hty music broke upon the
silence, through that darkness, beating up the gale, came the two-winged
flame and hovered where Ayesha stood.

It appeared, it vanished, and one by one the long minutes crept away
until the first spear of dawn lit upon the point of rock.

Lo! it was empty, utterly empty and lonesome. Gone was the corpse of
Leo, and gone too was Ayesha the imperial, the divine.

Whither had she gone? I know not. But this I know, that as the light
returned and the broad sheet of flame flared out to meet it, I seemed to
see two glorious shapes sweeping upward on its bosom, and the faces that
they wore were those of Leo and of Ayesha.

Often and often during the weary months that followed, whilst I wandered
through the temple or amid the winter snows upon the Mountain side, did
I seek to solve this question--Whither had She gone? I asked it of my
heart; I asked it of the skies; I asked it of the spirit of Leo which
often was so near to me.

But no sure answer ever came, nor will I hazard one. As mystery wrapped
Ayesha's origin and lives--for the truth of these things I never
learned--so did mystery wrap her deaths, or rather her departings, for
I cannot think her dead. Surely she still is, if not on earth, then in
some other sphere?

So I believe; and when my own hour comes, and it draws near swiftly, I
shall know whether I believe in vain, or whether she will appear to be
my guide as, with her last words, she swore that she would do. Then,
too, I shall learn what she was about to reveal to Leo when he died, the
purposes of their being and of their love.

So I can wait in patience who must not wait for long, though my heart is
broken and I am desolate.

Oros and all the priests were very good to me. Indeed, even had it been
their wish, they would have feared to be otherwise, who remembered and
were sure that in some time to come they must render an account of this
matter to their dread queen. By way of return, I helped them as I
was best able to draw up a scheme for the government of the conquered
country of Kaloon, and with my advice upon many other questions.

And so at length the long months wore away, till at the approach of
summer the snows melted. Then I said that I must be gone. They gave me
of their treasures in precious stones, lest I should need money for my
faring, since the gold of which I had such plenty was too heavy to be
carried by one man alone. They led me across the plains of Kaloon, wh