'This,' said the angel, 'shall be a sign to thee of sweetness for ever.' And, as at his command, the bees flew eastward to Eden; then he touched the honeycomb, and it was immediately consumed by flames; but the fragrance of that burning was like the marriage of honey with fire. It rose into the nostrils of _Asenath_ and overcame her senses. Relinquishing all hold on earthly life, she threw up her arms and sank back upon the couch, where she lay like a beautiful soul fallen dead at the very gates of Paradise.
On the slanting rays of dawn the angel took his way eastwards. Then up rose the sun of the eighth day since _Jusef's_ departure. A cavalcade approached the gates of the palace.
The gates open and there is rushing to and fro. A man, as lordly as the sun, a white flower with a heart of gold in his girdle, rides in, followed by a retinue found only in the wake of kings. It is _Jusef_. Maddened by a dream, he looks up at the window of the palace tower, but the beautiful face that has showed before shows there no more. Love speeds his footsteps. He has right to command. Where--where is she?
_Asenath_ upon her couch wakes from oblivion at a touch. Who is this standing over her? The angel, yea, the angel, for there is her flower still in his girdle. But how?--and why?--it seems not right; his lips pressed close to hers, his arms around her in a wild embrace----
Printed in Great Britain By T. and A. CONSTABLE, Printers to His Majesty, Edinburgh
_COMITÉ DE LONDRES_ 9 KNIGHTSBRIDGE, LONDON, S.W.
=_Président d'honneur_= =_Présidente_= S. E. MONSIEUR PAUL CAMBON VICOMTESSE DE LA PANOUSE
=Under the Patronage of= H.M. QUEEN ALEXANDRA
The work of the FRENCH RED CROSS is done almost entirely by the willing sacrifice of patriotic people who give little or much out of their means. The Comité is pleased to give the fullest possible particulars of its methods and needs. It is sufficient here to say that every one who gives even a shilling gives a wounded French soldier more than a shilling's worth of ease or pleasure.
The actual work is enormous. The number of men doctored, nursed, housed, fed, kept from the worries of illness, is great, increasing, and will increase.
You must remember that everything to do with sick and wounded has to be kept up to a daily standard. It is you who give who provide the drugs, medicines, bandages, ambulances, coal, comfort for those who fight, get wounded, or die to keep you safe. Remember that besides fighting for France, they are fighting for the civilised world, and that you owe your security and civilisation to them as much as to your own men and the men of other Allied Countries.