Noiseless as had been the approach of the Priestess some interior vibration had informed Sarthia of her coming and, with a quivering and swift movement, she sprang from her couch and threw herself impulsively into the arms of the Priestess.

“Ah! sweet Mother, well beloved of our blessed and divine Isis, hear me and help me,” said the girl, in a whisper, tense and low, so low as only to reach the listening ear of the Priestess.

“Speak child,” answered the Priestess, caressingly clasping Sarthia to her bosom with one strong arm, and with the other making soft, mesmeric passes over her trembling body.

“Ah! thank you, sweet Mother; this is so good and kind of you to come to me to-night.  I have suffered so all day from your thought; you have been disappointed in your Sarthia and with reason, too.  A Vestal, who all but faints at the sight of death, is not made of the stuff required in the Temple Service.  But, believe me, dear Priestess, the trouble is far deeper than appears upon the surface.  The Ritual this morning but furnished the occasion or, rather, hastened some crisis that was already near at hand.  For some time now I am haunted by most potent premonitions of a violent death.  Night after night, dark apparitions hang around my bed, and only last night I awoke to find the Bird of Nu, the Owl, from out the inner Sanctuary of the Temple, perched upon my pillow and shaking his head and croaking at me most mournfully.”

“What!” exclaimed the Priestess.  “The Bird of Nu.  Ah! this is indeed very serious.  The matter must be investigated at once.  But, my child, if all these portents prove true, do you fear death?  Have all our teachings been in vain?  Have you made so little progress in knowledge and the philosophy of existence as to be overcome by dark shadows and grow faint in the presence of the sentiment and show of an external ceremony?  The pageantry, which appeals so overwhelmingly to the emotions of the outside world, is the necessary means of teaching the people these awful and stupendous mysteries of life and death.  But the Initiate should be sustained by actual experiences within these hidden realms and possess a knowledge of their inner nature which places him on a plane far above the reach of Fear; besides being endowed with that burning love for wisdom which calmly discerns good in evil, and immortal life in the shadow, called death.  Do not think I am chiding you, my child.  I am only seeking to recall my real Sarthia, who is incapable of Fear, back to this physical expression called body.

“There, already the bright soul shines again with its usual clear light.  Hold it firmly and do not let it flicker so again, and now I must leave you to seek an interview with the chief of the Astrologers.  The record and Horoscope of your birth must be carefully looked up, and the meaning of these portents determined.  Good-night, my child.”

With a kiss, fond and maternal, the Priestess withdrew.  She proceeded leisurely and thoughtfully toward a distant part of the Temple, having first dispatched a messenger before her to announce her coming, seeking an audience, well knowing that at this now early hour of morning the Astrologer Priests would all be in the midst of their busiest studies, calculations and most profound observations.