, and no Bra. But
neither could there be any Abra, if Cada and Bra did not surround it.
The alabaster wall would burst asunder, and the flame of the lamp
would burn up the world.'

'Where did the lamp come from?' asked Calladon.

'It was here before Abracadabra or the world existed,' the Master
replied, smiling; 'and it will burn for ever.'

'Could not I put it out?'

'No; but you might wander away from it into the darkness outside,'
said the Master, in a graver tone.

'But then could I not light a little lamp of my own, to see my way
about?' Calladon inquired.

'Yes, you might do so,' the Master replied. 'But such a lamp would in
time burn out, and then you could never again relight it, and you
would be lost.'

'I should not like that!' exclaimed Calladon. But after a while he
added, 'Still I do not understand why those two other rooms should be
there, since I never go into them.'

'You live in them, even though you do not go into them,' the Master
answered. 'If you did go into them, you would not live in them so
much as you do now, because you could not take the light of the lamp
with you.'

Calladon said nothing more, but he became thoughtful.

CHAPTER II.

THE LAW OF THE LAMP.

One morning, soon after Calladon's seventh birthday, the Master called
him to him and said:

'My dear Calladon, you have now arrived at the age when I must leave
you for awhile, to think your own thoughts, and do your own deeds. I
am going away, and it is uncertain when I may come back. Before I go I
shall tell you a few things which I hope you will remember.'

'But I should like to go with you,' said Calladon.

'That may come to pass hereafter,' the Master replied, 'but not now,
and it will depend upon what you do and think while I am parted from
you, whether or not it comes to pass at all.'

'What is it that I must do?' inquired Calladon.

'I cannot command you either to do or not to do anything,' the Master
said, 'for I shall not be here to enforce obedience. But I have
already taught you many things, and, if you have studied them with
your whole heart and mind, they will direct you as well as I could
direct you myself. All I shall do, therefore, is to tell you what you
had best avoid doing, and then leave you to follow my advice or not,
as you choose.'

'Oh, there will be no trouble about that!' exclaimed Calladon
cheerfully, 'for will not my golden sash press against my heart
whenever I go wrong, and rem