He heaved a short, impatient sigh,—­and as he spoke, all Theos’s old misgivings came rushing back upon him and in full force, filling him with vague sorrow, uneasiness, fear.  But he knew how useless it was to try and impart any of his inward forebodings to Sah-luma,—­Sah-luma, who had so lightly explained Lysia’s treacherous conduct to his own entire satisfaction, . .  Sah-luma, on whom neither the prophecies of Khosrul nor the various disastrous events of the day had taken any permanent effect, . . while no attempt could now be made to deter him from attending the Sacrificial Service in the Temple, seeing he had been so positively commanded thither by Lysia, through the medium of the priest Zel.

Feeling bitterly his own incompetency to exercise any protective influence on the fate of his companion, Theos said nothing, but silently followed him, as he thrust aside the drooping cypress boughs and made his way out to more open ground, his lithe, graceful figure looking even more brilliant and phantom-like than ever, contrasted with the deep green gloom spread about him by the hoary moss-covered trees that were as twisted and grotesque in shape as a group of fetich idols.  As he bent back the last branchy barrier however, and stepped into the full light, he stopped short,—­and, uttering a loud exclamation, lifted his hand and pointed westward, his dark eyes dilating with amazement and awe.

Theos at once came swiftly up beside him, and looked where he looked, . . what a scene of terrific splendor he beheld! ...  Right across the horizon, that glistened with a pale green hue like newly frozen water, a cloud, black as the blackest midnight, lay heavy and motionless, in form resembling an enormous leaf, fringed at the edges with tremulous lines of gold.

This nebulous mass was absolutely stirless, . . it appeared as though it had been thrown, a ponderous weight, into the vault of heaven, and having fallen, there purposed to remain.  Ever and anon beamy threads of lightning played through it luridly, veining it with long, arrowy flashes of orange and silver,—­while poised immediately above it was the sun, looking like a dull scarlet seal, ... a ball of dim fire destitute of rays.

On all sides the sky was crossed by wavy flecks of pearl and sudden glimpses as of burning topaz,—­and down toward the earth drooped a thin azure fog,—­filmy curtain, through which the landscape took the strangest tints and unearthly flushes of color.  A moment,—­and the spectral sun dropped suddenly into the lower darkness, leaving behind it a glare of gold and green,—­lowering purple shadows crept over across the heavens, darkening them as smoke darkens flame,—­but the huge cloud, palpitating with lightning, moved not at all nor changed its shape by so much as a hair’s breadth, . . it appeared like a vast pall spread out in readiness for the solemn state-burial of the world.