympathy aroused by her sickness and
terrible suffering. Still, the words of the High Priest haunted him
and the feelings born from within, on the night of the solemn Rites
at the Temple, could not be vanished by any amount of reasoning;
still he would not allow such thoughts to be nourished by the
slightest hope--much less be watered by the spirit of faith and
allowed to grow. Although Rathunor was brave in external pain, and
daringly courageous in acts of chivalry, he was an infant when
subject to disappointment. Here was the battle of self going on.

"Have I the strength and manly courage to bear the disappointment
born from a delusive hope? Not yet." So he suffered and heeded not
the whisperings from within, until he could not endure it any
longer, when he sought the presence of the Hierophant for advice and
enlightenment. Scarcely able to hold in check his impatience he
burst forth without the recognition due the superior presence of a
High Priest.

"O, most Holy and Revered Father, tell me, am I wrong in not
listening to the monitions that are racking my inmost being? May I
hope the love that is growing within my soul will be surely
recognized and reciprocated by Nu-nah on her return to physical
health? Is this love a vain delusion on my part, an imagination born
from sympathies that will vanish as soon as health is restored and
we enter the whirl of the social world again? If it is in thy power,
O Father, tell me the truth. Repeat thy assuring words once more,
and I will be guided by them in the future, and never again allow
the shadow of doubt to cross the threshold of my mind."