noon
But no : there before his eyes was worked again the miracle which had already been worked in his own case , though now it was , if possible , even more marvellous than it had been before . As Nitocris turned she uttered a low cry of wonder and recognition , and held out both hands to her other twin-self . The Queen took them , and said in the Ancient Tongue , which now she understood again after many centuries : `` Welcome , thou who wast once myself , into this larger life to which the Perfect Knowledge hath led thee : where Time is not , and that which was , and is , and shall be are the same ! Thou hast yet many days , as men call them , to live in that limited life known as mortal , and so the mortal lot , with its perils and sorrows and joys , shall yet be thine : yet , although , if the High Gods will it so , that life shall end and begin and end again many times , thou hast already won through the shadows which bound that little life into the light of the Day which knows not dawn nor noon nor night . I who was , and thou who art , are one again ! '' Then came silence . Franklin Marmion saw the two kindred shapes merge into each other .