This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.

REVEALED IN SLEEP

account them blessed; the hurt that has been done them passes by; they are made whole, for he slowly, yet surely, heals them; in his arms the broken of spirit are cherished; and when he holds the hearts that are cleft to his breast they are once more bound together. And I raised my eyes after he had spoken these words, and sought to gather strength to look upon the coming vision.

Now again two came towards us, one bearing the other, and treading down the dark growth of weeds that thickened about us. When I saw him who reposed in the other's arms, a trembling seized me, and an awe came upon me—the awe which is begotten of exceeding pity: around his head shone a faint and flickering light, his white and perfect body was flecked here and there with blood, and, as when we saw him by the sea, betrayed, wounded, and helpless. He who supported him was ravaged with the storms of ages; in his eyes there shone a light of infinite memories; in his ears there rang the voices of unnumbered years; his mien had in it the great tenderness of one unconquerable; as a mother encircles with her arms a beloved and sor-

27