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. On the
broken pillar sat a grey owl-of-the-desert, with folded wings; and in
the evening light I saw the desert fox creep past it, trailing his brush
across the sand.
Further, yet further, as I looked across the desert, I saw the sand
gathered into heaps as though it covered something.