as people asked of a Messenger of God who followed after me
in my distant kingdom of Syria. Did He not answer them: 'Who are those
that draw us to the Kingdom of Heaven? The fowls of the air, and all
the beasts that are under the earth and upon the earth, and the fishes
in the sea, these are they which draw you, and the Kingdom of Heaven is
within you.'"

"And will he understand if I tell him your words? I am quite ignorant
of your teachings."

"He will understand because he has studied my teachings. He knows how
fair of form was the formless Aton, how radiant of colour. He knows
that the Kingdom which is Heaven is within us. In loving the world and
the beauty of the world which is Aton's he knows my commandments."

As Margaret was about to ask why he had not appeared to Michael
himself, for she had no doubt that it was upon him that the mission was
laid, the vision disappeared and she was left alone, under the clear
skies, gazing out over the valley which lay spread before her, in its
eternal stillness. She could hear the sound of her last words
vibrating in the air. There was not a sign of any living thing near
her; only in the distance she could hear the barking of the jackals, a
desert sound to which she had already grown so accustomed as to
scarcely notice it.

That she had been wide awake she was convinced; she did not feel as
though she had been asleep. As she tried to visualize the vanished
figure and to repeat to herself the words, which she must either have
imagined or heard, Michael came out and offered her a cigarette.

"Who were you talking to?" he said. "Freddy and I thought we heard
your voice."

"Michael," she said eagerly, "what time is it? Have I been asleep?
Have I been here long?"

She spoke anxiously, impatiently.

"How can I tell if you have been asleep?" he said, laughingly. "As to
the time, it's about eleven o'clock. Do you often talk in your sleep?"

"Sit down beside me," she said urgently, "and let me tell you what has
happened. If I have been asleep, I have dreamed it; if I was awake, I
have experienced a very extraordinary thing, the moat extraordinary
thing you can imagine!"

Michael threw himself down on the ground at her feet.

"While I was sitting here, and, as I thought, wide awake, thinking over
our walk in the Sahara and about your story and enjoying the moon and
the stars, quite suddenly a figure appeared. I was awfully startled,
and yet not frightened."