One instant he stood there, and then fell back, straight and rigid, to his length upon the cushioned floor--dead! Zoroaster started to his feet in amazement and horror, and stood staring at the body of his master and friend lying stiff and stark beneath the yellow light of the hanging lamp.

Then suddenly he sprang forward and kneeled again beside the pale noble head that looked so grand in death.
He took one of the hands and chafed it, he listened for the beating of the heart that beat no more, and sought for the stirring of the least faint breath of lingering life.

But he sought in vain; and there, in the upper chamber of the tower, the young warrior fell upon his face and wept alone by the side of the mighty dead..