His voice rang clarion-like over the vast prairies of ice and snow, the piercing sound echoed in my ears and startled me out of my trance; my eyes opened wide in reason. I was lying upon a couch in my own room, the sun streamed broadly through the open window, and Saxe. sat at the table drinking coffee and reading the morning paper. My head was swathed in ice-cold bandages, but the slightest movement gave me excruciating pain. “Saxe.!” I called. “All right, my boy,” he answered; “feel better?” “What’s the row?” “Oh, nothing serious, just the usual thing,” he replied. “If it hadn’t been for me you would have gone to sleep under the table, where most of them passed the night, I imagine.” “Was that really what ailed me? I thought it was a trance.” “Fact!” chuckled Saxe. “Trance, eh? well, well, well—trance! But it’s usually mentioned that way, I believe. There are others this morning whose sick heads makes them positive about it. Trance!” “Did I break up the fun?” “You were merely an incident; after your removal the fun grew wilder, I understand. But honestly, Salucci, I didn’t think it of you, I didn’t.” And Saxe. gazed sternly at my pallid countenance, then pulling down the shades he advised me to rest. I lay there with my aching head and thought of my wondrous vision. The marvelous beauty of it all so distinctly impressed me that I could gloat over the slightest detail. I reveled in reverie and saw again the sweet, alluring smile, deep, burning eyes, and royal magnificence of raiment. My desires ruled me as with a great heart throb I realized I loved; I the last of a long line of scorning people who could not realize the sweet passion. And such love! such adoration! It steeped my whole being in delight. I was reckless, folly full, madly enamoured with a phantom—an ideal. The dull-red globe with its reflecting golden mist enshrouding the brilliant, gorgeous creature, haunted me, and again and again the shadow of myself treaded the wide snow plains and lofty ice mountains, the whole enveloped in the mystery of the Unknown, convincing me of the truth of the inspired idea treasured in the fabulous cell of Thought, the extravagance of which I dared not utter. The vision of midnight tresses would become a reality. I would search the earth and seek this woman in her own world. I would be successful. It was fate. My adoration would kindle desire as the beauty had fired me; and then.... CHAPTER V. I had a long consultation with Saxe., then joined the expedition. I expected he would try to dissuade me from my intention, but on the contrary, he seemed singularly happy at my decision and confided to me his strange, strange theory.