"And as he finished speaking, the multitude of Priests formed themselves into procession; the incense-throwers swung their cups to and fro, the lamp-bearers hoisted their lights on high, and the singers in the gallery commenced their solemn anthems. When they had finished singing, the grand procession began its imposing movement to the distant strains of some wind-instrument of great power and loud tone, on which twelve priestly artistes played, with marvellous precision, a march of soul-stirring beauty, though sad and tenderly plaintive in its cadence. At the end of this long company of marching Priests came Volinè, Echri, and myself; and so we wended our way around the spacious Hall and under an archway, into a larger building which was beneath the mightiest of the three brazen domes. "This larger Temple was fitted up even more gorgeously than the one we had left; and right in the centre thereof was a High Altar, at the front of which flowed a constant stream of molten fire, smokeless and silent, yet so brilliant that it lighted up the vast dome into its uttermost recesses with a noonday brightness. The heat, as we passed within fifty paces of this wondrous fire-stream, was great, and beads of perspiration formed themselves on my face; but these were more the result of the great and awful excitement that filled my brain, than the glow of heat that radiated from this living furnace. As we passed, Echri said: "'Behold, my son, Fire that hath never ceased to burn since Gathma sprang from chaos! It is the primordial force that hath sustained and nourished Life from the beginning of all things! yea, the blood that courses through the veins and arteries of worlds. It floweth here by a dark and rocky way beneath the ground, from the mountain of fire ye, perhaps, have noted some distance from Edos.' "I nodded, for I was absolutely too awe-stricken to speak, and the old Priest continued: "'Note thee well its living, brilliant beauty, for it is the enemy thou hast to conquer, or rather the friend that will help thee to thy heart's desire.' "I shuddered as I listened to his awful words, yet somehow I felt no fear, no regret, no dread, only an overwhelming sense of reverence and wonder. "Then, taking Volinè and myself by the hand, he walked between us, and led us to the foot of another throne, and, walking up the seven steps of solid gold, sat him down thereon. The procession of Priests continued walking on with slow and stately step, keeping time to the music that had now become louder, more triumphant in its melody, until, to the closing bars of this wondrous solo, they ranged themselves in one wide circle round the throne on which Echri sat, and the High Altar before which flowed the stream of Fire.