" And I looked round; and on the hill-side was a lonely grave.
I said to God, "What lies there?"
He said, "A vine truss, bruised in the wine-press!"
And at the head of the grave stood a cross, and on its foot lay a crown of
thorns.
And as I turned to go, I looked backward. The wine-press and the banquet-
house were gone; but the grave yet stood.
And when I came to the edge of a long ridge there opened out before me a
wide plain of sand. And when I looked downward I saw great stones lie
shattered; and the desert sand had half covered them over.
I said to God, "There is writing on them, but I cannot read it."
And God blew aside the desert sand, and I read the writing: "Weighed in
the balance, and found--" but the last word was wanting.
And I said to God, "It was a banquet-house?"
God said, "Ay, a banquet-house."
I said, "There was a wine-press here?"
God said, "There was a wine-press."
I asked no further question. I was very weary; I shaded my eyes with my
hand, and looked through the pink evening light.
Far off, across the sand, I saw two figures standing. With wings upfolded
high above their heads, and stern faces set, neither man nor beast, they
looked out across the desert sand, watching, watching, watching! I did not
ask God what they were, for I knew what the answer would be.
And, further and yet further, in the evening light, I looked with my shaded
eyes.
Far off, where the sands were thick and heavy, I saw a solitary pillar
standing: the crown had fallen, and the sand had buried it.
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