n he said, "I am but a simple scholar
from Cambridge, and my knowledge of the world is but small; we work,"
he said, "we write and read, we talk and eat together, and sometimes
we pray." The old man looked at him with a sudden look, under his
brows, as he said the words; and then he said, "So, sir, you are a
priest; and your faith is a strong one and avails much; but there is a
text about the strong man armed who is overcome of the stronger. And
though the faith you teach is like a fort in an enemy's country, in
which men may dwell safely, yet there is a land outside; and a fort
cannot always hold its own." He said this in so evil and menacing a
tone that Gilbert said, "Come, sir, these are wild words; would you
speak scorn of the faith that is the light of God and the victory that
overcometh?" Then the old man said, "Nay, I respect the faith--and
fear it even," he added in a secret tone--"but I have grown up in a
different belief, and the old is better--and this also is a little
stronghold, which holds its own in the midst of foes; but I would not
be disputing," he added--and then with a smile, "Nay, sir, I know what
is in your mind; you like not this place--and you are right; it is not
fit for you to set your holy feet in; but it is mine yet; and so you
must even accept the hospitality of the place; you shall look thrice
in my glass, and see if you like what you shall see." And he held out
to Gilbert a small black shining thing. Gilbert would have wished to
refuse it, but his courtesy bade him take it--and indeed he did not
know if he could have refused the old man, who looked so sternly upon
him. So he took it in his hand. It was a black polished stone like a
sphere, and it was very cold to the touch--so cold that he would fain
have thrown it down; but he dared not. So he said with such spirit as
he could muster, "And what shall I see beside the stone?--it seems a
fair and curious jewel--I cannot give it a name." "Nay," said the old
man sharply, "it is not the stone; the stone is naught; but it hides a
mystery. You shall see it in the stone."

And Gilbert said, "And what shall I see in the stone?" And the old man
said, "What shall be."

So Gilbert looked upon the stone; the sun shone upon it in a bright
point of light--and for an instant he saw nothing but the gleaming
sides of the ball. But in a moment there came upon him a dizziness
like that which comes upon a man who, walking on a hill-top, finds
himself on the