The Equinox (Volume I, Number I)

THE DREAM CIRCEAN unconsciously it would account for both the weapons and the scene in the Morgue. .. . But I cannot say. “So, too, I learnt from the master that all this veil of life is but a shadow of a vast reality beyond, perceptible only to those who have earned eyes to see withal. “These eyes I could not earn; a faith in the master sus- tained me. I began to understand, too, a little about the human brain; of what it is capable. Of Heaven—and of Hell! “Life passed, vigorous and pleasant; the only memory that haunted me was the compulsion of my oath that never would I again set foot in the Rue des Quatre Vents. “Life passed, and for the master ended. ‘ The Veil of the Temple is but a Spider’s web!’ he said, three days before he died. I followed Eliphaz Levi Zahed to the grave. “T could not follow him beyond. “For the next year I applied myself with renewed vigour to the study of the many manuscripts which he had left me. No result could I obtain; Islackened. Followed the folly of my life: I rationalised. “Thus: one day, leaning over the Pont St. Michel, I let the whole strange story flow back through my brain. I re- membered my agony; my present calm astonished me. I thought of Levi, of my oath. ‘He did not mean for all my “fe; I thought ; ‘he meant until I could contemplate the affair without passion. Is not fear failure? I will walk through just once, to show my mastery.’ In five minutes—with just one inward qualm—again I was treading the well-worn flags of that ensorcelled road. “Instantly—instantly !—the old delusion had me by it I 129