He vouchsafed to
them no answer, and with every moment the wretched and emaciated shadows
fell from utter exhaustion into the molten metals seething in the depths
of the mine. But what mattered that, since with every instant, new bands
of living shadows, equally fettered, doomed, and wretched, arrived to
fill the vacant places? The young man thought he had seen some of these
melancholy faces before in the high places of the earth, that the noble
traits once had been dear to him, but the flashes of lightning blinded
him, and the features were rapidly lost in the depths of the succeeding
gloom. The roar of the seething, fusing metals deafened the sound of the
groans from the chained and broken-hearted miners. And as I gazed, an
all-pervading splendor, like the golden calm of the Desert, settled over
all, covering with glittering veil the anguish which had been revealed.
As this light overflowed the scene with its brilliant haze, the gates of
bronze clapped to with heavy clang. The Master of Life and Death took
leave of the young man, and as he departed, said: When the great bell
again strikes, be in the Hall of the Throne; thy seat at my Banquet is
next my own.
As the young man turned to move away, the throng greeted him with shouts
and cheers. Many knelt to kiss his hand, because it had touched the hand
of the Master. They asked him what music he would hear, and when his
choice was made, the grand orchestra rolled it forth in massive waves of
sound.
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