een that he was very seriously
ill. The spirit of Tarautas would again appear to him--and not merely as
a vaporous illusion--and put an end to his utter misery.

But he felt his own pulse; it beat no more quickly than usual. He had no
fever, and yet he must be ill, very ill. And again he flushed so hotly
that he felt as if he should choke. Breathing hard, he sat up to call his
physician. Then he observed a light through the half-closed door of the
adjoining room. He heard voices--those of Adventus and the Indian.

Arjuna was generally so silent that Philostratus had vainly endeavored to
discover from him any particulars as to the doctrine of the Brahmans,
among whom Apollonius of Tyana declared that he had found the highest
wisdom, or concerning the manners of his people. And yet the Indian was a
man of learning, and could even read the manuscripts of his country. The
Parthian ambassador had expressly dwelt on this when he delivered Arjuna
to Caesar as a gift from his king. But Arjuna had never favored any of
these strangers with his confidence. Only with old Adventus did he ever
hold conversation, for the chamberlain took care that he should be
supplied with the vegetables and fruit on which he was accustomed to
live--for meat never passed his lips; and now he was talking with the old
man, and Caracalla sat up and laid his hand to his ear.

The Indian was absorbed in the study of a bookroll in his own tongue,
which he carried about him. "What are you reading?" asked Adventus.

"A book," replied Arjuna, "from which a man may learn what will become of
you and me, and all these slaughtered victims, after death."

"Who can know that?" said the old man with a sigh; and Arjuna replied
very positively:

"It is written here, and there is no doubt about it. Will you hear it?"

"Certainly," said Adventus eagerly, and the Indian began translating out
of his book:

"When a man dies his various parts go whither they belong. His voice goes
to the fire, his breath to the winds, his eyes to the sun, his spirit to
the moon, his hearing becomes one with space, his body goes to the earth,
his soul is absorbed into ether, his hairs become plants, the hair of his
head goes to crown the trees, his blood returns to water. Thus, every
portion of a man is restored to that portion of the universe to which it
belongs; and of himself, his own essence, nothing remains but one part
what that is called is a great secret."

Caracalla was lis