va! She is the Holy Spirit! I am Jupiter Apollo,
the Christ, the Paraclete, the great power of God incarnated in the
person of Simon!"

_Antony_--"Ah! it is you! ... it is you! But I know your crimes! You were
born at Gittha on the borders of Samaria. Dositheus, your first master,
dismissed you! You execrate Saint Paul for having converted one of your
women; and, vanquished by Saint Peter, in your rage and terror, you
flung into the waves the bag which contained your magical instruments!"

_Simon_--"Do you desire them?"

Antony looks at him, and an inner voice murmurs in his breast, "Why
not?"

Simon resumes:

"He who understands the powers of Nature and the substance of spirits
ought to perform miracles. It is the dream of all sages--and the desire
of which gnaws you; confess it!

"Amongst the Romans I flew so high in the circus that they saw me no
more. Nero ordered me to be decapitated; but it was a sheep's head that
fell to the ground instead of mine. Finally, they buried me alive; but I
came back to life on the third day. The proof of it is that I am here!"

He gives him his hands to smell. They have the odour of a corpse. Antony
recoils.

"I can make bronze serpents move, marble statues laugh, and dogs speak.
I will show you an immense quantity of gold, I will set up kings, you
shall see nations adoring me. I can walk on the clouds and on the
waves; pass through mountains; assume the appearance of a young man, or
of an old man; of a tiger, or of an ant; take your face, give you mine;
and drive the thunderbolt. Do you hear?"

The thunder rolls, followed by flashes of lightning.

"It is the voice of the Most High, 'for the Eternal, thy God, is a
fire,' and all creations operate by the emanations of this central fire.
You are about to receive the baptism of it--that second baptism,
announced by Jesus, which fell on the Apostles one stormy day when the
window was open!"

And all the while stirring the flame with his hand, slowly, as if to
sprinkle Antony with it:

"Mother of Mercies, thou who discoverest secrets in order that we may
have rest in the eighth house ..."

Antony exclaims:

"Ah! if I had holy water!"

The flame goes out, producing much smoke.

Eunoia and Simon have disappeared.

* * * * *

An extremely cold fog, opaque and f[oe]tid, fills the atmosphere.

_Antony_, extending his arms like a blind man--

"Where am I? ... I am afraid of falling into t