stillness of a merciful swoon, he had sunk, as it were, out of
life,--far out of the furthest reach or sense of time, in some
vast unsounded gulf of shadows where earth and heaven were alike
forgotten! ...

How long he lay thus he never knew,--but he was roused at last..
roused by the pressure of something cold and sharp against his
throat, . . and on languidly opening his eyes he found himself
surrounded by a small body of men in armor, who, leaning on tall
pikes which glistened brilliantly in the full sunlight, surveyed
him with looks of derisive amusement. One of these, closer to him
than the rest, and who seemed from his dress and bearing to be
some officer in authority, held instead of a pike a short sword,
the touch of whose pointed steel blade had been the effectual
means of awakening him from his lethargy.

"How now!" said this personage in a rough voice as he withdrew his
weapon--"What idle fellow art thou? ... Traitor or spy? Fool thou
must be, and breaker of the King's law, else thou hadst never
dared to bask in such swine-like ease outside the gates of Al-
Kyris the Magnificent!"

Al-Kyris the Magnificent! What was the man talking about? Uttering
a hasty exclamation, Alwyn staggered to his feet with an effort,
and shading his eyes from the hot glare of the sun, stared
bewilderedly at his interlocutor.

"What..what is this?" he stammered dreamily--"I do not understand
you! ... I.. I have slept on the field of Ardath!"