Beware of Fear.Fear is the deadliest enemy to Knowledge." Here the ciphers changed their character, and became incomprehensible.
But had he not read enough? Did not the last sentence suffice?--"Beware of Fear!" It was as if Mejnour had purposely left the page open,--as if the trial was, in truth, the reverse of the one pretended; as if the mystic had designed to make experiment of his COURAGE while affecting but that of his FORBEARANCE.Not Boldness, but Fear, was the deadliest enemy to Knowledge.He moved to the shelves on which the crystal vases were placed; with an untrembling hand he took from one of them the stopper, and a delicious odor suddenly diffused itself through the room.The air sparkled as if with a diamond-dust.A sense of unearthly delight,--of an existence that seemed all spirit, flashed through his whole frame; and a faint, low, but exquisite music crept, thrilling, through the chamber.At this moment he heard a voice in the corridor calling on his name; and presently there was a knock at the door without."Are you there, signor?" said the clear tones of Maestro Paolo.Glyndon hastily reclosed and replaced the vial, and bidding Paolo await him in his own apartment, tarried till he heard the intruder's steps depart; he then reluctantly quitted the room.As he locked the door, he still heard the dying strain of that fairy music; and with a light step and a joyous heart he repaired to Paolo, inly resolving to visit again the chamber at an hour when his experiment would be safe from interruption.