his
left hand, he spoke, or rather chanted, what, by the rhythmical
sequence of the words, by the frequent recurrence of alliteration and
irregular rhyme, was evidently a formula committed to the verse of the
Martial tongue: a formula, like all those of the Order, never written,
but handed down by memory, and therefore, perhaps, cast in a shape
which rendered accurate remembrance easier and more certain.

"Ye who, lost in outer night,
Reach at last the Source of Light,
Ask ye in that light to dwell?
None we urge and none repel;
Opens at your touch the door,
Bright within the lamp of lore.
Yet beware! The threshold passed,
Fixed the bond, the ball is cast.
Failing heart or faltering feet
Find nor pardon nor retreat.
Loyal faith hath guerdon given
Boundless as the star-sown Heaven;
Horror fathomless and gloom
Rayless veil the recreant's doom.
Warned betimes, in time beware--Freely
turn, or frankly swear."

"What am I to swear?" I asked.

A voice on my left murmured in a low tone the formula, which I
repeated, Eveena accompanying my words in an almost inaudible
whisper--

"Whatsoe'er within the Shrine
Eyes may see or soul divine,
Swear we secret as the deep,
Silent as the Urn to keep.
By the Light we claim to share,
By the Fount of Light, we swear."

As these words were uttered, I became aware that some change had taken
place at the further end of the Hall. Looking up, the dark background
had disappeared, and under a species of deep archway, behind the seats
of the Chiefs, was visible a wall diapered in ruby and gold, and
displaying in various interwoven patterns the several symbols of the
Zinta. Towards the roof, exactly in the centre, was a large silver
star, emitting a light resembling that which the full moon sheds on a
tropical scene, but far more brilliant. Around this was a broad golden
circle or band; and beneath, the silver image of a serpent--perfectly
reproducing a typical terrestrial snake, but coiled, as no snake ever
coils itself, in a double circle or figure of eight, with the tail
wound around the neck. On the left was a crimson shield or what seemed
to be such, small, round, and swelling in the centre into a sharp
point; on the right three crossed spears of silver with crimson blades
pointed upward. But the most remarkable object--immediately filling
the interval between the seats of the Chiefs, and carved from a huge
cubic b