of the forfeited paradise of imaginative aspiration, which made
the men of old time great because they deemed themselves immortal.
It was a glorious faith! that strong consciousness, that in the
change and upheaval of whole universes the soul of man should
forever over-ride disaster! But now that we know ourselves to be
of no more importance, relatively speaking, than the animalculae
in a drop of stagnant water, what great works can be done, what
noble deeds accomplished, in the face of the declared and proved
futility of everything? Still, if you can, as you say, liberate me
from this fleshly prison, and give me new sensations and different
experiences, why then let me depart with all possible speed, for I
am certain I shall find in the storm-swept areas of space nothing
worse than life as lived in this present world. Remember, I am
quite incredulous as to your professed power--" he paused and
glanced at the white-robed, priestly figure opposite, then added,
lightly, "but I am curious to test it all the same. Are you ready
to being your spells?--and shall I say the Nunc Dimittis?"




CHAPTER III.

DEPARTURE.


Heliobas was silent--he seemed engaged in deep and anxious
thought,--and he kept his steadfast eyes fixed on Alwyn's
countenance, as though he sought there the clew to some difficult
problem.