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Updated: May 26, 2025
Plunging thy senses in deep sleep, as hath been done before to many a saint and prophet of old time here on this very field of Ardath, he summoned up before thee the phantoms of a PORTION of thy Past, ... phantoms which, to thee, seemed far more real than the living presence of thy faithful Edris! ... alas, my Beloved! ... thou art not the only one on the Sorrowful Star who accepts a Dream for Reality and rejects Reality as a Dream!"
A curious, unnatural calmness suddenly possessed him, ... he surveyed with a quiet, almost cold, unconcern the prospect before him, a wide level square of land covered with tufts of coarse grass and clumps of wild tamarisk, ... nothing more. This was the Field of Ardath ... this bare, unlovely wilderness without so much as a tree to grace its outline!
It was no light or easy journey he had thus rashly undertaken on the faith of a dream, for dream he still believed it to be. He never lay down to rest without the faint hope of seeing once again, if only in sleep, the radiant Being whose haunting words had sent him on this quest of "Ardath," but herein his expectations were not realized.
Were they not the flowers of ARDATH? Dizzy with the sudden tumult of his own emotions, he dropped on his knees beside her, she did not stir! Was she REAL? or a phantom? Trembling violently, he touched her garment it was of tangible, smooth texture, actual enough, if the sense of touch could be relied upon.
From where he stood he could view its whole extent, and as he beheld its complete desolation he smiled, a faint, half-bitter smile. He thought of the words in the ancient book of "Esdras:" "And the Angel bade me enter a waste field, and the field was barren and dry save of herbs, and the name of the field was Ardath.
"According to the Apocrypha, Esdras 'sat among the flowers," he idly mused "Well! ... perhaps there were flowers in those days, but it is very evident there are none now. A more dreary, utterly desolate place than this famous 'Ardath' I have never seen!" At that moment a subtle fragrance scented the still air, ... a fragrance deliciously sweet, as of violets mingled with myrtle.
It appeared to him as familiar and UNfamiliar as Al-Kyris itself! ... till raising his eyes he saw the great Crucifix against the wall, the sacred Symbol whose meaning he had forgotten and hopelessly longed for in his Dream, and from which, before his visit to the field of Ardath, he had turned with a sense of bitter scorn and proud rejection. O blasphemy! ... SENTENCED joy?
No answer could his vexed brain shape to these demands, . . he recollected the "Pass of Dariel" just as he recollected the "Field of Ardath" without the least idea as to what connection existed between them and his own personal adventures. Presently controlling himself, he raised his head and ventured to look up, Sah-luma stood beside him, his fine face expressive of an amiable solicitude.
And in the heat and ardor of the moment, forgetful of the unseen barrier that divided her from him, he made a violent effort to spring forward when lo! a wave of rippling light appeared to break from beneath her feet, . . it rolled toward him, and completely flooded the space between them like a glittering pool, and in it the flowers of Ardath swayed to and fro as water-lilies on a woodland lake sway to the measured dash of passing oars!
"I want to talk to you" he continued, "We may not meet again for years, you are entering on a difficult career, and a few hints from one who knows and thoroughly understands your position may possibly be of use to you. In the first place, then, let me ask you, have you told any one, save me, the story of your Ardath adventure?"
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