This was composed of a straight clinging gown, slightly gathered at the throat, and bound about the waist with a twisted girdle of silver, gold, and, in some cases, jewels,--their arms, like those of the men, were bare, and their small, delicate feet were protected by sandals fastened with crossed bands of ribbon coquettishly knotted. The arrangement of their hair was evidently a matter of personal taste, and not the slavish copying of any set fashion,--some allowed it to hang in loosely flowing abundance over their shoulders,--others had it closely braided, or coiled carelessly in a thick soft mass at the top of the head,--but all without exception wore white veils,--veils, long, transparent, and filmy as gossamer, which they flung back or draped about them at their pleasure ... and presently, after watching several of these fairy creatures pass by and listening to their low laughter and dulcet speech, a sudden memory leaped into Alwyn's confused brain,--an old, old memory that seemed to have lain hidden among his thoughts for centuries,--the memory of a story called "LAMIA" told in verse as delicious as music aptly played. Who wrote the story? ... He could not tell,--but he recollected that it was about a snake in the guise of a beautiful woman. And these women in this strange city looked as if they also had a snake-like origin,--there was something so soft and lithe and undulating about their movements and gestures. Weary of walking, distracted by the ever-increasing clamor, and feeling lost among the crowd, he at last perceived a wide and splendid square, surrounded wild stately houses, and having in its centre a huge, white granite obelisk which towered like a pillar of snow against the dense blue of the sky. Below it a massively sculptured lion, also of white granite, lay couchant, holding a shield between its paws,--and on either side two fine fountains were in full play, the delicate spiral columns of water being dashed up beyond the extreme point of the obelisk, so that its stone face was wet and glistening with the tossing rainbow shower. Here he turned aside out of the main thoroughfare,--there were tall, shady trees all about, and fantastically carved benches underneath them, ... he determined to sit down and rest, and steadily THINK OUT his involved and peculiar condition of mind. As he passed the sculptured lion, he saw certain words engraved on the shield it held,--they were ... "THROUGH THE LION AND THE SERPENT SHALL AL-KYRIS FLOURISH." There was no disorder in his intelligence concerning this sentence,--he was able to read it clearly and comprehensively, ... and yet ... WHAT was the language in which it was written, and how did he come to know it so thoroughly? ... With a sigh that was almost a groan, he sank listlessly on a seat, and burying his head in his hands to shut out all the strange sights which so direfully perplexed his reason, he began to subject himself to a patient, serious cross-examination.