Suppose, when I had consented to be experimented upon by Heliobas--when my soul in the electric trance was lifted up to the unseen world--suppose an evil force, terrible and all-compelling, were to dominate ME and hold me forever and ever! I gasped for breath! Oh, so much the more need of prayer! "Pray much and often, with as unselfish a heart as you can prepare." Thus Heliobas had said; and I thought to myself, if all those who were on the brink of great sin or crime could only be brought to feel beforehand what I felt when facing the spectral dread of unknown evil, then surely sins would be fewer and crimes never committed.

And I murmured softly, "Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil." The mere utterance of these words seemed to calm and encourage me; and as I gazed up at the sky again, with its gathering clouds, one star, like a bright consoling eye, looked at me, glittering cheerfully amid the surrounding darkness.
More than ten minutes had elapsed since Prince Ivan had left the room, and there was no sound of returning footsteps.

And where was Zara?
I determined to seek her.

I was free to go anywhere in the house, only avoiding her studio during her hours of work; and she never worked at night.

I would go to her and confide all my strange thoughts and terrors to her friendly sympathy.