ng on it
passionate eyes, as though he would melt it with their fire, he pressed
it again and again to his lips, to his heart, to his lips again; buried
his face in his hands and wept bitterly.

It was not till Hermas returned from the oasis that Stephanus thought of
his exhausted and fainting friend, and with his son's assistance restored
him to conscious ness. Paulus did not refuse to take some food and drink,
and in the cool of the evening, when he was refreshed and invigorated, he
sat again by the side of Stephanus, and understood from the old man that
Magdalen was certainly his wife.

"Now I know," said Paulus, pointing to Hermas, "how it is that from the
first I felt such a love for the lad there."

The old man softly pressed his hand, for he felt himself tied to his
friend by a new and tender bond, and it was with silent ecstasy that he
received the assurance that the wife he had always loved, the mother of
his child, had died a Christian and a martyr, and had found before him
the road to Heaven.

The old man slept as peacefully as a child the following night, and when,
next morning, messengers came from Raithu to propose to Paulus that he
should leave the Holy Mountain, and go with them to become their elder
and ruler, Stephanus said, "Follow this high call with all confidence,
for you deserve it. I really no longer have need of you, for I shall get
well now without any further nursing."

But Paulus, far more disturbed than rejoiced, begged of the messengers a
delay of seven days for reflection, and after wandering restlessly from
one holy spot to another, at last went down into the oasis, there to pray
in the church.

CHAPTER VIII.

It was a delicious refreshing evening; the full moon rose calmly in the
dark blue vault of the night-sky, and poured a flood of light down on the
cool earth. But its rays did not give a strong enough light to pierce the
misty veil that hung over the giant mass of the Holy Mountain; the city
of the oasis on the contrary was fully illuminated; the broad roadway of
the high-street looked to the wanderer who descended from the height
above like a shining path of white marble, and the freshly plastered
walls of the new church gleamed as white as in the light of day. The
shadows of the houses and palm-trees lay like dark strips of carpet
across the road, which was nearly empty in spite of the evening coolness,
which usually tempted the citizens out into the air.

The voice