is position
behind a marble pillar, he held himself erect. Had he been detected,
he would have rapturously sacrificed his life rather than have bent to
the Anti-christ.

The platform of the dais, on which the throne-chair stood, was reached
by three wide marble steps that sprang from the floor-level. At the
foot of these steps, Cohen the High-priest elect, stood clothed in a
single garment of pure white linen, that reached from his shoulders to
his feet. Attendant priests stood by, each holding one garment or
ornament, as the case might be, ready for the investiture.

Apleon rose from his throne, a magnificent, but a sardonic figure for
all that. As he rose, soft, weird music came from an angle where a
screen of palm-ferns was placed. Though mechanical, the music was of
an exquisite character.

Then, suddenly, swelling above the low weird music, came the voices of
a score or more white-robed priests chanting:

"Hear, O Israel, the Lord thy God is one God!"

George Bullen's eyes were fixed upon the face of Apleon, and he noted
the mocking, contemptuous smile that curled his lips at the language of
the chant.

As the chant finished, Cohen turned and faced Apleon, and slowly
climbed the steps. The music had ceased now, and, amid an absolute
silence, Apleon took "the embroidered coat" from the offered hands of
one of the subordinate priests. The garment was of white linen
wonderfully, beautifully embroidered. It reached from the shoulders to
the feet and fitted the body closely, a draw-string of white linen tape
fastening the sleeves at the wrists, and drawing the breast of the
vestment close about.

A linen girdle "four fingers wide," and long enough when tied to reach
the feet, was next put about Cohen by Apleon. Then a third priest
handed the Emperor, "The Robe of the Ephod." This was a long, loose
garment of Royal blue satin, with a wide neck-opening, the opening
bound with a wide gold band. The Robe was slipped over the head, and
it dropped to the feet of the High-priest. Upon the lower hem of the
Robe was a rich, deep fringe of alternate blue, purple, and scarlet
tassels made in the form of pomegranates. Between each pomegranate was
a golden bell.

Still amid an absolute silence, the investiture proceeded. Apleon took
the costly and beautiful Ephod of a fourth priest. This vestment was
in two pieces, one for the front, the other for the back. They were
joined together, at the shoulders, by b