Dropping his proclamation loudness of voice, he slipped into his synagogue recitative tone, as he went on: "On the first of the month, shall be a Sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets and holy convocation. Ye shall offer an offering unto the Lord." He signed to the Tokeang--the Shophar blower--and instantly the weird, curious, quavering, vibrating sounds broke on the still air. As the last note of the shophar died away, Cohen cried: "Let all the house of Israel, sacrifice unto the Lord!" Lifting his hand as he spoke, a turbaned priest led a lamb to the foot of the altar. A gleaming knife, snatched from his girdle flashed for a moment in the air; there was a swift movement of the sacrificial priest's arm, a gurgle from the silent lamb, and the little fleecy thing sank dying upon the grating before the altar. Only those immediately near could see all that followed, until the moment when the carcass of the lamb was reared to the grating on the summit of the altar. A strange stillness rested upon the people gathered, as another turbaned priest brought a torch to fire the wood beneath the altar. Before he could reach the altar, the voice of Apleon stayed his feet. "Let no fire be brought!" he cried, in commanding tones. "I will consume the offering!" He stretched his right hand forth, the fingers closed. Then opening his fingers, he drew back his arm suddenly, sharply, then jerked it forward again--it was the old mesmeric pass of the magicians. Instantly, the interior of the altar blazed with long, fierce forks of many coloured flames, and as they finally resolved themselves into a blood-red fiery cloud that hung over the sacrifice, the "_covenant_" sign floated in white amid the blood-red cloud. Another movement and the red cloud melted away, but like a quivering golden light the "Sign" remained an instant hovering over the altar. When that, too, melted, it was seen that not a vestige of the lamb was left. Awed and silent, the onlookers wondered! For a moment George Bullen was puzzled. Then he recalled the words of prophecy, as regarded The Anti-christ. "_His coming is after the working of Satan, with all power and signs and lying wonders . . . And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, and deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do._" The greatest tribute that could have been given to the supernatural power exhibited by Apleon, was the awed silence, and the bowed heads of all who had witnessed his satanic miracle. Its effect upon Cohen and the rest of the Jews, was, if possible, greater than upon any of the Gentiles who had witnessed the wonder. Upon the awed silence there suddenly fell a deep growl of thunder. The startled people lifted their heads. With almost an instantaneousness, the heavens darkened. It might well have been a moonless midnight, so dark did it suddenly become.