she knew what things they were she had seemed to remember in the
king's garden of delight. Joyously, eagerly, willingly, she saw that she
had determined to return to earth in body after body, to help the men
of sorrow who struggled and slumbered and suffered. She saw that she had
before so done; that her work remained unfinished, to be begun again
where she had laid it down. There was suffering shown to her in the cup;
there were sorrow and grief and pain. But she saw that it must all be,
and was content. For at other times she had desired just such things
that she might know how others felt them, that she might help them the
more with understanding. Happiness she had taken to give to others, and
she must repay the debt. She saw that all things were just, and when the
musician said in a low voice:

"Will you yet proceed?"

"I will!" she said.

"Then drink the cup," he said, "Drink!"

She drained the green cup of the lotus leaf until scarcely a drop
remained, and with that draught she forgot all things that had been--the
garden, the king, the journey and the vision, and the master
harper--all were forgotten. Only there remained a dim remembrance as of a
dream at dawn forgotten.

[Illustration: DOMES AND SPIRES]

IV

A little ship stood by the shore of the great sea; into this Eline
entered. There were other ships, some better, some worse. But somehow
she knew that just this, and not another, was the ship she wanted, and
none questioned her when she entered.

So they sailed away towards the setting sun.

Long was the voyage and lonely; for the seas ran high and all was dark
below in the heart of the ship. Nine months they sailed on the ocean,
until in the time appointed land appeared. Strange dwellings were there,
domes and spires and crowded cities. With wide, wondering eyes Eline
watched them as the ship passed them by in strange procession; for the
men of that land were like none she knew; none of these things could she
remember. For she had forgotten even her name at the river of
forgetfulness, where remembrances are left in the mirror of the waters
until time and their creator bring them back to life.

It seemed as though one of wise and kindly countenance held her as a
little child in his arms and whispered softly, "Remember! I will return!
I will! I will!" A light of happy recollection came to her and she
smiled in reply. He had spoken in her own language as the