un-ray,'--you, for whom the things which interest men and women of the
moment are mere toys of poor invention--you, of all others, ought to
know that when the laws of the universe are understood and followed,
there can be no fetters on the true liberty of the subject? IF I were
ever in the 'Brazen City'--mind! I say 'if'--there could be nothing to
prevent my leaving it if I chose--"

She interrupted him by the uplifting of a hand.

"I was told"--she said slowly--"by a Voice that spoke to me--that if I
went there I should have to stay there!"

"No doubt!" he answered--"For love would keep you!"

"Love!" she echoed.

"Even so! Such love as you have never dreamed of, dear soul weighted
with millions of gold! Love!--the only force that pulls heaven to earth
and binds them together!"

"But YOU--you--if you were in the Brazen City--"

"If!" he repeated, emphatically.

"If--yes! if"--she said--"If you were there, love did not hold YOU?"

"No!"

There was a silence. The sunshine burned down on the ancient grey
flagstones of the cloister, and two gorgeous butterflies danced over
the climbing roses that hung from the arches in festal wreaths of pink
and white. A luminance deeper than that of the sun seemed to encircle
the figures standing together--the one so elfin, light and
delicate,--the other invested with a kind of inward royalty expressing
itself outwardly in stateliness of look and bearing. Something
mysteriously suggestive of super-humanity environed them; a spirit and
personality higher than mortal. After some minutes Aloysius spoke
again--

"The city is not a 'Brazen' City"--he said--"It has been called so by
travellers who have seen its golden towers glistening afar off in a
sudden refraction of light lasting but a few seconds. Gold often looks
like brass and brass like gold, in human entities as in architectural
results." He paused--then went on slowly and impressively--"Surely you
remember,-you MUST remember, that it is written 'The city lieth
four-square, and the length is as large as the breadth. The wall
thereof is according to the measure of a man--that is, of the Angel.
And the city is of pure gold.' Does that give you no hint of the
measure of a man, that is, of the Angel?--of the 'new heavens and the
new earth,' the old things being passed away? Dear child, you have
studied deeply--you have adventured far and greatly!--continue your
quest, but do not forget to take your guiding Light, the Faith w