slowly upward from the ground and remained hovering like a wide,
suddenly-spun gossamer web, some two or three inches above it,
thus giving a cool, luminous, watery effect to the hot and arid
soil.

"According to the Apocrypha, Esdras 'sat among the flowers,'" he
idly mused--"Well! ... perhaps there were flowers in those days,--
but it is very evident there are none now. A more dreary, utterly
desolate place than this famous 'Ardath' I have never seen!"

At that moment a subtle fragrance scented the still air, ... a
fragrance deliciously sweet, as of violets mingled with myrtle. He
inhaled the delicate odor, surprised and confounded.

"Flowers after all!" he exclaimed. ... "Or maybe some aromatic
herb..." and he bent down to examine the turf at his feet. To his
amazement he perceived a thick cluster of white blossoms, star-
shaped and glossy-leaved, with deep golden centres, wherein bright
drops of dew sparkled like brilliants, and from whence puffs of
perfume rose like incense swung at unseen altars! He looked at
them in doubt that was almost dread, ... were they real? ... were
these the "silver eyes" in which Esdras had seen "signs and
wonders"? ... or was he hopelessly brain-sick with delusions, and
dreaming again?

He touched them hesitatingly ... they were actual living things,
with creamy petals soft as velvet,--he was about to gather one of
them,--when all at once his attention was caught and riveted by
something like a faint shadow gliding across the plain. A
smothered cry escaped his lips, ... he sprang erect and gazed