the air, and
a delicate perfume of flowers came to Calladon's nostrils. He looked
up and saw that he was in Abra; and the great lamp burned in the
centre as before.

'Oh, not here!' he exclaimed, shrinking back and hiding his face. 'I
am not fit to be seen in the light of Abra!'

'Take courage,' said his guide. 'Callia is here. See, she is asleep.
Go to her, Calladon, and look in the mirror on her bosom.'

So Calladon drew near, and looked into the magic mirror. But instead
of a hideous and misshapen little dwarf, it showed him the image of a
noble and beautiful boy, with rosy cheeks and bright eyes. At the same
moment Callia awoke; and seeing Calladon, she sprang up with a cry of
joy and kissed him. She was as lovely as the day.

'The mirror tells you the truth now as always, Calladon,' said the
Master's loving voice--for it was he. And he laid his hand upon him,
and instantly the deformed shell in which Calladon was clothed fell
from him, and he was more beautiful than ever. From that time forth
there was no unhappiness for either Callia or Calladon, because they
had learnt that the light of Abra was the only true light, and that
their strength was not their own.

THEEDA.

CHAPTER I.

THE BOOK AND THE VASE.

Oscar lived beside the sea, and had no companions except the waves,
the seagulls, the sunsets and sunrises, the moonlight and the shore.
He was happy, and yet there was something that he wanted. He could not
tell what that something was, but he did not the less feel the need of
it on that account.

He knew that he had a father, but he had never seen him. He knew that
his father cared for him, and gave him what he needed to eat and drink
and wear. His mother had told him that his father was wise and
powerful and good; and that once, before Oscar was old enough to
remember anything, he had lived with her in the cottage beside the
sea. But soon after Oscar was born, his father had left them and gone
across the sea to another country. When a few more years had passed,
he had sent for Oscar's mother to follow him, and she had gone. Oscar
could just remember the ship which had taken her away. He had sat in
the cottage doorway, and watched the ship grow smaller and smaller as
it receded over the waves. At first its sails had looked dark, because
they were against the light; but a moment before it touched the
horizon, where earth and heaven meet, the great white light from
beyond had touched th