“Thou foolish, yet dear comrade!” he murmured..  “What moves thee to blurt forth such strange and unwarrantable sayings? ...  Why wouldst thou pray to be a servant of the Cross? ... or why, at any rate, if thou hast taken a fancy for the dead Khosrul’s new doctrine, wert thou so rash as to proclaim thy sentiment to yon unprincipled, bloodthirsty Zel, who would not scruple to poison the King himself, if his Majesty gave sufficient cause of offence!  Dost thou desire to be straightway slain?—­Nay, I will not have thee run thus furiously into danger,—­thou wilt be offered the Silver Nectar like Nir-jahs, and not even the intercession of my friendship would avail to save thee then!”

Theos smiled rather sadly.

“And thus would end for ever my mistakes and follies, . .” he answered softly..  “And I should perchance discover the small hidden secret of things—­the little, simple unguessed clue, that would unravel the mystery and meaning of Existence!  For can it be that the majestic marvel of created Nature is purposeless in its design?—­that we are doomed to think thoughts which can never be realized?—­to dream dreams that perish in the dreaming? ... to build up hopes without foundation? ... to call upon God when there is no God? ... to long for Heaven when there is no Heaven? ...  Ah no, Sah-luma!—­surely we are not the mere fools and dupes of Time, ... surely there is some Eternal Beyond which is not Annihilation, . . some greater, vaster sphere of soul-development where we shall find all that we have missed on earth!”

Sah-luma’s face clouded, and a sigh escaped him.

“I would my thoughts were similar to thine!” he said sorrowfully..  “I would I could believe in an immortal destiny, ... but alas, my friend! there is no shadow of ground for such a happy faith,—­none neither in sense nor science.  I have reflected on it many a time till I have wearied myself with mournful musing, and the end of all my meditation has been a useless protest against the Great Inevitable, . . a clamor of disdain hurled at the huge, blind, indifferent Force that poisons the deep sea of Space with an ever-productive spawn of wasted Life!  Anon I have flouted my own despair, and have consoled myself with the old wise maxim that was found inscribed on the statue of a smiling god some centuries ago..  ’Enjoy your lives, ye passing tribes of men ... take pleasure in folly, for this is the only wisdom that avails!  Happy is he whose days are filled with the delight of love and laughter, for there is nothing better found on earth, and whatsoever ye do, whether wise or foolish, the same End comes to all!’..  Is not this true philosophy, my Theos? ... what can a man do better than enjoy?”

“Much depends on the particular form of enjoyment...” responded Theos thoughtfully.  “Some there are, for example, who might find their greatest satisfaction in the pleasures of the table,—­others in the gratification of sensual desires and gross appetites,—­are these to be left to follow their own devices, without any effort being made to raise them from the brute-level where they lie?”