and hymns read much in her room; there was a
parrot that sat there in his cage, very silent and attentive; and not
long after, when the parrot was ill, he used to mutter prayers and
hymns aloud, with a devotion that would have deceived the very elect.
And it is even so with the people of whom I have spoken. Not long ago
I had a long conversation with one, a clever woman, who had lived much
in the house of a man who had seen the truth; and I was for a little
deceived, and thought that she also knew the truth. But suddenly she
made a hard judgment of her own, and I knew in a moment that she had
never seen the shrine.

And now I have said enough, and must make an end. I remember that long
ago, when I was a boy, I painted a picture on a panel, and set it in my
room. It was the figure of a kneeling youth on a hillock, looking
upwards; and beyond the hillock came a burst of rays from a hidden sun.
Underneath it, for no reason that I can well explain, I painted the
words _phos etheasamen kai emphobos en_--_I beheld a light and was
afraid_. I was then very far indeed from the sight of the truth; but I
know now that I was prophesying of what should be; for the secret sign
of the mystery is a fear, not a timid and shrinking fear, but a holy
and transfiguring awe. I little guessed what would some day befall me;
but now that I have seen, I can only say with all my heart that it is
better to remember and be sad, than to forget and smile.

XXXIX

The Message

I was awakened this morning, at the old house where I am staying, by
low and sweet singing. The soft murmur of an organ was audible, on
which some clear trebles seemed to swim and float--one voice of great
richness and force seeming to utter the words, and to draw into itself
the other voices, appropriating their tone but lending them
personality. These were the words I heard--

"The High Priest once a year
Went in the Holy Place
With garments white and clear;
It was the day of Grace.

Without the people stood
While unseen and alone
With incense and with blood
He did for them atone.

"So we without abide
A few short passing years,
While Christ who for us died
Before our God appears.

"Before His Father there
His Sacrifice He pleads,
And with unceasing prayer
For us He intercedes."

The sweet sounds ceased; the organ lingered for an instant in a low
chord of infinite sweetness, and then a voice wa