inding in
the moonlight. Some houseless wretches were slumbering under the arch
of its fountain. Several isolated tombs of considerable size[46] rose at
the base of Olivet, and the largest of these Alroy entered. Proceeding
through a narrow passage, he entered a small square chamber. On each
side was an empty sarcophagus of granite, one with its lid broken.
Between these the Prince of the Captivity laid his robe, and, wearied by
his ramble, soon soundly slept.

After some hours he woke. He fancied that he had been wakened by the
sound of voices. The chamber was not quite dark. A straggling moonbeam
fought its way through an open fretwork pattern in the top of the tomb,
and just revealed the dim interior. Suddenly a voice spoke, a strange
and singular voice.

'Brother, brother, the sounds of the night begin.'

Another voice answered,

'Brother, brother, I hear them, too.'

'The woman in labour!'

'The thief at his craft!'

'The sentinel's challenge!'

'The murderer's step!'

'Oh! the merry sounds of the night!'

'Brother, brother, let us come forth and wander about the world.'

'We have seen all things. I'll lie here and listen to the baying hound.
'Tis music for a tomb.'

'Choice and rare. You are idle. I like to sport in the starry air. Our
hours are few, they should be fair.'

'What shall we see, Heaven or Earth?' 'Hell for me, 'tis more amusing.'
'As for me, I am sick of Hades.' 'Let us visit Solomon!' 'In his unknown
metropolis?'

'That will be rare.'

'But where, oh! where?'

'Even a spirit cannot tell. But they say, but they say, I dare not
whisper what they say.'

'Who told you?'

'No one. I overheard an Afrite whispering to a female Ghoul he wanted to
seduce.'

'Hah! hah! hah! hah! choice pair, choice pair! We are more ethereal.'

'She was a beauty in her way. Her eyes were luminous, though somewhat
dank, and her cheek tinged with carnation caught from infant blood.'

'Oh! gay; oh! gay; what said they?'

'He was a deserter without leave from Solomon's body-guard. The trull
wriggled the secret out.'

'Tell me, kind brother.'

'I'll show, not tell.'

'I pr'ythee tell me.'

'Well, then, well. In Genthesma's gloomy cave there is a river none has
reached, and you must sail, and you must sail---- Brother!'

'Ay.'

'Methinks I smell something too earthly.'

'What's that?'

'The breath of man.'

'Scent more fatal than the morning air! Away, away!'

In the range of mountains