And in an instant they were locked in each other's arms.
It was indeed the friend of long-gone years, and yet I had not even suspected this fact, even after hearing the story of Im Hokeis and the gipsy adventure.
I felt that this drama was getting deeper every minute, but had not time to think of one half of what was occurring ere the door was opened by no less a personage than the Commissary of Police, followed by two of the _garde de ville_, while, through the open door, I saw that the stairs and landing were literally crowded with _gens d'arms_.
Ravalette stood unmoved, and smiled, saying:
"Your trouble is in vain, monsieur! You are not wanted here, and will immediately return whither you came, while monsieur here, who engaged you to come, is at liberty to remain."
This cool speech disconcerted the official a little, but he replied: "It is my duty to protect all who demand it for themselves or others."
"True; but in this case no act has been committed or designed that could in the least afford just ground for such a demand. Still, as you are here, why here you may remain until you are satisfied of the truth of my remarks. Pray be seated."
The term "intensely dramatic" would not begin to give an adequate notion of the "situation" at this particular juncture of affairs. The only person who was completely at ease was Ravalette. As for Hokeis, the brush of Michael Angelo and Raphael combined could not have done justice to his portrait, nor have limned one-hundredth part of the intense and overwhelming astonishment and horror depicted on his countenance at what he beheld and heard. No two persons looked at the affair in the same light, nor regarded the Enigma from the same point of view, neither did they comprehend each other, but all were comprehended by the great master before them.
For a while an unpleasant silence reigned, which was at length, much to my surprise, broken by my Rosicrucian friend, Beverly, who, looking Ravalette straight in the eye, said:
"Whoever you are, I forgive you for the attempt to prevent myself, a son of Adam, wedding with this woman, Evlambéa, the Bright-shining Daughter of Ish; I forgive you for persecuting her toward a marriage with another, which marriage must have doomed me to a fate I have for centuries shrunk from; I forgive you all the woe you have caused me, because gratitude for what you have done for me exacts this; and because I suspect your agent saved my life when the retort burst in Boston, when I was repeating La Brière's experiment with phosphorus. Through you, or such as you, I have learned priceless secrets. The mystery of Magic Mirrors I am grateful for being taught. The secret of ages--the art of making the Elixir of Life, whereof whosoever shall drink shall never know decay, but so long as once a year he shall quaff thereof, may enjoy perpetual youth--I am inexpressibly thankful for. I shall never use this secret for that purpose, but five of the seven ingredients, when mingled, constitute what chemistry has sought in vain; and bequeathing this portion of the formulæ to my friend, and through him to the medical world, I shall atone for my few faults by giving life to thousands.