indeed an immortal Hereafter,--an actual, free Eternity of Life,
compared with which this our transient existence is a mere brief
breathing-space of pause and probation, . . and then for evermore
His sacred Name shall dominate and civilize the world..."

"What Name?".. interrupted Theos, with eager abruptness ... "Canst
thou pronounce it?"

Zuriel shook his head.

"Not I, my son"--he answered gravely.. "Not even Khosrul can
penetrate thus far! The Name of Him who is to come, is hidden deep
among God's unfathomed silences! It should suffice thee that thou
knowest now the sum and substance of the Prophecy. Would I might
live to see the days when all shall be fulfilled! ... but alas, my
remaining years are few upon the earth, and Heaven's time is not
ours!"

He sighed,--and resumed his slow pacing onwards,--Theos walked
beside him as a man may walk in sleep, uncertainly and with
unseeing eyes, his heart beating loudly, and a sick sense of
suffocation in his throat. What did it all mean? ... Had his life
gone back in some strange way? ... or had he merely DREAMED of a
former existence different to this one? He remembered now what
Sah-luma had told him respecting Khosrul's "new" theory of a
future religion,--a theory that to him had seemed so old, so old!
--so utterly exhausted and worn threadbare! In what a cruel problem
was he hopelessly involved!--what a useless, perplexed, confused
being he had become! ... he who would once to have staked his life
on the unflinching strength and capabilities of human reason!