And Someone spoke,--in grave sweet accents, so soft
and close to him that the words seemed almost whispered in his
ears,--
"Thy prayer is heard,--and once again the silence shall be broken.
Nevertheless remember that 'the light shineth in darkness and the
darkness comprehendeth it not'."
Deep silence followed. The mysterious Presence melted as it were
into space,--and the Cardinal awoke, trembling violently and bathed
in a cold perspiration. He gazed bewilderedly around him, his mind
still confused and dazzled by the strong visionary impression of the
burning heavens and sea,--and he could not for a moment realize
where he was. Then, after a while, he recognised the humble
furniture of the room he occupied, and through the diamond-shaped
panes of the little lattice window, perceived the towers of Notre
Dame, now gleaming with a kind of rusty silver in the broader
radiance of the fully uplifted moon.
"It was a dream," he murmured,--"A dream of the end of the world!"
He shuddered a little as he thought of the doom pronounced upon the
earth,--the planet "known to all angels as the Sorrowful Star"--"Let
the Sun that hath given it warmth and nourishment be now its chief
Destroyer."
According to modern scientists, such was indeed the precise way in
which the world was destined to come to an end.
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