_Then Hirach called unto himself a great Red Dragon, whose name was Marah—for he shall deceive the nations, and they shall war with one another. He who sat on the dragon was calm and silent. His lofty, godlike brow was wrapped in the golden splendor of the morning sun. Over the deep chasm which divides mortals from the highest thrones swirled the Red Dragon, and the worlds trembled and feared. And the mountains from before whose eyes the clouds had vanished said to the stars shining in the majesty of their being: “Who is the terrible Red Dragon, and whose splendor anointeth the brow of him sitting thereon?”_ _The stars answered: “From infinity to infinity we roll in our courses; ages on ages have spent themselves in our existence, yet we remember not when the Red Dragon rose into life; neither can we comprehend the splendor on the brow of him who sitteth thereon.”_ _Now as the Dragon gyrated in his course, his fiery breath caused new suns to spring into existence, and new planets rolled in their orbits around them, peopled with living beings. Then the Dragon exalted himself in pride, and puffed out his cheeks, saying_: “_Behold the glorious suns which I have created, to give light and life to all creatures, that they may praise me and give glory for that which I have done._” _Then he who sat on the head of the Dragon, clothed in splendor, rose and smote the ugly beast, whose death-agony dashed into pieces the beautiful planet circling between Mars and Jupiter, thus forever destroying the equilibrium between War and Justice. The souls thereon were drawn into the vortex of the earth. With his two tails he laid hold of Mars and Venus, seeking to destroy them also; but Hirach raised the great two-edged sword in his hands and cleft asunder the tails of the Dragon. He cut the body into five pieces, which fell to the earth, and the Dragon was no more._ “Such,” said Imos, “is the account of the Red Dragon. It is said that the chain of hills which encircle Tlamco are the remains of his body. Yonder hill to the east, is his skull, and is called Calvu. It is furthermore stated that Hirach shall at the end of the cycle come from a cavern beneath it. Akaza—curses be his portion! says that the Blessed Story is an allegory. He, a viler apostate than his pupil, claimed that he would come again, as Hirach incarnate, to break the power of the black brotherhood.” “Rather let us exterminate the last remnant of them, and give their bodies to the fishes!” was his companion’s intemperate rejoinder. “Face thy duty resolutely, and may victory be on thy side!” said Imos, piously, as Setos hurried out of the house. “He who holds our destiny, plans all things well. May thy hopes find fruition also!”