say? ... what could he prove? ...

His throat ached,--his eyeballs burned, he was, as it were,
forbidden to speak, notwithstanding the yearning desire he felt to
impart to the soul of his new-found friend something of that
indescribable sense of EVERLASTINGNESS which he himself was now
conscious of, even as one set free of prison is conscious of
liberty. Mute, and with a feeling as of hot, unshed tears welling
up from his very heart, he turned over the volumes of Hyspiros
almost mechanically,--they were formed of sheets of papyrus
artistically bound in loose leather coverings and tied together
with gold-colored ribbon.

The Kyrisian language was, as has been before stated, perfectly
familiar to him, though he could not tell how he had acquired the
knowledge of it,--and he was able to see at a glance that Sah-luma
had good cause to be enthusiastic in his praise of the author
whose genius he so fervently admired. There was a ringing richness
in the rush of the verse,--a wealth of simile combined with a
simplicity and directness of utterance that charmed the ear while
influencing the mind, and he was beginning to read in sotto-voce
the opening lines of a spirited battle-challenge running thus:

"I tell thee, O thou pride enthroned King
That from these peaceful fields, these harvest lands,
Strange crops shall spring, not sown by thee or thine!
Arm'd millions, bristling weapons, helmed men
Dreadfully plum'd and eager for the fray,
Steel crested myrmidons, toss'd spears, wild steeds,
Uplifted flags and pennons, horrid swords,