Then everything vanished, and deep gloom, that was not, however, darkto her, settled round them. Taking Arthur by the hand, she spread herwhite wings and circled upwards. Far, far they sailed, till theyreached a giant peak that split space in twain. Here they alighted,and watched the masses of cloud tearing through the gulfs on eitherside of them, and, looking beyond and below, gazed upon the shiningworlds that peopled space beneath them.
From the cloud-drifts to the right and left came a noise as of thesoughings of many wings; but they did not know what caused it, tillpresently the vapours lifted, and they saw that alongside of andbeneath them two separate streams of souls were passing onoutstretched pinions: one stream, that to their left, proceeding totheir earthly homes, and one, that to the right, returning from them.Those who went wore grief upon their shadowy faces, and had sad-coloured wings; but those who returned seemed for the most part happy,and their wings were tipped with splendour.
The never-ending stream that came flowed from a far-off glory, andthat which returned, having passed the dividing cliff on which theystood, was changed into a multitude of the red snow-flakes with theglowing hearts, and dropped gently downwards.
So they stood, in happy peace, never tiring, from millennium tomillennium. They watched new worlds collecting out of chaos, they sawthem speed upon their high aerial course till, grown hoary, theirfoundation-rocks crumbling with age, they wasted away into thevastness whence they had gathered, to be replaced by fresh creationsthat in their turn took form, teemed with life, waxed, waned, andvanished.
At length there came an end, and the soughing of wings was silent forever; no more souls went downwards, and none came up from the earths.Then the distant glory from which the souls had come moved towardsthem with awful mutterings and robed in lightning, and space wasfilled with spirits, one of whom, sweeping past them, cried with aloud voice, "Children, Time is dead; now is the beginning ofknowledge." And she turned to Arthur, who had grown more radiant thanthe star which gleamed upon his forehead, and kissed him.
Then she would wake.