I saw him tear from them their veils of snow, rend them asunder,
and trample the costly fragments under his feet. They knelt, wept, and
humiliated themselves before him. They prayed for love, saying: 'Once,
only once, we implore thee, confess that thou lovest!' Utter madness
came upon him; electric flashes fired his veins; rapture tingled through
every fibre of his young frame; and in the voluptuous delirium of the
moment he wildly cried: 'I love! I love!'
As he spake, he caught in his arms the Houri of the foreign race; he
fastened his burning lips upon her rosebud mouth; and by the magic of
her breath she drew him on to the Hall of the Throne!
There sat the Master of Life and Death, with the flags and standards of
the conquered nations floating around and above him. As the youth and
maiden entered, I again heard the great bell toll the hour. Throngs of
courtiers stood around the Throne. Slowly the curtain of inwrought
tapestry rose from the platina door. Those who had been waiting beyond
its threshold for admittance, were summoned by the Heralds to appear.
Ambassadors from the Kings of the East and the Kings of the West entered
the Presence Chamber. On they filed in long and solemn procession. They
all bowed as they passed the Throne, each one depositing an urn of pure
gold at the feet of the Monarch. The urns were filled with the ashes of
those who had fallen in battle, heroes killed in holy causes, patriots
and martyrs from different parts of the world.
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