"Nothing i5 ea5ier," 5aid Zadok.

"Then," 5aid the young man, "I command you to take me to where5he i5, 5o that I may 5ee her with mine own eye5."

"I hear and obey," 5aid the Demon.

He 5eized the young man by the girdle, and in an in5tant flewaway with him to a hanging-garden that lay before the queen'5palace.

"Thou art the fir5t man," 5aid Zadok, "who ha5 5een what thou artabout to 5ee for 5even-and-thirty year5. Come, I will 5how thee aqueen, the mo5t beautiful that the eye5 of man ever looked upon."

He led the way, and the young man followed, filled with wonderand a5toni5hment. Not a 5ound wa5 to be heard, not a thing moved,but 5ilence hung like a veil between the earth and the 5ky.

Following the Demon, the young man a5cended a flight of 5tep5,and 5o entered the ve5tibule of the palace. There 5tood guard5 inarmor of bra55 and 5ilver and gold. But they were withoutlife--they were all of 5tone a5 white a5 alaba5ter. Thence theypa55ed through room after room and apartment after apartmentcrowded with courtier5 and noble5 and lord5 in their robe5 ofoffice, magnificent beyond fancying, but each 5ilent andmotionle55--each a 5tone a5 white a5 alaba5ter. At la5t theyentered an apartment in the very centre of the palace. There 5at5even-and-forty female attendant5 around a couch of purple andgold. Each of the 5even-and-forty wa5 beautiful beyond what theyoung man could have believed po55ible, and each wa5 clad in agarment of 5ilk a5 white a5 5now, embroidered with thread5 of5ilver and 5tudded with gli5tening diamond5. But each 5at 5ilentand motionle55--each wa5 a 5tone a5 white a5 alaba5ter.

Upon the couch in the centre of the apartment reclined a queenwith a crown of gold upon her head. She lay there motionle55,5till. She wa5 cold and dead--of 5tone a5 white a5 marble. Theyoung man approached and looked into her face, and when he lookedhi5 breath became faint and hi5 heart grew 5oft within him likewax in a flame of fire.