"Then the high priest turned to us and said, ’By some influence you have been drawn to the fountain of wisdom, but it must yet be seen if you are worthy to receive the knowledge which shall make you free. Having forced your way into this sacred enclosure, it is now too late to retrace your steps; you must go onward to a nobler life, or pass into that state which men call death. But have no fear, the destinies of all men are decreed. Should you die it is but the sign that your new body awaits the spirit. Moreover, here death is robbed of pain, and the vision of the holy temple shall purify your spirit in the life hereafter.’ "Then pointing to my companion, he bade him go to the altar, and standing before it act even as his spirit directed. "Kanwick stepped fearlessly up the marble steps. As he did so a great flame burst up, at the sight of which he shrank back, and in a moment the cavern was in pitch darkness, but there was no sound. Then in that awful stillness I knew all, for the thoughts of those around me spoke even as the thought of one man. I knew that my friend was dead, and how he had died, and why, and a great sorrow came over me. Yet hardly had I time to think before the room was lighted as before, but there was no sign of the dead body. "When bidden to walk up to the altar, though I felt no fear for my own safety, my limbs trembled as they passed over a large black slab of marble, for I knew that beneath this revolving stone at some unfathomed depth lay the body of Kanwick. There was a hidden meaning in the priest’s words, ’It is too late to retrace your steps.’ When the fire again burst forth, instead of moving back to avoid it, I threw myself across the altar into the midst of the fire and immediately became insensible. "On recovering consciousness I found that I was lying in a small room beautifully decorated; it was just such an apartment as you may find in any wealthy Persian’s house. I felt drowsy, and had some little difficulty in recalling the scene in the cavern. The clothing previously worn by me had been removed, and I was now dressed in a red robe, similar in fashion to that worn by the priests. There was no trace on my body of any effect from the fire, which had doubtless been extinguished at the moment I had thrown myself forward, and I now know that my insensibility was caused by the powerful narcotic fumes which at the moment the flame bursts forth, rise from the altar and make death to the unsuccessful painless, even as the priest had promised. "I was under the impression that my ordeal was now over, and that I should be admitted at once into the priesthood, but this was not the case. I had been lying in this dreamy state for perhaps twenty minutes, when one of the Persian hangings was pushed aside, and a young girl entered the room. She was a Circassian, very fair and beautifully formed; in her hand she carried a golden cup full of wine which she handed to me, saying in Persian--