“ I answer thee, Yes. But a faint heart

Can never accomplish its ends; Put thy trust boldly in him, and be sure

He never forsakes his friends."

While Eleëmon listen'd

He shudder'd inwardly,
At the ugly voice of Abibas,
And the look in his wicked eye.

And he could then almost have given

His fatal purpose o'er ; But his Good Angel had left him, When he entered the Sorcerer's door.

So in the strength of evil shame,
His mind the young man knit

Into a desperate resolve,
For his bad

purpose

fit.

“Let thy Master give me what I seek,

O Servant of Satan,” he said,
" As I ask firmly, and for his

Renounce all other aid !

“ Time presses. Cyra is content

To bid the world farewell,
And pass her days, a virgin vow'd,
Among Emmelia's sisterhood,

The tenant of a cell.

6 Thus hath her Father will’d, that so

A life of rigour here below

May fit her for the skies;
And Heaven acceptably receive

His costliest sacrifice.

“ The admiring people say of this That Angels, or that Saints in bliss,

The holy thought inspire;
And she is call’d a blessed Maid,

And he a happy Sire.

“ Through Cappadocia far and wide

The news hath found its way,
And crowds to Cæsarea flock

To attend the solemn day.

« The robes are ready, rich with gold,

Even like a bridal dress, Which at the altar she will wear When self-devoted she stands there

In all her loveliness.

“ And that coarse habit too, which she

Must then put on, is made,
Therein to be for life and death

Unchangeably array'd.

“ This night, . . this precious night is ours,

Late, late, I come to you;
But all that must be dared, or done,

Prepared to dare and do."

“ Thou hast hesitated long ! ” said Abibas,

66 And thou hast done amiss,
In praying to Him whom I name not,

That it never might come to this !

“ But thou hast chosen thy part, and here thou art ;

And thou shalt have thy desire;

And tho' at the eleventh hour Thou hast come to serve our Prince of Power,

He will give thee in full thine hire.

“ These Tablets take ;” (he wrote as he spake,)

“My letters, which thou art to bear,

Wherein I shall commend thee
To the Prince of the Powers of the Air.

“Go from the North Gate out, and take

On a Pagan's tomb thy stand ;
And, looking to the North, hold up

The Tablets in thy hand ;

" And call the Spirits of the Air,
That they my messenger may bear
To the place whither he would pass,
And there present him to their Prince

In the name of Abibas.

“ The passage will be swift and safe,

No danger awaits thee beyond;
Thou wilt only have now to sign and seal,

And hereafter to pay the Bond.”

II.

SHUNNING human sight, like a thief in the night,

Eleëmon made no delay,
But went unto a Pagan's tomb

Beside the public way.

Inclosed with barren elms it stood,

There planted when the dead
Within the last abode of man

Had been deposited.

And thrice ten years those barren trees,

Enjoying light and air,
Had
grown

and flourish'd, while the dead
In darkness moulder'd there.

Long had they overtopt the tomb;
And closed was now that upper room
Where friends were wont to pour,
Upon the honour'd dust below,

Libations thro' the foor.

There on that unblest monument

The young man took his stand,
And northward he the tablets held

In his uplifted hand.

A courage not his own he felt,

A wicked fortitude,
Wherewith bad influences unseen

That hour his heart endued.

The rising Moon grew pale in heaven

At that unhappy sight; And all the blessed Stars seem'd then

To close their twinkling light; And a shuddering in the elms was heard,

Tho' winds were still that night.

He call'd the Spirits of the Air,

He call'd them in the name
Of Abibas; and at the call
The attendant Spirits came.

A strong hand which he could not see

Took his uplifted hand;
He felt a strong arm circle him,
And lift him from his stand ;

A whirr of unseen wings he heard
About him

every where,
Which onward with a mighty force,

Impell’d him through the air.

Fast through the middle sky and far

It hurried him along,
The Hurrican is not so swift,
The Torrent not so strong ;