TWILIGHT LAND

a dark passage-way, and another door, and then, lo and
behold! all was changed; for they had come suddenly
into such a place as the young man would not have
believed could be in such a house, had he not seen it
with his own eyes. Thousands of waxen tapers lit the
place as bright as day—a great oval room, floored with
mosaic of a thousand bright colours and strange figures,
and hung with tapestries of silks and satins and gold and
silver. The ceiling was painted to represent the sky,
through which flew beautiful birds and winged figures
so life-like that no one could tell that they were only
painted, and not real. At the farther side of the room
were two richly cushioned couches, and thither the old
man led the way with the young spendthrift following,
wonder-struck, and there the two sat themselves down.
Then the old man smote. his hands together, and, in
answer, ten young men and ten beautiful girls entered,
bearing a feast of rare fruits and wines, which they spread
‘before them, and the young man, who had been fasting
since morning, fell to and ate as he had not eaten for
many a day.

The old man, who himself ate -but little, waited
patiently for the other to end. “Now,” said he, as soon
as the young man could eat no more, “you have feasted
and you have drunk; it is time for us to work.”

Thereupon he rose from the couch and led the way,
the young man following, through an arch doorway into
a garden, in the centre of which was an open space paved
with white marble, and in the centre of that again a
carpet, ragged and worn, spread out upon the smooth
stones. Without saying a word, the old man seated him-

self upon one end of this carpet, and motioned to the
100