re."

"In one hour, then, I will call on thee again, and thou shalt accompany
me into the presence of the king," and Daniel departed.

Daniel found his companions sunk into calm slumber, from which they were
not then awakened. He partook of a slight repast, bowed once more in
adoration before God, and returned to seek Arioch, the captain of the
guard.

They were soon on their way to the palace. Arioch first entered.

"O king, live forever! Belteshazzar is without, desiring to see thee;
and--"

"No more from thee at this time," interrupted the king. "Retire, and send
the young man hither."

The officer, well used to the manner of his sovereign, bowed low and
retired.

"Belteshazzar," said Arioch, "thou are admitted; and may the gods give
thee success."

With a firm step, and a calm look, and with full confidence in the God of
Israel, the Hebrew youth once more marched into the presence of the King
of Chaldea.

"Belteshazzar," cried the king, "art thou able to make known unto me the
dream which I have seen, and the interpretation thereof?"

"The secret which the king demandeth of his servant is far above the
knowledge and comprehension of all his wise men, astrologers, magicians,
and soothsayers. But the God of heaven--that Jehovah who dwelleth in
light--he revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the king,
Nebuchadnezzar, what shall come to pass in the latter days. Be it known,
therefore, to the king, that this secret is not revealed to me through
any wisdom that I have more than any living, but it is the kind
interposition of Jehovah in behalf of thy servant and his companions in
tribulation, who are doomed to die; and, moreover, to show the king that
Jehovah is the only God.

"Thy dream, and the vision of thy head, are these: As for thee, O king,
thy thoughts came into thy mind upon thy bed, what should come to pass
hereafter; and He that revealeth secrets maketh known to thee the grand
events of the future.

"Thou, O king, sawest a great image. This great image, whose brightness
was excellent, stood before thee, and the form thereof was terrible. This
image's head was of fine gold, his breast and arms of silver, his belly
and thighs of brass, his legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of
clay. Thou sawest that a stone smote the image upon the feet which were
of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. Then was the iron, the clay,
the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and