"He is always expressing his thought!" said Herhor, in meditation. "Think thou, Pentuer, of earth-tillers and laborers; thou, Mefres, of the priests. I know not what ye will effect, but I swear that if my own son favored war I would bind and destroy him." "Act in this way," said Beroes,--"let him carry on war who wishes, but not in those regions where he can meet Assyria." With this the session ended. The Chaldean put his scarf on his shoulder and the veil on his face; Mefres and Herhor, one on each side of him, and behind him Pentuer, all turned toward the altar. When Beroes had crossed his hands on his breast, he whispered, and again subterranean disturbance set in, and they heard as it were a distant uproar, which astonished the assistants. "Baralanensis, Baldachiensis, Paumachiæ," said the seer, aloud, "I summon thee to witness our stipulations and support our wishes." The sound of trumpets was heard so distinctly that Mefres bowed to the earth, Herhor looked around in astonishment, while Pentuer knelt, fell to trembling, and covered his ears. The purple curtain at the altar shook, and its folds took such a form as if a man were behind who wished to pass through it. "Be witnesses," cried the Chaldean, in a changed voice, "ye powers above and ye powers beneath! And cursed be he who observes not this treaty or betrays its secret." "Cursed!" repeated some voice. "And destroyed!" "And destroyed." "In this visible and in that invisible life. By the ineffable name of Jehovah, at the sound of which the earth trembles, the sea draws back, fire quenches, and the elements of nature become evident." A real tempest rose in the cave. The sound of trumpets was mingled with voices, as it were, of distant thunders. The curtain of the altar rose almost horizontally, and behind it, amid glittering lightning, appeared wonderful creatures, half human, half plant and animal, crowded and mingled together. Suddenly all was silent, and Beroes rose slowly in the air, higher than the heads of the priests there attending. * * * * * At eight o'clock next morning Phut of Harran returned to the Phœnician inn "Under the Ship" to which his bags and casket stolen by thieves had been returned safely. A few minutes later came Asarhadon's confidential servant, whom the innkeeper took to the cellar and examined briefly,-- "Well?" "I was all night on the square where the temple of Set is," answered the servant. "At ten in the evening out of the garden which lies about four places farther than the house of the 'Green Star,' came three priests. One of them, with black beard and hair, turned his steps through the square toward the temple of Set. I ran after him, but mist fell, and he vanished from my eyes. Whether he returned to the 'Green Star' or when, I know not." The innkeeper, when he had heard this account, struck his forehead and muttered to himself,--