g open, and
the maidens reappeared to welcome their mistress with a song of joy. I
saw her ascend the steps bearing the lily in her hand, then turn and
wave an adieu to the multitude, who responded by a parting hymn as the
great purple valves closed together and rapt her from my sight.

CHAPTER X.

ALUMION.

Alumion--Alumion--I could think of nothing but Alumion. Her very name
was music in my ears, and her image in my heart was a perpetual banquet
of delight I had never known such felicity before. My inclination for
Miss Carmichael and every other transient affection or interest I may
have felt was altogether of a lower strain--with one exception, a boyish
admiration for a school girl who died a mere child. The ethereal flame
of this new passion seemed to purify all that was earthly, and exalt all
that was celestial in my nature. This beautiful land, so green and
smiling under a sky of serene azure and snowy wreaths, became as the
highest heaven to me, and I wandered about in a dream of ecstacy like
one of the blessed gods inebriated with nectar.

I avoided my travelling companions. Their worldly conversation jarred on
the mood I was in, and I preferred my own thoughts to their pursuits.
As my sole desire was to hear about Alumion, and if possible to see her
again, I courted the society of Dinus and Otare. I knew, of course, that
in ten days she would return to her family, but I thought I might be
able to visit the temple and perhaps get a glimpse of her. However, I
learned from her father that during the sacred festival the temple was
closed to the outer world. It was not indeed forbidden to land on the
holy island, but it was considered a sacrilege for anyone not having
business there to enter the precincts of the temple, excepting on the
day of the ceremony which had just taken place. While bound to respect
this taboo, I was, nevertheless, drawn by an irresistible attraction to
the island, where I frequently spent hours in sailing about the wooded
shores, or loitering in the sacred avenue, hoping against hope that I
might see her passing by or in the distance. Although I was not so
fortunate, I enjoyed the satisfaction of being nearer to her, and as the
island seemed a perfect solitude, I could indulge my reverie in peace.

At last I made a discovery. In describing the ceremony of the Flower,
Otare had spoken of a sacred grotto where the priestess went to bathe,
and on questioning him further, I ascertai