234 The Diary of a Drug Fiend
that my ordeal is over. He stands smiling and points
downwards. I think he wants me to go back to the
billiard-room. Perhaps there is some one waiting for
me; some one to take me away to fulfil my destiny.
I know now what it was that I thought was a shot, or
a door closing. It was really both of these things in
a mystical sense ; for I know now who the old man is,
and that he is the father of the Messiah. ...