Ayesha:The Return of She

e most awful years, perhaps, which were ever endured by men - twenty ye

realms, as it has been promised to me that I shall do. I desire to learn the beginning and the

shed, but Destiny kept my breath in me, perhaps that a record might remain. I, must bide here a month or two till I am strong enough to travel homewards, for I have a fancy to die in the place where I was born. So while I have strength I will

gin with

ad experienced, and to give us time and opportunity to think, we went to an old house upon the shores of Cumberland that has belonged to my f

s I write, if any should ever

beloved friend, my son in the spirit whom I

thousand years before she had slain in her jealous rage, thus executing on him the judgment of the angry goddess. In her also I found the divinity whom I was doomed to worship from afar, not with the flesh, for that is all lost and gone from me, but, what is sorer stil

ishment? May it not prove to be but that black and terrible Gate which leads to the joyous palace of Rew

to the Mountain, and on the Mountain we found the Shrine, and in the Shrine the Spirit. May not these things be an

e, and then in our very sight was swept to a doom so horrible that even now, after all which has been and gone, I shiver at its recollection. Yet what were

er did not fail me, and the book he made of it seems to be known throughout the world, for I have foun

found again and discovering none. Here our strength came back to us, and Leo's hair, that had been whitened in the horror of the Cav

eart-broken, we were in despair. We sought signs and could find none

slow surge of the waves and watching the lightning flicker from the bosom of a distant cloud. In s

m in torment. The desire to see Ayesha once more saps my brain. Without ho

can you d

or to peace," he answered solemnly, "I

grily, for his words

aid. "Cannot you bear your p

the curse lies - with less cause. Well, you are stronger than I am, and more t

its gift of life as a thing outworn, contemptible and despised. A crime, I say, which will bring wi

s; but surely that sin should find forgiveness - if torn flesh and quivering nerves may plead for mercy. I am suc

aught you know Aye

ign. My mind is made up, so talk no more, or

was mad: shock and sorrow had destroyed his reason. Were it not so, he, in his own way a very religious man, one w

lone? Do you pay me thus for all my love and care, and wish to driv

Why your bl

e have lived long years together and together endure

r me. But I only answered, "If you die I tell you

ddenly, "I promise you it shall not be t

e taken hold of him, would grow and grow, until at length it became too strong, and then - then I should withe

ve, and save your lover from this sin and me from a broken heart. Have pity on his sorrow and br

rn out,

Leo speaking to me in low, exc

"Horace, my friend,

re of me, for the tones of his voice told me that s

t a candle f

high up in the vault, miles and miles away, I saw a little light and thought that a planet had appeared to keep me company. The light began to descend slowly, like a floating flake of fire. Down it sank, and down and down, till it was but just above me, and I perceived that it was

, her cloudy hair, and she looked at me sadly, reproachfu

to embrace her, my arms would not move. There was a barrier between u

e passed swiftly eastward, over lands and seas, and - I knew the road. At one point she paused and I looked downwards. Be

earnestly, were the faces of the Arabs, our companions who drowned in the sea beneath. Job was among th

nt above a building set upon the brow of a plateau. It was a monastery, for old monks droned prayers upon its terrace. I shall know it again, for it is built in the shape of a half-moon and in front of it sits the gigantic, ruined statue of a god who gazes

cross the sea. On we went, floating down the beam - on over the desert and the mountains, across a great flat land beyond, in which were many villages and a city on a mound, till we lit upon a towering peak. Then I saw that this peak was loop-shaped like the symbol of Life of the Egyptians - the cru

you that the sig

still, brooding over what I had heard. Leo grop

he asked angrily.

never was I more aw

which grew pearl-hued with the first faint tinge of dawn. Leo came also and leant upon the window

to him, "but in your sign I s

he broke in fiercel

adness with your sorrow and your longings? You dreamed that you were alone in the vast universe. Well, is not every living creature thus alone? You dreamed that the shadowy shape of Ayesha came to you. Has it ever left your side? You dreamed tha

l follow. Think as you will, Horace, and do what you will. To-morrow I

ermined upon suicide, will be a poor staff to lean on when we are perishing in the snows of Central Asia. A mixed vision, this of yours, Leo, with its mountai

iving looked upon the dead, and dead and living were the same? And do you remember what Ayesha swore, that she would come again

s argument. I was st

ave had a part in the play, humble enough, I a

u. I wish that it had. Oh! how I wish

long while, silent, with o

a crater. From this crater sprang a projecting cloud, a rough pillar with a knob or lump resting on its top. Suddenly the rays of the risen sun struck upon this mountain and the column a

in which I saw in my vision. There upon it is the black loop, and there throu

op vanished into the blue of heaven. Then I turned a