"I think that the Lord Oro would not wish you to cut up his forefathers." "When you and he went to sleep, why did you not choose the family vault ?" asked Bastin.
"Would you have found us there ?" she queried by way of answer.

Then, understanding that the invitation was refused by general consent, though personally I should have liked to accept it, and have never ceased regretting that I did not, she moved towards a colossal object which stood beneath the centre of the dome.
On a stepped base, not very different from that in the cave but much larger, sat a figure, draped in a cloak on which was graved a number of stars, doubtless to symbolise the heavens.

The fastening of the cloak was shaped like the crescent moon, and the foot-stool on which rested the figure's feet was fashioned to suggest the orb of the sun.

This was of gold or some such metal, the only spot of brightness in all that temple.

It was impossible to say whether the figure were male or female, for the cloak falling in long, straight folds hid its outlines.