as thou art a man, persuade him out of evil into good! ...
rouse him to noble shame and nobler penitence for all those faults
which mar his poet-genus and deprive it of immortal worth! ...
urge him to depart from Al-Kyris while there is yet time ere the
bolt of destruction falls! ... and, ... mark you well this final
warning! ... bid him to-day avoid the Temple, and beware the
King!"--

As he said this he stopped and extinguished the lamp he carried.
There was no longer any need of it, for a broad patch of gray
light fell through an aperture in the wall, showing a few rough,
broken steps that led upwards,--and pointing to these he bade the
bewildered Theos a kindly farewell.

"Thou wilt find Sah-luma's palace easily,"--he said--"Not a child
in the streets but knows the way thither. Guard thy friend and be
thyself also on guard against coming disaster,--and if thou art
not yet resolved to die, escape from the city ere to-night's sun-
setting. Soothe thy distempered fancies with thoughts of God, and
cease not to pray for thy soul's salvation! Peace be with thee!"--

He raised his hands with an expressive gesture of benediction, and
turning round abruptly disappeared. Where had he gone? ... how had
he vanished? ... It was impossible to tell! ... he seemed to have
melted away like a mist into utter nothingness! Profoundly
perplexed, Theos ascended the steps before him, his mind anxiously
revolving all the strange adventures of the night, while a dim
sense of some unspeakable, coming calamity brooded darkly upon
him.