stillness as of stupefied amazement and horror, . . then, to the
apparent relief of all present, Zephoranim burst out laughing.

"By all the virtues of Nagaya!" he cried--"This is most excellent
fooling! I, Zephoranim, the destroyer of my friend and first
favorite in the realm? ... Old man, thy frenzy exceeds belief and
exhausts patience,--though of a truth I am sorry for the
shattering of thy wits,--'tis sad that reason should be lacking to
one so revered and grave of aspect. Dear to me as my royal crown
is the life of Sah-luma, through whose inspired writings alone my
name shall live in the annals of future history--for the glory of
a great poet must ever surpass the renown of the greatest King.
Were Al-Kyris besieged by a thousand enemies, and these strong
palace-walls razed to the ground by the engines of warfare, we
would ourselves defend Sah-luma!--aye, even cry aloud in the heat
of combat that he, the Chief Minstrel of our land, should be
sheltered from fury and spared from death, as the only one capable
of chronicling our vanquishment of victory!"

Sah-luma smiled and bowed gracefully in response to this
enthusiastic assurance of his sovereign's friendship,--but
nevertheless there was a slight shadow of uneasiness on his bold,
beautiful brows. He had evidently been uncomfortably impressed by
Khosrul's words, and the restless anxiety reflected in his face
communicated itself by a sort of electric thrill to Theos, whose
heart began to beat heavily with a sense of vague alarm. "What is
this Khosrul?" he thought half resentfully--"and how dares he
predict for the adored, the admired Sah-luma so dark and unmerited
an end? ... "Hark! ... what was that low, far-off rumbling as of
underground wheels rolling at full speed? ... He listened,--then