Heavy scents of flowers were in the
air--heavy heat weighed down the atmosphere,--and there was a languor
in the slow footsteps of the men, who, singly, or in groups, arrived at
the door of Sergius Thord's house to fulfil the dread compact binding
upon them all in regard to the 'Day of Fate.' Pasquin Leroy and his two
companions were among the first to arrive, and to make their way up the
dark steep stairs to the Committee room, where, when they entered, they
found the usual aspect of things strangely altered. The table no longer
occupied its position in the middle of the floor; it was set on a
raised platform entirely draped with black. Large candelabra, holding
six lights each, occupied either end,--and in the centre one solitary
red lamp was placed, shedding its flare over a large bronze vessel
shaped like a funeral urn. The rest of the room was in darkness,--and
with the gathering groups of men, who moved silently and spoke in
whispers, it presented a solemn and eerie spectacle.
"Ah! You have now arrived," said Max Graub, in a cautious sotto voce to
Leroy, "at the end of your adventures! Behold the number Thirteen! Six
lights at one end, six lights at the other,--that is twelve; and in the
centre the Thirteenth--the red Eye looking into the sepulchral urn! It
is all up with us!"
Leroy said nothing,--but the face of the man called Axel Regor grew
suddenly very pale.
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