sharp cry he fell on his knees, grasping his companion's robe
wildly, as a drowning man grasps at a floating spar,--while the
venerable Zuriel, startled at his action, stared down upon him in
evident amazement and terror.

"Rescue! ... rescue!" he cried, ... "O thou blessed among men!--
thou dost wear the Sign of Eternal Safety! ... the Sign of the
Way, the Truth, and the Life! ... 'without the Way, there is no
going, without the Truth there is no knowing, without the Life
there is no living'! Now do I know thee for a saint in Al-Kyris,--
for thou dost openly avow thyself a follower of the Divine Faith
that fools despise, and selfish souls repudiate, . . ah, I do
beseech thee, thou good and holy man, absolve me of my sin of
Unbelief! Teach me! ... help me! ... and I will hear thy counsels
with the meekness of a listening child! ..See you, I kneel! ... I
pray! ... I, even I, am humiliated to the very dust of shame! I
have no pride, . . I seek no glory, ... I do entreat, even as I once
rejected the blessing of the Cross, whereby I shall regain my lost
love,--my despised pardon,--my vanished peace!"

And, with pathetic earnestness, he raised his hands toward the
silver emblem, and touched it tenderly, reverently, ... then as
though unworthy, he bent his head low, and waited eagerly for a
Name, . . a Name that he himself could not remember, . . a Name
suggested by the Cross, but not declared. If that Name were once
spoken in the form of a benediction, he felt instinctively that he
would straightway be released from the mysterious spell of misery
that bound his intelligence in such a grievous thrall. But not a
word of consolation did his companion utter, . . on the contrary, he
seemed agitated by the strangest surprise and alarm.