That “both” was a distasteful word to Berenice, seeming, as it did, to imply that he thought as much of Vashti’s opinion as of her own. Evidently he did, for it was not till Vashti had added a persuasive word that he would begin his story. “A few nights ago,” said he, plunging at once _in medias res_, “I seemed in my sleep to be standing in what appeared to be the court of some magnificent temple. This court, colonnaded on its four sides, was a spacious one and open to the sky. It was night, and the stars faintly twinkled. Before me at some distance rose the temple itself, an edifice constructed of pure white marble. “The place was not quiet--far from it. Singular to relate, although no one was visible, the court seemed to be thronged with men. There was a running to and fro over the pavement, the clash and clang of arms, and the sound of warriors engaged in deadly fray. I laid hand to my sword, desiring to range myself on the one side or the other, but how could one take part in a combat like this--a combat of ghosts? “Suddenly I became conscious of a glow; in front of me, upon a low balustrade, lay a flaming torch. As I looked at it a voice, seeming to come from the sky, cried in the Hebrew tongue, ‘_Burn!_’ and the flambeau shook itself as if impatient to be grasped. I hesitated. Again the voice cried, ‘_Burn!_’ in a tone so awe-inspiring that I durst not disobey. I lifted the burning brand, and tossed it through a golden window of the temple. A shower of sparks rose from within; next came a tongue of fire, leaping forth from the window; a little while and the whole structure was mantled with flame and smoke. At the same instant I awoke.” Berenice’s dusky eyes, eloquent with a nameless fear, were set full upon the speaker’s face. “Can you describe the temple seen by you in the vision?” “I can shut my eyes now,” said Crispus, suiting the action to the word, “and recall every feature. I am standing on the north side of the temple; it extends east and west for a length of perhaps two hundred and fifty cubits. To enter it one must first pass a low balustrade of marble, curiously wrought, upon which stand little pillars engraved with a notice in Greek and Latin letters. I have a distinct remembrance in my dream of reading the notice. It forbade the Gentiles on pain of death from entering the shrine.” Both Vashti and Berenice gave a faint cry of surprise. “Did you speak, princess?” “No, no! Go on. What next?” she asked breathlessly.