"'Courage, courage, Volinè, my darling. All shall yet be well,' I whispered to her, as we walked along the garden-paths towards the Palace; and then planting kiss after kiss upon her willing, desire-athirsted lips, and snowy brow, I released her from my arms, and she went away.
"Love runs no smoother here, in Gathma, than on Earth, I mused, as I walked along the brilliantly-lighted corridors, thinking over the events of the past hour. A great and indefinable awe seemed creeping through every fibre of my body, as I thought and thought over the ghastly pledge I had just given, tempted by the vision of beauty in my arms. Did I regret my hasty, passionate vow? I now asked myself in cooler moments. No, no, a thousand times no, I mentally answered my own question; for if the way to my own happiness lies through fire, through fire I am thoroughly prepared to go."
[Here in the original MS. follows a long account of a scientific nature, which, though of the greatest importance to philosophers, might not be of sufficient interest to the general reading public. I have therefore deemed it expedient to omit this portion of the narrative, and keep as closely as possible to the fortunes of Harry and Volinè.--ED.]
"Already my comrades had retired to rest, and I did not see any of them until the morrow. Each one of us had now a separate chamber, fitted up with every convenience and every luxury; and after I had lightly supped a Martial showed me to my own apartment. Sleep I could not. The couch was soft; the surroundings all that might woo sleep for any man; but my eyes refused to close in slumber. Hour after hour I lay there awake, busy with thoughts of the woman I was about to espouse, and of the awful conditions under which our union was to be made. All night I tossed in feverish excitement, until the sickly light of the yellow dawn crept between the window draperies. Then I rose and dressed, and threw wide the casement, to let the refreshing morning air cool my burning temples. My tongue was dry and parched, and the cruel grip of a deadly fever seemed to have seized me. Then a terrible dread came over me that I was becoming mad. Was I still on Earth, and my visit to this strange world, and all that had befallen me thereon, but the wild delusion of a madman's dream? I would seek out Doctor Hermann, if all was an absolute reality, tell him my symptoms, and let him prescribe some remedy.