He will be of great service unto me. The mystic light on earth doth burn me sore; I must work further there, but must not let The mystics unto men my work reveal. (Theodora's soul appears.) THEODORA'S SOUL: Thou mayest Strader reach; but none the less I shall be by his side; and since we were United on the radiant path of souls, We shall remain united wheresoe'er He dwells on earth or in the spirit-realms. AHRIMAN: If she indeed forsakes him not, the while He still doth dwell on earth, I stand to lose My battle; yet I shall not cease to hope That he may yet forget her 'ere the end. Curtain SCENE 13 A large reception room in Hilary's house. As the curtain rises Hilary and Romanus are in conversation. HILARY: I must with grief confess to thee, dear friend, That this fate's tangle, which is forming here Within our circle, well-nigh crusheth me. On what can one rely, when nothing holds? The friends of Benedictus are by thee Kept far from our endeavours; Strader, too, Is torn by bitter agonies of doubt. A man who, full of shrewdness and of hate, Hath oft opposed the mystic life and aims, Hath pointed out grave errors in his plans And shewn that his invention cannot work, And is not only stopped by outward checks. Life hath not brought me any ripened fruit; I longed for perfect deeds. And yet the thoughts That bring deeds unto ripeness never came. My soul was ever plagued by loneliness. By spirit-sight alone was I upborne. And yet;--in Strader's case I was deceived. ROMANUS: I often felt as though some gruesome shape Was pressing painfully upon my soul Whene'er thy words were in the course of life Shown to be naught but errors and mistakes; That as the spirit-sight seemed to deceive My mystic master did this shape become Within me and did set a feeling free Which now enables me to give thee light. Too blindly hast thou trusted spirit-sight; And so as error it appears to thee When it doth surely lead thee to the truth. In Strader's case thy sight was true, despite The things that super-clever men hath shown. HILARY: Thy faith still doth not waver, and thou hast The same opinion now of Strader's work? ROMANUS: The reasons whereon I did build it up Have naught to do with Strader's friends at all And still are valid, whether his machine Prove itself true or faulty in design. Supposing he hath made an error; well, A man through error finds the way to truth. HILARY: The failure then doth not affect thee--thee To whom life hath brought nothing but success? ROMANUS: