The next morning I said good-bye to Sydney and Vera. As they drove away in the bright sunlight the child looked the personification of joy, but when my friend turned round to wave a last adieu, I knew that he was sorry: sorry because with the sensitiveness of his nature he knew my pain, and felt that I should be very lonely when he had gone. That evening while sitting in my study I noticed a brilliant light as though some large building was on fire. I hastened out; there could be no mistake, this light proceeded from the direction of Sydney’s house: before I arrived on the scene, there was a slight explosion, and flames were suddenly tossed high into the air. When I reached the building it was a ruin; only a few walls now stood to mark the spot where so many treasures had been gathered together. *CONCLUSION* For ten years I neither saw nor heard anything of Sydney or Vera, but this did not surprise me. I knew that they were both at Aphar, and that the girl was learning the mysteries of spiritual power which should in time enable her to gain at least some of the knowledge which the man, who had loved and watched over her so long, possessed. I was also confident that some day I should see them again before their spirits were united and passed away from earth. My confidence was justified. I was sitting alone one evening when Sydney entered the room. He was much changed. His hair was quite white, his face more calm, more noble than when we parted; but his expression told of such perfect happiness and contentment that even to look at him brought a feeling of peace. "I have come at last, you see," he said, as he shook me warmly by the hand. I told him how delighted I was, and that I had looked forward for years to this meeting. "But where," I continued, "is Vera? Did you not bring her after all?" "Oh yes," he replied. Even as he spoke the door opened, and the girl stood before us. I had been prepared for a good deal; I remembered the child, and felt quite certain that as she grew up she would be very beautiful; but I had never conceived it possible that any human form could be so lovely as the one that now stood before me.