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THE PRINCE AND THE HERMIT.
249
on the hearth the remains of a fagot fire were smouldering; 
"THE KING ENTERED AND PAUSED."before a shrine, which was lighted by a single candle, knelt an aged man, and on an old wooden box at his side, lay an open book and a human skull. The man was of large, bony frame; his hair and whiskers were very long and snowy white; he was clothed in a robe of sheepskins which reached from his neck to his heels.
"A holy hermit!" said the king to himself; "now am I indeed fortunate."
The hermit rose from his knees; the king knocked. A deep voice responded—
"Enter!—but leave sin behind, for the ground whereon thou shalt stand is holy!"
