cross and jeweled star on his breast, and flashing round the
silver clasps of the time-honored relic before him. Presently he
looked up...

"Here we have it!" and he placed his finger on one especial
passage--it reads as follows:

"'And the Angel bade me enter a waste field, and the field was
barren and dry save of herbs, and the name of the field was
ARDATH.

"'And I wandered therein through the hours of the long night, and
the silver eyes of the field did open before me and I saw signs
and wonders:

"'And I heard a voice crying aloud, Esdras, Esdras.

"'And I arose and stood on my feet and listened and refrained not
till I heard the voice again.

"'Which said unto me, Behold the field thou thoughtest barren, how
great a glory hath the moon unveiled!

"'And I beheld and was sore amazed: for I was no longer myself but
another.

"'And the sword of death was in that other's soul, and yet that
other was but myself in pain;

"'And I knew not those things that were once familiar,--and my