thus transfigured in the moonbeams, and though he vaguely wondered
a little at the deep, mysterious stillness that everywhere
prevailed, he scarcely admitted to himself that there was or could
be anything unusual in it. He took his position as he found it--
indeed he could not well do otherwise, since he felt his fate was
ruled by some resolute, unseen force, against which all resistance
would be unavailing. Moreover, his mind was now entirely possessed
by the haunting vision of Lysia--a vision half-human, half-divine
--a beautiful, magical, irresistible Sweetness that allured his
soul, and roused within him a wordless passion of infinite desire.

He exchanged not a syllable with Sah-luma--an indefinable yet
tacit understanding existed between them,--an intuitive
foreknowledge and subtle perception of each other's character,
intentions, and aims, that for the moment rendered speech
unnecessary. And there was something, after all, in the profound
silence of the night that, while strange, was also eloquent--
eloquent of meanings, unutterable, such as lie hidden in the
scented cups of flowers when lovers gather them on idle summer
afternoons and weave them into posies for one another's wearing.
How fleetly the gilded, shell-shaped car sped on its way!--trees,
houses, bridges, domes, and cupolas, seemed to fly past in a
varied whirl of glistening color! Now and again a cluster of fire-
flies broke from some thicket of shade and danced drowsily by in
sparkling tangles of gold and green; here and there from great
open squares and branch-shadowed gardens gleamed the stone face of
an obelisk, or the white column of a fountain; while over all
things streamed the long prismatic rays flung forth from the
revolving lights in the Twelve Towers of the Sacred Temple, like
flaming spears ranged lengthwise against the limitless depth of